Chapter 75

Cass realized that when she got up at ten to get Roger's pills she should have gone to the bathroom then. Then she could have stayed in bed, asleep, where it was warm instead of getting up now. On her way back to her room, she heard the knocking at the door. It's only eleven thirty. Jen, Maureen, Joanne and Krystal aren't supposed to be here till noon. And they are supposed to be late, definitely not early. She was supposed to be able to lay down for another twenty minutes, she thought.

"You guys aren't supposed to be here yet, much less early." She told them as she opened the door.

"I know, I know, I'm early. Mom wouldn't let me take the train, she drove me."

"Molly!" Cass said very surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm coming to visit remember?" She told her walking in the door. "I emailed Mark two days ago."

"Mark doesn't read his email!" She stammered.

"Molly are you sure this is a good idea?" Mrs. Cohen said as she made it to the top of the stairs. "Oh hello dear. Kate right?"

"It's Cass, but come on in." Cass told her instantly regretting it as she turned around and saw the condition of the loft from last night. "Um, sorry about the mess," she picked up a few beer bottles and an empty bag of chips. "We had a sort of Chirstmas party last night. It was pretty late."

"I'm sure." She replied, eyeing the loft as Cindy walked in behind her.

"Wow this place looks much… different than the last time we were here, huh Mommy?" Cindy said looking around. "Hi, I'm Cindy, Mark's sister." She held out her hand, checking out Cass.

"Hi, um, I'm Cass. We met at your wedding."

"Oh. Oh! You were the one in the red dress with the, um, with Mark!"

"Yeah, that was me." Cass said, realizing she was wearing Mark's old flannel pajama pants and an old tee shirt of Roger's cut off at mid drift length. "Let me get Mark. Do you want some tea? I think were out of coffee." She put the hot water on the stove on her way to Mark's room. I'll be right back."

Forcing a smile she headed to Mark's door. As soon as she stepped inside she lost the smile. "Mark! Shit Mark wake up!"

"What?" He rolled over.

"Molly's here! Now."

"What?" He groaned.

"And your mother and Cindy!"

"What!" He sat up in bed. "This not a funny joke Cass."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She threw him a pair of jeans and a decent looking shirt. "And hurry up!" She walked back out into the living room. "Mark will be out in a second. Like I said, it was a pretty late last night." She smiled at them.

"Cool!" Molly grinned.

"Mom! What are you doing here?"

"Mark!" She hugged him. "I thought you invited your sister to visit?" She shot a look at Molly.


"Um, I did. I just wasn't expecting her right now."

"She emailed you Mark." Cass looked at his mom. "I'll have to check the computer again, I've been having problems getting mail lately." Cass lied.

"Well I'm here now, everything's set so you guys can go shopping now." Molly said sarcastically.

"Molly!" Mrs. Cohen snapped at her. "Just relax."

"Hey Mark." Cindy waved, giving him her evil grin.

"Hi Cindy."

"Um, the water's hot if you want tea." Cass told them, stepping into her room.

"So Mark, this place really looks different from the last time we were here." Cindy told him.

Cass came back out and was making tea when she heard Joanne and Maureen coming in the door followed by Jen.

"Okay we're here, on time and you're not ready!" Maureen laughed, not seeing everyone else.

"Mo, we have company." Cass told her in a low whisper.

"Oh, sorry I didn't, Mrs. Cohen! Oh God!"

"Hello Maureen." Mrs. Cohen said dryly as Mark tried to disappear into the couch cushions.

"Hello Maureen." Cindy kept the evil grin on her face.

"Um, hi." Maureen said quietly.

"So who are your friends?" She asked knowing perfectly well who Joanne probably was.


"Um, this is Jen, she lives downstairs. And this," she grabbed Joanne's hand, "is Joanne, my girlfriend."

"Uh huh. So we were just saying how different this place looks." Cindy smirked.

"Yes, you didn't have walls last time." Mrs. Cohen pointed out. "Just mattresses in every corner." She glared at Maureen.

"Well the renovations are almost finished. Just the one bathroom and then the painting."

"Well it certainly looks different. And bigger then the last time we stopped by." Cindy said again.

"Yeah well, a lot of things have changed since the one time you came by here." Mark said focusing on his tea.

Just then the bedroom door opened and out came Roger, wearing only boxers, yawning and scratching his chest. Not even noticing everybody else there as he headed towards the kitchen. "Baby what were you saying about Mark's mom?" He yawned.

"Then again, maybe they haven't." Cindy kept the evil grin plastered across her face as Mark's hands covered over his own face.

"Roger we have company." Cass told him in a hushed voice.

"Huh, oh hey Mrs. Cohen." Roger grinned. "Hey Cindy."


"Roger ." Mrs. Cohen said somewhat embarrassed.

When Mark didn't move to fill the awkward silence, Jen moved in. "So did Mark tell you Roger and Cass are getting married? We're supposed to be working on the wedding stuff today."

"You planning on wearing pants to your wedding Roger?" Cindy asked him.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I, uh, just got up." He said turning back toward his room.

"So," Mark said hopping up, "how long are you letting Molly stay Mom?"

"I still don't know about this." Mrs. Cohen told him.

"Oh Mom, Molly will be fine." Cindy said looking at Mark. "Marky would never let anything happen to her. Besides, Cass lives with them now too. And she's responsible, I mean she has to be, she's having a baby and all."

"Yeah Mom, you said I could stay." Molly glared at her mother.

"I'm just not sure this is a good idea."

"Oh but Mark really needs her help on his new film project." Cass lied. "He needs help shooting some stuff this week. I was supposed to help him, but between work and wedding stuff now I'm too busy. That's why he was so excited she was coming to help."

"Well, I guess it will be okay. If Mark needs your help." She said, standing up and looking around. "Just be careful. And don't go anywhere alone. And keep your cell phone with you." She opened her purse. "Here's some more money and an emergency credit card." She whispered, looking over her shoulder. "Don't carry it all with you if you go outside, but put it somewhere safe. Just be careful." Mrs. Cohen hugged her.

"Yes Mother." Molly rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Marky you look out for your baby sister. Don't let anything happen to her. Don't let anyone strange talk to her or anything either."

"Yes Mom." Mark sighed. He followed Cindy and his mother over to the door with Molly as his mom continued to give the two of them complete instructions.

When they finally left Mark came back over and flopped on the couch, dropping his head into Cass' lap as Molly slid onto the floor.

"So your sister's still a major bitch." Maureen said.

"Tell me about it." Molly agreed.

"Well that was fun. Thanks so much Mol! Why didn't you call? Or at least take the bus?"

"Hello? Not my fault you don't read your email. And I wanted to take the bus, but the evil princess started pushing how that just wasn't a good idea and how after dropping me off they could go shopping."

Cass looked around. "Roger you can come out now, they're gone." She yelled towards their room. A minute later the bedroom door opened and out came Roger, this time wearing pants.

"Chicken." Mark hissed.

"I figured why fan the fire." He laughed. "Hey Molly. So I hear your sister's still a bitch."

"Yep. Sure is." She laughed. "So you guys are really getting married?"

"Uh huh." He grinned, heading into the kitchen.

"Which reminds me, we need to get to work." Maureen said, pulling a notebook out of an old briefcase of Joanne's. "You go get dressed," she pointed at Cass. "We've got a lot to do and not much time."

"Yes mam!" Cass laughed saluting her, walking into the bathroom.

"Okay," Jen said, looking over the list she and Maureen had already made. Krystal walked in as Roger and Mark listened on. "We need to find a place, a dress, somebody to do it, a photographer, a florist and music. Anything else?"

"Clothes for Heckle and Jeckle over there." Krystal laughed.

"Hey how did I get sucked into this? I'm just the roommate and camera man." Mark laughed.

"Oh that's it, I've got it." Maureen exclaimed.

"Oh God, we're in trouble." Mark teased as Roger laughed.


"Okay, we have it all at the Iguana, Mark can film it and Izzy and Roger can play! Three things down." She grinned obviously proud of herself.

They all laughed at that. "That's a good thought Hunneybear, but I'm betting Cass would prefer something a few steps up from the Iguana. No offense Krystal."

"Please, none taken. You can't get much lower than that dump." Krystal laughed.

"How is Roger going to play at his own wedding? And how could Mark film it if he's in it?" Jen asked her.


"Okay, good point." Maureen said, going back through her list.

"Hey what do we have to do?" Mark asked from the couch.

"Nothing." Maureen said, looking up from her notes. "Just show up on time and look decent."

"Don't worry, I've got that covered." Jen said. "When we get everything nailed down, I'll put Jason and Collins on those two. They'll be there, on time, dressed and ready to go."

"Glad to know we're taken care of." Roger laughed as Cass came back out and sat down.

********************

"Hey sleepy head, wake up." Roger kissed her.

"Hey." She yawned, stretching.

"Are you guys up yet? The psycho chicks are due here in half an hour Cass." Mark called through the door.

Cass rolled her eyes as Roger laughed. "Yes we're up Mark, come on in. Where's Molly?"

"Still asleep. We were up late looking at some of my films." Mark told him sitting down on the bed.

"How did your show go last night Baby?"

"Pretty good. I'm glad we're done with Christmas music though. Unfortunately Izzy's new thing is to have an all pop 80's night." Roger said, looking disgusted.

"You're kidding." Mark laughed. "What did you tell him?"

"To get a DJ." Roger laughed.

"Oh you're bad!" Cass swatted at him, sitting up.

"So what happened yesterday with the, what did you call them?" He asked Mark.

"Psycho chicks."

"Right. What happened yesterday with them?" He grinned at her.

"Well," she smiled, "they found a place, the Tribeca Grand. We can have the whole thing there. We also got a few rooms so we can all spend the night. They set it up for three weeks from the Saturday. The evening of Saturday January 19th. You okay with that?"

He brushed a piece of hair off her face. "Yeah, I'm okay with that. Are you okay with that?"

"Uh huh."

"Good." He kissed hr forehead. "How about you Mark, you okay with that?"

"Me? Yeah that's cool with me." Mark got that stupid grin on his face again.

"Good. What else?"

"Well, they found a florist. Teddy and her husband Alex Logan. You know them, she's got long red hair, wears it braided down her back."

"From Life Support?" Mark asked.

"Uh huh. Is that okay Roger?"

"Yeah, I guess. I don't mind if that's what you mean."

"Okay, because they found somebody to take pictures from Life Support too. Tina Jackson. I met her once outside Elizabeth's office. You sure you're okay with that?"

"Yeah, it's alright Baby." He smiled at her.

"What did you do all day?" Mark asked. "It sounds like they did everything."

"They did." She laughed. "I just got dragged alone. I realized yesterday, we may be getting married, but those four are having a wedding."

Roger laughed, thinking back to the conversation the other night. "Yeah Jason was saying something about that."

"Well, Krystal's talking to the guy that DJ's for Izzy once in awhile. Joanne is taking care of getting a judge. Maybe her uncle. And today they drag me somewhere to find a dress."

"That's it? Cindy's wedding was way more hassle and took like eight months to set up."

"That was a much bigger deal." She told him.

"Not to mention Cindy's a pain in the ass." Roger laughed, joined by Mark.

"Well, apparently dresses usually take like six months to get, but Jen talked to some people she works with, and we're going somewhere today. Someplace to get one off the rack, no ordering necessary. Jen can get it altered at work if we need to."

"And that's it?" Roger asked. "You're all done?"

"Well we need to finalize everything like flowers and license and things. And get rings."

"We can go back to Krystal's uncle's place in Jersey."

"Okay. The only other thing is how many people are going to be there."

"How many?" Roger asked cautiously.

"Well, there's the eight of us, plus Ginny and Leslie and Izzy and Krystal. That's twelve. Anybody else?"

"No, that'll do it."

"Um, what about your mom Roger?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I, I don't know. I'll have to think about that."

"Okay Roger." She leaned against him. "Whatever you want. Mo did have a really good idea though."

"This ought to be good." Mark grinned.


"Well," Cass smiled. "She figured you'd want to get it all on film, but you'd be too busy so, she thought you could have Molly do it for you."

"Hey that is a great idea." Roger said. "My God, I just said that about one of Maureen's ideas." He shook his head.

"Behave you two." She told them standing up and walking out of the bedroom.

"I still can't believe you're getting married." Mark told him when Cass was gone.

"I know, but it actually feels right."

"I never thought I'd see you getting married. I mean Roger Davis, married with a wife and kid." Mark said shaking his head.

Roger laughed thinking about that. "Well you're right, it does sound strange, but not that strange. I mean think about it, according to our friends you and I sound like we're married at times."

"That's true." Mark laughed. I guess I should be relieved. I mean I'm not losing a best friend, especially considering one of my best friends is marrying the other one, and no one's moving out. No, I've decide to look at it as gaining somebody else to take care of your sorry ass!"

"Oh thanks." Roger threw a pillow at him. "As my best man you're supposed to be nice to me!"

************

"Okay," Maureen told them, sipping her coffee as she looked over her notes. "White roses with little purple accents in them."

"Are you sure? What about pink accents instead?" Jen asked.

"No, Cass isn't really a pink person." She explained.

"I suppose asking Cass what she wants would be too much trouble?" Mark asked, looking from the girls on the couch to Cass across the room at her computer.

"We know what she wants." Maureen explained. "Right Cass?"

"Yes Mo." She laughed, not looking up from her computer.

When there was a knock at the door, Mark moved to get it. "Yeah?"

"Uh, yes, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong address, but just to be sure, is Cass Sullivan here?"

"Yeah, she's here. What do you want?"

"Oh. Well I have something for her. A delivery from her father, Carlton."

"Um, hold on a second." Mark told him, closing the door. "Cass?"

"I heard. Mo put that stuff away and nobody needs to mention, well anything. I'll be right back." She stepped into her bedroom, coming back a minute later in one of Roger's over sized sweatshirts to cover the slight pudge of her belly. Walking to the door, Cass opened it. "Marco? What are you doing here?"

"Hello Cass. How are you? Your father asked me to deliver this to you." He held out a small, locked case and an envelope.

"Wow, that was really quick. I didn't expect this until sometime next week."

"Well, I was coming out to New York for vacation over New Year's. Your father asked me to drop this off for you. You look good Cass. When are you coming back home?"

"No time soon. I kind of like it out here."

"Really?" He arched an eyebrow as he gave her a grin. "I always thought of you as more the Malibu Barbie type Cass."

"Yes well…" She trailed off, trying to get rid of him. By then Roger walked up behind her and glared at the guy. "So thanks for bringing by my stuff. I need to get back to work. Have a good vacation Marco."

"Yeah, thanks." Marco said, somewhat disappointed as Roger closed the door on him.

Cass laughed at Roger as she walked over to the couch and sat down. "God that guy is a leech. Yuck!" She ripped open the envelope.

"I love it when Roger does the big tough guy thing to scare people." Maureen laughed, pulling her notebook back out.

"What is all that Cass?" Joanne asked, seeing the smile cross over Cass' face.

"That is the debit card Carlton sent me for Christmas." She tossed it to Maureen. "Here Mo, pay for everything with that."

"Cool!"

"And this," she read the combination off the letter in the envelope then opened the case, "is my mother's jewelry."

Collins and Jason came in as everyone gathered around the milk crate coffee table. Mark filled them in as they walked over.

"Cass these are gorgeous." Krystal said picking up an emerald tennis bracelet.

"This stuff is incredible." Maureen said wide-eyed. "You got a tiara in there too, or just he Hope diamond?"

"Maureen behave, and take those off." Joanne told her. "But she's right, all of it is gorgeous."

"Wow," Jen said, holding a diamond choker to her face.

"I've never seen so many diamonds." Molly said in awe. "What are you going to do with it all?"

"Well, these I want." She pulled out a box holding a pearl choker and matching earrings. "The rest of it I'll put in a safety deposit box."

"I don't see you ever wearing any of that. Especially around here." Jason commented.

"I probably won't. I mean most of it I've never worn." She shrugged. "It was my mom's. Some of it was my grandmothers. It's not that I like it all that much, some of it is down right ugly. I just wanted it and to make sure my aunt doesn't get a hold of any of it."

"So you're just gonna lock it all up someplace?" Molly asked.

"Yes, for now. Someday, if we need the money, I'll sell some of it." She looked up at Roger and Mark smiling. "No big deal." She started to pack the case back up.

"So where are you guys going on your honeymoon?" Molly asked.

"Huh?" Roger said looking up.


"Oh my God, I never thought about that." Maureen exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Cass asked.

"She's right. Where are you guys gonna go?" Jen asked.

"Nowhere I guess." Cass shrugged, turning back to the jewelry box. "I mean I have to work and Roger has to work at the bar, plus he's got rehearsal and the band has to play."

"But you have to go somewhere!" Molly argued.


"Yeah, you have to. It's like a rule." Jen joked.

"And don't worry about Izzy. I'll take care of him. He owes me." Krystal grinned.

"I don't know you guys." Cass tried to protest.

"We could go to Atlantic City if you want." Roger told her, trying to be helpful.

"Oh there's romance." Jen said dryly as everyone else laughed.

"Okay, we'll add that to the list." Maureen said, making notes. "We'll have to take care of that later. Now we have to get going or we're going to run out of time today. Jen you know where we're going?"

"Yup."

"Okay. And those two know what they're doing?"

"What exactly are we doing?" Collins asked, looking from Jason to Jen.

"You two are supposed to supervise Mark and Roger getting tuxes." Maureen explained.

"What?" Roger said.


"Oh sorry. I meant to tell you that yesterday. But here's where you need to go. And here's the credit card number to put it on." She handed them the paper.


"Gee Mo, you're awfully good at giving orders and spending other people's money." Mark said sarcastically.

"Isn't she though?" Joanne replied to Mark.


"Oh hush you two." Maureen ignored them. "Well, let's go already! Snap to it! Molly you want to go with us or help baby-sit the boys?"

Cass got up to get her shoes from their room as Roger walked in behind her. "Mark's right, they are psycho chicks!" He told her.


"I'm sorry. I didn't know she was going to do all that."

He grinned at her. "It's okay Baby. Don't let them make you crazy though. She's good at that."

Cass smiled at that. "You're right, she is."

"Hey Babe?" He pulled her close. "Do you want to go someplace? You know, after?"

"That would be kinda nice. Maybe someplace warm?" She grinned up at him.

"That's cool. Whatever you want. We'll figure it out tomorrow." He kissed her forehead. "Just one question, when we go away, it's gonna be just us right? We're not taking Mark with us or anything are we?""

Cass had to laugh at that. "Um, I wasn't planning on it. Unless of course you want to."

"No." He kissed her. "Definitely not."