CHAPTER 55
A/N: Just wanted to let you all know that we're going to start skipping greater periods of time beginning with this chapter. I'll remind you in the author's note of my upcoming chapters of what time period we're in, and if you guys have any questions you can always email me.
It's been seven months since I first started this story, and it's really hard for me to believe that this has become what it has. This is probably one of the first novel length stories that I'll have finished, and I want to take the time to thank you all again for the great reviews I've been receiving. Without you, I doubt very much that I would have made it this far.
We are coming to a conclusion, for those of you that have asked. The past events will be wrapped up shortly (but not too shortly), and we'll jump back to where Chapter 3 left off with 19 year old Jaylynn.
Stick it out with me, because I do think you'll all be pleased with the ending of this story (at least I hope you will).
*Love,
Mari
* * * *
SEPTEMBER 1998"Quit moving!"
Mimi laughed as Roger ducked and tried to run around her in a circle. "Cut that out! Roger!"
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "You look good baby."
"Can you stop moving so I can finish with your tie?" she grinned up at him. "There." She smoothed the top of his suit and pulled away from him.
"Thanks." He glanced over at her as she finished applying her makeup. "You look really good in that."
"Well let's just hope you behave yourself in the theater then," she winked as she finished with her eye shadow. "Okay. I think I'm done." She spun around for him and struck a model pose. Mimi had her hair twisted back in a side-parted updo, which left a few of her dark brown curls framing her face. The strapless black dress she was wearing hugged her curves and fell to just below her calves.
"Okay either we get out of this bedroom right now or I throw you on that bed and have my way with you," he said seriously.
"Alright smoky," she joked. "Let's go."
Mark glanced over at her once they walked into the living room. "What?"
Mimi shook her head and smiled. "Nothing. Roger can't wait to have hot sex with me when we get back from Mo's show. He can't seem to calm the little guy down either." She pointed indirectly at Roger's crotch.
Mark burst out laughing and picked Luke up. "Wow, maybe you guys should take care of that before the show, because with my luck I'll have to sit next to him in the theater."
Luke gripped his hand onto Mark's tie. "Dada!"
Jackie walked into the room and smiled at the baby while fixing her earrings. She took Luke from Mark and kissed his temple. "We better get you down to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Matt's, huh?" she cooed at him.
"I don't get why you do that," Roger interrupted her. "They can't really talk back."
She sat down next to him on the couch. "Well they can understand you." Jackie kissed Roger on the cheek. "What's wrong, Rog? We're not giving you enough attention today?" she laughed.
Mark grinned at them and straightened his tie in the mirror. After Jackie's breakdown in late winter, he had convinced her to attend a few Life Support meetings with Collins. Paul, the designated leader of the support group, had recommended a therapist he knew of to Jackie. She has been seeing her twice a week—Mondays by herself and Thursdays with Mark. Mark had seen a definite increase in her mood since then. She always seemed to be smiling and laughing at something now, and they had both stopped fighting almost altogether, except for the occasional rift here and there. Her good days were starting to outweigh her bad days, and Mark didn't want to trade that for anything. Although the therapist had put her on anti depressants, Mark knew that Jackie was happy because she wanted to be, not because some medication was making her that way.
"Want me to take him downstairs?" he asked her.
She nodded. "Sure. Go ahead. I'll meet you in the cab with everyone else." She kissed the baby goodbye. "Bye sweetie. I'll see you later."
* * * *
"Hey!" Jackie kissed Harvey on the cheek and gave him a tight hug. "She was great!"
The show had just ended about twenty minutes before, and Jackie had split up from Mark, Roger, Mimi, and Collins in hopes of catching Harvey near the stage door.
"Hey. Yeah, she was wasn't she?" he grinned.
"Do you know when she's coming out?"
He nodded. "Yeah I was just backstage with her and she told me just to meet her out here." Harvey lit a cigarette and took a drag from it before passing it to Jackie.
She opened her playbill and scanned the cast bios. "Did you read Maureen's before the show?"
"Only about twelve times," Harvey grinned. "Since her birthday's next weekend I'm going to put together a collage for her and have the playbill page framed. Sort of an early official wedding gift."
MAUREEN JOHNSON (Roxie Hart)
Is making her Broadway debut in Chicago. Born in Hicksville, Johnson and family relocated to Chicago. Upon her graduation, Maureen received her B.A. in international relations from New York University. Johnson sends lots of love to her niece Jaylynn and nephew Luke, as well as her fellow "Bohemians", friends and family. Thank you to everyone for supporting me in the long run. To my husband Harvey, thank you for your unconditional love. Without your faith in me, I wouldn't have made it this far.
"I still don't think it's fair that you're getting hitched before me," Jackie pretended to pout.
"June's not that far away. Plus you have all that extra time to do all the girly planning shit."
"Girly planning shit? I hope you know you're wife did a ton of that for your wedding next month," she laughed.
"Well I don't call it that to her face."
Maureen had just walked out of the lobby and come up behind them. "Don't call me what to my face?"
Harvey took another drag from the cigarette and laughed. "Nothing baby."
Maureen shrugged and leaned against him. "I'm tired. Are we getting out of here yet or what?"
"I'll see you tomorrow Jac."
"Bye guys." Jackie turned around just as Mark, Roger, and Mimi walked out of the theater lobby and onto the sidewalk. "Hey."
"Hey." Mark kissed her and wrapped his arm around her waist. "You guys want to all get a cab together or what?"
"Yeah sure," Roger answered. He was rubbing Mimi's back in slow circles.
"Mr. Davis!"
Roger turned around on the sidewalk, his arm still firmly wrapped around Mimi's waist. A few reporters and photographers that had gathered to interview the new cast of the musical had approached him before he even had a chance to get into the cab with Mark and Jackie.
Mimi pressed herself against him as the questions began and the flashbulbs went off.
"Is this your wife?"
Roger looked helplessly to Mark and Jackie who were in the process of convincing the cab driver to wait. Mark climbed out and stood by Roger's side. "Yes, she is," he answered.
"How long have you been married?"
"It was a year for us in May." He looked over at her and gripped her hand tightly in his own.
"Just smile and nod. Don't let them know you're nervous," Mark whispered nonchalantly.
"Then you do it," Roger hissed back under his breath.
"How old is your daughter?"
"She'll be a year old on Saturday." He sighed and rubbed Mimi's back. He really didn't want to do this right now. He didn't have a clue why these people were wasting their time interviewing him. His band hadn't even gone out on tour yet.
"Mr. Davis, when are you going on tour?"
Roger froze at the question. "We haven't discussed that yet. Probably when we finish up our second CD in the studio. We're all really involved in our personal lives right now, including our families."
A red headed woman approached him. "Is it true that you were a heroin addict?"
"How long were you in rehab?"
"Have you cheated on your wife?"
"Was the only reason you married your wife was because she was pregnant?"
"Are you on anti depressants?"
Roger ignored them and helped Mimi into the cab before sitting down next to her and slamming the door.
Jackie looked over at Roger. "You guys take this one back to the loft. Me and Mark will get the next one."
"Thanks."
Jackie stepped out of the cab and walked over to Mark.
"Mr. Cohen, you new documentary premiered at the Cannes film festival in May. Can we expect you back there again next year?"
"Uh yeah. Sure." Mark grabbed Jackie's hand and pulled her towards the box office. "No more questions." They walked into the lobby and laughed.
"God, they're like vultures," Jackie laughed. "Uh, Mr. Cohen, is that really your girlfriend?"
Mark laughed and pulled her close as they walked back outside to hail a cab. "I wonder when we became so famous. I'm just Mark!"
"Yeah I know. I'm really surprised they just came up to Roger like that. Poor Mimi, they were really pounding on her relationship with him."
"That caught me off guard too. I know they got an interview from Mo because I saw her and Harvey talking with them before, but Roger? I guess they're all big fans of the Hungarians. I don't know."
The cab pulled up and they sat down inside. "Well all I know is that I'm tired and I could use a really good massage right about now," Jackie groaned.
"Too bad. I'm just tired," he grinned. Jackie playfully poked him in his ribs. "Hey!"
* * * *
Roger walked into Jaylynn's room around eight on Saturday morning. The baby was standing up in her crib and occupying herself with trying to grab at the animals attached to the mobile strings. He grinned and kissed her cheek. She let out a laugh and clapped her hands together when he picked her up.
"Happy birthday Jay." He kissed her one more time before setting her steadily down on the floor. She toddled in front of him a few steps and started to run into the living room before losing her balance and falling on her behind. He laughed at the look on her face and scooped her up, carrying her into his and Mimi's bedroom.
He put a finger to his lips and Jaylynn imitated him as they both sat on the bed watching Mimi sleep. Roger smiled to himself. He was sitting on their bed, in their home, with their year old daughter watching his wife sleep. One year ago today, at 3:03 AM, Jaylynn Angela had been born, healthy and HIV negative. Roger couldn't be more thankful for that. It honestly seemed like just yesterday that she had first sat up and now she was walking—sometimes unsteadily—on her own. Everything about her was a mix between him and Mimi. Her dark blonde hair that was slowly starting to grow out in waves. Her brown eyes that matched Mimi's. Even down to the way she smiled and how she was beginning to mimic both of them more every day.
Roger knew that he couldn't guarantee Jaylynn ten years for him to watch her grow up. He couldn't put a countdown on his life. He and Mimi were healthy now, and he knew that until the end they'd both be capable of caring for her. That past year had gone by too quickly. He and Mimi both were starting to feel like old pros at parenting, while Jackie and Mark were still struggling with their son from time to time.
Without realizing it, Jaylynn had crawling to Mimi and was leaned over her, patting the side of her face and playing with her loose curls.
Mimi yawned and smiled up at her. "Hey baby. Happy birthday." She sat up and shook her head at Roger.
"What?" he grinned.
"You both are plotting against me already huh?" she laughed.
"Baby, I would never do that." He leaned over and kissed her.
"Sure." She handed Jaylynn to Roger and quickly slipped into her robe. "God it's cold in here."
"Yeah. Mark said it's at least fifty degrees out this morning."
"What's the temperature supposed to get up to today?"
"I think eighty." She followed Roger out into the living room and crouched onto the floor next to Jaylynn when he set her down. "I've gotten way too used to the summer heat. What about you cutie?" she smiled, kissing the baby's forehead.
Jaylynn just babbled in baby talk and reached out her fist, dropping a block in Mimi's lap.
"So what did you want to do today?" Mimi handed the baby the block again.
"Whatever you want to."
"I think everyone's coming by tonight to see Jay," Mimi added.
"Yeah that's what Collins told me anyway. Apples or peaches?" Roger asked her. He held up the two containers of baby food.
"Peaches. Plus take out the cheerios."
"Got it."
* * * *
Mark knocked on the bathroom door with a beer in his hand. "Jac? Are you ever coming out of the shower or what?"
He heard the shower water turn off. "Yeah. I'll be there in a few minutes," she answered him.
"Everybody's been here for about twenty minutes already. Come on, your missing Jaylynn's party," he grinned.
"I'll be out there."
"Okay." Mark walked over to the other side of the apartment and leaned against the counter. Roger was already mixing the second round of margaritas. Maureen and Mimi were both dancing with Jaylynn, each with a drink in their hands. Every time either one of them picked her up, she kept trying to grab a little of the rock salt that was on the edge of the glasses and lick the edge.
Mark noticed this and laughed. "Your kid's trying to get in on the alcohol."
"What?" Roger looked over at Mimi, who was letting Jaylynn try a little bit of the salt. "Hey don't let her have any of that!"
"Shut up," Mimi laughed at him. "Calm down." She placed her margarita out of Jaylynn's reach and sat down on the floor with the baby.
Roger rolled his eyes and Mark playfully shoved him in his ribs. "That's what married life does to you huh?"
"Eat me Mark. You're gonna be married in June anyway so you shouldn't be one to talk," he reminded him.
"Oh just because you have over a year of marriage up your sleeve you think you know everything?"
Roger shrugged. "Didn't say that. But face it, me and Mimi will have celebrated our two year anniversary by the time you finally get hitched to Jackie."
"You're also turning thirty before me," Mark reminded him casually.
"Fuck you," Roger grinned. "Take your margarita and get out of my face."
"Gentleman, are we arguing in here?" Maureen laughed. Harvey was carrying her on his back for some odd reason, although they both seemed to be having a good time with it. Jaylynn stood up and toddled over to the counter, clapping her hands together.
"Da! Up!" she shouted, motioning for Roger to pick her up.
Roger picked her up and kissed her cheek. "Look at Uncle Harvey and Aunt Maureen being silly. Huh?"
Jaylynn reached out her arms to Maureen. "Mo! Mo!"
Harvey placed Maureen on the ground and she took the baby from Roger. "Happy birthday sweetie!"
Jackie walked into the apartment in gray sweatpants and a black tanktop. Her light blonde hair was wrapped up into a towel, and she looked a little pale. "Hey guys."
"Hey," Mimi greeted her. "You don't look so good. Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah. Just tired," she said, right in the middle of a huge yawn.
Maureen sat down on the couch with Jaylynn and shook her head. "Uh oh."
"Uh oh," Jaylynn imitated.
"Uh oh what?" Jackie asked her. She looked at Roger and he started laughing.
"Not saying a word."
Collins walked in the door just then and whistled. "What did I miss?"
Jaylynn squirmed out of Maureen's arms and toddled over to Collins. "Up!"
"All right cutie," he smiled at her. "Give Uncle Collins some birthday girl kisses."
"What?" Jackie shouted out, frustrated.
"Hey I'm not one to light a fire under anyone's ass," Roger added, "But are you on birth control?"
"I'm just tired."
"First sign of pregnancy."
Mark sighed and flipped them all off. "Come on guys, leave her alone," he laughed. "Yeah but really he's got a point there. Remember how tired you were the first time?"
"So?"
"So honey do you think you might be pregnant?" Maureen asked.
"I'm not talking about this right now."
Harvey started laughing. "Oh she so is!" He stopped when Jackie shot him a glare. "I mean, she so isn't. Sorry. I stuttered."
"God just lay off." Jackie picked up the margarita from the counter and took a sip out of it. She sat down on the barstool and Mark followed.
"Okay I'm sorry."
"Yeah."
"But really, you're not yourself lately. You seem really tired. And I guess everyone's just really excited for you—for us to potentially have another baby."
"I'm not though."
"Not pregnant?" Mark asked her.
She shook her head. "Nope. I got my period yesterday."
Mark nodded. "So that's why you're tired?"
"That'll do you in Mark," she laughed.
"Who's on their period?" Mimi asked out loud.
Roger raised his hand and started grinding against her. "I am baby!" he laughed.
She shoved him off and covered Jaylynn's eyes. "Daddy was not just humping Mommy."
Maureen covered her mouth and snorted. "Oh my god," she laughed. "Sickos. I am friends with a bunch of sex crazed porn star wannabes."
"That's a little drastic," Collins added. "Don't you think?"
Harvey shrugged. "Sex is a complicated thing."
Roger and Mark glanced at him and started laughing uncontrollably. "Hey man, whatever you say. I bet Maureen makes it uncomplicated. Kinky, you know," Roger teased her.
Maureen got up and elbowed him in his ribs. "Shove it, Davis."
"Anytime. As long as there's some cushion for the pushin'."
Mimi rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. "Okay boys. Enough with the locker room talk. In case you haven't realized, there are some ladies in here. Two of which are unfortunately married to two of you at the moment."
"Plus, it's baby Jay's birthday. Let's save all of this talk for her eighteenth birthday, eh?" Collins joked.
Everyone grew silent after that last comment—Roger in particular. Everyone in that room was aware that there was almost a full chance that three of the six people now in that room wouldn't reach her tenth birthday, let alone her eighteenth.
"Yeah." Roger cleared his throat and placed the empty margarita glasses into the sink. "Who wants to get the cake from downstairs?"
"Ooh!" Maureen hopped off of Harvey's lap. "I'll get it. Your freezer, right Collins?"
"Right. I'll go with you."
Mimi walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Roger's stomach. "Hey baby."
"Hey." He turned around and kissed her. "I love you."
"I love you too." She looked at him curiously and smiled. "What was that for?"
"Just to say I do. Plus, I wanted to apologize for what those stupid fucking reporters said yesterday."
"Aw baby don't worry about it. I understand completely."
"Okay. Just making sure."
She kissed him again. "Good."
* * * *
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