Chapter Eighteen: I Need to Laugh Like a Child
Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to joy… With it, earth is heaven, and we are gods.—R. G. Ingersoll

April and Jessica sat curled on the couch together, April's head resting on Jessi's shoulder, just grateful for the familiarity of touch. She'd forgotten how much she missed it with her Jessi. Today, Jessica had designated as a movie day. She used to do this all the time, rent anywhere from two to five movies, usually running along some theme (a theme sometimes only comprehensible to Jessi), and drag April over to watch them with her. April reflected with a smile that Jessica and Mark should meet some time. They'd get along well. Maybe if she could talk Jessi into visiting New York in a while…

Today, the theme was old movies—Casablanca, that sort of thing. April and Jessica had pulled the curtains to shut out the world, got some popcorn and milk, and just sat together watching their movies, just like they would have years ago. And then came a knock at the door.

Jessica sighed and got up to pause the movie. "I'll get it," she said with some annoyance, and walked down the hallway to the front door. April stayed on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest, staring pensively at the television. She heard Jessi's voice, though she couldn't make out words, then a man's voice. Familiar, but it couldn't be…

Jessica walked back into the living room and quirked an eyebrow at April, jerking her head towards the door. "It's for you."

April frowned at her and stood up, starting down the hallway. "What, did Chris come over to—" She stopped as she rounded the corner and came into sight of the open door. Roger stood there, looking decidedly more nervous than she had ever seen him before. She spoke before thinking. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Not the most encouraging greeting he could have hoped for. He winced a little, but it didn't seem to discourage him much. "April, I wanted to apologize for being—"

"An ass?"

He grimaced at her blunt phrasing, but at last admitted, "Well… yes."

"And you couldn't have called to tell me that?" She folded her arms over her chest, glaring at him without coming any closer. Had he seriously driven across the country just to apologize? Dear God, I'm dating a complete lunatic. Or else it's sweet and a little pathetic…At the moment, it's hard to tell.

"Well, I guess I could have," he answered slowly. "But if I just called, would you have listened to me?"

She hesitated. "No, I don't think so. What makes you think I'm listening to you now?"

Roger watched her for a moment, taking in the stubborn set of her jaw, the lifted eyebrows, her arms crossed over her chest. After a second, his eyes flickered past her to land on Jessica, standing just behind April. Jessica smirked a little, and Roger found it impossible to tell if that smirk was malicious or merely amused. "I take it you're Roger. April's told me a lot about you." Roger eyed her warily; that sounded almost ominous.

April elbowed Jessica gently in the ribs. "Jessi. Stop." Sometimes her friend took it in her head to be intimidating and protective, but now was not the time. She turned her attention back to Roger. "I'm still waiting for an answer."

He seemed to have forgotten the question. "An answer to…?"

April sighed. "What makes you think I'll listen to you any more here than I would if you'd just stayed in New York and called me?"

"At least you'll have to tell me to my face that you won't forgive me."

"Roger."

"Okay, I don't know. I just… If you're going to hate me, I'd like you to tell me while you're standing in front of me."

"I don't hate you, Roger," she said quietly, and at last stepped forward to take his hand. It was shaking. April studied his face quietly for a minute or two, and finally said, "You're all here, aren't you?"
Somehow he understood what she meant, and he smiled wryly. "Yeah, and it fucking hurts."

"Doesn't surprise me," she said calmly, deciding not to remark that it was his fault he was in pain in the first place. "You want some aspirin?"

"Think that'll help?"

She shrugged. "Can't hurt." April glanced over her shoulder at Jessica and raised an eyebrow, silently asking if she minded if Roger came in. Jessica tilted her head to one side and beckoned Roger inside; still holding his hand, April pulled him inside, towards the living room. "Come on, we're watching movies."

Once in sight of the living room, Roger took one look at the television and glanced down to April, grinning. "You came all the way out here to watch old movies? You could've done that at home with Mark."

She laughed and punched him in the arm playfully. "Well if you're going to be sarcastic…"

He took a step away from her, holding his arm and feigning injury. "Hey, hey… Ow!"

April only grinned at him. "Since when are you that delicate?"

"Children," Jessi drawled with a patient smile as she went to turn the movie back on, and April and Roger sat on the couch. "Play nice."

Jessica had decided that they needed ice cream and gone to the kitchen to dig some out of the freezer, leaving Roger and April on the couch together, April alongside Roger, holding his hand as she laced and unlaced their fingers quietly. She didn't say anything until Roger commented softly, "I met your sisters this afternoon."

She blinked. "You met… oh dear. What did they do?"

"Nothing, actually. They're the ones who told me you were over here. Nice girls. Maybe we could… take the two of them out tomorrow? To the beach or something?"

April stared at him for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. "Oh no. You don't want to do that. Not with my sisters."

Roger gave her an inquiring look. "Why, are they demon-spawn or something?"

She chuckled. "When they're not supervised by responsible adults, they are."

"We're responsible adults!" She shot him a look, and he amended, "You're a responsible adult!"

That made her laugh, and she shook her head a little. "They will be absolute terrors. You really don't want to have to deal with them for a day."

"Oh, come on. They can't be that bad. They seemed nice enough when I met them… We could just take them out for a couple hours."

"You have no idea what you're getting into."

Jessica bounced back into the living room, trying to balance three bowls of ice cream at once, and she quickly handed two of the bowls to the other two before flopping down on the couch beside April. "Oh, come on, 'Ril, couldn't hurt him to spend a day with the terrors. Besides, they're a lot older than when we used to babysit them. Can't be all that bad." She grinned at the skeptical look April gave her. "I could come with you, if you want. You know, since you're not sure the two of you can handle a couple of thirteen-year-olds on your own."

April sighed and lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. You two are impossible. We'll take the twins out to the beach tomorrow."

Roger smiled at her. "Everything's a worst case scenario for you. They'll have fun. We'll have fun."

"Tell me that tomorrow," April said with a grin, dropping her head against Roger's shoulder.

The next day, Roger was a little too distracted to remind her of that. The trip to the beach wasn't quite so bad—Jessica, Gabrielle and Michelle stayed in the water the whole time, acting like children half their age (or, in Jessica's case, a third her age), while April had to convince Roger to get in the water once he discovered the temperature.

"April," he complained, "the water's cold. It shouldn't be cold in June."

She rolled her eyes. "It's Monterey, Roger. Northern California. It's always cold. Stop being a ninny and get in the water." He finally conceded and stepped in; after a while, he even stopped complaining, though he did say that it was only because he was going numb.

On the drive home, however… "Michelle, please sit on the towel. You're getting my car—"

"I'm Gabrielle."

"Oh, sorry. Gabrielle, please try not to get my car all—"

"What?"

"That is Michelle."

He sat there for a moment, and then shot Michelle a look in the rearview mirror. "I'm keeping my eye on you," he said warningly, which only made all four of the girls giggle. He sighed and looked away from the mirror to the road in front of him. "There's sand everywhere. I'm never going to get my car clean again."

"That's what happens when you go to the beach," April said with a smile. "You get sand everywhere."

"Well… yeah… but…"

"Your idea, remember?"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You just love rubbing that in, don't you?"

She laughed. "Yeah, kind of."

Roger just rolled his eyes and muttered once more under his breath as he braked for a stoplight, "Never going to get my car clean."

April shoved him gently. "Stop whining about it. You're obsessive about this car, I swear."

He smiled and caught her hand in one of his, pulling her towards him to kiss her on the lips while the twins both squealed and Jessica made cat calls. April twined her arms around his neck and kissed him back quite happily until Jessica shouted from the back, "Roger! Green light!" He released her and turned his attention back to the road, grinning, while April sat back in her chair, smiling faintly herself.

Gabrielle leaned forward in her seat to ask April, "So, is he a good kisser?"

April stared at her open-mouthed. "Gabby!"
Michelle chuckled and leaned forward too. "Well?"

Jessica couldn't resist asking, "Yeah, April, is he?"

April laughed out of sheer disbelief. "You three are… just…" She glared at Roger, who was watching her and trying not to laugh. "You! Eyes on the road, mister!"