A/N Wow! A lot of reviews for that last chapter! Glad it was as emotional for you guys as it was for me. I'll confess, I've cried through a lot of these chapters! I can't believe we've reached 100 chapters! It really seems hard to believe. Especially since the concept of the whole thing began on a three mile run as a short story in my head! You guys have no idea how much all your reviews and notes and just the fact that you have hung on with me for so long has meant. We are quickly coming to a close, not many chapters left. I won't tell you how many, I'll just say a not a lot, but a few. Thanks again to everyone.
On a personal note, and because you all are the only people that would understand the true funniness of the whole thing I have to share a quick story with you. My Collin is now 16 months old. We just went to Florida for three weeks to visit my grandparents (his great grandparents). Well, on one of the first days we were there, my grandmother finished off the coffee. It was Foldgers in the new red plastic round containers. So she washes it out and brings it into Collin. She banged on it once to show him how. Well he gets this big grin, bangs on it like a drum a few times and then sits right down on it, all comfy like. My mouth fell open and all I could think of when I saw that was Angel! It was too funny! Like he had his own little pickle tub drum/seat! I couldn't stop laughing!
And what made it even funnier, and I didn't find this out till after he sat on his little pickle/coffee tub, Rent was playing just down the street in Fort Myers the next night. If we could have found a babysitter, my grandmother would have gone to see it with me!
Well, here's the next chapter. Thanks for putting up with me and my Collin stories. Sometimes I feel like the Kathy Lee of the Rent circuit! Oh well!
Chapter 100
"We're back." Cass called out as she, Joanie, Shelly and Krystal stepped off the small freight elevator into the loft.
"Hey. Did you get ice?" Roger called from the dining room table.
"Hi Mommy. Hi Grandma." Collin called to them as they walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Sweetie. Yes we got ice. I put it downstairs in Jason's freezer." Cass set the bags down in the kitchen and walked around into the dining room followed by Krystal and Joanie. Cass smiled seeing Roger with Emily, still obviously not quite awake, on his lap, sitting at the table playing cards with Collin, Mattie, Izzy, Patrick and Larry.
"Why'd you put it down there?" He asked her, grabbing her hand and pulling her over.
"Because it's ice and I know Jason's freezer is empty seeing as how he either eats up here or down at Jen and Rich's." She kissed the top of his head.
"Oh."
"Can we go on the roof now?" Mattie asked.
"Yeah can we?" Collin piped in, showing his cards to Larry and then throwing two blue chips into the pile on the table.
"Not yet. It's way too hot out still." Krystal answered them. "And it won't be dark for almost five hours."
"What time do the fireworks start?" Collin asked.
"Nine o'clock." Izzy told him, tossing two blue chips and a white one.
"But Daddy said we could play on the roof." Mattie pouted.
"What? Matt you two are not playing on the roof!" Krystal snapped at them.
"Yeah there is no running around on the roof!" Cass joined in giving both Izzy and Roger a look.
"They don't mean run around on the roof. We told them we'd take the amps up on the roof tonight and they could play up there, real loud like, till the fireworks start." Roger explained before turning back to Patrick. "Give me two cards."
"Oh okay. Well there's still no running around on the roof. Besides it's probably about a thousand degrees up there right now, so everybody eat a snack, we're not grilling the steaks till it cools down some."
Joanie watched them play cards for a moment before finally asking. "What are you guys doing?"
"Playing poker." Collin answered.
"And drinking beer." Mattie added.
"It's rootbeer!" Izzy exclaimed before anyone could jump down his throat.
"Yeah, grandpa's helping us." Collin explained, laying down his cards.
"Larry! They're only eight and nine years old!" Joanie said amazed.
"Hey, I'm just helping them." Larry laughed. "Teaching them how to play poker wasn't my idea."
"I don't want to know. However if the principle calls next year saying those two started their own playground casino, you two know how much trouble you're in right?" Cass asked Roger and Izzy who were cracking up.
"Yeah I know." Roger grinned, standing up and handing Emily to Cass. "Did you guys get everything?" He started pulling things out of grocery bags.
"I think so." Joanie answered helping him unpack the bags. "I still can't believe everything was open like that on the fourth of July."
"Suburbanites." Cass laughed as she brushed a piece of Emily's hair off her face as she rested her head on Cass' shoulder and continued sucking her thumb. "How long did she sleep?" She asked Roger.
"She only woke up about ten minutes ago." He opened up another bag.
"Is she sick?" Shelly asked, offering Emily a cookie.
"No, she just misses her Mommy. Plus she's getting her two-year molars finally. She didn't sleep real well last night either."
"She's not the only one." Roger told them, hopping up on the counter and pulling Cass over between his knees.
"She was upset Roger and scared of the thunder."
"Yeah well, I thought we were done having kids crawl into bed with us."
"What you ended up with both of them?" Shelly laughed.
"Yes. She's sleeping in Collin's room, so he brought her in all crying and upset. But I don't know what he's complaining about. Roger got up and went to sleep in Collin's bed." She laughed, turning around and handing Emily to Roger as she opened up the last bag. She pulled out a number of bags, each with their own prescription in them.
"Where's Mark?" Krystal asked, cutting up slices of watermelon.
"Getting Mo up. She wanted him to get her when you guys got back."
"Okay. Well, take Mo's prescription in to them. And here's your's."
"What's this one for Mark?" Roger asked, still holding the very clingy Emily.
"That's for his ulcer. Here, I got him more antacids too. And more contact solution."
"What about the one for you?" He asked concerned.
"That's just the new prescription I got to try for my migraines."
"Oh okay." He handed a bag to Emily to hold.
"Dad, Uncle Patrick is cheating!" Collin called from the table.
Roger grinned. "That's because Uncle Patrick sucks at cards." He said quietly so only everybody in the kitchen could hear him.
"Roger!" Joanie scolded him, but still grinned as Shelly started laughing.
Roger shook his head as he walked out with Emily and the prescriptions.
Cass, Joanie, Shelly and Krystal took their drinks and went to sit in the living room. Mark brought Maureen out and sat her on the couch next to Cass. Even though it was July and very hot out, she had on a long sleeve shirt and a pair of Mark's sweat pants. She'd lost so much weight she had a hard time staying warm enough in the air conditioning.
Roger brought Emily in and sat her between Cass and Maureen before heading back over to the "poker" game with Mark. Emily snuggled in as Maureen pulled her onto her lap.
"So how long are they going to be in Santa Fe?" Shelly asked.
"They left yesterday and will be back Sunday." Cass reached over and adjusted one of Emily's pigtails.
"She's such a cutie." Shelly said. "Who did her hair? I've never seen it like that before."
"I did." Maureen told them as the phone rang. "And up until now, she hasn't really had enough hair to do anything with it."
"Why exactly Santa Fe?" Shelly asked.
Cass looked to Maureen who sighed and kept playing with Emily's hair as she spoke. "Collins promised Angel." She shrugged. "When Angle died, after the whole money issue with the church and funeral home was settled, he spread part of her ashes here in New York. He also promised her that he would make sure the rest would get spread with part of his in Santa Fe after he died. They always talked about moving to Santa Fe."
"So where's the rest of Collins' ashes?"
"Jason spread them off the roof of one of they NYU buildings." Cass told her.
"Mom, Aunt Jen's on the phone." Collin came over to the couch. "You wanna talk to your mommy Emmy?" He picked her up off the couch and walked back to the phone with Cass.
"Why did they wait this long to go Mo?" Krystal asked.
"Jen didn't want Jason to go alone, and they wanted to wait till Jason finished his semester. Plus, Jen and Rich had to get vacation.
"You really have to give Jason credit." Shelly said.
"What do you mean?" Joanie asked.
"Well, if it was Patrick, I don't know if I'd be so willing to fly across the country to spread his ashes with his first wife or whatever."
"Well," Maureen sighed. "I have a feeling when Collins promised that to Angel, he wasn't thinking he'd ever get really involved with anyone again. I think he was really figuring it would be Mark or somebody talking their ashes to Santa Fe. Not his new boyfriend."
"I can see that, but that's what I mean. Jason just took the ashes of his boyfriend and his boyfriend's former boyfriend out there. Says a lot about Jason."
"Well, like I said, Collins promised Angel. That promise meant a lot to Collins, so it meant a lot to Jason." Maureen shrugged.
"That's really nice."
"Yeah, I guess it is." Maureen nodded. "It really is."