Author's Note: Special thanks to JMS529, Jayne Leigh, BrittanyLS, JJ2008, Adelled, and Jojo78 for the reviews!
QUOTE PROMPT #167 – MARY/MARSHALL
"Sometimes people walk away because they want to be alone, and sometimes they walk away because they want to see if you care enough to follow them into hell. I think I went the wrong way."
"What are you doing here, Mary? I told everyone that I want to be alone."
"Yeah, here's the thing," Mary replied, "I know you better than that. You just lost your mother. There is not a chance that you would want to be alone right now."
Marshall held the door open to let her inside. "I didn't think anyone would find me here."
Mary frowned, putting her hand on her hip. "Anyone or me?"
"Honestly? You. I didn't think you'd look," he told her, frankly.
"I-" Mary stopped, abruptly. She had been set to argue, but she knew he was right. She had never been the one to chase after him; it was always the other way around. "I-" She froze, not sure what to say to him. Mary bit her bottom lip. "Oh, hell!"
"Whoa!" Marshall exclaimed as Mary threw her arms around him. It only took him a moment to start hugging her back, fiercely.
Mary rocked him, gently. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have been a better friend. You should never doubt that I'm going to come after you. I don't want you to ever think that."
Nodding, Marshall buried his nose into her hair. "I believe you."
"I'm sorry about your mom," she whispered.
"Thank you."
QUOTE PROMPT #168 – MARY/MARSHALL
"He's my child, I want every minute I can with him."
"Marshall, you should put him down and come to bed," Mary told him, walking into the nursery. She stood next to the rocking chair.
"I just can't believe that he's finally here," he said, his toned hushed. "When Abigail took off right after he was born, a part of me really believed that I would never see him again."
Mary ran her fingers through his hair. "I know. But he's here now and he's all yours. If she even steps into New Mexico, we'll know about it."
Marshall snuggled the infant closer to his chest. "Do you think I did the right thing? Going after sole custody?"
"Yes," she said, definitively. "Look, not only did Abigail take off with him, when we finally found him, she was living with that shady guy in the rundown place. She obviously needs help. Hopefully, this will be the wake-up call that she needs. We can revisit the arrangement after that."
"Thank you." Marshall grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Thank you for being there for me, for dragging me out of my depressing. But mostly, thank you for loving me."
Mary leaned down and kissed him. "I think that's supposed to be my line. Now, I know you don't want to give him up, but he really needs to sleep in his own space, so I have a compromise. I put Norah's portable crib up in our room. We can have him sleep there until you're more comfortable."
Marshall grinned as he stood and followed her out of the nursery. "I love you."
"Yeah, yeah."
QUOTE PROMPT #169 – MARSHALL/NORAH
"It's not the quarry that makes the hunt nor the goal the game."
"What's up, buttercup?" Marshall asked his nine-year-old daughter as she wandered into the house, her head hung low.
"We lost the game," Norah replied, miserably.
Marshall hugged. "I'm sorry."
She shrugged. "Yeah, well, I don't want to play anymore. I'm done with baseball."
"Why?"
"Because it's stupid," Norah complained. "Because we practiced and practiced and we still lost."
Marshall frowned. "But did you have fun?"
Sighing, she replied, "Not when we lost."
"But did you have fun before then?" Marshall pushed, trying to hide his amusement. "Did you have fun during practice? Did you have fun meeting new friends? What about the team sleepover? Did you have fun then?"
"Yeah, I guess," Norah admitted.
Marshall smiled. "Well, then, it doesn't like it was so stupid after all."
Norah gave him a reluctant grin. "Okay, you're right. I won't quit."
"That's my girl."
