Chapter Two
A/N: Okay, I just want you all to know that when I refer to Angel, I refer to him as 'she' or 'her', even though technically Angel's a boy. But they all refer to her as a girl, so I figured I would too, to make things simpler. Just didn't want to confused anyone!
"Heyyyyyy boys!"Saturday morning, Maureen Johnson came dancing into the loft, Joanne Jefferson behind her lugging a pile of kids toys and baby supplies. Maureen twirled around, tossing her purse onto the couch, pulling her coat off and dropping it on the floor.
"Maureen! You're already not setting a good example!"Mark cried, picking up her coat.
"Are the little angels here yet?"Maureen asked.
"No, they should be here any minute though,"Mark said, putting Maureen's coat on the couch as he and Roger rushed to help Joanne with all the luggage.
"Maureen and I found a ton of stuff that we thought might be helpful,"Joanne explained.
"Thanks, I really appreciate that you guys came over,"Mark said.
"How old are they again?"Maureen asked, wandering around the loft, playing with all sorts of things she shouldn't be playing with.
"The oldest is Thomas, he's seven. Then there's the twins Sam and Kristy, they're five, then there's Lucy, she's three, and the baby, Greta, she's like, five months or something,"Mark explained, placing some of the toys down on one of the chairs.
"Jeeze, it would suck to have the name Greta,"Maureen commented as she flipped through some pictures that were on the counter. "It's such a...weird name."
"Well gee Maureen, there's a great way to bring up the kid's self esteem,"Mark snapped.
"I'm just saying..."Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Mark sighed.
"That's them. Okay, from this point on, I want you all on your best behavior!"he instructed. The others all nodded. Mark opened the door...and was immediately leapt on by a young red-headed woman.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you Mark!"she squealed. Mark nearly stumbled backwards.
"Yeah, any time Cindy..."he muttered, pushing the woman off of him. Cindy was a very perky-looking red-head with a big, obviously bleached smile, and a fancy outfit that did not fit in with what all the others were wearing. She looked around the loft, her smile fading a little.
"Well this is a...nice little place,"she commented, obviously not wanting to sound rude, but failing in that department. "So, you're sure the kids will be safe here?"
"Oh yeah, I've got the gang here to help look after them,"Mark said, motioning to his friends. Maureen stepped forward.
"Hi, I'm Maureen Johnson!"she greeted, hand outstretched. Cindy's grin disappeared altogether as she looked Maureen over, obviously remembering the name...
"Oh. Right. The one who dumped Mark when..."She eyed Joanne suspiciously. Maureen's grin remained plastered on her face, though it turned into more of a grimace.
"Yeah. That's me,"she replied, putting her hand down. Mark quickly stepped in between them.
"So, great, we'll take good care of the kids!"he said.
"Um, right...kids!"Cindy called. Four kids came dashing into the loft quickly, all adorable looking little red-heads, except the oldest boy who had blonde hair. Then a tall, smiling man holding a baby entered.
"Mark, you remember Rich,"Cindy said, motioning to the man. Mark grinned awkwardly.
"Uh...hi Rich. Nice to see you again..."he greeted, having no recollection of ever meeting this man before in his life. Rich just continued to grin.
"You too, Matt!"he said, patting him on the back. Mark stumbled forward a little from the force of the pat.
"Er, it's Mark..."Rich handed the baby over to Mark, quickly wrapping his arm around Cindy.
"Well, thanks again Mark!"Cindy said. "We really appreciate you and all your friends doing this for us. I'm sure the kids will have fun with–"
"Hey there, bitches!"Tom Collins and Angel Dumont-Schunard suddenly came pushing past Cindy and Rich into the loft, arms around each other, grinning widely. Angel was in her complete ensemble, go-go boots, mini-skirt and all.
"Collins! Watch your language!"Angel scolded, giggling a little. Cindy and Rich were gawking at Angel in utter shock.
"Is that a...?"
"Okay, have fun, bye, see you later!"Mark cried quickly, shoving them out the door and slamming it.
The four kids remained close to their Uncle Mark, staring in awe at the group of bohemians sitting around the loft. Roger was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out a little Sesame Street keyboard. Joanne was trying to heat up some baby formula in the kitchen. Maureen was laying on the couch, still flipping through pictures. Collins was happily taking swigs of vodka as Angel played with her clothes in the mirror.
"Hun, does this skirt make my butt stick out?"Angel asked Collins, who turned around.
"Isn't it supposed to?"he asked, grinning a little. Angel giggled, slapping Collins playfully. Collins laughed, kissing Angel, and the kids all exchanged shocked looks.
"How you do figure this fuckin' thing out?"Roger demanded, bashing the little toy against the ground angrily.
"Mark, does your microwave even work!"Joanne called. Right then, little Greta woke up...and began screeching. Mark winced.
"Oh God..."he moaned. "Shhh! Don't cry! We're not that scary, really! Well, okay, Maureen is pretty scary..."
"HEY!"Mark felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down to see Thomas looking up at him worriedly. He motioned for Mark to come within earshot. Mark bent down a little...
"Is that a boy or a girl?"Thomas whispered, motioning to Angel. Mark sighed.
"...both,"he decided to reply. Thomas looked terribly confused, but Mark just smiled. "Why don't you go play with Roger?"
"Which one is that?"Thomas asked.
"The one...bashing toys on the floor,"Mark said, noticing just how odd his roommate looked at the moment.
"He looks kind of crazy,"Thomas replied.
"Yeah...he is,"Mark said, nodding. Greta was now not only wailing but kicking and clawing at Mark as well. "Look, I have to go take Greta over to Joanne. You guys start getting settled in!"And Mark ran away. The four kids looked around...Then the twins grinned at each other.
"I wanna play with the girly man!"
"No, it's a manly girl!"And that was the start of the Bohemian Day Care.