(Quick update, I did my best with the Marshall- Norah moments, I hope you like what I've written, thank you for the comments! They are always appreciated. XD Still lovin this fanfiction, so I hope my readers do too! 3 )

"Uncle Marshall's here!" Marshall yelled from the doorway, kicking it shut with his foot.

"We're in here!" Mary called from the bedroom, "Someone had a pretty ripe diaper- you should have been here sooner, you could have spared me an unnecessary parental experience!"

"I've come baring pastries if that makes it up to you!"

"Oh, well then all's forgiven doofus!" If only she had truly been kidding, but Marshall grinned anyway, knowing the easiest way to Mary's heart was something warm and flaky that someone else had pulled from an oven- he strategically brought doughnuts whenever possible.

Mary emerged from the hallway, Norah in her arms, staring up at her mother, awaiting the comforting hum coming from Mary's chest when she spoke.

"Glazed." He smiled, elevating the box of confectionaries just above his chin.

"Sweeet, I swear you could throw glaze on cardboard and it would make it delicious, I'm partial to glazed ham though, nothing beats a nice glazed ham…"

"Why don't I put that down for Sunday dinner? We can invite Stan, Abigail could join us, maybe Brandi via skype-

"No Brandi, maybe Jinx, but that's a big maybe…" Anyone could tell Mary was still a little bitter, she hadn't seen her car in over a month, Peter came around every now and then with his puppy dog eyes just to see how everything was going and managed to give Mary a pretty fair deal on a new mini-van that she still was trying to convince everyone she was only test driving, but Brandi hadn't even shown any interest in Norah. Yeah, she did get one text message, a smiley face with some squealing noises after Jinx had stolen Mary's cell to send a picture of her granddaughter to everyone in the contacts, but seriously?

Marshall chuckled,

"Here, let me see the baby, you can hop in the shower and we can do some grocery shopping…"

"What makes you think I need a shower?" Mary joked, pushing a few strands of greasy hair from her eyes, but then immediately preceding to wipe away the oily goo that had built up onto her hand on the leg of her sweat pants, "Okay, I see what you mean. Okay, Bug, go see doofus, Momma's got some serious stink to spray off…"

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me 'doofus' in front on her…" Marshall half whined at his partner, cradling the baby,

"Calm down doofus, she's only a month old, if by some prodigious miracle she starts talking at week four of her life, then by all means be pissed off at me!"

"It's just- Before Marshall could finish, Mary had already slammed the door to the bathroom, making it clear she didn't need the guilt.

"Okay Mini- Mare, what shall we do while Momma's scrubbing the stench of maternal hardship off of her? Hmm? Any ideas?"

He looked down,

"I almost forgot- he grabbed the bag he had left near the doorway, "I gotchya something- yeah that's right, Uncle Marshall went baby shopping!" He cooed, raising his eyebrows as Norah gurgled slightly, probably enjoying derision in a masculine tone.

"It should fit…" He continued, peeling off a little jacket, and her stretch pants replacing the outfit with another- a t-shirt, "If you think I'm cute, You should see my Mommy." And a pair of osh kosh jeans… "Perfect Norah, but let's just put this sweatshirt on ya, so we can make sure Mommy doesn't see what Uncle Marshall's got ya in kay?" He grinned holding the child again, now it seemed like they shared a secret. Already, they were mutually hiding their joint antics from Mary...

As Mary took her sweet time, Marshall listened to the water cascading to Mary's feet, he closed his eyes, feeling that familiar feeling that this is where he was supposed to be. He looked down at the small child in his arms, tightening his grip so he could feel a little closer while she stared curiously up at her Uncle Marshall. Suddenly he felt compelled to tell her what was on his mind, making a point to keep his voice soft so the conversation could stay between the two of them.

"You know Nor, two months ago I wasn't sure I would be able to handle this… Your mommy has been my best friend for so long now and when I found out about you- of course I told Mary I'd be here… Of course I convinced myself I had to be here. And it wasn't even that I didn't want to be- Now, listen closely Mini-Mare because I'm not sure I'll ever get to confide in another soul what I'm about to say to you- He paused for a moment, "It didn't hurt because you were on the way, it didn't hurt when she told me how insecure she was about motherhood because I knew the truth, that she would be great mother, and it didn't hurt when she told me about possibly giving you up; I knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Of course there was still a constant nagging fear as she submerged herself deeper and deeper into the adoption process, but that's beside the point, you're here now, in my arms where you belong. It hurt me that you weren't mine. I still don't think your mother understands that. I don't hate your dad for the kind of person he is, I hate him because he stays as far away as he can from this, like a coward, while I ache to be your daddy." His voice decreased to an even softer whisper,

"I haven't found anything that makes me happier than being around you and your Momma, but every time I walk through that door over there, I find myself getting lost in the adventurous whirlwind that is life with your mother. I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself waiting for my phone to ring in the middle of the night just so I can enter this epic paradox that is everything I've ever wanted… Even so, your Auntie Abigail, whom you'll hopefully get to meet this weekend, always pulls me away again. She's my reality… This is my dream…" Norah still eyed Marshall with that curious expression that had sent him pouring his heart out to her, suddenly his cheeks felt hot, realizing how lost he had just gotten in his own mind and how confused he had just made himself. He shook off whatever emotions he felt, unsure of whether or not he should let what he had just admitted slide or come back to it later. Maybe he would have to back off with the heart to hearts with Norah, unlike this one, most conversations they had never made it past expressing his utter awe at how well Mary had adjusted to sharing her home with a tiny human being.

"Okay doofus, I'm ready." Mary emerged from the hallway, her hair still damp from her speedy work with the blow dryer, and her button up shirt revealing a tiny bit too much cleavage from her hustling as not to stick Marshall with Norah for too long. In case her boobs were needed, Mary tried to keep herself on hand during Marshall- baby bonding time.

"Alrighty, you take Norah, I'll go hook her car seat up in my car, sorry Mare, I should have done that while you were getting ready." He replied at her potential annoyance at his somewhat careless actions.

"Yeah you better be." She joked as Marshall headed out the door.

Norah squirmed a little, but settled into Mary's arms, she had only been in the car two or three times, counting bringing her home. There had been no family trips to the store as of yet, so Mary was skeptical when Marshall uttered the words "grocery store" at first, but how could she learn unless she trailed through uncharted territory? She knew there would be times in the future when she'd need to trek out to buy diapers while Marshall wasn't around, although that hadn't happened yet..

Marshall appeared in the doorway again, reaching in a closet for Norah's practically brand new diaper bag.

"Let's head out!" He ordered playfully, treating it like one of their missions. There hadn't really been any action as of late with their witnesses, no new ones coming in, and no old ones coming out. He hadn't actually had the full work experience without Mary, and he hoped he wouldn't have to. He just prayed work remained slow and his gun could remain in its holster.

"Shut up Marshall, you're making me miss my glock. God Bug, Daddy can be so cruel sometimes…" She glanced down playfully in her daughter's direction. Mary didn't realize what she had said until Marshall stopped dead, halfway out of the door. Slowly he turned around to face his partner; he was pretty sure his heart was now pumping up in his throat cavity, watching his stomach do flips from a better view.

" Marshall I-

"It's- it's fine." He croaked, "Ham still good for Sunday?"

(What do you think? )