Okay, so you convinced me to do a sequel for 'A Point To Be Made'. It's set about a few months after the epilogue. Norah is six and Evie is four. For this story, Peter was the father of Brandi's baby and after she came back, they got back together.

Please review and let me know what you think. I'm sure I've read most IPS stories on this site and pretty sure there isn't one like this. Please let me know if there is anywhere, would love to read! Lol.

Enjoy!

Fairytale Ending

"Where the hell is my phone…?" Mary muttered to herself as she searched under the cushions on the sofa before standing up straight, hands on hips; casting an eye around the room, looking for anywhere she hadn't searched yet. Evie was sat on top of the kitchen counter, eating toast and silently watching her.

It was one of those mornings where everything went wrong. First, both she and Marshall woke up later than normal. Then Evie insisted on trying every outfit that was in her closet. Norah hadn't wanted to get ready and Mary found her twice at the table with paper and crayons.

She didn't have time to do much with breakfast and told the girls they would have to settle for toast or cereals and they both whined that they wanted Daddy's pancakes. Mary wanted pancakes too but her husband was still upstairs in the bathroom. She briefly considering going up and finding out what was taking him so long but decided he was grown man who can get himself ready; she had enough to deal with. The fact he was slow this morning was probably the reason they all were so behind, normally he was the one in charge of getting them all out the house. And to top it all off, her unborn child felt like it was doing summersaults inside her. At five months pregnant, she was already sick of being pregnant and couldn't wait until the baby was born.

"Norah!" She shouted from where she was; knowing her eldest daughter was in her bedroom, upstairs.

"What?!" A shout came back. She could hear Marshall in her mind, telling her they couldn't expect the girls to use indoor voices if they didn't and she still rolled her eyes as if he was there and actually said the words.

"Where's my phone?!"

"Under my picture!"

Mary sighed loudly and moved to the table in the kitchen and lifted some papers but still couldn't find it. "Which picture?!"

"The one of the dog!"

Mary threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "They're all of dogs!"

"What with all the shouting?" Marshall asked as he entered the room.

"Norah thinks that if she strategy leaves drawings of dogs around the place, then we'll get one." Mary answered, turning over some more papers without much luck. "She's sneaky that one, I'm telling you."

"Gets it from her mother…" Marshall answered, sitting down at the table, resting his head on his hand.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not…"

"It was meant as one." He answered with a yawn.

"Norah!" Mary shouted again. "Get down here and find my phone!"

"Just a minute!"

Mary stopped searching and turned her attention to him. He was just sat there, staring into a bowl of cereals, the top buttons of his shirt open and his tie hanging undone around his neck.

"Okay, what's going on here?" She gestured a hand at him.

"Hmm?"

"You feeling okay?" She moved closer to get a better look. "You look terrible."

He sighed. "I probably caught that bug that Delia had."

"Are you going to sick for the weekend?" She questioned.

Tomorrow they had an appointment for a scan and were going to find out the baby's gender. Marshall insisted he would happy if it was another girl, as long as they were healthy and Mary didn't doubt he would love their child unconditionally but she knew deep down he was hoping for a son. She had told him, she wanted a boy just because there was no way she was having any more kids, just to give him a son.

Brandi had offered to take Norah and Evie for the day to have a girly day. Neither of her daughters were overly girly but she knew they both enjoyed the pamper days they had with their aunt and their six year old cousin, Kerri. It would also give Mary and Marshall the rare opportunity to spend some alone time together. Mary was actually looking forward to it and there was already the risk that one of them would get called into work; she didn't want to add Marshall being sick to the list.

"I'll be fine." He rubbed his eyes. "Once I've had some coffee and get to work… I'm sure I'll be able to shake it off…"

"Why don't you just stay home?" She suggested. "You have no meetings and no plans to do any visits."

"I'm not taking a sick day for a cold, Mare."

"You've worked your ass off this week to make sure we both were free this weekend, barring any emergencies…I know you're all caught up and any paper you do have, you can do from here."

"I don't know…"

"And you won't be infecting the rest of us with your germs in the office."

"I guess I could always come in later once I've gotten some rest…" He relented a little bit.

"We got everything covered, Chief." She assured him. "Take the day…"

He was about to reply when his wife turned away from him, wincing a little when she shouted for their oldest daughter again.

"NORAH! COME FIND MY PHONE."

"FINE!" A call came back then the sound of feet running down the stairs.

"Don't run in the house…" Marshall said half-heartedly when Norah came into view, her socked feet sliding on the floorboards.

"Sorry…" She skidded to a stop before walking to the counter, lifting a sheet of paper that was on the counter beside Evie to reveal Mary's phone. "There."

Mary didn't have chance to say anything before Norah disappeared back up the stairs to finish getting ready. She looked at Evie who was just finishing her toast.

"Did you know that was there?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mary said with a frustrated sigh.

"You didn't ask me." She shrugged and slid off counter and moved to Marshall. "I'm staying home with Daddy today."

"Sorry, Princess…You've got school." Marshall shook his head.

"But Mom's going to work and there will be no one to look after you." She looked up at him.

He lifted her up onto his lap. "I appreciate the concern, Princess but I'm fine…just a small cold…Go to school and have some fun."

"You better hurry to; we need to leave in a minute." Mary added, as she read through her messages. "And tell your sister I'm taking you two today."

"Fine…" She huffed and went to the stairs, shouting to her sister as she did. "NORAH MOM SAYS SHE'S TAKING US TO SCHOOL!"

"OH MAN, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Mary looked up and shot Marshall a look when she heard him laughing lightly. "Shut up."

"You call me if anything happens." Marshall told her. "I'm not too sick to work…Don't try and handle everything by yourself."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yes, boss."

"I mean, it Mare…this is just a cold…I shouldn't even be staying at home."

"Just go back to bed for a few hours." She replied, not believing that he felt as well as he was telling her. "You look exhausted."

He sighed a little, running a hand over his eyes. "Okay."

"GIRLS! LETS GO!"

"And you wonder why they shout inside the house…"

"Not really but I did wonder how long it would take for you to bring it up."

"Get to work." He ordered lightly.

She leaned in for a kiss but then pulled back, changing her mind. "Actually, you might be contagious…"

Any other time Marshall would have mocked her for being scared of a little cold but he didn't want to risk her getting sick while she was pregnant so let the comment go.

Mary kissed her fingers and placed them on his forehead instead then frowned, laying her palm fully against his head. "You're really hot…"

"Now is not the time, Mare…You got to get to the work…" He joked weakly.

"I'm serious." She said in concern. "You're burning up."

He shifted away from her hand. "It's nothing; it's just a little warm in here."

"Actually, it's cold."

"Honestly, Mare…I'm fine." He stood up. "You're probably right, I just need some more sleep…I'll probably feel much better after."

"Fine." She gave up. She knew him well and they were both similar; neither of them liked to admit it when they were ill. "Call me if you need anything."

"You too."

"I'm ready!" Evie announced, rushing into the room in her coat, scarf, gloves and hat.

"Look at you all wrapped up." Mary commented, adjusting her hat so it wasn't covering her eyes.

"It's November…It's cold outside." The little replied, adding a little shiver for effect.

Mary shot Marshall an 'I told you so' look but he ignored her.

"Have a good day, Princess." Marshall put arm around her small shoulders, squeezing gently, not wanting to get too close to her.

Mary shook her head a little, watching him as he made his way upstairs. After being a Mom, she had become better at taking care of sick people and she just wished Marshall would let her take care of him, once in a while.

XxXxX

Mary didn't even look away from her computer screen as she reached out to picked up her ringing phone; putting it to her ear and holding it with her shoulder so could keep on tapping.

"Mary Shannon." She answered.

"Hey…" A familiar yet tired voice replied.

"Hey." She turned her full attention to the call when she realized it was Marshall. "Feeling any better?"

"I guess…"

"You know I can tell when you're lying, right?" She told him, leaning back against the chair. "Did you get some sleep?"

"Slept all morning…" He informed her.

"Still have a temperature?"

"A little bit."

"Any other symptoms?"

"Got a bit of a sore throat…and a headache." He sighed and Mary could tell he must be feeling rough if he was so willing to admit what was wrong. "I got a doctor's appointment this afternoon."

"You feel that bad?" She questioned in surprise.

"It's probably nothing but I don't want to risk you or the girls catching it."

"Do you need me to come home?"

"I need you to stay there and make sure everything is okay."

"You sure? Delia and Neil can…"

"I'm sure." He cut in. "I'll probably sleep for the rest of the day anyway."

"Okay…"

"I also spoke with Brandi…She offered to pick the girls up and have them tonight as well as tomorrow…get a head start on the day of fun." He told her. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." She agreed. "Looks like everything is on track here, I should be able to leave early."

"Well, don't rush on my account."

"Oh please, I'm just looking forward to putting my feet up...I'm the one with a human growing inside of me…You've just got a cold." They both knew it was all for show.

"I'll see you in a bit then."

"I'll bring some soup."

He laughed lightly.

"What?" She asked. "That's what people normally bring when someone is sick, right?"

"Normal people, yes but you…"

"I'm hanging up now." She claimed, not waiting for his reply before cancelling the call.

"How's the boss man?" Delia called across the office to her.

"Pretending he's not ill." Mary answered. "But I'm sure he'll be fine after a weekend off."

"Take him some muffins." Delia started to put some into a container. "I feel awful about passing on my bug…"

"He's a grown man, he'll survive." Mary claimed, reaching for the treats eagerly.

Delia added a couple extra to the tub, knowing not all of them would reach Marshall.

XxXxX

When Mary arrived home late afternoon, she found Marshall on the couch watching TV.

"Hey." She dropped her bag down to the floor and pulled of her coat. "How you feeling?"

"A lot better actually." He answered honestly watching her pull off her boots.

"You don't look so pale now." She commented, moving closer and feeling his cool forehead. "And no temperature."

"Told you it was nothing to worry about…"

"What did the doctor say?"

"Just a bug…" He shrugged. "He said there was a lot going around."

"Well, good…" She fell down on the couch next to him, lifting her feet up into his lap. "Because if you thought for one minutes I was going to be your personal nurse…"

"Hey, you putting on the uniform would have been enough for me." He teased.

"God, you're such a flirt." She kicked him gently in the stomach and he grabbed her feet before gently starting to massage them. "What's that?"

She leaned forward as much as her pregnant stomach would allow her, running her fingers over a white bandage on his arm, just below his elbow.

"Oh, that's nothing…It's from where I tackled Martin Killmen."

"That was over a week ago."

"I know, the doctor noticed it…said it wasn't healing very well so told me to keep it covered and make sure it doesn't get infected."

"You never said it was that bad."

"I didn't even notice it until he pointed it out." He continued the massage. "Have you eaten? I could get started on dinner."

"I should be taking care of you." She sighed.

Although she was five months pregnant, there was no reason for him to waiting on her hand and foot, especially when he was sick but then that was how it always was. Whenever she let him, he would do anything for her. She would rarely admit it but she liked it when he did…He was the only one that was allowed to look after her and she wanted to be the one to take care of him.

"I don't mind…" He lifted her feet and placed them in his place on the couch, kissing her cheek before heading to the kitchen.

XxXxX

"Are you ever going to stop grinning?" Mary rolled her eyes when she entered the kitchen and noticed the look on his face.

"Nope." His grin actually widened as he turned, wrapping his arms around, swaying to music only he could hear.

"Get off me, you loon." She half-heartily tried to escape his grasp.

"You've made me a very happy man, Mary Shannon-Mann." He suddenly twirled her before spinning her back into his arms.

"You're making me dizzy." She complained lightly, not bothering to comment on him tagging 'Mann' onto the end of her name. For work purposes, she was still known as Mary Shannon and Marshall was the only one that got away with using her married name. "I knew you secretly wanted a boy…all that talk about being happy whatever."

"I would have been happy." He insisted. "I would love another blue-eyed, blonde hair angel running around the place but yes, it's nice to be having a boy."

She smiled softly. "Well, I'm not having any more so unless you run off with a younger model, he'll be your only son…"

"Never." He claimed, framing her face with his hands before kissing her deeply.

Mary clung onto him tightly, getting lost in the moment until they heard someone clearing their throat. They broke apart and turned to see Brandi leaning in the doorway.

"Feeling better, I take it?" She smirked.

"Don't you ever knock?" Mary grumbled.

"Hey, be thankful it wasn't the kids that walked in on your little show, there." Her sister replied, waving a hand at the two of them.

"Where are they?" Marshall peered over Brandi shoulder, realizing that he couldn't hear his daughters either.

"They wanted to surprise you and put on a fashion show with the new clothes we got this today."

"Brandi, you shouldn't be spending your money on them." Mary sighed.

She rolled her eyes. "They're my only nieces, Mare…I want to spoil them…Besides, Kerri needed a new outfit for that event Peter's parents are having next week…wouldn't be fair to drag them shopping and not buy them anything."

"Well, we appreciate it." Marshall nudged his wife's shoulder. "Don't we, Mare?"

"Yeah, sure…Whatever makes you all happy."

"And speaking of which… are they still my only nieces or will there be another one joining them soon…" Brandi fished.

"You tell her." Mary looked at Marshall, rolling her eyes when she saw him whipping out the scan photographs from his pocket.

"A beautiful, healthy boy." He grinned like a madman again.

"Ohhhh look!" Brandi cooed, taking the pictures. "He's so cute!"

"We're ready!" Norah's yell interrupted them.

"Oh right, we're meant to be sat on the couch." Brandi handed the scan back to Marshall.

He reached out and caught Mary's hand, tugging her alone as he followed his sister-in-law.

He shared a smile with Mary as the girl showed off their new clothes and danced around the living room. Their life was one big crazy, chaotic blur most of the time but he wouldn't have it any other way.

XxXxX

Monday morning came and Marshall returned to work, his sick day from Friday was pretty much forgotten until he received a phone call from his doctor's office; telling him the results for the routine test he had done were back and the doctor wanted to speak him.

He hadn't been concerned and booked himself in during his lunch. He didn't put much thought into what the result said because he felt fine and had bounced back from the so called flu bug quicker then he thought.

Now he was sat opposite the doctor, staring at him, certain he had missed heard what he was just told. There was no way it was possible…Not now…not to him.

"Mr. Mann, I know what I told you must be a shock…" Doctor Mallon started gently.

"This can't be right…" Marshall cut in. "Are you sure? I mean, my results probably got mixed up with someone else's…"

The doctor shook his head a little. "I'm sorry but I looked over the results myself…You're welcome to get a second opinion…"

"But I feel fine." He insisted. "I'm in good shape…I work out, I don't smoke or drink a lot of alcohol…I eat healthy..."

"Sometimes even when we do everything right, this still happens." The doctor said softly. "But we have caught this early…The cancer is still in the early stages and amazing things are done with today's treatments…People survive Leukemia everyday…"

Marshall pushed himself to his feet and ran a hand over his hair, turning his back to the doctor.

"I know this a lot to take in…Is there anyone I can call for you?"

"My wife is working…I can't….She's five months pregnant." Marshall felt the need to say. "We're having a little boy…We already have two girls, six and four…"

"Congratulations…And having a strong, loving, supporting family behind will help you through this." The doctor claimed. "You have every chance of beating this, Mr. Mann… the odds are on your side."

Marshall had never been much of a betting man, aside from the ones with Mary but if anyone would have asked him, he would have put money on his job being the biggest threat to his life; not this.

"I've passed on your details to Doctor Philips…He is the hospital's specialist… You should get in contact with him sooner the better." Mallon advised, handing over a sheet of paper which had the doctor's information.

"Right…" Marshall stared down at it but didn't read a word of it.

"I'm sorry this is such bad new, Mr. Mann and it's come at the time when you should be celebrating new life but I have every confidence that you'll come through this just fine." The doctor continued but Marshall just didn't know what to say in return. "If you need to talk or have any more questions, please don't hesitate in getting in touch."

"Thanks…" He managed to say, clearing his throat a little and automatically held out a hand.

"Good luck." Mallon shook his hand.

Marshall forced a small smile before turning and rushing towards the door. He needed to get out of there, needed to get some fresh air and some space. He needed to work out how the hell he was going to tell Mary.

TBC

Worth continuing? Please let me know what you think.