It was 9 o'clock when Doug dropped Roger, Jami and Collins off at the building on 11th Street. Roger and Collins carried the bags while Jami stuck close to Roger's free side. Her walking was still a bit shaky since being released from the hospital the previous day. But that wasn't the only reason she stuck close to Roger. Feeling him by her was comforting to her. She felt safe and secure in his presence. "It'll be good to sleep in our own bed, huh?" he smiled looking down at his fiance.
"Yeah, freezing my ass off notwithstanding." she chuckled looking up at him.
"Don't worry. I'll keep you warm." he smiled down at her, holding her close to his side.
"Do you guys think we should have called first? I mean, knowing Mark and Maureen..." Collins started looking over at them.
"I don't think that'll be a problem. I called them before we left Jersey. Mark said that they'd probably be just relaxing." Jami smiled looking up at him.
"I don't even want to know why they need to relax." Roger griped looking over at him.
"Yeah, you and me both." Collins laughed as they entered the building and slowly climbed the stairs leading up to the loft.
"Be nice. I think they're really trying to be respectful to us. Give them a break." Jami smiled as they approached the loft door. When Jami opened it, they entered and saw Mark and Maureen cuddled on the couch. It was apparent that Maureen was crying in Mark's arms. "I... I can't deal with this right now." Jami looked up at Roger, fighting her own tears.
"Go inside, Baby. I'll take care of it." he told her quietly as Maureen looked over at them.
"I'll go with." Collins looked over at Roger before following Jami into their bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Jami. Um, I'm... I'm sorry, Roger. I... I didn't mean to..." Maureen blurted out looking over at Roger, wiping her eyes.
"Maureen, we had a really rough weekend and the last thing she needs is to come home to you like this." he looked over at her.
"I know and I'm sorry. I just... I can't believe this happened." she looked up at him, wiping her nose.
"Yeah... thanks Maureen. Listen, she just wants things to go back to normal. Can you do that for her?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, I... I can do that." she looked up at him.
"Thank you. I appreciate that." he smiled at her before turning around to go towards his room.
"Roger." she called out as he turned around.
"Yeah."
"I love you guys. Can you make sure she knows?" she smiled at him.
"We love you too, Maureen. Thanks for caring so much. You're... you're a great friend. I don't know what we would do without you." he smiled before turning around and entering his bedroom. Shutting the door quietly behind him.
"Are you OK, Baby?" Roger asked looking over at Jami as Collins sat next to her on the bed, holding her hand.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm OK." she looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I'm gonna give you guys some time." Collins got up from the bed.
"Collins." Jami called out to him.
"Yeah, Baby girl." he turned to her.
"Thank you for everything this weekend. I know it was a lot, but I'm glad you were there." she looked up at him.
"There's no place else I would have rathered be, Baby girl." he smiled at her before leaving the room.
"How are they? Are they really OK?" Maureen asked as Collins entered the living room.
"Yeah, it was tough the last couple of days, but they talked things out last night and they seem to be doing better." he answered looking down at her.
"Yeah, a love like theirs, blah blah blah." Mark smirked looking over at him.
"That and the atmosphere at his moms. It's incredible. I mean, they support each other so much. It's hard to imagine that Roger came from there until you see him with them. Mrs. D is the perfect mom. She's funny, smart and Roger fears her. All the kids do. I've never seen him afraid of anything the way he's afraid of his mom." Collins laughed looking over at them.
"At least he's afraid of something." Maureen laughed looking over at him.
"He's afraid of a lot of things, Maureen. One of those those things almost became a reality this weekend." he told her quietly before going into his room.
"What does that mean?" Mark asked looking over at him.
"Jami didn't have a miscarriage. She… she had an ectopic pregnancy. She could have died had the egg ruptured." he explained.
"She…" Mark stuttered looking up at him before Maureen interrupted him.
"But she's OK though, right?" Maureen looked up at Mark, who was still trying to process what Collins had just told him.
"She's gonna be fine." Collins looked over at them.
"I'm sorry about all that. Are you OK?" Roger sat on the bed next to her.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine. I just... I just can't deal with Maureen right now. She can be a bit much." she told him quietly staring down into her lap.
"She cares about you, Baby. I know she has a tendency to be a little over dramatic, but she loves you." he sat next to her putting his arms around her.
"I know. I... I guess I just wanted things to be normal when I got home. I don't want to live in mourning. I want to just move on with my film, writing and planning our wedding." she looked up at him.
"If you want that, we can do that. We're all here for you." he smiled leaning in to kiss her head.
"That's not what I want, Roger. I want us to all be there for each other. Like we were before... before all this happened." she told him, getting up from the bed.
"OK Baby. We can do whatever you want." he got up from the bed to go to her.
"Thank you. I... I don't know what I would do without you in my life. You've given me so much." she looked up at him smiling.
"You've given me more than I ever dreamed I could have." he held her close to him.
"I'm... I'm gonna go talk to Maureen." she looked up at him.
"Do you think that's such a good idea? Now?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I... I do. I want to get this over with as soon as possible. The sooner we do this, the sooner our lives can get back to normal."
"OK. I'll... I'll start unpacking."
"Just be careful. The clothes are all folded the way I like them. You tend to make a mess." she smirked over at him.
"I'll be extra careful, Baby. I promise." he smiled at her.
"I don't doubt that." she smiled before leaving the bedroom. When she got into the living room, Mark was alone on the couch, going over papers from the production company. "Where's Maureen?" she asked looking over at him.
"In... the other room. She wanted to go through some things in there. Is everything OK?" he asked looking up at him.
"I'm fine, Mark. It's been a tough weekend, but I'm fine. We're... we're gonna do the in vitro after the wedding." she looked over at him.
"That's good, that... that you want to try again." he looked up at her. "How are you really?"
"I was really bad at first. I mean, Roger and I were fighting, I yelled at my mother. I... I avoided everyone. I was feeling sorry for myself, but me and Roger spent all last night talking and we helped each other see that sometimes things happen. That doesn't mean we should give up on any of our dreams for the future." she told him, sitting next to him on the couch.
"Jami, I'm really sorry this happened." he looked up at her.
"Thank you Mark, but I'm done mourning. My time with him is too short as it is. I don't want to waste any more of it mourning for a child who never had a chance."
"I um… Collins told us what happened. I'm really sorry."
"I could have died, Mark. Another woman he loves, gone." she explained.
"How is he?" he asked looking down at her.
"I think the fact that I could have died really scared him. But he's been a rock through all of it." she looked up at him.
"Yeah, that would scare me. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
"I'm fine, Mark. I promise." she reached out to take his hand.
"I'm glad. I... I worry about you. If anything happened to you, who would finish Roger's story and turn it into a film?" he smirked over at her.
"Somehow, I think you'd be able to do it. After all, who knows him better than you?" she smiled at him.
"You. I... I never knew the real Roger Davis. At least, not like you do."
"I guess I bring out the best in him, just like he brings it out in me." she smiled at him.
"Yeah, I... I guess so." he smiled.
"I... I was thinking of going out filming with you tomorrow. Like before." she looked over at him.
"There's no need." he looked over at her.
"What do you mean? Don't... don't you miss working with me?" she asked looking over at him.
"I mean, there's no need to go filming anymore. I... I'm finished."
"You... but how? When?" she asked surprised.
"2 weeks ago. I... I showed it to the production company on Friday." he looked over at her.
"You... why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"I know how neurotic you get. I finished editing and everything and they asked me if they could view it. That's why we left so early. They loved it, by the way. They're talking about showing it at the film festival in April."
"I... I can't believe it's done." she got up from the couch to pace around the living room.
"That's why I didn't tell you. I know how you get." he looked up at her.
"But we started it together and then me and Roger got together and I... I started slacking off. I spent all my time with him and I haven't been fair to you." she looked over at him.
"Jami, it's OK. You wrote the screenplay. My job was filming it. I just... I just liked hanging out with you." he got up to go to her.
"But you and I were partners before him and I... I feel like I abandoned you for some guy." she looked over him.
"We both know that Roger's not just some guy." he walked over to her.
"No, he's not. But I left you to do the movie alone and it wasn't supposed to be that way. I'm... I'm sorry." she looked up at him.
"Don't worry about it. But we did it." he smiled at her.
"We... we actually did it." she smiled back.
"Yeah, and they liked it. They really liked it." he smiled reaching out to hug her.
"Wow. They really liked it. I'm really proud of you." she smiled.
"Proud of us." he smiled letting go of her.
"Couldn't have done it without you." she smiled at him.
"We did it together, Jami." he smiled at her.
"I guess we make a good team." she smiled at him.
"Yeah, we really do." he smiled at her.
"I'll keep you in mind for my next one." she joked looking up at him.
"You and I both know that I'm the only one you trust to do Roger's film." he laughed looking over at her.
"I trust you as much as I trust Roger. Thank you, Mark." she smiled hugging her best friend. "Um... I need to go in and talk to Maureen now."
"Why don't you let me get her? She's in the other room." he looked down at her.
"I can go in there. After all, it's gonna be the nursery in about a year and a half or so." she smiled going towards the other room.
"You don't have to be a hero, Jami. I can get her to come out here."
"Don't you have faith in me, Mark?" she smirked over at him.
"I have more faith in you than you realize." he smiled as she turned to go into what was to become the baby's room.
"Maureen." Jami called out standing in the doorway.
"Jami, um... hi. I... I didn't expect you to come in here." she looked up at her as she went through a box in the corner.
"Maureen listen, I… I really appreciate your concern for me, but it's not necessary. I'm fine." she looked over at her.
"How could you be fine, Jami? You just..." she started when Jami interrupted her.
"Almost died." she cut in looking over at her.
"I'm... I'm so sorry." she stood up straight before going towards her.
"Yeah, um... me... me too. We thought I was pregnant, but I... I wasn't. Not... not really anyway." she stuttered looking over at her.
"You are gonna try again, right?" Maureen asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, um... yeah we are. We're... we're gonna do the in vitro after the wedding." she looked over at her.
"So, we're still gonna have yours and Roger's baby around here?" she smiled excitedly.
"Mhm. I promise. You will be terrorized by Roger's spawn." she laughed looking over at her.
"I'm looking forward to it." Maureen smiled reaching out to hug her.
"Me too." she smiled holding her friend tight.
"I'm... I'm sorry for the way I was when you got home. I tend to be a little overly dramatic." Maureen apologized pulling back to look at her.
"A little?" she laughed looking over at her.
"Hey, I'm an actress. I feel things very deeply." she defended herself.
"I know, sweetie. And I appreciate it. I really do. You're a really good friend."
"Well, you're easy to be friends with. You brought those boys out there back to life." Maureen smiled at her.
"You do know that Mark and I never..." she started when Maureen cut her off.
"I... I know. I mean, you... you gave him a second chance at living. He just about gave up after Angel died, and after Mimi... we were all afraid he would shut down all together. Then he found you and... you helped him find his vision again and got him out. He told me about all the fun you two had together. You're not just his partner at work, you're his best friend. I'll always be grateful to you for that." she smiled at her.
"I... I never knew that he..."
"So you see, you didn't only give Roger a do over. You gave my Marky one too." she looked over at her.
"I... I guess I never looked at it that way." Jami looked over at her.
"Face it, Jami. You made us a family again." Maureen smiled playing with Jami's hair.
"I was alone until I met them, you know? I… I had no life. I had nothing before them." Jami looked at her with tears in her eyes.
"And now you'll never be alone again." Maureen smiled hugging her again.
"I'm glad I have you guys in my life." Jami smiled hugging her back.
"Come on. We better go back out there. The boys are probably worried sick about you." she smiled at her.
"Yeah, Roger's been even more protective than usual." Jami looked over at her.
"Mark too, you know? He'll always protect you. But you can't blame them. They could have lost you the other night. They... they couldn't live with that."
"I know. They're pretty pathetic without me, huh?" Jami joked looking over at her.
"I don't know, but I don't want to find out." Maureen smiled as the ladies left the room. Roger, Mark and Collins were sitting in the living room. Roger was plucking at his guitar, Mark was reading over papers and Collins was reading a book. It was apparent that they were waiting for them to come out.
"Is everything OK?" Roger asked looking up at them.
"Yeah, me and Maureen just..." Jami started as she squeezed Maureen's hand. Maureen got the hint and took over.
"Jami and I are together now." she told them as Jami attempted to hold back her laughter. Mark looked up at them dumbfounded as Roger stared at them. Collins started laughing.
"More fucking comedy. Will someone tell me when this place turned into a god damn comedy club?" Roger looked over at Jami.
"Don't you dare tell me that you never fantasized about two women?" Jami laughed looking over at Roger.
"Nope. And especially not my fiance and her." he took the guitar off of his lap, placing it next to him before getting up.
"What? That was genius." Maureen smiled going over to Mark on the couch.
"You should know better than to do that to poor Mark. I think he's still shell shocked from the last time she went lesbo on him." Roger put his arms around Jami.
"Hey, I knew they were kidding. I was just playing along." Mark laughed, looking up at him.
"Sorry, I just had to lighten the mood a bit." she laughed looking up at him.
"Yeah, you're a real comedian." Roger laughed leaning down to kiss her.
"I have to be." she held him close. He could feel her fatigue as he held her in his arms.
"Are you tired, Baby?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, a... a bit." she tilted her head up to look at him.
"We're gonna go to bed. We'll see you in the morning." Roger smiled at Mark, Maureen and Collins.
"You're making breakfast, right?" Maureen asked looking over at Roger.
"Do you want me to make breakfast, Maureen?" Roger taunted looking over at her.
"Are you kidding? We've been starving for 3 days." she smiled at him.
"You know, the stove is not that hard to maneuver. Even you can do it." he laughed at her.
"Yeah but, my eggs never come out as light and fluffy as yours. I just wind up making a mess."
"Fine, I'll make breakfast, Maureen." he smiled at her.
"You're the best." she smiled excitedly.
"Yeah, I've been told that once or twice." he laughed as he and Jami went to their room, closing the door.
"She is so pathetic." Jami laughed reaching into the half unpacked suitcase.
"She loves when I cook. There's nothing wrong with that." he defended starting to get undressed.
"She's just using you for your cooking, you know that, right?" she said putting her hands on her hips.
"I can live with that." he laughed looking over at her.
"You just like feeling needed."
"Yep." he smiled as she pulled out a big football jersey and started getting undressed. "Where did you get that?" he asked noticing what Jami had just thrown onto the bed.
"Your mom gave it to me. She told me all about your high school quarterback days." she smiled at him.
"I... I got kicked off the team after half a semester because my coach caught me smoking. My mom was pissed." he looked up at her.
"I'd like to see you play some time. I bet you you're really sexy out there." she smiled at him before pulling the big navy blue football jersey over her head. The back had the number 7 and the name Davis ironed on it.
"Nah, too old. I haven't thrown around a football in ages." he smiled climbing into bed.
"You are not too old, Roger. You're 28. I think it would be fun if you and the guys got together and played a friendly little game of pigskin." she smiled climbing into the bed with him.
"Oh yeah, getting tackled by Collins sounds like loads of fun." he chuckled looking down at her.
"Not tackle, just a friendly game of touch football or something. You know how much I love to watch you playing sports. You're so happy." she smiled at him.
"You make me happy, James." he leaned down to kiss her head as she lay on his chest.
"I know, Baby. You make me happy too. Um… did you know that Mark finished my film?" She asked looking up at him.
"Really? That's cool. When do you have to show it to the production company?" he asked looking over at her.
"They saw it Friday. That's why they left your mom's so early."
"How come you didn't go?" he asked.
"He didn't want to tell me. He knew I'd be a wreck. He said they... they loved it. They want to show it at the film festival in April." she smiled at him.
"Of course they loved it. That's amazing, Baby. I'm so proud of you." he leaned up to kiss her.
"It's Mark you should be proud of. I... I haven't done much for it lately. Not since we started dating. I'd be surprised if I still have a job." she looked up at him.
"Baby, you're a professional screenwriter now. You need your creative time." he explained.
"I know. I just... I feel bad that Mark did all the work on this. We... we used to be a team, but then... things changed." she looked down, away from his loving gaze.
"James, listen to me. Mark is a capable filmmaker. All he needed was your screenplay and he knew exactly what you wanted. He didn't need you hanging over him the whole time." he lifted her head up to look at him.
"Yeah but, we used to be partners. But ever since you and I got together, I sort of abandoned him. I feel bad about that."
"But he did it. Isn't that all that matters?" he asked looking down at her.
"Well, when we start doing your film, I want to be fully involved with every aspect of its making." she insisted looking up at him.
"I can't wait to see it." he kissed her head before laying down as they fell asleep in one another's arms.