Author's Note: Major writer's block and three days to learn lines for a one act play made this chapter late. The one act play went really well, though! Enjoy...

Chapter 39

April

"How are you holding up?" Mark asked, holding Maureen's hand loosely.

She shrugged. "Alright. Your family hates me, though."

With news of their engagement, Mark had convinced Maureen to take a trip out to Scarsdale with him to tell his parents. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but Mark had managed to persuade her otherwise. They had arrived early on in the afternoon, and had currently just finished eating dinner. Even Mark's sister Cindy, her husband, and their three children came for dinner, too, making it an entire family affair. This had made both of them feel intimidated, but they carried on nonetheless.

Dessert wasn't ready yet, and so after dinner Mark and Maureen went for a walk around his neighbourhood, Mark showing her where all his old friends used to live.

"They don't hate you," Mark laughed. "My dad loves you. He thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread."

"I am, though," she laughed, shoving him gently. "Your sister hates me," she shrugged.

"Well I have a secret for you," he admitted. "My sister is a bitch. She doesn't like anybody."

"I don't know," Maureen sighed, resting her head on her fiancé's shoulder as they walked down the sidewalk. "But I do know that was the biggest meal I've had in a very long time."

He squeezed her hand gently and smiled as they rounded the corner back onto his street. "Good." He noticed his mother standing at the edge of the driveway on their property, looking from left to right.

"There you are!" she yelled down the way. "The cake is all done honey!"

"Oh God…" Mark sighed, looking down at his feet. "If you don't want to marry me anymore I completely understand."

Maureen laughed and kissed his cheek. "Of course I do… but you're the one who gets to break the news. I'm afraid your mom and sister will kick my ass if I say anything to them."

"I'll protect you," he reassured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze.

"My white knight," she giggled.

Before long, Mark and Maureen found themselves seated at the Cohen's dining room table, Cindy sitting on the other side of Mark with her five-and-a-half moth old son, Eli. Across from them on the other side of the table, Cindy's husband Michael sat, anchored by their three-year-old twin son and daughter, Jamie and Cathy. Mrs. Cohen sat at the head of the table, with Mr. Cohen opposite to her.

Maureen took a nervous sip of her coffee and glanced over at Mark, who squeezed her hand gently underneath the table. They hadn't told his family about their engagement yet, but planned to do so as soon as the conversation shifted in that direction.

"Oh, guess what Marky? Aunt Janine called me the other day and told me cousin Cassie's coming for a visit from Buffalo," Cindy commented as she placed a forkful of chocolate cake in her mouth, Eli clutching tightly onto her other thumb.

"Cassandra," Mrs. Cohen sighed. "She was always so sweet. Remember when she used to come over and you three would play in the pool all day long in your little swim suits? My, that must have been almost… fifteen years ago."

"Time flies," Mark nodded. He nudged Maureen in the shoulder gently. "You should meet her. She'd love you."

Maureen smiled and gave a nervous laugh, nodding slowly.

"Is that the rental car out there?" Mr. Cohen asked, noting the oncoming tension. He peered out the window at the silver Honda parked behind the old station wagon in the driveway. "It's pretty nice."

Mark shook his head proudly. "We— I bought it almost a month ago."

"It's really nice," Cindy commented.

"Yes, it is," Mrs. Cohen agreed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cindy frowned, looking over at Michael. "You see him every day at work."

He shrugged as Cathy crawled onto his lap, reaching over to tug on Jamie's sleeve. "I don't know…"

She scoffed and rocked the restless Eli's carrier, trying to calm him down.

"It's really nice inside, too," Maureen chimed in. Mark's mother shot her an icy glare and Maureen quickly averted her eyes down into her lap.

"Can I get you anymore cake?" Mr. Cohen asked, noticing her discomfort, "Or coffee?"

"No thanks," she shrugged, smiling slightly as she looked up at him. Mark noticed the odd change in personality and laughed to himself. Usually Maureen was quite the opposite of how she was acting right now -- quiet, shy and nervous. She was hardly ever this polite.

"Do you not like my cake?" Mrs. Cohen asked haughtily.

Maureen looked up at her, shocked, and frowned. "No, it's not that. I'm just full from dinner."

"Yeah, dinner was really great," Mark jumped in, taking the attention away from the nervous and unsure Maureen.

"Yeah, mom," Cindy chimed in, standing up. She sensed the on-coming drama, too. She may not have liked Maureen, but she didn't want to see her mother start yelling at a complete stranger. "Cathy never eats potatoes, but that's all she ate today." She picked up Eli out of his carrier and cradled him tenderly in her arms. "I'm going to go and put him down in Marky's old room."

Mrs. Cohen smiled contently as if that was all the reassurement she needed and removed her napkin from her lap, placing it on the table. "Can I get anybody else anything to eat? Mark? You look so skinny."

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "I'm fine mom, thanks."

She cut another piece of cake and lifted it out and onto Mark's plate. "I'm sure you're not eating very much at that little apartment of yours."

He waved his hands in front of him to stop her. "No, no, I am, trust me," he laughed, "Lots of food. Especially because we have jobs now." He looked over to Michael (who got him the job at the advertising agency he worked at), but he was too occupied with the twins to have noticed.

"My little boy's all grown up," she smiled, beckoning him to eat the cake. Mark sighed and picked up his fork, digging into it.

"Where do you work, Maureen?" Mr. Cohen asked, trying to include her into the conversation.

"Um, right now I'm a waitress at a restaurant, but I'm going to start taking some classes at a school in Manhattan to become an interior designer," she replied nervously.

He smiled, "Really? That should be interesting."

"Yeah, I hope so," she laughed, feeling more at ease even though she could feel Mrs. Cohen's eyes on her. "After about a year I should be able to design on my own, but they put you in with a firm during the classes like an intern, so you get to work with real designers and kind of help them out."

"We'll have to have you over to redo the basement," he laughed.

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "Shag carpeting isn't so hot."

Mrs. Cohen nodded in agreement. "I always wanted some nice hardwood flooring down there."

"Who knows," her husband laughed, "Maybe we'll have a designer in the family to do that for us."

"She's not in the family," she reminded him coldly.

"Actually," Mark began, his voice faltering. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes from his mom. "We're going to get married."

"What?" Mrs. Cohen gaped.

"Congratulations, kids!" Mr. Cohen smiled. "That's great news!"

"Yeah guys," Michael added. "That's so great."

"Congratulations," Mrs. Cohen retorted sarcastically, picking up her plate. She piled a few other plates onto it and stood up from her seat.

Maureen bit her lip uncomfortably and Mark nudged her in the side.

"Can I help?" she asked, standing up quickly and collecting the remaining plates.

"That's fine dear, just put them down," she smirked, finally noticing the diamond ring on her left hand. She turned on her heel and left the dining room.

Maureen sighed and sat back down in her chair, setting the plates down in front of her. "Sorry…"

"It's not your fault," Mark tried, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head.

"It's mine," Mr. Cohen reassured her.

She still looked skeptical, but agreed anyway. "She hates me."

Cindy wandered back into the dining room, plopping down next to Mark. "Where'd mom go?" she asked, noticing her absence.

"Dishes," Michael replied, finally jumping into conversation after having witnessed the previous scene.

"And you didn't help?" she scolded Mark. She stood back up and yanked the plates away from Maureen's place, leaving the dining room in a huff.

"I swear. There's something wrong with the Cohen women," Mark commented. "They need to relax."

Michael nodded.

"Should we all go sit down in the living room?" Mr. Cohen suggested. They all agreed it was a good idea and retired to the other room. Maureen sat down next to Mark on the love seat by the front window and he promptly took her hand in his.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her hand tenderly.

"Love you too," she replied, shifting away from him on the couch.

Mark studied her face, feeling horrible about the uncomfortable position she was in. Even when she was scared out of her mind, Mark still found her to be the most beautiful person he knew. He was lucky to have her.

After talking with Mr. Cohen and Michael for a few minutes, Jamie wandered over to Maureen and asked to sit with her. She sat on the couch in the living room with Jamie situated on her lap, and he sat having a conversation about day care with Maureen and Mark for the past several minutes.

The more she watched them from the doorway, the more Cindy couldn't help but think that they'd eventually have a sweet family of their own one day. Her mother had told her about their engagement and Cindy knew she had to be mad about it, she just couldn't think why. She knew that Maureen was less-than a great girlfriend to Mark in the past, but Mark wouldn't stay with her -- let alone ask her to marry him -- if she was still being difficult. Her brother wasn't stupid, and she was pretty sure he knew what she was getting himself into.

Mark stood up from the couch and made his way out of the room, not meeting Cindy's eyes as he left. She laughed to herself and entered the living room, sitting down beside Maureen.

"Hi," she greeted her.

"Hi."

"Congratulations… about getting engaged."

Maureen looked up at her and frowned. "Thanks."

"You'll make a beautiful bride."

She unwrapped her arms from around Jamie as he crawled over to his mother and crossed her arms over her chest, unsure of how to respond to Cindy.

"If you need anything, like planning or invitations, I'd love to help out," Cindy offered, smiling.

Maureen shrugged and stared down at her hands, unsure as to why Cindy was suddenly being so pleasant. "Thanks."

She sighed dreamily. "I've still got the numbers for the people who did our flowers and our catering when I got married. They were really good." When Maureen didn't respond, she continued. "There are tons of good places to buy dresses in the city, so you probably won't have a problem," she laughed, "When do you want to get married?"

"Well," Maureen began quietly. "We were thinking of having a summer wedding on the beach this August. There's a really nice resort on Long Island where we'd have it."

"That sounds so nice!" Cindy gushed.

"Yeah."

Cindy rearranged Jamie on her lap and cocked her head at Maureen, almost sympathetically.

Maureen couldn't help but think she wanted something.

"Look, I know you think I don't like you—"

"You don't."

"No, I do! I do!" she reassured her. "It's just… Marky is my baby brother. I want the best for him."

"And I'm not…"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, you're wonderful. I just don't want Mark to get hurt."

"Neither do I," Maureen rationalized, shrugging. "I do love him."

"I know. I know that now you love him and you're good for each other."

Maureen stared back at her, unsure of whether or not to laugh at her or hug her. She tucked her feet underneath her and glanced over at Cindy quickly, nodding.

"And I guess now I'm excited to have a sister-in-law. I don't have a sister, so it's really cool," she smiled in attempt to make amends.

Finally a small smile spread across Maureen's face. The genuineness of Cindy's words convinced her that there were no ulterior motives and that Cindy really just was sorry.

"Neither have I," Maureen shrugged, smiling. "I guess it is pretty neat."

"Yeah," Cindy agreed. "And I mean, I really would love to help you plan everything. I guess if you want to have it in the summer you have a lot to do, so…"

She nodded. "We've been talking about a really small wedding, though. Partly because we want it that way, and partly because we don't have a lot of money," she laughed.

"It's a good reason," Cindy smiled.

Maureen smiled back. Cindy down, Mrs. Cohen to go.

Mark and Maureen left the Cohen household at about ten o'clock that evening, having spent the time after dinner in the living room with the rest of the family. Cindy had continuously offered Maureen help with planning the wedding, never hesitating to reassure her that she knew what she was doing. Mark had managed to convince his mother that her little boy was all grown up and he could marry who he wanted to without rocking the boat too much. The couple left about twenty-five minutes after Cindy's family, and it had taken them forty-five minutes to get back to the city. When they got home, Mark flopped down in front of the television in the living room while Maureen took a quick shower. Before long, she was finished and they both retired to the bedroom.

"Thanks for putting up with them today," Mark yawned as he swung back the covers on the bed. He sat down on it and fell back into the pillows, exhausted from a day of traveling and dealing with his family.

"No problem," Maureen replied, toweling her hair off. She dropped the towel in the clothing hamper by the door to the ensuite bathroom and flopped onto the bed on her stomach. "You're just lucky I like you," she teased.

Mark rubbed her back gently as she shimmied underneath the covers and snuggled closer to him. "So, Cindy wants to help plan the wedding? Expect a lot of pink and girly crap like that."

Maureen shrugged and rolled over onto her side, her back towards Mark. She faked a yawn and shut her eyes. "I'm going to have to crack the whip."

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her stomach, turning her onto her back so he could kiss her gently, and he shut his eyes too.

"Night."

"Night Marky."

Maureen kept her eyes shut, but found her self unable to get to sleep. She waited until she was sure Mark had fallen asleep before wriggling out of his grasp and crawling out of bed. She crept out of the bedroom and into the living room, quietly sneaking into the kitchen. She grabbed a clean cup from the dish rack and poured some tap water into it, taking a few sips before continuing through the living room over to the large windows. After yanking one open, Maureen crawled out onto the fire escape and carefully sat down, propping herself up against the wall. She was worn out from the day, but she still couldn't fall asleep.

Taking another sip of her water, Maureen's eyes caught on her ring. She set the cup down and took the ring off, studying it in her hand. It was a platinum band with an emerald-cut diamond. Mark obviously spent a lot of money on it, but Maureen couldn't help but feel guilty wearing it. She also couldn't help but think what her life would be like now if she hadn't screwed up her relationship with Joanne.

They had become good friends within the last few months, often meeting up for lunches or coffee together. They still grated each other's nerves, but both learned to deal with it. Maureen knew that Joanne wasn't interested in a romantic relationship with her anymore -- she had found a new girlfriend and was very happy -- but Maureen still regretted their break up. Their entire relationship hadn't happened under good terms, of course, but if given another chance, Maureen thought it might be a little better.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to marry Mark yet. Spending time with his family definitely gave her a different perspective. She hadn't been around a real family like that in a very long time and it made her feel strange. If she married Mark, they would eventually have a family like that, too. She was nervous, to say the least, and she was constantly trying to imagine her life with Joanne. How different would it be?

Maureen slid her ring into the kangaroo pocket on the front of her sweatshirt and took a final gulp of her water. She stood up and poured the rest of the water into a pot of red flowers that Mark had brought home for her the other day. She crawled back into the living room and placed her cup on the counter before creeping back into the bedroom. She yawned silently and slid into bed beside Mark. Mark stirred slightly as she planted a kiss his cheek, and she pulled the blanket up over them both, watching him sleep peacefully before falling asleep herself.

[Coming up] Maureen discusses her cold feet with Joanne, April and Roger struggle to remain happy together, and Mark knows something Maureen doesn't know, and he's not telling.

Please review!