Chapter 1

December 30, 2009

"Sonata!"

The shout rang through the little house. A head full of curly light brown hair popped around the corner. "Si, Mami?"

"Come here, hijita."

Their house was small, but it was plenty big enough for Mimi Marquez and her children. Nineteen years ago she had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. She worked as a cocktail waitress on the Upper East Side. The former dancer didn't earn much, but it had been enough to raise her kids decently. Now they were practically grown, and there was something that she had to do.

"What's up, Ma?" Sonata came into the kitchen where her mother was. The girl did both of her parents justice. She had the creamy complexion and wild curly hair of her mother, but the sparking green eyes that were all her father's. Her brother was different. He was blonde, like Roger, but his hair was very curly. He had Mimi's eyes and was darker than his sister.

"Aunt Angel and Uncle Collins are going to swing by. I want you and Michelangelo to go with them." Mimi said.

Sonata narrowed her eyes at her mother. She couldn't help but notice that her mother had been looking paler lately and she hadn't been working as much. Luckily both she and Mikey had jobs to help pay the bills.

"Are you alright, Mami?" the young woman asked.

"Si. Just tired, baby. Tell Michelangelo the plan, will you?"

"Of course."

"Gracias. I'm going to go lie down."

January 12, 1990

It had been a rough couple of weeks for Roger Davis. The new year came in with him frantically searching for Mimi and snapping at everyone who asked where she was. On this night he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands when the door slid open.

"Happy New Year, crackers!" Collins called as he entered the loft.

"You're a few days late, Thomas." Mark answered, coming out of his room.

"Well there's a reason for that, kid." Collins said. "I see Roger's in his usual place."

The musician didn't even respond and Mark sighed. "Mimi's gone. Again."

Collins rolled his eyes. "She's not missing, Roger."

Roger looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "What?"

"Angel and I know where she is." Collins raised a hand before Roger could say anything. "I'm not going to tell you where."

"Don't fuck with me, Collins!" Roger shouted. "Where is my girlfriend?"

"Calm down, white boy." the professor said calmly. "There are two things you need to be aware of. One, she doesn't want you to know where she is. Two, I don't think she's your girlfriend anymore."

"But she's okay?" Mark wanted to know.

"Yeah. Angel's making sure she has everything she needs for the baby and all."

The bespectacled man glanced at his friend who had crumpled in defeat. "Is she…will we see her again?"

Collins shrugged. "That's up to her. She's pretty upset right now. Angel's trying to work her magic, but it's going to take some time."

August 10, 1990

A letter, delivered to the loft by a beaming Angel, given to Mark, and read by a reluctant Roger:

R,

I thought you should know that after 42 hours of labor and swearing and practically ripping Angel's hand off, I am the mother of two beautiful babies. A boy, who I named Michelangelo because I love that name. And a girl, Sonata. That was for you. I hope you can see them one day. But I need to know that you're going to be descent to them. It's your fault, not theirs, that we aren't together anymore.

Oh, and they're negative.

December 30, 2009 6 p.m. EST

Angel sighed as she and Collins drove up to the little yellow house. "This is going to be extremely awkward." she said.

"Yeah. But you have to admit, it's time."

"Past time. I'm worried about Meems, though."

"She did look pale the last time I saw her. And she's gotten thin. Well, thinner."

"Mimi's running out of time."

"And the question is, who's going to tell Roger?" Collins mused.

Angel sighed again. "Let's go." The two of them walked up to the front door and knocked. "I'll talk to Mimi, you grab the twins."

Michelangelo opened the door with a grin. "Hey, Aunt Angel, Uncle Collins."

"Hello there, Mickey!" Angel said and kissed his cheek. "Where's your mother?"

"Sleeping." the young man replied. "Is…something going on with her?"

The drag queen's smile faltered for a second. She would not lie to the boy, but if Mimi was dying then it wasn't really her place. "I don't know." Angel answered honestly. "She might be getting sicker.

"Wonderful." Michelangelo rolled his eyes. "Come on in."

The couple entered the modest house and exchanged worried looks. There was always the smell of something cooking when they entered the Marquez household. Mimi loved having her own kitchen that she could keep stocked, and had enrolled in cooking classes when she could afford it. The fact that the air lacked the scent of something simmering or baking, meant that the former dancer was really feeling sick.

Angel looked at her husband and he nodded. "Come on, kid. Let's go get your sister." Collins said, and he and Michelangelo disappeared deeper into the house.

Angel took a steadying breath. If she were being honest with herself, it was a miracle that any of them were still alive. She and Collins had somehow beaten the odds, and were well into their forties. The drag queen liked to say that it was love keeping them together. Mimi had the twins, but Angel knew that she always thought about Roger. It was not doing good things to her health.

Deciding that there would be time for thinking later, Angel put her usual smile on her face and headed to her best friend's bedroom.

Mimi was curled up in a ball under the covers, visibly shivering. Angel frowned and grabbed the quilt that was folded over one of the chairs in the room and draped it over the small woman. "Mimi chica?" she asked.

"Ang?" Mimi sat up, a deep cough rattling in her chest. "Hey. I didn't hear you guys come in. Are the twins ready?"

"Collins is gathering them." the drag queen replied. "Are you alright, chica?"

Mimi nodded her curly head emphatically. "Just cold. It is December, you know."

Angel arched a well manicured brow. "Don't lie to me, Lucia."

Mimi winced. "Was using my real name necessary?"

"Yes! You are obviously not feeling well and that is something worrisome. So do not try to brush me off by saying that you are just cold. That cough sounds like more than you just being cold. Or having a cold for that matter."

"Okay okay." the smaller woman said, sagging in defeat. "I've been coughing a lot lately, and to be honest, I haven't been really warm since September no matter how many blankets I use. Angel I…I think it might be time."

There were no words of false hope from Angel. She just reached out and took her best friend's hand in hers. "If it is, then there are things you need to do, chica. Things that perhaps might need to happen over at the loft?"

Mimi gave her an unfriendly look. "We've been over this, Angel."

"Si. We have. And you agreed to let the twins finally meet their father. Don't you want to see Roger again before you die?"

It was a loaded question…

Roger Davis looked in the mirror with a sigh. He was forty-three years old but could have easily passed for someone just over thirty. Normally he would have been proud of this, boasting to anyone who would listen. But today he just felt old.

It was the 20th anniversary of the day Mimi had walked out on him. He still thought that he had been right, and that the chance she took was too risky. The fact that the twins were HIV negative was simply a stroke of luck.

In the nineteen years since his children had been born, he hadn't seen them once. Mimi had offered more than once, but it just felt like it would be too hard. He wasn't sure if he could look at two perfect examples of how stupid he was.

The front door slid open just then and there was the sound of clinking bottles. Mark was obviously home from the liquor store. "Rog? You around?" the man called.

Roger didn't even bother answering. Mark knew that he was home. He was either home, or at work these days.

The bespectacled man stuck his head into the bathroom and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Roger. You're still beautiful. You can come out now."

The songwriter offered his roommate a lopsided grin and his middle finger. He shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Mark back into the main room of the loft. "Good haul?" he asked.

Mark nodded. "Yeah. We've been doing a really good job of not buying pointless shit lately, so there was more booze money that I thought."

"Plus we've got pretty low standards." Roger added, lifting a bottle of Aristocrat Vodka out of the bag. "You know how Collins feels about plastic bottles."

"Well when it's Collins' money, he can buy whatever the fuck he wants."

"Touché. Well either way, it'll be a good night, right?"

"Should be." Mark answered with a shrug. "Probably depends on what kind of mood Maureen's in."

Roger grimaced. "Yeah. Let's hope her and Joanne aren't on the outs. Again."

Maureen and Joanne were now legally married. Of course they still fought all the time, and Maureen still knew how to make everyone else's life a living hell when she wanted to.

Mark checked his watch. "What time did Collins say he and Angel would be by?"

"Probably around seven he said. They had to pick something up, apparently."

"Do I even want to know what this 'something' is?"

"Your guess is a good as mine." Roger asked. "I didn't ask."

The door banged open then. "Happy New Year, whores!" Collins shouted as he entered.

Mark and Roger rolled their eyes. "Too early, man." the former said, moving in for a hug. "So what's this thing you had to pick up and how much trouble will it cause us?"

"Well it's more for Roger than anything." Collins answered, giving Mark a wink. Blue eyes widened as the professor motioned for Angel to come in.

She did, and behind her were two of the last people Mark ever expected to see in his home. He turned to look at his best friend, whose mouth was hanging open in shock.

Angel cleared her throat. "Michelangelo, Sonata, meet Roger Davis: your father."

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long. RENT stories have just gotten a lot harder for me, and the transitions in this story are complicated to arrange. Excuses aside, I hope you guys are still reading this. I have the next couple chapters planned out and they should be up sometime in the next week or so. Please let me know what you thought of this.