*gets down on knees and begs for forgiveness* Did it work? I am SO sorry! I was in my school play and that took up a hell of a lot more time than I originally thought it would (I only had seven lines!) so I had, like, zero time to work on the computer. Than I had some serious writer's block where I knew what I wanted to write, but I had no idea how to get there. So, please forgive me? And Merry Christmas Eve.

I'm posting this without a beta, so I can get it to you guys as fast as possible, so I apologize in advance for any spelling errors.

Enjoy. :)

"Mimi, chill, you look fine," Roger said as he watched her fidget with the collar of her blouse for hundredth time.

"I just want to look nice."

Roger walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she stared at herself in the mirror.

"You look gorgeous. Besides, my parents have already seen you, why do you care what you look like now?"
"Because this is a formal dinner with your family and probably my last good chance to make a good impression on them."

"Mimi, the second I described you in a letter to Becca, they disapproved of you. Wearing a nice outfit is not going to change that."

Mimi made a slight "tsk" noise and broke away from Roger's arms so she could put her earrings on. He watched her for a few moments as she fumbled with her earrings-a sure sign she was angry-before sighing and walking back over to her.

"Mimi, I'm sorry, but… Well, it's kind of true. Ask anybody who has ever known my parents; they're just assholes like that.

She smiled slightly and leaned back against his shoulder.

"Yeah, I've kind of noticed that…"
"Then why do you care so much about what they think?"

"Because they're your parents."

"Mimi, before this week, I hadn't spoken to my parents in, like, two years. Before then, it had been about three. I really don't care what they think, so why should you?"

Mimi just shrugged.

"I'm going to go dress Nathan. I wasn't aware that we were supposed to dress fancy at anything, so I hope he doesn't look too out of place in jeans and a normal shirt."

"Don't dress him in the Arthur t-shirt, that is way too informal! Pick something that's not a t-shirt!" Mimi called after him and he waved to show her he had heard her. He hadn't been gone for more than a minute before there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and Rebecca slipped inside, wearing a dark blue dress and looking pissed and annoyed.

"One of these days I will kill them both," she said darkly.

Mimi couldn't help but laugh.

"Why? What happened this time?"

"First of all…" she grabbed at her shirt and flung her arms out slightly, obviously not too happy with the choice of dress her parents wanted her to wear. "And I was helping Marie in the kitchen and Mom scolded me and told me to go upstairs to 'Change into something more appropriate for a young lady to be wearing.' Hence this stupid dress." She sat on the bed, crossing her legs in what her mother would definitely scold as "un-lady-like".

"I think it's a lovely dress."

"I hate dresses."
"Well, there are going to be tons of moments where you'll need to wear them, so you're going to have to get used to them…"

Rebecca groaned.

"What's with the groaning?" Roger asked, entering the room carrying Nathan, who was in the best jeans Roger could find and the only color shirt that had been packed-which had a dinosaur on it. "And, is this good enough, Mimi?"

"Yeah, that's fine," she said. "At least it's not a t-shirt and ripped jeans." She muttered to herself as she applied make-up. Roger snickered behind her.

"Becca, what are you wearing?"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Guys, please no bickering. I'm freaking out enough without you to going at each other for the dumbest, little things."

"Is she normally like this?" Rebecca fake-whispered to Roger.

"Just when she's nervous," he whispered back. Mimi rolled her eyes.

"So, is your mother coming, Mimi?" Rebecca asked, trying to get Mimi back in a good mood.

"Yes. She said she would be over at 6:00 sharp, which means 5:45. She loves being early."

"Great, we already clash."

She and Roger laughed slightly at that.

"I'm sure she'll love you, Becca," Mimi assured her, finishing up.

"Well, you might want to hurry up since it's 5:45, like, right n-" She didn't finish before the doorbell rang. "Holy shit, you weren't kidding."

"No swearing," Roger and Mimi said simultaneously as they all headed for the door.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Marie had already let Paloma in and the two were chatting in the hall as they waited for the others.

"Mami!" Mimi exclaimed immediately and practically threw herself into her mother's arms. What followed was another long string of Spanish between the two that Roger didn't understand. Rebecca shot him a confused look and he half-shrugged/half-shook his head as if to say "Yeah, I don't understand what they're saying, either."

"You all go sit in the living area, dinner's almost ready," Marie said, heading for the kitchen, "And it looks like that cousin of yours is going to be late…" she added over her shoulder. "Again."

Rebecca made valiant effort to keep her groan in , but a small noise still escaped.

"Well, you tried, Becca," Roger complimented her.

"It's not easy, how do you do it?"

"Years and years of going to school with the bitch."

"So, where is this Nathan you told me about?" Paloma said, finally registering others in the room besides her daughter.

"He's the short one," Becca commented and Roger let out a short laugh.

"And this is my sister, Rebecca. Rebecca, this is Mimi's mother, so try to be polite to her."

"No promises." Mimi had to hold back a laugh as Roger attempted to give Rebecca an "I really mean it and I'm serious" look, failing miserably. Eventually they all just ended up laughing.

"What so funny?" Nathan asked after a few seconds, which just made everyone laugh harder.

"It's nothing," Mimi finally said and she reached over to pick him up and set him in her lap. "Mami, this is Nathan, my future step-son. Nathan, this is my mother."

"Pweased to meet you," he said, as usual, holding his hand out. Paloma just stared at him in shock for several seconds before grasping his hand.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, too. He is so adorable, and so polite."

"Yeah, he's one of a kind," Roger agreed, ruffling the kid's hair. The doorbell rang and Roger and Rebecca both groaned.

"Roger, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Mimi tried to soothe him.

"Oh, no," Rebecca disagreed, "It will be bad." The doorbell rang again. "Well, aren't you going tog et it?" she asked Roger.

"No, you get it. It's your house."

"Yes, but this dinner is for you. Therefore, you should go answer the door."

"I am not-"

"I'll get it!" Mimi exclaimed and she set Nathan on the couch and left the room. She walked down the hall, shaking her head at the childishness of the two siblings and had just reached the door when it rang a third time.

"Finally, we have been standing out here forever, what the hell took you so… Who the hell are you?"

Standing on the porch were two very unpleasant looking blond girls. Mimi gaped at the two, unable to speak. She was certain she had seen the girls somewhere before. And when she had seen them it had been under less-than-happy circumstances.

"That's Mimi," a male's voice behind them said, walking up to the girl who had spoken, "She's Roger's fiancée. Hey, Mimi, you look wonderful this afternoon."

"Hey, Scott, Kayla," Roger said, walking up behind Mimi and wrapping his arms around her waist and shooting a quick, dirty look at his cousin, "I see you brought the other evil one with you. What the hell? I thought this was supposed to be a family dinner." He glared at the other blond girl who smiled haughtily at him.

"What's wrong? Not happy to see you're favorite old high school buddy?" she asked smartly.

"Oh, yes, it's wonderful to see you again, Bri," he responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Mimi, this is Bri, the devil with blond hair and designer clothes."

"This isn't really your fiancée, is she, Roger?" Kayla asked, looking extra closely at Mimi in a way that made her feel like a dog being surveyed at the pound. "Wow." A dog that was deemed unworthy due to not being pure-bred.

"Children, why did I hear the doorbell ring so many times? What do you have against moving to answer it?"

"Well, Mother, Kayla's finally here. And, look, she brought your favorite person." He turned and lead Mimi back into the living room as his mother began chatting things up with Kayla and Brianna in a much more friendly way than she had

ever spoken with Mimi.

"Wow, how bad is it?" Rebecca asked sympathetically as they re-entered the room, Roger looking thoroughly pissed off.

"Guess who's here."

"Kayla… And Scott…" Roger stared at her, waiting for her to finish. She seemed to take a moment before her eyes got huge. "Oh, shit! No! They did not bring Brianna?! I hate that bitch! She's not even family! What the hell is she doing here?" Nobody even bothered to scold her for swearing.

"Apparently there's a double-standard for people Mom and Dad actually like." Rebecca made a face, which she quickly hid as they heard the others about to enter the room.

(A/N: Start here.) "…And you looks so gorgeous, dear. It really has been too long since you've had dinner here," Julia said as she entered the room with the other girls.

"That is open to debate," Rebecca muttered under her breath.

"Rebecca," Julia said, suddenly brisk and Rebecca's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, "Why didn't you come and greet your cousin?" She relaxed slightly once she realized her mother hadn't overheard her comment.

"Because Roger was already answering the door and I didn't want to leave our guest here alone." She gestured toward Paloma. "It seemed rude."

Julia did a double-take at the other woman sitting on her couch.

"And, who is this?"

"This is my mother, Paloma," Mimi said.

"We told you she would be eating with us this morning, Mom," Roger said, trying to defuse his mother's temper before she threw a fit.

"And did you not think of Marie when you invited her?"

"Yes. In fact, we asked her and she said it would be no problem. Unlike Kayla who just shows up out of the blue with her friend. Who, by the way, isn't even a family member. Unlike Paloma who is Mimi's mother. And, since we were having a family dinner, I though it would be nice for us to actually have the whole family here."

Julia looked like she wanted to throw something, but thought better of it.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Paloma," she finally said and Roger was slightly surprised to hear her attempt to be civil. She failed miserably, but it was nice to see an attempt all the same.

"Dinner's ready!" Marie announced.

"Here we go," Rebecca muttered under her breath as they all filed out toward the dining room. (A/N: End here. This is what took me over two months to write. I couldn't find a way to transition from that spot up there to the next scene. That's pretty sad, I'm sorry everybody.)

"And then there was Don. He was a total freak, though. He was constantly ditching me to go be with his family. I mean, I get that his mom was having a baby and everything, but to leave me in the middle of our date is just horrible," Brianna said, as she played with the food on her plate. So far, she had monopolized the conversation for the entire forty-five minutes they had been eating for. Roger's parents and cousin were way too into everything she was saying, acting as if she were discussing some important political matter. Scott was trying to look politely interested, but it was obvious that his attention kept drifting. Paloma, too, was trying to be polite, but it was hard when she was starting to dislike the woman more and more as time went on. Roger just looked angry, like he was about to throw something across the room and Mimi was trying her hardest not to scream-this woman was the most self-absorbed, boring person she had ever met. And that was saying something. And it didn't help that Mimi was 98% sure that she and the other blond had been in her Science class Freshman year-and they had been less than nice to her. Nathan had fallen asleep at his seat from boredom and Rebecca was lightly beating her head against the wall next to her chair repeatedly.

"So, Kayla, what have you been up to?" Julia asked once Brianna had finished her boyfriend monologue. Rebecca didn't even try to hide her groan that time.

"Rebecca, do you have a problem with your mother talking to your cousin?" Kenneth asked her.

"No. I do, however, have a problem with the two annoying talkative girls never shutting up about their pathetic little shallow lives," she snapped back.

"Rebecca, you are being incredibly rude and-"

"Hey, Mom, could you pass me the mashed potatoes?" Roger asked, interrupting what was sure to be a "grounded for life moment" between Rebecca and Julia.

"So, Mimi, how long did you live in New York?" Scott asked, trying to help in changing the subject-he seemed to be the only "family" member willing to stop any fights from erupting.

"About five years." She tried to keep her answer vague, not wanting anyone to know how young she really was when she ran there or what she was up to.

"Oh, so you must've been there when I visited Roger a couple of years back?"

"Um… Maybe…"

"Did you live in that apartment downstairs back then?"

"No. I lived with my friend Angel for a while."

"Oh… After the other night, I realized you looked really familiar, but I can't for the life of me think where I've seen you before…I thought that might have been where I had seen you at."

"Nope. Not unless you visited in the past year and a half."

"Oh…" Scott was quiet after that and the table lapsed into a slightly awkward silence.

"So, Paloma," Kenneth said and Roger internally winced at the thought of where this would lead, "What do you do for a living?"

"Oh, I'm retired now."

Another awkward silence.

"So, how's everybody else?" Kayla asked, but the way she said it made it sound more malicious than polite.

"They're good. Benny's married now. Mark and Maureen broke up." He had to work very hard not to slap the smug looks of "concern" that fell across Kayla and Brianna's faces.

"That's so sad to hear," Brianna said and even Paloma got a slight look of disgust on her face at the insincerity the girl showed. "How are they now?"

"Mark has an awesome new girlfriend that is way better suited for him and Maureen as an awesome girlfriend that is way better suited for her. So, in the end, everybody is much better off."

There was a slight silence as Roger waited…
"Wait…What?!" Kayla exclaimed. And cue freak out. Roger hoped this wouldn't end in him giving his cousin a black eye. "Did you just say 'girlfriend'? As in Maureen Johnson, the total flirt of Scarsdale High his a lesbian? Oh, my God that is too good!' She and Brianna started laughing and judging by the look on her face, Mimi was working just as hard not to hit them as Roger was.

"You know, there's a difference between lesbian and bisexual, Kayla," Rebecca interjected, keeping surprisingly calm.
"Whatever, fact still remains she's screwing a girl. Wow! I never would have seen that coming. I guess she just ran out of guys…" Brianna said and they began laughing again.

"Or maybe she couldn't find any, because they were all at your house, Bri," Mimi snapped. Everybody got silent and stared at her.

"Mimi… That was amazing," Rebecca finally said, breaking the silence; Kayla and Brianna glared at her.

"Rebecca!" Julia scolded, "It was not. It was rude."

"Oh, yeah. And what Brianna said was perfectly polite." Roger rolled his eyes.

"Don't you take that tone with your mother…" Kenneth started before Roger cut him off.

"Take what tone? The tone that says 'You're being a condescending, ignorant bitch'? Because that's kind of what she is right now!"

"You know, Roger," Kayla spoke up, "Just because your little girlfriend has a bad mouth, doesn't mean you should follow her example…"

"Oh, shut-up, Kayla!" Rebecca shouted and she s "Why does everyone in this family suck so bad?! The only tolerable people are Roger and Nana!"

"Young lady, you sit down right now-"

"No! Fuck you people! I'm going to bed! Goodnight!" And she stormed off before anyone could say anything.

They all just sat there in stunned silence for several seconds. Roger could hear Marie walk up the stairs after Rebecca.

"Well, now that my daughter is done freaking out," Kenneth said, not seeming at all phased by his daughter's sudden outburst at the table, "Perhaps we could-"

"The Cat Scratch Club!" Scott suddenly exclaimed, "That's where I saw you!"

Everyone turned to stare at him. He seemed to have been so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed a fight had broken out. One look at the panicked looks on Roger and Mimi's faces told him eh should shut-up, though. "I mean… No, that can't have been it… I must not have seen you anywhere. Forget I mentioned anything…"

"The Cat Scratch Club?" Kayla screeched, "What is that, a strip club? Oh, my God, Bri, I told you she was a whore!"

"Not a whore. And not a stripper. An S&M dancer. There is a difference," Mimi corrected through gritted teeth. This just made them laugh harder.

Julia just dropped her fork onto her plate and muttered "Of course." under her breath while her husband's face somehow got more unpleasant than it already was.

"Lucia…" Paloma said, placing a cautious hand on her daughter's arm.

"Mami, it doesn't even matter. I quit that place, like, three months ago."

"Yeah, because she got paid more banging the guys on the side than she did dancing," Bri sneered.

"Brianna, shut-up!" Roger yelled at her, but he couldn't yell at her further. Paloma had beaten him to the punch.

"Don't you dare talk about my daughter like that! What is wrong with you, you little brat? Did your mother teach you to talk about people like that? I know she must have raised you better than and to have at least some manners!"

"Don't you talk to me about my mother! You clearly didn't do a good enough job with that little bitch over there! She makes her money dancing like a little whore and you think I'm the one who was raised wrong?"

"I make my money witnessing!" Mimi snapped.

"Sure," Brianna said flippantly and Mimi lunged half-way across the table at her before Roger grabbed her to pull her back.

"Mimi, calm down," he said seriously. He pulled her closer and whispered quietly, so no one else could hear, "Think about the baby." She settled down a little and sat back down in her seat, forcibly returning to her food. Roger followed her lead and eventually everyone was sitting back down, eating. Although, the atmosphere had drastically increased in hostility.

"So, why did you quit?" Kayla asked all of a sudden, "Didn't want Nathan to have a whore for a step-mom?"

Mimi ignored the bait.

"No, I got a stalker that tried to kill Roger and almost killed me. Seemed like a bad idea to stay in that profession."

That shut her up. It also, however, seemed to send Paloma into a mini=panic attack once she realized Mimi was being serious.

"Oh, Mimi chica," she started speaking rapid Spanish that no one else could understand while Mimi tried to get her to calm down, "Hija, why do you live in that city? It is nothing but trouble for you…"

"Mami, I'm fine…"

"First you had to live on the streets and then those boyfriends and then the HIV and now this? Chica, that is just too much for one person to handle…"

"I'm fine, Mami, ok. Besides, it's all stuff that's happened in the past and I would much rather just focus on the present." (A/N: And here is where I deviate from the norm and leave out someone saying "No day but today". Should I even be allowed to call myself a writer of Rent fanfiction? :p)

There was another short silence.

"Good, Lord, don't tell me she's got it too, Roger," Kenneth suddenly said.

"What?" Roger asked, getting confused.

"So, what, Roger, did you give it to her or did she give it to you?" Julia asked and that was when Roger realized what they were talking about.

"Mom, it's not like…"

"I'll bet she gave it to him and didn't even bother telling him," Brianna said, "No wonder they're getting married. Mimi threw the butter knife she had been holding down onto her plate and stood up. She looked like she was about to say something, but then just turned around to storm out of the room. Roger was too shocked to even say anything. She got half-way to the door when she turned around.

"I don't get what the hell I have to do for you people. No matter what I do, you all just seemed determined to hate me. I've never done anything to any of you! I've never been rude; I've never said anything mean! But you still insist on hating me like I'm the most evil person who has ever lived. Why? Do you just think I'm not good enough for your son? Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but that doesn't change the fact that I love him and you guys are acting like the family from Hell isn't going to change that!" She turned to go, but just as she got to the door she turned back around. "Oh, and since I'm sure you are all just so eager to know, I got HIV because I was raped. But, I bet I'm just some stupid little girl who deserved that, right?" Then she turned and was gone. Two seconds passed before Paloma stood up and ran after her.

Roger sat in his chair, staring after her. He wasn't sure whether the need to run after her and comfort her or the need to kill his entire family was stronger. Everyone else, except Scott, had returned to eating. "I'm sorry." Scott mouthed and Roger just waved it off. Finally, he stood up to leave.

"Roger, you're not going to finish your dinner, either?" Julia asked. He stopped half way toward picking up Nathan and turned to her.

"Seriously? You guys basically just tear apart my fiancée in everyway you could possibly think of and I'm supposed to stay here with you guys and enjoy a meal? I'm not even hungry anymore."

She sighed exasperatedly.

"Roger, listen…"

"No, you listen! That woman happens to be one of the two most important people in my life. And I don't care how much you hate her, the least you could do is try to act like civil human beings when you're around her. But I guess that's just too much to ask of you, right? You couldn't act civil around the friends I chose, any of the people I ever chose to hang around in general, hardly any of my girlfriends-why should the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with be any different? Do you even feel any normal human emotions at all?"

"Roger," Kenneth tried to intervene, "We just don't think she's right for you. We saw what happened with that other one and…"

"And Mimi is totally different! She tries! She tried so damn hard to make you guys like her, even though I told her I didn't care what you thought at all! And you treat her like some second-class citizen that doesn't deserve your respect. Well, I don't care how much you hate her or think she's beneath you or beneath me, I love her and I'm going to marry her and nothing you guys say or do is going to change that!"

He picked up the somehow-still-asleep Nathan and turned to leave the room. He got to the door before turning around.

"And just so you know, I'm packing our stuff up tonight and we're leaving tomorrow. This night was a perfect example of why I left here in the first place."

"Hey, Roger…" Scott called after him and he stopped and turned back, "I liked her, man."

"Thanks. Too bad you're the only one who gave her a real shot."

Did you guys like it? I know it was horribly depressing, but still... I'll try to have the next chapter up extra quick to make up for the long wait, but it definitely won't be up within the next two days-as they are Christmas Eve and Christmas. :p Merry Christmas/Happy holidays, everyone!