Author's Note: Special thanks to redbrainbluebrain, JMS529, JJ2008, BrittanyLS, and Jayne Leigh for the reviews! I have about 70 chapters in by e-mail waiting to be reviewed over the past month so I'll be trying to do that the rest of the week myself. Also, I've reached the conclusion that I have a really hard time believing Brandi wouldn't leave her baby with Mary at some point. LOL!

QUOTE PROMPT #085 – MARY/JINX

"I mean, everybody's got that picture in their mind. The one of, you know, how they think their life's supposed to be."

"Are you sure that you what to do this?" Mary asked her mother as Mary sat brushing Norah's hair.

Jinx rolled her eyes as picked the baby out of the stroller. "Absolutely. We haven't had a family picture in, well, I don't think we've ever had a family picture."

Mary eyed her nephews in the corner, who were currently fighting over a toy firetruck while their mother flirted with photographer. "There might be a reason for that."

"Look, Mary," Jinx said, pointedly, "I know this isn't your thing, but it's important to me. You only have to be here for a little while longer, okay? I just need you to suck it up and smile at the camera."

"Why is this so important to you anyway?" Mary questioned. "Why now?"

Jinx hesitated, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles in the baby's dress. "When I was young, my mother used to take me to her sister's house every once in awhile. It was so... different than our house. Our house was clean and proper and cold. My aunt's house was chaotic and warm. There were pictures everywhere of her family. I swore when I grew up and had kids that I would have pictures just like that."

Mary placed her hand on Jinx's arm. "We had pictures."

"We had snapshots here and there. I think we're missing three whole years of you girls. Three years of pictures that I'll never get back." Jinx's voice was full of regret. "Anyway, what's done is done, but I am not going to make the same mistake with my grandchildren. We are going to have lots and lots of pictures, both formal and informal."

"Sorry, I'm late," Marshall apologized, rushing into the studio. He grabbed the baby from Jinx and smothered her with kisses before turning his affection on Norah. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

Jinx patted his arm. "Not a thing. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get the boys ready since Brandi seems otherwise occupied."

Marshall turned to Mary, who was deep in thought. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she answered with a smile. "I was just thinking that maybe we should do this a little more often."

QUOTE PROMPT #086 – MARK/NORAH

"Don't know. I'm starting to like this poetry thing. 'Here lies my beloved, my autumn flower... somewhat less attractive now that she's all corpsified and gross—'"

"Don't let it drip," Mark warned, watching his eight-year-old daughter eat a hot fudge sundae.

"How long are you going to be here, Daddy?" Norah asked, licking her spoon.

Mark leaned forward and wiped her chin. "Only a few days, this time, Princess. My plane leaves on Monday."

Norah sighed dramatically. "Okay."

"So, Mom tells me that you have a little crush," Mark told her.

"I do not!" Norah protested, blushing furiously.

Mark bit back a smile. "Really? Not even a little one? Not even on Micah Latimar?"

Her jaw dropped. "No! He's a- He's a- He's a Bubble Brain!"

"A what?" Mark burst out laughing.

"I don't like him, Daddy," Norah pouted.

He brushed the hair from her forehead. "Okay, okay, but you know if you ever do like a boy, you can tell me, right? I promise I won't make fun of you."

Norah grinned. "I know. But I don't think I'm ever going to like boys. Marshall says that boys are icky."

"Marshall is completely right," Mark deadpanned.

QUOTE PROMPT #087 – MARY/BRANDI

"Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here, I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see, loved people, people I never would have know if I'd stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world."

"Where are you this time?" Mary asked her sister over the phone, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice.

Brandi blathered on, unaffected. "Louisiana. No, Georgia. Yeah, in Georgia, I think. It's really beautiful around here. A little boring, but beautiful."

Mary pinched her nose. "That's wonderful, Brandi, but when are you coming home?"

"Well, I should probably be able to get a week out there in between when the Great Hyenas tour ends and the Polka Dot Puppies starts," Brandi replied.

"You signed up for another tour?" Mary was incensed. She had been taking care of Brandi's daughter for nearly six months now while Brandi ran off to be a roadie.

Brandi sighed. "Well, yeah. It's pretty good money and I get to travel all over the country. If I can get on the Brian Griffin band tour, I can go to Europe. Isn't that exciting?"

Mary took a deep breath to calm her anger. "What's exciting is the fact that your daughter learned to crawl. What's exciting is that she said her first word. Want to know what it was? Mama. Want to know who she said it to? Me!"

"You knew I was going to be gone for awhile."

"I thought you'd be gone for a few weeks and then realize that you should be here with your daughter!" Mary shot back.

Brandi sighed again. "I'm not cut to be a mother. This, though, this I'm good at."

Mary shook her head. "Brandi-"

"Look, Mare, I've gotta go. I'll call you soon." With that, Brandi hung up the phone. She finally felt good about her life and she wasn't going to let anyone, even her big sister, put an end to that.