Author's Note: Special thanks to KeiraCassidy, Adelled, BrittanyLS, MegManning, pandorabox82, and zanthinegirl for the reviews!
Meddling Mothers
"Mary! Welcome back!" Daphne exclaimed upon seeing her marshal for the first time in over a week. Daphne bid Todd a farewell as Mary took over the protective duties.
"Hey, Judge," Mary replied, scanning the courthouse with one eye. "I didn't think you'd miss me quite that much."
Daphne laughed as she led Mary into her chambers. "So, tell me, how was your time away? Or is it top secret and I can't know about it?"
Mary gave her a pointed look, which the judge laughed off. Daphne knew Mary couldn't tell her anything, but it never stopped her from asking. "It was fine. It was actually a little weird."
"Weird how?" Daphne paused in putting on her robe to study Mary.
"It-" Mary shrugged. "I ran into an old friend while I was away."
Wiggling her eyebrows, Daphne asked, "An old boyfriend?"
Mary huffed, rolling her eyes. "Not even close. He... was my old partner, if you must know."
"Ah! The reason that you moved out here," Daphne concluded. Mary wasn't one to open up, but Daphne had pulled enough information over the past year to had a vague idea about what caused Mary to take this specific job. "So, how did it go?"
"Awkward," Mary admitted, inwardly cursing herself for allowing Daphne to once again get behind her wall. "Turns out that his life isn't going so great right now. His wife left him and he's raising his four-year-old nephew. And while I was in- while I was there, he came real close to losing his job."
Daphne's eyes lit up. "So, is this like karma for doing you wrong?"
Mary pulled a face. "No! He didn't... We didn't... It wasn't like that; it's complicated."
"It always is," Daphne mumbled.
"Anyway, I invited him and his nephew to come out here for a little while."
Dropping the gavel in her hand, Daphne's jaw dropped. "He's here?" Mary nodded. "Staying with you?" Again, Mary nodded. "In your house with your girls and your mother?"
Mary sighed. "Yeah."
"Oh, Mary," Daphne breathed out. "I always suspected that you had some kind of feelings for this guy, but I never expected that you were still in love with him."
"In love? With Marshall?" Mary sputtered. She waved her hands in front of her. "You are crazy. Clearly, all of this presiding over cases has muddled your brain. The only thing that I've ever felt for Marshall is friendship."
Daphne walked over to her and patted her cheek. "Oh, Mary. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
Mary opened her mouth to retort, but she stopped by her cell phone ringing. She glanced at the screen before smiling. "If I was in love with him, do you think I'd be doing this: Hi, Stephen."
"Hey, Mary. I've been trying to reach you for days."
"I know." Mary turned from Daphne's prying eyes. "Things have been a bit hectic lately. I was on a special assignment."
Stephen paused. "But you're back now, right?"
Mary ignored the bit of ire that rose up from her stomach at his tone. "Yeah, I'm back."
"Good. So, I was wondering if we could get together tonight."
"Tonight's not really good for me," Mary replied. She had promised to take the kids for ice cream and watch a movie. Plus, she really needed to get laundry done as she had forbidden Jinx from touching her washer and dryer. "How about tomorrow?"
Again, Stephen paused. "Yeah, that should work. Meet me at my place at eight?"
Mary bit the inside of her mouth to prevent herself from rolling her eyes. "Better make it nine. The girls have been staying up a bit later lately."
"What can't your mother put them to bed?" Stephen asked, exasperated.
"Because it's not her job. Do you still want to do this?" Mary was quickly losing her patience with this conversation.
"Yeah. I'll see you at nine." He hung up the phone without saying good.
Mary faced Daphne once again, a smug look on her face. "See?"
Daphne shook her head, but said nothing. She knew when to push Mary's buttons and when to remain silent. This was definitely a time to keep her thoughts to herself. "Come on. We have a full docket this morning.
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"Owen, be careful!" Marshall warned as he sat down in the lounge chair next to Jinx. He kept one eye on his nephew and the other on Jinx as the kids played with a water table in the backyard. "You have to remember that she's littler than you."
"Oh, he's fine," Jinx waved off. "He's actually been very sweet with Teagan. I think that's why Norah's on his case so often. She's so used to being the only other kid watching out for her little sister."
Marshall shot her a brief smile. "She's a lot like her mother."
Jinx laughed aloud. "She's exactly like her mother. Sometimes," Jinx lowered her voice. "Sometimes, I wonder if that's part of the reason that Mark stays away."
"Hm," Marshall replied, non-committed. Personally, he believed that Mark had minimal contact with Norah because parenting only got harder as they got older and he wasn't one to stick around when times got tough. Still, he refused to get into that discussion with Jinx.
"So, Marshall, dear boy," Jinx grinned as Marshall started at her tone and words, "are you ready to tell me the real reason that you're here?"
Marshall stiffened, glancing at Jinx out of the corner of his eye. "Because Mary invited me- us."
Jinx's eyes lit up in mirth, much to Marshall's annoyance. "I know why Mary invited you," Jinx briefly lowered her voice, "even if she doesn't." Jinx flashed him a smile. "What I don't know is why you accepted it, bringing your nephew across the country to stay with people he doesn't know."
"I-"
"Oh, I have a theory." Jinx picked at her fingernails. "It's not a theory that either one of you want to hear, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate."
Marshall turned his attention to the kids, determined not to ask her about her theory. His foot shook anxiously. After a few minutes he flinched, angry with himself. "Okay, what's your theory?"
Jinx clapped her hands, causing the kids to look at her briefly before returning to the water table when they find nothing to hold their attention. "You, sweetheart, are here because you are, as ever, in love with Mary."
"I-" Marshall's jaw dropped so suddenly he was afraid that it popped. He shouted, louder than he meant to, "I got married! I'm still married!"
"Technically, I believe you are separated." Jinx waved off. "And Mary was nearly married. Heck, she had Norah with someone else while pining for you. It's okay, sweetheart!" Jinx called out to Norah when she looked over in concern.
Marshall shook his head. "You're wrong. We've only ever just been friends."
Jinx rolled her eyes. "I knew it, you know, the first time that I saw you together. I said to myself, 'that's the man that's captured my baby's heart. It's just too bad that she doesn't know it.' I suspected it the rare times that she talked to me on the phone. You were part of every story. She never mentioned anyway in her life before, but I knew it when I first saw you together."
"Then, why did you encourage her and Raphael? Why have you done nothing but resent the fact that Owen and I are here?"
"You know my daughter. If I had told her that Raph was all wrong for her, she would run off and married him the next day, like she did with Mark. No, I knew that if I supported her, she'd figure it out in the end."
Forehead burrowing, he frowned. "That makes absolutely no sense and yet it's Mary so it makes complete sense."
Jinx stood up as Norah put her hands on her hips to yell at Owen for accidentally splashing Teagan. "As far as being angry that you were here, you hurt my kid, Marshall, when you gave her up for Abigail. I'm allowed to treat you like dirt. Plus, I had to see if her feelings were the same. Norah, don't you yell at that boy!" Jinx turned back to Marshall. "They are, by the way, and things would go a lot smoother if the two of you would just admit that to each other."
