Author's Note: I honestly never expected to get back into the IPS writing game, but the muses have surprised me. Here's just a short little story set a few years after the finale. Hope you enjoy!
GHOSTS
"It's a really good opportunity for me."
Sitting in lounge chair next to her pool, Mary raised her bottle of whiskey at the apparition of Mark in salute. "Of course, it is."
"I'll be back at least once a month to see Norah and I'll be able to take her for a few weeks in the summer, too."
"Sure, you will." She took a swig of whiskey before pointing at imaginary Mark. "It's only been what? Six, seven months since we heard from you?"
"I'll be able to pay really good child support."
Mary rolled her eyes. "Still waiting for a single penny of that!"
Turning to the side as Mark's smiling face faded into nothingness, Mary groaned as Brandi appeared in a white miniskirt, packing a suitcase. Mary muttered, "Not this fucking shit, too."
"It's a really good opportunity for me and for Ava."
Mary nodded and repeated, "Of course, it is."
"I'll just be gone a couple of months and I'll make a ton of money. It's just like what I did for Scott before."
"Sure." Mary rolled her eyes, taking more to drink.
"I'll send some money back for Ava's care," Abstract Brandi assured her. "And I'll call at least once a week. No! Twice a week. I'll get back here as soon as I can. Ava and I might be able to get our own place then."
Mary pursed her lips together and shook her head. "Apparently, getting back here as soon as you can is code for sending paperwork cutting your parental rights and leaving me a single mother of two! Just like our mother!"
Mary raised her eyes to the dark sky and chugged most of the remaining bottle. "Well, if this night is going to go as scheduled, then you should be right on time." Mary moved her head to the left to find non-corporeal Marshall staring back at her. "Look, right on time!"
"It's a good opportunity for Abigail."
"Of course, it is," Mary mumbled. "Who cares if you have to give up a job that you love?"
"It's more money; more responsibility. It'll fast-track her career," Marshall continued. "We may even be able to start a family."
Mary shuddered. "Just what we need: more cheerleaders running around."
"We'll still be able to keep in touch: e-mail and phone calls. We might even be able to visit every so often. I promise that whomever they get to replace me will be fantastic… and lenient."
"Or they'll get no replacement and they'll just shut down the office instead." Mary's eyes welled up against her better judgment. "And what about my best friend? Who are you going to get to replace him? Oh, that's right! We weren't allowed to be best friends anymore. Because once I got cast aside for someone new! Get the hell out of here, Marshall, and stop haunting me!"
Mary threw her whiskey bottle at the apparition, only to jump in surprise when there was a yelp in the darkness. "Who the hell is there?"
"Jesus, Mary!" Marshall hissed. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"That depends," she replied, bitterness lacing her voice, "on why you're here in my backyard on my night of freedom instead of a thousand miles away with your chipper little wife."
Marshall clenched his jaw, stepping closer. "I don't have a wife anymore."
Mary had the decency to look ashamed. "What are you talking about?"
"May I?" Marshall gestured to the second lounge chair. When Mary nodded, he sat. "Abigail's pregnant."
"So you divorced her?"
Glaring at her, he answered, sharply, "No. The baby isn't mine."
Mary grimaced. "Oh."
"Stupid me, though, offered to raise the baby as my own anyway," Marshall continued, "but she wanted to raise the baby with the father, says they fell in love on the job and that she's sorry that it turned out this way."
"Marshall."
"It's no less than I deserve for abandoning my best friend, for abandoning you."
Mary glanced downward at the intensity of his stare. "Why are you here?"
Marshall leaned forward and sighed. "I want my partner back."
"I don't know if you've heard, but they've shut down the Albuquerque office. Your partner isn't there anymore."
"True," he conceded, "but if I've heard correctly, my partner has opened a private detective agency and I'm hoping that she might be willing to take her old partner back."
The corners of Mary's lips rose slightly. "I've already hired two ex-cops to help out on nights and weekends so that I can be home with my girls."
Marshall tipped his head. "Girls?"
"Yes, girls," Mary huffed, standing up. She began to pace. "See, you're not the only one who up and left me. Brandi decided motherhood was just one more thing that she just couldn't handle and she left her kid with me. Not just left her kid with me; she gave her to me, adoption and all. I haven't heard from her in a year. And then, of course, there's Mark, who was going off for a better job opportunity and was going to visit all the time and send money except he seems to have just fallen off the face of the earth. But it's fine. I don't need any of you! I just need my girls and my one night of freedom a month."
"Mary," he breathed out, but she turned from him. Unperturbed, Marshall walked behind her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"Why are you here, Marshall?" she asked in a small voice, her arms folded protectively across her chest.
"Because the only time I have ever truly been happy is when I'm here," Marshall tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "with you. And I'm going to do anything that I can to prove that to you, even if it takes the rest of my life. I'm not giving up on you this time. I'm not going to hide my feelings because I'm afraid of losing my best friend. I already lost her and it was the worst experience of my life. I'm standing in front of you, Mary Katherine Shannon, and telling you that I love you, I have always loved you, and I will always love you."
Mary slowly moved her eyes up until they reached his. "And you're just going to declare this now? Even though we haven't spoken to each other in a year and a half?"
Marshall unfolded her arms, keeping his hands lightly on her wrists. "Yes. I've wasted too much time not telling you that I love you and even if you don't ever love me back in that way, I will be here and you will know that someone does love you. I will spend every moment of my life proving it to you."
"And if I do… love you in that way?" she timidly questioned.
"Don't… don't toy with me, Mare," Marshall croaked. "I… I couldn't-"
He was cut off by Mary's lips on his. She attacked his mouth as if he was a hamburger and she hadn't eaten in three days. Mary slid her hands to his shoulders and unexpectedly jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. Marshall stumbled a few steps back to not drop her, his hands slipping onto her ass to stabilize her. Their kissing never stopped.
"Take," Mary gasped as Marshall kissed down her neck, "take me to bed."
Marshall pulled back to look her in the eye. "Don't you think we should take first? Maybe go on a few dates or something?"
Mary shook her head. "What do you think we've been doing for the last eleven years? Take… me… to… bed."
"Anything my girl wishes."
IPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPSIPS
Mary awoke the next morning to the sun shining in her eyes. She snuggled into her pillow to avoid the sunlight only to realize that her pillow was not a pillow, but a man. Not half a second later, she remembered the man in her bed was Marshall. She blushed as she relived the things that he had done to her body last night.
"I know you're awake," Marshall announced, playing with her hair.
"I might be awake," she grumbled, "but that doesn't mean that I want to be awake."
Marshall chuckled. "Okay. I can understand that. What time do you have to pick up the girls?"
Mary groaned, realizing she wasn't going to get any more sleep. "I usually meet Jinx for lunch."
"Good, then we have a few hours."
Mary looked up at him, her head on his bare chest, and wiggled her eyebrows. "To do what?"
Smiling, Marshall replied, "Pack for the wedding."
"Wedding?" she repeated, sitting up, not caring that she was naked. "What wedding?"
"Our wedding," he answered, calmly. He palmed both of her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. Marshall grinned when her face screwed up in protest. "Don't you remember last night? I asked you to marry me and I believe your exact words were 'Yes. Yes! Oh, God, yes'!"
Mary slapped his hands away. "That doesn't count! I was in the middle of-"
"-the best orgasm you ever had?" Marshall finished. "Yes, you admitted that, too. Still, you did agree and I am holding you to it."
"But today?"
Grabbing her wrist, he kissed it. "I'm not letting you get away now that I have you."
Mary's heart skipped a few beats and heat shot straight to her groin. "You don't even know my youngest's name!"
"What's her name?" Marshall asked, casually.
"Ava." Mary shook her head. "You don't know anything about my kids. What if you don't like them? What if you hate being a stepparent?"
Breathing in deeply, Marshall told her in all seriousness, "I already love them because they're your girls. And I don't plan on being a stepparent. I plan on being their dad. Our marriage will assure them that I'm not going away; will assure you that I'm not going away."
Mary's bottom lip quivered. "Marriage is no guarantee."
"It is for me." Marshall sat up and pulled her into a tight hug. "Remember, I'm the guy that offered to stay in a loveless marriage and raise another man's child."
"So, where do you want to get married?"
Marshall breathed in sharply. "Are you actually agreeing to this?"
She laughed. "I am. What could dating possibly tell us about each other that we don't already know? Let's just get to it the rest of our lives."
"Whew!" Marshall shouted in relief. "I was thinking that we could pick up Jinx and the girls and head to Vegas."
"Vegas?"
Marshall nodded. "You've already done City Hall. Plus, we can have a nice little family vacation; a chance for the girls to get to know me and for me to know the girls."
Mary framed his face with her hands and kissed him gently. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, doofus."
"Oh, how I have missed you calling me that," he giggled. He glanced at the clock. "How long do you think it will take for you to pack?"
"For me and the girls? Probably about an hour."
Marshall flipped her onto the bed, hovering over her. "Good. Because we have three hours until we need to be anywhere.