Marshall found himself five and a half months after the incident being driven to the Beauvais-Tillé Airport. It had taken him two extra weeks of physical therapy to be able to put enough weight on his hip to walk with a cane. In his hands he had the x-rays and medical files he would need when he returned to Albuquerque. He would still be flying in without contact. Carl and Blake had arranged a charter flight for him under an assumed identity. They made sure he had his gun and badge, but his cell phone hadn't survived the crash.

Marshall got out of the car along with Blake and Carl and headed towards the Gulfstream jet.

"Marshall, you just need to tell them where to take you and they will get you home non-stop. They won't tell us where you went so we can't tell anyone either. It's the safest way we could think of to get you home. The jet is booked under a corporate name that won't exist after this flight and the destination will never reflect where you went or that you were even on board," Carl said.

"I don't know how to even begin to repay you for everything you've done for me. If you can give me some address or way to pay you back I can wire you the money when I get home."

"No need to repay us. You did enough for us," Carl responded.

"I didn't do anything for you," Marshall said confused.

"You did more than you will ever know," Blake replied.

"But I…" Marshall started but was cut off.

"Saved me from spending my life with a woman who never loved me and you gave my father a spark that he had been missing since my mother passed away. Go home and be happy. Tell your wife that we tried to fatten you up some. Dad mentioned she was overprotective and I don't want her thinking it was from lack of effort," Blake said, reaching out to shake Marshall's hand.

"You want to repay me. Go find that wonderful woman who makes you happy and tell her how you feel. She might just surprise you," Carl replied.

"Thanks again. I really wish there was more I could do for you," Marshall said honestly.

"Be happy and stay healthy. Go! You have people that miss you," Carl replied.

Marshall shook his hand and made his way into the jet. After telling the pilot their destination he limped back to a seat and watched his rescuers until he could no longer see them. Leaning his head against the window he began to worry about how Mary and Stan would react when he showed up without calling them. He kept thinking about Mary and wondered if she was seeing someone or what their night together meant to her, if anything. He drifted off to sleep both worried and excited to be going home.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Stan looked out of his office window to see Mary still at her desk. Noticing the time he came out and stood in front of her.

"I do believe that the person who is carrying my future grandchild should have left the office by now."

Mary was regretting she told Stan he would be a grandfather to this kid. It was going straight to his head and he was becoming bossier than Marshall had been when she was pregnant the last time.

"I just need to finish up this report," Mary said trying to cover up a yawn.

"The report can wait until tomorrow. It's ten o'clock. You should have left hours ago. Don't even try to argue or I'll get all mushy on you and I know how much you adore that."

"You wouldn't," Mary replied.

Stan's eyebrows rose in reply to her response. "Is that a challenge inspector?"

"No, I'm leaving like a good pregnant girl would. There's no need to punish me with all that mushy crap. Call Eleanor if you feel the need for loving," Mary huffed.

"What was that?"

"I said even Marshall wasn't this bad last time and neither were you," Mary replied.

"That's because last time you scared the both of us and this time the child you're carrying is my surrogate grandchild. Now go home and no more screwing around."

"Yes, Dad. Do I get a treat for being good too?" Mary replied sarcastically as she headed for the elevator.

"Goodnight, Mary."

"Goodnight, Stan."

Stan watched as the elevator doors close and then went back into his office to work. Half an hour later he got up to get some more coffee. The FBI had called and told them they would keep an eye out for Marshall, but they weren't going to spend any more resources on looking. They couldn't and Stan hadn't had the heart to tell Mary before she left. He would tell her in the morning.

Pouring his cup of coffee, he heard the ping of the elevator and didn't bother to turn around. He swore under his breath and debated if he could put a GPS tracker in Mary so he could just call her and tell her to go back home.

"I swear, Mary, that you better have forgotten something or so help me I'm going to take you home and handcuff you to that damn bed," Stan replied with irritation.

"Somehow I do believe that would fall under the category of sexual harassment and would be a reason to terminate your tenure within the U.S. Marshal Service. I'd hate to see your career come to an abrupt end because Mary finally pushed you over the edge," Marshall replied slightly amused.

Stan's head shot up at the first words spoken by the familiar voice, but he couldn't turn around. He was scared that the words would stop or that he had let his earlier conversation cause him to be delusional. As the voice continued to flow, he slowly turned around, and found himself staring at the person he never thought he'd see again.

"Hi Stan," Marshall said, softly. He didn't miss that Stan's face paled and his eyes widened in disbelief after he turned around.

Stan took in the lanky figure in front of him; thin and leaning on a cane he used as he walked further into the room.

"Marshall?" Stan said still shocked and trying to get his mind to wrap around the fact that it was really him.

Marshall nodded his head to affirm that it was him.

Stan finally really looked at Marshall and realized he looked lost. It was as if he didn't know what to say or do. Then again, it had been five months and three weeks since he had last seen him. It dawned on Stan that Marshall wasn't sure how to proceed or how he would be accepted. He also noticed Marshall seemed a little wobbly on his legs.

"Marshall, sit down before you fall down. I have a feeling that would prove to be painful for you," Stan said.

"I would've called but we weren't sure that it was safe too and I couldn't risk their lives. They arranged a charter for me and I still don't have a cell phone. Mine was destroyed when I rammed the SUV. By the time I got to the airport I figured it was just easier to do this in person."

"You lost a lot of weight. Did they feed you?"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Of course, but I had to let my hip heal for three months before we could do anything more than the basics."

Stan could tell Marshall was tired, but knew that he would have to get the information from him before he could send him home. Then it dawned on him, Marshall didn't know about Mary and vice versa. He was going to have to drive Marshall home and figure a way to tell Mary. The shock wouldn't be good for either of them.

"Alright, why don't you give me a quick summary while I drive you home? We can go into the details later and I want you taken to a hospital here to be checked out."

"Stan, I have to tell Mare. She won't forgive me if I don't. Can you take me there?"

"She won't be there. Mary's pretty much moved into your house since she had returned from Paris. Don't ask, we'll deal with everything when we get used to having you home."

"Stan if there was any way for me…" Marshall started but was cut off.

"Don't apologize for coming home or doing what you had to in order to stay safe. I know that you wouldn't have kept us out of the loop if there was any way to avoid it. You can tell me why briefly on the way to your place."

"Thanks, Stan. How's Mary?" Marshall asked worried.

"She's about to be wonderful," Stan replied and finally hugged Marshall. "Welcome home, Marshall. Don't ever scare us like that again."

Marshall agreed as Stan helped him stand up before making their way to the elevator and out to Stan's car.

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Mary was curled up in Marshall's bed in a pair of his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. Her hands were gripping Marshall's favorite shirt. The poor shirt was wrinkled and needed a wash, but Mary refused to let it go for that long when she was home. His scent would have been faded a long time ago, but she had begun to spray his cologne on it as the scent began to fade. Somehow this shirt had become a source of comfort and she refused to let it go. She knew she was just being stubborn and silly but it didn't matter. If Marshall ever came home and saw it he would have a coronary. Of course if that happened she would gladly exchange the shirt for Marshall.

She had been feeling anxious all day and didn't know why. The doctor had done an ultrasound on the baby again this morning, and everything was fine. She would do another in a month. Because of her being labeled high risk her doctor had scheduled them once a month to check for development and growth. Running her hand over the baby bump she took a few deep breaths before starting to drift off. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard a car door shut. The sound was familiar and she recognized it as Stan's car. He always tried to make sure to be quiet when he stopped by the house late at night.

Mary swallowed the lump that had started forming as she fearfully headed to the front door to let Stan in. Her anxiety level increased the closer she got. Information that came in late at night was never good news. It was all she could think about as she made her way to the living room door.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Stan had listened to Marshall's story and now understood why he hadn't called them or been in touch. He would have endangered not only himself, but people who had helped him. Stan was going to have to find a way to repay them.

Marshall had fallen into a deep sleep part way to his house and Stan was silently grateful. He really didn't know how to proceed with the next part. Neither Mary nor Marshall needed the shock of seeing each other in current condition or alive. Stan had an idea of what he wanted to do especially if Marshall stayed asleep. Pulling out his cell phone he dialed the one person he trusted the most with figuring out how to handle precarious situation with the partners.

"Stan?" Eleanor asked fearful of the next words coming. She had heard them once before and never wanted to hear them again.

"He found his way home. Right now he's out cold and I'm almost at his house. Mary is there and…." Stan was cut off.

"You don't know what to do. Neither of them needs the shock. What's your game plan?" Eleanor asked her smile evident in her voice even through the phone.

"If Marshall stays asleep, I want to go in and prepare Mary before going back out to prepare Marshall. I know Mary wants to tell him but he's been through hell and looks the part. He's still healing from his injury and needs to get some meat on his bones."

"It's a good plan. I think under the circumstances Mary will be more than open to the idea. She's not going to want to jeopardize his health anymore than Marshall would hers."

"I'm here. Listen, I have to go. Thanks for listening."

"Call me back and let me know how it goes. Stan, give Marshall a hug for me and tell him thank you for coming back. We all need him."

"I will. Thanks Eleanor," Stan said before hanging up.

He opened his car door and shut it as quietly as possible wishing silently that he had just left it open. After checking to see Marshall still sleeping he headed to the house and saw the fear in Mary's eyes when he reached the door.

Mary looked at Stan's face and didn't see any signs that he was upset. She knew then that he hadn't received word on Marshall. Opening the door she let him in before leading him into the living room.

"Mary, please sit down. I promise what I have to say is nothing bad, but this conversation needs to go fast."

"Why are you acting so weird?" Mary asked confused.

"Sit down and I will tell you."

Mary reluctantly complied and saw Stan take a deep breath.

"Mary, Marshall showed up in the office a little while ago. He's alive. Injured, pale and lost weight, but after everything he's been through he's in good shape."

"Where is he?" Mary demanded.

"Marshall is currently asleep in the car, which is why I wanted to have this conversation quickly," Stan stopped Mary as she stood up and made to go outside. "Stop and that is an order."

"Stan, I need to see him."

"I know you do, which is why I didn't think letting him walk in here was a good idea without you getting a head's up that he was alive. In your condition, I don't think that it would be wise. I also wanted your permission to tell him about you carrying his child, so he isn't ambushed by seeing you pregnant. He's been gone five and half months Mary. Seeing you this way without knowing that the baby is his or that you're pregnant wouldn't exactly be good for Marshall."

Mary stopped at that and realized the position she had put Stan in and that he was right about Marshall.

"I'm sorry that you're getting dragged into the middle of this. You can tell him that I'm pregnant, but I want to be the one to tell him that it's a boy."

"Perfectly fine with me. Everything is going to be okay. You two will end up fine as long as you don't break his heart."

"I'm not going to break his heart. I may have taken the long hard way of figuring this all out, but I know what I want and hopefully Marshall still does too."

"Alright give me a few minutes and we should be in," Stan said, before heading back to the door.

Mary felt excited and couldn't wait for Marshall to come in the door. She couldn't help, but wonder if this is what normal kids felt like on Christmas morning trying to wait to see what treasures Santa had brought. This was the best gift ever for her and their son. Mary paced the floor hoping that Marshall felt the same as she did. She went to the window and peaked out just as Stan opened the door and sat down.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Stan gently shook Marshall's arm to get him to wake up. He was happy when he saw him open his eyes and look out the window confused.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you, Stan."

"Your body is still healing and you need your rest, so don't apologize," Stan replied as he noticed Marshall's eyes went to the open front door.

"How long have we been here?"

"I wanted to give Mary a head's up and I needed her permission to give you some information before we head inside. None of it is bad by any means, but under the circumstances I thought it best you were both informed before seeing each other again."

"What's wrong with Mare?" Marshall asked worried and trying to fight the urge to throw the door open and move as quickly as he could inside.

"Nothing is wrong with her. She's five and a half months pregnant with your child from the little incident in Paris."

Marshall's eyes widened in light of the new information. Stan was worried when he saw the color drain out of Marshall's face.

"Marshall, please just take a few deep breaths. I need you to calm down and just absorb the information. I would much rather you and Mary spend some time together then having to take you to the hospital.

"I always wanted to be a father," Marshall whispered softly before an idea formed in his mind. "Please tell me she's not thinking about giving the baby up for adoption."

"Not a chance in hell. She had herself put on desk duty the minute the doctor asked. Mary wanted to tell you herself, but I didn't think that would be a good idea right now. It's also why I talked to her while you were sleeping. I didn't need the shock causing her or the baby any undue stress."

"Can we go in now?" Marshall asked, after acknowledging what Stan had said.

"As soon as the two of you are situated then I'll leave." Stan said, getting out of the car for the second time that night and moving towards Marshall's door. He wanted to make sure Marshall could get out of the car without falling.

"I'm okay Stan," Marshall said watching Stan watch him.

"You're wobbly and I have a feeling your partner isn't going to notice anything but you standing alive and in person in the house," Stan mumbled softly.

Marshall gingerly took the step up onto his stoop before doing the same thing to get into the door. The minute he inside he saw Mary stop her pacing and stare at him. He didn't even notice Stan stand in between and off to the side of them.

"Mare."

Mary cursed her damn hormones as she turned into a crying mess at the sight of Marshall standing in the room. As much as she had talked about not giving up hope that he would come home she had started to believe that it would be in a body bag even if she refused to admit that to anyone else.

"Marshall," Mary replied excited to actually say his name to him. She moved forward to throw her arms around him when Stan stepped in her path.

"Stan," Mary and Marshall both protested.

"Don't 'Stan' me you two. You are more then welcome to hug him but no putting extra weight on him or touching his hip. We don't need to go to the hospital tonight."

Mary finally really looked at Marshall and noticed the cane after that. Walking up to him she gently cupped his face before wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She laid her head against his shoulder and was comforted by the scent she had been clinging to for all these months. She could hear his heart beating in his chest and she clung to the sound that had always calmed her before finally releasing five and half months of pain in a heart wrenching sob.

"Mare, I'm so sorry." Marshall kept saying over and over while holding her tight and placing kisses to the top of her head.

Mary wanted to pull herself together in order to talk to Marshall, but it felt so good in his arms. She knew there was so much to say and had no doubt that he would want to feel their child. It was when she felt him try to shift his weight she remembered his hip. Pulling back from him she swiped the tears away.

"Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? What happened? Where have you been and why the hell didn't you call?" Mary asked suddenly feeling angry. "Do you have any idea what hell you put us through?

"That's my girl," Marshall said, happy to see her normal self and not the shattered woman that had been in his arms.

"Mary, why don't the both of you get some sleep tonight, and then we can go into detail about what happened in France. You need sleep and so does Marshall. After our conversation we will go to the hospital to get him looked over."

"I have the medical records from France. I need to go in for physical therapy. They say it takes three to four months to return to full activity," Marshall replied.

"I thought you said you didn't go to a hospital," Stan said recalling their conversation at the office.

"I didn't. No one knew how far Cheryl's reach extended and who knew about Mary and I. It wasn't safe to take me anywhere that I could be identified. Blake came to the veterinarian's place to use the equipment there," Marshall replied shrugging.

"Water? Carl's son? The one who was married to Rachel or Cheryl depending on how you want to look at that? That's why you didn't call. None of you knew if she had them being tracked," Mary said.

Marshall nodded while trying to cover up a yawn. He didn't know why he was tired; he slept on the flight.

"We can talk tomorrow. I'll stay here tonight, while the two of you get some sleep. You both need it. To bed now," Stan ordered.

"The guest room is down the hall, first door on the left. Marshall and I will be in his room."

"I'll be fine, you two get some sleep."

"Goodnight Stan," Mary and Marshall replied in unison.

"Goodnight kids." Stan said smiling.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Mary waited for Marshall to come out of the bathroom. She knew they really needed to talk, but that wouldn't happen with Stan down the hall. The door opened and Marshall came out with the cane. She needed to know exactly what had happened to him. They had talked about care, but not injury. Of course, Stan and he talked about her being pregnant but they haven't talked about the baby.

Mary slid over to let Marshall in on the closest side. He slid in and laid flat on his back.

"I really hate this position," Marshall muttered.

Mary rolled over and looked at Marshall's face.

"Should I ask?"

"I dislocated my hip and for three months I got to stare at walls all the time. Seven days

after the injury I could perform passive range-of-motion exercises with assistance. The

rehabilitation was delayed a month because of an infection that interfered with my healing process."

"I didn't want to leave you. I heard the sound of the car crashing as we took off. We never stopped looking for you."

"We need to talk, Mare, about everything," Marshall replied.

"I know we do, but not with Stan in the next room."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"We're having a son," Mary said, reaching over to grab Marshall's hand and putting in on her stomach. She knew full well that was what he wanted to do.

"He's your son, too. I'm okay with you touching me. The rest of the world better keep their hands off the stomach."

"Don't let my Mom hear that. She usually wants to touch once when the baby kicks if she's around."

"I think I could make an exception when your mother is involved. She's been struggling with your not being here."

"You talked to her?" Marshall asked surprised while moving the t-shirt up so he could actually touch the baby bump that was hiding his future son.

"A lot actually. I like your Mom." Mary replied and inhaled sharply when she felt Marshall's fingers running over her skin.

"Are you okay?" Marshall asked alarmed at her reaction.

Mary couldn't help but feel the burn of desire as he continued to run his hand over her bare skin. All she could do was nod. She was afraid of how her voice would sound if she didn't. Marshall was in no shape to be giving her what she truly wanted and they did need to work things out.

Marshall rolled to his side thankful Mary had moved over so he wouldn't be on his injured hip. He noticed the way her eyes were filled with desire. He couldn't help but remember that morning if he wanted to be technical when they created their son.

"I love you Mare."

Mary reached up and cupped Marshall's cheek. She let her thumb trace over his cheekbone lovingly as she built up the courage to actually admit how she felt.

"I finally realized that I was in love with you before Brandi decided I should start dating other people since you'd been gone for so long. I tried so hard to fight it for fear that I would destroy you with the poison known as the Shannon family. The more I tried to protect you, the bigger my mistakes became and the worse I hurt you. I was a fool for a long time but I can't deny how I feel anymore and I don't want to. I had to live five and a half months worrying that the only part I had left of you was our son. I realized the difference between you and my father and that you would never abandon me on purpose. All the things that I used to come up with to stop myself from letting you in were just lame excuses and a way to protect my heart. If it weren't for my carrying your son then I don't know how I would have made it through. I had a part of you with me and I needed him just as much as I needed you. I love you Marshall Mann."

"Mare, I need to know that you're really sure about how you feel. That this isn't just because of my being missing."

"I know. I've given you plenty of reason to doubt me. We'll start off slow and work on it from there. Besides neither of us is in any condition for anything else. By the time you're healed fully this little guy is going to be almost ready to pop out and the doctor has restricted me from having sex because of the high risk pregnancy and the previous miscarriage. No feeding your pregnancy fetish this time. Marshall, what happened in Paris wasn't a mistake and I'm sorry I hid from you while trying to put the pieces together. The only good thing about the last five and a half months is that it helped me to put my life together. I know what I want, who I want to do it with and what I'm not going to do anymore."

"The only thing I regret about our time together in France was that we didn't make love to each other. I wanted our first time together if we ever got to that point to be special, not for it to be caused by a night of wild drinking. It should have not have taken part of a day to put the memories together. I wanted to remember every touch, feel and curve of your body from the second it happened and for the rest of my life. I didn't want to ravage you like a man trying to have the one thing in the world he wanted so badly, but thought he would never get."

"We'll figure this out Marshall, probably more slowly then we'd like, but as everything else, we'll do it together. Can you sleep on your side?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I missed cuddling with you and if you ever tell a soul that, I'll hurt you," Mary warned as Marshall got comfortable before wrapping a protective arm over her stomach.

Marshall had just about fallen asleep when he felt his hand brush against a material that wasn't Mary's t-shirt. Pulling the item out of the bed he found his favorite shirt coiled up and wrinkled to death.

"What did my shirt do to you?"

"Consider it my security blanket. You can wash, dry, and if feel the need, iron it to turn it back to normal," Mary replied, unable to stop the smile that lighted up her face.

"For reference, my son is getting a blanket and if you need to feel safe and secure then you come to me."

"Fine, be that way. You better become my security blanket and wrap yourself around me from now on. When I get my claws into you I'm never letting go," Mary said, before moving her head so that she was able to capture Marshall's lips in a fiery kiss.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Marshall said huskily as they broke off from the kiss.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Two months later found a very pregnant Mary watching Marshall as his physical therapist was taking him through his exercises. Mary could tell Marshall was reaching his tolerance level. He was sick of not being one hundred percent, tired of not being able to do his usual activities. She knew he missed his hard core running. It was how he cleared his head.

Mary and Marshall's therapist had talked to Mary the last time about the biggest roadblock Marshall faced was his own frustration. At this point Mary wasn't sure who was more frustrated the therapist or Marshall. She knew it was time to intervene. She had warned the therapist that this could happen. While Marshall was usually the calm one he wasn't used to being this inactive for such a long period of time. Mary wanted him at one hundred percent by the end of the following month. It would get him ready to be able to do everything he wanted two weeks before the baby's due date.

Mary signaled to the therapist to let her talk to him. The fact that the therapist had quickly agreed spoke volumes. She had been the most patient person Mary had ever met next to Marshall, but she was at her ropes. Mary put herself right in front of Marshall's view.

"I've had enough. Let's go home," Marshall said.

"No, you haven't had enough. You've bitched enough for the both of us for the next month. What you're going to do is get your scrawny ass back there and do exactly what she tells you to do so that you are fully functional before our son is born. You're going to stop the pity party and man up. No pun intended. I know that you're tired of all of this. I don't blame you, but seeing that I have to lug extra weight around for nine months, the least you can do is suck up and do what needs to be done. The only reason you're not getting anywhere is because you're not doing what you need to do. So do us all a favor and stop being a pain in the ass and get to work. You're going to need all the time you can get in before diaper duty and chasing after the little one starts up and you're running out of time."

"How long are you going to play the baby card?"

"As long as it works, to tell you the truth. We've come along way Doofus. This therapy thing should be a breeze compared to your having married me and managed to entangle yourself into the Shannon family life forever. Look at me please."

Marshall knew Mary was going to get him to comply and he knew that he was acting as a child, but he really was tired of all of this. After rolling his eyes for dramatic effect he finally looked at her.

"On second thought, you might actually fit in with the drama queens. We've survived what happened in Paris and have come out stronger. With the information you gave Stan they got everyone involved in the Paris mess arrested. We moved in together, we got married at the courthouse, and survived your mother's wrath over the aforementioned event. We bought a bigger house to grow into and soon enough we're going to be parents. The baby is getting healthy reports, and we even found a gun packing former WITSEC inspector to be our nanny. There is nothing that we can't beat. So get your rear in gear before I find a way to get this beached whale body to kick your ass so that you finish healing. We're at the finish line Marshall. You just have to hang on a little longer. I'll even make it worth your while after the baby is born."

"How do you plan to do that?" Marshall asked intrigued.

"I have every intention of working on your pelvic thrust. So chop chop, pal."

Marshall pulled Mary in and kissed her deeply before coming up for air.

"I love you Mrs. Mann."

"Don't you forget it. I'll love you even more if you get back to your workout," Mary replied, giving him a peck on the cheek before signaling to the therapist that it was safe to return.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Marshall thought it poetic justice that a month and a half after Mary forced him to focus on healing instead of his frustration they were in the delivery room and Mary was getting her pay back for calling him out. He was at least not stupid enough to point it out.

Mary had been in active labor for over eight hours and was ready to kill the next person who told her to breathe through the contractions. All she wanted to hear was the word 'push'. She had pretty much told the entire staff to take a flying leap. Marshall knew that if he didn't intervene soon Mary would try to get to his Glock. He hadn't had time to remove his backup weapon from his boot.

"Mare, you need to stop punishing people that are trying to help you. You're honestly going to need them and more than likely really soon. I know you're tired and want our son to come out, but like you told me while I was in physical therapy, you haven't had enough yet and you're going to do exactly what they tell you to do and stop bitching. Your words not mine."

Mary glared at him. She should have known her speech would come back to bite her in the ass.

"This is your job and I'll be here every step of the way. I promise you that in the end when our son is born you're going to forget about everything but our little Mann," Marshall said, hoping his sister-in-law hadn't lied to him about that part.

"I hate you right now, you know that right?"

"Actually you love me and I do know that. Now Mrs. Mann it's time to suck it up and take one for the team," Marshall replied before leaning in next to her.

Mary felt his breath against her ear and could smell his intoxicating scent. She swore it was a sickness at this point. She was miserable and that damn cologne still got her senses worked up. Trying to block out his smell she waited to see what he didn't want the others to hear.

"I do believe you promised to help me work on my pelvic thrusts when this was all said and done."

Mary stared at his smirk in disbelief and was about to give him her personal opinion of his comment when the next contraction hit and she grabbed his hand as she felt an overwhelming need to push.

"Marshall, I need to push."

Marshall smiled and continued to support Mary while she continued pushing.

"Alright Mrs. Mann. One more push and your son will be out. The next contraction should be it."

Marshall brushed Mary's sweaty hair off her forehead, whispering loving words as she gave the final push and the sound of a wail filled the delivery room.

Marshall kissed Mary while they cleaned their son up.

The doctor set the infant on Mary's chest and she felt the tears of happiness streaking down her face. She couldn't believe they had created this little boy.

"He's perfect," Mary whispered after counting all his toes and fingers.

"Thank you," Marshall said, his eyes filling with tears.

"Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?" Marshall asked as the nurse put Jacob in his arms.

Mary watched at the look of awe on Marshall's face as he held their son for the first time. Every second of labor was worth that look alone.

"Stop hogging our son," Mary griped as she held out her arms. Kissing his little forehead once she had him in her arms.

Mary could tell their son was going to take after Marshall just by looking at him. It was the first time she understood what Seth had been trying to tell about those eyes in her car. Jacob Marshall Mann had them too.

Mary was holding Jacob while Marshall fussed over the two of them. It was at that moment she truly knew that she had found all the happiness she had never dreamed that she would see. While she made many mistakes along the way, the path had led her to Marshall. Marshall, bless his soul, had the patience of a saint and waited for her, came back to her, and loved and cherished her as no man had ever done before

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Five years passed since Mary and Marshall had gotten married in the courthouse and Marshall had surprised Mary with a trip to Paris. They were once again booked at the Prestige Suite in Le Meurice. Mary complained that it was too expensive especially with four children to clothe, feed and support. Marshall had just smiled and said he had been saving for this trip. He had apparently invested some money in a friend's business that she hadn't known about and that business took off.

Mary couldn't help but think about their four children that were staying in Texas with Seth and Caroline. Jacob was five and the spitting image of his father. Kaitlyn Mackenzie Mann was born eleven months after Jacob. Mary had decided to ignore the doctor's advice about waiting six to eight weeks to work on Marshall's pelvic thrust skills as she called it in front of the children just to watch him blush. Kaitlyn was a combination of the two of them. Her eyes, cheekbones and personality were Marshall's, but the rest of her was purely Mary. Two years later and much to her dismay the twins were born. Reagan Madelyn Mann was the female image of Marshall and Logan Matthew Mann was the male version of Mary. She had to laugh as she recalled that they had unintentionally named all of their children with middle names starting with an M.

Mary smiled as she stared out over the gardens. A little over five years ago this place, this magical place, had given her a life that she had never imagined possible for herself. Magical is how she viewed Paris since her life became complete. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt Marshall's arms envelop her.

"Are you ever going to tell me who the friend is who owns the business you invested our money into?" Mary asked.

"Blake Water. I ran into him a few years ago when he was trying to start a company. He mentioned that he was in town to raise funds for his new venture of developing medical equipment, devices and other things that could help save lives in the future. I really didn't expect anything from it, but I went all in for as much as we could afford at the time in shares as a way to repay him for everything that he and his father had done for me. The company exploded after they made a discovery."

"Marshall exactly how much money did we make?"

"We could retire from the Marshal Service and our kids are pretty much set for life. Although I know that there is no way you or I would ever hang up our guns for retirement. I probably should have told you sooner but I wanted to surprise you with this trip before I did."

"I don't want to retire and honestly if you can pamper me every now and then like this, I won't say a thing about being left out in the dark. I'm glad you brought us back here. I really didn't appreciate it enough when we were here the last time."

"Mare, we can do or see whatever you want. As long as we're together I don't care. I only made one scheduled event and that is for tomorrow night. In honor of the day you did me the honor of becoming my wife I booked us for a dinner cruise on the Cachemire."

Mary turned to Marshall and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing a line from his ear, to his chin and finally to his lips.

"Marshall, go put the do not disturb sign out. I want to work on your pelvic thrusts."

Marshall placed a kiss on her shoulder before laughing all the way to the door.

"You know you call it whatever you want when the kids aren't around. I promise I won't even blush."

"Oh I can make you blush. Hey, before I get your groove on can you go get us something to drink?" Mary asked.

"Anything in particular that you want?" Marshall asked.

"Surprise me," Mary replied.

She waited until she heard the door click before going to the closet and finding the garment she had hidden. Changing into the purple halter dress that she had worn the night Jacob was conceived Mary waited for Marshall to come back.

Marshall entered the room to see Mary in the dress. He still had dreams about that night. His mind focused back on his wife as she walked seductively towards him. Marshall pulled Mary to him and ravaged her mouth. When they parted for air he caressed her swollen lips with his thumb.

"I want a repeat of the night Jacob was conceived that the two of us will remember with perfect clarity."

Marshall responded by reaching his hands up to untie the halter top and slowly pulling it down to reveal her breasts before pressing her against the door as past and present molded into that one moment in time. It was the perfect anniversary gift for both of them.