Title: Words of Wisdom
Author: Holly
Prompt(s):
Bring
something up from the back burner.
Fear will only hinder
you.
Believe in your abilities. Confidence will lead you on.
Word
Count: About 900
Category: Drama/Humor
Rating:
G
Author’s Notes: When I got the prompts for the
ficathon I froze. I couldn’t seem to get started. Nothing would
come to me. I was so afraid that I would be letting everyone down. I
stopped trying for a few days. Then the day after Thanksgiving I was
with a friend and we grabbed a quick lunch at the mall. We both went
for the Asian Cuisine and when I read my fortune, the idea for this
story just came to me. I know I was supposed to pick one prompt but
sometimes you just have to bend the rules for the sake of
entertainment.
Summary: Mac is expected to prosecute a
case she feels should be thrown out and Harm tries to give her words
of wisdom.
Words of Wisdom
“I can’t
do this Harm,” Mac insisted as she pushed away from her desk
and began pacing behind his chair in the home office they
shared.
“Can’t do what Mac?” Harm asked,
turning to watch her as she paced the ten feet of space between their
chairs.
“I cannot go into court and prosecute this woman
for disorderly conduct.”
“She’s an officer
Mac. She created a scene in front of her superiors and several
important civilians. I’m surprised you’re having trouble
with this.”
“You are kidding aren’t you?”
Mac stopped to glare at her handsome husband in his well worn, faded
Navy t-shirt and his equally worn and faded jeans that clung to him
like a second skin.
“No Mac...I’m not kidding. You
know as well as I do that in the military you have to uphold a
stricter code of conduct than in civilian life. It’s a fact of
life that you learn to live with when you make the military your
life.”
“A life you chose for over twenty years,”
Mac reminded her husband.
“Yes...but one I volunteered
to give up so that you wouldn’t have to...I know how hard it is
for you to adjust to sudden changes.” Harm squinted just a bit
as he studied his wife. “Mac, if you can’t prosecute a
case like this, perhaps its time.”
“Why doesn’t
this make me feel any better?” Mac glowered as she dropped into
her chair again.
“Because you don’t give up
easily...I know.”
“Is this because I wouldn’t
let you get away with hints and double talk two years ago?” Mac
grinned.
“Not at all. I’m not going to bring
something up from the back burner.”
“Right...and
Singer was Admiral material,” Mac tossed over her shoulder as
she turned back to her papers.
Harm watched his wife’s
back for a full minute before he turned back to his papers. He was
lost in thought once again within seconds.
The shuffling
papers failed to penetrate his focus until the exaggerated sighs made
him aware that Mac was still struggling with her case.
“Okay,
Mac. Run it by me. What’s really eating at you with this case?”
Harm asked turning to face her end of the specially built space in
the home office they had designed together.
“Harm,
Captain Mercer did create a scene while in uniform. She did scream
and cry in front of a bunch of V.I.P.s; but there is no way that she
should have been charged. It’s like something Loren Singer
would have done!”
“That’s twice you’ve
brought up Singer. What’s going on?”
“Harm,
I’m telling you this case should have been thrown out right
away. Captain Mercer went into labor during the ceremony and before
it was over, her water broke!”
“She was
pregnant?” Harm questioned while assimilating this new
information she was providing him.
“Yeah...and only just
starting her eighth month.”
“Now I get it,”
he grinned. He eased out of his chair so he could move closer. Once
there he squatted down behind her chair, reached around her to caress
the bump under his tan t-shirt she wore. “You’re afraid
the same thing could happen to you.”
“Am
not.”
“Yes you are. Your fear will only hinder you
in this case Mac.”
“GGGGGrrrrrrrrr! Don’t
you get it Harm? Major Franks shouldn’t have charged her with
disorderly conduct and the General shouldn’t have allowed it to
move forward.
“Mac he couldn’t apply undue
influence on the case...not legally.”
“I know
that.”
“Then let it go to trial Mac. Believe in
your abilities. Confidence will lead you on. Besides, the judge is
sure to throw it out.”
“Would you stop talking
like a fortune cookie?” Mac finally laughed at her husband,
knowing that ranting at him would do no good.
“Now that
you mention it, I wouldn’t mind taking a break. Shall we go out
or order in?”
“I don’t care - as long as it
doesn’t involve any food with fortune cookies in it!”
“How
about I go pick up some lo mein and tell them to hold the
cookies...we have enough good fortune for now.” He kissed her
cheek as he stood up and started walking away.
“Harm
wait....maybe you’d better get the fortune cookies...I’m
going to need all the luck and advise I can get if this case goes to
trial...And Harm?”
“Yea Mac?”
“If
they help you find the words to express yourself, then I guess they
can’t be all bad.”
“Cute Marine...just be
careful or I’ll start spouting those while you’re in the
delivery room!”
Mac laughed as she waved Harm out the
door. The phone ringing drew her attention back to the
desk.
“Colonel Mackenzie.”
“This is
Major Franks, Colonel. I’ve decided to drop the charges against
Captain Mercer.”
“Very well. I take it you’ve
submitted the proper paperwork.”
“Yes Ma’am.
I will also issue Captain Mercer my sincerest apologies and best
wishes. How are they going, Ma’am?”
“I’m
sure the Captain will appreciate your change of heart. She is doing
well as is her son. Major, what changed your mind?”
“My
sister, mother and girlfriend, Ma’am.”
“Good
for them. I’ll look for the paperwork on my desk
tomorrow.”
“It will be there.”
Mac
hung up the phone and smiled. She reached into her brief case and
took out the fortune she had been saving for months now. She looked
at it again, smiling as she read, “It is a wise man that
listens to his wife.”
The End