CHAPTER 58
A/N: Alright guys, we're making some major progress with this story at this point. The past events will be tied up soon, but don't worry; I'll make sure to give you some fair warning. =] Other than that, keep reviewing, because I love your feedback and responses.
Quick reminder: At this point, Roger and Mimi have been married for two years. (They were married in May 1997, and right now it's June of 1999).
Lisa: Mark's younger sister.
Eva: Mark's mother
Jillian: Jackie's friend from Sydney
Enjoy!
* * * *
[JUNE 1999]
Mimi knocked on the bathroom door. "Babe?" When there was no answer, she tried pounding a little harder. "Roger?" Frustrated, she gave up and walked over to the kitchen where she started putting the dishes that were in the sink away in the cabinets. She felt Jaylynn pull on her jeans and attach her small body to her leg.
"Momma? Have juice?"
"Yes baby I have your juice." Mimi opened the refrigerator and handed Jaylynn her sippie cup. "What do you say?"
Jaylynn sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor and looked up at her mother with her blue eyes. "Tank you, Momma."
Mimi crouched down and placed a kiss on the toddler's forehead. "Th-ank you."
"Tank you?"
She sighed and stood back up. "Good enough baby."
"Okay." Jaylynn rubbed at her eyes and yawned. "Nap now?"
"Not yet. Remember we have to go to Uncle Mark and Aunt Jackie's rehearsal dinner? For their wedding tomorrow?"
"No no no."
Mimi picked Jaylynn up and sat her on the couch. "Yes yes yes. So how about we get your pretty sundress on now, okay? While we wait for Daddy?"
"No."
"Yes," Mimi sighed. "Don't you want to see Grandma and Grandpa?"
"Yes!"
"Then you have to get dressed," she added slowly.
"No," Jaylynn protested. "Grandma? Okay." Instead of following Mimi into the bedroom, Jaylynn started drawing on a piece of paper with her crayons.
Mimi sighed once more and opened the bathroom door without even knocking. Roger was standing at the bathroom sink. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and was putting gel in his hair.
"Are you done yet? Because we're already ten minutes late."
"Baby, these things never start on time," Roger smirked at her. He washed the remaining gel off his hands with soap and water and started at her. "What's wrong?"
"We're late, and Jaylynn won't listen to me or get dressed. And I still can't shake this damn cough," she added.
"When do you go back to the doctor?"
"I don't know. I have to call and make an appointment. She said it was just allergies the last time."
Roger looked down at her, concerned. "You should probably go and get it checked out anyway."
"Yeah I know."
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "What else is bothering you?"
"I guess I'm not in a wedding mood. Or just in an party mood in general."
"I'm sorry." He kissed her again. "Want me to try and convince Jaylynn to get ready?"
Mimi nodded and smiled. "She'll probably listen to you anyway. She always does."
* * * *
"Everything is in this bag Sandy. Her juice and a few things to distract her if she's bored—um, I think that's about it," Mimi told Roger's mother as she adjusted the straps on her bridesmaid gown. "If she gets fussy—"
"Don't worry sweetie. I don't think she'll get fussy, and if she does I'll take her outside. You look beautiful, and you'll be fine. Don't worry," Sandra reassured her.
"I don't know. I still think I'm going to forget to do something and screw up."
"You won't. Just because it's a Catholic and Jewish wedding combined into one, you won't screw up. Now my son on the other hand—let's just hope for the best with him," Sandra laughed.
"What?" Roger looked over at the mention of his name. He was talking to Mark, Harvey, and Collins, and by the looks of it, they were all just trying to calm Mark down enough so the ceremony could be started. Roger was holding a squirming Jaylynn in his arms, and when he put her down on the ground, she sat down right by his feet.
"Nothing sweetheart," Sandra told him. "Are you really sure you don't want me to keep Jaylynn overnight? So you and Roger could stay in the hotel with Mark and Jackie?"
Mimi shook her head. "No. She's still getting over a cold, and plus we weren't planning on staying in the hotel anyway. Jackie and Mark's flight leaves first thing for Greece tomorrow morning, so instead of having breakfast then, we're having it when they get back in a week."
"Okay. If you're sure." Sandra walked over to Jaylynn and picked her up. "Come on sweetie, let's go and sit down with Grandpa."
"Okay. Bye Ma!"
"Bye baby."
Roger broke away from the group he was huddled in and walked over to her. "Have I told you how great you look today?" he whispered in her ear.
"Yeah, but only about five times," Mimi smiled. She straightened the jacket of his tux and bit her lip. "How's Mark?"
"Nervous as hell. Beats me because they've been together for two years—"
"And six months," she giggled. "Mark mentioned that last night at the dinner."
"Yeah. Right."
Mimi kissed him lightly before breaking away completely. "I better get back to Jackie. I'll see you in about ten minutes so you can escort me down the aisle."
"Not that I have anyone else to escort," Roger pointed out. "Or anyone else I'd want to escort."
"Good thing that you added that in or I might have given you a black eye." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned. "See you in a few."
Mimi made her way down the back hall of the small room the hotel had set aside for the bride. Since it was an interfaith wedding, Mark and Jackie had decided against both the church and the temple, instead settling on a ballroom in the Waldorf-Astoria downtown. The ballroom had been decorated accordingly, and with the flowers, candles, and lighting—it looked gorgeous. She knocked on the door and Lisa opened it slowly.
"The guys aren't out in the hall, are they?" she asked.
"No," Mimi laughed. "I left them back in the lobby.
"Okay. Good." Lisa breathed a sigh of relief and let Mimi in, locking the door behind her.
Jackie was sitting on a chair near the vanity mirror. The short train of her dress cascaded over the chair and then some. The halter bodice was beaded her and there before wrapping and clasping around her neck, completely showing off her shoulders. Maureen was sitting next to her, fixing up her makeup, while Jillian, a friend of Jackie's from Sydney, was touching up Jackie's hair.
Luke had fallen asleep on the couch, his thumb lodged gently in his mouth. Mimi noticed this and smiled. "How long has he been asleep?"
Jackie glanced at the clock. "About half an hour. I'm trying to decide if I want to wake him up for the ceremony or not. I'll probably just have my mom carry him out into the ballroom and then if he sleeps through it, he sleeps through it," she laughed.
"Okay! Finished." Maureen put the makeup back in the bag. "You look beautiful."
Jackie smiled as Jillian finished spraying her hair. "You really do," Jillian agreed.
"Thanks. Hey, where's Miss Jaylynn at?" Jackie asked Mimi. She stood up from the chair and Maureen smoothed out the bottom of the train.
"She's with Roger's mom. I swear, that kid is a ball of energy today," Mimi laughed. "Roger can't even control her."
"That's saying something," Maureen teased. "Oh wow, the ceremony's about to start! Let me go get the flowers!" She ran out of the room quickly.
Lisa shook Luke awake quietly and picked him up. He rested his head against his aunt's shoulder immediately and started sucking his thumb again. "Momma?"
"I'm right here," Jackie said. She walked over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You be good for me okay? I'll be able to hold you in a little bit."
Luke nodded sleepily and Lisa carried him out of the room in order to give him to her mother, Eva, before the ceremony started up.
Maureen flew back into the room, holding a container of pre-arranged bouquets of flowers. "Okay I have all of them." She handed Jackie's to her, and then passed the others to Jillian and Mimi. Lisa walked back in and picked hers up carefully.
"I think we're ready then," Jillian pointed out. "It's almost time."
Lisa nodded. "The priest and rabbi said whenever we're ready because everyone is already seated and settled. Mark's at the altar, huppah, whatever you want to call it. Roger's doubling as best man and usher for you Mimi. Everyone else is ready."
"Okay," Jackie sighed, but then smiled. "Let's get this over with then."
* * * *
The ceremony started without a hitch at four that afternoon. Jackie had managed to find a Catholic priest last minute, and Mark's mother had arranged for Rabbi Himmelfarb to travel to the city from Scarsdale. The blessings had been said, rings had been exchanged, and the vows they had written for each other had been read. Mark had broken the glass at the very end, and the ceremony quickly concluded.
The reception had been wild and raucous, even with everyone's family there. Roger's family had the most drunk people by one am, although Mark's mother wasn't very far behind. Cindy's kids had all fallen asleep in a corner of the room. Not surprisingly, Jaylynn was still dancing with her father until the very end.
Mark dropped Jackie's hand and slid the room key in the slot to unlock the door. He turned back to her and grinned. "I think I'm supposed to carry you in now."
"Oh yeah?" she laughed. "Go for it."
He kissed her and lifted her up carefully. She shut the door with her hand before he could place her on the bed. She stretched out on it and closed her eyes.
"So we finally did it." Mark sat down next to her and took off his shoes.
"Mmhmm." She opened one eye and yawned. "Finally."
"Yeah. He glanced at the clock. "It's late. Or early, depending on how you look at it."
"What time does our flight leave?"
"Six am. It's a little after 2 AM right now."
"Ugh." Jackie sat up and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why did we get such an early flight?"
"I don't know. Want me to call and see if I can exchange our seats for a later flight?"
She nodded and took off her stiletto heels before resting her head on the pillow. "That's fine."
"Okay." Mark picked up the phone and spent the following twenty minutes on the phone with someone at the flight counter. He hung up the phone shortly after 2:30 AM. "They said they can put us on the nine AM flight to Athens instead. That's fine, right? Jac?" He looked over his shoulder and smiled.
Jackie had fallen asleep, her chest rising and falling steadily. She hadn't even bothered to change out of her wedding gown, or better yet, let Mark take her out of it. Instead Mark quickly set the alarm, stripped down to his boxers and curled up next to her under the sheets after he made sure she was warm enough.
"Night. I love you."
Jackie snuggled up next to him and subconsciously rested her hand on his stomach. "Love you," she mumbled before drifting off to sleep again.
* * * *
"Two!"
Roger laughed as Jaylynn hid the two blocks from him. "Yup. Two." He picked her up and spun her around.
"You hide, Daddy! You go!" Jaylynn held out the blocks for him to take, but spotted his Fender sitting in the corner. "No no no! Play dat!"
Roger put her down on the couch and grabbed his guitar. "What do you want me to play?"
She crawled into his lap and watched him as his fingers started moving over the strings. "Dunno. Play."
Roger couldn't really think of anything that he wanted to play for her. Nothing came to mind at that moment. But the longer he sat there with Jaylynn rested against him, he decided to play a few random chords and maybe allow her to have fun with it a little bit. He hadn't let her play on his guitar before—he was too afraid that the rough strings would cut into her tiny hands.
"What this?" She plucked a string and started laughing. "Ouch."
"Let me see." He looked down at her hand and kissed it where it was red from where the string had hit.
Jaylynn giggled and took his hand and copied what he did. "No ouch."
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Because I've been playing for a long time and my hands are used to it. But if you play enough, your hands will get used to it too," Roger explained to her in a way that she would understand.
"Okay." She yawned and curled up in Roger's lap. "Nap?"
"Are you sleepy?" He laughed at the tired expression on her face.
"Uh huh."
Roger pushed his Fender aside and stretched out on the couch so she could sleep comfortably on his chest. "I love you."
"Love you too Daddy."
Jaylynn quickly closed her eyes and fell asleep, and soon enough, so did Roger.
* * * *
Review please! =]