Sorry for the slowness of updating this. I've had quite a week. I had an emergency at work last Thursday and I was traumatized a little so yeah I haven't felt like writing except for yesterday and today. Shout out to GorgeousSmile, LEXIRENT97, Maureen Elphaba Thropp, fellfromgrace, and Bound Dragon for reviewing chapter 6. I seriously love you guys for reviewing. And thanks to those of you who put me on your alert list it means a lot that you want to know when I update. So anyways enjoy this chapter!
Joanne looked up at Hannah and Mimi when they came walking down the stairs. She walked over to them leaving Calliope with Mark and Roger.
"Do you want to meet your brother and sister?" Joanne asked.
"No. I want you," Hannah replied reaching her arms up. Joanne picked her up and balanced her on her hip.
"How about I sit down with you on my lap and we can hold a baby together," Joanne suggested.
"Ok."
Joanne sat down on the free end of the couch with Hannah on her lap. Mark handed Calliope over to Joanne. She helped Hannah cradle Calliope in her arms.
"This is Calliope. Do you remember helping me pick out her name?"
"Yes, she's so little."
"I know."
"Can we call her Callie for short like Mommy asked?"
"Sure, you can call her whatever you want as long as it's a nice name," Joanne replied.
"Yay, we can call her Callie!" Rylie yelled.
"Rylie, don't yell around the babies," Maureen scolded.
"I'm sorry Mommy," Rylie said wrapping her arms around Maureen's waist.
"Yeah, Joanne I love the name Calliope but honestly I would rather call her Callie. It sounds a little more normal," Maureen said.
Everyone gave Maureen a questioning look after she made the 'normal' comment.
"Hey, I've mellowed out over the years. Just because I don't care what other people think doesn't mean that my daughter won't. I just want what's best for her. She's my child," Maureen responded.
"It's ok, Honeybear," Joanne said comforting Maureen.
"Yeah, you're the best Mommy," Rylie added. Maureen leaned down and picked up Rylie snuggling her.
Collin let out a loud wail and Maureen put Rylie down to go grab him. This made Rylie mad. Her Mommy had never put her down to pick up a crying baby. Maureen cradled Collin in her arms trying to soothe him. Rylie walked over to her and put her arms up indicating she wanted to be picked up too.
"Rylie, I can't pick you up right now I'm holding Collin," Maureen said.
"But I want you to hold me," Rylie whined tugging on her mom's shirt.
"Come here Ryles, I'll hold you," Mimi said helping Maureen out. Mimi held her arms out to her and Rylie reluctantly let herself be scooped up into the dancer's arms.
"So Mark, I heard you had a date the other night," Maureen said after she quieted Collin.
"Yeah, it wasn't too great though. I don't know if I'll see her again," Mark replied.
"Why not?" Maureen asked.
"She's like half my age and there's no way she'd be into me."
"She's 25, and how do you know if you don't keep seeing her?" Roger asked.
"I don't know guys. I tried to talk about stuff she'd be interested in but I didn't want to bore her with stuff about filming. Girls her age just don't seem like they'd be into that."
"Ooh! I know let's invite her over for dinner. Let her get to know us and you can talk about the films you've directed." Maureen suggested.
"Maureen, I don't think that's a good idea. We're not exactly what you would call a 'normal' group. I mean Mimi's an ex-S&M dancer…"
"Ex as in I don't dance at the Cat Scratch Club anymore and I give dance lessons to little girls who can't afford to go anywhere else." Mimi added.
"Roger is still trying to rock in his spare time…"
"It's called a hobby. I play guitar in my free time to unwind." Roger cut in.
"Collins is an anarchist who still likes to get high…"
"Yeah and in front of my kids," Maureen interrupted remembering the bathroom incident.
"Hey, I'm just enjoying life and I don't get high in public so don't worry man." Collins countered.
"Angel is a drag queen…"
"I'm only a drag queen at our birthdays and when Collins wants to have a little fun," He added winking at Collins. The rest of the bohos grimaced at Angel's comment.
"Maureen and Joanne are the most normal out of all of us, but they're lesbians and I'm not sure she's ok with that yet," Mark finished.
"How about we all meet her at the Life sometime and she can decide for herself," Joanne suggested.
"After I've taken her on a couple dates. I don't want to rush her into things."
"Mark, you're 34 and you've only had one serious relationship since Julie." Roger said.
Mark hung his head and teared up at the mention of Julie's name. Julie was Mark's wife whom he married in 1994 before she died 4 years later from skin cancer, Metastatic Melanoma. Julie was from California and she came to New York to try to make it on Broadway. She was a big fan of the sun and hardly ever wore sun screen. By the time she was diagnosed her cancer was already stage 4 and she had tumors everywhere. The doctors found tumors in her brain, liver, kidneys, stomach, and bowel. There wasn't anything they could do to help her. She was too far gone when they found the tumors in her kidneys and they started shutting down. Once her kidneys shutdown everything else started to go to. All the doctors could do was keep her comfortable. She and Mark had talked about having a baby a few months previous and then she was lying in a hospital bed dying. Mark stayed by her bedside everyday until the day she died.
"Mark, we all miss Julie. We know how hard it has been for you to start dating again. We don't want to rush you into anything that you don't want to do," Joanne said trying to comfort him.
"She's the reason why Candace broke it off a few years ago. She didn't understand that I was still grieving all those years later. I loved Julie and I still do. She was taken away from me so quickly that I didn't even get time to digest what was happening until she died."
"We were there man. We know what you are going through. I almost lost Mimi and that was the worst moment of my life," Roger said.
"Ewww! Something smells really bad!" Rylie yelled. Joanne sniffed the air and realized that one of the twins needed a diaper change.
"One of the twins needs changed," she said.
"Not mine," Maureen said sniffing Collin.
"Mommy, I think Callie pooped in her diaper," Hannah said plugging her nose. Joanne wrinkled her nose and helped Hannah get off her lap so she could go change Callie's diaper.
Joanne returned with Callie and handed her over to Mimi who was now free of Rylie. Roger and Mimi oohed and awed over Callie saying how cute she was and counting her fingers and toes to make sure she had all of them. Angel was holding Collin and was attempting to explain to him why he was named after Collins. Maureen was standing by his side with Rylie attached to her leg. Hannah sat on Collins' lap reading him a book. Mark had disappeared to where Joanne assumed was the garage. She decided to go look for him.
"Mark? Are you in here?" Joanne asked into the dark garage.
"Yeah," Mark replied softly.
Joanne flipped on the light to see Mark leaning against her car with a beer in his hand. She walked over to join him.
"I just miss her so much," Mark finally said after a few moments of awkward silence.
"We all do Mark. She is just as much our family as she is yours. After my dad died five years ago I didn't think that I could live my life without him. I didn't know how to exist in a world that my dad didn't, he was young and I didn't understand why he was taken from me. My kids will never know their grandfather. Hannah was two but she hadn't been around him enough to remember who he is. Oh, he adored her though. He was constantly asking for pictures and every time we talked he asked me when we were going to adopt another," Joanne chuckled realizing that they both had tears in their eyes.
"We should go inside. They're probably worried about us," Mark said wiping his eyes.
He and Joanne walked back into the house and heard screaming coming from the living room. Joanne ran in to see what was going on. Rylie was in the middle of the living room screaming at Maureen. Collin and Calliope were crying. Joanne grabbed Rylie by the arm and took her into the kitchen.
"Rylie, calm down, why are you screaming at Mommy?" Joanne asked.
"She doesn't want me anymore," Rylie said between sobs. Joanne knelt down and pulled her into a hug.
"Is that what you think, honey?" Rylie nodded her head. "Mommy loves you no matter what but you're going to have to get used to sharing her."
"But I don't want to," Rylie cried with a fresh stream of tears rolling down her face. Joanne grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped Rylie's face. Hannah came walking into the kitchen to see why her sister was crying. She tapped Joanne on the shoulder.
"Mama, why is Rylie crying?" Hannah asked.
"Because I have to share Mommy and I don't want to," Rylie replied.
Joanne sighed. Both girls seemed to be having jealousy issues. Luckily she avoided a major meltdown with Rylie but she knew it would come later as bedtime got closer. Rylie was impossible when she was tired.
"How about you sit with Mommy and you can help her hold a baby. How does that sound?" Joanne suggested.
"I don't want to hold a baby," Rylie whined.
"Why not? You were so excited to bring them home."
"I didn't know that I would have to share Mommy."
"You should talk to Mommy and maybe you two can have a special time everyday with just you."
"Ok, I like that," Rylie replied smiling.
Joanne led both girls back to the living room. She walked over to Maureen whispered something in her ear. Maureen smiled and scooped Rylie up into her arms and sat down with her.
IDINAMENZELTRACIETHOMSEDENESPINOSA
A few hours later the bohos left after eating dinner and it was now just Maureen, Joanne and the kids. The house was oddly quiet. The babies were sleeping and the girls were playing in the playroom. They both got along really well despite the fact that they were complete opposites. Maureen came down the stairs holding the baby monitor and two empty bottles. She set the monitor on the table by the couch and walked into the kitchen to put the bottles in the sink. Joanne followed her and wrapped her arms around her waist. Maureen leaned into Joanne relaxing in her arms.
"I'm so tired, Pookie," Maureen said.
"Me too, Honeybear," Joanne replied yawning.
"Let's put the girls to bed so we can get some sleep before the twins wake up again," Maureen suggested.
Maureen and Joanne put the girls to bed. Maureen tucked Rylie in and read her a story. She and Joanne collapsed on the bed and they were out until Callie started crying two hours later.
Wow, two tantrums in one day. The next chapter is going to be a few weeks later just to inform you about the timeline. I love reviews and I personally respond to all of them. Ask GorgeousSmile, LEXIRENT97, and anybody else who has reviewed my story. I love fans and I really want your input. Read and Review! You know you want to!
