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Mary scurried around the house on a Sunday morning mumbling angry words to herself. She was mad that she had given in to going to dinner with Lucy that past Monday night, and even more angry that she couldn't think of an excuse quick enough to get out of going to see Lucy give a sermon at church today. When Lucy asked her while they were eating, her eyes pleaded for Mary to come. That blocked all of her thoughts and reduced her to a "yes" response.

Mary didn't really understand why Lucy thought it was so important for her to be there, but it seemed to really mean a lot to her. That was also why she hadn't said no. Mary missed the first time Lucy preached, so she felt guilty lying to her.

"Why don't you call Lucy and tell her that you're coming down with something and you don't feel well if you really don't want to go that badly," Wilson said as he cautiously entered the bedroom. Mary was angry enough to spit.

"Because she would know that I'm lying to her," Mary responded flatly.

"But it wouldn't be a complete lie. You're not feeling well." Mary had had another dose of radiation two days ago, and she was feeling sort of ill. She was tired, cranky, and achy- but in a weird sort of way. It alarmed her that she felt this way, so much so that she had even discussed it with Wilson. His response, however comforting it might have been, didn't help her any. Wilson just said that it was normal and she shouldn't worry about it. Mary disagreed with him, but didn't say anything. The last thing she wanted was to be rushed to the hospital or something of the like by her well-meaning husband.

"But I'm not coming down with something either Wilson." Mary sighed. "Besides, church starts in a half an hour, and I don't want to disappoint her and the rest of the family. Supposedly, they were all so excited that I was coming." She slipped on her dress shoes and walked toward Wilson. "Maybe it will atone for my sins. I haven't been to church since the fall."

"What sins would that be, exactly?"

"Well, let's see. I eloped and turned into even more of a habitual liar than I was before."

"I never knew that marrying me was a sin," he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Eloping isn't a very good thing Wilson."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. Mary pulled away from him slightly and looked down at her watch. "I really should get going if I plan on getting there anywhere close to on time."

Wilson kissed Mary's lips and saw her to the door. "Bye," he said quietly. He watched as Mary walked down the front steps, got into her car, and drove off in the direction of the GlenOak Community Church. He sighed, knowing that inevitably Mary would come back with some gripe and be in a bad mood. That always happened when she left the house, and almost indefinitely when she left the house without Wilson.

***

Mary pulled up to the church at the perfect time. The services would start in a little under twenty minutes, which would be just about enough time to say hello to everyone, wish Lucy good luck, and take her seat in the front left pew. When she got out of her car, however, it was a little more than she bargained for. She was ambushed by a sea of Camdens. Ruthie, David, Sam, and even Simon home on a break from school came over to greet her before she even took her key out of the ignition. Before Mary got out of the car, she looked down at her left hand. Her ring finger was empty, much like her heart felt every time she had to take her wedding ring off. She even surprised herself at how much she could miss him sometimes.

"Hey guys," she said as she stepped out of the car, not letting being alone get to her. Sam wrapped himself around Mary, followed by David doing the same. They were getting so big, somewhat close to the size of Billy she noted. Ruthie hugged her next, and then Simon briefly embraced Mary. "I didn't know I was going to get such a warm welcome," she noted.

"We missed you," Sam said. "How come we never see you?"

"I'm sorry. I've just been really busy."

"With what?" Ruthie asked.

"Work, getting adjusted to living by myself again."

"Didn't you move out over three months ago?" Simon asked.

"Well, yeah, but…"

Simon smiled at her. "It's good to be back with the family, isn't it?"

Mary wrapped her arm around Simon's shoulders and she and her siblings walked toward the church doors. "Yes, it is."

At the front, Eric and Annie were waiting for the rest of their children to return with Mary. They smiled when they saw them coming. They looked like an extremely close set of siblings, just like they always hoped they would be. Even the twins were fitting in. They approached Mary with open arms literally and figuratively, just as they usually did.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad," she said as she was sandwiched in a hug between the both of them.

"It's so great to see you at church again Mary," her mother told her.

"You should come more often. You can't be that busy. Besides, I think it would be good for you," Eric said.

It started before Mary even got in the door. Luckily, though, Lucy came outside to tell everyone to come in. She hugged Mary hello, then Mary hugged Kevin hello. She hadn't seen him in the longest time either. Lucy started to explain to Mary how nervous she was, because this was a Sunday morning service, but Mary didn't let her dwell on that.

"You'll be great Luce. You're great at everything."

"She's right," Kevin told her.

Lucy smiled and squeezed Kevin's hand. "I am not, but thanks. And thanks for coming Mary. It really does mean a lot to me."

"If it's important to you, then it's important to me."

"Who are you and what have you done with our daughter?" Reverend Camden said from behind Mary.

She laughed, but on the inside was not too pleased. She took offense to things people said about her quite easily; she was not as thick skinned as she continuously let on. That was probably part of the problem, letting everyone think that nothing bothered her, but that was just an element of her personality. She couldn't change who she was, which was why she had kept up her lying for so long.

"Come on, let's go inside," Lucy said. Everyone agreed and followed her through the white doors and into the church.

***

George saw Mary and her family walk inside the church, so he got out of his car. The coast was clear, so to speak. Slowly he approached the church, slipping inside unnoticed and taking his seat in the third to last row on the right side. He had noticed over the weeks that everyone seemed to have an assigned seating policy, so his spot was always open.

He sat down, smiled at the now familiar faces around him, and continued his study of Mary. She was seated with her family between her other brother-in-law and her father. So far, nothing interesting had happened. That was just the way he wanted it.

***

Mary sat in the front where she used to sit all those years ago, but everything seemed to change. Instead of sitting next to Lucy and whispering throughout the sermon, she was sitting between her father and Kevin. Matt was gone, Ruthie had a boyfriend, and all of these new people had joined the family. Roxanne and Chandler were sitting in the pew right behind Mary quietly fighting over some topic that Mary didn't know anything about. It was like this before she moved out, but she hadn't noticed it until now. They were all functioning without her. She didn't need them anymore and they didn't need her. It was quite strange.

As she listened to Lucy give her sermon, she tired to focus on it and get into the religious zone, but it just wasn't happening for her. She kept spacing out and was unable to focus for longer than twenty seconds. She usually wasn't like that unless she was very tired, and that was the case that morning. The radiation had tuckered her out. Luckily, no one was paying attention to her or realized that she wasn't giving Lucy her full consideration.

The oration eventually ended, as it always did, and the family congregated around the side of the church, to the left of the rows on the side of the church they sat on. Mary hugged Lucy when she came down, showing her approval.

"You did great. You're meant to be up there Luce," Mary said as she squeezed her sister lightly.

"You really think that?"

Mary nodded and the rest of the family came over to praise Lucy. Once they all finished, they separated slightly into the usual groups. Lucy, Kevin, Mary, Ruthie, and Roxanne all stood together making small talk. They all hadn't talked together at the same time ever, which almost seemed to make this conversation extra special to everyone- even to Mary. She was tired, and kept rubbing her eyes, but everything else was good.

"Dad said that if I did well he was thinking of letting me take a sermon every six Sundays. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Yeah," Ruthie said.

"I'd definitely be here every sixth Sunday then," Mary commented.

Everyone smiled at the prospect of having Mary around a little more, except for Roxanne. She was standing in front of Mary, facing the back of the church. Her attention was focused on the man who was quickly approaching their group of people. She pushed her way through the small circle of friends and walked over to him.

"Hello George," Roxanne said coquettish as she could muster up on such short notice.

Upon hearing the name "George," Mary spun around to look at whom Roxanne was talking to. It wasn't that common of a name, she thought. When she saw who was in front of her, though, she wished it were.

"Hi Roxanne." He tired to walk past her, but she stood in front of him.

"What's the rush?"

"Sorry. I wanted to talk with Mary."

The eyebrows rose of everyone around them, except for Roxanne's. Her face fell at the prospect of Mary being romantically involved with George. George put his hand on Mary's arm and tugged her lightly away from her clique to where they could talk with more privacy.

"What are you doing here?"

"How are you doing? Are you all right?" George asked.

"Let me ask you again," Mary said, this time with more anger in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

He decided to play down the situation. "Um, I go to this church."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why?' For the same reasons anyone else goes to church."

Tears of anguish formed in her eyes. "You're lying to me." Her face turned cold. "Answer my question George." He sheepishly cowered under her gaze. "Did Wilson send you?" Her tone was firm and full of hurt.

"Yes, but-"

She didn't let him finish, which was fine with George. He didn't really have a "but." "Why did you have to get involved? Why did he have to get involved? Frankly it's none of either of your business. Well, it maybe it has to do with him, but it's definitely none of your business George. I'm sure that you came to check up on me or something equally as lame, but I don't really care what the reason is. Now my entire family is going to question me about how I know you, and if I'm dating you, and just about anything else I don't want to answer." She glared at him as she paused to take a breath. "So, while I'm sure you meant well, you haven't done anything but make it all worse."

"Mary, I-"

She cut him off once more. "Please, if you have any compassion, you'll leave. Tell Wilson that I'm fine, and that I'm not speaking to him or to you." He opened his mouth to speak but she continued. "Thank you for making everything increasingly harder than it was before." She turned around to walk back to Lucy and the rest of the bunch.

"Mary, I'm sorry," he said, knowing that she was still within earshot.

Mary just kept on walking, not taking mind to the fact that he was still calling after her. She rejoined the group as she tried her hardest not to look upset and hurt. Roxanne stared at Mary rudely, as if she had stepped onto Roxanne's turf.

"How do you know George?" she asked boorishly.

"Well, I, um…" She laughed nervously.

"Are you dating him?" Lucy asked. Roxanne leaned in eagerly. She wanted to know the answer to this question as well.

"No definitely not." She looked straight at Roxanne. "He's all yours."

Kevin laughed. "Come on, let's go get some refreshments."

They all walked to the back room of the church where punch and breakfast pastries would be served to the members of the congregation who stayed for that sort of thing. Lucy stayed behind to walk with Mary, and Ruthie was behind them. She wanted to listen in on the conversation of her older sisters.

"So, how do you know George?"

"He's…um…a regular customer at the bookstore." That was like two lies in one. Not only did George never step foot in the bookstore before, Mary wasn't even working there anymore. "He comes in every Monday at the same time to get some weird weekly newspaper he likes." Before Lucy could pose another question, Mary asked one of her own. "How do you know George?"

"Oh, he's been coming to the church for a few months now. Roxanne was the first one to notice him, of course, and then the rest of us introduced ourselves. He seemed kind of lonely. We asked him a couple of times to come up and sit with us, but he always politely refused. Dad thinks that something is weird about him, and so does Kevin, but we haven't found anything out."

"Something weird like what?"

"I don't know. I'm not the one who sees it. But, he is sort of mysterious."

"Really?" Mary said, trying not to draw too much attention to that. "He always seemed like an open book to me…no pun intended."

Lucy laughed as they stepped inside and got something to eat. Ruthie didn't follow them there, though. When she went inside, she immediately sought out George. She had a feeling Mary was not telling the whole truth, and she was always eager to catch someone in a lie. Catching Mary in a lie was even sweeter.

***

Mary walked out to her car in the parking lot with Ruthie. She was going back to her parents' house to have lunch, although she wasn't at all hungry, and Ruthie wanted to ride along with her. This was certainly a lot for her to endure, though, and she was not fully prepared. She had stayed up half the night before worrying about the next morning, and now she was certainly paying for it. Her stomach was starting to get queasy, too, probably resulting from her lack of sleep.

Ruthie and Mary reached the car, but not before George called out to Mary. She stopped dead in her tracks with her hand on the handle of the car door. He called out to her again and put his hand on her shoulder once he was close enough to her. Finally, she turned around and sighed.

"I'll just walk around the parking lot for a little bit- way over there," Ruthie said as she ducked out of the confrontation between the two.

Mary waited until Ruthie was far enough away and then spoke to George. "Will you tell Wilson that I'm going to my parent's house for lunch and I won't be home for at least another two hours?"

"Sure, but can you handle all of this?"

Some of the anger returned in her eyes. "That's why you're here, isn't it. You came to check up on me. Since Wilson couldn't come himself he sent you."

"We both just wanted to make sure you weren't over-doing it. He was worried, I was concerned, and so I came. But don't worry; I won't be coming back to this church again."

"You don't have to do that."

He furrowed his brow. "I don't get you. Are you angry with me, us, or not?"

"I am, but only because of your naïveté. You don't understand the gravity of your actions, the consequences of what you've done for me. But that's OK. This is my fault anyway. Everything is my fault." Mary ran her hand over her face in sheer exhaustion and turned away from George. "Ruthie! Let's go!" she called out to her little sister who was at the other end of the modest sized parking lot.

Ruthie walked back over and without another word George left. The two sisters piled into the car and Mary backed out of parking spot and onto the main road. Time to go face the questions. At least she was smart enough to come up with some sort of alibi, though. George was one of her customers at the bookstore. That seemed innocent enough. Her mind flashed to Wilson. He, on the other hand, was not so innocent. His intentions were good, but his execution was wrong. She had to admit, though, it was a good plan. He made her proud, she being the inventor of the "wacky plan" and all. But no matter how much she was rubbing off on him, there was still no excuse for what he did.

Mary sighed. She knew that thinking like this was no use. Wilson would just look at her with those eyes and her heart would melt. That's what happens when you really love someone; it's hard to get truly mad at them. Let's just hope that the Camdens really love Mary.

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A/N: This chapter was insanely long, that's for sure. I think I like it though. This was an idea that came to me one Saturday morning as I laid in bed trying to fall back asleep- like most of my fic ideas do. I tried to type it up true to what I first thought, but I'm not exactly sure that it was what I was planning. The whole Mary/George thing was a little off. What I was going for was that she was really mad at him when she first saw him, then when she saw him again in the parking lot she realized it wasn't worth it and was more disappointed in him, and Wilson, than anything else. I don't know if it came across that way, though. I hope it did.

Next chapter will be tons of dialog if I write it the way I anticipate doing. Don't worry; all of your questions will be answered. Mary will be just as curious as you are. It'll be all Mary/Wilson/George conversation, mostly stemming from the church thing. More M and G though I think. I like their relationship almost more than Mary and Wilson's. They have a good friendly vibe going, not that the relationship is the healthiest. Whatever.

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Reviews will aide Mary in calming down a bit.

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