A/N Just a little recap of last chapter…Lindsay and Lily got in a fight, and Lindsay just opened the door….
"Mark? Is that Mark?" asked Nancy from the kitchen. She rushed over. "Oh it is Mark!" She exclaimed "Why didn't you invite him in sweetie? That's rude!" Nancy pushed her daughter out of the way and beckoned to Mark. "Come it! Come it!"
"No reason," Lindsay said sweetly, "It's just that he ruined my life and was the sole reason I moved a couple thousand miles away." With that she gave an exaggeratedly fake smile and returned to the couch to snuggle with Danny some more.
"Who's Mark?" Danny said into her ear when she sat back down.
"Ex-boyfriend." Lindsay stated, obviously not wanting to give any details.
"There's gotta be more to it that if he ruined your life and caused you to move to New York." Danny pried.
"I don't want to talk about it, Danny."
"But Linds-" he didn't finish, as Lindsay had gotten up and walked out of the room.
"Give her some time to be alone," suggested Lindsay's brother Ricky.
"Like I'm gonna do that," Danny quipped, "Last time I did that, it ended with her getting slapped in the face by her sister." Danny go up and set out to find his wife.
She was sitting on her bed in the room she grew up in when he found her. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "I won't understand if you don't tell me, honey." He said
"We were engaged," she began sighing. "I was completely and totally in love with him, or at least I thought I was. Long story made short: I came home from work one day and caught him in bed with my sister. At least all the other guys I'd dated had the decency to dump me before moving on to Lily. Anyway, I was obviously furious, so I packed up and moved here. Lily paid for everything, trying to buy my love back and it worked for a while. I forgot about everything until she didn't show up for my wedding. Even after that I tried to forgive her but…well, it'll never be the same between us."
"I'd say that I'm sorry, but I'm not," at the shocked and slightly hurt expression on Lindsay's face Danny added, "If he hadn't cheated one you then I'd never have met you."
"You've got a point there," Lindsay managed a half smile.
"Of course I do." Danny leaned in to kiss his wife and Lindsay responded eagerly. As their kiss deepened Danny repositioned himself so that he was facing Lindsay and pulled her onto his lap.
"Danny! Lindsay! Dinner-" Nancy Monroe opened the door. The couple pulled apart immediately and Lindsay slid off of her husband's lap. "Oh. Sorry." Lindsay's mom said. " Dinner will be ready in 5 minutes. Mark's staying, isn't that great honey?"
"Yeah mom, just lovely," her mother didn't hear the sarcasm in her daughter's voice and smiled before closing the door. "My mom just adored Mark, if you couldn't tell," Lindsay told Danny rolling her eyes.
"Who cares? You're mine now, and I'm not the jealous type anyway." Danny stood and pulled Lindsay to her feet, stealing a quick kiss before leaving the room.
"Ah, too bad. I think it's cut when guys get jealous," Lindsay joked as the walked down the hall.
The entered the ketches hand in hand. Danny left Lindsay's side and walked right up to Mark. "I don't believe we've been introduced. Danny Messer, I'm Lindsay's husband." He stuck out his hand, which Mark hesitantly shook.
"Husband?"
"Yeah, we got married about 6 months ago."
"Huh. Nobody ever told me."
"Forgive me if you weren't first on my list of people to tell," Lindsay said appearing by Danny's side. "Although I guess I should be thanking you."
"And why is that?" Mark asked through clenched teeth.
"Because if it weren't for you, I would never have met the love of my life," Lindsay replied in mock sweetness, kissing Danny thoroughly on the lips.
Mark's face turned an ugly shade of purple. "You know what, Nancy?" he stammered, "I think I should let you guys have some family time tonight. Maybe I'll come by tomorrow."
"I think that's a fine idea, Mark," Lindsay agreed.
"But Mark!" Nancy began to protest, but he was already gone.
Lindsay smiled triumphantly.
A few minutes later as they sat down to eat; Lindsay felt tears prick her eyes when she spotted the empty chair at the head of the table. After the afternoon's events-her fight with Lily, seeing Mark again- she's all but forgotten about her father's death. Looking around the table she realized that the rest of the family had too. As they began to eat Lindsay saw tears in everyone's eyes, even Lily's. "I think," she said, breaking the reflective silence, " that dad would want us to remember all the happy memories we have of him, not sit here crying and feeling sorry for ourselves."
Everyone agreed, and they shared a lovely dinner full of laughter and joy, remembering the great man that Samuel Monroe was.
A/N I love this chapter! It was sooo fun to write! Don't worry, I'm not done yet! I'm not really one for spoilers, but let me just say that you haven't seen the last of Mark…