Disclaimer – I own nothing of RENT. Belongs to the wonderful Jonathon Larson. 'Nuff said.
Italics are song lyrics, thoughts, memories and flashbacks.
A/N: I got this story idea while watching a movie on TV. Hope you enjoy.
Summary: AU: Sara Cohen wants to follow her deceased mother's dream and be a star on Broadway. Unfortunately, her father has other plans for her…
Genre: Drama/None
Rating: T
Defying Gravity
By EquineMagus
CHAPTER ONE
(chapter title – Prologue)
March 31st, 1995 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
"Baby, one more push should do it." Mark Cohen encouraged his wife, Maureen. She had been in labor for eleven hours straight and was starting to get tired.
"Mark, I can't do this anymore." Maureen told her husband, her face covered in sweat. Mark leaned over the side of the bed and kissed the top of her head.
Three hours later, Mark was holding a beautiful baby girl in his arms. Unfortunately, Maureen didn't make it. Before she died, she and Mark had named the baby Sara Michelle Cohen.
"Mark! She's beautiful!" Roger, Mark's best friend, whispered as he and his wife, Mimi, along with their four-month-old son, Roger Junior, or RJ for short, entered the room.
"May I hold her?" Mimi asked, handing her son to Roger. Mark nodded and handed the little infant to Mimi. He watched Mimi sit in the rocking chair nearby and instantly started talking to the baby in Spanish.
"So, how's RJ doing?" Mark inquired, looking at the four-month-old on Roger's lap.
"He's good." Roger said, looking down at his son. RJ was looking like his father each day, except he had his mother's deep brown eyes.
"May I hold him?" Mark inquired. Roger smiled and handed RJ to his best friend. Mark nearly dropped RJ – he was that heavy.
"Well, we better give dad and baby some time to bond. Let's go, sweetie." Roger told his wife. Mimi pouted, but eventually gave the baby back to Mark. Mark smiled and hugged his friends goodbye. He looked down at the baby in his arms – she was fast asleep.
"Knock knock." An unfamiliar voice came from the doorway. Mark looked up to see an attractive looking female doctor standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pair of navy slacks and a puffy navy shirt under a crisp white lab coat. Her auburn hair was swept into a ponytail. Her kind brown eyes gazed into his as she entered the room.
"Hi. I'm Dr. Simmons. You must be the proud father." The doctor said, extending her hand for Mark to shake.
"Yeah. I am." Mark told her, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your wife." Dr. Simmons told Mark as she looked at the sleeping baby in his arms.
"Thanks." Mark said, feeling tears stream down his cheeks.
"What's her name?" Simmons asked, removing the stethoscope from around her neck and put the metal part on Sara's chest. Sara let out a little whine, but Mark soothed her, letting her know that everything would be okay.
"Sara. Her name's Sara." Mark told the doctor.
"She's beautiful." Simmons told him, smiling down at the baby.
"Thank you." Mark whispered, shying away.
Simmons finished her examination on Sara and talked with Mark. Mark really didn't feel like talking, but he did his best to answer all of Simmons' questions.
About an hour later, Maureen's body was taken to the morgue and Sara was down for the night. Mark, however, couldn't sleep. He was thinking of why his beautiful Maureen was taken from him – it should've been him, not her – the love of his life for the past five years.
After a while, Mark heard crying coming from the bassinet where Sara was sleeping. Getting off the bed, he walked to the other side of the room and scooped up the baby in his arms. She had inheritated Maureen's dark hair and his blue eyes – a perfect combination of the two of them.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Mark asked his daughter, looking down at her. She was fussing a little bit, which meant that she wanted something to drink. Walking over to the hot plate, he took the bottle from the pan and waited for the bottle to cool down before he gave it to Sara.
"Okay, sweetie." Mark told his daughter, sitting in the rocking chair and looked into her blue eyes. He smiled slightly as he inserted the nipple into Sara's mouth and watched her nurse, slowly rocking her back and forth in the chair, thinking about her future. He wondered who she would take after – wild and crazy Maureen or calm and shy Mark – he would have to wait and see when she got older.
Sara fell asleep in the middle of her bottle, so Mark took the bottle out of Sara's mouth and put it up. He then burped her and put her back in her bassinet. Climbing into the hospital bed, he put his glasses on the bedside table and got into a comfortable position. He then closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of what Maureen was doing now – probably up in heaven with Angel, Collins, Benny and Joanne. Angel had died of AIDS, just like Collins. Benny, however, was killed in a hit-and-run accident – along with Joanne. It was just Mark, Roger and Mimi who were left of the eight friends. It didn't seem right without the others. Mark's life seemed empty without them. He would feel horrible if something happened to Roger or Mimi. God, they almost lost Mimi when she gave birth to RJ, but by some miracle, she lived. Mark helped them out a lot – he helped them with their bills, their AZT and stuff like that. He even offered to watch RJ while they were at work. Roger and Mimi were eternally grateful to have Mark in their lives.
----------------
The next morning, Mark sat up, stretched, looked over at the bassinet and smiled. His daughter was fast asleep. He leaned over and kissed Sara on the forehead.
"Knock knock." Roger's voice came from the doorway. Mark looked up and smiled at his best friend.
"Hey man." Mark greeted him, looking around for Mimi and RJ.
"Hey Mark. How's she doing?" Roger asked, stepping into the room. Today, he was wearing his black jeans, a plain black t-shirt and his usual leather jacket. On his feet were worn tennis shoes.
"She's doing fine." Mark told him, leading him over to the bassinet and picked Sara up.
"So, where are Mimi and RJ?" Mark inquired, handing Sara to Roger.
"Mimi's at work and RJ is at daycare." Roger answered, focusing his attention on the baby in his arms.
"You want something to eat?" Mark questioned, handing Roger Sara's bottle.
"No thanks. I stopped at the Life Café on my way over." Roger said, sitting in the rocking chair and fed Sara her bottle. Mark fished around for his camera and filmed Roger and Sara.
After Roger left for work, Dr. Simmons came into the room to check on Sara. Simmons said that Sara was in good health and was ready to be realeased from the hospital that day. Mark thanked her and went to start packing while Sara took a nap. He couldn't wait to take Sara home and have her and RJ start playing with each other. I really wish the others were still alive Mark thought to himself feeling tears come to his eyes. He quickly wiped them out of his eyes and continued to pack the one suitcase he had packed for himself.
Sighing, Mark finished packing and picked Sara up. Taking a quick look around the room, he flicked off the lights and headed out the door, thinking of the future he and his daughter would share together.
A/N 2: love? hate? review and let me know!