A/N: Once again, sorry for the delay in updating this. Other things and other stories of mine got in the way, but since school is out for the summer (one more year of high school to go for me!) and I'll be working a few days a week, I'll have a lot more time to focus on writing and finishing this up. So expect a few more updates soon!

August 30, 1998

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I understand. Right."

Jen got up from the couch and eyed Roger on the phone. He shook his head at her and turned away, so she sighed and put the rest of the dishes away from the sink. If he didn't get off the phone now, which he had been on practically the whole morning with several different people, they'd be late for not only the ceremony, but Roger wouldn't even be dressed when his own mother and stepfather arrived. She knew she shouldn't be overreacting, but her lower back was killing her, and had been since the night before.

Mark and Maureen were getting married at an informal ceremony by a Justice of the Peace. Neither one of them was up for planning a huge ordeal, but both wanted to incorporate parts of their religion. Maureen was already into her fifth month of pregnancy, but had managed to still retain her figure somewhat. Up until her fourteenth week, she had been pregnant with twins, but had miscarried one twin in early July, much to her and Mark's disappointment. Mark knew Maureen felt incredibly guilty, like it was her fault, even though he had tried convincing her otherwise. They had many follow up visits with her doctor since then, and she insisted that Maureen and the baby were doing wonderfully. So the ceremony had been set for four o'clock that evening in Central Park, with a reception to follow at a downtown restaurant nearby Times Square, one of Maureen's favorites.

Mark and Maureen hadn't moved out of Jen's apartment yet, but had just bought a townhouse home near Central Park, which help from both sets of their parents. Mark's parents weren't too thrilled at the idea that Mark had gotten Maureen pregnant not once, but twice before they were married, even though her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Maureen's parents on the other hand were thrilled, and had flown in from Chicago last night, while Mark and Roger's parents were driving in from Scarsdale early this morning.

"Roger! Get off the fucking phone!" Jen shouted at him, slamming the cabinet door shut in the kitchen.

He glared at her. "Yeah, I gotta go. Call me later." He hung up the phone. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You've been on the phone the whole morning, ever since you and I got up. What is honestly so important?"

"I'm just talking to people," he answered her quietly.

Jen rolled her eyes and started walking towards their bedroom. "People? Oh, like Beth? Or hmm, maybe you're going to stick up for Travis some more."

"What is fucking wrong with you today?" he shouted at her.

"Nothing," she muttered. "Everything." She sat down on the edge of the bed. "What if it looks like him?"

"What if what looks like who?" he questioned, unzipping the garment bag that held his tuxedo. He was only half listening to her, the phone conversations still ringing in his ears.

"Never mind," she sighed, managing to lay down in the bed in a somewhat comfortable position, one hand wrapped around her large stomach.

Roger sighed and crawled onto the bed next to her, kissing her softly. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged and rested her head on his shoulder while his own hand rested on her stomach. "What are we going to do if it comes out looking like Travis?"

"It won't," Roger told her sharply. "So don't worry about it."

"But it could."

"But it won't," he repeated. "Hey, I have to take a shower. Care to join?"

Jen shook her head. "I think I'm going to try and take a nap before your mom gets here."

"Okay." He kissed her again and smiled. "Holler if you need anything."

"Like you'll hear me over your terrible shower singing? Yeah right," Jen smirked. Roger grinned and not long after, Jen heard the shower running in her bathroom.

Jen curled up onto her side and groaned when she felt what she assumed to be another Braxton-Hicks contraction roll through her. She had about five weeks to go before the baby was born, but at her last doctor's appointment the week before, he had warned her that if she experienced any signs of pre term labor to phone him right away and get herself to the hospital. He was especially worried because of all the stress Jen had put herself through over the past four months and wanted to keep a close eye on her and the baby.

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, Roger was out of the shower and gelling his hair, his mother standing right next to him.

"It doesn't look bad, Mom," Roger sighed. "It looks fine."

"I don't know," Sandra smirked. "I never understood you and your obsession with different hair colors."

Jen yawned and sat up, rubbing at her lower back. It had been bothering her all throughout the day and didn't see to want to let up any, which meant she'd probably have to sit out most of Mark and Maureen's reception.

"Hi sweetie!" Sandra smiled. "Oh look at you! You look like you're about to pop, and I mean that in the best way possible. How are you feeling?"

Jen made a face and shook her head. "Not so good. My back is killing me and I'm feeling sort of dizzy."

Roger crouched next to her, concerned. "You want me to get you something to drink?"

"Water with ice?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "Sure baby."

Sandra leaned over and rested a hand on Jen's forehead. "You're a little warm. How long has your back been bothering you?"

Jen switched her hands over and started rubbing her lower back. "Since late last night, but it hurts like hell now. Just like it was before I had Abby, except it's too early. I'm only thirty-five weeks."

"Well you're eight months pregnant. Do you want me to call your doctor? You might be going into labor without really knowing it yet."

Jen stared at Roger's mother without cracking a smile. Although she loved Sandra to death, this wasn't what she wanted to hear right now. As much as this baby kicked the crap out of her sometimes, she wanted it to stay put. It wasn't too early for it to be born, but it wasn't the right time, not in her opinion, either. Especially not on Mark and Maureen's wedding day. "You're kidding, right?"

Sandra smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not kidding. Roger's sister Lindsey had her daughter Marissa four weeks early, and she was complaining of back pain and some contractions. I even had Joey two weeks early. Roger was stubborn, though. He didn't want to come out until almost two weeks after his due date. I was huge and miserable, and we had to be in the worst Indian summer Scarsdale had ever seen that year. God, the summer of '71 was hot. Almost as bad as this one turned out to be."

Roger grinned as he entered the bedroom with a glass of ice water. "Talking about me again, Mom?"

She laughed. "Bring the phone in here, honey. Jen might be going into labor."

The color drained out of Roger's face and he gripped the edge of the doorframe. "What?" He glanced over at Jen who but her lip uncomfortably. "Isn't it too early for that?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Sandra added. "You better call her doctor and then we'll get you to the hospital sweetie."

Jen groaned. "I ruined Mark and Maureen's day."

"Oh sweetie…no," Sandra said, helping her stand up off of the bed. "They'll understand. I know they will."

"No, I mean I'm not even ready! I just packed my hospital bag two days ago! Roger and Mark finished the baby's room last month! I'm not ready for this yet," Jen said, looking like she was about to cry. "I'm not even married. Again. I always thought I'd be married for my second baby. But I'm not." She started to cry just as Roger walked back into the room with the phone.

"Jen what's wrong?" he asked her. Jen shook her head and instead pressed her head against his chest.

"I think I'm having contractions," she sobbed. "And I ruined Mark and Maureen's wedding day."

Roger shook his head and rubbed her shoulders. "Whoa, you didn't ruin anything at all. Let's get you down to the hospital and see what's going on and whether or not our little guy wants to come out or stay in, okay?"

Jen nodded and finally calmed down enough. "Okay." She shakily took a sip of the water. "You have to call Collins. Abby's with Collins and Logan."

"Don't worry sweetie. We'll take care of everything. Roger, I want you to take Jen's hospital bag down to my car." Sandra handed him the keys with a smile. "I'm going to let Jen get changed and then I'll help her downstairs."

"Yeah," Roger agreed. "You okay for now?"

Jen nodded. "Take my phone and call Mark and Collins while you're down there. Tell them that we don't know if this is the real thing or a false alarm yet."

"Got it."

By noon, Roger, Jen, and Sandra arrived at the hospital and had managed to get Jen checked in. The nurse wheeled her right upstairs to a private room in the maternity ward while Roger made the phone calls from Jen's cell phone. Mark and Maureen were on their way, but Collins and Logan were going to keep Abby at their apartment until the doctors were sure whether or not Jen was in labor.

Roger squeezed Jen's hand and kissed her forehead lightly as her obstetrician finished examining her.

"Well Jen," Dr. Myers sighed, rolling back on his chair slightly. "You were right to come in today. You're in active labor right now. I know at our appointment last week we discussed premature labor, and I can give you drugs to stop the labor, but at this point, I doubt they'll be able to hold you over any longer than a few days to a week at most, because it seems like this little boy wants to come out and say hello," the doctor smiled. "You or the baby aren't in any immediate distress. Your blood pressure and heart rate is good, and so is the baby's. He just seems to want to make his debut a little bit early."

"Is it okay for him to come out now?" Roger questioned, squeezing Jen's hand again.

Dr. Myers nodded. "Jen is about thirty-five and a half weeks pregnant. Full term is thirty-seven weeks. Like I said, neither one of them are in distress, so we can deliver this baby today. You're already four centimeters dilated, and we'll probably be looking at a healthy and happy six pound baby boy."

The monitor beeped, signaling an upcoming contraction. Jen managed to breathe through it, painfully squeezing Roger's hand. "Fine. Let's do it," she told the doctor. "Just get me a goddamn epidural."

The doctor laughed. "I can arrange that. I'll have a nurse come in and check on you in a few minutes. Since this is your second child, you'll probably deliver sometime tonight." He smiled and left the room, leaving Roger and Jen alone.

"Wow, this is great," Roger grinned. "Tonight. I can't believe it. I guess the little guy didn't want to wait until the first of October."

Jen pouted and rested her head back against the pillow. "No, I guess not. I wish he would stay in there a little longer, even if I do look like a whale. I want him to be healthy."

"I know," Roger sighed. He rested his hand against her stomach with a smile. "Looks like he didn't like the room service in there."

She stuck out her tongue and kissed Roger quickly. "Mark get here yet?"

"He's on his way with Maureen."

Minutes later, Jen was trying to rest, but that was getting more and more difficult with contractions coming about six to seven minutes apart. Roger had put his feet up on the small nightstand was watching a Real World marathon on MTV. Sandra had joined them for a few minutes to check up on Jen and see if they needed her to get anything, but drove back to the loft to pick up Roger's stepfather Jerry around one. A nurse had swung by to check on Jen's progress, but informed them that she was still only at four centimeters and to hang in there.

"Easy for her to say," Jen mumbled, glancing over at Roger.

"I'm sorry," he apologized with a smile. "It looks like it's gonna hurt."

"You're not very good at this."

He cracked another smile and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "You want me to check in on Abby?"

She nodded. "Please."

"All right. I'll be back." Roger got up out of the chair, heading down the hall with Jen's cell phone.

Jen rested her head back against the pillow and poked at her stomach stubbornly. "Just couldn't wait any longer, could you kid? Huh?"

There was a knock on the doorframe. "You know what they say about people talking to themselves," Mark grinned. He had his hand linked with Maureen's and they both walked into the room. Maureen was holding a bouquet of flowers in a vase.

"Hey," Jen smiled. "Sorry I ruined your wedding day."

Maureen laughed. "Oh it's okay honey. These things happen. Plus, waiting for you to deliver this baby is so much more fun anyway!" She set the flowers down on the nightstand with a smile.

"Hey!" Mark shot back with a grin. "As long as I get my wedding night I'll be a happy man."

She pouted, hands on her hips. "Who said I'm giving you that wedding night tonight?"

Jen laughed at the look on Mark's face. "Easy there, camera boy. But really, I feel terrible. I can't believe I ruined your wedding."

"Don't worry about it," Mark shrugged. "We can always reschedule. It wasn't like a huge planned out thing anyway. Your health is more important right now. So what happened? When did you go into labor? I got some shitty pieced together details from both Roger and Collins, but neither one of their stories matched up with the other."

Maureen shook her head and sat down in the chair near the bed. "Typical."

Jen gripped the rail of the bed as another contraction shook through her body. Mark instantly slid his hand into hers and rubbed her back softly as she breathed through it deeply.

"Better?"

"That sucked."

Maureen bit her lip. "Are you going natural with this?"

Jen shook her head. "Hell no. I wish I could, but I can't. The nurse said when I reach about five centimeters they'll page the anesthesiologist. Anyway, I guess my contractions started sometime last night, but I've been dealing with those Braxton-Hicks contractions for so long that I didn't really think anything of it. So this morning my back really started hurting me, and I fell asleep and woke up about half an hour later. Roger had just gotten out of the shower, and his mom had just gotten there. So Sandra made him call my doctor and we got here around noon. My doctor came in and checked me, told me that the baby and I weren't in any distress and that if they tried to stop the labor I'd just be back here sometime next week anyway. So I'm going to have this baby today, at least it looks that way."

"I can't wait," Maureen squealed. "But we didn't get a chance to start a baby pool yet."

"Lucky me. You still have time. The doctor said he won't be born until probably sometime tonight and that he's guessing he'll be at least six pounds."

Mark chuckled. "Better write that down, Mo. It'll give everyone someplace to start."

"Oh, hush."

Mark sat down on the edge of the hospital bed. "Does the doctor have any idea what caused you to go into labor so early?"

Jen shrugged. "It's most likely spontaneous, but they're not really sure. It could be a lot of things."

"Like stress?" Maureen questioned carefully.

"Maureen…" Mark sighed.

"What? I'm just saying, it's obvious that Jen's been under a lot of stress the past few months." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Anyway, that's what my doctor's been telling me at my appointments anyway."

Mark shot his fiancée a look. "Don't bring it up!"

Jen looked away. "She's right, you know."

He nodded. "I know. There's been a lot going on with you and Roger."

"Yeah," Maureen agreed. "Are you two still planning on getting married?"

"Maureen!" Mark hollered. "Cut it out!"

"Hey, I have a right to know too!" she defended herself with a huff. "God, I need to go for a walk. I don't need your crap right now." She steadily got up out of the chair and walked straight out the door without looking back.

"Sorry," he apologized. "She's been really edgy and sensitive lately."

"It's okay. I don't really know about the marriage thing," Jen answered calmly. "We're not engaged, and I don't know if that's where we're going to end up. I came back here, expecting things to be different, and they were. A lot of bad came out of the good, and vice versa. I'd love to be married to him, but I don't think he wants to commit. I know things have been different between us since he came back from rehab. It's not the same in a lot of ways. We're a lot more careful around each other for some reason—like we don't want to hurt the other in any way, but we are. I know he wants to be a father to Abby and this baby, but if he can't commit, I'm always going to worry that he'll find someone better and leave us like he did for Beth. Until I know that he's positive about us being a family, until I have that stupid ring on my finger, this feeling is not going to go away. I've had my heart broken by him three times already, and I don't want it to happen anymore." Another contraction started, and she began breathing through it. "How long?"

"This one is five minutes," Mark noted.

Jen looked down, only to feel a puddle of warm liquid pooling around her legs. "And my water just broke."

Mark grinned. "Looks like I'm really going to be an uncle again today."

She dropped her head back against the pillows as the contraction ended. "What should I do? You were always so good at this advice thing."

"You want to know my honest opinion?"

Jen nodded. "Yes."

He sighed. "Honestly, I know Roger loves you, but I also know he's scared. Really scared. Of what, I don't know. He wants to marry you, that I'm sure of. But for some reason I think he's scared that if he does marry you, he'll only hurt you in the long run. And you can't tell him that I told you this, because this is totally going against the trust of our friendship, but he told me that the reason he hasn't proposed to you yet is because he knows that one day he's going to die on you, Abby, and the baby. He doesn't want to hurt you anymore then he already has. That's what's really going on through his head. He loves you, Jen. He's always loved you, ever since high school. He adores Abby, and he's going to be a great father to this baby. But he's scared of having to leave you one day."

A tear rolled down Jen's cheek, and she reached her hand up to brush it away. "I'm scared too. I'm scared, but I love him. I wish things could be different, but they can't. But I want to share whatever time we have together with him. I don't care if that's ten years, ten months, ten weeks, ten days. One day. I don't care. I love him. I love him so much it hurts." She started to cry, the tears falling into her lap.

Mark leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back in small, short circles. "Hey. Don't cry. He loves you too. He'll never leave you, not again. Not ever. I promise."

Roger rested his head against the wall, right outside of Jen's hospital room. He had heard their entire conversation, and it practically tore his heart in two to hear Jen sound so upset. And yeah, Mark had been right. He was scared of having to leave her one day. He was terrified. But now he knew where they stood, and knew what he had to do. After the baby was born, he'd propose to her. He wasn't going to waste anymore time. He was tired of wasting time.

Mark pulled away by kissing Jen's forehead. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Promise me that you'll never leave me Marky."

"I promise," Mark agreed. "Never.

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