Summary: After Police Quest 3. They love each other to the end of the world, but she fears that she'll never be beautiful to him again after her stabbing.
Timeframe: After Police Quest 3, after Marie leaves the hospital.
Characters/Pairing: Sonny/Marie
Genre: Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG
I Love You, Scars and All
"Oh Sonny, we're going to have a baby!"
This news had excited Marie and Sonny Bonds almost as much as Marie's survival and recovery had. At last, they were going to find out how special it felt to have a family of their own. In the hospital, both husband and wife were allowed a first glimpse of the fetus growing in Marie's womb, and in spite of the vicious stab wounds given her by Steve Rocklin and Michael Bains, the baby was alive, unharmed, and healthy. As before when Marie first entered the hospital, Sonny had cried, but this time they were tears of joy, and Marie had cried with him. The news was so beautiful!
Things were peaceful as Sonny brought Marie home after weeks of recovery in a hard white bed, where she could at last sleep in her own bed again. The threat of the Bains family had finally been neutralized for good, including the Bains brothers' half-sister, corrupt Officer Pat Morales, and husband and wife looked forward to a bright future.
And yet, as Marie came home and looked at herself in the mirror, something was bothering her. She wasn't bothered by her physical appearance or relative inactivity; she had gone through some physical therapy in the hospital after her wounds had healed enough, and she was still as strong a fighter as her husband in the face of danger. No, this was something that occurred to her as she opened her blouse to feel and gaze at her abdomen where her baby rested.
Before she could look fondly at her belly, her eyes caught the scars left over from her stabbing, two just above her breasts and one more in-between. Almost all the pain from the wounds was gone, but Marie couldn't help but stare at her injuries and cry a little. "I can't believe that bastard Bains and his cult did this to me," she said in a whisper. "I don't feel beautiful or sexy anymore. Oh, what will Sonny think? Men always like their women to be flawless in appearance. What if he stops being attracted to me? What if he won't make love to me anymore? Oh, why do he and I have to go through all this tragedy?" She wept to herself.
Sonny was walking down the hall and heard her crying. He walked in and saw her with her blouse open and her head in her hands.
"What is it, Marie?" he asked, "I hope you're not still upset about what Bains and his brother did to you? Or did Morales' insult about you being 'nothing but a hooker on an extended holiday' get to you again?"
"No, Sonny," she said, fighting to control herself, "Bains is gone, and I couldn't care less about what some wretched, corrupt cop thinks of me. I…" she hesitated for a moment, "…I feel ruined, Sonny."
Sonny blinked. "Ruined? What do you mean?"
"These ugly scars," she said, gesturing to her chest, "I always wanted to look like a pure woman to you, Sonny. But with these scars on me for the rest of my life…oh, Sonny, please don't tell me you're not attracted to me anymore! I couldn't bear it if you never wanted to be close to me in bed again with my body like this!"
Sonny walked over to her and examined her scars. "Marie, I could never stop loving your body as much as I love you," he said, "The scars aren't that bad or that deep, and over the course of a month, they'll disappear even more. They probably won't go away completely, but you shouldn't worry about me distancing myself from you, you know." He put his hand under her chin and raised her head. "To me, you're just as beautiful as the day I first made love to you. Think of the scars the way some cops and many soldiers look at their own scars, as badges of honor in your love and loyalty to me. Every time I see them, I'll remember the time when I almost lost you, and I'll be even more grateful to still have you by my side. And of course," he added, rubbing her flat but growing abdomen, "for the next nine months, I'll have another little thing to cherish with you, too."
Marie looked at Sonny with amazement. She dried her eyes and hugged him close. "Thank you, Sonny," she said joyfully, "I'm so glad you believe that I'm still beautiful. You're not like a lot of other men, you know. You care about me no matter what I look like, and you know that I would do the same for you. You will never let me down."
Sonny smiled warmly. "Of course I'll never let you down. Now, why don't you button up your blouse and get some rest? You still need to take it easy before you can do anything strenuous or tiring."
"Join me in bed, Sonny Bonds," she said with a seductive smile. "Not to have sex, of course. I think I'll heal a lot faster if I sit or lie in your arms, bare skin to bare skin, that's all. I think you miss the warm company I gave you, too."
Sonny chuckled nervously. "Uh, Marie, I'm not sure if-"
Marie dropped her blouse on the floor and began to forcefully strip Sonny of his clothes, doing the same with her own clothes a moment later. They lay in each other's arms for hours.
"That certainly shut up Sonny," Marie thought. "God bless intimacy between a woman and a man!"