(Enjoy, worked on this chapter a little while in my notebook before I typed it out! Happy reading! Comments are always appreciated!)
Marshall stood frozen, Norah squirming in his arms, his eyes glued to the test that had now made its way deeper into the deep basin of the bathroom sink. Mary had her head in her hands, perched on the edge of the bath tub. She was shocked, but it made sense, a lot of sense, unlike it had been with Norah, it was definitely not unbelievable. There was that day in the shower, that time on the couch, once on the kitchen floor, yesterday, and a bunch of other times already. Now that she looked back, she had absolutely no idea how she had found that much time to be on top of Marshall Mann, it was almost excessive.
They kept each other company in silence for a few short moments afterward. Briefly, Marshall left, returning empty armed, having finally put Norah in her crib. Mary had every intention of remaining there, lost in her own mind for as long as possible, anything to put off the actuality of the situation, but Marshall coaxed her out of her haze by loudly clearing his throat. She looked up thoughtfully to find his gaze was locked upon her, a smile nearly from ear to ear,
"You are glowing." He responded to her stares, leaning against the door frame.
"Quit it Marshall! You don't get to be calm; you don't get to be Mr. Wonderful either! You and I have not slept through an entire night for six straight months; wipe that goofy ass grin off of your face before I beat it out of you!" she scolded, her voice quaking in panic.
"Oh c'mon Mare, weren't you the one telling me you wanted another baby with me? What has changed?"
"Nothing, but you said we should take it slow, for once you had a great idea!" Mary argued, not entirely sure she supported the words coming from her mouth.
"Take a look at the ring on your finger! We lived with each other, what? Three days! That idea went down the tubes months ago!"
"Marshall you haven't even told your parents we're engaged yet!" she shot back unintentionally, having not been aware that it had been bothering her.
"Are you mad about that Mare?"
"Yeah, I'm pissed, and to be honest, it kinda hurts my feelings!- she answered, still in disbelief of herself- "I can't even count how many times I was stuck in the car, forced to listen to excruciatingly long conversations between you and your mother about how perfect Abigail was! Now, they think you're single, and they're probably on the prowl for some other lady cop to fix you up with, uninformed of what the hell is actually going on here!"
"Mary, I didn't know you'd want me to tell them! I mean, you haven't told Brandi or Jinx yet!"
"Cellphones aren't allowed in rehab Marshall!" Mary eyed him, her eyebrows raised in response to his stupidity.
"I'll call them if you want me to, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings… Do you want me to call them? I'll do it right now!" Marshall was frantic, pushing to make it up to her on the spot, now knowing she was pregnant he could adjust himself accordingly. What he said. What he did. Even how he breathed these next forty weeks would have to be strategic, just to keep her happy. He would do anything for Mary and that included phoning his parents to explain in detail what had occurred the last few months if she thought it necessary.
Mary sat up, suddenly feeling pregnant again, as if she hadn't been before the test and by seeing the positive it had suddenly made it so.
She sighed in partial defeat,
"And what are you gonna say Marshall?- Mary put her blackberry up to her ear, a ridiculous expression coming over her face- 'Mom, Dad? Five months ago, maybe three days after I left little Miss. Perfect, I proposed to Mary. Yeaaaaah that Mary, my partner! OH! By the wayyyy! I live with her now, plus did I forget to mention? She has a daughter, who is well on her way to calling me Daddy, no I'm not the father, it's her ex-husbands! But don't you worry! You'll be grandparents soon enough, because I got her pregnant! No it's not irresponsible, in fact it's economical! How you ask? Wel-
"Okay, that's enough!" he commanded,
"Oh and when you're on the phone Marshall, don't forget to throw out there that my sister's in rehab, but be polite, and ask them what they plan on having for dinner tonight while you're at it!" She slammed her phone onto the counter space near the sink, from where she sat.
"I can get them a flight out for tomorrow if you want to tell them in person, I just don't want to have to subject you to my mother already…"
"Newsflash Marshall! Your dad and I get along just fine, and according to you, his approval isn't an easy thing to get!"
"I-I know, but my mother, she's, she's different!"
"Who's not ashamed of their mother?"
"I'm not ashamed of her, I just don't want you to, you know- hate her."
"Jesus, you're worried about me hating her? You do realize she'll probably hate me? Even you've told me I'm not a people person; my anti-social personality is just the icing on the cake!"
"And what's mini-Mare? The adorable decoration to top it all off?"
"I hate how you can do that!" she yelled.
"Do what?"
"Change the subject to Norah, or, or Pie and all of sudden I'm not mad at you anymore! I hate it how you know me! Just promise me you won't tell them I'm pregnant until we're absolutely sure, or until we know how pregnant I- she stopped, attempting to swallow the large lump that had been forming in her throat. Slowly, she slid down the edge of the bath tub until her bottom was touching the tile of the cool bathroom floor. Mary pulled herself up to the toilet, her face disappearing into the bowl, before she began to heave up what little was left of the contents in her stomach, "You've got to be kidding me.." she groaned. Marshall could already tell she was sick of being pregnant again, but hoped it would get better as time progressed, because this time it was with him and this time she knew it was well worth the nine month wait for the end result.
He knelt down beside her, rubbing her upper back,
"Congratulations Daddy, pregnancy isn't as pretty up close as it is on T.V is it?" she snorted.
"This may not be pretty, but you sure are…" he smirked.
"Ugh Doofus quit it before I start gagging again! Anyway, wait till you wake up in the morning next to a grotesque, hormone filled, big boobed, itchy raging lady thing, you'll be rethinking everything you say on this here bathroom floor…"
"Oh shush Mare, I don't care if you get as wide as you are tall, just as long as you keep your kind demeanor…." He teased.
"Gotchya." She winked, unraveling some toilet paper to wipe her mouth.
"Can I tell you something?"
"If I say no you'll just tell me anyway- she rolled her eyes,
"I'm happy." Marshall smiled.
"You won't be happy when I can't brush my teeth with peppermint toothpaste for a week without puking my guts out… it's like a vicious circle…"
"But the puking will eventually cease-
"And then comes the backaches, the raging hormones, frequent rest stops, ridiculous cravings-
"The miracle of life, the family dynamic, milestones to experience, we get to see our kids grow up together! What's so bad about that!"
"Nothing I-
"Just don't want to be pregnant again…"
"STOP THAT!" she ordered, poking him in the chest.
"Stop what?" he asked, pulling away, hands up in defense, afraid he had hurt her in some way.
"We are not going to be one of those couples that finish each other's sentences!"
He chuckled,
"As you wi- Mary's cellphone screeched from the sink, causing her heart to thump aggressively in her chest, she fumbled with her phone, rolling her eyes at her new witnesses name on the caller I.D.
"Mary?" She answered, not bothering to say 'inspector' hoping they would hang up before they could ask a stupid question, thinking they had dialed the wrong number. Although not plausible, she closed her eyes, praying the line would go dead as she waited for a response.
"Inspector Shannon? This is Lindsey Campagnola, from earlier?" she quavered.
"What's the problem?" Mary asked softly, agitated, but trying to hide it. Marshall rose, offering her a hand; she muttered a quick 'thank you' as she got to her feet, awaiting a response.
"Carl fell off- ff of th- the roof, we're in the em-mergency r-room!"
"What? Lindsey, how the hell did he do that? You've been alone for what? A whopping three hours!"
"M-Mary I'm real- healy worried!" she sobbed, "What do I do?"
"I'll be right over! Maybe if you hadn't been a cradle robber in the first place…" she muttered as she closed the phone. Mary looked at Marshall,
"I have to go take care of something."
"Everything all right?" he questioned curiously.
"No! Numbnuts fell of the god damn roof!" she answered, leaving the bathroom, take long strides down the hallway toward the door.
Marshall nodded,
"Are you gonna be able to drive?" he called as the front door shut.
'Apparently so' he thought as the car roared to life in the driveway, remembering they had left hers in the office parking lot this afternoon. Mary didn't care for her mini-van as much as she had loved her Probe; Marshall smiled, knowing she would have never let him convince her to leave that car.
He sighed, taking out his own cellphone,
"Mom? Is Dad with you? Good. Do you two feel like coming for a visit?" he asked, suddenly feeling nauseous himself.