It took six long months of physical therapy before Mary was back to normal. The bullet to her shoulder had seriously affected her arm and she had failed qualifications on the shooting range the first time around. The doctor had cleared her for desk duty after a few weeks in the hospital, but she couldn't, and wouldn't, go in the field until she could rely on her skills with a weapon. Though it grated on her last nerve to be stuck behind a desk, she bore it with dignity most days, mostly because she knew Stan could kick her out of the office entirely if he really wanted to. It also helped that at least behind a desk, she got to spend most days with Marshall. Though every time he and Royce left on assignment, she wanted to throw something, she, for the most part, kept her jealousy and anger to herself, at least in the office. Marshall always called her on it when they were alone together.
Her convalescence brought them closer together. Rather than spend her recovery alone in her own home, or worse, invite Jinx or Brandi to help her, she spent most nights at Marshall's. If she was completely honest, she liked his house better anyway. Despite the new renovations to her own place, courtesy of the FBI, she never felt as at home there as she did at Marshall's. For a long time, she simply chalked it up to not knowing what a home was meant to feel like, but after a few weeks at her fiancé's, she realized her place had been just that, a place. At Marshall's, she was never just coming home, she was always coming home to him. That made all the difference.
The day after she requalified, she went home early, while Marshall was stuck in the office finishing up paperwork. Having been stuck on desk duty for so long, she was very caught up on the administrative front. She stopped at the market on the way home and got everything she would need to make Marshall a home cooked meal. She made a quick pit stop at the hardware store and then headed to Marshall's to start cooking. Because she'd never really had the occasion, or the necessary equipment, growing up, Mary had made a supreme effort upon getting her own place to become a more than decent cook. She remembered plenty of nights where half assed sandwiches were the meal of necessity, and had been determined to prevent similar situations from arising.
She made Marshall meatloaf, with spinach mashed potatoes and brown sugar carrots on the side. While the food was cooking, she pulled out her bag from the hardware store and grabbed the box her engagement ring had come in. She wasn't usually one for romantic gestures, but tonight she was making the effort. They had been engaged for almost seven months, and dating for over a year and a half. She was ready to tie the knot, something she'd never thought she'd be able to say. She pulled the key she'd had made out of the bag and placed it in the box. Of course, she and Marshall had traded keys to each other's places long before they'd been dating, but the key she's had made wasn't to her house, or to Marshall's. It was to their house. She planned on telling him tonight that she was officially moving in, and putting her own place up on the market. She was also going to tell him that she'd reserved a space for their anniversary, a space for their wedding. She figured combining the two anniversaries would make both their lives easier down the road. That gave her 5 months to plan the wedding, more than enough time, considering she'd just had weeks of desk duty, much of which had been spent in research and planning.
She had just finished setting the table when she heard the front door open. She could hear Marshall's voice and stopped herself from calling to him, assuming that he was on the phone. She knew he'd make his way into the dining room to find her eventually. True to form, she heard footsteps a few minutes later. Rather than approach her, as she expected, he hung back in the doorway. He let out a low whistle.
Mary responded without turning, "Can't blame a woman for wanting to look good for you, can you?" She'd found a beautiful red dress at the mall a few weeks ago, where she'd spent time while banned from the office. Though the trips to the mall had been more Brandi and Jinx's idea then her own, they'd convinced her to tag along under the guise that it would increase her stamina and stretch her muscles. She hadn't been able to resist this when she saw this dress. Brandi's support had sealed the deal. After getting shot, she'd been more or less forced to tell her family about her relationship. Neither Brandi nor Jinx had been that surprised and both fully supported the engagement. Her sister had assured her that Marshall would love this, and it would be a suitable replacement for the lingerie she disliked.
She heard his footsteps as he moved across the floor. He slipped his arms around her and leaned his lips next to her ear. "No, I can't, but what will your fiancé think?"
Mary whipped around, pushing Royce off. "John, what the hell are you doing here? Where the hell is Marshall?"
"I'm right here. What's going on?" Marshall entered the dining room, his mouth dropping when he saw Mary. It took him a moment to recover.
Royce chuckled, not at all embarrassed by the situation. "Mary just made a pass at me."
Rather than blurt out her initial angry retort, Mary just smirked at him. "Oh yea, cause why would I want a real man when I could have you." To his credit, Royce just laughed.
Marshall looked between the two and rolled his eyes. In the time that Mary had been on desk duty, the two of them had made it a combined mission to insult and take jabs at each other as often as possible. It made Mary's repartee with Eleanor look like dialogue from Mr. Roger's. "It's like I'm working with Beavis and Butthead." He moved forward and placed a soft kiss on Mary's temple. "Do you mind if John joins us for dinner?" He cast a quick glance at the spread she'd laid out, tablecloth, center piece, candles, wondering if he had forgotten something important.
Quickly cancelling the plans she'd had for the evening, Mary offered a smile. "The more the merrier. Let me go grab an extra setting." She moved away from Marshall and into the kitchen in order to grab a plate and silverware.
John watched her walk out. "You sure this is cool, man? It looks like she kind of had something planned."
Marshall shook his head. He knew Mary, tact was not her strong suit. If she'd wanted John to leave, she would have said so. "She's been stuck in the house for awhile, she has to entertain herself somehow. You want a beer?" Royce nodded and Marshall followed his fiancé out.
When he entered the kitchen, Mary was reaching into the cabinet for a plate. He moved next to her, his back resting against the fridge, facing her. "So what's with the dress code? Am I missing something?"
Mary gave him one of her rare but genuine smiles. "Just a little celebration of sorts, no big deal." She placed the plate on the counter, rested a hand against his chest, leaned in and kissed him.
Taking advantage of her lean in, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "And what are we celebrating?"
Mary's smile turned into a smirk. "It's official, things can go back to normal. I requalified on the range this morning, my stats almost perfect. And yesterday at the doctor's office, he officially cleared me. As of today, I'm back." She gave him another quick kiss, "and that means that this is the last meal I'll be cooking for at least a month." When she moved back the smirk was once again in place.
Marshall laughed. "So this isn't a celebration, so much as it is a gloating party on your part? You get to go back to the salt mines…"
"And you get to come back to the kitchen, where you belong. All will be right with the world. I'm so glad we're on the same page."
Marshall rolled his eyes and released her. Though Mary liked cooking, she was tired of it. But it had been just about the only activity her doctor had allowed her for the last few months, so she'd done it as often as possible. Marshall turned around and reached into the fridge for beers for the three of them. "I'm going to go keep our guest company."
Mary nodded, "I'll be out with dinner in a few minutes." She handed Marshall the extra setting, trading him for her beer.
After placing the bottles on the table, Marshall laid out the setting. Royce took a swig of his beer and then motioned toward the kitchen, "So are you in trouble? What'd you do, forget your anniversary?"
Marshall laughed, "Trust me, I'm not the one with the memory problems in this relationship." He took a swig of his own beer. "Actually, this is Mary's way of telling me that the doctor cleared her. This is the last meal I can expect from her for a good long while."
Royce laughed. "Well, at least she went all out. I'd be willing to cook a few meals for her if I thought I could get her to put on an outfit like that." Marshall simply rolled his eyes. Since Marshall had revealed the truth about him and Mary, Royce had once again taken to making passes at her. All three of them knew he was joking and that he respected her. The remarks were all in good fun now, no intent behind them whatsoever.
Mary chose that moment to enter, bearing the main course. "Dinner is served." It only took her a few moments to set out the food. The three of them enjoyed a nice, jovial meal. Though Mary wouldn't admit it to him, she would be sad to see Royce go. He wasn't half bad, and he had certainly helped to stave off the boredom while she was stuck in the office. Of course, that service would no longer be needed now that she had been cleared. Royce ended up staying for about 3 hours, before excusing himself, saying he still had packing to do if he wanted to make his flight out on the coming weekend.
As Marshall closed the door behind him, Mary came to stand behind him, a few feet away, leaning against the wall. He felt her presence there and smiled. Then he turned around to face her. "So, now do you want to tell me what tonight was really all about?"
Mary smiled. He could read her as well as she could read him. She pushed off from the wall and moved toward him. From behind her back, she pulled the small box and held it out for him. He looked at her quizzically for a moment, recognizing the box as one he had given to her containing a very important ring. He reached out slowly and took it, his eyes still focused on her face. Lifting the lid slowly, he looked down. His confusion grew. "Uh, Mare…?"
She wrapped her arms around him. "That, Mr. Mann, is the key to our house."
Marshall's face lit up. "You're moving in?"
"Yup. I might as well, pretty much all my stuff is here anyway." He stopped any other words that might have come with his lips. The kiss was long and passionate and it almost made Mary forget the other half of her announcement. Marshall took slow steps backward, moving them toward the bedroom. Mary let him. She hadn't had sex in six months, and she was ready to change that.
Despite the passion that he had kissed her with in the hall, he was gentile as he pushed her back onto the bed, mindful of her still recovering injuries. He unbuttoned his shirt and discarded it, following her down and hovering over her. "You up for this? I don't want to hurt you."
Mary reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Shut up and kiss me, you fool." She pulled him down, holding him tight to her body. She trailed kisses from his mouth, along his jaw line to his ear. Once there, she pulled back slightly, "there was one other thing I wanted to tell you."
Using all his self control, Marshall pulled himself back. "And what's that?"
"I reserved the Rio Grande Botanic Gardens. We're getting married in 5 months." Mary whispered the words, her focus more on the sex than on the sentence. Sure she wanted to get married, but that was months away, this was now.
Marshall, however, pulled back. "Are you serious?"
"Am I ever not?" Marshall's answer was to pull her close. The sex that evening made up for their six month hiatus.