As soon as the excitement died down around the loft, Mark decided it would be best to call Collins. He almost dreaded doing this, fearing that exactly what ended up happening would happen.

"YOU…got MAUREEN pregnant?" Collins choked out through roars of laughter on the other end of the tinny phone connection. It was almost like listening to a dog bark. "That's the best thing I've heard yet this year!"

Mark sighed, rolling his eyes. "We're really happy about this, thanks for your support."

Collins continued to laugh. "Oh, come on man, you know I'm happy for you! Hey, I'll head over right now and bring y'all some food, okay? We can celebrate!"

Mark smiled. That was more like the Collins he knew. "That would be great," he replied, this time much more cheerfully. "We'll see you soon, okay?" And he hung up, still chuckling to himself as he flopped back onto the couch. "He's on his way."

"Is he bringing food?" Roger asked.

"Yeah, he is," Mark said. It was funny how Collins had basically become the source of food for the group, even though way back when he had been the poorest out of them all.

"So what are you going to name it if it's a boy?" Mimi asked Maureen excitedly, leaning forward and touching Maureen's stomach.

Maureen shrank away from her. "I'm only a month pregnant! You won't be able to feel anything in there!" There was obvious fright in her voice. This was a lot harder for Maureen than Mark had ever thought it would be. He thought that the attention would have suited Maureen well, that she would bask in the glow of being the "new mother". But it seemed that she wasn't quite as overjoyed about this as he had hoped.

Mark smiled, putting his arm firmly around Maureen's shoulders. "We haven't even had the time to discuss what we're going to tell Joanne, let alone potential names."

The room went quiet as everyone considered what Joanne would say. They all knew that Joanne was already jealous of Mark and when she found out that Maureen was pregnant with HIS baby…the chances that she was going to lose it were staggering. Roger finally piped up. "When did Collins say he was going to get here?"

"He said he was heading right over, but he had to stop and get supplies first."

"He better be bringing alcohol," Maureen muttered. Mark stared at her vaguely. She had a long way to go between her current lifestyle and the one that she was going to need to lead for the next nine months.

"no alcohol for you, you're pregnant," Mark said. Maureen scowled at him and Roger rolled his eyes at her.

"I don''t think I can do this for nine months," she muttered,