Disclaimer: Alas Not Mine
Through Bobby's Eyes
They were actually doing it, the preacher and everything. There had been so much speculation, and a fierce round of inter office betting, for and against this event actually occurring. He'd never had any doubts personally. If you knew them well enough you could see that they just worked. Though they could be flippant about so many other things about this they were dead serious.
Though the wedding would put to rest the worst of the gossip, that hadn't been their motivation. The ceremony was for them, and the simplicity of their taste rang through. There was none if the pomp and circumstance that usual accompanied these things, they kept what they wanted and skipped the rest. He laughed to himself, knowing Mary, anyone who went looking for a garter to toss would find a glock and a fairly good idea of which bit of their anatomy they'd be missing.
Mary was... gorgeous and Marshall's face could have split with the smile that he only had for her. Bobby had seen them determined, playful, annoyed and terrified, but he'd never seen them like this; completely off duty and incandescently happy.
He could think of no pair that deserved it more or had it longer in the making. He'd known since that terrible night when Mary was shot that if she pulled through Marshall would propose. Anyone who had seen Marshall at the hospital, or throughout those long weeks that followed, knew that he was in too deep to simply back away from a relationship with Mary; even if she was engaged to another man. Bobby wondered if Mary's leaving Ramerez around that time meant that she'd begun to figure it out too...
He was happy it had only taken them months rather than years to do something about it. Their track record hadn't been promising in that respect. Had he been a betting man he would have taken those odds. He would of course have been happy to part with his money once proven wrong.
Once Stan had given his blessing and passed Mary's hand into Marshall's, the preacher began to settle in to the familiar cadence of this ritual. Bobby settled more deeply into his seat as he took in the sight of all the people who had gathered. Though Mary and Marshall had tried to keep the gathering, in Jinx's words 'impossibly small,' there had been quite a turnout. This crazy pair had kicked, clawed and nattered their way into everyone's hearts.
There had been a few catcalls and shout outs when the preacher reached that bit about "speak now or forever hold your peace." But if Mary and Marshall were finally getting hitched no one had the balls to stand in their way. Not even a certain FBI agent that Bobby'd noticed silently fuming at the back. He was pretty sure that the Fed had not been on the guest list, but was content to let the man eat crow provided he "held his peace."
The preacher at last reached the part everyone had been waiting for, the vows. There was a sacred hush before Mary began to speak,
"I love you Marshall, I promise to love you for as long as i live" She closed her eyes for a minute taking a deep breath "and if there is a beyond i'll probably love you there too..."
Marshall returned her smile and their eyes locked, they were in their own place and had left the preacher, the guests and the mountains behind.
"Because we both know life is short, I promise to share mine with you without reservation... and expect you to call me out on it should I ever forget. I promise to protect you, even if it is from myself. I promise to need you and only you for my happiness, I promise to consider you in all of my choices, and I promise not to leave you, not if I have a choice, not ever."
Marshall looked down at their clasped hands before he started, his words slow at first
"I Love you Mary, Just the way you are. I love the person you have been and the person you're becoming. I will always love you without exception. I promise to share my life with you, I promise to keep you safe and be what you need." A deep breath "If it were up to me i would never leave you not for a day, not for a minute. I plan and I promise to stay right here beside you all the days and the minutes of my life and yours." He paused smiling up at Mary, "You are my Soulmate Mary, I know that you don't believe in those things... But you are the part of me I didn't know was missing until we met. Stan called it Stockholm Syndrome..." Mary hit him gently as the crowd shared in the joke, Bobby thought for a moment he might have heard Mary call Marshall 'Dufus.' When the ruckus calmed Marshall continued in earnest, "Mary, never for a moment doubt that you are all I need, that you are enough, that this is more than enough for me... more than I ever dared to dream of."
Mary beamed up at him and would have kissed him right then had not the preacher strategically cleared his throat. Mary's hushed comment to the greying cleric had sounded something like "Well get on with it then, we've waited long enough as it is." Which left Marshall nearly biting through his lip as the old man took a step back from a flushed Mary and started on the rings.
-o0o-
Bobby recalled the first time he'd seen the band on Mary's left hand. He'd waited an entire day before asking about it, marveling at how this ring suited Mary in ways Ramerez's had not. For one it was completely smooth, a slim band of inlaid stones that would neither catch on anything nor impede Mary's use of the hand. For another, Mary wasn't self conscious about it. When she spoke of Marshall her left thumb would subconsciously stroke the inside of the band, the action itself seeming to calm and ground Mary in almost the same way that Marshall's presence did. When curiosity had finally gotten the better of him and he'd asked for a closer look, he was again surprised. While diamond and turquoise rings were not unusual in the midwest, this one was especially unique as Bobby discovered when he stammeringly tried to cover up his realization that the "diamonds" inset into the ring were not... well diamonds. "Of course they're diamonds" Mary had answered with a knowing smirk that should have tipped him off "they're Cape May Diamonds." His confused look had Marshall laughing when he walked up a moment later to join the pair.
"Cape May diamonds," the tall marshal began to explain as his arm curled around Mary's back and she leaned into his side, "are actually deposits of naturally occurring quartz that are polished to the point of translucency by the waves and rough currents off the Coast of New Jersey and around Cape May Point. Some of the best specimens wash ashore on Sunset Beach in the town of Cape May giving the stone its name." he continued, smiling at Mary, calculating her response to his next comment. "they're kind of like pearls, natural beauties created through years of hardship and..." Marshall moved to defend his ribs from the jab of Mary's elbow that he expected and received, "agitation"
Bobby smiled to himself as he watched Marshall slide a second matching band onto Mary's finger to join the first, remembering how Mary had laughed and joked "leave it up to Encyclopedia Brown here to come up with something to combine New Jersey and New Mexico" he could tell how pleased Mary was with Marshall's choice and how proud she'd be to wear his ring.
The preacher clasped their joined hands together, proclaiming the last words that would, according to Mary, "seal the deal." When the man had at last announced "you may kiss your bride," and Marshall dipped Mary into a kiss that made Eleanor blush as she sat arm in arm with a teary Stan; Bobby couldn't help but raise the cheer "Finally!" that with the peals of following laughter seemed to resonate in the timeless landscape.
AN: Okay I'm a big fat stinking liar. Soon turned out to be not so soon and i have no excuse but that life has a way of intervening. Man plans; God laughs. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and I thank you all for sticking with me. I won't tell you what i've planned next as its a sure fire way of keeping me from actually getting it done. It suffices to say that that this incarnation of M&M have a few more stories to tell and, muse willing, i'll write them.
The ring: I figured Mary had done the whole big rock thing and she and Marshall would want something different and meaningful. The Cape May Diamonds were inspired by a recent conversation with a friend who suggested (simple soul that i am) that i'd prefer a Cape May diamond to a real diamond in a wedding ring. The meaning seemed to fit for Mary too (as a fellow New Jersey-ian). Turquoise has many meanings, some of the most consistent being friendship, happiness and love. Some reports claim that when turquoise is given as a gift it has the power to protect those that wear it. I figured that Marshall being Marshall, he would have considered all these things in making his choice as well as choosing a style that he knew Mary would feel comfortable living with.