CHAPTER 39

A/N: Thanks for all of the great reviewers. You guys rock, if you didn't know that already.

Just as a heads up, this story is at about the halfway point now, maybe a little before the halfway point. In case you haven't noticed, things have started to slowly speed up. We jumped from May (the wedding) to the beginning of July in only a few chapters. Not all chapters will be this way, however. It just depends on what's going on in their lives. There wasn't much going on in June, so I skipped that month. It just depends.

I know some of you are anxious about the birth of Mimi's baby, and yes, that will be coming up very soon. Within the next two to three chapters, I'd say. It will most likely be presented in two chapters, although I'm not really sure right now. So look out for that, and thanks for your patience!

I have a feeling I'm going to start getting asked when this will all be wrapped up, and I can't really give you a good estimation right now. I still have to work in and chronicle a few things, and eventually tie that in with how the story started. I'll keep you all posted.

Please keep reviewing; I really love to read what you all think. 3333 Mari

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JULY 5th

Roger groggily sat up in bed, checking the alarm clock in the process. He glanced over and kissed Mimi on the cheek before standing up. It was a little after noon, and he was starting to notice that the longer she was pregnant, the more hours she slept during the day. One or two power naps were considered normal by now.

He yawned and walked out into the kitchen. Mark was sitting at the island, pulling papers out of a folder. Maureen was sound asleep at one end of the couch, and Harvey at the other end. He would have thought it to be weird—but since they all hadn't gotten back to the apartment from their antics on the roof until after 1, he didn't really care much.

He grabbed a coffee mug from the rack and filled it. "Hey."

Mark looked back at him. "Hey. Sleep okay?"

Roger nodded. "Yeah. Just need some Tylenol and I'll be fine."

Mark tossed him the bottle. "I needed some myself," he smiled.

"Yeah. Jackie's still sleeping?"

"Yeah. She should be up soon though." He turned back to the file he was working on. Roger sensed that was the end of the conversation and he took a sip of coffee. He figured that since they were at least being civil towards each other, now would be a good time to get everything out in the open.

"Hey Mark?"

"Yup?"

"I just wanted to apologize for saying those things to you and Jackie that day in the hospital. Those were—uh, some real shitty things for me to say, and I'm sorry for it. You guys didn't deserve that."

Mark turned around again. "It's okay. I said things to you that I didn't mean either. But I'd appreciate it if you'd talk to Jackie when she gets up—she was the one that got the full force of it," he grinned.

"Yeah. I'll do that." He poured some sugar into his coffee. "So we're okay?"

Mark nodded. "Why the hell wouldn't we be? I'm gonna need a best man for my wedding anyway."

"Your WHAT?" Roger said loudly.

"Roger please be quiet. My head is killing me," Maureen said, half asleep. She turned over and faced the back of the couch, pulling the blanket up over her head and off of Harvey.

"Why the hell are you on my couch anyway?"

"Shh. Shush," she said quietly before falling back asleep.

Roger rolled his eyes and turned back to Mark. "So what's this about a wedding? When did this happen?"

Mark grinned. "I proposed to Jackie last night."

"You were fucking quiet about it."

"Yeah, well it was during the fireworks. I wasn't about to shout from the rooftop and do a whole song and dance routine," he laughed.

"You really are a dork. Jesus Christ," Roger added, grinning. "So when is this all happening?"

"Not until after the baby's born. Jackie wants to wait until she's at least gotten the baby settled into some kind of routine. Even with the holidays and everything, she wants to wait. We probably won't get married until the spring, which is fine by me. I don't want her to feel like she has to drop everything and get married tomorrow. I know she wants her parents and her friends to fly up from Sydney, so we have to give them advance notice for that. Plus I haven't even told my mom about the baby—or the engagement yet. And she hasn't told her family either."

"Good luck there," he laughed. "Your mom is psycho."

"Gee thanks."

"Welcome. What do you say about us all driving down to Wildwood tonight?"

Mark shrugged. "Jersey? That's a good three hours away. Why?"

"Wes left a message on my answering machine last night and said that he had set up a last minute gig for some of the beachgoers at this pretty popular club and restaurant on a pier. It starts at 10, and her reserved a block of hotel rooms at a place on the beach. So basically, if we—meaning you, Jackie, Mimi, Maureen, Harvey, Collins, Dan, and whoever else go—we can do our thing tonight and hit the beach in the AM."

"I don't care. Don't have anything better to do, and I haven't been to the beach in awhile. Want me to call and find out who can go and who can't?"

Roger nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna go and see if Mimi's up yet."

"Yup."

He walked past the couch and threw a pillow at Maureen. "And get those two grumps off my couch."

"Hey!" Maureen screeched, throwing the pillow at the back of Roger's head.

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Roger walked into their bedroom and stretched out next to Mimi. She was still asleep, so he started rubbing her back in slow circles. "Mimi."

"Mmm that feels good." She kissed him and checked the alarm clock. "Jesus, it's already one. Why'd you let me sleep this long?"

"You looked tired. I didn't want to wake you," he grinned.

She sat up a little and leaned against him. "I probably would have slept through dinner if you didn't wake me. What's up?"

"What do you say about heading down to Wildwood tonight?"

She laughed and buried her face in his chest. "And I'm supposed to wear a bikini?"

"If you want, baby. You're still beautiful."

She frowned at him. "Stop trying to suck up to me."

"I'm not. The reason we'd be going is because Andre set up a last minute gig at this place on the pier and told Wes about it, who called me and left a message on the answering machine. It starts at 10, so we'd need to leave by 5 latest to get there with shore traffic. Plus we have to check into the hotel."

"Hotel?"

He nodded and started rubbing her back again. "Wes got a block of hotel rooms on a place right on the beach. So we go to the gig tonight and we can hit the beach in the morning. You can get a tan?" he suggested.

"Oh yeah. Just what everyone needs to see. A large moose sunbathing on the beach. Great."

Roger laughed and kissed her neck. "You're not a moose, babe."

"Glad you think so." She stood up unsteadily and then sat back down. The phone started ringing, and she reached for it before Roger could.

"Hello? Oh hi. I'm doing okay, thanks. Yeah, the baby's fine." She reached over and pulled a few pairs of clean boxers out of the drawer and threw them at Roger. He caught them and grinned at her.  "He's fine. Yeah. Well we're heading down to Wildwood tonight for a gig of Roger's, but yeah, we should be home tomorrow night. Seven sounds fine. No, you really don't have to do that. Okay. I'll see you then Sandra. Okay, bye." She hung up the phone. She grabbed her glasses, put them on, and smiled at Roger.

"You just discussed me with my mother. Traitor," he joked.  He leaned over and gave her a kiss before pulling away and digging his bathing suit out of the bottom dresser drawer.

"She just asked how you were. And I told her. She and your dad are driving down here for dinner tomorrow night. She said she's been holding onto the professional wedding pictures forever and that she had a few things for us."

Roger nodded and tossed two pairs of socks into the bag. "Fine. What time?"

"Like around 7. This way we can spend most of the day at the beach and still have enough time to drive home and for me to cook something decent. No Mark and no Jackie. Just you, me, and your parents."

"Damn. Mark's always the icebreaker anyway," he laughed.

"You're a big boy now. I'm sure you can handle your parents for dinner." She stood up again and pulled a few things out of their dresser and set it on the bed.

Roger smirked at her and grabbed her around her waist. "Considering I'm a big boy now, you know what big boys like to do?"

Mimi laughed and pinched his cheeks. "You are so cute. No, what do big boys like to do?"

He grinned and whispered in her ear. Mimi blushed and smacked his arm. "What? You can't knock a guy for trying."

"You're not gonna get knocked at all if you keep it up. And we don't have any whipped cream."

He shrugged and pulled her onto his lap. "So? We could go and get some."

She squirmed out of his arms. "No."

"Please?"

"No!" she laughed.

"Okay okay," he said, pulling her back down on his lap. "Marky's getting married."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. He popped the question to Jackie last night."

Mimi smiled. "I knew it would happen sooner or later."

"You did? I didn't think he was that serious about her."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Well you're a guy. You don't comprehend these relationship tactics very well."

"This isn't football. I married you, didn't I?" he said, kissing her. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Shut up, Roger."

"I love you too baby."

"You're a pain in the ass."

"But you love me for it. Hah, I win!" he yelled out, tickling her.

"Roger don't! My ribs hurt already!"

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"Jac, I got the water from the fridge." Mark grabbed their overnight bag and opened the loft door, jingling the keys in his pocket.

Jackie walked down the hall, pulling her hair back into a low ponytail. "Okay good."

"Collins and Dan aren't going."

Jackie frowned and grabbed her purse from the couch. "Why not?"

"Collins has a class tomorrow morning and Dan wants to finish up some sketches. Maureen and Harvey are waiting in the car, so we're going with them. Roger and Mimi are borrowing Dan's car."

"What about your sister and Matt?"

"She dropped off Noah at my mom's a little while ago and they're just going to meet us down there. Roger gave Matt directions to the place."

Jackie grabbed the beach bag from the chair and followed Mark out. He closed the door and locked it before heading down the stairs to the street. "Has she talked to you yet?"

Mark shook his head as they walked over to Maureen's Acura. "No, why? What's up?"

"Nothing, I just thought she would have talked to you."

Mark tossed the bags in the trunk and slammed it shut. "She was pretty tired last night. Matt told me he ended up putting Noah to bed because she fell asleep on the couch."

Jackie nodded and slid in the backseat, followed by Mark.

"Hey guys," Maureen said brightly.

"Hey Jac. Mark," Harvey added. He changed the radio station just as they pulled out onto the street. Roger sped past them and honked the horn, waving and grinning as Mimi rolled her eyes in the passenger seat.

Three hours later, after cruising down the parkway and beating the majority of the shore traffic, they had arrived in Wildwood. It was close to 8, and it had taken Maureen an extra twenty minutes to figure out where the hell the hotel was exactly at. Jackie had fallen asleep and was resting comfortably against Mark, her head in his lap and his arm tucked around her waist. Even Harvey had dozed on and off.

Roger and Mimi had been waiting in the hotel parking lot for the last half an hour. "This is why you get a cell phone. She has one. Jackie has one. Harvey has one. I'm buying you a cell phone for Christmas," she said, stretching her legs out as she walked around.

Roger grinned and wrapped his arms around her, blocking the cool ocean breeze. "This is Mo we're talking about. She sucks at directions."

"Lisa and Matt aren't here either."

"Ten bucks Eva made her and Matt stay for dinner."

Mimi laughed and wrapped her arm around his back, walking towards the sand dunes. "I don't think Eva's that bad."

Roger was cut off before he could say anything by Maureen honking at him loudly. Her tires screeched to a halt and she parked next to his car. "Roger fucking Davis, your directions suck dick!" she yelled. A few people that were in the pool area stared at her. Mark tried to shush her and Jackie walked out of the car groggily, leaning against Harvey.

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't follow written instructions!" he yelled back at her. "Only verbal!"

"Sorry Mo," Mimi apologized.

"And what were you implying by that statement?" Maureen said huffily, locking her car.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

By 8:30, they had all checked into their hotel rooms. Matt and Lisa had arrived about fifteen minutes after Maureen, and yes, Eva had made them stay for dinner.

Mimi stretched out on the bed as Roger tracked down Wes. He, Lori, and their baby were staying a few rooms down, next to Mark and Jackie and across from Matt and Lisa.

"Hey Mimi," he greeted as he walked in with Roger. "Ten minutes okay with you, Rog?"

"Hey Wes," she replied, smiling.

Roger nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you and the rest of the band then."

"Later."

Roger turned back to Mimi and helped her stand up. "You don't have to stay for the whole set if you don't want to. I know you'll probably get tired. Just have someone walk you back up here, okay? I don't want you coming back up her by yourself."

Mimi nodded and kissed him, pulling him towards her. He had grown increasingly protective about her after the incident with Josh in June, and rarely let her walk five feet without someone right there with her. "Okay. That's fine baby, I was gonna come up before it ended anyway."

"Okay, so um, who do you want to stay with before the gig?"

"Leave me at Lisa and Matt's room," she yawned. He grabbed his Fender in its case and she followed him out the door.

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By 10:30, the gig was well underway. The Hungarians were playing for a pretty wild crowd tonight. Half of the people were trashed, and the other half was well on their way. There had to be at least a good 300 people on the pier, and Mimi could tell even from where she was sitting that Roger and the rest of his band were pretty psyched about it.

Maureen and Harvey had slipped away by themselves around midnight, and Jackie looked pretty exhausted. She kept sighing and staring off into space.

"Meems, you heading up soon? I'm really tired," she yawned, finishing her glass of water.

Mimi nodded and Jackie walked over to the next table to tell Mark, who was sitting with Lisa and Matt, that she was heading up.

"You guys want me to walk up with you?" he asked.

"Nah, we'll be fine," Mimi answered. "Just tell Roger to come up the room as soon as he can."

Mark nodded and sat back down at the table. "Alright."

Jackie and Mimi took the elevators and said goodnight before heading off to their separate rooms.  Yawning, Mimi quickly changed into an old tee shirt of Roger's and a pair of his boxers. She pulled them down low enough on her hips so her large stomach hung over the waistband.

She went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and washed her makeup off before setting the TV on sleep timer. She had a feeling that she'd fall asleep within minutes, but it made her more comfortable to sleep with it on. She had done so the whole two weeks Roger had been in LA and was used to doing it whenever he wasn't home by the time she went to bed.

Roger slipped into the room around 2. It had taken him awhile to wrap up with the guys. They had all even signed a few autographs here and there. He smiled as he noticed Mimi fast asleep in the bed. He kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers before kissing her goodnight.

"Hey," she mumbled, curling up against him the best she could.

"Hey." He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "Did I wake you?"

She yawned and shook her head. "Nah, I was trying to wait up for you. Or at least trying to."

"You could have gone to sleep babe." He kissed her forehead and smoothed out the sheets over her.

"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't really sleep without you. How was the rest of the gig?"

He yawned and rested his hand on her back. "It was good. Signed a few autographs here and there. Pretty rough crowd tonight. Half of them were drunk off their asses."

She laughed and nodded. "No shit. Me and Jackie headed up around midnight. We were beat."

"Mark get up here yet?"

Mimi shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. Lisa and Matt were still down their hanging out when we left."

"Okay." He stretched out on his back and pulled her close to him. "Night baby. Love you."

"Love you. See ya in the AM."

"No sleeping until one tomorrow," he joked.

She smiled and kissed him goodnight. "I promise."

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