Author's Note: Special thanks to JMS529 (#250!), JJ2008, BravoExpressions, and BrittanyLS for the reviews! Over half way to 500!
QUOTE PROMPT #130 – MARY/MARSHALL
"Don't you ever wonder how long you can survive before you go mad, or get killed, or lose a loved one?"
"Mary."
Mary's eyes fluttered opened at hearing her name. She turned her head and groaned at the pain that shot through her body. "Hey."
Marshall smiled in relief at seeing her eyes. "Welcome back."
"How long have I been out?" she croaked.
"About twenty-two hours," Marshall told her. "You have a pretty severe concussion and a broken leg. Thankfully, the bullet just grazed you. Most of the damage was from the fall over the balcony."
Mary shrugged. "Did I least get him?"
Marshall rolled his eyes. "Yeah. He's already on his way back to New York and the witness has been relocated." He glanced down at her leg. "Why did you do it, Mary? Why did you charge in their without waiting for back-up?"
"There wasn't time."
"Delia and I were less than a minute out," he continued. "You should have waited. You could have... you could have been killed. What would I have done then?"
Mary turned her head away from him. "You'd be fine."
Marshall stood so abruptly that he nearly knocked the chair over. "Fine?! You think I'd be fine?!"
"Marshall-"
"I wouldn't be fine, Mary!" he yelled. "If you die, you're taking my heart with you! My soul! Without you, I couldn't breathe! Without you, I'd rather die!"
Mary eyes drifted to the floor. In a voice he could hardly hear, she said, "Okay."
Marshall sighed. "Okay what?"
"Okay, I won't go charging into places anymore without back-up." Her voice dropped again. "And I believe that you'll be devastated if something happens to me."
"Devastated?" He moved so that he hovered over her, his hands on either side of her head. Marshall lowered his face close to hers. "You and I? We've danced around this for years and years. We've veiled it behind speeches, trailed off half-sentences, and gestures, but we've never actually confronted it head on because then, we can just pretend it isn't there." Marshall took a deep breath. "I love you, Mary. I am deeply, completely, over the hill in love with you. I have tried to move on and I can't. You don't have to do anything with this except acknowledge it. You don't have to love me back. But you have to understand that I cannot lose you."
Mary was unable to tear her eyes away from his intense blues. "I can't lose you either."
Marshall blinked slowly. "Why?"
"Because I'm in love with you, too, you moron."
QUOTE PROMPT #131 - MARSHALL
"He's cheating off the girl who thinks the square root of four is rainbows."
"She loves you" is what his mother told Marshall about Mary when she met him the second engagement dinner that he and Abigail threw for his family.
"She loves you" is what his father told Marshall about Mary when Marshall asked him why his father wouldn't give him his approval over his impending marriage to Abigail.
"She loves you" is what his brother told Marshall about Mary when he hesitated to agree to be Marshall's best man.
"She loves you" is what Delia told Marshall about Mary when he asked her about Mary's increasingly crass attitude around the office as his wedding day approached.
"She loves you" is what Brandi told Marshall about Mary when he found out that she had broken up with Kenny and refused to go out with anyone new.
"She loves you" is what Stan told Marshall about Mary when she didn't show up at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding.
"She loves you" is what Jinx told Marshall about Mary when she was the one to bring Norah the flower girl to the wedding instead of Mary.
"She loves you" is what Abigail told Marshall about Mary when she wrote him a note about why she couldn't marry him.
"I love you" is what Mary told Marshall when he showed up at her house that night."
"I love you, too" is what Marshall told Mary right before he swept her off her feet.
QUOTE PROMPT #132 – MARY/MARSHALL
"Life's true gift is the capacity to enjoy enjoyment."
"Would you look at her?" Mary commented to Marshall as he sat down next to her in the backyard.
Marshall looked at his step-daughter who sat a few feet away playing with bubbles. "She looks like she's having fun."
Mary nodded. "She's been at it for almost an hour; just sitting there, blowing bubbles."
"Oh, the follies of youth."
"Do you remember being that carefree? Chasing fireflies? Playing tag? Rolling down a hill?" Mary asked him, a wistful look in her eye.
Marshall nodded. "My brothers and I used to spend hours playing catch, just about nothing and everything. It was one of my favorite things about childhood."
Mary scooched over to him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I want to keep her childhood as carefree as possible."
"Who? Norah? I think her childhood is fairly angst free. I mean, Mark and I have even become friends so there are no issues there," he said.
"Yeah, that still freaks me out, by the way," Mary told him. "But I was actually thinking about Lily. She's only two and she already makes sure that Brandi eats. The signs are there. She's going to spend her childhood worrying."
Marshall kissed the top of her head. "We can try to help keep her a kid as long as possible. I'm not sure what else we can do."
Mary bit her bottom lip. "I want to talk to Brandi about letting Lily move in with us; at least, for a little while."
"Do you think she'll go for that?" Marshall asked. He was unsurprised when Mary shrugged. "It might be one heck of a battle."
"I know. I might have to compromise and ask her to move in here, too." Mary stiffened. "Are you okay with that?"
Marshall cupped her face and nodded. "She's my family, too, and if both Brandi and Lily moving is here is what it'll take to give Lily her childhood, then I'm more than okay with it."
Mary closed her eyes briefly and smiled. "Thank you."
"Marshall!" Norah exclaimed, just realizing that he had arrived home. "Come play 'Ring Around the Rosie' with me!"
"Gotta go. I'm being summoned." Marshall gave his wife one more kiss before running off to play with his step-daughter.
