Author: Susan susanandtad@cs.com

Rating: G
Pairing: M/M
Disclaimer: I own nothink.

Spoiler/Notes: This is a short, purely fluffy AU Future ficlet

Muse #16: The theme is Quitting.

"I Quit. Done, Finished, Not doing it anymore." Maria barrels into the room
pacing in front of Michael back and forth.

"What are you yammering about?" Michael asks

"Yammering. Yammering. I am not yammering. I am stating a fact. I Quit. Do
you hear me? I am not doing it anymore."

"Hear you? I think everyone for two blocks heard you Maria."

Maria glares at Michael and then starts to storm away from him but Michael
grabs her from around the waist and pulls her onto the couch so that she is
sitting in his lap.

"Ok so why are you quitting this time Blondie?"

Maria is just so frustrated she bursts into tears. After a few moments of
inconsolable sobbing she calms down enough to finally answer Michael's question.

"I can't do it anymore Michael. They are impossible. All they do is ask for
things. I want this and I want that. Give me this and give me that. They make a
complete mess out of everything. As soon as I clean things up within minutes
everything is wrecked again. I can't do it anymore. I Quit."

"Ok."

"Ok? What do you mean Ok?" Maria starts to get agitated again.

"We will both quit. Lets move away and leave the mess behind." Maria looks at
Michael like he has lost his mind.

"Leave? We can't just leave Michael. We have responsibilities."

"No we don't. We Quit remember?"

Maria puts her head on Michaels shoulder and sighs. "Ok. Ok. I get it. Psycho
Maria has left the building. Rational thinking Maria is back in control."

"Welcome Back." Michael kissed Maria on the forehead. "You need some help?"

"No. I've got it covered. Just lost it there for a second." Maria kisses
Michael quickly and pushes her way off of his lap. She needs to get back to her
job. She had been away to long as it is.

Maria takes a deep cleansing breath and walks into the other room ready to
face her nemesis head on. She is determined they will not win this time.

"Ok. I think it is time for a new game. It's called Who can clean up their
side of the room the fastest."

"We played that game last week Mommy. It wasn't any fun." Alex pouts.

"Yeah Mommy. No fun. We want to watch TV with Daddy instead." Jaime tells her
as Alex nods his head in agreement.

They both look at her with matching pleading looks. Maria sighs. They have
won again. She can't say no to them when they look at her like that. "Ok. Go
ahead."

They go running out of the room and Maria can't help but smile. She then
counts down to five knowing exactly what is coming next.

"Maria!!!" She hears Michael shouting from the other room. She has to hold
her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She may not be able to
quit but neither can Michael. Being parents to their four-year-old twin boys is
a permanent, full time job, which Maria is more than happy to share with her
husband of five years. Especially on Hockey Night!!!

The End.