CHAPTER 40

A/N: We're going to cover a few time periods in this chapter. Preferably the rest of July and parts of early August. Sorry to speed this up, but it will slow down again for a chunk of chapters starting with Chapter 41.

Keep reviewing please, and I think you all know what's coming up in the next chapter. ;)

33333

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"Earth to Harvey."

Harvey looked up at Jackie as she sat down on the beach blanket next to him and handed him a beer. Mark and Roger were goofing off in the ocean with Matt and Lisa. Maureen was standing near the edge of the water with Mimi. Everyone was smiling, and even though it was sweltering on the beach, no one seemed to mind much.

"Thanks," he answered. He popped the top off and took a swig from the bottle. "How come you're not down there hanging out with them?"

Jackie shrugged. "Feeling a little bit anti social too, huh?"

"I don't know. I've just been thinking."

"About?" She buried her toes in the sand and looked over at him.

"April. Natalie. Maureen. Everything," he said.

"Oh." She looked down towards the water and noticed Roger had Mark in a headlock, much to Maureen and Mimi's amusement.

"April used to love the beach. Our parents used to take us all the time, to Nantucket, but I know she loved the Jersey shore better. The last time I saw her, you know what she told me?" He cleared his throat and looked over at Jackie.

"No, I don't."

"She knew that we hadn't had a good chance to hang out together in years, and she said that we'd head down to Seaside, lay out on the beach and talk about everything. That was her favorite part about the beach, the stars and everything. I knew she was fucked up then—even our parents knew. But I didn't do anything. I could have done something. Why didn't I fucking do anything? I could have gotten her into rehab, or—a program. Something. I could have done something," he said, frustrated.

Jackie shook her head. "But there wasn't anything you could do for her. She had to make the choice to do it herself, and she couldn't do it. She was scared. You can't think that if you were there, things would have been better for her, because they wouldn't have. She was too far gone. She didn't think she had any other way out."

"I know that now. But I just wish I had gotten a better chance to say goodbye to her."

"I think we all wish we had a better chance to say goodbye to some people," she answered quietly.

"I don't hate him."

"Hate who?"

Harvey looked over at the ocean. "Roger. I'd really like to, but I can't. Because I know if I act like an asshole towards him and hate him, it still won't bring her back. She'll never come back. She's gone, and there's nothing anyone can do about it." He took another sip of his beer. "But I am really glad that he didn't end up like her. I mean, he's married and he has a kid on the way. I wanted that for April, too. But I'm glad he had the dignity to work towards getting clean and getting his life back on track."

"So am I."

"Natalie's mom called me the other day."

Jackie looked over again and smiled. "What did she say?"

"She just wanted to see what I've been up to and how I've been. She asked about you. I told her about your baby—I hope that's okay. She said she wants to stop by and see you—us sometime."

"It's fine. I haven't seen her since the memorial service anyway. It's been a long time."

"Yeah, it has."

"Harvey! You coming in or what?" Maureen shouted over to him.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second!"

Jackie stifled a laugh and rested her head against his shoulder. "So where exactly did you two go last night?"

"Mmm wouldn't you like to know," he laughed.

Jackie smiled at him. "Harvey Spataro you bad, bad boy!" she teased.

"She's a good person," he added. "She's not afraid to be herself. I like that."

Jackie linked her hand through his. "Yeah, she's a character."

"That's putting it lightly," he grinned. He pulled her to her feet and looked down at her hands. "What is that on your finger?'

Jackie grinned and waved it in his face. "I'm engaged, that's what it is," she laughed.

"And you didn't tell me?" he yelled out. He picked her up and ran with her down the beach as she laughed.

"Don't drop me! I'm pregnant, you can't drop me!" she giggled. "I'll get Mark on you!"

"Ooh threatening me with your hubby to be already. Alright alright." He set her down on her feet. "It's funny how things work out sometimes."

"Yeah," she smiled at him. "Time heals all wounds, I guess."

"Not all of them, Jac. But most of them." Maureen walked over to him and he kissed her on her cheek and picked her up instead, dumping her into the water.

Mark ran over to her then and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. "Hey." His hand lingered on her stomach. "How do you feel?"

She smiled at him. "I feel fine."

"You about ready to head back?"

She nodded and he walked toward the blanket. He started folding it up and she pulled on a pair of tiny cotton shorts that still, amazingly fit her. She looked over and saw Roger and Mimi heading up the beach. Mimi had left her tank top on for self-conscious purposes, although the bottom half of her stomach was still exposed. Lisa and Matt were already heading for his car. Harvey and Maureen were taking their time, hands linked together.

"Hey Mark?"

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"I just—thank you. For everything. For always being there for me, because if it wasn't for you, I don't think I would have been able to make it through everything that happened. You made me a fighter. And I don't know if I ever thanked you for that."

Mark stood up and pulled her close. "You're welcome," he whispered in her ear.

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"Roger did you take the salad out of the fridge?"

Roger pulled the refrigerator door open and pulled out the salad bowl. He stretched out on the couch again. "I did now."

Mimi finished putting in her earrings. They had managed to get back from Wildwood around 4, and in the time she had been home she had managed to clean up the apartment, take a shower, cook a lasagna, tame her hair, and find something decent to wear that she didn't feel huge in.

After tearing through the greater portion of their closet, she had settled on a black sleeveless turtleneck and a white calf length skirt paired with her black knee length boots. She had pulled back her messy curls into a half up and half down style. She placed the remainder of her clothes neatly on the bed before heading out into the loft, only to find Roger still sitting on the couch, unshowered and half asleep.

"Roger." She shook his arm and he woke up.

"What?"

"It's 6:30, that's what. You haven't taken a shower and you smell like salt water. Your parents are gonna be here in half an hour. Get moving," she warned. She walked into the kitchen and pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the counter to let it cool. "God I hope I got this right. I'm Spanish, we don't cook lasagna! You're the Italian one here, come look at it and see if it's okay."

Roger yawned and looked over her shoulder. "It looks fine. Babe relax, it's just my parents."

"Yeah, but I want everything to be perfect. This is like the first real family meal I've ever had with them."

Roger kissed her forehead. "You look good in that, baby. It'll be fine."

"Thanks," she smiled. He yawned again and walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Around 6:45 the doorbell buzzed. Mimi took a deep breath, looked around one more time, and walked to the door. She smoothed out her skirt before opening it.

"Hi honey! Oh my god, let me get a look at you! You look great!" Sandra said, giving Mimi a tight hug.

"Thank you."

Frank stepped in and shut the door behind him. "Hi Mimi." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You've really fixed this place up nice."

Sandra nodded and smiled. "It looks great!" She walked over to the coffee table and set down the two shopping bags she had brought with her before carrying two tinfoil plates into the kitchen. "When did you have the time to do all this?"

"I have a friend who's an interior designer and he painted and carpeted the place. We installed a new air conditioning and heating system, new windows, new furniture, everything. He renovated Mark and Jackie's place next door and it connects with ours." She pointed to the French doors.

"It's gorgeous. You even have ceiling fans and everything," she smiled, giving her another hug. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to see you!"

Frank laughed. "You better believe it, Mimi. She was chattering nonstop on the way over here."

"So where's Roger?" She sat down next to Frank and Mimi took a seat in the overstuffed chair.

"He's in the bedroom getting ready. He didn't take a shower until 6:30, and he practically fell asleep on me. I mean come on, I'm the one who's pregnant here!" she smiled.

Frank and Sandra laughed. "Yeah, well Roger's always been the one to sleep in to all hours," Frank said. "He overslept about every day of his senior year."

"That sounds like him. But sometimes he gets in pretty late from the bar or practice, so he's excused."

"Oh yeah?" Frank added. "How is his band doing?"

"Pretty good. I don't know if he told you, but they were signed to a label. He had a gig in Wildwood last night, and he signed a few autographs or so he claims. They've been in the recording studio doing god knows what, and their CD is slated to be released in November."

Frank nodded. "He mentioned something about it on the phone. That's good to hear."

"Yeah."

"So how's the baby?" Sandra asked, practically unable to contain her excitement on the couch.

Mimi smiled and rested a hand on her stomach. "She's good. She's been using me as her personal punching bag lately."

"Speaking of active babies, your husband over there was a troublemaker even before he was born. He used to keep me up all hours of the night with his feet in my ribs."

Mimi groaned and laughed. "Tell me about it. This one's mastered the art of it."

"So have you both thought about names?" Frank questioned.

"Yeah. We're pretty set on the name already, actually. We think we're going to name her Jaylynn Angela."

"That's pretty. And original."

"Yeah. We were having a tough time deciding at first, so we put a few names together and came up with that."

"Jaylynn Angela Davis. Has a nice ring to it," Frank noted.

Roger opened the bedroom door and walked out. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi sweetie," Sandra said, giving him a kiss and a hug.

"Well, are we about ready to eat or what?" Frank joked, standing up.

"Don't be rude Frank!" Sandra scolded.

Mimi and Roger followed his parents into the kitchen. "I hope it's okay."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be fine, don't worry. And if it sucks, then we just won't let you make lasagna. Ever again," he laughed and she jabbed him in his ribs.

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"Oh my god! Who is that?" Mimi laughed, taking an old photograph from Sandra.

"Come on Mom, put it away," Roger groaned, blushing into his hands. "I can't believe you still have that."

Mimi grinned and waved it in from of his face. "Someone liked to walk around naked when they were a toddler," she giggled. "You always did have a cute butt."

Sandra nodded and laughed. "He did."

"Mom, Jesus Christ!" he laughed, snatching the picture from Mimi and tucking it into his pocket.

"Okay, okay. Just one more." Sandra pulled out a different photo and handed it to Mimi. In it were two very pregnant girls. They both were smiling and had their stomachs pressed together, giving the camera the thumbs up. "This is Lindsey and Cindy, Mark's sister when they were pregnant together back in '93. Lindsey was pregnant with Marissa at the time, and Cindy with Rachel."

"They're huge! Oh my god, I don't think I can get any bigger."

"No sweetie, let me tell you something. You're all belly. They were definitely not. They both put on a good 40 pounds each. Lindsey lost the weight faster then Cindy did, but if you want to talk about large bellies, there's your proof. So stop worrying."

"Thanks," Mimi smiled.

Roger grinned and placed his arm around the back of the couch. "So what else is in the bags Mom?"

Mimi glared at him. "That's rude."

Frank laughed. "Yeah, well what do you expect? He's a Davis, we're all rude."

Sandra smacked him lightly on the arm as she passed by to get the bags. "That's enough." She pulled out a stack of wrapped gifts and handed one to Mimi. "Go ahead, open it."

Mimi nodded and pulled the wrapping paper off of it. "Oh, it's so cute! Roger isn't it cute!" She held up the two nightgowns and two onesies that were packaged together. They were in alternating colors of pink and yellow.

He laughed at her. "Yeah, they're great Meems."

Sandra gradually pushed the rest of the packages towards her. Twenty minutes later, she had unwrapped five new outfits, a fall denim jacket, a fleece outfit for the winter, a bouncer seat, and a package of receiving blankets. Sandra had even brought presents from Lindsey, Cindy, and Mark's mother.

Lindsey had gotten Mimi extra bibs, a few outfits, and a fleece blanket. Cindy and Eva had pretty much done the same, except they added in a bottle warmer, a few books, and booties.

"Thank you so much," she said, leaning over to give Sandra a hug. "Tell them I said thanks too and I'll get around to calling them eventually," she laughed.

"You're welcome honey."

Mimi placed the boxes that were in her lap back on the coffee table. "I feel so spoiled now."

"We have every right to spoil our grandbaby."

Roger laughed. "Oh, was this before or after your bought out Babies R' Us?" he joked. "Because this kid is gonna have a wardrobe worse than Mimi."

They spent the next hour socializing over coffee. Roger and Frank were debating the preseason lineup for the Giants, and Mimi had shown Sandra the painted but still incomplete babies room.

By ten o'clock, they had left and were on the parkway back to Scarsdale. Roger had started tuning his guitar, and Mimi had begun finding places for all of the gifts in the baby's room. She even hung up a few pictures on the walls here and there and vacuumed the room.

Towards midnight, she heard Roger put his guitar away and turn off the TV. "Ready for bed?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching her adjust the pillows and comforter in the crib.

She looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah."

 He walked over to her and sat down near the window, leaning against the dresser. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Nothing," she said quietly.

"Just tell me. You can tell me," he reminder her.

"I just don't want to talk about it right now Roger."

"Oh. Okay." He stood up and followed her to their bedroom.

Things were silent after they settled into bed.

He kissed her before stretching out on his back. "I love you."

"Yeah," she said softly. She turned over on her side, her back towards him.

"Okay," he groaned. "What did I do now?"

"You didn't do anything, Roger," she said sharply. "It's not always about you."

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JULY 21st

"Mark sit down and stop touching things," Jackie said, shaking her head at him.

He opened a drawer and pointed at a speculum lying on a tray. "And I'm not even asking where that goes, because I have a pretty good idea."

"Very good. Someone paid attention in anatomy class," she clapped. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to her and forced him to sit down. "Behave yourself."

"I'm trying," he laughed. "I just really can't wait to find out."

"Neither can I, but you're driving me insane with a capital I."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay. Just calm down and breathe."

"Yeah."

"And what are we doing after we find out?" she quizzed him.

"We're calling my mother, telling her we're engaged, and then telling her we're having a baby," he stated correctly.

"Because?"

He laughed and kissed her. "Because I put this off long enough."

"Exactly."

Dr. Chesek came in and smiled at them, shutting the door behind her. "Hey guys, how are we doing today?"

"We're good," Mark answered.

"He's a little nervous," Jackie laughed, squeezing his hand.

Mark blushed and shrugged. "I guess."

"Well that's okay, because I'm going to breathe down your neck and make you answer personal questions about your sex life," Dr. Chesek laughed. Jackie burst out laughing at the petrified look on Mark's face.

She walked over to the counter and flipped through Jackie's chart. "Okay Miss Jackie, you've gained twelve pounds so far, so that puts you at 105 pounds. You're at the average. Still a little low, but I know you're going to gain a lot more towards the end of your pregnancy during the third trimester, so I'm not too worried about that right now. You're eating okay?"

"Yeah."

Mark grinned. "She's cleaning out the cabinets faster than I can restock them."

Dr. Chesek smiled and jotted that down on her chart. "That's good. Just make sure you get enough nutrients and take your iron supplement pills. So are we ready to find out what we're having?"

"Yes," Mark blurted out.

"Okay," she smiled at him. "Just lay back on the table and we'll get things rolling, Jackie."

Dr. Chesek turned off the lights and pointed out the general parts of the baby with her wand. "And right—there," she added, pointing towards the bottom of the screen. "You're having a boy. Congratulations." She printed out the pictures and made another note on Jackie's chart. "I'll have these waiting for you at the reception desk and I'll see you in two weeks, Jackie." She finished wiping off the jelly off of Jackie's stomach before leaving the room.

They were silent on the subway ride back to the loft. Mark kept fingering the ultrasound photos in his pocket and Jackie rested her head on his shoulder. They came to their stop and walked off, hand in hand.

They reached the loft and Mark started fumbling with the key. "Mark?"

"Yeah?" he smiled at her.

"We're having a boy," she laughed.

"Yeah, we are. We're having a boy!" he yelled out, picking her up and swinging her around.

"Now you get to call your mother," she teased, pushing him into the apartment.

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"That's the last of it," Roger called out, hauling the box that contained the unassembled changing table into the room.

"Thank god," Mimi said, dropping down heavily onto the couch. "I'm so glad that baby shower is over."

He grinned at her. "Yeah, so am I. You looked kind of frustrated during it."

She shook her head. "I wasn't frustrated. It was really nice of Maureen to go out of her way and pull it together. I'm just so goddamn fucking uncomfortable. I'm nine months pregnant. I can't see my toes. My back is killing me, and those Braxton Hicks contractions are driving me crazy. I can't sleep because I have to get up to pee constantly, and when I do get a chance to sleep she starts kicking the crap out of me. I can't have sex with you because there's no possible room left. I can't walk more than two feet without feeling like I've run a mile. I want her out and now," she complained. Roger made sure to nod and smile sympathetically in all the right places. "I'm ready, why can't she be?"

"I know baby. I want her out too, but she's not gonna come out until she's ready. I can't blame her, she probably likes it in there."

"Well I don't anymore. My hospital bag has been packed for three weeks and nothing. I think my doctor's a sad ass liar," she huffed.

"You have two weeks to go until your due date, and she told you that she can't induce you until after then," he added.

"Shut up. You're not pregnant," she answered testily as the phone started ringing. "Roger I'm going to rip the phone out of the wall if one more person calls to ask how I am. I can't take it."

He laughed and picked it up instead. She carelessly propped her swollen feet up on the coffee table and started flipping through a magazine, waiting for him to get off the phone.

He hung up the phone and sat back down next to her. "Just my sister. She wanted to know you were."

"Hmph," Mimi groaned. "Roger why isn't it September 2nd, yet? Why?"

"I'm sorry," he said, running his fingers through her hair. "Soon though. Real soon, I promise."

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COMING UP IN CHAPTER 41: Mimi goes into labor! Finally! It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here!