Disclaimers: see part 1
Rating: PG
A/N: That was Mr. and Mrs. Charles Emerson Winchester III…missed the other I ;)
Charles parents had agreed to host the wedding reception in their home. Given the small nature of the service, it was basically a large family dinner. Between the first and second courses, Mary had excused herself and when the staff were clearing for the third and she still had not returned, Charles excused himself and went looking for his youngest daughter.
Charles found her quite quickly; she was sitting on the stairs in the entry way looking very upset. Charles sat down beside her and waited a few moments before attempting to talk to her.
"So let's have it then," he stated. In this experience thus far, both girls responded well to being able to bet the first word; it loosened things up and their feelings tended to flow out.
She silently shrugged her shoulders.
"Mary, what it the matter?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said quietly.
"Are you upset that Maragret and I got married?" he asked, hoping that this was not the case.
"No. I like Margaret but…"she paused.
"Are you upset that Charlie and Emerson want to call her 'Mom'?"
Her silence spoke volumes. Charlotte had warned Charles in her letter that Mary was quite reserved and that she kept her feelings bottled up until she had a meltdown.
"Mary, Margaret already told you that she's not trying to take your mother's place," he started. "She loves all three of you and she just wants you to be happy," he said as he tried to pull her into a hug. "Your brother and sister calling her 'Mom' is not a betrayal; they are simply moving on. Your mother would not want you to dwell on her death. She would want you to be happy."
She shrugged out of his embrace and stared at the floor. He did not understand his daughter's reaction. "You don't understand," she said quietly.
"You're quite right, I don't." This was one of the few times he didn't know what to say to one of his children. The other two were so much like him and his family; Mary had bits of him but was mostly like her mother. She was her mother's daughter there was no question about that. It was with this though that the answer hit him.
"Mary, do you feel like you don't fit in?" he asked.
"People at school are always comparing me to Emerson. She and Margaret get along great and she just like you. Charlie looks just like you and Uncle Tim, people always say that. But because I'm not loud like Emmie or cuddly like Charlie, it's like you forget about me," she said as tears began to form in her eyes.
While his other two a wound themselves into the Winchester clan, Mary was the outsider. Her sunny, sweet and kind nature where what you saw but none of the things that made Mary, well Mary. Even in pictures, she stood out like sore thumb; someone had once joked that there was a mix up at the hospital. Charles knew the other two; they were so much like him but Mary was different. She was her mother's daughter and with that mother gone, she had no one to connect to. And with that, Charles formulated a plan.
"Mary, would you please have dinner with me next Friday night?" he asked.
"Daddy, I have dinner with you every night," she said as she dried her eyes.
"No I mean going out for dinner, jut you and I?" he clarified. "I can get to know my wonderful youngest daughter."
"Really?" she asked, looking at him.
"Yes. You're right you know. I don't know you as well as your sister and brother and I would like to fix that. So will you please have dinner with me?"
"Alright," she smiled.
The pair returned to the party and Mary for the first time that day, had a smile on her face.