NOVEMBER

CHAPTER 5

Hugs to Kelby and elodie again. You guys are awesome. 33

"Jen?"

Roger made his way over to his bed and stuck his head out the window. She was sitting on the roof, her chin resting on her knees.

"Yeah?" she answered, tilting her head to look at him.

"It's cold out. What are you doing sitting on the roof?" He pulled his body through the window, shutting it behind him.

"I don't know. Reminiscing?" she suggested, shrugging her shoulders. He sat down next to her, glancing over the edge of the roof.

"I forgot how high it was up here," he said. "I'm sorry about before—"

Jen looked at her feet. "Yeah. It's okay."

Roger sighed and placed his hand on Jen's hip, pulling her closer to him. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Liar," he laughed. "I didn't think the kiss would upset you that much."

Jen shifted over and rested her head on his shoulder. "It wasn't that."

"Then what was it?"

"I don't know really. You hadn't kissed me like that in over three years—and even towards the end, when you were getting bad—before I left, you never kissed me like that. But when you did kiss me, it was without feeling—kind of empty," she said quietly. "It just felt weird to be kissed by you after so long, but it was the right type of kiss—at least it felt right to me. It wasn't empty anymore."

"Oh."

"Sorry, did I confuse you?" she said, smiling at the look on his face.

"No. I know I was bad back then." He looked over at her. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty," she added.

"You didn't."

They were silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. "Roger?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do about us?"

"Oh. Well what do you want to do?"

"I asked you first," she stated, grinning at him.

"What are we, in first grade?" he laughed, as the wind started picking up and blowing the old leaves across the roof. "I didn't just kiss you for the hell of it, you know."

"Roger Davis, the intellectual," she joked. "So we could do one of two things. We could stay friends and share custody of Abby, or we could take things slow and see where we end up."

"Take things slow and see where we end up," he blurted out quickly. Jen burst out into laughter when he said that.

"You don't hesitate, do you?" she added.

"Well no, depending on what it is."

"Pervert."

"Hey! I wasn't even talking about that!" he laughed, defending himself.

"Uh huh. Sure," he said. "So can I do it again?"

"Do what again?"

"Kiss you again?"

"Oh god, do you have to?" she teased, rolling her eyes as Roger wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "Not bad," she said, kissing him back.

"What can I say? I'm skilled." He stood up, pulling her up with him. "Let's go inside. It's fucking cold out here."

"Thank you, captain obvious."

"Uh. Jen?"

"What?"

"The window's stuck," he said, trying to pull it open.

"Let me try," she said, pushing him out of the way.

"I don't think you—"

"Shut up," she groaned, trying to pull it open. "Good job. When you shut it, did you check to see if it was locked?"

"No," he added, sheepishly looking at his foot and then over the edge. "We're gonna have to climb down, because my whole family is in the basement and I doubt they'll hear us yelling."

"Genius. That's like…12 feet," she said, standing near the edge with him. "Are we supposed to shimmy down the drainpipe or something?"

Roger raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh. Maybe."

"I said shimmy down the drainpipe, not shimmy down you," she laughed.

"Oh ha ha. That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

Jen laughed and shook her head as Roger stole another kiss from her. "Okay, so get moving, blondie."

"Yeah." Roger said, gripping onto the edge and pulling himself over it. He climbed onto the drainpipe, trying to slide down it, and then the whole thing collapsed, resulting in him falling to the ground still attached to the gutter.

"Oh my god! Roger, are you okay?" she shouted after him. "Can you move?"

He winced, standing up. "Yeah. I'm fine. I broke the goddamn gutter though."

"How am I supposed to get down?" she asked. Without the gutter, her only other option was jumping, and that would easily result in a broken leg.

"Um, hold on. Jump," he said, holding out his arms to catch her.

"What?! Are you crazy?"

"No. I'm serious. Just jump. I'll catch you. Ready? One, two three—"

"Roger."

"Just jump Jen," he said.

"Uh, okay," she laughed, walking to the edge. Without looking, she jumped off and landed in Roger's arms, knocking them both to the ground.

"Ugh," he groaned, as she sprawled out on his stomach. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You broke my fall. What a hero," she teased.

"The ground didn't break mine," he groaned, as they both stood up.

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"I wonder where everyone is?" Jen asked, taking off her jacket.

Roger shrugged and walked into the kitchen of the loft, checking for a note of any kind. "They're downstairs. Mark says to call when we get home and he'll bring Abby up."

"Good," Jen laughed. "Because I'm so not walking back downstairs again."

"Lazy."

"Me? Look who's talking. You're the king of lazy," she giggled.

Roger's watch started beeping again, marking 5 PM. "You got me with that one," he said, dragging his bag into his bedroom. He pocketed his pills and headed back into the kitchen with them, as Jen obliviously sat on the couch, on the phone with Mark.

"He's bringing her up right now. I missed her so much," she laughed, placing the phone back on the table. "He claims that she's been asking about you all weekend."

Roger nodded, placing his pill bottle on the counter near the coffee pot. "Really?"

"Yeah. I told you she attaches herself easily."

Just then, the loft door opened and Abby ran in, followed by Mark.

"Mommy!" she screeched, running full force towards Jen. "You're back. Hey, you know what?" she said, as Jen kissed her on the cheek.

"What?"

"I missed you."

"I missed you too baby."

"Did you have fun with Roger?" she asked in a singsong voice. "Mommy likes Roger!"

Roger blushed and Jen started laughing. "Okay, what did Mark tell you now?"

Mark laughed. "Nothing, I swear!"

"Were you good for Mark, Maureen, Joanne, and Collins?" Jen asked, as Abby scooted into her lap.

"Yup. We went to the Life Café again and had fun. The waiter was mean though. He kept saying stuff like "Not tonight please!" and "Oh no!" she giggled.

Jen raised an eyebrow at Mark, who shrugged.

"It happens a lot," Roger said. "The waiter hates us."

"Then I slept at Maureen's, and she did my hair just like hers. She took pictures too, and she said we can have them when they get devel—"

"Developed," Jen corrected. "Good, I can't wait to see them."

"And then the next day Mark took me to the park, and Collins took me to see the big Christmas tree. Then we watched movies. Marky likes The Little Mermaid," she said, pointing a finger at him.

"Whoa Mark, she's really ragging on you tonight," Roger laughed. "I didn't know you were into the Disney classics."

"Maureen had a copy."

"Uh huh. Yeah sure. You know you'd want to bang Ariel anytime." Jen gave him a disapproving look and pointed to Abby. "Oh. Sorry."

"Then I stayed here, and Mark and Collins made me chocolate chip pancakes. Mark burned the first batch. They were gross."

Jen and Roger started cracking up as Mark turned red. "Hey, I never said I was a chef, Abby."

Abby shrugged. "It's okay Mark. I still love you."

"Aww," Roger laughed. "She accepted you!"

"Stuff it, Davis," Mark added, defeated.

"So what did you do this morning baby?" Jen asked.

"Maureen and Joanne took me out to breakfast, and then Joanne had to go out so Maureen made pictures with me."

"Awesome."

"Yup." Abby hopped off Jen's lap and walked over to Roger, opening her arms. "Hey Roger, I missed you. Hug?"

"Sure." Roger bent down and gave her hug, looking back at Jen the whole time.

"What's for dinner Jen?" Mark asked.

"Excuse me?" Jen laughed, as Abby climbed onto a barstool with Roger's help.

"Yeah Jen, what's for dinner?" Roger whined, mocking Mark. "You want some juice Abby?"

"I'd make chicken parm, but we have no chicken," she said.

"Chicken parm?" Roger asked, pouring some orange juice in a small glass. "Man, I love chicken parm."

"Looks like you just got suckered into going to the store," Mark laughed, as Jen whacked him in the side.

"Thanks," Abby said, drinking out of the glass.

"No problem," Roger added, slipping the juice back in the fridge.

"Good, because you just got suckered into going with me, ass," Jen responded, jumping onto his back. "Onward ho, Marky!"

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"Do we need anything else?"

Mark looked around and shrugged. "Nah, I think we're good. I haven't had chicken parm in so long. Mrs. Davis makes the best chicken parm ever."

"Oh yeah? Just wait until you try mine. Family recipe and all," she laughed, taking things out and placing them on the conveyor belt. "We have hair dye, right?"

Mark nodded and fished through the basket. "Yup. Right here. Roger needs to fix up his roots?"

"Something like that, and I told him I'd do it for him."

"So how was the weekend?"

"The weekend was good. How was yours?" she teased. "No, but seriously, I almost forgot how much fun Roger's family was until I spent a few days there. I had a good time."

"How much of a good time?" he winked. Jen paid for the groceries and handed one bag to Mark, already halfway through the door.

"He kissed me. Happy now? God, you're like the gossip whore around here," she laughed.

"Hey, I was just asking."

"Uh huh."

"And?"

"No, we didn't end up sleeping together, although I'm sure that would have made your little heart go pitter patter," she laughed as he playfully shoved her on the sidewalk.

"So are you moving in with us?"

Jen shrugged, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I don't know. My rent's too high and I'm not going to be able to stay there with Christmas coming up and everything. The expenses are going to be out of the roof."

"Move in with us. Problem solved. You and Roger can obviously share a room, I have my room, and Abby can take the spare bedroom, because she'll have a bed, right?"

"Yup, I'm not leaving her bed at the place, so that could work."

"There. That's the end of it. You're moving in with us."

"Sure, but then there's the matter of actually packing everything and getting it over here. And believe me, I have a lot of shit to pack. Plus my furniture."

"We could remodel?" he suggested, fishing around in his pocket for the key. He shoved it in the door and opened it, letting Jen in first before shutting it behind them.

"Yeah."

"Hey, look," Mark whispered, setting the groceries on the counter. Roger was asleep on the couch, Abby curled up on his chest. "How cute is that?"

"Cute enough for you to get it on film. Go," she whispered, starting to pull the groceries quietly out of the bag.

Mark pulled out his camera and started narrating as Jen fired up the stove and started preparing the chicken parm.

"November 29th , 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. Roger and Abby are out like last year's Prada shoes…"

"I heard that, you shitface," Roger said groggily, flipping him off, but at the same time, trying not to wake Abby.

Mark turned the camera on himself and shook his head. "You see the terms of loving endearment that float around here?" he said sarcastically before shutting the camera off.

"Hey Jen, should I wake up Abby?" Roger asked.

Jen shook her head. "Nah, just pick her up and put her in Mark's office or your room. She could use a nap."

"All right," he added, scooping Abby up gently and carrying her into his bedroom.

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"Mark asleep?" Jen asked, walking out of the bathroom, brushing her wet hair.

Roger nodded and scooted over, giving her some room on the couch. "Yeah. He's gotta get up for work tomorrow."

"Abby still asleep?"

"She's out. Snoring too."

Jen laughed and rested her head on Roger's shoulder, as he wrapped his arm lightly around her waist. "She definitely inherited that from you. What are you doing?"

Roger laughed, shrugged and closed the notebook. "Trying to write song lyrics."

"No luck?"

"Kind of. Can't really think straight."

Jen yawned and nodded. "You wanna come with me when I drop Abby off at daycare tomorrow?"

"Sure. How long is she gone for?"

"She goes from 9 to 12:30, and then I usually pick her up on my lunch hour and bring her to the sitter on the days I have to go into the office. But tomorrow I'll just bring her back here. She'll fall asleep and be out for at least another good three or four hours."

"So we have some time to ourselves?"

"Yeah. What do you have in mind?" she laughed, as he kissed her.

"Oh, I don't know. We'll think of something."

"I'm sure we will. C'mon, I'm tired, and I've got dibs on your bed," she said, standing up and heading towards his bedroom.

"Okay," he yawned, turning off the TV and following her. "I need to talk to you about something tomorrow."

"Uh huh," she said, pulling a t-shirt on over her tank top and pajama pants. He stripped down to his boxers and slipped in next to her, turning off the light and setting the alarm.

"What time?"

"8. She'll probably get me up before then."

He punched in the numbers and set it back on the nightstand as Jen cuddled up against him, her head resting on his chest.

"Night," she said, kissing him before closing her eyes.

"Night."

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