Author's Note: Despite my apparent obsession with Frasier, and Niles and Daphne, this idea for an MTM story came to me recently. I knew I needed to do it. I've been very lucky w/ the friends I've made here who encourage my writing. And since Aria (crazysockmonkeys) recently dedicated a chapter to me, I felt the need to return the favor and dedicate this to her as a thank-you for all of her incredible love and support. This is not one of my usual one-shots, but unfortunately, this is as far as I've gotten right now. Hopefully that will change soon!
As Mary drove home from work, she thought back to that long-ago day when she'd first moved to Minneapolis. She had taken Phyllis up on her offer to rent a small apartment. It had been a temporary solution, or so she thought. Just a way to let her fiancee know she wouldn't wait around for him forever. But fate had other plans.
Her seven years at WJM had been some of the best in her life. She had found friends, a family, really. And she'd learned that being single wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But most importantly, she'd found her calling. Mary was heartbroken when she was fired by WJM's latest owner. But once she stopped crying and began to look at her options, she found that it was not hard to find another station that wanted her. It also hadn't hurt that Lou had called a few friends of his to put in a good word for her. The next thing that Mary Richards knew, she was working at one of the city's top TV stations. No more small budgets or low ratings. And no more Ted Baxter!
Yes, things had changed in Mary's life. Especially when she'd done a piece on the new children's wing of a local hospital. The project was led by one of the facility's top surgeons, Dr. David Ford. She spent many hours with him, learning all about why he felt so passionate about it. Perhaps not surprisingly, David began to fall for her. But Mary also found herself having feelings for him. The relationship was very different from most of the ones she'd had previously. Because David was a doctor, he understood how important Mary's career was. He fully supported her work at the TV station. Sure, their schedules were crazy, and sometimes they didn't have as much time for each other as they'd like, but they were both happy.
The past twenty years had flown by. Suddenly, she was no longer a young woman. In just a few weeks, she would be celebrating her 50th birthday. Mary had never given much thought to age, but this was a number she couldn't ignore. How much longer could she keep working the way she did? Sometimes, she did think of retiring, but the next time a big story broke, she just knew she couldn't do it. But, as always, she tried to think positively. She knew there was no way her husband would let this occasion go unrecognized.
Dr. David Ford had a very busy day ahead. Several surgeries, a few consultations, and some research to do. But before he could think of any of that, he had to solve the problem of what to do for his wife's birthday. He thought about the things she liked. Over the years, he'd given her more jewelery and clothes than she could ever possibly need. A trip would be nice, but he wanted something really special. Suddenly, he had an idea. Mary often told stories of her years at WJM. He knew that she still kept in touch with her coworkers from back then, but they hadn't physically seen one another very often. The solution was obvious. A surprise birthday party. He would invite all of her old friends. Well, now he had one more thing to add to the to-do list: making phone calls.