Title: Winning the Lottery

Author: Carrie

Pairing/Classification: Harm/Mac Romance

Rating: GS

Summary: This is the asked for sequel to ‘Playing the Lottery’. Harm makes a much anticipated visit with Dr. McCool.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Mistakes are, so sorry about that.

Author’s Note: This is a sequel to ‘Playing the Lottery’. I didn’t really want to write one, because in my opinion ‘Four Percent Solution’ needed some sort of conclusion, so I wrote one. I was just going to end it where it was and allow others to imagine what transpired. However, since so many wanted a sequel I set about to write one. Many probably think this is Harm and Mac’s conversation, but it isn’t. It’s set another year in the future (think three years after ‘Four Percent’, one year after ‘Playing the Lottery’.) Harm decides he needs to see this Dr. McCool for himself.

1832 Zulu

San Diego, California

“Just about time,” Dr. McCool said to herself. It was already 1830 and she wanted to go home. Today had been a day from hell. She was a very patient woman otherwise she would never have chosen her current profession, but today had been very taxing.

So many emotions she had to deal with today. An anorexic Lieutenant, post partum depression from a Marine Captain, post traumatic stress from a Marine who just returned from Iraq, and anger management for a very volatile Commander.

Now she was going to go home, listen to her daughter play the piano all night, and take a long bath to relax her own frazzled nerves.

“Dr. McCool?”

Well, well, she thought looking up to see someone in her doorway. It wasn’t everyday when a tall, dark, and handsome stranger stood in her door. Plus a Captain. That in itself was slightly strange as she didn’t normally deal with upper ranks.

They thought they could figure their own problems out.

She fixed a polite and inquisitive smile on her face. “May I help you Captain?”

He stepped in, playing with his khaki cover, reminding her briefly of a very unique patient who had done the same thing all four times she had visited with Dr. McCool. Finally, he stopped and looked up at her.

It was then his attire finally resonated with her. He wore an olive green flight suit, standard issue boots, and on his breast was a patch claiming:

Capt. Harmon Rabb, Jr. “Hammer”

“You’re the famous Harm,” Dr. McCool stated, reaching her hand out to shake his.

He seemed taken aback. “I am. How did you know?”

“Your name patch. I’m a psychiatrist, but I’m not stupid,” Dr. McCool joked. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against her desk. “May I help you Captain Rabb?”

Harm narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “I don’t like psychiatrists.”

“I’m glad you made that clear. Then why did you come to me after hours? You obviously didn’t make an appointment.”

Well she had him there. What was he doing here? Harm leaned against one of the comfy chairs all psychiatrists seemed to have in their offices. He didn’t trust a single one. In his mind, they were the ones that always wanted to find problems with you and tell you how to fix them.

If people had problems, they should find out for themselves.

Then again, every time he met with a psychiatrist they were always telling him he had obsessions, trust issues, and he didn’t like to communicate unless it was on his terms.

Got him there.

“Well, I wanted to finally meet you. You know my wife, Colonel Mackenzie,” Harm said, fidgeting with his wedding ring. “She’s spoken of you. At first she hated you, but then last year she spoke highly of you.”

Dr. McCool took a seat in one of the chairs, gesturing to the other. Without a word, she watching as Harm ignored the invitation and walked over to the bookcase, looking at the spines.

He and Mac were very much alike, she judged, folding her fingers together. They couldn’t sit still when things were on their minds. Both were distrusting of psychiatrists, they wanted things on their terms or not at all.

“You dated a psychiatrist,” Dr. McCool said, raising an eyebrow.

Spinning on his heel, Harm stared at her. “Yes. How did you know?”

“You have a…” she trailed off, searching for the right word. “A distrust of psychiatrists. They’ve hurt you. However your demeanor suggests a more personal distrust. You were hurt by one emotionally. Now I don’t go out of my way to hurt my patients, so obviously it was by a significant other.”

He finally sat on the chair, his knees tensed as though he had to be ready to spring at a moment’s notice. “I did date one. Jordan.”

“She hurt you?”

He scowled. “She didn’t want to date a pilot. Said I was cheating on her with an F-14. She was killed about two years later.”

“Ah.”

He pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing again. “I don’t like it when doctors make those noises. They know something that you don’t and insist on sitting on it while the patient stirs, wondering if the news is good or bad. In most cases I think it’s used to get more information that someone doesn’t want to give.”

Dr. McCool laughed and crossed her legs. “That is the case. Now we’re not here to discuss your emotional problems with psychiatrists is it? How is Sarah?”

His face instantly softened and a smile spread, revealing a perfect row of white teeth. “She’s fine,” he said, his voice now warm and smooth instead of the gruff, distant one she heard only seconds before. His smile became even wider. “She’s with the twins.”

“Oh yes, the twins. How are they?” Dr. McCool asked, genuinely interested in Mac’s new life.

Like any new father, he didn’t care where he was or who he was talking to; Harm yanked his wallet out of one of the many zippered pockets on his flight suit. He grinned even more, passing several to Dr. McCool.

“That one on the right is Mackenzie Rose. Isn’t she beautiful? Her sister is on the left, she’s just a beautiful. Her name is Sarah Patricia.”

Anyone would not be able to mistake the fact that together the two girls were Sarah and Mackenzie. It was quite obvious who named them. “Did you two make a deal to name the children?” she asked, smiling softly.

Harm nodded and put the pictures away. “We agreed if we had two boys, Mac would name them. If we had two girls, I would name them. If we had one of each, Mac would name the boy and I would name the girl. As it turns out, I got to name both. She agreed on the two names and we’ve been dealing with them for the past three months.”

“You named the babies after your wife,” Dr. McCool whispered. “There’s significance there.”

He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable with the situation. “Yeah. I did.”

“You don’t like that I’ve gotten so close to your soul have you?” she asked, her voice even quieter.

Harm stood instantly, his movements jerky as he walked around the small office. “You’re not supposed to get close,” he said, his voice accusatory. “Doctors aren’t supposed to get close to their patients.”

“Some do when they are genuinely affected and interested in changing or helping that person. Like I was with your wife,” Dr. McCool said, her voice changing to a more conversational one. “Captain Rabb you obviously came to see me for something. I gather it’s because you are merely curious about the woman who helped your wife. I obviously believe I that helped Sarah. She needed it, she sought it, and with some heated discussions, she’s now comfortable with her problems and she’s working on them.”

Slowly, Harm turned his ring around and around on his finger, feeling the engraving push against the skin. He knew it said ‘Forever’. Mac had surprised him by having that engraved, just as he had surprised her with engraving ‘Eternity’ in hers.

“I love her,” he whispered. “And sometimes I can’t help but think what life would have been like without her. It’s too hard to imagine.” He looked up again and straight at Dr. McCool. “She mentioned you yesterday and it got me curious as to who you were. She said something about being addicted to love and that’s going to make her a better person.”

“I did. I told her a year ago that her prescription to be a good mother is to love. Love her husband; love her children, just love. I take it she listened and hopefully she’s overdosing on her prescription,” Dr. McCool said, her voice obviously implying she was joking. “Captain she loves you. Even though you are her husband, I cannot disclose any information she has given me due to doctor-patient confidentiality. What I can say, is that through two impromptu sessions, your wife has discovered she isn’t the monster she thought she was.”

Harm let out a breath he had been holding. “I really don’t know why I came other than to meet you. I was curious at what sort of doctor could manage to help my wife. She doesn’t even let me help her.”

“But you did,” Dr. McCool said softly. “You helped her in more ways than I think a person can be helped.”

“I’ve hurt her.”

Dr. McCool shrugged, smiling gently. “I think in order to truly love someone the way you seem to love your wife and the way your wife seems to love you, you have to hurt each other. It’s just the way it works.”

He nodded, smiling again. “When she told me she was pregnant with twins I didn’t believe her,” he laughed. “I thought it was a joke. Then she got mad. She gets mad so easily sometimes. She yelled and screamed at the top of her lungs. Then she started to cry. She doesn’t normally cry. I think she thinks it’s a sign of weakness. In any case, she just started to cry. They were tears of happiness. Then she showed me the sonogram.”

His voice took on a tone of awe. “I’d never seen one before. It looked like…” he trailed off, positioning his hands. “It looked like they were holding hands. The fetuses. It was so amazing that I just… I didn’t know what to do besides kiss her and start crying along.”

Dr. McCool stood and smiled. “Captain Rabb I think you just described the feelings of what it’s like when you win the lottery. Colonel Mackenzie played it at my insistence. You both have now won it. Enjoy your winnings Captain, because they’ll be around a long time.”

Harm stood and walked over to the door, smiling widely. “I wasn’t going to come and meet you, but I’m glad I have. Now I think I know why Mac has been so…” he trailed off, searching for the word. “Mac.”

Dr. McCool laughed, understanding what he meant. “Mac is Mac; there is no one else like her in the world, no adjective to describe her.”

Harm grinned and reached out, shaking Dr. McCool’s hand. “Thank you Dr. McCool. For seeing me and also for helping Mac.”

“No problem. Go enjoy your winnings Captain.”

Harm turned around and walked down the hallway, a smile on his face. He paused, pulling his cell phone out when ‘Anchors Aweigh’ began to trumpet. “Rabb.”

“Someone wants to say hi.”

“AH!”

Harm grinned widely, leaning back against the wall, tears rising in his eyes. “Hey,” he whispered. “Is this Mackenzie or Sarah?”

“Both,” Mac laughed from the other end. “Where are you? You’re supposed to bring us food. Chinese please.”

He smiled widely and began to walk again. “Well it’s a long story, but I think tonight you and I should just enjoy our winnings.”

“Huh?”

“Mac, we hit the jackpot.”

Just then, she knew exactly what he was talking about. Tears in her eyes, Mac cuddled her babies close, listening to her husband on the other end. “I know,” she whispered. “Come home so we can count our winnings.”

“I’m on my way.”

THE END