I'm backkkk...here you go, a 2nd installment to 'Butterfly Effect." Again, the stories are stand alones. Enjoy!

"Honey Britches?" Abigail called from his home office.

"Yeah?" he called back as he was watching a baseball game and didn't feel like getting up to come find her.

Marshall could hear rustling and moving around, guessing she was putting things down and moving around whatever she had been working in his home office, he saw her come to the doorway with a letter in her hands.

"What's this? It's addressed to you, but I can swear it's your own writing," she asked as she turned the enveloped back and forth in question.

He tensed sat atop his favorite lazy chair - one Abigail tried to get rid of more than once - staring at the envelope, knowing full well what it was and cursing himself for forgetting he had it.

"Okay partner, so my engagement went down the drain, I'm guessing you would know it was going to happen before it happened," she grumbled as she tipped the beer on her lips, drinking the yellow liquid.

Marshall had shrugged at that comment as it came out in accusation towards his person. Yeah, he knew that she would end the engagement before she married Raphael, but he had run scared thinking that she would still go through it to please everyone but herself.

"Eh, I'm your own personal psychic, I know you better than you know yourself sometimes," he defended himself as he tipped his glass of amber liquid into his mouth. He grimaced as the whiskey traveled down his gullet.

"I guess I'm not the marrying kind, huh?" she questioned, looking over at him.

He shrugged again, "I wouldn't say that, I guess I'll be repeating myself but…"

"Ha! When has that ever stopped you?" she laughed as she shook her bottle to the bartender, silently asking for another.

Marshall signaled the bartender for one more drink, pointing to Mary and raising one finger before making cutting motion with his hand, a signal for the bartender to give her one last beer.

"Anyways, like I was saying," he drawled as he nodded his thanks to the bartender, sipping on his whiskey before continuing, "You're seeking for that ideal goal of someone who has somehow managed to protect the purest part of her heart. Which does not seem insane to anyone who really knows you."

Mary turned to him and leaned over, resting her head against his shoulder, "And you know how much I hate to repeat myself, but that would still be 'you and you'.

He took his amber liquid and tossed it all down, burning his throat along with his chest, he gasped and nodded, "You may not realize it, but anyone would be lucky to call you his wife."

She moved her head against his shoulder to look up at him, he tilted his head enough to meet her eyes through the corner of his, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, "Thanks."

"No thanks needed, I just speak the truth. If I had been Raph, I wouldn't have let you go, at least not until you were my wife," he murmured down into her hair.

She snickered and moved away from him, chugged at least half of her beer before turning back to him, she stared intently into his eyes and saw the truth and something else - something she wasn't ready to admit to herself.

"Alright, I believe you," she grumbled as she picked up a nacho chip and thrust it into her mouth, chewing loudly to the mushy tortilla, "So…if we're still single by the time we're 40, we should tie the knot."

"Together?" Marshall asked panicked, looking sideways at her with fear in his eyes.

"Who else with? Anyways, this is just stretching it, just in case we either don't find someone else. I'm sure you'll marry way before that. I give you a year, two tops," she said matter-of-factly as she looked over at him, an amused smile on her lips and a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Sure," he thrust out his hand and they shook on it, not satisfied with a hand shake, Marshall pulled a piece of paper - never far from his origami pastime - and began to scrawl on the paper. Once done, he slid it over to her.

She had been frowning over at him as he scrawled in his neat writing on the paper, she had been to slow to poke fun of him, how he would think of playing with his origami when she had just inadvertently proposed to him.

When the paper was in her sight she looked down and read it:

Mary and Marshall, promise to commit to each other if either is still single by the time they are 40 years old. They will walk hand in hand into the court room and signed off their single status to start a life as a married couple.

Signed,

Mary Shannon _

Marshall Mann _

Mary started to laugh as she pulled the pen from his grasp, she scrawled her John Hancock on her line and thrust the pen towards him. Marshall took the pen and signed on his line. Smiling from ear to ear at having her sign such ridiculous paper, deep down knowing that was as close to a promise of commitment from his partner as he would ever get.

Marshall finally looked up at Abigail and shook his head, "That's probably a reminder of something I'm supposed to remember, I guess."

"Can I open it?" she asked curiously, still looking down at the envelope, wishing she had xray vision in order to see what was in the letter that was inside.

He shook his head, "Not until I open it myself and see what ridiculous letter I wrote myself, don't want to embarrass myself."

Abigail narrowed her eyes at him before she grinned and walked over to him, dumping the letter on his lap, "Well, let me see it if its not too embarrassing."

Nodding, he didn't reach for the letter until Abigail had disappeared back into his home office. He got up and hid the letter in his bag by the door, he was going to take that letter straight to his office safe-deposit box.

One Month Later…

"So that's it?" Abigail asked as she glared at Marshall from across the room.

Marshall glared right back, "What do you want from me? We live together, we're engaged, why do you want us to get married so fast? We still have time and I'm still trying to adjust to be the Chief!"

"You've done everything in your power to keep postponing our wedding, why can't you just give me a damn date? Just pick a day, just give me a date and I'll drop it."

"Next year, maybe after…I don't know, my work load doesn't have an up and down. And I just can't take off on a honeymoon…" he trailed off as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Ever since you spoke to Mary, it's like I've lost you a bit," she murmured as she moved over to the couch, "Do you still even want to marry me?"

Marshall stared at her and closed his eyes, the pain in her eyes cause him to feel like scum, "Abby, it's not that…"

"It is, I just don't know if I like being put in limbo. Either set a date or just break up with me, I don't want to be here anymore," she muttered in frustration.

"It's not that simple…" she cut him off before he could finish his excuse.

"It's over then," she walked towards their room, but before she disappeared he saw the lone tear that ran down her face.

"Abigail," he followed behind her, pulling her into his embrace, "I'm sorry."

She sniffled into his chest and nodded, "Me too."

A week before Mary's 42nd birthday

Marshall walked into the office set a coffee on her desk before going into his office. An hour later, Mary walked in and froze when she saw the drink on her desk, looking up she feebly smiled at her former partner.

She sat behind her desk and took a sip of her coffee, it was still warm and inwardly smiled. She had found out by Delia that Marshall and Abigail had broken up a few weeks ago and deduced that her coffee was a way to mend the invisible rift she had created to give him space.

Seeing Mary's wall lower just a tinsy bit, Marshall sighed regretfully that it would take longer for her to forgive him that faux pas he had committed by asking for his release. Like he had been in prison being her friend, that had never been further from the truth, but after finding the letter, things had changed and he hoped for the better.

Every day for the following week, the Marshall of old kept coming out little by little, until a day before her birthday - which she still hated and didn't want to celebrate - she got up and threw her shoulder bag around her head, reached into her drawer taking her gun, cell phone and car keys in hand. She holstered both the gun and her cell phone on her waist and turned to leave, Marshall stood in her path, a paper in hand.

"What's up Chief?" she asked curiously looking down at the paper.

Marshall slowly turned the paper over for her to see, her face was priceless, he had thought that she possibly forgot the letter, but her face gave her away. She was staring at the letter and her mouth moved but no sound could escape.

"You promised," was all Marshall could murmur as he stepped closer.

She looked up and locked her green eyes to his blue eyes, "That…was just a joke."

"You signed and dated the contract, I know it's two years late, but…"

"You would take me to court to marry you? Didn't you just break up with your fiancée? I'm sure even you know that you can't break an engagement with one woman only to find another to force her into marriage," she accused as she took off her bag from around her shoulder and dropping it on her desk, running her fingers through her hair.

Marshall stood there and waited for her to come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to force her into anything, but knew that her panicking was her way of venting before she folded.

"You can't just do this! You broke up our friendship for her! What the hell was that all about? How can I trust you won't ask me to 'release' you again? Huh? Answer me!" she moved towards him and took the lapels of his blazer, pulling him closer to her. Her nose touching his nose as she huffed into his face.

"I can and I did, I didn't break up our friendship just wanted to step back a bit. I'm so sorry for that stupid mistake, I just didn't know how to keep you near me when all I wanted to do was this," after saying 'this' he wrapped his arms around her and his lips pressed to hers, she gasped and tried to break free. Marshall took advantage of her parted lips and tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

Her hands released the lapels and moved up his chest, around his neck and into his hair, pulling him closer as she let him guide her onto her desk. He parted her thighs and settled against her, his hands traveled down to her hips and pulled her against him.

Their lips never parting as he suckled her tongue, she moaned and pulled him impossibly closer, leaning back as he draped himself over her. Her pencil and pen holder fell over and clattered on the floor, causing them both to freeze and realize where exactly they were at.

"Seriously Doofus? You chose the office to pull this off?" she smirked as he leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to her lips.

"Norah?"

"It's her night at Mark's," she murmured as he helped her up and off her desk, "Your place?"

"No, yours," he growled as he pulled her back into his embrace, wrapping his hands around the back of her thighs and hiking her up against his frame. She wrapped her legs around him and he walked them over to the wall behind her desk.

She panted, "We…can't…not here."

"Fine," he bit her neck before lowering her down, pulling her behind him. She reached for her bag and both left the building holding hands.

Mary's birthday

"Come on then, you wanted this and we're doing it today," Mary said as they walked hand in hand into the court room.

They came across a well known judge they had both worked along with and Mary was fond of the older dark man, "Hey Judge Harris, we got a favor to ask."

Judge Harris turned to both of them and grinned, "About time you got your girl?"

Mary stared intently at the older man and frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"This poor sap has been dragging his heart for you for as long as I remember seeing you both together," he said chuckling at Mary's grumbles.

"You ready my love," Marshall asked as he pulled her into his embrace, causing her to blush because of the PDA in front of the judge.

"Well, can you do it?" Mary asked without stating what she meant.

"Meet me in courtroom 508, I need to gather some paperwork," he said as he walked towards his chambers.

Mary stood encased in Marshall embrace in front of the bench, he leaned down and brushed her lips with his. With her arms around his shoulder, she pushed her fingers into his hair and pulled him down for a kiss. After their passionate night all she wanted was to be closer to him, she had never imagined he could meet her demands, but he had exceeded hers and demanded more from her.

With Norah still at Mark's place, they would wait for later that night to let them all know that they had eloped.

"Hu-humm," harrumphed the older man, "Can't wait until that section of the wedding vows?"

Mary pulled her hands down to rest against his chest, he didn't want to release her, "Get on with it then Judge Harris."

He chortled, "Where are your witnesses?"

They stared into each others eyes and both came to a conclusion, looking over at bailiff and said, "You'll be a witness and I'm sure you can call your secretary over and she can be the other witness."

The bailiff knew them too and only grinned with a nod, "Of course."

A year later…

"We want to thank everyone for coming out, from far and close. Mary and I are still not sorry we didn't give you guys enough time to give us a proper wedding," he said as he looked down at his wife.

She stood up and grinned up at him, "Yeah, definitely not sorry. So, here here."

They all raised their glasses and toasted their one year anniversary.

"Mommy! Lil' Seth is crying," came from a three year old Norah.

"I'll go get him my love," Marshall dropped a final kiss on her lips and went to get his son.

Mary reached down and plucked her daughter up onto her hip, "Hey sweetie, are you happy?'

"Yes mommy," she nodded tossing her curls to bounce around her face.

She looked up to see Marshall with baby Seth, conceived a day before her birthday. She wouldn't celebrate her birthday, but she would definitely celebrate the day she tied the knot with her best friend. Marshall walked up to his two girls and leaned over to kiss the blonde blue eyed child. Mary reached over and ran her fingers over her son's head.

"I love you," he murmured as he wrapped on arm around her waist, "never forget that my love."

"I love you too Doofus," she moaned into his mouth.

Thanks for reading and for those reviews!