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Marshall looked up from his paperwork, the pen in his hand gone still. "You have a sister."
"Yeah, I think I noticed. Cute, bubbly, frequently a pain in my ass." Mary glanced over, but then went back to flipping through pages with one hand, holding her hair back with the other.
"Isn't there some kind of rule? If you have a sister, you definitely can't have a guy be your maid of honor?"
She glanced over again and rolled her eyes briefly. "No. Besides, just think how pretty you'll look in the dress."
"Oh, well if I get to wear a dress…"
"Okay, actually, no, since I'm not wearing a dress. Just, you know, I need someone who can handle details." Mary shrugged. "That makes it you or Eleanor, right?"
"Okay, yeah, I can see that. Maybe I should just help Brandi, though."
"What, be like, a ghostwriter?" She snorted and flashed him a grin. "Ghost of Honor?"
Marshall grinned back. "Something like that."
"No way. If I have to get up and be all… you know. You have to have my back."
"I always have your back, Mary." Marshall belatedly remembered the Eleanor had sharp ears, and craned his neck to see if she was in range to hear him. Thankfully, she wasn't. "Yeah, it's your wedding. Whatever you need."
"Great. Knew I could count on you." She grinned again, and then held up a piece of paper in triumph. "Ha. It had to be here somewhere."
Marshall let out a breath; the change of subject was welcome.
--
"You will be…" Raph paused and shoved a hand up into his hair, gripping tightly for a second. Marshall just waited him out. "Sorry, I don't know how to ask more…" His hand flailed a little. "Privately, maybe."
"Spit it out," Marshall said. "I can take it."
He could; Raph showing up at his door had been unexpected, and the most likely reason had brought his heart to his throat. Anything that wasn't that, he could handle.
"All right, then. I was not supposed to notice, but when Mary was at the intense care, it was plain, you were upset."
"Mary's my partner, Raph."
"You were upset as much as me. The same way as me."
Marshall stood his ground.
Raph's brows dented down a little, and then he looked at the floor. "I am not upset. At you. Or her. I understand, it's just… you are good for her."
"We work well together."
"If you say so. I only wanted to say, if it is personally difficult to you, that this job has arranging so many details of her wedding with me, I will talk to her again about Brandi."
Marshall stared for a minute, and then wet his lips. "Is it awkward for you?"
"Mary is not for containing, it is clear. If I could be awkward to have you, it would be a very bad start for us." He looked up and then added, "I will not be awkward."
"Then, we're good." Marshall walked with Raph to the door. "Please tell me she doesn't know you're here for this."
Raph stopped at the threshold. "Sometimes I am stupid with things. This is not one of the times."
"Good man. And Raph? Thanks."
"No problem."
--
"Your mother is crazy," Mary said as Raph entered the room.
"I have maybe once said the same thing about yours."
"Yeah, but mine's a given." Mary threw up her hands. "She's all pissed off about him." She pointed at Marshall. Marshall made a face that meant he wasn't involved here, and went back to entering relocation data.
Raph chuckled. "My mother, she is traditions. Maybe I will talk to her."
"Could you? Because it's really not open to negotiation."
Marshall looked up. "If it's causing a problem, I won't be offended."
"Yeah, of course you wouldn't," Mary said. "You're sensible and level-headed and all the things I need."
Raph glanced over her head at Marshall, who wasn't quite sure what to do with that. He met Raph's eye, and was glad to get a little nod. Raph had his back, and that was weird, sure, but welcome. "Mary, I have just thought of a idea," Raph said.
"Yeah?"
"Yes. We will have Marshall stand with both of us, and this way, my mother can stop having her worries he is threatening to our us."
Mary raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, I can see how symbolically it's way better if he literally stands between us."
"I am not worrying about this symbol," Raph said. "This way, we have your best friend, my mother is not like a butterfly with coffee, and my brother and your sister are right at same space."
"A butterfly with coffee?" Mary grinned broadly when Raph pantomimed a jittery flutter. "Nice. Won't she see it as a demotion for him, though?"
"I will create misunderstanding about very good friend we both have." Raph shrugged. "In English, I cannot. In Spanish, I am good at make words… move a little." He wobbled a hand in illustration.
Mary turned to Marshall. "You good with that?"
He looked at Raph, whose expression conveyed both perfect comfort with the concept and perfect acceptance if Marshall hated the idea, and shrugged. "Whatever you need," he said again.
Mary looked back and forth between the two of them for a minute, and then nodded firmly. "Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate that the two most important men in my life are both completely sensible and rational and not crazy?"
"You can mention it again," Marshall said. "Or I will, next time you're doing something not at all like provoking a bully until he takes a shot."
Mary glanced sharply at Raph, but even though he obviously hated that particular aspect of Mary's job, he swallowed. "Then he can call me, and I will call to you, and I will mention, too."
Mary chuckled. "So. Are we all going to lunch?"
Marshall waved a hand. "You go ahead. I'm swamped."
"Bring you back something?"
"Sure."
--
Marshall contemplated his reflection in the mirror, and then checked his pockets. Ring, left side. Ring, right side. He straightened his tie.
"You ready?" Stan came halfway in the door and jerked his head toward the sanctuary.
Marshall nodded. "Everyone where they're supposed to be? No surprises?"
"Just one."
Marshall frowned. "I don't think--"
"Don't worry, Marshall. It's a good one."
Marshall followed Stan toward the vestibule and stopped short. "Thought we agreed not to wear dresses."
"Yeah, well. I'm only gonna do this once, right? You can wear a dress next time you're a maid of honor."
"Gee, thanks." Marshall turned and got set to walk in front of her, then turned around. "Please tell me Raph knows and I'm not going to have to revive him when he faints."
She smirked. "Your CPR card's current, right?"
"I don't know why I put up with you."
"You love me and you know it."
"Yeah, besides that." He looked at her a minute longer, waiting for the music to start, then stepped into the aisle.