Author's Note: Special thanks to JMS529, JJ2008, Jayne Leigh, and BrittanyLS for the reviews! And once again to BravoExpressions for the catch-up reviews!
"The average life is full of near misses and absolute hits. Of great love and small disasters. It's made up of banana milkshakes, loft insulation and random shoes. It's dead ordinary and truly, truly amazing. What you've got to realize is, it's all here, now. So breathe deep and swallow it whole. Because take it from me: life just whizzes by, and then, all of a sudden, it's—"
QUOTE PROMPT #109 – NORAH/OC
"He liked hamburgers," Norah said.
"But not pickles," Alyssa added.
Norah nodded, solemnly. "And he was a really good pillow to use when you were watching television in the living room."
Alyssa frowned. "Even when he barked at the dogs on the TV and made us fall to the floor?"
"Yes, even then!" Norah admonished. "His favorite toy in the whole world was his tennis ball."
"And Mommy's shoe," Alyssa clarified.
Norah rolled her eyes. "And Mommy's shoe. And his favorite thing in the entire world was to run around in the backyard with us and then jump into the pool for a swim to cool down."
Alyssa giggled. "Sometimes when the cover was on, too."
"Good-bye, Oscar," Norah said, puffing out her chest. Her voice faltered a bit on the next part. "We'll miss you."
"We'll miss you," Alyssa echoed, before breaking into dramatic tears.
In the doorway to the living room, Mary rolled her eyes. "They do know that we're only putting him in a kennel for a week while we go on vacation right?"
Marshall nodded, his eyes lit with amusement. "They take their good-byes very seriously."
"I knew letting Jinx watch them when they were little would come back to bite me."
By the front door, covered by the two little girls with hugs and kisses, Oscar the dog sighed in agreement.
QUOTE PROMPT #110 – MARY/MARSHALL
"Have we sent the "Don't shoot, we're pathetic" transmission yet?"
"Can we go already?"
"No," Marshall told, exasperated. "The mission isn't over yet."
Mary sighed. "But I'm cold and wet and tired."
He rolled his eyes. "There are still two men left out there. And you want to what? Give up? Surrender?
"Yes."
"Well, tough. I'm not going to let you. We're in this and we're in this together," Marshall told her.
Mary sat against the tree, stewing. She hadn't even wanted to come to this firefight. She only did it when Marshall spouted off some BS about their friendship falling to the wayside with all of the new directions that their lives had taken and that it would be good to solidify their bond. She mostly agreed to shut him up, but now, she was wishing she had just told him to stuff it. She just wanted to be home, curled up on the couch or maybe taking a long bath.
Mary waited another fifteen minutes before she stood.
"What are you doing?" Marshall hissed, his eyes wide as he looked around for those shooting at them.
"I'm done," Mary told him. She aimed her gun at him and pulled the trigger, smirking as red pooled in the center. "Come on, doofus. Let's go home. There's a bubble bath with our name on it."
"You shot me!" Marshall exclaimed. He glared when Mary simply shrugged. He pulled out his own gun and shot her in the stomach. The purple color made a flower pattern.
Mary scowled. "What the hell was that for?"
"Payback." Marshall stood. "You know, I just asked that we do an activity together since we hardly ever just get to hang out together anymore and not be Mom, Dad, Inspector, Chief, Husband, Wife. You're the one that picked paint ball."
"Yeah, well, now I'm picking something else. You can either continue to play in the dirt with a couple of teenagers or you can come get naked with me."
He followed her with not even a two second delay.
QUOTE PROMPT #111 - MARY
"We're adults. When did that happen, and how do we make it stop?"
She loved the sound of his voice; the way it soothed her nerves on a stakeout; the way it excited her when he barked out orders; even the way it bored her with his trivia.
She loved his hands; the way they held her when she sad; the way they were able to change a diaper in under a minute; the way they curled into her most intimate places.
She loved his mind, the way it mapped out an escape plan in a pinch; the way it fixed her computer before she had time to bring back coffee; the way it packed up two kids, two adults, and an oversized dog into her minivan plus luggage for a week-long vacation to the beach.
She loved his eyes; the way they lit up when his daughters walked into the room; the way they cried for her when she was waking up from her coma; the way they always sought hers in a crowded room.
She loved his compassion, his kindness, his empathy, his passion, his anger. She loved his ups and his downs and everything in between. She loved how much he loved her and never faltered, no matter how long it took her to realize that she loved him back.
But this was when she loved him the most: sitting on her front porch with a beer in her hand and the dog at her feet, watching as he ran up and down the street in a ragtag game of hide and seek with all of the neighborhood kids, laughing maniacally as he dodged the twins down the street, looking much younger than his forty-nine years.
And she hoped he never grew up.