2012
The pounding grew louder and louder until Marshall groaned and rolled to his feet, staring blearily around his bedroom, trying to focus on the time.
"Marshall, who is at your door at two in the morning?" Abigail moaned into her pillow.
"Go back to sleep, Abs. It's just-"
"MARSHALL!"
Abigail sat up. "Is that-" her eyes looked at him in astonishment.
He nodded wearily as he shrugged on a T-shirt. "I better go see what she wants before she wakes up my neighbors."
"Can't she just talk to you at the office in the morning – you know, at a decent hour?"
The pounding came again and he grinned. "Sure – you want to go tell her?"
Abigail threw back the covers but Marshall's hand shot out. "Stay here. I'll go see what's upset her."
She snuggled back into his bed. "Fine – but then you and I are going to have a serious talk about boundaries."
He rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he wandered down the hall, turned on the light, and threw open the door. "Mary, do you have any idea what time it is?"
She looked up at him with wide-eyed innocence. "Oh, did I wake you?"
He grunted. "Unlike you, most of us are asleep in the middle of the night."
"Yeah well, tell that to the bump," she gestured to her stomach.
He frowned. "Is something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No, just heartburn – look, can I come in? Miss Jespers across the street is staring at us through her curtains."
He scrubbed a hand down his face. "That's because you woke the whole street with your pounding – yeah, come in." He pulled her inside and waved to his nosy neighbor before shutting the door. "So, why are you here?"
"What, I can't visit my best friend?"
He leveled a dark glare at her. "I mean, now, in the middle of the night."
"I told you I couldn't sleep."
"I'm not in the mood for twenty questions, Mer. Either talk to me or-"
"I can't do it, Marshall."
"Do what?" he shook his head.
She began to pace his living room. "I can't give it up."
His lips twitched but he managed to keep the smile from showing. "So keep it."
She whirled on him, and he was stunned to see tears in her lashes. "I can't do that either! How am I supposed to do my job with a newborn? Go off on transfers and protect our witnesses when I've got to diaper and breastfeed and-" she stopped to take a deep breath. "God, Marshall, I can't!"
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "So give him or her up for adoption."
She fell into his chest, not noticing how he held himself stiff in her embrace. "I can't! What if they're axe murderers or they abuse it? I mean, if someone's going to fuck up my child, I figure that someone should be me!"
He laughed as he moved his hands to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Mary, it's going to work out – you're not alone. You have your mom and Brandi-"
She pulled away to look up at him in disbelief. "Seriously? You're counting a reformed alcoholic and a sister who thinks poop is icky?"
He grinned. "And you've got Stan and me – you know I'm great with kids. But I still think you should tell Mark-"
She moved out of his hold. "Why? Just because he knocked me up doesn't give him the right to know-"
"It's his child too, Mary. If it were me, I'd want to know."
"I don't know how to get in touch with him-"
"You have one of his flyers, right?"
She grimaced. "So I'm just supposed to call and leave a message on his work line?"
He shrugged. "It's better than nothing, right?"
"I guess." She rubbed her belly. "Ugh, again?"
"What is it?"
"Hiccups."
"Really? Can I?" he motioned to her bump.
She hesitated. She hated it when people touched her stomach – but it did funny things to her insides when her partner's hand was on her bump. Biting her lower lip, she nodded. Marshall stepped into her personal space and cupped her belly, moving his hand until he felt the vibrations under his fingers.
He grinned. "That is so cool."
She rolled her eyes. "For you, maybe. Just be glad you're not experiencing them from the inside."
His fingers began a gentle strum on her belly. "It's because you got so worked up, Mer. The baby is responding to your emotions – you need to relax, for both of your sakes."
"I don't know how I'm supposed to do that. All Mom and Brandi can talk about is the wedding and the fact that I'm a bad person for not calling Mark to let him know about the baby. No one asks how I'm doing with all this–"
He reached up with his free hand and cupped her cheek. "How are you?"
"Scared."
"I know."
"Look, I also came over to ask you something – but you can say no and I'll completely understand. I mean, you're in a relationship now and I have to respect that you can't come running every time-"
"Mary."
"What?"
He smiled. "What are you trying to ask me?"
"I have to take these natural childbirth classes down at the hospital and I was scared shitless to go alone – then I found out I'm supposed to have someone with me, as my coach. I don't want to ask Jinx and Brandi would make me more stressed so I naturally thought of you but you can say no-"
He felt the baby inside her began kicking, and he reached up to cup her face with both hands. "Mary, breathe, relax. You're getting worked up again and the baby is too. Do you feel it?"
She stopped talking and focused inward. "Yeah, I do. Shit, I'm going to be a terrible mother."
He shook his head. "No, you're not. After all, you just decided to keep your baby."
"I did?" She blinked. "I did. Crap, now what?"
"Now you and I are going to go to those classes-"
"What classes?" Abigail asked. "Am I interrupting something?" Her eyes darted between the partners.
Marshall's hands dropped from Mary's face. "No, of course not. Mary came over to ask me to be her coach in her childbirth classes."
"I see. And that couldn't wait until a more reasonable hour of the morning?"
"Abs-"
"It's OK, Marshall. I'm sorry I disturbed you both – I'll call next time." Mary turned to head for the door.
Marshall shot Abigail a look of warning and caught up with his partner at the front door. "Mer, I hope you know I wasn't really mad – you know you're welcome here anytime."
She smiled sadly. "I shouldn't have intruded – you have your own life now. You don't have to be my coach-"
"Hey, I told you I would – and I want to."
She nodded. "Do you know what today is?"
He frowned. "The fourteenth-"
"Pi day."
"I'll pick something up on the way in – any requests?"
"The bump doesn't like chocolate-"
He laughed. "That must be killing you."
"It is – especially since I'm craving bananas."
"Banana cream it is, then. Do you want me to drive you home?"
She shook her head. "I'll be OK – see you later."
Mary slipped out the door and Marshall leaned his forehead against the wood, taking a moment to breathe and gather his thoughts. He turned and jumped slightly when he saw Abigail standing behind him, her arms crossed under her breasts.
"Abs-"
"We need to talk, Marshall. If our relationship is going to continue, some things need to change."
2013
Marshall strode through the ER doors, his boot heels striking the linoleum tiles sharply, barely noticing that Abigail trailed in his wake.
"Marshall, slow down. I'm sure she's fine-"
"If she was fine, she would have called me herself."
"Except you asked her not to."
He pivoted on one heel to stare down at his fiancée. "Oh that's right, I did – now, whose idea was that?"
"Marshall, we never had a moment to ourselves! Don't you dare blame me-"
He turned and crossed the short distance to the nurse's station. "Excuse me, where might I find Mary and Norah Shannon?"
The nurse peered over the top of her spectacles. "And you are?"
"I'm Marshall Mann, Mary Shannon's emergency medical contact and Norah Shannon's godfather and guardian."
The nurse swallowed at the clipped tone of his voice and held up a finger as she punched some keys on her computer. "Down the hallway, room 202."
"Thank you." Marshall turned back to Abigail. "Stay here – you're not family and I don't think Mary would respond favorably to seeing you right now."
"Marshall- I'm not the bad guy here."
He sighed. "I don't have time to talk about this – later, all right?"
"I'll wait."
He shrugged. "Whatever – but you might want to go on home. There's no telling how long I'll be."
"We need to talk-"
"Not – now." He separated his words as he turned and walked away, trying to control his emotions. Just as he was about to enter the room, Mary came flying out and his arms came up to catch her. "Mary," he breathed her name softly, as he took in her appearance. Her face and neck had a million tiny cuts and her left arm was in a sling but otherwise she seemed to be unhurt. "Are you all right?"
"Marshall, what are you doing here?" she snapped. "I didn't call you."
"Brandi called me."
"She did? She didn't need to, I'm fine."
"Are you? What's with the sling?"
"Broken collarbone."
"Any other injuries?"
"Cuts from glass and a few busted ribs from the fucking airbag but I'm fine – you should go."
He glanced over her shoulder and saw that the room was empty. "Where's Norah?"
Her face contorted briefly. "She's upstairs-" she swallowed.
"Mary?" he whispered. "What's wrong? Is she-?"
She shook her head violently. "Bug's OK – but they had to sedate her. It was horrible, Marshall, she was screaming and there was so much blood and I thought – I thought-" her voice broke on a sob.
He gently placed his hands on her hips, tugging her into him. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and sobbed into his dress shirt, letting her tears soak the linen. "I never saw the pickup until it hit us- drunk driver-" she sniffled. "He's dead, by the way," she explained as she felt him stiffen against her. "I was pinned in the car – couldn't reach back to comfort her – her screams were so loud-" she hiccupped and shuddered.
"Hush, Mer," he soothed. "Norah's tough – just like her mama. She's OK. Is that where you were going – to check on her?"
She nodded against his chest. "Brandi went upstairs a few minutes ago but I couldn't stand it anymore. I need to see her."
He pushed her back gently, wiping the remainder of her tears with his thumbs. "Then let's go."
The ride up to PICU was quiet, Mary leaned wearily against her old partner's shoulder and he didn't talk. She had noticed that he was wearing one of his nicest suits and she assumed that he had been out somewhere with Abigail but she didn't ask. When the doors opened, they saw that Brandi was pacing in the small waiting room.
"Squish, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Oh, Mary! I've been trying to think of a way to tell you-"
"Tell me what? Is Bug-"
"No! But they had to rush her to emergency surgery-"
Mary swallowed. "Why?"
Brandi wrung her hands. "I don't remember- they used big words that I didn't understand-"
Mary groaned. "And you wanted to be a nurse."
"Hey!"
"I'll go see what I can find out." Marshall kissed the side of Mary's head and walked through the heavy double doors.
Brandi smirked. "So I guess it's a good thing I called him, huh?"
"No, Squish, it's not. He's got his own life and I can't keep calling him away from it – he deserves to be happy."
"But what about the two of you?"
"There is no two of us! He's engaged to someone else."
"Not for long."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that I called and left the message with her and when I didn't hear back in an hour I called again and he answered. I was like, 'Didn't you get my message?' and he was like, 'What message?'"
Mary's mouth fell open. "She didn't tell him?"
"That would be my guess."
Mary saw Marshall coming back and motioned for her sister to shut up. "What did you find out?"
"Norah developed a subdural hematoma."
"Could you explain that to those of us without medical degrees?"
He smiled slightly. "Bleeding in the brain, probably caused by one of the flying pieces of glass; they needed to operate to relieve the pressure and stop the bleeding. She's going to be fine, Mer." He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it softly.
Mary swore. "If that bastard wasn't already dead, I'd hunt him down and kill him again."
His eyes bore into hers. "Take a number. Hey, where's Mark?"
"On a job in Phoenix. I called him but it went straight to voicemail – didn't think I should leave a message. So I guess there's nothing to do but wait," she sighed, dropping his hand. "You don't have to hang around, Marshall. I'm sure you have much better things to do than hang around here."
He shrugged. "Not really. Do you think the cafeteria has any good pie?"
Mary laughed and Brandi looked between them in confusion.
"Pie?"
Mary nodded. "It's kind of our thing."
Brandi shrugged and rubbed her pregnant belly. "I can always eat."
A week later, Mary opened the door to see Marshall on the other side, holding a large duffel bag. Norah squealed and bounced in her arms, as he took his goddaughter and snuggled her close.
"Hi love bug," he cooed. "You are a sight for sore eyes. Don't ever scare your Uncle Marshall like that again – well, at least not until you're about sixteen or so."
Mary shook her head at the two of them as she picked up his discarded duffel bag and lugged it into her living room. Blue met green as she planted her good hand on a hip. "She finally kicked you out, huh?"
He sobered as he sat on her sofa, bouncing Norah on his knee. "I left."
She came close and pushed back the lock of hair that had fallen over his right eye. "Want to talk about it?"
"No."
She nodded. "Pie?"
He grinned. "What have you got?"
"Lemon meringue."
"My favorite."
She rolled her eyes. "You don't have a favorite, Marshall," she threw over her shoulder as she walked to the kitchen.
"That's what you think," he muttered under his breath, enjoying the view.
An hour and half a pie later, Mary was half asleep and listening to her old partner over the baby monitor as he put Norah down for the night. Two years ago she never would have figured this would be her life. She had just been about ready to think about messy with Marshall, and now here she was, alone and the mother of a ten-month-old, and he was recently broken up with his fiancée. Perhaps their timing would never be right.
"Penny for your thoughts."
She jumped and cracked open her eyes to slits. "I didn't hear you come back in here."
He grinned. "I'm a ninja."
She snorted. "Hardly – I'm just stuffed full of pie." She shifted on the sofa and tried not to wince as her ribs complained at the small movement.
He reached out and touched her sling. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
She shrugged her good shoulder. "Some – but you know I hate taking the painkillers because I'm afraid I'll sleep too deeply and I won't hear Bug-"
"So you haven't been taking them?"
Mary shook her head. "I'm doing OK."
He blew out a breath. "You need looking after – perhaps I should stay with you for a few days."
She laughed. "Yeah – I'm sure your fiancée would love that."
He leveled a glare at her.
"Sorry, forgot." She touched his forearm."Marshall, what happened?"
He shrugged. "She wanted me to give up the one thing I couldn't-"
Her breath caught in her throat. "Marshall- if you love her- maybe-"
"Let it go, Mary."
"OK. So, what happens now?"
"Well, tomorrow's Saturday – you could help me look for a new apartment now that I'm homeless."
She ran her hand down his arm and took his hand in hers. "You'll never be homeless as long as you have me."
He smiled. "I'm not going to sleep on your lumpy couch, Mer."
She slugged his shoulder. "I have a guest room, you know."
"Yeah, one that's frequently occupied by Mark, or Brandi, or your mother –"
"You don't think you get top of the list?"
"I don't want to butt in on your life-"
"Hey, I need looking after, remember?"
"All right – I'll be your roommate, Shannon. But I pay rent and do the cooking, deal?"
"Wait, I get a roommate and chef out of the deal? What's the catch?"
"You have to keep the house stocked with pie."
She laughed and held out her hand. "Deal."
A/N: So, I could end it here - after all, Abigail's gone and M&M are together - sort of. What do you think? Reviews are LOVE!