A/N: I'm so glad everyone likes this AU story! I was planning a flashback chapter - but my Marshall muse had other ideas. Enjoy!

"If it takes forever I will wait for you.

For a thousand summers I will wait for you."

-Andy Williams

Two weeks later

"Was that the doorbell?"

"Yeah, Dad, I got it!" Liam yelled over his shoulder as he opened the front door. "Aunt Brandi – whoa! You're even bigger than when I left for NYC."

Brandi lifted her oversized purse and gave a half hearted attempt to brain her favorite nephew. "Watch it, sport."

Liam caught her wrist and pulled her into a hug. "How are you feeling? Only a few weeks to go, right?"

Brandi sighed as she nodded against his shoulder. "Five – but it might as well be a year! I feel like I've been pregnant forever!"

Liam stepped back to let her inside, and shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He never knew what to say when women started talking about 'girl' things, even Julia. He had no idea how his dad seemed to take it in stride-

"Mary was the same way," Marshall called from the kitchen as he set a large platter of ribs on the island. "The last few weeks of her pregnancy weren't pleasant for me," he grimaced at the memory.

Brandi set her purse on the couch and waddled into the kitchen. "I'm afraid I'm making Peter's life hell as well."

Marshall swung an arm around her shoulders. "That's our cross to bear as the husband and father-to-be."

Brandi swatted his arm and Marshall laughed. "Don't play the martyr card with me, Marshall Mann. I was there, remember? I saw you give it back to my sister as good as she dished it out to you." Brandi sniffed and Marshall silently handed her a tissue. "I miss her."

"I know you do," Marshall whispered as his eyes met his son's over her head. "Brandi, there's something-"

"Hey, are those your homemade BBQ ribs?" she gasped as her eyes lit on the platter for the first time.

Marshall chuckled. "Yes."

Brandi groaned. "How did you know-"

"About your craving? I talked to Peter earlier and asked."

Brandi shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "I'll never understand why my sister left you, Marshall. You're one in a million."

He handed her another tissue. "That's your hormones talking, Bee."

She shook her head. "No, it's not. You've taken care of me ever since she left – oh, I know it was your parents who took me in and raised me after mom died but we both know that if you'd been able to support me and Will, you would have taken me with you. As it was I followed you here as soon as I could – and you didn't turn me away." She sniffed into her tissue. "You're the big brother I always wanted."

Marshall kissed the top of her head. "And you're the little sister I never had."

Liam cleared his throat. "Is the whole night going to be this mushy? 'Cause I'll bail right now and go hang out with Julia-"

Marshall laughed. "Sorry, Will. Women are extra emotional when pregnant."

"Extra?" he repeated, swallowing hard. "Damn, I'm in trouble."

This time, his aunt joined in his father's laughter.

"Marshall, I need your help."

He stared at his brother-in-law in surprise. "I'll help if I can. What is it?"

"With your stubborn sister here," he jabbed his fork in Brandi's direction. "She's refusing to listen to me."

Marshall's mouth quirked but he managed to keep the grin from forming. "About what?"

"About going back to work once the baby's born."

Brandi leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her swollen belly. Liam could read her body language plain as day and wanted to kick his uncle's knee under the table but since this would prove to be an entertaining discussion with possible fireworks that didn't involve him, he bit his tongue and watched.

"I've told you, Peter, I love my job – I want to go back once my maternity leave is over."

"But honey, you don't need to work – tell her, Marshall."

Marshall held up his hands as Brandi glared at her husband. "I want to work – I know I don't have to but I also don't want to live off your wealth. I'm not a gold digger."

"Brandi, I don't think that – no one thinks that."

"Your family does-"

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do."

Marshall cleared his throat. "Bee, I think what Peter is trying to say is that he would like you home with the baby for a few years – isn't that right?"

Peter gave him a grateful look. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say – just until he or she is old enough to go to school then maybe we can talk about-"

Brandi gripped the edge of the table and pulled herself to her feet. "I'm not putting my life on hold for you or this baby or anyone! Do you realize that I'd probably have to go back to school again to get caught up with nursing practices by the time this baby was in school? And what if we have another one, hmm? Why do I have to put my career on hold to raise your kids?"

"Our kids, Brandi!"

"This isn't the fifties! I don't want to be just a housewife – I want to be a nurse and a mother and a wife – can you deal with that?"

"Marriage is about compromise-"

Brandi threw her napkin on the table. "How about this then – why don't you stay home with the baby?"

Peter gasped. "Brandi! That's – that's – absurd!"

She tilted her head. "Why?" She turned to Marshall. "There are househusbands now, right?"

Marshall's mouth twitched again. "Actually, yes. Lots of men stay home and take care of the children while-"

"Marshall, not helping," Peter interrupted and sighed. "Look, I don't want you getting upset. It's not good for the baby. Why don't we go home and try to relax."

Brandi shook her head. "I don't want to go home with you. I'm going to stay here tonight – give us both a chance to think about things."

"Honey," Peter reached out for her but Brandi slipped away down the hall towards the bathroom. He buried his face in his hands. "I didn't – I shouldn't have-"

Marshall leaned forward and laid a hand on Peter's shoulder, as he locked eyes with his son. Liam made a small exiting motion with his hand and Marshall nodded, watching as he left the kitchen without a backward glance.

"Peter, it's going to be all right. Brandi is overly emotional right now, you know that. Give her tonight to get a good night's sleep, some space tomorrow to think about things and she'll come home ready to talk."

Peter lifted pain filled eyes. "You really think so?"

"I do – she's got the Shannon stubbornness, but unlike her sister Mary she can't hold a grudge past twenty-four hours. She blows up but the storm passes quickly – you can thank your lucky stars for that."

"Mary was different?"

Marshall's eyes glazed over as he remembered his long lost love. "Mary felt things deeply but never let people see how deeply it affected her. When she was upset, she bottled those emotions up until one day, they would explode out of her like a pressure cooker letting out steam. I've never known anyone who could hold a grudge like Mary Shannon."

Peter's eyes narrowed. "You still love her."

Marshall's eyes snapped back into focus. "I'll take care of Brandi tonight," he vowed, ignoring Peter's statement. "You go home and think about how the two of you might reach a compromise."

"Am I being unreasonable, Marshall? I'll admit I didn't know how important her nursing was to her."

Marshall grinned. "Well, after tonight's fireworks, there should be no doubt in your mind about what Bee wants."

Liam found his dad in his office an hour after he heard the front door close behind Uncle Peter. File folders were open on the desktop but he noticed that his dad wasn't really focused on them – he was gazing out the window into the darkness, a slight frown on his face.

"Dad?"

Marshall looked up and smiled. "Will – I thought you'd gone to bed already."

"It's only nine thirty."

He glanced at the clock on his bookcase. "So it is – is your Aunt Brandi asleep?"

Liam nodded. "I just checked on her – she drank the hot cocoa you made her and passed out."

"Whenever Bee couldn't sleep – no matter what the reason – your nana's cocoa always soothed her enough to knock her out. It worked on you too," Marshall smiled.

"You ever going to tell me what the secret ingredient is?"

Marshall grinned. "Maybe when you're a father."

Liam snorted. "So that's a no."

"You don't see yourself as a father?" Marshall cocked his head.

"Dad, I –" Liam cleared his throat and changed the subject. "All that stuff you said to Uncle Peter about Mom- was that true?"

Marshall sighed. "Come sit down." He waited until his son was seated across the desk from him before speaking. "So you were listening."

Liam shrugged. "I wanted to know if you were going to tell Uncle Peter about my seeing her in New York but then you started talking about her and – I need to know – is what you told him true?"

"Will, I've never told you or anyone anything about your Mom that isn't true."

"Except for the fact that you've known all along where she is."

He shook his head. "I haven't known 'all along'-"

Liam snorted.

"No, listen to me, Will. It wasn't until I became a US Marshal that I had the resources to look for your mother and by that time she'd been gone for years. I didn't know if I wanted to open those wounds up again – we'd all moved on. You and I were doing fine on our own and Bee was still in school. She had finally come to terms with Jinx's death and accepted the fact that Mary wasn't coming back. So I decided to just leave it alone."

Liam was quiet as he let his father's words sink in.

"But the older you got, the more questions you asked about her and I told you everything I knew – which wasn't much. I refused to tell you she was dead, because I didn't believe she was. When you turned fifteen and got your driver's permit, I knew that time was growing short and that soon you weren't going to be satisfied with my answers – that I had to give you more. So I raked the system and found her."

"Where was she?" Liam's voice was whisper soft, filled with emotion and Marshall's heart broke for his son.

"Chicago – then Boston – and now finally, Miami. She's never stayed in one place too long, and the kind of job she has with the Marshal Service keeps her on the road ten months out of the year."

"Is she – is she happy?"

Marshall's eyes grew sad. "I don't know – personnel records don't give that kind of information and I haven't contacted her-"

"My God, Dad! Why not?" Liam leapt to his feet. "You said you didn't want to upset our lives, but I can hear the love for her in your voice and you still wear your wedding ring! Fuck!"

"Will-"

"No, Dad. I don't understand – why didn't you go to her – demand answers, beg her to come home?"

"Because she asked me to wait for her!"

The words hung in the air between the Mann men. Marshall's chest was heaving with emotion and he turned away to stare out the window, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Dad?" Liam whispered. "What do you mean, she asked you to wait? What aren't you telling me?"

Marshall swallowed the emotion in his throat as he dug his wallet out of his back pocket, extracting a well worn, faded scrap of paper. "Here – read this."

Liam took the paper with shaking fingers, unfolding it carefully as it was creased and torn from being opened and closed multiple times. He stared in disbelief at the feminine script. "Is this-"

Marshall nodded. "That's your mom's handwriting."

Liam swallowed as the words blurred on the page. He blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, String Bean. I just need a little time. Keep this safe for me. I know I have no right to ask since I'm the one leaving but – wait for me?"

He flipped the paper over but that's all his mom had written. Wait – he went back to one phrase. "Dad – what did she want you to keep safe?"

Marshall's shoulders sagged an inch. "Her wedding band was on top of the note. I found it when I got home from work – along with you, of course."

Liam's anger was rekindled. "She left me alone?"

"No, my dad was there-"

"And he didn't try to stop Mom from leaving?"

Marshall turned then, his eyes red from crying. "Oh no, Dad didn't stop her. Where do you think Mary got the money to finance her getaway?"

Liam's mouth fell open. "You're saying Gramps-"

"I don't know what else to think. We were living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet. Someone had to give her the money."

"Did you ask him?"

"Yes – he didn't deny it."

"Why would he do that?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"Is this why the two of you haven't spoken for as long as I can remember?"

Marshall nodded. "Look, I know I haven't been a saint, either. I should have come to you as soon as I found out where your mother was living and taken you to her. I shouldn't have kept the information from you – I guess what it boils down to is I was protecting myself as much as I was claiming to protect you. I hope you can forgive me, Will."

Liam stared at his father for a long moment before he shook his head, his mouth quirking into a smile. "I'm still pissed at you, Dad, but I know your heart was in the right place. It'll take me a little bit, but yeah, I'll forgive you."

Marshall crossed the distance between them and grabbed his son in a bear hug. "I love you, William – never doubt that."

"I don't, Dad. Love you too."

Mary's eyes flew open and she lay in the darkness, wondering what it was that had disturbed her sleep. Her fiancé lay snoring next to her and she snorted as she turned over and listened to the roar of the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. She was just beginning to drift off when her eyes snapped open.

Eyes.

She'd had the dream again. About the boy in the pancake house that had her eyes. It was uncanny how that boy had haunted her dreams for the past few weeks; it was almost as if she knew him from somewhere. But that was impossible. She had a great memory for faces and she knew that she hadn't encountered this young man on any of her jobs lately. It just had unnerved her because of the way he had stared at her as if he knew who she was – which was even more ridiculous. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to run the boy's face through the database. Maybe he was a relative of one of the fugitives she had captured or-

"Querida? Something wrong?"

She sighed and rolled back over to see Raph's eyes open and sleepily looking at her in concern. Mary pushed a lock of his hair back and he turned his head to press a kiss to her palm.

"Nothing's wrong, Raph. Go back to sleep."

A/N: Whew! Lots going on in this chapter - what the hell did Seth do? And Mary's with Raph? (evil giggle) Reviews are LOVE - and make me write more!