Nearly eighteen years had passed in the lives of our favorite Bohemians since that second Christmas Eve. Eighteen years since Mimi's close brush with death. Over eighteen since Angel's encounter with it. A lot had changed over the years for everyone.
In the January after, the whole gang began attending Life Support meetings together – Mark, Maureen, and Joanne included, though they weren't sick, of course. It was mostly for Mimi, so that she knew she had friends who cared about her and could get better. And she did. Her health was restored to its usual flare, and she gave up drugs forever. In April, Roger proposed. Mimi didn't need to use words to answer – all it took was a very long, romantic kiss. They had a beautiful summer wedding in the very church where Angel's death had been mourned; after the ceremony, the couple and their friends visited the cemetery before heading to the Life Café for refreshments. Mimi and Roger then moved in to Mimi's old apartment, and Collins moved in with Mark.
Even before this union, in February, Maureen and Joanne decided to give engagement a second try. They were wed in May, about a month before Mimi and Roger. At first, everyone feared that such a whirlwind marriage would end in disaster, but, surprisingly, it had since worked out fairly smoothly. Despite their occasional fights and threats of divorce, the couple's bond remained unbroken eighteen years later.
Collins never got involved romantically after Angel. He said that her death had torn his heart apart, and he needed only his friends to help him piece it back together again.
Mark finally got his perfect relationship in the August of the first year, when he ran into a young woman at a job interview. Her name was Anna, and they began going out. For a long time, all Mark would talk about was how pretty, funny, smart, and perfect Anna was. The Bohemians finally got to meet her at a Halloween party they hosted at the Loft. Mark brought his dream girl. She was just like he described her to be – pretty, with a witty sarcasm that matched Mark's perfectly. Besides that, she had great interest in films and photography, though she herself was an elementary school teacher. At first, Mark had worried that Anna might not accept his lifestyle and ragtag group of friends, but she was extremely accepting, as was proved that night. In the middle of the festivities, she stood up and announced that no matter what diseases were present in the group, no matter what dark pasts had been experienced, she accepted them all the way they were. After that, all shyness between the newly introduced vanished. The group fell in love with Anna. Mimi made it her personal job to inform their new friend about 'everything important,' as she put it, and the two became fast friends. The next Halloween, a year after this first meeting, an Anna Cohen was added to the family.
It was about this time that Mimi announced she was pregnant with a baby Davis. The group celebrated this news joyously, and congratulated the to-be parents by hosting yet another party. None of them thought it necessary to point out that the baby would most likely be HIV-positive. Both Mimi and Roger knew that already, and it wouldn't help matters to dampen the excitement when nothing could be done about it. Three months after this, in early February, Mark and Anna announced that there was a third Cohen on the way. More celebrations ensued, perhaps even more happily then at the Davis's announcement, because, of course, any child of Mark and Anna's would have no reason to be unhealthy.
The next four months after this passed quickly, and signs of belly expansion foretold the eventual coming of Mimi's baby. On April 30th, the group gathered in a hospital room to greet Angela April Davis, a beautiful baby girl with her mother's wide brown eyes and dark hair, but her father's quirky grin. The name Angela was a mix between 'Angel' and 'Angelica,' Mimi's mother. There was no need to explain April. Her parents were in for a surprise – Angie was tested, and she wasn't HIV-positive! It was a very rare case, but it had happened! This made Mimi cry happily for a whole day, and Roger never stopped grinning for a week. For a while, Angie was the center of attention, but time flies, and five months later, October 7th, Rachael Dumott Cohen came into the world with her father's reddish-blonde hair but her mother's green-gray eyes. Two healthy baby girls, in the course of just over five months.
For a very long time, Maureen, Joanne, and Collins just stood by and watched the happy families as they loved, played with, and cared for the babies. The first Christmas was a special affair, full of reminiscing adults and new rattles and stuffed animals. Maureen and Joanne considered adopting, but decided to wait and see how it all went. They were busy enough babysitting their new goddaughters.
Yes, for eighteen years, 9,460,800 minutes, all was fine. There were no serious relapses on anyone's part (much to everyone's surprise), and as Angie and Rachael grew up together, they became best friends. No more children were conceived, none were adopted, and none died. But eighteen years is a long time. The Bohemians knew it was only a matter of time before this streak ended and disaster struck. Where our story picks up, Christmas Eve, it was just around the corner…