This is one of my many takes on what might have happened after that last credit rolled. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

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"I love you, Marshall."

Marshall looked at her, eyes filled with tears. She looked so beautiful in her bride's maid dress, with her hair styled carefully into a bun. She was saying everything he had wanted to hear, only a year too late. "I'm sorry, Mary," he managed, rubbing her shoulder lightly. "I love Abigail."

The way her face crumbled broke his heart, but he didn't have a choice. The woman he was going to marry was waiting for him in the other room, along with both of their families and all their friends. He could hear the music begin. He was going to be late.

So why couldn't he make his feet move?

Mary pulled back from him, her devastation written all over her face. "I can't do this."

"Mare, please don't go."

She didn't listen. Turning on her heel, she ran out of the room, leaving Marshall alone and in tears.

When he came back from his honeymoon, he couldn't bear to be around Mary with the knowledge that she loved him and she could never be his. So he transferred from the job he loved to one in D.C., a move Abigail had loved. They lived in the suburbs with Oscar and had a baby, living out the traditional happily ever after he had always wanted.

Except it wasn't happily ever after, and he had lost the best friend he'd ever had just to realize he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Norah Elizabeth Shannon, get down here right now!"

Standing in her kitchen, Mary Shannon sighed as she listened for her daughter's footsteps on the stairs. She was making French toast, Norah's favorite, for her first day of eleventh grade. She sighed and shook her head. How was it even possible that her baby girl was sixteen years old already?

Her hands paused momentarily. Was it possible it had been fifteen years since the last time she saw Marshall? Since the last time she had spoken to him?

Shortly after he left, Stan retired and Mary took charge of the marshals. She didn't care for being in charge, especially all the paperwork it came with, but it was better than the idea of being partnered with someone else, someone who wasn't Marshall. It killed her, in fact. So she took the promotion and just took it day by day. The pain nearly killed her at first, but she woke up one morning and it didn't hurt so badly. Eventually she got to the point where she could look at his picture and not break down in tears. The years passed, and she could remember his smile, his voice, without falling apart.

She never settled down after Marshall left. Eventually things with Kenny fizzled out, and she contented herself with one night stands when she needed any kind of physical release. Her entire life came to revolve around Norah and her job, and she liked it that way.

Finally she heard Norah come down the stairs, and she turned around just as her teenage daughter came into the kitchen. "Good morning, Bug."

Norah grumbled and plopped down at the kitchen table.

Mary chuckled. Norah reminded her so much of herself at that age, it was terrifying. But she had to admit, Norah was a good kid. She didn't miss curfew, didn't cheat or lie, and when she did date Mary usually approved of the boy. It was a huge relief, to know her daughter actually cared about her future. She was a good kid.

Fixing a plate of French toast and cut up strawberries, Mary laid them in front of Norah's head along with a glass of orange juice. "Eat up, kiddo. You have a big day."

Another grumble emerged from under the tangle of blond hair.

Chuckling, Mary ruffled her daughter's hair. "Love you, Bug."

"Mmph."

When Norah arrived at her first period class, she was the second student to take a seat. In one of the seats closest to the front, a boy with messy brunette hair and blue eyes was scribbling something in a notebook in front of him. Norah sat down beside him and eyed him curiously. It wasn't a small school, but she knew almost everyone in her class. This kid had to be new, and it didn't hurt that he was really cute.

Straightening her shoulders, Norah cleared her throat. "Hi." The boy turned his head and regarded her curiously. "I'm Norah Shannon. Are you new?"

He shrugged slightly. "Yeah."

"New to the school or…?"

"New to this side of the continent." He brushed his hair away from his forehead. "My name's Aiden."

They exchanged smiles, and for the rest of the day, Norah couldn't stop humming to herself.

When Norah got home, Mary knew something was up. Normally Norah went straight upstairs to do her homework or play on her computer, but instead Norah came into the living room and dropped down beside her.

"Mom?"

Mary looked away from the casefile she was reading. "What's up, Bug?"

Norah snuggled into her side and kicked off her shoes, to Mary's surprise. "There's a new guy in my class. His name's Aiden."

"Oh?"

"He's really funny and nice…and I think I like him."

Wrapping her arm around Norah's slender shoulders, Mary pulled her daughter closer and kissed the side of her head. "So you met a boy…"

"Yeah."

"Why don't we go get some ice cream and talk about it, kiddo?"

Norah lit up. "Sounds good, Mom."

"Then let's get out of here."

After school, Aiden went home, his thoughts focused on the pretty girl he had met in homeroom. Norah. He had never had a girlfriend before, mostly because he was too caught up in what was going on at home to really pay girls any attention. But Norah was different. Norah stirred up emotions in him, emotions he didn't know how to express.

Walking into his home, he set his backpack down and went up to his dad's room. His mom had left a couple of years before, when his dad first got sick. He hated her for it. Now it was just him and his dad, and when the cancer came back, all of the responsibility of taking care of his dad and the house fell on his shoulders. He loved his dad and would do anything for him, but sometimes he wondered what it would be like if his mom had stuck around, or if his dad had never gotten sick.

Pushing the door open, he poked his head into his dad's room. "Dad?"

His dad lie in the middle of the bed, bundled under a thick comforter. He could hear him cough weakly. Grabbing a bottle of water from his backpack, he sat down on the edge of the bed and got his dad to take a few sips. Some days were better than others, but right now, he could barely recognize the man in front of him.

After getting a little water into his dad, Aiden helped him downstairs and to the hide-a-bed in the living room, so he could keep an eye on him while he fixed dinner. Then he would help his dad get cleaned up before taking him back to bed, followed by cleaning the house and homework before he showered and collapsed into bed. It wasn't fair, but he had accepted his role a long time ago and learned to enjoy the time he had left with his dad. There was no way he could let him down.

He just couldn't.

To Be Continued...