Okay, so this is about five months too late but better late than never right? Hope you like it.

Enjoy!

Three Ghosts

Marshall rested his head against the cab window and sighed tiredly. It had a been a long couple of days in New York and although he had a pleasant time spending Christmas with his witness and then some of the NY Marshals it wasn't the same as being home. He had been looking forward to seeing his family at Christmas since the last few years he cancelled his plans last minute.

Last year, it hadn't been that long since Mary's abduction. Although, she had been back at work and completed her sessions with Shelley, Marshall wasn't comfortable being so far away from her. Also, it had become a tradition for them to spend the day together.

The first Christmas that Mary was in Albuquerque, he had decided to stay because he hated the idea of anyone spending Christmas alone. Like most years, he pretended that he had no plans or he needed to stay because of work since he knew there was no way she could accept him staying for her benefit, especially because she claimed she hated Christmas.

This year was different. This year her Mom was sober and Brandi was doing well. This year she had Raph and was engaged. For his own sake, he took a step back because soon she would be married and maybe she'd have kids of her own then who would he spend Christmas with?

Of course none of that matter when an actual work emergency did come up and he had to head to New York. He knew his Mom was disappointed that he cancelled again and he wasn't sure if she entirely believed that he had work, mainly because he couldn't tell her much. He knew Stan was in DC over Christmas but once he was back, he'd talk to him about getting some leave so he could make it up her and the rest of the family.

When the cab pulled outside his house, Marshall shook his head and laugh lightly. He shouldn't have been surprised to see Mary's car parked in his driveway behind his own. He had planned on having some dinner and going straight to bed but despite his decision to put some space between himself and Mary, he was happy that she had turned up anyway.

Paying the driver, he made his way to the front door but it open before he could reach it and his partner stepped out.

"Do you do this often?" He commented, making sure to smile so she knew he was teasing. "Break into my house while I'm away?"

She smirked back at him and shrugged "You gave me a key so it's not breaking and entering…"

"You just do it to steal my food."

"True." She nodded.

"So, how come you are here?" He asked. "I thought your family wanted a big family celebration this year…"

"They did but…."

"But?" He prompted when she trailed off.

She considered feeding him another sarcastic comment but decided to go with the truth. "But I wanted to be here."

"Oh…" He was surprised by the answer and tilted his head slightly to study her. "Everything okay?"

"It's fine… It's just…. I ruined your Christmas…"

"It wasn't too bad." He tried to assure her and feeling a little guilty that she had spent the holiday feeling bad for him. "I love New York and it snowed so…"

"Marshall." She cut in. "I'm sorry."

He fell silent and blinked at her. "Mare, are you sure everything is okay?"

She let out a sigh. "Let's just say I had a lot to think about over the last couple of days and well, it made me realize some things…"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm not happy…" She answered, crossing her arm across her chest. "And I haven't been for a long while…"

He felt his heart start to beat faster, wondering what she meant and what she had planned. Was she going leave him?

"I broke up with Raph." She added after a few seconds of silence.

"Mare…"

"You don't have to say anything." She held up her hand. "It sucked that I had to hurt him but it was for the best….I wasn't happy and I tend to make the people around me unhappy too…He was miserable most of the time and it was because he didn't understand me or get why I wasn't happy…"

"You don't make everyone unhappy…"

"Come on, Marshall…" She let out a laugh.

"You don't make me unhappy." He claimed.

His answer caused her to pause for a second. "You haven't seemed very happy lately."

He ran a hand over his face. "Do you really want to get into this now? It's been a long couple of days and I'd really like to get inside and have a quiet night…"

"Ah, that might be a problem then…"

"What does that mean?" His forehead creased with confusion.

"Just come on…"

His eyebrow shot up when she took hold of his hand and led him inside. He was even more surprised to be welcomed by the smell of a home cooked festive dinner when they stepped into the house.

"You cooked?"

"Not exactly…"

They stopped in the hallway and Marshall realized he could faintly hear Christmas music play, which wasn't really Mary's thing. Then he heard pots and pan being knocked around in the kitchen.

"Is someone else here?"

"Well…." She started with an uncertain smile on her face.

"Mom?!" Marshall spotted his mother enter the hallway from the kitchen before she could answer.

"Oh Marshall, Honey…" She grinned widely and hurried towards them.

Mary moved aside so the other woman could throw her arms around her son.

"Merry Christmas." She pulled back and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Merry Christmas…" He replied in a bit of a daze. "What's going on?"

"Well, Mary called and told me how upset you were about missing out on coming home for Christmas because of work…" Louisa Mann squeezed his hand gently and glanced back towards Mary, smiling warmly. "And it took some planning but we thought if you couldn't come to Christmas with us, we would bring Christmas to you…"

Marshall stepped around her and pushed open the door to his lounge to not only see his father, brothers and their families but all the Christmas decorations he had taken down before the trip because he didn't want to face them when he returned.

He turned to face the two women, his eyes wide with shock.

"Merry Christmas, Doofus." Mary said softly, unable to stop a smile. She had finally been able to surprise him.

"I don't know what to say…." He claimed. "This is…. I can't believe you all did this for me…"

"Of course we did, honey." Louisa replied. "It's what family do and we've all missed you…It's been too long since we've all been together."

Marshall was still too stunned for words so instead stepped back over to them and hugged his mother again.

"Louisa? A buzzer just went off and I'm not sure what it's for…"

Marshall was surprised once more when Eleanor stuck her head out of the kitchen door.

"Oh, I'll be right there." Louisa told her then looked back to Marshall. "Dinner won't be for another hour and half or so if you wanted to take a shower to freshen up although I'm not sure how long we can hold off opening presents with all those kids in there…"

She was gone back into the kitchen before either could say anything, leaving the partners to just stare at each other.

"You managed to get my whole family here for Christmas?" Marshall took a step closer to her.

"I knew you wanted to see them…"

"And you put my Christmas decorations back up?"

"Eleanor helped out with that too." She replied. "I hope you don't mind I invited her…She was going to spend the holidays alone…"

"Of course not...The more the merrier." He answered. "I just can't believe you did all this…"

"I wanted you make you happy." She stated. "And like I said, you haven't seemed very happy lately…"

"There's a reason for that, Mare." He took another step closer to her. "I knew you weren't happy and it was killing me…"

"I broke up with Raph," She told him again as she began to lean in towards him.

"Uncle Marshall?"

They jumped apart and turned to see one of Marshall's nieces watching them.

"Hey Katie, Merry Christmas…" He scooped her up and kissed her cheek, causing her giggle.

"Merry Christmas…" She grinned at him. "Grandpa Seth said we can't have presents until you stop yammering and get your ass in there…"

Mary laughed while Marshall sighed at the words.

"Can you remember what Daddy said about saying bad words?"

"Oh! We're not meant to say them…"

"That's right."

"But how come Grandpa is allowed to say it?"

"Because he's a grown up but he shouldn't be saying it in front of you, your sisters or cousins." He put her back down on the floor.

She looked up at them thoughtfully. "Are you going to kiss?"

"Why would you ask that?" Marshall stuttered a little.

"Because you're standing under mistletoe…"

They both looked up and see there was in fact mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

Marshall couldn't help but laugh and shook his head. "Why don't you go and tell everyone we will be right in…"

"Okay…" She said cheerfully before skipping away.

"Mistletoe? Really?" Marshall grinned at his partner.

"Hey, don't look at me…I never put it there!"

"Well it wasn't there when I left…"

"I hung it up…." Eleanor said as she entered the hallway.

"Should have known…" Mary rolled her eyes.

"It's actually a Christmas present from Stan… He thought it up after hearing about your broken engagement." She told them. "Marshall, your Mom says you have five minutes before present opening time…"

"Okay, thank…" He waited until she had joined his family in the lounge before looking back to Mary. "Can you believe Stan is playing matchmaker…"

He was cut off by her lips on his and it took him a second to realize what was happening but when he did, he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer.

Not only had she gone to great length to get his whole family together for Christmas for him but Stan had also given them a silent approval with the mistletoe. He knew they wouldn't be able to rush into anything, not with her recent broken engagement and there was a lot of things to talk about but this was a start…A Christmas wish that he had almost given up on coming true….

XxXxX

Three Years Later

"Merry Christmas, Mary." Delia greeted cheerfully.

Delia had been working in their office for almost a year and Mary wasn't sure she would ever get used to the new girl's cheery personality.

"Yeah, yeah…Merry Christmas…Whatever."

"You not a Christmas person?" Delia questioned.

"I like Christmas just fine…Just can't stand these stupid holiday parties…"

"Nice of you to come, Inspector…" Stan appeared behind them. "And spreading the Christmas cheer I see…"

"Come on, Stan…" Mary started to complain. "Why don't you insist on throwing one of these parties every year?"

Stan sighed. "It's a tradition, Mary...Our office, like many other workplaces has a Christmas party every year to help with morel and celebrate the holidays…"

"Uh-huh, seems just a good excuse to get drunk and make out with a co-worker under the mistletoe…"

"Well, you would know all about that…" Stan shot back as he walked away.

Mary's mouth dropped open. "Hey! We weren't drunk!"

"Who wasn't drunk?"

She spun around and groaned when she saw Marshall was wearing a red jumper with a snowman on front.

"I certainly hope you haven't been drinking…."

"What are you wearing?" She ignored his question.

"It's a Christmas jumper…"

"You know you're not five, right?"

"You haven't seen the best part…"

"I dread to think…"

He grinned at her. "Just wait here…"

She rolled her eyes again and moved towards the buffet when he wondered off but just before she reached it, she walked right into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" the woman apologized but Mary just stared at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just…" She shook her head a little to clear it, trying to work out where she knew her from. "Sorry, yeah I'm fine…just wasn't looking where I was going…"

The woman smiled warmly. "No harm done…Do you work in this office? I've just transferred to ABQPD and still trying to remember who everyone is…"

"See, told you, you haven't seen the best part…" Marshall reappeared again.

Mary turned to face him to see their 18 month old son, Matthew in his arms.

"Matching sweaters?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Snowman, mama…" Matthew pointed to his own sweater, excitedly. "Look, Dada…"

"Your Dada is a dork…" Mary reached out to tickle him, causing him to giggle and squirm into Marshall's chest, who just grinned at her.

"Oh, I think they look adorable!"

"Abigail?" Marshall only just noticed the other woman. "I'm glad you could make it…"

"Well, it was nice of you guys to invite us to join you…" she replied.

"You two know each other?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, Abby is a detective and has worked on some cases with us…" Marshall explained.

"You're name is Abigail?" Those three dreams from three years ago came rushing back but surely there was no way this could be the same woman… It had to be her mind playing tricks on her.

"Yes…" The younger woman replied. "Are you sure you're okay? Have we met before or something?"

"Or something…" Mary muttered quietly, causing them both to look at her confused.

"Huh?" Abigail questioned.

"Nothing..." She shook her head.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you…" Abigail decided to move on. "Marshall she told me a lot about you…"

"Oh he has, has he?" She looked across at her husband.

"I probably didn't give him much choice…I kind of asked him out on a date but don't worry, he assured me he was very happily married and was a one woman man…" Abigail laughed.

Mary managed to force another small smile but her mind was racing. She began what would have happened if she had stayed with Raph. If she and Marshall were not married, would he really be with this other woman?

"Mare, are you sure you're okay?" Marshall placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Yeah, just tired…" She claimed and reached out to take Matthew into her own arms. "Chasing this one around all day takes it out of you…"

"Not over doing it, I hope?" Her husband asked lightly but she could see the concern in his eyes.

She rolled her own eyes at him. "I'm not an invalid…"

"Heaven forbid I should suggest it…" He held up his hands in defense.

Abigail laughed softly. "How long do you have left to go, Mary? I hear you're already on maternity leave so can't have much longer to go…"

"Another three weeks to go." She shifted Matthew in her arms to try and get a more comfortable hold. "Counting down the days…"

"Do you know what you're having?"

"No, we left Matthew to be a surprise and decided to stick with that plan again." Marshall answered this time. Knowing his wife was struggling with holding their son, he held out his arms and as expect, Matthew fell into them with a giggle, trusting his father to catch him. "Mare, I'm going to take Matthew over to say goodnight to Stan then we should probably get him home to bed."

"Okay…" Mary was relieved to hear they could leave soon. Although she hadn't been there long, she was ready to spend some time with just her husband and son. With the holiday season, they always seemed to be busy doing something festive plus with her out of the office, Marshall was quite busy.

"Well, with Christmas in a week, maybe you'll have a Christmas baby." Abigail commented as they both watched as Marshall walked away but the detective could sense that the other woman was still distracted. "Mary, are you sure you're okay?"

Mary told herself to snap out of it because judging by the look she was getting, Abigail probably thought she was losing her mind…Maybe she was.

"Just tired…" Mary tried to excuse, forcing a small smile.

"Mare, you ready?" Marshall reappeared. "We should probably be quick, Stan's threatening to kidnap Matthew again…"

Mary's smile was genuine this time; their boss was always turning up to spend some time with his godson. He had confided in his inspectors that since he had no children of his own and spent his younger years busy with work, he hadn't experienced babies before. He was truly taken by watching the boy grow and learn something new every day. Mary was happy for him to be an honorary grandfather since her own father wasn't around and Marshall's family didn't live close by.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Mary…" Abigail said cheerfully. "I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas…"

"You too." Marshall replied politely then turned to his wife when they were alone. "So, you ready to get out of here? We still need to put up the Christmas tree and I thought we could put one a Christmas movie."

All she could think about was how if she hadn't have had those dreams three years ago then they might not be married. Matthew might not been born and they might be expecting their second child.

"Mary?" Marshall was beginning to become concerned.

"A Christmas night with my guys sounds perfect." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He questioned. "Did Abigail say something or do something?"

"No, nothing like that…" she assured him, taking his hand and headed for the exit. "She….She just reminded me of someone."

"Really? Anything I should be worried about?" He asked.

"No, it was someone who gave me some good advice once." She said him softly.

"Oh." Marshall was still confused by her behavior.

When they stepped outside into the cold air, Mary glanced across at him to see Matthew had fallen asleep against his chest. Their son was bundled up in a matching red hat, gloves and scarf with white snowflakes as well as a thick coat, while Marshall's own coat wasn't button up and his scarf was draped undone around his neck, his Christmas sweater proudly on display.

"Let me take him so you can do your coat up, you must be freezing…"

"Nah, I'm fine…It's not that far to the car." He tightened his hold on Matthew.

Just three years ago, she was stuck in an engagement she didn't want to be in, trying to work out whether she really was marriage material but at a few months of dating Marshall, marriage didn't seem that scary.

In fact, nothing much changed…Stan had sorted it so they could still be partner, although to begin with they were closely watched. Marshall insisted they actually do date; going to the movies and out for meals, he even somehow convinced her to go to museum opening and one Sunday afternoon they spent playing mini golf.

However, it didn't take long to release that Mary spent most of her time at Marshall's and they decided she might as well just move in. There first night living together, Marshall had casually proposed over Chinese takeout and unpacked boxes. She had hesitated, only because she wasn't sure she had heard him right. Neither of them were interested a big fancy wedding, so a simple ceremony with just close friends and family followed only a couple of months later.

Now here they were, married, a son and a baby on the way…This definitely wasn't the life Mary had envisioned for herself but she had never been happier.

The End

So, a completely sappy ending but sometime that's what you need. Please review!