A/N- Wow. You guys are frickin' unbelievable! Thank you so much for all your amazing reviews! Now I feel much better about chapter 8, no doubt, lol. Since I'm not able to reply to anonymous reviews, I just wanted to clear something up really quick, so- no, Libby is not Mark's. I'm not really into these kind of stories, so I tried to keep it as realistic as possible. Also, notice that Libby is five while Maureen left New York ten years ago so… nope. Sorry if anyone is disappointed :)

Anyway, read on, you guys, and keep up your awesome reviews! They truly make my day! Love you all!

Time to change the disclaimer a bit- I don't own Mark and Maureen, but I do own Libby, Robin, Tammy and, of course, Roger the Bear :)

Chapter 9

She was staring at the computer screen for about fifteen minutes. Although she thought about this a lot, she was still full of doubts about what she was about to do. It seemed to be her only way. She didn't want to lose Mark. She didn't want to make another mistake.

Before she'd have a chance to regret it, she clicked the 'print' button. Seconds later, her heart beating a bit faster than usual, she reached out for the paper and observed it thoughtfully. You're doing the right thing, she encouraged herself as she added her signature to her resignation letter.

She had just put her pen down when her phone beeped. "Maureen, Stan asks to see you in his office right away."

Her forehead cringed. Stan was the head of the publicity department of the New York office. Although they basically had the same job, his position required even more responsibility than hers, since the San Francisco office was only a branch of the New York one. He had far more things to take care of. If she used to stay long hours in the office after everyone went home, he had to stay even longer. She didn't envy him.

She picked up the phone. "Did he say why?" They already had their last meeting that morning. She was just finishing up some things before heading back to the hotel.

"No, he didn't."

"Okay. Thanks, Lynn. Tell him I'll be right up."

She wondered what was that all about. She put her letter in one of the folders in her briefcase and left her office to meet Stan.

Several people nodded or waved as she passed by. They all knew one another by now, after almost two weeks of exhausting and intensive conferences. She would be sorry to leave them behind. Just as she would be sorry to leave someone else behind. Don't think about this now, she told herself fiercely as she knocked lightly on Stan's door, straightening her navy blue skirt.

"Come in!" called his deep voice from inside the office. She entered, and he raised his head from the paperwork on his desk. His face brightened as he saw her. "Oh, Miss Johnson. Thank you for coming here so fast."

"Lynn said it's urgent. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I just need to discuss something with you. Please, have a seat." She did. She glanced at him, but his expression remained unreadable. What's going on? "Well, I'll make it short, I know you don't even supposed to be here by now. As you may have heard, I'm about to leave this company in several months."

She nodded. It was no secret. People used to talk about the legendary Stan Anderson's retirement even in the San Francisco office, so of course she knew that. She really wasn't sure where he was going with this. She looked at him questionably. "Well, the reason I'm still holding this position, other than end of year sum-ups, is because I couldn't find the right person to run this department the way I believed it is deserved to be run. But I believe I finally found one," he paused for a moment, looking straight at her.

She couldn't do much, but stare. He didn't imply what she thought he just did, right? She looked at him carefully, trying to find a spark of mischief in those gray eyes she came to know so well in such a short time, but he remained serious. "Stan, what are you saying?" she asked slowly.

He looked at her seriously. "The job is yours, if you want it," he said simply. Her jaw nearly dropped. She couldn't believe her ears. He misinterpreted her reaction, though, for he raised his hand, as if to stop her. "Now, before you try to protest, I've already talked with the San Francisco office. They'll be sorry to let you go, but they agree with me that of you are willing to accept my offer, it's going to be a major step in your career. It might be difficult, getting into this job and taking care of your little one, but I'm sure you'll learn how to manage. I ask you give it a serious though."

There laid her chance. Her once in a lifetime opportunity. Suddenly, everything looked a lot easier. She'd get Mark and a promotion? Her mind was racing, but she didn't want to give him her answer right away. She didn't want to do anything harsh. He was right, she had Libby to think about as well, and she wanted to talk to her first, before she'd make her final decision.

"I'll have to think about this," she said eventually, hoping that her expression didn't reveal her excitement.

Stan nodded. "Of course. I understand you're still in town for the next four days or so?" She nodded. "Take a couple of days to think about it, then."

Couple of hours is all I need, she thought, and then said, "Sir, whatever my final answer will be… thank you, for giving me this opportunity."

"You are a talented young woman. No one deserves this job more than you. And I'm sure you'll do your best, if you'll decide to accept it."

I hope I will, she thought as she shook his hand and left his office, her heart still pounding.

"Hey, I'm back!" she called as she closed the suite's door, and then sighed happily. No more work! To her surprise, Libby didn't come running from the other room to welcome her, even though she knew it was her last day at work. They were literally counting the days until her four days off, until they could spend some time together. But now… she felt her panic rise. Where was she? Maybe they weren't back yet? But there on the couch were Robin's coat and backpack, so they must have been there.

It was then when Robin entered the sitting room, looking kind of concerned. She wasn't even smiling, which made things even weirder. "Good, you're back," she said seriously.

"What happened?" she asked, dropping her briefcase and slipping out of her shoes as fast as she could.

"Libby was acting weird the entire morning," said Robin, leading her down the hall. "I didn't want to bother you at work, so I didn't call."

Oh no. "What do you mean? Weird how?"

"She didn't want to go anywhere, or do anything. She just sits there, playing with her dolls." They were standing in front of the bedroom door, which was half opened.

"Did you try to talk to her?"

"I did. She wouldn't say anything," Robin lowered her voice as she opened the door. Libby was sitting on the bed, playing with that stuffed cow Mark bought for her. She didn't even look up. It was like her body was there, but her mind was elsewhere, far away. God, what was wrong with her?

"Okay. I'll try to talk to her. Thanks, Robin."

"No problem. Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thank you."

Once she heard the door closes behind Robin, she entered the room and sat on the bed next to Libby, who raised her head, but only for a moment, before she turned her attention back to her cow.

"What's up, Munchkin?" she asked as lightly as she could, although she was beginning to feel panicked again. Something was wrong. Libby didn't answer, but before she knew it, tears were beginning to stream down her face. "Baby, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked, wrapping her arms around her little girl. She didn't care she was crying into her favorite suit. Hearing her nearly broke her heart. She just wanted her to stop. She wanted her to smile again. This had never happened before, and she had no idea how to handle it. Her baby was crying and she had no idea why. It made her feel so hopeless.

"I don't want to go home," Libby managed to say in between her heart-breaking sobs.

So that what it was all about? She could handle this, she thought. Well, she hoped she could. She tightened her grip on her daughter, and rubbed her back gently. "Shh… it's okay. It's okay, baby," she murmured soothingly. "Stop crying for a second and listen to me, okay?"

Gradually, her sobbing stopped, and she looked at her mother, her eyes still glistening with the remainders of tears.

"Libby, I wanna ask you something, baby. But you must think about this really carefully before you give me your answer, okay sweetheart?" She had to give it a try. Yes, her daughter was only four, well, almost five now, but it was her future too. She had to know that Libby was okay with this, before she'd do anything. She wanted to do this right.

Libby nodded. "Okay, mommy."

She took a deep breath. Here goes. "If we had the possibility to live in New York instead of going back to San Francisco, do you think you would want that? Because you know that once we move here, we can't regret and move back," she spoke slowly, softly, looking straight into Libby's eyes. It was important for her that Libby would understand all that before she even considered her answer. "It means that we'll have to give up things we love, like that candy shop near our building, and the pet store down the street. You know, the one with the cute white bunnies? And you won't be able to play with Grace and Lydia in the park like you used to."

Libby considered this for a moment. "But if we go back, we'll never see Mark again," she said in a small, quivering voice. Her lower lip started trembling as new tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

"You love him a lot, don't you?" she asked gently. Libby nodded. "Well, you know what?" she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell anyone, but Mark told me he loves you too. He loves you so much that he might want to be your daddy someday." Please, please, please, let this work.

Libby's eyes grew bigger with amazement. "He does?"

"Yeah. If you want to," she looked at Libby seriously. "What do you say? Do you want Mark to be your daddy?"

Slowly, carefully, Libby nodded. "And that means we'll stay with him here? And see him every day?"

"Yeah," she smiled. She felt such a huge relief all of a sudden.

"And you won't have to work all day?"

She laughed. "I'll still have to work. But you'll be with Mark, and in a year or two you'll start school. You won't even notice I'm not there."

"And can we find another candy store here? And maybe a pet store too?" Libby looked at her hopefully.

"Sure, baby. I'm sure there are even bigger stores here."

"I'll miss the bunnies," said Libby sorrowfully, but then her face brightened with new hope. "Maybe we could get a bunny of our own?"

She laughed softly. "Maybe. We'll see." She removed the hair from her daughter's face and looked at her seriously. "So what our decision is going to be, Libby? We're staying?"

It was a matter of seconds before a huge smile replaced the sad expression on Libby's face. She nodded. "We're staying."

She hurried down the street, as fast as her high heels let her. She left Libby with Robin for the rest of the afternoon. The girl was perfectly fine now, and she was talking endlessly about staying in New York, huge candy shops and cute little white bunnies. Robin was a bit confused at first, but she quickly explained the situation to her. She claimed she knew about Mark and her all along, and was really happy to hear about her job offer.

There was one thing she still had to do. She crossed the street and took her cell phone out of her bag. She could see him from the glass doors of the gallery as she dialed his number. He was talking with a woman, that Tammy, she assumed. Then he took his cell out of his pocket and smiled after looking at the screen. She smiled as well as she watched him click a button, accepting her call.

"Hey," he said, moving away from the woman.

"Hi," she answered as she entered the gallery. "What are you doing?" she asked, keeping a safe distance.

"Working. Where are you? It's noisy."

"Do you think you could get off for an hour or two?" she asked, deliberately ignoring his question.

"Maybe…" he sounded as if he was smiling. "What's on your mind, Miss Johnson?"

"Late lunch. Or early dinner. I'm starving," she smiled, making her way towards him among the crowd. He still didn't notice her, for he was standing with his back to her.

"Sure. How soon can you be here?"

"Hmm… about five seconds."

"Wow. You're having an affair with Superman or something?"

"Something like that," she said and quickly hung up. Before he had a chance to realize what had just happened, she tapped his shoulder. He turned and just stared at her, with that puzzled expression that made him so cute.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of technology," she smiled, placing her cell phone back in her bag.

He returned her smile and just looked at her for a second, observing her suit. "Have you just finished working? It's late, I thought you had your last meeting this morning."

"I did. I had to go back there for some… unfinished business," she said mysteriously. She was dying to tell him the truth, but stopped herself. Not just yet, she smiled to herself. "So are you ready to go?"

"Cohen, you're ditching me again to flirt with other women?" asked a woman from somewhere behind her. "Just you wait until your mother hears about this!"

She turned and recognized the woman who approached them. It was the same woman she spoke to on that very first day she stepped into that gallery. There was a spark of recognition in the woman's eyes as well, as her fake frown was quickly replaced with a sly, victorious smile.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Tammy, this is Maureen Johnson. Mo, this charming woman is my friend Tammy Horowitz."

"Your best friend, Cohen, don't make me look so bad," grumbled Tammy.

"After this impressive entry, I think I'll have to reconsider your being my best friend."

"Ha ha," Tammy stuck her tongue at him.

She laughed, shaking Tammy's hand. "Nice to meet you, Tammy."

Tammy looked at her intently. That was weird. For a moment, her expression resembled Collins' perfectly. "Same here," she said eventually. "Now I know he wasn't making it up. You do exist."

"Tammy, just shut up," said Mark, frowning and clearly embarrassed.

"Why, but it's so much fun!"

"Well, do you mind being nice for a change and close up alone here today?"

Tammy turned to her. "See? He's ditching me again!" Then she turned to face Mark again. He was staring at her in amazement. "And what do you mean by saying 'being nice for a change'? I'm always nice!"

"Umm… yeah, sure, whatever you say."

She smiled at his defeat. "Get out of here, Cohen, I'll see you tomorrow."

He glared at Tammy, but then turned to her and smiled. "I'll just get my coat and we'll leave, okay?"

"Don't worry, Cohen, I'll keep her company."

"This is exactly what I'm afraid of, Horowitz." He disappeared before she had a chance to respond. They stood there in silence for a couple of minutes, watching Mark as he made his way to the other end of the room. Then Tammy looked at her. There was no humor in her eyes this time. "So, you came back, eventually."

She nodded. "I did."

Tammy hesitated for a moment, but then looked at her seriously and said, "He's so happy. Please don't hurt him again."

She didn't know how much Tammy knew, but she guessed that quite a lot, considering what she had just told her. "I won't hurt him. I promise."

Soon Mark made his way back towards them, wrapping a scarf around his neck.

"Well, you kids have fun," said Tammy as she shooed them out of the gallery. "Maureen, it was nice meeting you."

"You too," she smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Cohen, bright and early."

"Yes mother," said Mark. She rolled her eyes at him and went back into the gallery again.

Once they were alone in the street, he took her hands in his and kissed them. He had that gleam in his eyes, and she knew he was still thinking about what she had told him on the phone the night before. "So where are we going?"

She smiled and inched closer. "How about your place?" she whispered seductively in his ear.

That seemed to catch him by surprise. Blush slowly crept its way up his face, eventually settling on his cheeks. "I thought you said you were starving."

She flashed him a devilish smile and pulled him closer, kissing him hard. Then she slowly pulled away, keeping her gaze locked with his.

"Oh, I see…" he murmured, sliding his hands to her waist, and leaned to capture her lips with his once again.

They never made it to dinner that afternoon.