Chapter 87
"Tell me again why we're doing this."
"Because I'm your best friend and my little sister wanted a band at her birthday party. And because you work cheap." Mark laughed.
"Oh great. Don't tell Izzy that part."
"I don't know, for some weird reason she wanted you guys." Mark shrugged, setting down the amp in the driveway.
"Oh don't you two get it?" Cass laughed, setting the baby down in his stroller. "She just graduated high school. All her friends will be here. It's the last hurrah before they leave for college. Plus, her sort of famous film maker brother, knows a famous guitar player who has a New York City band that will play her birthday party. How many Scarsdale High graduates can say that?" She laughed again.
"Hey! Why is he famous and I'm only sort of famous?" Mark protested.
"Oh Pookie!" Maureen laughed. "Because Roger's in a band, which means more at eighteen. Plus you make documentaries, not movies with Tom Cruise or Joey Fatone. Make movies with people like them and then the little girls will consider you famous too!" She kissed him on the cheek.
"Maureen I've told you about the 'Pookie' thing!" He protested as she and Cass laughed.
"Okay. Come on and help me finish setting up the equipment. Pookie!" Roger grinned walking away.
"Oh very funny!" Mark yelled at Roger, following him down the driveway. "If that kid starts calling me 'Pookie' when he starts talking you guys are all in trouble!" Cass and Mo were still laughing at that as Molly and some of her friends came out of the house to set up for the party.
As Molly's 18th birthday party got into full swing everyone had shown up. Molly spent so much time in the city over the summer, Jennifer, Jason and Collins had come up for the party. Shelly and Patrick as well as Joanie and Larry had come to hear Roger play. By then the baby had made the rounds of just about everyone.
Mark's mom held the baby. "I can't believe he can sleep through all this." She laughed.
"Well he's been hearing it for the entire nine months before he was born." Joanie told her. "Actually Cass says that whenever he gets fussy, if Roger plays it settles him right down."
"Well that's good." She smiled down at him. "How old is he now?"
"Almost two and a half months." Joanie grinned putting his pacifier in his mouth.
Mrs. Cohen sighed. "When did we get this old Joanie?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean old enough to have kids this old. Kids old enough to have kids. I mean Cindy was one thing, but I always thought of Mark and Roger as so much younger than her."
"Oh Kitty!" Joanie laughed. "We're not that old!" She looked down at the baby, running a hand over his dirty blonde hair.
She sighed. "I guess not. It just feels that way right now. Molly leaving for school. Roger having a baby. I just feel old."
"What you feel is an empty nest. Been there. You'll survive. Plus you've still got Cindy's kids. And Molly's only in the city."
"So was Mark. And it took Roger coming back to see you for Mark to come home."
"Well it'll be different with Molly. Girls are different."
"I'm just glad she is only going to the city, not across the country or anything. That and we talked her out of a summer session. That's where it all started with Mark." Kitty shook her head.
"I remember."
"I never thought I'd say it, but I'm also glad she's going to live with them."
Joanie just laughed. "Well their apartment has definitely improved over the years."
"True." Kitty laughed. "But I don't buy that nanny story for a minute. That girl wants to live in New York and she figures telling me she'll be Roger and Cass' nanny I wouldn't put up a fight. Like I believe for one minute that she'll be home with that baby while they go out! With that crew I bet she's got a fake ID within two weeks of moving in."
Joanie laughed again. "Yes, it's amazing that no matter how old they do get, they still think we're dumb as a doorstop and they can pull stuff over on their mothers! Just wait! One of these days, they'll all get theirs!" Joanie smiled, looking down at the baby.
They were both laughing still when Mark came over. "Mom, Cindy needs you. She's in the kitchen."
"Okay." Kitty got up and walked into the house as Mark picked up the baby who was waking up.
"Hey Buddy. How you doing?"
"Mark you've been avoiding me." Joanie told him.
"Um, no I haven't."
"Yes you have. Why?"
He sat down, still playing with the baby. "I figured you'd be pretty mad at me." He told her, looking down at the baby.
Joanie leaned in towards him. "Why in the world would I be mad at you?"
"You know, cause of Roger." He shrugged.
"Roger?"
He sighed. "Now that you know about Roger. I figured you'd be mad at me because I let him get so messed up back then."
"Oh Mark! I could never be mad at you."
"But…"
"Look, in the last two months I've gone through a variety of emotions, guilt and blame. I blamed myself, Jack and Roger. I blamed the bands, I blamed the girlfriends. I managed to blame Patrick and Mickey. I even managed to blame my father for buying him his first damn guitar. But Mark, in all that, sweetie I never blamed you. I was grateful for you. I always have been. You've always been there for him. When there was no one else." She took a deep breath. "You don't have any blame Mark. All you did was help him and take care of him. There was no way you could have stopped any of it. Roger told me that himself. He wasn't going to quit till he was ready. Luckily when he was ready, you were still there."
"I know. I just wish it was different."
"So do I, but it's not. But I don't blame you. Mark I love you just like you were one of my own. You got that?" She hugged him tight.
"Yeah." He smiled, still holding Collin. "I got it."
By then Roger and Izzy had taken a break and he was walking over with Patrick. "Hey. What's going on?"
"Nothing." Mark smiled at Joanie. "We were just talking. But it's a good thing you're here."
"Yeah? Why?" He took the baby from him, holding him up. "You giving your Uncle Mark a hard time? Huh?" He tickled Collin's feet.
"Not really. But he needs to be changed." Mark laughed.
"Oh thanks. God you make somebody a godfather you think the least they could do would be change a diaper."
"Oh give me a break you pain in the ass. Fine. Give him to me." Mark laughed as he took the baby and the diaper bag and headed towards the house.
"Speaking of that, I want everyone on time and well dressed for the baptism tomorrow. Patrick, you're in charge of Mickey."
"What's that mean? Make sure he's got on a tie, pants and shoes on the right feet?" He laughed.
"Something like that." She told him. "Just do whatever Shelly tells you."
"I gotta wear a tie?" Roger asked, shocked.
"You are his father Roger, so yes, you have to wear a tie." She told him as if he was twelve again. "Besides I went through too much to set this whole christening up."
"What do you mean." Roger asked as Patrick started laughing.
"Do you even remember Father Logan?" Patrick kept laughing.
"Let's just say he's rather set in his ways." Joanie explained.
"'Set in his ways'? He's frigging ancient." He was cracking up so hard he was making Joanie laugh.
"Patrick behave! All I'm saying is setting everything up with Father Logan was a little difficult."
"Why?" Roger asked, completely confused.
"Okay. He's not the most open-minded person. First I had to get him past the fact of why you wanted to do it here and not at your parish in the city."
"Oh that's a good one." Patrick laughed.
"Then there was the issue of the godparents. Mark being Jewish and Collins being gay and a Baptist. Though I'm still not sure which of those two facts is a bigger issue for him, the gay or Baptist part."
"So how did you convince him to do it?" Roger asked.
"I called your grandmother. She invited him over for dinner and made his favorite dish, and his favorite dessert. Then they had Irish whiskey and coffee while listening to big band music and discussing the good old days. As well as her grandsons. And great grandson. Problem solved. Everyone behave tomorrow." Joanie smiled.
"Oh my God." Patrick said, amazed. "You pimped out Grandma for a christening."
"Patrick!"
"Oh that's bad Mom." Roger shook his head. "You pimped out Grandma to a priest."
"First of all stop using that word. Secondly, your grandmother was please to help set everything up."
"Oh I don't want to hear anymore." Patrick laughed as Mark came back handing the baby to Joanie.
"Ewww." Roger made a face. "Grandma and a priest. That's an image I could live without."
"Roger!" Joanie yelled at him laughing.
"What's going on?" Mark asked.
"Oh you don't want to know." Patrick kept laughing as he walked away, shaking his head.
"I wish I didn't know." Roger said, still making a face. "Oh man is it gonna be hard not to laugh tomorrow."
"Just behave tomorrow. All of you!"
"Yeah, yeah. We'll behave, but it's gonna be hard." He grinned. "Real hard. Cause that's just bad Mom!"
"Oh…" She made a face at him, still trying not to laugh.
"You know what? Give me my kid." He teased her, taking Collin. "Before you corrupt him too."
Mark still looked confused but decided to join in. "Yeah, god forbid he get corrupted by his grandmother. That's our job. Right Rog?"
"Yup. Completely." He laughed, walking away with the baby to find Cass.
***************
"Roger?" Larry stuck his head in the bedroom door. "Are you guys ready? Your mom and aunt are making me crazy."
"Yeah we're coming. Just give her a few more minutes."
"He's almost done." Cass told Roger, looking up from the baby as he nursed.
Roger plopped down on the bed next to her, running a hand up her leg. "Hey Baby, how you doing?"
"Okay. You okay with this today?"
"Yeah." He grinned. "Most of it. My mom's like thrilled beyond belief. Remind me to tell you later what she made my grandma do."
"What do you mean 'most of it'."
"Well all of it," he smiled, "except for the tie part. And the dress."
"First of all, I kind of like you in a tie." She smiled at him. "It's an interesting change of pace. And secondly, it's not a dress, it's a christening outfit."
"It's a dress."
"Fine it's a dress. But it's the same dress you, Patrick and Mickey wore."
"I never wore a dress." He told her, tickling Collin's feet.
"Okay then we agree it's a christening outfit not a dress." She laughed. "Don't do that, he stops eating and he needs to finish."
"Sorry." He stopped playing with Collin's feet. "So, ah what are the chances I can get in on some of that action later tonight?" He gave her an evil grin as he wriggled his eyebrows at her.
"Roger!" Cass smirked.
"Hey you can't knock a guy for trying."
"Yes well, we'll see." She returned the evil grin and set the baby on the bed next to him. "Let me finish getting dressed so we can go. And do up that tie!" She teased him.
"Okay." He leaned over and kissed her, pulling her close and letting it deepen before letting her go. "We'll met you downstairs."
"Okay. Love you Babe." She smiled at him as he picked up the baby and headed downstairs.
"Are you guys ready?" Cathy asked him, taking the baby.
"Yeah, Cass is finishing up."
"I can't believe you're letting them put him in a dress." Patrick told Roger.
"It's not a dress." Joanie corrected him. "It's your christening outfit and we're not putting it on him till right before it starts."
"It's a dress. Where's Mark?"
"I'm right here." He told him coming up from the basement, followed by Maureen. "Come here and I'll fix it." Without saying anything Roger walked over to Mark who started to fix his tie. "You know, someday, you really need to learn how to do this yourself."
"No I don't, that's what I've got you for."
Meanwhile Maureen picked up the christening outfit as the others walked into the room. "Oh that is such a pretty little dress."
"My mom made if for the boys." Cathy told her. "She made a second one so the twins could wear them too."
"Did Roger really wear that?" Maureen asked, smoothing out the silk.
"Uh huh. Patrick and Mickey too." Joanie added.
"Mom! Don't tell people I wore a dress!" Mickey yelled to her.
"Oh Mickey. For goodness sake, it's not a dress!"
"Yeah Mom, don't tell people you put that dress on me either." Patrick added.
"Me either." Roger told her as Mark finished up his tie.
"Fine! Whatever. God you three are difficult! But all three of you wore it, it is a dress and you all looked so cute and adorable in it."
"Mom!" All three of them yelled at her.
"Well you did. Sweet, cute and adorable. Just like Collin will." Joanie smiled at them as she ran her hand over Collin's hair as Cathy held him.