From:  Heather Lee 
Title:  Christmas Miracles
Author:  Heather Feather
E-mail:  harms_girl@yahoo.com
Rating:  G
Classification:  Animal/Lia , all characters 
Spoilers:  None of the JAG episodes, to my knowledge, but if 
you’re talking fan-fic . . .my story “The Stalker”; um, Animal’s . . 
.let me get back to you on that. *
Summary:  Christmas is getting closer.  Liandra’s husband is 
supposed to be home from a deployment, but he’s not home yet. 
Lia has a surprise for her hubby once he finally comes home, the 
extent of which even she doesn’t know yet.
Disclaimer:  Harm and Mac belong to Don Bellasario, and are 
not used with permission.  However, no infringement is 
intended.  Mention of Walker, Texas Ranger characters.  They 
belong to Top Kick Productions, and are not used with 
permission; no infringement intended.  Mention of Taggert 
and Montgomery characters from the Jude Deveraux novels The 
Princess and Sweet Liar; not used with permission, but no 
infringement intended here, either.  I just like borrowing 
characters sometimes.  But I always return them.  Except 
Animal.    I’m keeping him. *  Animal belongs to 
Hugo Chikamori, and he came along for the ride quite 
willingly.
Thanks:  Special thanks to my mom for the medical advice and 
for answering my questions. * 
Author’s note:  The church Lia attends is my actual church.  The 
name of my pastor has been changed, though, as well as the 
names of my friends there.  The hospital mentioned in this fic is 
also real.  I work for one of the Christus hospitals, sorta, so 
maybe this is good PR.  

FIRST UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH
BOSSIER CITY, LA
(6:45 CST/ 2345 ZULU)
DECEMBER 24, 2007

“If anyone needs prayer,” Brother Davis announced, “the altars 
are open.”

I looked around our huge auditorium.  Not another person was 
even thinking of heading down.  Oh, well.  Who cares? I felt a lump 
growing in my throat.  I’m desperate.

I slipped out of my pew.  “Lisanne, I’ll be back in a second,” I 
said to the woman who was my first friend in this church.  I’d 
known her for eight years.

“Hang on, I’ll come with you.”  She took my hand and squeezed 
it as we walked down to meet Brother Davis at the altar.

“Brother Davis, I have a request,” I said to my pastor.  Brother  
Davis handed me the microphone.  “Speak your heart, Sister 
Chikamori.”

“Thank you, Brother Davis.” I said.  Turning my gaze to the 
congregation, “Most of you know my husband, Hugo, is in the 
Navy,” I began, trying not to choke up.

“He’s a pilot, isn’t he?” Brother Davis asked me.

“Yes, he is,” I beamed unconsciously at the thought of my 
husband in the cockpit of his beloved F-14 Super D Tomcat.  
“He’s the squadron commander for the best fighter group in the 
Navy.  He has been away on a peacekeeping deployment in the 
Persian Gulf.  He was scheduled to come home early and was 
due to be home a week and a half ago.  I got worried about 
him so I called my uncle AJ, who is a Rear Admiral.  He has 
some connections with the government,” I said, momentarily 
wincing at the thought of Clayton Webb.  I know he knows where my 
husband is, but he’s not saying anything.

I turned to my pastor.  “Brother Davis, I’m Navy, too.  I knew 
what I was getting into marrying a fighter pilot.  But you know 
how it is.  You have so much confidence in someone, in their 
abilities, I guess I got a little ego problem.  ‘My husband’s the 
Commander of the Black Aces, he’s the best pilot in the Navy, he 
can do anything.’

I broke down and tears fell uncontrolled down my cheeks.  “All 
he ever talked about whenever he called was that he was going 
to be home in time for the baby to be born,” I sobbed, patting 
my voluminous abdomen in a gesture of reassurance.  
Reassurance for me or the baby—I don’t know which.

Lisanne and her family gathered around me.  Gina, Lisanne’s 
sister, and a mother herself, gave me a sympathetic smile.  “It’ll 
be alright.  You’ll see.”

Another hand fell onto my shoulder.  I jumped out of my skin 
and turned around.  In the space of a single second, my face 
rose . . .and fell, as I recognized Lisanne’s husband Mark.  
Lisanne gestured for Mark to lean over.  She whispered in his 
ear.  “Oh, Lia, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mark.  I just . . .” my eyes filled with tears.  “I just keep 
hoping for a miracle.”

Brother Davis took my hand.  “Well, then, let’s get you one.”

Turning my hands and tearstained face toward the heavens, I 
began to pray.  Fresh new tears mingled with old as Brother 
Davis gently touched my forehead with a drop of anointing oil.  
I heard my friends’ prayers mingle with the voice of my pastor.  
“Lord, you see the pain Your child is in right now.  You see this 
young family torn apart by time, distance, worry and fear.  
Lord, You know her heart is bleeding for the knowledge that her 
husband Hugo is safe and well.  In Your glorious Name, we ask 
right now for a miracle, that Hugo will be returned to Liandra 
safely . . .and soon.”

Brother Davis kept praying along with my friends.  I kept 
praying, but all of a sudden, I could not hear anything.  I had 
my eyes closed when I began to pray, I had thought.  But now I 
could see a bright light, and a human-like figure in the 
distance.  It reminded me a lot of the way people describe out-
of-body experiences, where they were about to die.  I felt my 
heart fly into my throat.  Whoever it was standing there in the 
distance spoke, and I could hear the smile in the angel’s voice.  
“No, Liandra, you are not going to die.  You are going to live, 
you and your husband and your children, and their children, 
for a very long time to come.”

“You mean, he’s okay?” I asked, my  voice barely audible to my 
own ears.

The angel said nothing more, just gestured with a hand.

I opened my eyes.  Brother Davis stood in front of me, smiling.  
“You have received your miracle, Sister Liandra.”

Dumbfounded, I opened my mouth to ask him how he knew 
what the angel had said to me, when a scuffle was heard 
outside the sanctuary.  One of the ushers came in and told 
Brother Davis, “ An extremely scruffy-looking man is out in the 
hall, Brother Davis, and he says his wife is in here.  He wants 
in.”

Turning, I saw my old friends Harmon Rabb, Junior, and his 
wife, Sarah, walk up another aisle.  “Merry Christmas, Lia,” 
Harm called out ecstatically.  

“Harm?  Where’s Animal?”  I asked him, my voice cracking.

A loud squeak came from the door closest to the usher that had 
come in to speak with Brother Davis.  The door opened and the 
man that walked through it was indeed ‘scruffy-looking’.  But 
he was the best ‘scruffy-looking’ thing I’d ever seen in my entire 
31 years of life.

“ANIMAL!!!!!!!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, probably 
shredding what was left of my vocal cords, but ask me if I cared.

Despite my enormous belly, I took off running, suddenly 
grateful I had removed my shoes before going to the altar.  It 
wasn’t that easy, but at that instant, I would have walked 
across hot coals.  I could have cared less what it was that 
separated us, I just wanted my husband.  Two seconds later, I 
had what I wanted, my husband’s arms around me.

Bawling, I flung myself into my husband’s arms, able to do 
nothing but weep on Animal’s shoulder, sobbing his name over 
and over.

“Hey, you.  Why are you crying?”  Animal asked me, smiling 
through the grime on his face, as he gently touched my face.

“Because, you scruffy-looking nerf herder,” I said, unable to 
resist a joking reference to our favorite movie trilogy, “you were 
supposed to be home nearly two weeks ago, and I’m two weeks 
from giving birth to your daughters.”

“Who’s scruffy-looking?” Animal quipped.  A totally shocked look 
appeared on his face.  “Daughters?  I thought you were just 
having one baby,” he said, reaching out to touch my stomach 
wonderingly.

“Well, if you called more often,” I said playfully, “I could have 
told you Blair said I’m having twins.”

Just then, a wave of excruciating pain ran over me like a train.  
“Oh!” I moaned, grabbing my stomach reflexively.

Harm and Sarah came running over.  “What is it,” Sarah 
asked.

“The babies,” I gasped, as another contraction overwhelmed 
me.  “They’re coming!”

************************************************************************
(9:15 PM CST/2615 ZULU)
RAMADA INN
ROOM 612 (sorry, Animal.  Had to. *)
SHREVEPORT LA

“Will you chill out?” Harm fussed at Animal.  “You heard Lia’s 
cousin.  She’s having twins.  It’ll take a while.”

Harm gave Animal the “once-over” look.  “You are a disgusting 
mess.  Even Liandra, as much as she loves you and wants you 
there, even she ordered you to go get cleaned up.”

“Yeah,” Animal chuckled at the memory.  “She turned into a 
Marine DI on me there for a minute.  Did you hear her?  ‘You 
are not holding my newborn daughters if you’re not clean.  And 
I mean wash behind your ears, too, mister, you hear me?’”

“Go on,” Harm gave Animal a shove towards the shower.  “Get in 
there.  You stink like a pig.”

************************************************************************
TWO HOURS LATER
(11:15 CST/2815 ZULU)
CHRISTUS SCHUMPERT BOSSIER HOSPITAL

Animal was frantic.  “Harm, I’m gonna kill you if Lia’s already 
had the babies and I’ve missed my daughters’ first appearance 
on this earth,” he told his friend.

“Will you relax? For the twentieth time, Dr. Montgomery said it 
would take several hours for the twins to be born.  I doubt 
you’ve missed much, except the usual yelling and screaming 
mothers aim at their husbands.”  Harm laughed.

Sarah came running down the hallway towards them.  “Will 
you two hurry up?  Animal, get your six in there and get into 
some scrubs on the double.  Liandra’s been screaming the house 
down asking for you.  Crying and throwing a royal fit.”  She 
made a shoo-ing motion at her old friend.

“As for you,” Sarah aimed a well-manicured finger at her legal 
eagle husband.  “You have telephone duty.  Here’s Lia’s list of 
everyone she wants called, starting with her mom and the 
Admiral.”  Handing him the long list of phone numbers and 
names, Sarah leaned up and kissed Harm on the cheek.  “Have 
at it, flyboy.”

************************************************************************
SEVEN HOURS LATER
(6:15 AM CST/ 1215 ZULU)
LABOR AND DELIVERY ROOM

Through the haze brought on by the extreme pain I was in, I 
noticed Harm come in and whisper in Sarah’s ear.  “How’s she 
doing?”

“I’m doing fine, except for the occasional bout of severe pain.”  
Harm was wearing the same thing as Animal and Sarah.  
Emerald green scrubs.  I just couldn’t resist teasing him.  “Hey, 
Harm, you look real spiffy in MARINE GREEN!” I laughed. Harm 
was not amused. 

Neither was my husband.  “Hey, what about me?” he whined 
plaintively.  “You, too, dear.” I said, patting his hand.

“Did you call my mom?” I asked Harm.

“Yeah. She’s out in the waiting room, along with your Uncle 
Cordell, Aunt Alex, C. D., Jimmy, Trent, Carlos, the Admiral, 
Francesca, Bud & Harriet, and nearly everyone else on your list.  
I tried calling your Aunt Aria and Uncle JT,  but someone 
named Ned informed me that they’re in New York with your 
brother Mike.”

“Well, did you call Mike and Sam?”  I demanded, after 
breathing through another contraction.

“Nope.  He didn’t have to,” Blair calmly announced from the 
other end of the bed.  “I called them when I went to grab that 
coffee three hours ago.  The whole family should be here in a few 
hours.”

I moaned.  Animal leaned over, concern etched into his tired 
features.  “Another contraction, honey?”

“No.  Just the thought of the entire Taggert/Montgomery clan, 
here, in a few hours.  It’s enough to make me go into labor again.  
Hey, Blair,” I called, then screamed incoherently as two more 
contractions hit me, one right after another.

“All right, Harm, Sarah, you two go wait with the rest of the 
family.  She’s at seven centimeters.  It’s party time,” Blair told 
my friends as she gave the anesthesiologist the order to 
administer my epidural.

“Wait. Harm, did you call Animal’s folks?”  I asked, worried.

“No, honey, I called them from the hotel, after I got cleaned up.  
They’re flying down tomorrow sometime.”  Animal kissed my 
cheek.

***************************************************************************
*****************
“Okay, this should be it for now,” Blair said.  “When I tell you 
to, I want you to push hard, ok?”

“Yeah,” I murmured weakly.

“OK, on three, one, two, three . . .push.

I pushed as hard as I could and then some.  “Oh, wow,” Blair 
exclaimed.  “Hey, Animal, come here a minute.”

“Whoa.  What?”” I demanded, frantic.  “Blair, is something 
wrong with Angel?” I asked.

“No, I just wanted her daddy to come watch her grand 
entrance, that’s all.  Her head’s coming out,” Blair replied.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I quipped.  “Okay, so shoulders are next, 
right?”

“Uh-huh. Push, Lia.  Hard.” Blair turned to my husband.  “Okay, 
Animal, hold Angel’s shoulders . . . like this,” Blair told him, 
“and when I say okay, pull your daughter on out.”

Animal nodded, and I could just barely see his face above the 
sterile blue sheet that had been draped over my knees.  There 
were tears in his eyes, and in my own.

“Alright, Angel’s shoulders are out.  Lia, it should only take a 
couple more pushes and Angel will be ready to meet her mom 
and dad.  Then it’ll be Sarah’s turn.  Ready?” she asked, 
reaching forward to squeeze my hand.  

“Ready, Cuz,” I smiled at Blair, referring to her by our old 
childhood nickname.

***************************************************************************
***********
TWO HOURS LATER
(8:15 AM CST/1415 ZULU)
CHRISTUS BOSSIER; L & D RECOVERY
DECEMBER 25, 2007

Animal brushed his hand across my cheek.  Smiling tiredly, I 
rubbed his hand with mine.  “How are the girls?” I asked.  

“Beautiful, just like their mother,” Animal grinned proudly at 
me.  Leaning over, he kissed me on the forehead.

There was a light tap on the door, as Harm and Sarah stuck 
their heads in.  “Can we come in?”

Animal nodded.  “Yeah,” he replied, bringing my hand to his 
lips softly.

Harm waved to someone behind him.  He walked in, followed by 
his wife and several of my family members, my mother leading 
the pack.

“Honey, how do you feel?” she asked, walking around to the 
other side of the bed to take my other hand.

“Fine, just tired.”  Movement behind my mom caught my eye.  
“Who’s that?”

“Surprise!”  It was Trent, Carlos, and Jimmy, Uncle Cordell and 
Alex hanging back behind them.

Trent pulled something from behind his back.  “It’s from all of 
us, me, Carlos, Jimmy, your Uncle and CD.”

He handed my mother a large navy velvet box, which she 
opened.  Mom gasped.  

“What is it, Mom?” I asked her, trying to sit up to see inside the 
box, but Animal shoved me back onto my pillows.  

Handing me the box, I peered inside.  “Oh, guys, they’re 
beautiful.”  Laying on a bed of pale blue satin were two sterling 
silver Texas Rangers badges, blank, but I could tell they were 
meant for engraving.

Jimmy spoke.  “They’re for the girls’ names, once you’ve decided.  
Walker and Alex picked them out.”

Tears filled my eyes.  Handing Animal the box, I held my arms 
open toward my uncle and his wife.  Cordell and Alex walked 
over and embraced me.  “Oh, Uncle Wascho,  how can I . . .”

“Hush, Heartsong,” my uncle chided, calling me by his Cherokee 
nickname for me.

Alex leaned over and kissed my cheek.  “Hey, have  you decided 
on names yet?”

I looked over at Animal, who nodded.  Blair came in the room, 
intending to usher my family out so the rest could say hi, and I 
paused to speak to her.  “Blair, get everybody in here for just a 
minute, will you?  I want everyone to hear what the girls’ 
names are.”

Blair stuck her head out the door, and my Uncle AJ, his 
daughter Francesca Peretti, Uncle Cordell’s former partner , CD 
Parker, Bud and Harriet, and my brothers Mike and Kane 
Taggert and their wives Samantha and Cale came trooping in.

“Okay, everybody, I’m sure you’ve all had time to go by the 
nursery and see the newest members of the JAG Corps,” I said 
jokingly, as everyone laughed.  Everyone except Animal.

“What?”  I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Why do the girls have to be JAGs?  Why not pilots?” he frowned.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Sarah muttered.  “They’re only an hour 
old!  You two can argue about this in twenty years.  What 
names did you decide on?”

Animal sat down next to me on the bed.  I slid over gingerly 
and patted the spot beside me.  “Come on, scoot over.  I’m not 
going to bite, I promise.”

“Not for at least three months! You need to heal and rest first.” 
Blair hollered from the back of the room.  

“Blair!” I sputtered, blushing furiously.  “Do you mind?  My 
mother’s in here!”

Animal cleared his throat, trying to hide a laugh.  He didn’t 
try hard enough, though, because I glanced over at Sarah.  
“Smack him for me, please, Mac.”

“Later,” my husband chided.  “We need to tell your family what 
we named the girls so you can get some rest.  You heard Blair,” 
Animal snickered.

“Okay.  Harm, Sarah, sit down,” I slapped my foot against the 
end of the bed.  

“Why?” Harm asked.

“Just do it, flyboy,” I growled.

Harm and Sarah sat.

Reaching over, I took my husband’s hand. “We decided on 
giving our daughters two middle names each, because we 
wanted to name them after our best friends, but we wanted the 
girls to have their own names, as well. You guys don’t know this, 
but right before Animal showed up at church last night, I had 
what I guess you could call a vision.  I was at the altar for 
prayer, because I was scared and worried about Animal,” I 
said, squeezing his hand.

“The gist of it is that an angel appeared to me and told me 
everything was going to be alright, that Animal was okay and 
he was coming home.  The minute I opened my eyes,” I paused, 
glancing at my husband with tear-filled eyes, “you came in the 
door.”

Turning back to my family, I continued.  “So, we came up with 
these as our daughters’ names. For the firstborn, Harmony 
Angel Grace Chikamori.  I think we’ll call her Harm for short,” I 
said with a grin.  Harm’s sharp intake of breath could be heard 
throughout the small room.  “Hush,” I scolded him.  “She’s our 
daughter, and we can name her whatever we want.  Angel’s 
sister’s name is Sarah Mercy Elizabeth Chikamori.”

Mac began to cry and threw her arms around me.  “Lia, I’m 
honored.”

“No, Mac,” Animal said softly.  “Liandra and I are the honored 
ones.  We’re honored to have you and Harm as our best friends.”

“Okay, everybody out.”  Blair commanded.

One by one, I got hugs and kisses from my friends and family.  
Blair was the last out the door.  She looked at Animal.  “You 
staying?”

“Yeah, somebody’s got to make sure this jarhead stays put,” 
Animal teased me.

“Ha, ha, very funny.  I’m so tired now I couldn’t get out of this 
bed if I had to.” I replied, wearily slapping at my husband.

“Okay.” Blair walked back over to the bed, leaned over and 
kissed my cheek.  “Get some sleep, Cuz, and I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, you, too, Cuz.  Go home.  I’ll have Mike call you if I need 
you.”

Blair left, and Animal and I curled up next to one another, 
finally alone.

Running his hand down my cheek, Animal sighed contentedly.  
“Happy?”

“Now that you’re home, I am.” I tried to keep the tears from 
falling, but failed miserably.

Astute as ever, Animal saw them and kissed the teardrops out of 
existence. “Hey, no tears.”

“You know why I wanted the girls to have Grace and Mercy in 
their names?”

“Tell me.” 

“It’s through God’s infinite grace and mercy that you came 
home when and how you did.  Animal,” I wept, “ it’s a miracle.”

“You’re right, honey.  You’re absolutely right.”  His face softened, 
and he kissed me tenderly.  “Merry Christmas, darling.”

I kissed him back, touching his unshaven, scratchy cheek with 
my lips before I spoke.  “Merry Christmas, my love.  Merry 
Christmas.”

***************************************************************************
***********
Okay, that’s it.  Finis.  Animal, as always, tell me what you 
think, okay?

Feedback welcome at harms_girl@yahoo.com

Merry Christmas, everybody!!! *

    Source: geocities.com/mrs_hchikamori