Mary Shannon groaned in content and rolled over and snuggled deeper into the covers and closer to her bed companion, her husband, partner, lover and best friend of eleven years, Marshal Marshall Mann. Today was Saturday, her favourite day of the week, simply because she didn't have to work and could sleep in, well, sometimes she could. Today was obviously not one of those days.

She heard the sound of small feet padding across the carpet to her side of the bed, and then she felt those deep blue eyes staring at her. She forced herself to turn her head and crack one eye open, and saw her three year old son, James, who was named after her father, staring back at her with his usual smile on his face.

"Good morning Mommy!" he greeted her quietly while patting her cheek, being mindful of Marshall still dozing.

She shifted onto her back in order to see James a bit better.

"Good morning to you too, Squirt. What time is it?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"Time for you to get up" James replied cheekily, which caused Marshall to chuckle from the other side of the bed. "The time time is six five seven" said James proudly.

"Which makes the time actually...?" probed Mary.

"Six fifty seven, and it's morning... so AM!" exclaimed James.

"Good job buddy!" said Marshall, who was now fully awake and tuned into their conversation.

"What are we doing up so early, anyway?" asked Mary.

"Learning!" he said.

"Learning again? I taught you how to write your name yesterday. What else would you like to learn today?" enquired Mary.

James shrugged in response. "Anything" he decided.

"Go play in the living room and I'll be out in a few minutes, and then we can learn. Do you want to help make breakfast?" asked Mary.

"YAY!" said James, who turned on his heel and ran out of the bedroom.

Mary buried her face in the pillows and groaned.

"It's not even 7am on a Saturday and I have to get up. Pregnant women should not have to get up before 7" complained Mary.

"Hey Mare, it's 7:02 now" teased Marshall.

Mary threw a pillow at him in response, which he skilfully caught.

"Jerk. Also, how is my three year old kid beginning to grasp sarcasm?" asked Mary.

"I'm not sure about that, but I know one thing for sure. He's definitely yours" grinned Marshall.

"Hush. I know he's yours because he's turned the house upside down in order to find more things to learn about. He's a great kid, Marshall" she grinned at him.

"I know Mare, I know." He grinned back at her.

"MOMMY!" James called from the living room, breaking the gaze between Mary and Marshall.

"Well, looks like I'll be learning, teaching... doing my thing" she said, getting out of bed and pulling her silky robe on over her pyjamas.

"I'll be down in a second. And Mare?" he said, stopping Mary from walking out of the room.

"Yeah?" she asked, fixing the tie on her robe.

"I'll make breakfast"

~ Fin ~