CHAPTER 30

Just a heads up, we're now into the month of April for the last few scenes of this chapter. I've sped things up a little bit, partly because I don't want things to come to a standstill. 33 and kisses to all my reviewers. I wouldn't be able to still write if it wasn't for all of you.

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Mimi turned off the vacuum and jogged over to the door, flinging it open. "Hey sweetie!"

"Hey!" Lisa answered, giving Mimi a hug. "Wow, you got big!"

"Oh thanks," Mimi laughed sarcastically as Lisa placed her hand on Mimi's stomach.

"I meant it in a good way," she added, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. "How far along are you now? I swear your stomach just popped out overnight."

Mimi tied her hair back under the bandanna she was wearing and grinned. "18 weeks tomorrow."

"Boy or girl?" Lisa added, taking off her jacket.

"Don't know yet. My ultrasound's tomorrow too."

"Ooh I'm so excited!"

"You're excited? Try me, I've been drinking so much water I'm surprised Benny hasn't been up here to bitch about the water bill yet," she laughed. "How's Noah?"

Lisa smiled. "He's really great. Matt and I have been holding him and rocking him to sleep. He can be fed by bottle now, and he weighs about four and a half pounds. He's off the respirator and is breathing on his own."

"That's so great. Did the doctor say when you can bring him home?"

"They said that once he hits the five and a half pound mark and if he's responding well to everything we can bring him home—which is part of the reason why I came here," she added. "Matt and I bought the place downstairs."

"Really? Which apartment?"

"1A," Lisa responded.

"That was my old place!" Mimi laughed. "How do you like it?"

"It's nice. The two bedrooms are great. Benny was showing us a place with just one bedroom, but we decided to go with the two because we need to convert the one into a nursery for Noah. It just needs to be repainted and furnished and everything."

"Yeah. The paint job kind of sucked."

"Speaking of furnishing, what in the hell are you doing up here?" Lisa asked, glancing around the room.

"Remodeling. Dan and his company just finished laying the carpet about an hour ago," she said. "When are you and Matt moving in?"

"Next weekend. I already started packing my room up, along with the baby's crib and a ton of clothes."

"Sounds fun," Mimi said, taking a sip from her bottle of water.

"We won't be saying that when we're dragging boxes back and forth from Scarsdale. Hey, where's my brother at?" Lisa asked.

"Out packing up the rest of Jackie's apartment. She's closing on it Friday and finally moving in here," Mimi said.

"I figured my mom would have called him and told him the news," she said, glancing at the answering machine.

"What news?" Mimi asked, popping a pretzel into her mouth.

"Cindy's pregnant again. She just found out last week, and she's due in mid November."

"Wow. Definitely the year of babies," Mimi laughed.

"You're due in…?"

"September," Mimi answered.

Lisa and Mimi chatted for a few more minutes, until she finally left, claiming that she'd call Mark later tonight. Twenty minutes later, she had finished vacuuming and Roger walked in, tossing his leather jacket on the couch. He ran over and kissed her, swinging her around.

"Whoa, never swing around a pregnant woman, especially after she just ate," she laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist. "How was the meeting?"

"Good. Actually I have good news, and maybe a little bit of bad news, depending on how you want to take it," he added, stealing the pretzel bag from her.

"Hey, I was eating those," she pouted, chucking her water bottle at him. He caught it and started drinking out of it as she rolled her eyes. "But tell me."

"Sit down first."

"Why?"

"Just sit down," he grinned, handing the bag back to her. Mimi obeyed and tucked her feet underneath her. "We were signed," he blurted out. Mimi stood up and practically lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his waist again and kissing him.

"Oh baby, that's so great!" she said, smiling.

"Yeah, it is."

"So tell me about it."

"Yeah. Wes, Travis, Evan and I had to wait about an hour, and then we finally went into the meeting with the guy we met at the gig, Andre. He explained to us that what he's been hearing at the past few gigs was just what his boss was looking for and all this technical shit. So after half an hour of talking to him, his boss Troy finally walks in and talks to each of us individually about why we love music, what we want to accomplish and everything-- and basically after an hour or two he brought out the paperwork and we were signed to it."

"So Andre's your manager?" Mimi asked, resting her chin in her hand.

Roger nodded. "Yeah. Andre's our manager, but Troy has to give him the okay on everything, and that comes from the CEO of the label, Alex."

"So then what's the bad news?" she asked.

"Well, it's not really bad news, but this Friday—I have to leave for Los Angeles with the band to throw down some tracks in the company's recording studio and meet Alex. They just want to play around with what we've been writing and singing at our gigs and maybe send out a demo to some of the radio stations in the area—there and back here in the city--eventually. We gotta meet with the heads of the label and figure out where to go from there."

"Holy shit, you're kidding," she laughed. "That's great baby. I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah. But the downside is, I'm gonna be gone for two weeks."

Mimi's head shot up. "Two weeks?" she blurted out.

"I know," he said, sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's okay," she said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Besides, I'll have Mark and everyone here with me."

"If you're sure baby," he said, kissing her neck. "So how about we celebrate?"

"And take advantage of the empty loft, you mean?" she giggled.

"Exactly," he said, running into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of champagne and two glasses, scooped up Mimi, and kicked the door to his bedroom shut behind them.

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"Daniel Leone, sit your ass down and stop pacing. I swear, you just put down a new carpet and there's going to be a huge gaping hole in the middle of it by tonight," Maureen teased, pulling him by the arm and getting him to sit down.

"Let's play a game," Collins chimed in. "Let's guess how much weight Mimi gained?"

Maureen glared at him. "Collins, come on. If you were pregnant, would you want someone talking about how much weight you gained?"

"What if I plan on adding to the baby pool?" he questioned, grabbing the glass bowl, which was already filled with various denominations of dollar bills.

Maureen shrugged. "Fine."

"Mark start."

Mark looked at Jackie, who was sitting on his lap, and shrugged. "125."

"No way," Dan laughed. "115." They each threw in two twenty-dollar bills each.

"108," Maureen said. "She's tiny."

"112," Jackie added, tossing in a ten as Maureen threw in a ten and a five.

"120," Collins said proudly. "Now girl or boy?"

"Girl!" Maureen squealed, taking a sip of her beer. "Jac?"

"Boy. Mark?"

"Girl. Definitely. I can see it now. Dan?"

"Both."

"What the hell?" Collins laughed. "Twins? Mark, you better plan on moving out," he teased.

"Hey, I tell it like it is," Dan chuckled. "Alright alright. Girl. Collins?"

"Boy."

Just as Collins answered, the key turned in the lock and Roger and Mimi walked in, holding hands and wearing smiles on their faces.

"And?" Maureen said, practically jumping on Roger as he took of his coat.

"And what? No, you cannot have sex with me tonight," he joked, taking Mimi's coat for her.

"Tell us!" Jackie and Maureen chimed in together.

"Can we sit down first?" Roger laughed, grabbing Collins beer and taking a swig out of it. Mimi bit her lip and smiled, taking a seat in between Maureen and Mark.

"Psh, no," Dan laughed, popping the top off another beer.

"You want to tell them baby?" Roger asked, taking a seat at her feet and glancing up at her.

She grinned and nodded. "Sure. We're having a girl."

Maureen jumped and pulled Jackie up with her and the two of them started doing something equivalent to a victory dance around the loft. Maureen then hugged Mimi as Dan kissed her on the cheek at the same time.

"Congratulations honey," he said.

"Oh I'm so happy for you!" Jackie added, hugging Mimi as well.

Collins shook up the champagne bottle as Roger leaned over to kiss Mimi, sending the cork flying across the room and straight into the new lamp, knocking that one off the table as well.

"Didn't we just buy that?" Mark laughed, wrapping his arms around Jackie's waist.

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"Toothbrushes?"

Mark held them up and nodded. "Check."

"Swimsuits?"

"Double check," he grinned, holding up her two bikinis. "And I have to say, I can't wait until I see you in them." He walked over and started kissing her on the neck, running his hands up and down her back.

She laughed and swatted him away playfully. "Passports?"

"Yep. Yours and mine right here."

"Tickets?"

"Round trip to Sydney, Australia."

"Good. Your stuff is packed, my stuff is packed, and we leave for the airport in an hour," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "God do I ever need this vacation."

Mark nodded and kissed her as she leaned back against the bed. She pulled him on top of her and he bathed her mouth in several kisses. "What do you think about getting this vacation off to an early start?" he asked, kissing her ear.

"It's a long flight. We could join the mile high club," she giggled, sliding out from underneath him and zipping their suitcases. "Shawn's meeting us at the airport and taking us to my dad's place. We'll probably stay with my dad and my stepmother for four days, but we most likely won't be sitting around on our asses all day because I'm giving you the tour."

"Oh you are, huh?" he asked, kissing her neck once again.

"Mark if you don't stop that we're never going to be able to leave, " she laughed. "Then we're heading to Melbourne to see my mom and then it's back to Sydney to stay with Shawn for a few days."

"Sounds good."

Mimi poked her head in and smiled. "Hey guys. When does your flight leave?"

"Around 5:30. We'll get to LA by 9, and then be on the next flight to Sydney by midnight," she answered.

"Okay. Roger just called, he said to bring him a surfboard back," she joked. "I think he was serious too."

Jackie laughed. "When's he coming home?"

"This Friday. Four days and counting," she smiled.

"Hey Meems, you sure you're okay with staying here by yourself?" Mark questioned.

She nodded. "Yeah. Lisa and Matt are having dinner with me tonight, and then Lisa's gonna stay here with me. I'll probably end up sleeping at their place or at Collins and Dan's."

"Good, 'cause I feel weird with you being here all by yourself, since Roger won't be back from LA until Friday."

"Don't worry, I'm a big girl," she groaned, resting a hand on her stomach. "Literally. I can't wait to pop this kid out."

"Only 20 more weeks," Jackie reminded her. "Just think—when we come back, you'll be two weeks farther along."

"Mmm excitement for everyone. And you just think, when you both come back this place will be completely finished. Painted, the apartments connected, and if I'm lucky the nursery will be painted and carpeted too," she smiled.

"Good. I can't wait," Jackie added, hugging her. "I'm gonna miss you Meems."

"Group hug!" Mark laughed, hugging Mimi too.

"Bring me back something good."

"We will."

Just then, a horn sounded from outside, filtering in through the opened window. "Cab's here. Get going before you're late."

Mark picked up the suitcases and headed towards the door. Jackie linked her arm through Mimi's and gave her another hug. "We'll call when we get there. And you call too. You have my cell number, and it'll be on all the time."

"Thanks."

"Remember to lock the door. And don't let anyone in. And screen the calls," Mark added, slipping through the loft door and setting the suitcases in the hallway. The horn honked again. "Yeah! We're coming!" he shouted.

"Bye sweetie," Jackie said, smiling.

"Have fun Down Under!"

"I'm going to a land down under…Gotta love Men at Work," Mark sang, closing the door.

"Cohen, you're a dork."

"So what? I'm a lovable dork."

"True. We're going to a land down under…" Jackie laughed, pushing him towards the stairs.

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"Jac?" Mark whispered, shaking her shoulder.

"Mmph?" she mumbled, curling up against the plane window. "What?" she added, opening an eye and looking at him.

"We're landing in about ten minutes," he said, leaning over her to stare out the window."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he laughed, noticing how her eyes lit up right away when he said that. "This had to be the longest plane ride ever."

She nodded and yawned. "I know. It's crazy. 6 hours to LA, and another 16 to Sydney."

"But it's worth it," he pointed out.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I'm with you," he added, kissing her.

"Good. I'm glad you came with me."

"So am I."

"You think we made use of the bathroom enough times? What was it, like 3?" she laughed, resting her head against his shoulder.

Mark blushed. "I think we should become mile high club VIPs." He looked out the window again as the plane inched closer to the ground, descending over Sydney.

"Excited?" she asked.

"Hell yeah. I want to see some kangaroos."

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