Mark sat, twiddling his thumbs and thinking about what he was going to say to Maureen until she finally emerged from his room around noon. Maureen tossed frizzy brown hair over her shoulder and collapsed onto the couch across from Mark. Mark stared at her, studying her state of consciousness, and she stared back at him.

"What?" she muttered, her voice cracking a little.

"Nothing, I just…I think we should talk."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "What now? Haven't we done enough talking for one day?"

Mark shook his head. "We're all concerned about you, Maureen. You seem really unhappy. I mean, deep down I know you want this baby, but I don't want to pressure you. I realize that this is going to be a really hard adjustment, but I want to make sure that this is really what you want before we go through with telling Joanne."

Maureen leaned forward, smiling warily and taking his hand in hers. "Mark, I'm a huge drama queen, okay? I'm happy. I'm really happy that we're going to have a baby together. Maybe a little scared and nervous, but…who wouldn't be? Look, you and I can do this. And I'm going to complain a lot but you can't take that too seriously. So don't worry about it. Just know that I'm sure. Just because I'm whining doesn't mean I don't want this to happen."

Mark had known that, and even if his friends hadn't been sure that Maureen wanted this he had really known all along. It was good to have reassurance though. "I'm glad to hear that. So, are we ready to go talk to Joanne?"

A look of pure terror struck Maureen's face but was replaced almost instantly by a determined expression. "Not really, but yes. We have to, I guess." She stood up and went over to the coat rack next to the door that Mimi had brought home one night ("I'm sick of your coats always lying on the furniture!" she had said defiantly before plopping the rack right next to the loft door.) Mark stood as well and shook slightly as he reached for his own coat. The filmmaker was typically a nervous person, but this took the cake. His stomach felt like a nuclear bomb had gone off in there.

As they walked out of the building they discussed what they would tell Joanne. "We just have to explain it to her. She'll understand," Maureen said optimistically as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Oh yeah, I expect she will," Mark said uneasily. "She put up with all of your shit in the past, so why should now be any different?"

Maureen hit him playfully as they huddled into themselves, hustling down the busy chilly February-worn streets. They were both shaking, from both nerves and the cold. "We'll just tell her that we had a one-night thing about a month ago and we didn't mean it to happen, but it did. And we want her support. And her help," Maureen said. "She'll love that."

Mark nodded. He figured that he was probably going to remain silent for the most part of the confrontation. Just as long as he was there for support Maureen would probably be able to take care of pretty much everything by herself.

Finally, they arrived at the apartment that Maureen and Joanne shared. Mark's stomach was doing gymnastics good enough for an Olympic gold medal as Maureen reached for the doorknob, giving him a weak, unconvincing smile as she pushed the door open.

Joanne was sitting at her desk going over several huge files, a half-full cup of coffee at her elbow. The apartment was silent and she looked up when she heard the door shut, glaring up at Maureen.

"Where have you been?" the lawyer demanded. She got to her feet and went over to give her girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. "Honeybear, I was worried sick about you. You left so early! Why did you run off?"

Then Mark stepped into the apartment tentatively and Joanne looked at him with a look of confusion. "Mark? Were you with Mark?" she asked Maureen. Maureen nodded a little.

Joanne looked as if she was totally unsure of what to make of what was happening. She looked from Maureen to Mark and then glared at Maureen. "Maureen? What's going on?"

Maureen flopped down into Joanne's desk chair, giving Joanne and pleading look. "We need to talk to you, Pookie," she said in her typical drama-queen voice. "It's important."

Mark let himself fall back into the scenery as Maureen began to talk. "Look…don't be mad, but Mark and I had a little…one-night thing about a month ago."

Joanne's eyebrows were raised, her face twisted in fury. But Maureen stood up and held out her hands in a "stop" gesture. "And…And…it was stupid, it was a one-night thing and we should have used protection, but…"

"YOU'RE PREGNANT?" Joanne bellowed, her eyes fiery as she turned to Mark, who shrank away from her. "You got Maureen PREGNANT?"

Mark allowed a shaky "Yes" to escape his lips, and Joanne turned her eyes back to Maureen. "I can't believe this! You got PREGNANT by MARK? While you were dating ME?"

Maureen nodded, giving her Pookie-please-don't-be-mad look. Mark almost chuckled at how masterful Maureen was when it came to controlling her partners. Joanne wasn't going to fall for it this time. "I can't believe this! You're pregnant? And you cheated on me. This is the last straw!" Joanne said, stepping away from Maureen. "I've let you flirt and cheat and control me for way too long! And now you go out and get PREGNANT by MARK! We're done!"

Joanne went over the closet, throwing it open and beginning to throw Maureen's clothes out of it and onto the bed. Maureen yelped a little and jumped over to Joanne. "I thought you'd understand, Joanne! I thought you would want to support me and help with this baby! I thought you'd want to help raise it!"

Joanne stopped what she was doing and turned to Maureen in disbelief. "You thought that after you cheated on me with your ex-boyfriend and got yourself pregnant that I'd actually stay with you? You're insane, Maureen. INSANE. I want you out of this apartment in fifteen minutes. You can stay with Mark, for all I fucking care."

Mark was surprised, and he found himself in a position where he needed to help Maureen. So he shakily walked over and began collecting Maureen's clothes on his arm, speaking to Joanne. "Look, Joanne…we didn't mean this to happen and please, don't blame me, I thought you two were broken up…and I want you to be there. I want to be there too but want you to be there for this baby because you're important to Maureen…"

Joanne turned to him, looked him in the eye, and smacked him across the face. Mark recoiled in surprise, almost losing his balance but managing to stumble back into his feet. Maureen screeched and looked ready to lunge at Joanne but Mark jumped in between her and Joanne, turning his face to Maureen. "Get your shit, Maureen. Let's go."

Twenty minutes later, Mark and Maureen trudged from the apartment with several heavy bags and boxes, looking at each other in despair as they walked back towards the loft. "I thought that she would react much better to that," Maureen said, almost indifferently. She looked almost cheerful at the way that things had turned out.

"Why are you so happy?" Mark demanded with annoyance. "You're homeless and pregnant and poor! That's NOT something to be happy about!"

"Homeless?" Maureen responded. "What? Why can't I stay with you, Marky?"

Mark sighed. He didn't see any other option, really. But there wasn't enough room for her…unless she stayed in his room, which she could…since they were pretty much back together again…he smiled a little. "Well, I guess you'll have to. I don't want the mother of my child out on the street and I need to make sure you're taking care of yourself, so I guess we don't have any other option."

Maureen dropped the several heavy bags she was carrying and gave him a big hug. "Aww, thank you Marky!"

Mark sighed a little. He could tell this was going to be the beginning of an…interesting relationship.