This is my 200th fic and I gave into the intense desire for some fluff. I don't get a chance to write much IPS fic but I am so intrigued by how they're gonna handle Mary's pregnancy that this just spewed forth.
Thanks, love, & undying devotion to OneTurtleDove (Rachel) for being my sounding board on all things. And, moreover, to my readers who continually leave me feedback that encourages me to keep writing. I love you all.
Disclaimer: I do not own a thing.
Soft whimpers from tiny lungs pulled Marshall from his half-slumber on the hospital couch. Blindly, with sleep still clouding his eyes, he stumbled across the dimly lit room and lifted the newborn baby from the bassinet and began to pace. He bounced him as he walked back and forth, "Hey, hey, hey, Seth, none of that. You're okay. Nobody left you."
The baby began to quiet in his arms and he took a seat in the chair beside his partner's bed, "We don't want to wake your mama, bud, an exhausted Mary is not pleasant."
His socked feet rested on the lowered guard rail and he leaned forward to rest the baby on his thighs, "She worked really hard to make sure you'd get here safely. You don't know it yet but for your mama to go on desk duty voluntarily speaks volumes about how much she loves you. Then she spent fourteen hours helping you be born so I think we should let her sleep for now, don't you?"
Seth gurgled and Marshall wiped the spit away with his thumb, "I knew you would see my side of things. Remember, I'm the one that's always right."
"I have to be honest," he bounced his legs to placate the child's need for movement, "I wasn't entirely enthused when I became aware of your existence. I guess I always thought that if your mama ever had a kid that you would be mine in blood. I felt like your mama had done it all to spite me and how much I loved her but it turns out she was just clueless. Luckily when Mary's clueless she just makes me fall more in love with her and I can't stay mad at her for long anyway."
Seth blinked his eyes as if in understanding and stretched his tiny fist out toward the man.
Marshall unfurled the small hand and allowed the tiny fingers to curl around his pointer finger, "I know, silly me. I should know by now that when it comes to Mary resistance is futile."
"Your biological father isn't gonna be around much, Seth – and by 'much' I mean you probably won't know him as much more than a monthly check in the mail. I hate him for that because he doesn't know you. He doesn't know that you have your mama's blond hair and those Shannon eyes or that you have his smile – which looks way better on you. He doesn't know how you kicked your mama's insides senseless at three in the morning every single day and he won't know the man you grow up to be."
Emotion clogged his throat and he coughed softly before continuing, "I'll be there. I may not ever be anything besides your kooky Uncle Marshall but I will be the best kooky Uncle Marshall that I can be, okay? Anything you need, Seth Wiley Shannon, anything at all. Little league coach, cub scout leader, girl advice. You and your mama, you're never gonna shake me."
Mary turned on the bed and spoke with a sleepy voice, "You are way more than kooky Uncle Marshall."
"Sleep, Mare," he took her hand and rubbed circles on her palm, "I've got him."
"I know you do," she promised and forced her eyes open to look at her boys, "I was just missing my guys."
"We're right here," he promised. He shifted Seth to lay on her chest and dropped a kiss to Mary's temple, "better?"
She caught his hand and pulled him onto the bed beside her, "Perfect."
"You're such a sap," he teased as he wrapped himself around his family.
"Yeah, okay," she admitted as she relaxed against him and dropped kisses to her son's head, "jus' don't tell anybody, 'kay? 't's jus' the meds."
"Your secret is safe with me," he kissed her jaw, "sleep, Mary."
"What if-"
"I'm right here if either of you need anything," Marshall promised, "sleep."
"But Marshall-"
"Sleep, Mary."
"Shuddup for a minute, Bossypants," Mary ordered through her exhaustion, "I just... I want... he may not be yours biologically but I wouldn't do this with anyone else. He's just as much your son as he is mine."
"Thank you," his eyes were filled with tears as he pressed kisses to her hair, "now sleep. I'll wake you if he needs anything."
She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes, "Our son, Marshall. Ours."
"I hear you. He's our son."