Author's Note: Here is yet another JAG fanfic from me, based on the idea that they decided to explore their "problem" as Sturgis put it. It is set a bit after the Admiral retires and Cresswell is appointed the new JAG. I'm still working on my other fanfic, but it was one of those situations where this idea came into my head, and until I got it down, I wasn't going to be able to finish the other one without thinking of this one! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this first installment of "One Night". Review if you would like!

As I'm talking to my newest client, Harm steps into the room with a sheepish grin on his face, which was to be expected.

"Oh, hey, I didn't realize that you had a meeting."

I furrow my brow, "Did you not get my note?"

"No… I did… I just…" He just thought that I had lied, was the unspoken words that I saw in his eyes.

"When I finish up here, I'll find you and we can talk about that case we started last night, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be in my office."

I nod and then turn back to my client as he leaves the room, almost seeming more scared than when he had come in just a few minutes ago.

When the Petty Officer left I was forced to think about the situation we put ourselves in. We have been on a roller coaster of sorts lately and I wasn't able to really put my finger on where we stood. I have known that I love him for years now. That love has taken many forms during those years, and I know that he feels the same way. It just isn't our time. Maybe it isn't ever supposed to be our time. That's where last night came in.

"When was the last time you went on a date, Mac?" He asks, looking up from his files.

"Mic. You?"

"Webb didn't count?"

"He never really took me out. We had a totally dysfunctional relationship. What about you?"

"Renee. Some dry spells we've been having, huh? Well, me more so than you, I guess."

"Harm… we have to be ready for this tomorrow, stop distracting me."

"Sorry." He says, focusing back on what he was working on before.

It was a few minutes later after I had been staring at the same page without actually understanding a word that was in front of me that I had to know, "Why did you ask me that?"

"I was just wondering."

"No you weren't, give me a reason."

"Something Bud said to me the other day."

"What did he say?"

I made the mistake of taking a sip of water before the following came out of my partners lips, "He said that maybe we do need to just lock ourselves in a room together to get it all out of our systems."

"Bud did not say that."

"He did… however it was after Sturgis was complaining that the two of us fight like an old married couple and just need to get a room. I may have been complaining about the last fight the two of us got in over that stupid case about the Major and the bar fight."

"I could see that from Sturgis, but Bud?"

"He had a few beers in him."

"Huh…"

We're sitting there for awhile, neither one working on anything remotely productive.

"You know, Sturgis said that to me once too… something about how maybe that was our problem."

"And?"

"And I told him he was crazy."

"You know me better than anyone Mac, and I'm pretty sure I know you better than anyone too."

"And?" I said raising an eyebrow and returning his earlier sentiment.

"Have you ever thought about it?"

This is where I stop for a moment to think about the situation. Do I be honest and tell him that the thought has most certainly crossed my mind more than once, or do I lie to make things easier for this conversation.

"I know I have… I mean…" he blurts out in a way that is almost comical.

Well then, I see my decision has been made for me, "I have."

"And?" he says with a sparkle in his eye that tells me he is now just enjoying toying with me.

"Are you propositioning me Harmon Rabb?"

"If I was, what would you say?"

He has steadily leaned closer to me as the conversation has gone on, and I know that there will be no turning back from this moment if we go there or don't. We can't take this conversation back now.

"I'd say to put your money where your mouth is…"

I shiver at the thought of how the rest of that evening went… a tangle of limbs and breathy declarations. We set up the rules beforehand. It would be one night and we would be honest about what we thought. We both knew that we weren't ready for the relationship that could be, so we settled to see if it would even be worth the try.

Worth it.

"Hey, Mac?" I hear, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"hmm?" I look up into the eyes of the man who was currently consuming my thoughts.

"I saw the Petty Officer leave a while ago, and you didn't come find me… are you sure you aren't trying to avoid me?" he asks with an air of shyness I don't think that I've ever seen from him.

"Harm, if I was trying to avoid you, I wouldn't be sitting in my office for you to find me."

"Oh." He says, shutting the door behind him and sitting down in front of my desk, "sooo…"

"I'm not avoiding you, I don't regret it, it was amazing, and that's it."

"That's it?"

"You and I agreed that it would be one night. We also agreed that we wouldn't make it weird."

"You really are okay with this?"

"One day, we're going to be on the same page. You and Mattie will be set the way you need to be, I'll be over my commitment issues, and maybe we'll remember last night and realize that it's worth a try. That was the reason for everything, wasn't it?"

"Sarah…"

I give him a full on smile before dropping the subject completely, "So, what do you think we should do about all of these extra cases the General has us working on?"

He smiles back and we get down to business.

The way the two of us were able to put it all aside has amazed me beyond no end these past few months. In fact I think that it made us better at working together and even made us better friends. When I say that, I also confess that I do still think of Harm naked from time to time… every night.

Today makes me love him and treasure him even more as he comes to nurse me back to health by knocking on my door.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better than I have been the past few days."

"Yeah, well, did you go to the Doctor yet?" he asks, following me into the living room while I plop down onto the couch.

"I told you that I know exactly what it is. I've been exhausted the past few weeks leading up to this and now I'm finally getting what was coming to me. To be honest, I'm glad, cause after thirty five it is getting harder and harder to keep fitting into those cute Marine green issued skirts. Maybe the flu will make me lose a few pounds."

"Mac." He says with a sarcastic tone, "You look just as beautiful as the day I met you…"

"Thank you… and thank you for bringing me some stuff."

"Yeah, well, you aren't going to be thanking me in a minute."

"Why?"

"I brought everything you asked me too, and I stopped at the drug store to get you a few more things I thought you needed… magazines, crossword books… and…uh…" he trails off, his eyes focused on the bag at his feet and well within my reach.

When he doesn't continue, I grab the bag and start shuffling through the contents. That's when I realize why he's so uncomfortable right now, and I don't know the thoughts that go through my head.

"Harm, this is a pretty crappy attempt at a joke for my putting on a few pounds."

"It was Harriet who mentioned it to me."

"Harriet? Harriet knows about everything with the doctor… she wouldn't have said – "

"I called her to ask her what magazines she thought you would like the most and I was updating her on your condition since she hadn't heard from you in a few days. Her exact words were 'If I didn't know the circumstances, I would say she was pregnant.' When I started thinking about it, I started looking up some stuff. You are textbook for morning sickness with the timing and everything. It also explains the exhaustion and the weight gain."

I'm thinking for a minute before he calls my name and wakes me out of my reverie. "I'm not pregnant."

"Because you have proof that you aren't, or because of how scared you are that you might be."

"I can't be. The doctor said that I had less than a five percent chance to conceive, and I would assume that was with trying. There was no trying here. There was one night almost three months ago."

"In which we didn't take any precautions… and if we're being honest, one night didn't mean one time, Sarah."

"I'm not pregnant." I say, getting up and walking to my bedroom to be alone for a minute.

When he finds me, I'm a weepy, teary mess on the bed. It was the same bed that possibly conceived the child that could be taking up residence inside me right now, which is why there is no surprise when he curls up beside me on said bed.

"You and I have always beaten the odds… I'm glad that we could have beaten them in this case too."

I turn to look at him then, a mixture of emotions showing on my face. He was happy about this? Not that I wasn't, but I don't think that I was expecting this reaction out of him. He had said the words before, but they were just words. Harm and I usually don't follow through with our words.

"You're okay with this?"

"Mac, you've wanted this for a while now. As much as you didn't want to admit it, when it was taken away from you, you realized how badly you wanted it. I want it too, with you. I told you that months ago, when the Admiral retired. Are you not okay with this?"

"No, I am… I just… I don't even know how I feel about it. I don't even know if I'm pregnant or not."

"There's only one way to find out."

"I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Ready to take the test, or ready to be a mom?"

That phrase took the breath right out of me and I sit up in bed remembering the last time a title as important passed his lips and it took me a bit by surprise.

"What?"

"I'm remembering when I was about to marry Mic and you referred to him as my husband. It sounded so foreign to me."

"Okay?" He says, clearly not understanding my thought process.

"You put a title on it and it all became real in that moment. And, well…we know how well that went."

"This is different." He says with a confident voice.

"How?"

"Because this time, I know that I love you and I know that you love me, so I know that if there is a baby… he or she is going to be just fine with us as parents. You're ready for this and I'm ready for this."

"Individually we might be, but us? We're not ready for all that, Harm."

"I know. You said you needed space with everything."

"And then we slept together… some space." I say with a quirk of my eyebrow and he laughs in my direction just a bit, "I still don't know what I want."

"Well, I think that taking the test is going to make you have to switch around some priorities. You might want to figure that out first."

"If I'm pregnant, that means I'm almost 8 weeks today. What if something's wrong because I haven't been doing everything I'm supposed to?"

"What if nothing is wrong and the baby is just a small miracle?" he says with a smile that melts my heart.

"Test?" I say, putting my hand out.

He runs out of the bedroom and brings back the item in question.

"Mac, Sarah… I want you to know that if it isn't positive, this doesn't have to be the end of this. I know you said you needed your space, but I don't know… I'm still here for you when you're ready. And if you aren't, I'm sorry that I brought it up and hurt you again."

The look in his eyes, as he tries to hide his face while confessing that last part, is why I think that all of this is going to be okay. The fact that he is so concerned about my feelings on everything surrounding this makes me reach up and take his lips with mine for the second time this year.

"What was that for?" he says after awhile when we finally pull apart.

"I know that we have a lot to talk about if this is positive, but know that I'm so glad it's you."

I stand up and make my way to the bathroom stopping when I hear him say, "It was only ever going to be you, Mac… only you."

I stay in the bathroom for some reason. I think it is to process on my own before all of this unfolds. If I'm pregnant that means that Harm and I are going to be parents. Harm and I are going to be parents? The idea brought up years ago on the steps of JAG was something that was always in the back of my mind. Dr. McCool called it my backup plan. She was right in saying that it was actually my plan all along, even though I'm having a hard time admitting it to myself. If I'm not pregnant, do I want to try? Do I have the right to bring a baby into this world with the knowledge that Harm and I don't know what we're doing?

That's when I realize that is exactly what happens if this test is positive. I also realize that I can look now... down at the white stick I have gripped so tightly in my right hand that I feel like I can't even flip it over to look.

I do.