(I tried. I really did not to write anymore, and I understand it may be getting old, but let me spice it back up! Please Enjoy my friends I enjoy reading your comments, they are always appreciated! Happy Reading!)

Five months later…

Mary scooped the last of the bananas out of the glass jar into the mouth of her giggling little girl,

"All done Bug!" she smiled looking at the clock on the wall, "C'mon Marrrrk.." Mary muttered frustrated under her breath, throwing the baby's spoon into the sink while simultaneously wiping the chunks of fruit from Norah's face. She pulled her cellphone out with every intention of giving her ex an earful of her discontent, or at least leaving a nasty voicemail, whatever option was open to her, in the shortest amount of time. Just before she jammed in the 'send' button on her blackberry, the front door opened, followed by a red faced Mark, who quickly apologized, knowing that it wouldn't stop Mary from commenting on his tardiness.

"Mark! There you are! I must be a fool to think that because you babysit your daughter so seldom that you would actually be on time. And I don't want to hear any excuses, I don't care if you were closing a deal, or helping an old woman cross the street! You have to be here on time, unlike a salesman's work, my job is time sensitive! Not to mention, Marshall had to leave an hour ago to get to work on time so now, thanks to you we have to take two separate cars in, which means we'll be using twice the gas and in this economy-

"I have to leave for California next month." He interrupted, unhooking Norah from her high chair to keep her from becoming impatient, which was a trait she most likely received from her mother.

"What?"

"I have a few more things to do in Albuquerque and then I have to-

"No Mark- You don't have to, you want to! I can't even believe you, yet alone myself for thinking maybe, just maybe I had a skewed impression of you, but just like I assumed, you are the selfish child I thought you to be. Great job Mark! What a model father you're turning out to be!"

Mary threw her cellphone into her bag and then flung it over her shoulder.

"Mary, don't get all worked up, it will only be temporary. Six months tops."

"But that is six months, 24 weeks! You know how fast a baby grows, not to mention she will have absolutely no chance of recognizing you! Jesus, what am I gonna do about work?"

She argued, pressing her cold hand against her warm forehead. Jinx had left months ago to rescue Brandi from drowning in a sea of vodka and now Mark…

"What do you plan on doing? Flying back every weekend?" Mary knew her attempts at rationalizing were useless especially when she was so worked up. She gulped in huge amounts of air, trying to make the knot in her stomach disappear that had formed during the course of the fight, but without avail it sat in her stomach adamantly, "Oh God I think I'm gonna be sick." She mumbled, covering her mouth with her other hand. "Norah's bottles are in the- she gulped again- in the fridge, nap at- at one, p-peaches are in the cabinet…" She kissed Norah quickly on the forehead, wanting to be near Mark as little as possible and then replaced her hand over her mouth again. In long strides she left her house, upset, exhausted, nauseous and eager to get to work. Mary hated to be late after not even one month back and today especially, because she had two new witnesses to brief on the 'merry' life of WITSEC.

Even though it was a slightly chilly day with the sun hiding behind the clouds, Mary had all of the windows rolled down, her hair whipped in the wind, the air whirling through the driver's side window and out the backseat of the passenger's side, leaving her face clammy, but no longer burning to her touch. Still, her stomach did flips at each light when she had to stop, but slightly settled as she took off again and the air began to circulate once more. The familiar feeling of the smooth pavement underneath her feet in the parking lot settled her stomach somewhat, unfortunately the knot still remained.

Mary was relieved to hear the elevator "ding" and the WITSEC floor light up so she could get off of the elevator. Most days since she had returned she felt compelled to curl up in the corner and let the gentle up and down motion of the lift lull her to sleep, but today it was just making her downright ill, what she yearned for at the moment was her office chair and Marshall's face, not a heaping pile of paper work and the undeniable drama that came along when instating people into the program. Unlike usual, she just wasn't in the mood. The idea of telling someone they had to leave everything and everyone behind because they had gotten a crappy hand in the crap shoot of the deal that was life had never been appealing and today it was doubly less so.

She groped for her I.D card in her bag, wanting nothing more than to be inside rather from the outside looking in, like she had been on maternity leave. The door buzzed, unlatching letting her pull it open with ease. She took a peek into the conference room to see two extremely nervous looking people, both twiddling their thumbs side by side, seated next to each other on the left side of the long table.

"They're a mess Mare, are you sure you don't want me to take this one?"

Mary cocked her head to one side, no longer trying to be inconspicuous, but rather wondering what those two extremely normal, innocent looking human beings were doing witnessing a crack head being capped by an angry mobster in a back alley. A young man, looking no older than twenty sat beside a significantly older woman, both looking like deer caught in headlights. She was certainly looking forward to that explanation. Then again, maybe she was reading too much into it, it was possible to be in that wrong of a place at the wrong time without it being sketchy, she had seen it dozens of times before.

"Mare?" Marshall repeated.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what?" she asked, biting her bottom lip, fighting off the feeling of nausea and the unsettling idea of searching for a babysitter for her daughter.

"I asked, if you wanted me to take this case… they've had a pretty rough time and you being a tiny bit rust-

"Don't tell me I'm rusty!" Mary snapped. " I can't deal with any criticism today Marshall, it's been, it's been- I can't even explain to you…" She gave up, dropping her head onto his shoulder in defeat, feeling the warmth radiating from her partner, wanting nothing more than to cry. This was absolute lunacy; she never felt half of the compellations she had felt just today in a whole week, yet alone an entire month. What the hell was going on?

"Okay, I'm sorry, you're just a little out of practice, that's all, I didn't mean to make you upset." He soothed, stroking her hair, feeling Delia's eyes burning into the back of his head, sure her jaw had unhinged from the unfamiliar spectacle occurring in the middle of the office.

Mary breathed out,

"Mark is leaving for California in four weeks, for six months..."

"Okay." Marshall stated, his face expressing that he was waiting for the actual bad news.

"That's it!" she stated credulously, "What are we going to do about Norah?"

"I'm sure we will be able to find someone to watch the baby, if not we are financially capable of hiring the best child care provider in Albuquerque, are you sure that's all that's bothering you? I can't comprehend why you would be so upset if it's only temporary, he'll be back. He's not leaving for good."

Mary found herself slightly agitated that Marshall was practically taking Mark's side.

"Seriously? This is a big deal! He was our life line, now we don't even have a life line!" she complained, throwing her bag down next to her desk, pulling away from Marshall to take a seat.

"Mary, it'll be fine. I promise! I think-

"No offense, but doofus, I know I'm about to get a spiel about my 'daddy issues' so if you don't mind- Spare me." She cut off, searching through her desk drawer for an antacid or pepto bismol, but only managing to find mints. She stuffed them into her pocket, "Excuse me fellow inspectors, but I have to get these poor saps to sign some paperwork to throw their lives away, so if you wouldn't mind?" she pointed toward the door, her jaw set tightly, staring back and forth between Marshall, who was obstructing her path and Delia, who had been innocently filing a paper in a cabinet conveniently within earshot of their quarrel.

"Be my guest." Marshall replied with a tiny grin, trying to make her understand even though she had meant for her words to sting him, they hadn't even affected him in the least bit, but his smile was weak and he sighed as Mary entered the conference room without a second glance back at him.

Mary dropped the file on the table, fully prepared to read off the long document, consisting of all of the rules that needed abiding in Witness protection and answering the butt load of questions afterward.

"U.S Marshall Mary Shannon, I'm the insp- she lost her breath, but regained it shortly after she had cut off, taking another loud gulp and clearing her throat- Ahem! Sorry, I'm the inspector assigned to your case, I'm the one you'll call if you're having any WITSEC related problems, or- excuse me one sec." She pulled the mints out of her pocket, her fingers fumbling with the wrapper as she shakily unwrapped a mint.

"You don't look so hot inspector." The young man retorted as she obliterated a lifesaver between her teeth.

"Gee thanks." Mary snorted, taking her first swallow of the minty saliva in her mouth, but quickly regretting it as the urge to gag overpowered her.

"Inspector?" the boy questioned, as she got to her feet painfully slow.

"Exc- excuse m- Mary flung herself at the garbage can closest to the door, facing away from her two startled confused and disgusted witnesses. Before Mary could reach up to let herself out while heaving into the trash bin Marshall pushed the door open. He grabbed her arm,

"Excuse us!" he called over, as he assisted his fiancé out the door, wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant smell of vomit. "Mare are you alright?" he asked, gently shoving her into her chair, reaching for the bottle of water from his desk. Somewhat frantically he unscrewed the cap, offering it to her.

"Oh man…" her voice echoed from the waste paper can, "I feel like, woah- a little dizzy." She said, wiping her mouth with a tissue Delia had so kindly tossed to her from a distance.

"Are you sick?" Marshall asked, somehow feeling responsible.

"I felt fine; it just hit me all of a sudden."

Delia chuckled from her corner,

"What's so funny? I hope you're laughing at a humorous chain email because if that cackle is at my expense I'll wipe that pretty smile of your face!" She wiped her eyes, hoping they would cease watering.

"I was just thinkin- she snickered a little more- What if you were pregnant again?" She burst out laughing harder, "Can you imagine, two baby's in one year! And you, Mary of all people!" she was nearly doubled over in laughter.

Before Mary could give her an acceptable look of scorn her eyes widened, she began to count back God knows what on her fingers, over and over again. Marshall eyed her suspiciously, wondering what she could have possibly been up to. As he opened his mouth, his partner stopped her strange gestures, clutching at the bucket again, her face now filled with terror she heaved even harder, this time sobs causing the tears in her eyes, "God Damn it." She whispered.