Practice

So here's another story for you guys. I know I haven't yet finished No Other Road or RENT: The Real Story, but this was a burst of inspiration. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

"Roger we need to talk." Roger Davis looked up from his guitar as his wife of two years came into the room. He smiled, as he always did when she entered a room he was in, simply because he loved her.

"Sure baby. What do we need to talk about? Are you leaving me?" he joked. His wife Mimi Marquez Davis came over and sat next to him on the couch.

She playfully slapped him on the arm. "No you bum. Can't you be serious for once? This is really important."

Roger heard the fear in his wife's voice and stopped smiling. "What is it? Are you okay?" he asked panicking a little. Since both of them had AIDS, they had to be careful to take care of themselves. They had both had had near death experiences and when one of them said something was serious, then it was important.

"I'm fine Roger. It's just- well, I'm pregnant." Mimi said softly.

Roger's lovely green eyes widened. "Are you serious? I'm going to be a father?" he grinned. Then he had an afterthought. "Wait, I am the father, aren't I?"

"Yes you idiot. Who else would it be?" Mimi said hitting him again. "Are you really sure you're okay with this?"

Roger pulled her into his lap and kissed her. "Of course I am. I'm married to the most beautiful woman in the world and we are about to have the best looking baby ever." He said with a smile.

"Um, I really doubt that." someone said loudly from the front door. "I mean come on; we all know my children are the cutest."

Mimi and Roger didn't even have to look up to see who it was who was speaking. They only knew one person who was that loud and who had a key to their house that they hadn't given her. "Hello Maureen." they both said simultaneously.

Maureen smiled and came bouncing into the room. Then she plopped down on the couch beside them. "So you're pregnant Meems?" she asked.

Mimi nodded and Maureen gave her a hug. "That's so great! You'll make a wonderful mom." she said. Then her cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was Mark.

"Hey Baby!" she answered. "Yeah, I'm at the Davis' place. Mimi and Roger sweetie. Guess what? Mimi's pregnant! Okay I'll ask them, tell the kids hi for me. Love you." She hung up and turned to Mimi and Roger. "Can you believe he didn't know who the Davis' were at first? I guess it's still hard for him to wrap his mind around you being a family. Anyway, he says congrats to you Mimi, and he wants to know if you guys want to go out to dinner tonight."

Roger looked at Mimi who nodded. "Okay we can do dinner." he said to her. "Are you bringing the kids?"

Maureen shrugged. "Not sure. Victoria and Lea are okay, but Alex is teething and always being loud and fussy." she told them.

"What about Tony?" Mimi inquired. He was Maureen and Mark's oldest child and he was conceived before they were even married.

Maureen sighed. "I don't know. He is really starting to grow up. But since someone decided to get him a guitar for his tenth birthday, we hardly ever see him because he's always locked in his room with it."

Roger grinned sheepishly. "Hey look on the bright side," he said. "Soon you can corrupt my children."

"And don't think I won't." Maureen told him laughing. "I've got to go you guys, I'll call when I find out what time we're having dinner." Then she got up and left and Mimi snuggled back into Roger's side.

"Babe, let's never have four kids, okay?" she said to him.

"You got it." he answered back with a chuckle.

Mark was sitting in the darkroom/film room he'd converted from an old walk in closet at his and Maureen's house. He was developing the pictures from Mimi and Roger's second wedding anniversary. He smiled when he came to a picture of all of them. Mimi and Roger with their arms around each other, him and Maureen holding hands, Collins and Angel looking silly, and Joanne and her new girlfriend Carmen the doctor. Then the kids were in front, all six of them. He and Maureen had four: Tony, Victoria, Lea, and Alex. Collins and Angel had adopted two once they had been legally committed: Roberto and Gabriella. Now Roger and Mimi were about to add their own kids to the bunch.

Just then, Mark was interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door.

"Yes?" he called, knowing it was one of his children.

"Daddy, Auntie Angel and Uncle Collins are here!" called one of his daughters.

"Thank you Vicky, I'll be out in a minute." he called back to her.

And indeed Angel and Collins were there with their two kids. Angel was cooing over one and a half year old Alex who Tony and Victoria were supposed to be watching.

"Uncle Collins!" six-year-old Lea shrieked as she jumped into his arms. "I missed you."

Collins laughed. "I missed you too Lea. Now where is that brother of yours?" he asked her.

Lea shrugged and said. "He's probably up in his room with his guitar even though he was supposed to be watching Alex."

"Well little Alex seems to be doing fine without him; it seems someone else has been taking care of him." Angel said as she came over to them. Lea jumped down from Collins and ran to her.

"It was me and Tori." she said using her nickname for her sister and giving Angel a kiss on the cheek. "Tony said he wanted to be alone for a while and he gave us each five dollars to watch him."

"I told that boy about doing that." Mark said as he joined them in the living room. "He gets more and more like his Uncle Roger everyday." He hugged Collins and kissed Angel on the cheek. Then he looked over at their kids who were watching television with Victoria. "Hey Berto, hey Gabby." he called to them. They looked up and waved. Then he turned back to Angel and Collins. "So did you two hear about Mimi yet?"

"Yes we did!" Angel exclaimed happily. "Now we can add more children to our bunch!"

Mark looked around and took in all the children in the house. "Do we really need anymore kids around here?" he asked. "I think we have enough as it is."

Roger and Mimi were meeting everyone at the restaurant at eight and they were running late. Mimi was scolding Roger as he drove.

"I told you we didn't have time Roger. But you just wouldn't listen, you just had to have it, now we're late." she was saying.

"Oh Mimi my love, we're always late." Roger said soothingly.

"And everybody always knows why!" Mimi fired back. But she couldn't help laughing as they pulled up outside of the restaurant. She had wanted to do it as much as Roger did and he knew that. They could never stay mad ay each other.

"So how do I look?" Roger asked his wife.

Mimi looked him over. As usual he looked delicious. "Well," she said you look okay but your curls are messy."

Roger shrugged. "They never stay neat so what's the point." Then he looked his wife up and down. "You, my dear," he told her, "look absolutely lovely. In fact I say we skip dinner, go back home and finish what we were doing earlier."

Mimi laughed. "Roger control yourself. That's how I ended up pregnant in the first place." Roger took her hand and led her inside the restaurant. They told the maitre d' they were with the Cohen party and went to take their seats. When they got to the table, they saw that the all the kids weren't there.

"So where are the littlest Cohens?" Roger asked as they sat down.

"Alex and Lea are with our neighbors. We decided it would be best to leave them at home." Mark answered.

"That reminds me Roger, I have an idea for you." Maureen said.

"What is it?" Roger asked warily. He knew about Maureen's ideas. They weren't always good ones.

"You know that Mark, Mimi, and I are going out of town to visit my mother in a week. Mark and I were thinking that you could get some practice with children by watching Tony, Tori, Lea and Alex while we're gone." Maureen told him.

"Why just me?" Roger wanted to know.

"Because, Mimi helped raise five brothers and sisters. She doesn't need to learn how to handle children. You on the other hand do need the practice." Mark chimed in.

"Okay I'll do it." Roger said.