Chapter 4
Once the pizzas were consumed, Angel and Gabriella left with a promise to come back the next day. Left alone with the children, Roger didn't quite know what to do to keep them entertained. Luckily, they had their own ideas about that.
"So what happens now?" Roger asked them.
"Well we usually do our chores after dinner and then we get our baths and just hang out until we go to bed." Tony said.
"What do you mean hang out?"
"You know, we play video games or just chill and watch T.V. with Mom and Dad. Usually I play my guitar and Dad teaches Tori how to edit her films." Tony explained.
"But that's boring sometimes." Lea added.
"Okay so what do you want to do tonight?" Roger wanted to know.
"Tell us a story Uncle Roger." Tori suggested. "Tell us about the old days when you and Mom and Dad used to live in that loft."
"Yeah." Tony and Lea said in unison.
"I can do that." Roger agreed. "So you go do your chores. Then we'll all get a bath and I'll tell you guys a story."
"What about our homework?" Tony asked.
"Hey it's like I always say, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." Roger told him. "Now the faster you get those chores done the faster you get a story."
"But Uncle Roger, can't we just put them off until tomorrow?" Tori asked him.
Roger looked around at the house. It wasn't really that messy. "Good point Tori. I suppose you can just do them tomorrow. But you have to take baths tonight. Some things are too important to put off." he said. The kids ran off to their bathrooms and Roger went out to his car to get his bag.
He was sleeping in the guest room of Mark and Maureen's big house. His friends had really come a long way from where they had been. Maureen was an award-winning actress in many musicals. Mark had also won awards. He was still a documentary filmmaker, who was praised for his looks at the real world and he even had a running documentary series called How The Other Half Lives. Roger and Mimi weren't that bad off either. They lived in a nice house a few miles away from the Cohens. Roger composed the music for many of Mark's films and still sold some of his own music. Mimi was a Broadway dancer. She too was cast in many musicals. All in all, they had all been successful in their lives.
Roger took a quick shower in the guest bathroom of the house and decided to put on decent bedclothes, unlike what he wore when he was around Mimi, because of the children. As he was making his way back down the stairs the phone started to ring. He jumped the last three stairs and ran to answer it.
"Hello, Cohen residence." he said.
"Hey Roger!" came Maureen's voice on the other end. "How's everything going?" she asked.
"Everything's fine Mo." he assured her. "Alex is in the bed and the others are taking their baths. Then I'm going to tell them a story." Apparently he was on speakerphone because he heard Mark say "Keep it PG please Rog."
"Of course. You know me." Roger said with a smirk.
"Right." Mark said. "Did they do their homework and chores?"
"Uh yeah. Oh and Angel and Gabs stopped by earlier." Roger answered changing the subject. "Hey is Mimi around?"
"Hold on I'll get her." Maureen said. Then she yelled, "Meems come talk to your husband!"
There was a pause and he heard Mimi say, "Take it off of the speaker." He heard the click that meant they'd obeyed and then Mimi said to him, "Hey baby."
"Hello my lovely." he responded. "How's it going with Mo's mom? If I remember correctly she's the opposite of our dear Madam Loudmouth."
Mimi giggled. "They started arguing the moment we got here. Still it feels nice to be somewhere besides home for a while. I miss you though." she said.
"I miss you too. But I have good news. This babysitting thing is pretty easy. I think I can handle being a father." Roger replied.
"That's wonderful honey. I gotta go now, but I'll call you tomorrow okay."
"Bye Mimi. I love you."
"I love you too. Good night." As soon as he got off the phone, the kids came thundering down the stairs.
"Story time!" they said.
"Okay, okay. Your parents and Aunt Mimi said good night by the way. So what story do you want to hear?"
The kids consulted each other for a moment and then Tori said, "How about you tell us about when you first met our Mom."
Roger's green eyes widened. "That's a wonderful choice Tori." he had to think about it for a minute though. It was so long ago. "Okay." he said finally. "It was raining outside that day and I was bored out of my mind."
It was an understatement to say that it was simply raining outside. It was pouring. Roger was stretched out on the couch staring at a stain on the dingy wall. Collins was sitting in a chair reading a book and Benny was asleep in his room.
Roger sighed for what had to have been the hundredth time.
Collins put his book down and looked at him. "What are you staring at Roger?" he asked.
"That stain on the wall." Roger replied. "I was just wondering where it came from and why we haven't tried to get it off."
Collins looked at the stain in question and then back at Roger. "It's from that time Mark threw spaghetti sauce at you because you messed with his camera. And it's still there for the same reason that every thing else in this place looks a mess. You and Mark are lazy bums who never clean."
"You could clean too you know Collins." Roger retorted.
"I" Collins said going back to his book. "have a job. I do my part just by feeding you freeloaders."
Roger had to agree that without Collins, he and Mark would probably starve.
"Where is Mark anyway?" Collins was asking. "I haven't seen him today."
"He went out with that Maureen chick again. He said that we actually get to meet her today."
"You mean that loud girl who leaves those weird messages on the machine for someone named 'Pookie'?" Collins asked.
"That's the one, and apparently Pookie is our little Marky." Roger said. He yawned. "Still can't believe Mark has a girlfriend and I don't."
"Roger, you never have girlfriends. You have crazed groupies who worship the ground you have sex with them on." Benny said as he came out of his room. "You're not the romantic type. Besides, Mark deserves to have a girlfriend, he's nice."
"I'm nice too." Roger protested. "I'm very nice." Benny and Collins exchanged a look at this, causing Roger to say loudly. "Well I would be nice if my so called friends weren't such assholes."
"Whatever you say Rog." Collins said without looking up from his book.
"What are you reading anyway?" Roger wanted to know. Collins held up the book so Roger could see the title. "Like that really helps." the latter said sarcastically.
"Oh I'm sorry Roger." Collins said politely. "I forgot you couldn't read. They tried to teach you, but you ended up having sex with your English teacher and never finished learning."
Roger threw a pillow at Collins who laughed. "See." Roger said flopping back onto the couch. "You guys are such fucking assholes."
Then the front door slid open to reveal Mark and a young woman. She was tall, about the same height as Mark, with wavy brown hair that was highlighted with pink streaks. She wore baggy jeans, flip-flops, and a tight lavender shirt that said Don't Hate Me 'Cause I'm Smarter Than You. She skipped in ahead of Mark and the stood in the middle of the room. Mark came in, sliding the door closed behind him, and took the young woman's hand.
"You guys," he said. "this is Maureen Johnson. Maureen these are my friends and roommates. That's Collins in the chair, Benny over in the kitchen, and the slob on the couch is my best friend Roger."
"It's nice to meet you all." Maureen said with a smile. She looked around at the loft. "I can totally see myself living here." she said.
"What do you mean living here?" Roger asked loudly.
Maureen turned to Mark, "Honey you didn't tell them?"
Mark turned red. "Um, well I was going to get to it eventually. I mean I was going to do it before you actually moved in." he stammered out.
Maureen kissed him on the cheek and then said, "Well you discuss things with the boys and I'm going to freshen up in the bathroom." Once she was gone, Collins, Roger, and Benny all turned to Mark.
"We're you even going to ask us about this Mark?" Collins wanted to know.
"Look you guys. Maureen has a job, she's my girlfriend and I love her. Just do this for me and I promise I'll make it up to you." Then he turned to Roger. "Plus she can cook and has money to buy food."
"Alright Mark, we'll go with this just because it's you and we want to see you happy." Benny said.
"Yeah." said Collins. "Plus I think I like that girl. She'll be good for you."
Mark looked at Roger. "Hey you had me when you said she could cook and had money." Roger told him.
Mark sighed with relief. "Thank you so much you guys. I know you'll like her."