This takes place after Mary gave birth, giving the baby up for adoption. One-Shot!
It had been a month since she had given birth and the adoption had taken place; she had been back to work a week ago. She had tried to get back to what she was before the pregnancy, but she would catch herself touching her stomach - a stomach that was still slightly protruding - more than once throughout the day. Something that would frustrate her and at moments drawing blood from her lip.
Marshall had given her space throughout the past month, but he could sense that she was in too deep. Whenever he tried to reach out she would smile feebly at him and tell him that she was fine, it was driving him insane.
It was Friday night, her first week back and Marshall was through with giving her space, "Hey Mare, what do you say we go out to Two Fools?"
Mary turned to him and smiled her 'back off' smile, "No thanks, I just want to get home and sit on my couch. Watch TV and relax."
He leaned back on his chair and tried to convince her, "Come on Mare, since when do you relax? We haven't been out in a long time."
She shrugged and shook her head, "I'm not in the mood, I'd really just like to go home."
"You can't hole yourself up..." he began but was interrupted.
"Marshall, stop! I can take care of myself. I'm not going to hole myself up," she air quoted with her fingers before she started gathering her things and stuffing them in her bag angrily. Reaching into her desk drawer and holstering her glock.
"Mare, you know you can...count on me, right?" he drawled. He knew that she was hurting for the adoption, especially because he knew her so well. She had raised her sister after their father abandoned them with a drunken Jinx. He knew it wasn't easy and that deep down she wasn't ok or fine, but quite the contrary.
She stopped and swirled to glare at him, "Lay off!"
Stan walked out of his office and over to her desk, "Going home?"
"You too?" she shot daggers at him.
"What'd I do?" he asked defensively, looking at Marshall with raised eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes at them and walked out of the office without a backward glance.
It was late at night and Marshall sat with Abigail on the couch, she kept shooting sideway glances at him in concern.
"What?" he asked abruptly.
Abigail turned to look at him with a startled expression, "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," he murmured as he continued to pretend to watch the show playing on his big screen TV.
"It's not nothing, you have something on your mind, why don't you share with me Honey?" she coaxed with her usual sugar coated twang.
Marshall shook his head, not giving her an answer. He knew she wanted to help, but she couldn't help. No one could help. Not even he could help her, the sadness lurking in her eyes, in her smile. He couldn't help but want to be by her at a moment like this.
"Is it Mary? How is she coping after the adoption?" she asked, trying to draw Marshall out of his reverie.
"I don't want to talk about Mary," he scowled as he reached for the remote.
"Marshall, we're in this relationship together. We have to share these things," she advised with a pout.
"Mary is a conversation that's off limits, Abs," he warned, as he glance at her with a frown.
Abigail stood up and began to pace in front of him, "Why is she off limits? Because she's your partner? Why is she so special?"
Marshall glanced up at her and shook his head, "Because she's my best-friend."
"I'm your fiancée, don't you think you can talk about your best-friend with your fiancée?" she challenged.
He stood up and grabbed her shoulders, "No"
Marshall walked to the front door and unhooked his coat, reaching on the table by the door for his car keys. He opened the front door and she asked nervously, "Where are you going?"
"I don't know, but I don't feel like being interrogated about my partner," he walked out and closed the door behind him.
Mary walked into her house and threw her keys on the side table by the door, shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it over a chair. She walked over to the fridge, looking for a beer, but finding it practically empty.
She had gone straight to a diet, trying to lose all the baby weight. Again her hand found itself over her stomach and she rubbed, feeling empty inside. She didn't regret giving her child up for adoption; she would have a better chance of being a happy child with a family. And for that she wouldn't regret her decision.
They had agreed to an open adoption, the adoptive parents would send yearly updates with pictures and videos. It had been a little girl, that much she knew, she had asked the nurses to take her away right after the baby was born. She knew that if she had held the child, she would be a mother at this point.
Not finding the much needed beer, she reached in and took a bottled water. She sipped it as she walked over to her couch, her cell went off and she took it out of her front pocket. Jinx.
She sent it to voicemail, she didn't feel like talking to a dramatic, over emotional mother at the moment. All she got from her mother and sister were reproaches for giving her child up for adoption.
Flopping down on the couch, she stretched out on it and reached for the remote. For the past month, since she came back from the hospital, she would just lay on her couch and try to forget.
A few minutes of watching TV on mute, her cell phone went off again, she had placed it on the coffee table. She reached out and propped it up to see who was calling. Brandi. Again she sent it to voice mail. After a minute, the phone chirped alerting Mary to a voicemail.
She reached out and pressed the voicemail key, waiting for the machine to start the message and closed her eyes when she heard her sister, "Come on Mare, answer our calls. You can't just ignore us forever. Call us back or you'll be seeing us soon."
She deleted the message with an eye roll in annoyance, now she had to plan a trip out to the Sandia Mountains. She didn't want to talk to anyone, because they all wanted her to talk about the adoption. She sat up with a groan and decided to go out and get beer or something stronger.
Marshall had driven aimlessly around town, he gave up and decided to go to Two Fools for a drink or two. But once he drove into the parking lot he changed his mind, driving to a store he bought beer and a bottle of whiskey.
He drove out to Mary's place and parked across the street, didn't want to alert her of his arrival. He wasn't sure why he ended at her place, but he knew he didn't want her to be alone in her big house.
He crossed the street and was about to unlock the door with the key she had given him for emergencies, when the door swung open, startling both partners.
Mary opened her front door after reaching for her keys and almost ran into Marshall standing on her porch, keys in hand and beer on the other.
She scowled as she let him in, "What the hell's wrong with you? What are you doing here?"
"Sorry, I just…I wanted to spend time with my best-friend," he drawled unapologetically.
She rolled her eyes and reached for a beer when he set the box on the island. She popped it open and went around getting them both glasses, proceeding to the living room.
"Pizza?" he asked from the kitchen.
"Not hungry," she murmured as she turned her TV back on. Sipping on her beer as she tried to find something to watch.
He joined her a few minutes later, sitting beside her, but not touching. A beer in hand, he reached out and placed the whiskey on the coffee table in front of them, next to the glasses she had placed there.
A few beers later and a couple of shots down, she turned to her partner and murmured, "Thanks."
He nodded slowly looking at her with glazed blue eyes and drunkenly murmured, "You don't have to thank me, you can always count on me. I would do anything for you."
She looked away and rested her head on the couch, she closed her eyes and took a chance. She turned to him again and leaned over towards him, she pushed him out on the couch and lay against his chest.
Mary fell asleep with the rhythm of his heart in her ear, his arm around her waist, his hand on her hip. She rested her hand on his chest and threw her leg over his as she cradled against his warmth.
Hope you enjoyed!