A/N: Mea culpa, my dear readers! A thousand apologies for making you all wait so long for this chapter! My computer died and it took me a bit of time to get a new one - but things are up and running again! I could tweak this chapter forever, so I better stop and just post it before you all start sending me PM's demanding to know where the *** your update is! Enjoy. XOXO

Strong T for language and suggestive content

Marshall stared at the words on the page. "Wait – our fathers knew each other? How did I never know this?"

"He never told you?"

"That he knew James Shannon? He never breathed a word to me about knowing your father – then again, why would he? We weren't close."

"Marshall, are you OK?"

"I should be asking you that – are you OK?"

Mary sighed. "So far, so good. It's about our fathers, not me. Keep going."

"I've shocked you, I know. I've never even told your mother that I knew James. It's something from my past that I've tried hard to erase, though at the time, I thought I was being cool. I knew James in high school, back then everyone called him 'JW'. He was a senior when I was a freshman. Surely I don't need to explain to you the hazing that goes on between freshmen and seniors. But for some reason, when it was all over, JW kept me around as his personal gopher and I looked up to him, in my eyes he could do no wrong. I tagged along after him like a little puppy dog, got him water and extra towels during football and basketball games, and even carried his books home. He was barely making it in school and once he found out I was on the honor roll, I tutored him in mathematics and science on the sly. He didn't want it to get around that a freshman was helping out a senior – not even a jock. My dad allowed me to tutor him but didn't really like me hanging out with him and after the incident I was forbidden to ever see him again.

See, JW loved cigarettes but he couldn't always swipe them from his housekeeper. So one day he stole some from the Stop N Go in our small town and that's when I like to think his love of crime was born. One afternoon I was in there getting some milk and JW and his buddies came in looking for smokes but the owner was wise to them so they left empty handed. I felt bad for JW and since I was still so starry eyed over him, I swiped the packet for him – and got caught. The owner called my dad and the sheriff and man, was I going to get it. But then JW showed up and said it was all his fault! He said he'd pulled a fast one when the owner had cornered him and his buddies earlier and dumped the smokes on me without my knowing – so I was totally innocent. My dad didn't buy it but the owner and the sheriff did and they let me go. When I asked JW the next day at school why he did it, JW clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, 'Kid, your dad's a US Marshal and I can see he's got you on the same path. Can't do that if you've got a rap sheet.' And he went whistling down the hall as my mouth fell open. Course I admired him all the more for what he did even though my dad grounded me for two months and forbid me to see JW ever again. I still saw him around in the hallways or on the field, but then JW dropped out of school a month later and rode out of town on his bike.

"Now, I know you're wondering why I'm telling you all this, but it will become clear in a bit. Suffice it to say, I'm not proud of this part of my past and I don't talk about it with anyone. When you started dating JW's daughter and started to fall for her, I was not happy. Even though he seemed to be gone for good, the man was a wanted fugitive and like bad pennies, they have a habit of turning up when you least expect them. I did everything I could to drive a wedge between the two of you in the hopes that you would break up with her but my plan backfired in a most unexpected way when the two of you snuck off and eloped. Perhaps I should have taken a different approach and pretended indifference. Perhaps then you would have forgotten Miss Shannon."

Marshall looked up and grinned. "Not likely – you are unforgettable."

She kicked him in the side. "Stop stalling. I want to hear more."

"I was returning from a job in Nevada when the bad penny dropped back into my life. I was trying to unwind at a local tavern after a job when the man next to me leaned over and said, 'Hey Kid, got a light?' and suddenly I was fourteen again as I looked into the aged face of JW. 'Give me one good reason for not taking you in right now.' He grinned as he held up a packet of smokes. 'You owe me.' I reminded him that that was a long time ago and he said sins had long shadows. 'What do you want?' He shoved a letter across the bar. 'Give that to my daughter for me.' Before I could ask him how he knew I knew his daughter, he was gone.

"I didn't relish the idea of going to see you and Mary – I hadn't seen you since the day Will was born and neither one of you had been exactly welcoming. I knew Mary would be less than thrilled to hear from her father but I wanted to get this unpleasantness out of the way so I could get home and forget I had ever seen this specter from the past. I made the stopover in the City and to my surprise found Mary alone in the apartment.

'What do you want?'

'Can I come in?'

'I don't think that's a good idea-'

'What I have to say can't be said out here, Mary – it's about your father.'

I watched as her face paled. 'Come in.' I followed her inside and watched as she went over to turn on a baby monitor. 'Keep your voice down. Will just feel asleep.'

'How's my grandchild?'

'He's fine. Now, what about my father?'

'He asked me to give you this.'

She stared at the letter for a long time before taking it. 'How did you know it was him?'

I paused not knowing what to say. 'He – you have his eyes.'

She winced. 'Great. Stay here.' She moved to the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

I don't know how long I heard her pacing in there, but I did hear her whispering to Will before she remembered to turn off the monitor, telling him that she loved him and that she was sorry and that she would be back soon. Shortly after that the door swung open and she staggered out holding a duffel bag in one hand and Will in the other.

'I have to go. Please watch Will until Marshall gets home – it's only for an hour.' She placed my grandson in my arms.

'Mary, what's going on?'

She held up her hand. 'No questions and don't use your resources to try and follow me, Seth. Just tell Marshall – no, I wrote a note. I'll be back. Damn bastard. He'll not take my family from me.' She leaned forward and kissed Will's cheek. 'Mama loves you.' And then she was gone.

"And that's all I know – God's honest truth, Marshall. Surely you've raked the system like I have and found that your wife is living in Miami now. I don't know what happened to her after she left that apartment. I didn't use my resources because Mary asked me not to and I wanted to believe her when she said she'd be back. When time passed and she didn't return, I thought one of two things: 1) she'd gone into hiding with JW or 2) she'd abandoned her family just like he did. For your sake I prayed it wasn't the latter but I feared it was, knowing that apples didn't fall far from trees.

"You have every right to hate me for withholding this information from you and not helping you find her – but I do hope that one day you can forgive me. I hope that this information is better late than never and that somehow you and Mary can reconnect if that is what is meant to be. Please know that I truly did only want you to be happy. Your loving father, Seth Abraham Mann"

Marshall snorted. "Happy? How was I ever supposed to be happy without her? Stupid man!" He threw down the papers and for the first time in several minutes looked at Mary who was staring into the distance. "Mary?"

She didn't respond.

He knelt at her feet and took her hands in his. "Mary?"

"-it's about your father."

The words bounced around inside Mary's head and suddenly she was back in New York City, being handed that letter from her father, Seth watching with his hard, calculating eyes. She could hear Will's soft breathing over the baby monitor.

Memories continued to assault her – hard and fast. The day she and Marshall moved into their tiny basement apartment below Gina's – he had carried her over the threshold and spun her around. She had laughed, told him to put her down before she puked on him. Hearing their baby's heartbeat for the first time; choosing the name William Marshall Mann, though Brandi had argued intensely for the middle name to be Shannon. Screaming and yelling at Marshall – blaming him for her condition and then begging him to hold her; sending her husband out for ice cream and popcorn at one o'clock in the morning even though he had to be at work at seven.

And then that letter from her father had arrived, complete with a bus ticket to Indianapolis. She couldn't believe that after all this time he wanted to reconnect – why? For what reason? Surely he must have known that she wanted nothing to do with him after all this time – but the fear that he would go after Brandi or come to NYC and bother Marshall or see her baby – no! Mary couldn't allow that. She had to nip this in the bud. She had to go – alone – and tell him that she wanted nothing to do with him. So he would leave her and her family alone.

Mary trembled as the memories continued to wash over her like a waterfall.

Marshall continued to stare at Mary, who was shaking like a leaf on the couch, staring at a spot on the wall, but he knew she was trapped in the past, in her memories. It was killing him, but he waited and watched for some sign and when her shakes lessened and she began to moan, he slipped from his knees to sit beside her on the couch.

"Daddy-" she whispered.

"Mary?"

She blinked and turned towards the sound of his voice. "Daddy's letter."

He gripped her shoulders. "Mary, look at me."

Green met blue and Marshall felt the air leave his lungs, for the woman looking back at him was Mary, his Mary: the one who knew him inside and out, who knew which buttons to push, who knew his weaknesses and his strengths, his child bride and the mother of his son. He lifted a shaking hand and cupped her cheek. "Mary?" he whispered.

She lifted her hands and gripped his shoulders. "I remember."

"What? What do you remember?"

"Where do you want me to start?" her eyes were dancing in her face as she pushed him back into the sofa. "In Atlantic City, where your hands were shaking so badly you dropped the ring before you could slip it on my finger?"

"Hey!"

She swung her leg over his lap, straddling him on the couch. "Or later at the motel where we did prove that the bathtub was big enough for two but we got stuck and had to wait for the maid to show up the next morning to help us get out?"

Marshall flushed to the roots of his hair at the memory. "At least we had fun while we waited."

Mary threw back her head and laughed as she wound her arms around his neck. "Oh yes, String Bean, we had fun. I had no idea that men could be so flexible before I got stuck in that tub with you."

He played with some locks of her hair, looking up into her eyes. "And Will – do you remember our baby?"

Mary's eyes lost their playfulness and grew wistful. "I remember hearing his heartbeat for the first time, and choosing his name with you, though Squish wanted his middle name to be Shannon, do you remember that?"

Marshall grinned. "I do."

"And I remember your mother giving us a Marshal Star quilt for him – did you keep that?"

"It was Will's prized possession – it fell apart from too many washings when he was six."

"Hm. And I remember the birth and you helping me push and the pain -then there he was and he was beautiful-" Mary choked. "I can't believe I left. Damn him, Marshall! I never meant – you have to believe me! I was only going for two or three days at the most – I was always going to come home to you!"

"Hush, Mer, I know! Deep down, I always knew." Marshall pulled her against his chest and listened as her sobs were renewed, this time with the knowledge of what really happened all those years ago. He rocked her back and forth, like he used to do with Will when he was a small child, whispering soothing words in her ear and running his hands up and down her back. When she was calmer, he whispered. "What exactly was in that letter from your father, Mer?"

She sighed against the skin of his neck. "There was a bus ticket to Indianapolis and a short note, begging me to come see him. He said he had been keeping an eye on me all these years and he was proud of all I'd accomplished. He said if I couldn't come to him, he'd come to me – and that's why I decided to go – and go alone. I had no idea if he knew about you and the baby but on the off chance he didn't know, I didn't want him finding out. I didn't want you involved – especially Will. I wanted to keep him safe and out of my father's clutches."

"You should have told me – I would have stayed-"

She shook her head as she pulled back to look him in the eye. "Don't lie to me, Marshall Mann. You and I both know you would have gone with me. You would have convinced me to leave Will with Gina and you would have come."

"Well-" he shrugged sheepishly. "Would that have been so bad? I'm your husband. My place is by your side, to protect you."

"I needed to protect you too," she smiled sadly as she ran a finger down his cheek. "I didn't want you involved, I didn't my father to meet you – I didn't want you to meet him. Hell, I didn't want to see him but I sure as hell didn't want him to come to the City and find us, or go find Squish. I had to protect my family. So I boarded that bus and-" she frowned. "And that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital. Somewhere between NYC and Indianapolis the accident happened."

"Did Sister Agnes witness it or just find you?"

"Oh! It's been so long I'd forgotten. Yes, she saw it but was too far behind to do anything. She said it was just dusk and she was driving the minivan across Ohio back to Columbus. They were nearing a town that was really no more than a bend in the road when the car in front of them hit something but didn't stop. Sister Agnes gasped and pulled over because she thought it might be a person, and it was – me. They called 911 and since Columbus was the nearest city, they followed the ambulance to the hospital and the rest of the story you know."

"So what were you doing in the middle of nowhere in Ohio?"

Mary shook her head. "I don't know – maybe the bus broke down?"

Marshall frowned. "And no one else was around waiting? Maybe you were meeting your father there and one of his enemies-"

She laughed. "I think you've been in WitSec too long – you're paranoid. Besides, if it was an attempt on my life, why not kill me in the hospital when I was a sitting duck for six months?"

He shook his head. "You're right – it doesn't make sense. This is what happens when you wake me up at some ungodly hour to read a letter that could have waited until-"

She smacked his chest.

"Ow!"

"Come on – don't be such a baby. Now we know why I left and I have my memory back. I'd say that's a pretty good use of our time."

"Again, those two things could have waited until-"

She leaned forward in his lap, lacing her fingers behind his head. "I can think of a better use of our time, can you?"

"Sleeping?" he whispered hoarsely.

"That's not what I had in mind."

"I know," he groaned.

"I thought you said it was presumptuous to read my mind-"

"It is – doesn't mean I don't know how to do it-"

She trailed a fingernail along his lower lip and smiled when he moaned. "What am I thinking, Marshall?"

His eyes flitted down to her lips and back up to her eyes, searching their depths. Now that she remembered them, it was like the missing piece of her own self was back as well. The woman in his arms was confident, seductive, sensual, and knew exactly what she wanted. But he still needed to know one thing before they continued.

"Wait here," he breathed the words against her lips as he slid out from under her.

"What the hell? Marshall!" she screamed as he disappeared into the guest room and returned a minute later with his wallet. She bit her lip to keep in her laughter. "If you've got an eighteen year old condom in there 1) I don't think it will work and 2) I think the horse is already out of the barn."

He glared at her. "OK 1) ew and 2) that's not what I'm going for here." He took a deep breath as he unfolded his wallet. "You asked me to keep something safe for you, remember? Of course, I did the best I could with Will – but right now I'm talking about-" he turned his billfold over and her wedding band fell into his open palm.

"Marshall," she breathed his name softly. "You kept it."

"Of course – did you think I'd hock it?"

"No – but I didn't think you'd carry it on you. The memories being too painful-"

He nodded. "Once I stopped wearing it on a chain, I still couldn't bear to have to it too far from me, so I put it in my wallet for safekeeping."

She rolled her eyes. "Such a girl."

He nodded sheepishly as he sank to his knees beside the couch. "So, I have a question for you. Will you be my wife, again?"

Her breath caught in her throat making speech impossible but she held out her left hand and nodded her head vigorously. Grinning, he slipped the band on her ring finger and sighed as it slipped easily into place. "I didn't drop it this time," he chuckled as he bent to kiss her knuckle.

"Marshall," she groaned, "Kiss-"

He surged up to meet her lips and she pulled him into her, matching him fire for fire. While the kisses they had shared while she had amnesia had been passionate this one left Marshall reeling from the second their lips touched. While submissive before, she now led their dance once again as she pushed her tongue against his mouth until he yielded, her fingers clawing at his wife beater until he broke free from their kiss with a growl and threw the offending garment away. She ran her fingers over his bare chest and smiled when he trembled under her touch. But when she reached for his pajama pants, he pulled away.

"Marshall-" she pouted.

Her words were cut off as his mouth ravaged hers and his arms lifted her up. Mary moaned and wrapped her legs around his lean hips as he began walking them back to her bedroom. She sucked on his pulse point and giggled when her back slammed into the wall outside the door.

"You missed the door, Marshall."

"That's because I was distracted by my wife giving me a hickey."

"Sorry, couldn't wait-"

"Try, my love. I don't want our first time in years to be in your hallway."

She released his skin and leaned her head on his shoulder as he managed to find the doorway. "Must you always be such a fucking gentleman?"

He laid her down on the bed and stood back to watch as she arched up, teasing him. "You've never complained before." He moved up her body with the slow grace of a panther and bit her earlobe.

She grabbed his face in her hands. "I can assure you, husband, if you don't get inside me soon, there's going to be a whole lot of complaining going on."

He chuckled as his fingers began to undo the buttons of her sleep shirt. "I definitely remember this."

"What?"

"How demanding you are in bed."

She opened her eyes to check his progress and her breathing hitched just before his lips touched her skin. "You've never complained before," she threw his words back at him.

He reached up to thread their hands together as his mouth moved lower. "And believe me, I don't intend to start now."

A/N: What happens now that Mary remembers? Something tells me it won't be smooth sailing for our couple. . . . Reviews are LOVE!