CHAPTER 38

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. It's great to know that people still read this after all this time. Please keep reviewing, even if it's just to say the littlest thing. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. 33 Mari

Just a few reminders about some characters and names mentioned:

Harvey: April's older brother. Good friends with Jackie, also is a ballet dancer, which is how they met.

Natalie: Jackie's late best friend and fiancée of Harvey. She was killed in a car crash towards the beginning of the story.

Matt: Lisa's boyfriend, and father of their baby, Noah.

Lisa: Mark's younger sister.

Dan: boyfriend of Collins. Met him through the Life Support group. He's an interior designer that recently renovated the loft for Roger and Mark.

I think that covers about everyone. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

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"Rog?"

He stuck his head out of the baby's room. "What?" he grumbled.

"I just wanted to know how it was going in there, and if you wanted something to eat," Mimi asked, flipping her curls over her shoulder.

He shrugged. "It's going. Slowly. But it's going. I have two of the four walls painted, and part of the ceiling.

She smiled at him and continued eating her salad. "Good."

"Shouldn't you be eating more than that?"

She shrugged. "I'm not really that hungry. I'll eat more later."

The loft door opened and Mark walked in. He smiled at Mimi and completely ignored Roger before crossing to the other side and slamming the door behind him.

Roger rolled his eyes and retreated back into the baby's room. Mimi hopped off the barstool and walked over to him, frowning. "Come on Rog—it's been a week. One of you has to break sooner or later."

He picked up the paint roller and started moving it up and down over the wall. "No we don't."

"You're both acting like a bunch of two year olds. You two are supposed best friends. Don't let something like this fuck up your friendship."

"We're not fucking anything up," he said angrily.

"Fine." She walked back into the kitchen and started picking at her salad again. " Last week when we went out for my birthday you two wouldn't even look at the other."

"That was last week."

"That's not my point. C'mon, Collins and Dan invited us over for the barbeque tonight. Are you planning on talking to each other then?"

"No."

"Then just go to the bar then, because I'm not putting up with you being a stubborn asshole the whole time we're there."

"Fine."

 Then I'm going downstairs by myself," she said angrily.

Roger shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. "Then go."

"I am." She stood up and left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.


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The doorbell to Collins' apartment buzzed two minutes later.

"Collins, can you get that?" Dan asked. He pulled the fridge open and stacked two cases of beer on top of each other.

"I'll get it!" Lisa hollered, coming out of the spare bedroom with Noah propped up against her hip.

Dan smiled at her. "Thanks honey. Is he still slaving over that exam?"

Lisa nodded and passed Noah over to Dan. "Go to Uncle Dan, okay sweetie?" she said to the baby, kissing him on the top of his head. Noah cooed contentedly. "Goddamn that kid has it made. And to answer your question, he finished grading the test and now he's making up a new one for next week."

Dan groaned and starting rocking the baby back and forth. "He's going to wear himself out. I told him yesterday that he should take some time off."

Lisa headed down the hallway. "Yeah, but what can you do? Matt works just as much."

"True." She pulled open the door and Mimi huffily walked in without saying anything and sat down at the kitchen table. "Well hello to you too," Lisa joked.

"What did he do now honey?" Dan asked. He placed Noah, who had fallen asleep, back in his carrier and tucked the blanket in around him.

"It's not a matter of what he did, it's a matter of him being a dickhead."

Collins came out into the kitchen and yawned. "Tell me he's still not mad at Jackie and Mark?"

Mimi nodded. "He's still mad. They're both still mad. I don't know, you know how they are."

"Really stubborn," Dan added.

"And Mark gets pouty. We used to fight all the time when I was little, and he used to pout, just like this." Lisa demonstrated the face, causing Collins and Dan to laugh.

"I've definitely seen the pouty face more times in the last week compared to two years I've known him." Mimi sat up some in the chair.

"But we're all still meeting up on the roof in a little while, right? Because I did not just go to the store and buy a shitload of food to have it go to waste while Mark and Roger resolve their soap opera drama," Dan warned, pointing to the cabinets. "Did you light the grill?" he asked Collins.

Collins sheepishly shook his head. "You know, I was just about to go and do that—"

"Uh huh. Sure," Dan laughed, giving him a quick kiss as he passed.

Mimi smiled at the two of them. Dan reminded her so much of Angel it hurt sometimes. Just the way he acted, smiled, laughed—the little things.

"Are we going to need to send out a search and rescue mission for Mark? I don't know how long it takes to get rolls, mustard, and ice from the Food Emporium," Dan added.

Lisa laughed and started heating a bottle in the bottle warmer for Noah. "Don't send him shopping ever. He tries to pull all that health food crap on you."

 "I'm gonna head back upstairs and deal with the prince," Mimi grinned. "I'll see you guys in a little bit for the barbeque. Maybe I'll be able to squeeze a nap in there."

"I'll go upstairs with you. See what my whiny brother is up to when he gets back," Lisa smiled. "Make Roger rub your back and feet. Tell him he owes you."

"Oh believe me, he owes me more than that."

Dan shook his head and slammed a tray of ice cubes on the counter. "Didn't need to know that part."

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"You should name the baby Axel if it's a boy."

Jackie looked over at Harvey and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Axel Ferrell. I can just see it now, him telling all the kids in his preschool that Mommy named him after Axel Rose from Guns 'N Roses," she laughed.

Harvey shrugged and lit a cigarette. "So? He can tell them that Uncle Harvey made his mommy do it. Welcome to the jungle!"

"That's so bad for you," Jackie said, taking the cigarette from him. Instead, she took a drag from it.

"Exactly. Which is why you just picked up my bad habit. You're pregnant, I forbid you to smoke, drink, or have lots of loud, headboard banging sex. No crack, no dope, no visits to the ganja man," he grinned.

Jackie raised an eyebrow at him and blew the smoke out in his face before handed the cigarette back to him. "I get my fair share of headboard banging sex, thank you." She picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels.

"Yeah, well so do I," he cracked, stealing the remote from her. Jackie turned her head and stared at him.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Who are you getting some from?"

"I said no one. Nothing," he emphasized, staring at the TV screen. "I shouldn't have said anything—it slipped out."

Jackie shoved her hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Hah," she announced, waving it in his face before hopping over the back of the couch.

"Jac no! Seriously please! And don't jump like that, I don't want you to get hurt."

Jackie walked over to the windowsill and sat on the edge of it, tapping through Harvey's phone book on his cell with her fingers. "Your mom, my cell, the loft, my old apartment, blah blah, blah blah…Gina?" she grinned. "Who's Gina?

"She's just…kind of someone I've been seeing," he said quietly. "You think it's too soon, don't you? After Natalie and everything?"

Jackie shook her head and sat back down next to him. "Oh my god, Harvey, no! Natalie would have wanted you to move on. It's been almost six months already, and she would have wanted you to find someone to make you happy. She wouldn't want to see you moping in a corner anymore," she smiled. "So tell me about Gina."

"She's a kindergarten teacher. 24 years old, grew up in Baltimore, met her through my cousin Craig at this party," he mumbled.

"So when do I get to meet her?"

Harvey shrugged and took the phone back from her. "I don't know. Whenever."

"You should bring her to the barbeque tonight. Celebrate the 4th of July with a bang—literally."

Harvey grinned. "I'll call her when I get home. What time is it?"

"Like 6 ish? On the roof of the building. Take the fire escape in the back," she reminded him.

"You sure Dan and Collins won't mind?"

"Nah. Dan overdid it with food, so there's more than enough to go around."

Harvey stood up and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back then. Tell Mark I said hi."

"Bye," Jackie said cheerfully, pulling the fleece blanket on the back of the couch over her legs.

Five minutes later, the door reopened and Lisa entered, toting Noah in his carrier. "Hey."

"Hey," Jackie greeted. "Let me see this little man of yours." Lisa sat down and picked up Noah and started feeding him his bottle. "He's gotten so big." As Lisa shifted Noah over in her arms, the underside of her right arm was exposed—and so were lines that resembled track marks. Bruises formed at the edges. "Lisa, what's on your arm?"

Lisa looked down and backs up at Jackie. "It's not what you think. Roger thinks that it is, but it's not."

Jackie nodded and looked back down at her arm. "Okay."

"I just—I need to talk to Mark about it. When Noah was born, I was really sick, and after he was born, I found out from my doctor that one of my kidneys was in failure, because of the pregnancy. So I've been on dialysis on and off for three years—even before I was pregnant."

"Jesus. Does Mark know? Do your parents know? Does Matt know?" Jackie asked. "Sorry, I'm asking too many questions."

"Mark doesn't know, he was in the city when things started to get bad. My parents know, because they've been the ones to take me back and forth to the hospital for dialysis and everything. Matt knows, because he's gone with me to all the appointments after Noah was born. It's not just because of Noah—I've been having problems with my kidneys even before he was born. But the doctors are worried that my other kidney is going to start failing—so I've been placed on a donor list," she added. "I'm 18 years old, isn't it way too soon for me to be worrying about not waking up one day and dying on everyone?"

Jackie smiled sadly at her. "So do you need a donor?"

"Basically yes. I'm not going to shit myself by saying that I'm going to pull through with an already failed kidney and one halfway there. That's why there are the marks on my arm—that's why I showed up that day at the loft so sick because I hadn't gone to dialysis for over a week. That's probably part of the reason why I had Noah so early." She started burping the baby. "I'm not some junkie with a habit—it's because of the dialysis."

"I'm really sorry."

Lisa laid Noah back down in his carrier and nodded. "So am I."

Mark walked in with three bags of grocery and a newspaper in between his teeth. "Hey."

"Hey. Thought the party was upstairs," he grinned, giving Jackie a kiss. "You okay, Lisa?"

She shrugged. "I'm fine. I'll see you both upstairs then with Matt. Bye," she added quietly, slipping out through the door with the baby.

"She okay?" he asked. He set the groceries down on the counter before taking a seat next to Jackie.

"Yeah. She needs to talk to you about something though."

"Oh. Okay. Should we head up then?"

Jackie nodded and turned off the TV. Mark reached for her hand and she linked hers through it as he led her out of the apartment.

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Roger walked into his bedroom, taking off his paint-splattered shirt off in the process. It had taken him about five hours, but he had gotten the walls and trim painted in the baby's room. Nice way to spend the 4th of July.

Mimi was asleep on the bed, her one hand draped over her stomach and the other tucked under her chin. He didn't even remember hearing her come back into the apartment after they had fought.

Roger changed into another shirt and kneeled on the side of the bed, right near her ear. It was a little after 6, and he figured that if they didn't get up to the roof first, the herd would come down and personally get them. "Mimi," he whispered into her ear. "Baby it's time to wake up."

"Shut up. No it's not," she answered, half asleep. Roger smiled and started kissing her neck.

"Mimi it's time to party," he laughed.

She rolled onto her back and looked over at him. "Mimi doesn't want to party when her back is killing her and her feet are swollen. Especially when the kid is giving her a massive case of heartburn right now."

"Why is Mimi talking in the third person?" he laughed, helping her sit up.

"Because I want to be a grumpy bitch to you right now. Why can't you be pregnant?" she whined, wining her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

"I'm sorry," he laughed again. They left the apartment and started climbing the fire escape at the end of the floor, with a lot of complaint from Mimi.

"Hey guys," Dan greeted. He and Collins were sitting in lawn chairs next to Mark, who had Jackie sitting on his lap.

"Hey," Mimi said, sitting at the old picnic table that had been mysteriously moved to the roof since Mr. Grey first bought the building. Roger and Mark stared at each other for a quick second before Roger walked to the opposite end of the roof to talk to Matt and Lisa, who were playing with Noah.

Maureen walked over to the picnic table and sat down next to Mimi. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Uncomfortable, but okay. I've got the feet up in my ribs, so I'm good to go," she answered, grabbing a handful of chips from one of the plastic bowls. Maureen took a sip of her beer and for the first time since February, Mimi noticed that a ring was missing from a very important finger. "Mo?"

Maureen looked at her. "Yeah Meems?"

"Where's your engagement ring?"

Maureen looked down and blushed. "Oh. Chad and I broke everything off last week. I just haven't told anyone anything yet."

"I'm really sorry," Mimi apologized, looking down at her own wedding band. "What happened?"

"It just wasn't working out. I was just tired of traveling back and forth from LA to the city, and even when I was in LA, we just never had time for each other. And I really missed it here," she said. "I missed everyone here. I talked to Benny about my apartment. I'm getting the piece of shit back. But that piece of shit is home."

"Yeah. I missed you too. It's about time you moved back in." Mimi smiled and grabbed another handful of chips.

"I need a one night stand," Maureen joked.

Mimi shrugged and looked over at the edge of the fire escape. Harvey had just come up the stairs—alone—and was shifting his weight uncomfortably. "Well, I'm not one to play matchmaker, but Harvey over there looks pretty single. According to Jackie, he was supposed to be bringing someone with him, but it doesn't look like that anymore."

Maureen smiled in his direction. Harvey caught her glance and smiled back at her. "I'm on the prowl," she laughed, standing up and walking in his direction.

Roger walked back over and rested his hands on Mimi's shoulders and kissed her. "Hey. How do you feel?"

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," she answered pathetically. "I feel okay."

"Good," he grinned. "What's Maureen doing with Harvey?"

Mimi shrugged. "She and Chad broke off their engagement."

"So she's trying to score?" Roger didn't particularly like the guy, but he couldn't hold it against Mo. She deserved someone just as much as he deserved Mimi—or Mark deserved Jackie.

"I don't know. I think she just needs someone to talk to. Speaking of someone to talk to, please tell me you and Mark have patched things up?" she asked, leaning back against him.

Roger sighed and shook his head. "I'll talk to him later."

"Okay."

Roger took a sip of his beer and set it on the table. "It sucks that you're legal and can't even drink," he laughed.

"Oh ha ha, you're funny. And stop trying to change the subject," she warned.

"You got it, Mrs. Davis."

"I feel like an old maid now. Mrs. Davis," she groaned. "I feel old."

Roger laughed at her again. "You're 21 years old. I wish I could be 21 again. I'm pushing 27, I'm gonna be 30 in 3 years. Talk about feeling old, I'm gonna have gray hair before I know it."

"I'll bleach your hair for you baby if it makes you feel better," she giggled.

"Yeah yeah. You say that now."

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"Harvey and Maureen seem to be hitting it off pretty well," Mark observed. He was stretched out on a blanket, watching the fireworks. Jackie had her head resting on his chest and Mark's arm was positioned around her waist. Word had traveled fast about Maureen's broken engagement to Chad. Even Dan had threatened to "kick the bastard's ass" for an undisclosed reason.

"Yeah, they are. He was supposed to bring this girl here tonight—Gina—but he told me that things weren't really working out with her, either. I just hope he's not looking for another Natalie, because he's never going to find that again."

"Yeah, that's true," Mark said.

Jackie looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything's okay," he said, smiling to reassure her.

"Okay."

He shifted over onto his side, and she adjusted herself so that she was still pressed against him. "Jackie?"

"What?" she asked. "Why'd you move?"

Mark looked down at her and smiled again. He didn't know what the hell he had done to deserve her. Sure, she had come with her fair share of baggage, and she was far from perfect, but who was perfect these days? No one. He loved some many things about her—the way her hair looked when it fell in her face, her laugh, and her Australian accent—just everything about her. He loved her, and that was all that mattered. After his bout with Maureen, he had completely shut out the world of dating, and then when he wasn't even looking, Jackie had walked in. She hadn't tried to change him, but she loved him for who he was—just like he loved her. And at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

"Jackie—"

She looked at him again. "What Mark?" Another firework exploded in the background.

"Will you, um—"

"Yeah?" she laughed, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Jacqueline Marie Ferrell will you marry me?" he said in one long, drawn out sentenced. He hoped she heard him the first time through all this mumbling, because he sure as hell didn't think he could do it again.

She looked shocked to say the least. He pulled the black box out of his pocket and opened it, taking out a small princess cut diamond ring. "I—yeah, I will. Yes," she laughed. He slid the ring on her finger. "That was random and spontaneous."

"Yeah," he grinned as he kissed her. "I guess it was. I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled, resting her head on his chest again. She raised her hand in front of her face and looked at the ring. "It's really beautiful, Mark."

"That's what the jeweler said too," he teased as she playfully shoved his shoulder.

"Classy."

"I know."

He looked over at Mimi and Roger, who were sitting together in a lawn chair. Mimi was curled up against Roger and he had his arms wrapped around her waist, whispering in her ear. She smiled every so often and kissed him. "Do you think we could keep it under wraps for a few days? Until I get this thing resolved with Roger?"

She nodded and smiled. "Sure. Talk to him tomorrow morning. I'll hold off on telling Harvey too." She glanced back at the picnic table. Harvey and Maureen were sitting next to each other, making idle conversation. Collins and Dan were sitting together, their hands linked together. Matt had his arm around Lisa, who was rocking Noah back to sleep.

"Everything fits, Mark," she said softly.

"What?"

"Everyone's really happy for once. That's the way it should be," she smiled at him.

"Yeah. That's definitely the way it should be."

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