No Day But Today

DISCLAIMER: I do not own RENT or anything affiliated with it.

Mark listened as his brother-in-law relayed what he'd seen that morning. "I didn't know what the hell else to do, so I brought the girls here," Jeff finished. Thankfully, Roger had taken the girls off to play in his room with him and Mimi, so they hadn't heard. Mark stood up and walked over to the phone. "What are you doing?"

"Calling the cops," Mark replied, nonchalantly.

"On your own sister?"

"She deserves it. I'm sure as hell not going to let her get away with this," Mark told him. Jeff nodded and got up to take the phone from him.

"I'll call. I'm their father, and it's my job to protect them," Jeff said. Mark just nodded and walked away, going into Roger's room to check on his nieces. He watched in silence as Mimi and the girls played with Roger's hair. Roger just sat there and took it, which Mark was grateful for.

"Uncle Mark, can we do your hair next?" one of the girls asked.

"Not now, Hannah. Maybe some other time. I have to go do some things in just a little bit," Mark replied. He walked down and sat next to his other niece, Jessica, and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Uncle Mark, why did Daddy bring us here?" Hannah asked. He swallowed hard and looked at her.

"Your mommy needs some time alone right now, so your daddy brought you here so she could be alone," Mark replied. He hated lying to his nieces, but it had to be done. Hannah was too young to understand, and he doubted that Jessica would be willing to talk about what had happened to her. He remembered all too well how awful it felt to realize a parent could be so cruel.

Liz bounded up the steps towards the loft. God, how she'd missed having Mark around. Without him, it seemed like there was never anything going on. "Mark?" she called, banging on the sliding door. After a minute, the door slid open to reveal Roger, who was carrying a sleeping, toe-headed little girl. "Who is she?" Liz asked, making her way into the apartment.

"Mark's niece, Hannah. Jessica's asleep on Mark's bed… do you think you could watch them until Mark and Jeff get back? Mimi and I have to go to work," Roger said. Liz just nodded and took the child away from Roger. Hannah didn't stir as Liz put her into Mark's bed next to her sister. She then went out of the room to talk to Roger.

"Where did they go?" Liz asked, keeping her voice down.

"Mark took Jeff to go have Cindy arrested. She… it's a long story. And one you'd probably be better off hearing from Mark. They should be home in an hour or so," Roger said. Liz just nodded and sat down on the couch to wait on Mark and Jeff.

"Wake up," Mark whispered, gently shaking Liz. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Hey sleepy."

"Hey. When did you get back?" she asked.

"About five minutes ago. Jeff and the girls are staying in my room tonight, which means we can either sleep in Roger's room and get kicked out in a few hours, or stay here and risk falling in the floor," Mark told her. Liz smiled deviously.

"This couch is pretty cozy," she told him. He smiled and laid down next to her, pulling her closer to him. "We'll talk in the morning, okay? I'd like to know what the hell's going on around here for once."

"Sounds good to me," Mark replied. He pulled the blanket Liz had been using over himself as well. He gently kissed her cheek. "Good night."

Mark opened his eyes and stared up into his niece's face. "Morning Hannah," he said, smiling.

"Who is she?" Hannah asked, pointing to Liz. Mark looked over and then smiled again.

"That's my friend Liz," he told her. He put a finger over his lips and motioned towards her. "Let's let her sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Hannah said. She watched as Mark untangled himself from the blanket and Liz's arms. He then proceeded to get up off of the couch and make his way into the kitchen. "What do we have for breakfast?"

"How about some Frosted Flakes and OJ?" Mark suggested.

"I don't like OJ… what is OJ?" Hannah asked. Mark couldn't help but laugh.

"It's orange juice. Do you like orange juice?" he asked. Hannah wrinkled her nose. "I'll take that as a no. Grape juice?"

"I only drink apple juice," Hannah said. Mark nodded and looked in the refrigerator.

"Sorry, honey, but it doesn't look like we have any. How about some milk?" he asked. She wrinkled her nose. "Okay, then it looks like you're going to get water, since your dad would kill me if I gave you coffee."

"What's coffee?" she asked. Mark sighed.

"It's something that adults drink to wake themselves up in the morning. It doesn't taste very good," he told her.

"I want some coffee, please," Hannah said, smiling.

"No."

"Please?" she begged, giving him the puppy-dog eyes. He shook his head. "Pretty please?" she asked, pouting just a bit.

"No. You are too young for coffee," he told her.

"Am not."

"Hannah, you're four. You can't have coffee until you're at least ten," Mark reasoned. She crossed her arms and pouted some more. "And don't even give me that face."

"Someone's grumpy," Liz said, sitting up.

"Someone wants coffee," Mark told her.

"So then make yourself some," Liz replied. She stood up and walked over towards the kitchen area. "And would you mind making me some, too? I'm exhausted."

"You didn't sleep well?" Mark asked.

"You did?"

"Touché."