Disclaimer: RENT isn't mine, sadly for me.

A/N: Ok so I have the day off from school and I am so bored so I've decided to update yet again. That's pretty much all I have to say because I am really anxious to write the next chapter. Oh and being the nerd I am I took all these Rent quizzes today and one had questions about the original NYTW script so I answered them and decided to look it up for myself. Yeah, I'm cool. So I'm reading it now and I can't believe how different it is from the actual production script. Okay, so now that I said that…

CHAPTER TWELVE

The next day, they released Marli from the hospital. They went out for lunch with Marli's family after to notify them of the engagement. They were happy that Marli was engaged, but not happy of the fact that they barely knew Mark. Still, they acted very happy and chatted breezily about the wedding. If only they knew the real implications of it. It wasn't that Marli wasn't happy to be engaged to Mark, she was ecstatic. It just sucked that she had to get pregnant to get engaged. She knew that it probably would've happened anyway, but not as soon.

She had to say that low part of lunch was when her mom decided a bottle of champagne was in order. Of course, being pregnant, Marli was not about to drink. That was when she realized just how much that sucked as well. At her own wedding, she wouldn't be able to drink champagne. Oh well, nothing she could do about it now. Instead, she told her mother that the doctor said no alcohol for at least a week, because it dehydrates you. Okay, so she basically pulled that out of her ass, but the dehydration part was true and it sounds like something the doctor would have told her.

Finally, after a two-hour lunch, everyone left the restaurant where they met. She and Mark held hands as they walked back to her apartment. They weren't talking. They didn't really need to. They both were thinking the exact same thing: WE'RE SCREWED!

Finally, Marli couldn't stand the silence anymore. She had never done well with silences. She had to talk at all times. That was why her parents had originally wanted her to become a lawyer. That's why the pushed her into debate in high school. Even when she did that, she didn't do an event that actually required debating…she did the one that was acting. "Mark?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I love you." Yeah, it was a bit of a lame thing to say to break the silence, but it was all she had. It wasn't like she was about to say what she was really thinking anyway. That just wasn't her style.

"I love you too. What's wrong? Things don't seem quite right."

"Well of course they aren't. Everything that's been happening…it's just…I don't know. It's almost like since I haven't really had time to process it all it doesn't quite seem real."

"I know, I know. I feel almost the same way. The wedding, the baby, the movie…" Shit! Marli had forgotten completely about the movie. The movie that brought Mark back into her life. She didn't know how she felt about the movie now…she really should love it because now she had Mark, pretty much the love of her life, back. But also, if it hadn't been for the movie, she wouldn't have ever called Mark and she'd never have started to date him, and ultimately, she wouldn't be pregnant right now. Except she'd like to think that she would've met Mark again anyway and that everything would've ended up the same without the movie, partly because she was happy, as much as she hated to admit it, partly because that movie was her baby. Well, it was her baby. Soon she'd have an actual baby to worry about.

"Yeah, it's all so confusing. But I guess this what life is like isn't it? Like real life, without the fluffy cotton candy coating that has surrounded it most of my life."

"I'm a lot more used to this real life you speak of. And saying that, everything's going to be okay, great, wonderful, spectacular, everything of the nature. I love you more than anything and I love the baby already. You do too, as much as you hate to admit it. This baby is going to be so loved. And I love you so much, as I'm sure you do me. There's so much love. Everything is going to be wonderful."

"I hope so. And I love you so much too. I'm just so worried."

"Don't be. It's going to be fine. Okay?"

"Okay."

They went up to her apartment; well actually it was their apartment now, as he was actually moving in with her. They got ready to go to the doctors. Her doctor at the hospital had pulled a few strings to get her an appointment with one of the best OB's in the city today. He said that it was very important that she get to the doctor today, even though he had never said why. It was probably because they already had a semi-complication. Soon, they were ready, and they left the apartment.

They walked outside the apartment and the bellman called them a cab. They took the cab to Beth Israel. They went to the floor where the doctor was and waited in the waiting room. Marli filled out paperwork, while Mark read a magazine. They didn't wait for long before being called in.

They went into an exam room and a nurse asked Marli to put on a paper gown and then lay down on the exam table. Marli obliged obediently while Mark sat in a chair, a bit out of it. He wasn't really comfortable here, but he knew he had to be here with Marli, his fiancée (how weird to say that.) who was carrying his baby, which was the reason why they were here to begin with. Complicated? Just a tad.

The doctor came in and introduced herself as Dr. Morgan. She was probably in her 30's and she was very sweet. She had red hair and green eyes, but she seemed to be very uptight. Other than that, she seemed like a good doctor.

The first thing she did was ask Marli a bunch of questions. Then she started the exam. It started off normally enough, like a regular doctors check-up. Then she did the things you always see on TV. First, they got to listen to the baby's heartbeat, which Mark thought was pretty cool. It was also pretty scary, because it made it official. He had official proof that Marli was pregnant. Proof he heard himself. If that was cool and scary at the same time, it was nothing compared to the ultrasound. Seeing it was even more intense than hearing it. You could barely see anything, but it was official: Marli really was pregnant.

"Oh my," Dr. Morgan seemed to have seen something.

"What?" Marli asked, clearly worried. She grabbed Mark's hand and squeezed it tight.

"Well, when I was listening to the heartbeat, I thought I was crazy, but now that I see it, I can tell for sure. You guys are going to be the proud parents of twins." The doctor smiled, trying to ease the shock.

"You have got to be kidding, right?" Marli's grips on his hand tightened and he winced. Not one baby, two. Shit! Two babies…their troubles just multiplied…times two.

"I am not kidding you. You are having twins. It's too early to tell much else, but since you are having twins, we are going to have to keep a closer eye on you. Multiple pregnancies tend to be high risk. The more babies, the higher the risk factor. Lucky for you, you're having twins, so the risk factor is relatively low. Still, it's there so you're going to need to be watched closely."

All this was making Mark's head reel. Everything was being processed at such a fast rate, he didn't quite believe anything. But then Dr. Morgan pointed everything out on the ultrasound screen. "See?" She asked, "there's baby one…and there is baby two." She pointed to each of the babies as she said it. There it was. All the official proof Mark needed. Not only was he going to be a dad, Marli was having twins.

Marli and Mark didn't have much time to process the information before Dr. Morgan asked her to change again and then she would talk to them in her office. Marli obliged once more and then the nurse took them to Dr. Morgan's office. Marli's grip on his hand was tightening by the second. He winced, glad he was in the hospital now…at least he'd if Marli broke his hand, he'd have help close by. He had no idea how freakishly strong she was. That scared him more than anything he had found out today. If she got mad at him in a mood swing, he didn't even want to think about what she could do.

They went into the office, Mark wincing because of Marli's grip on his hand. He loved her, he really did, but she just needed to let go of his hand if she wanted to be able to hold it ever again. They sat down to find the doctor working on her computer.

"Okay," Dr. Morgan said, "I have here your due date and when you should come back to see me. I also have prescriptions and of course the ultrasound photos. First things first, you are due September 25. Just in case you didn't know, the baby was conceived on Christmas. Some people aren't quite sure of the date the baby was conceived. Since you're having twins, the babies will more than likely be born early. Don't freak, that's completely normal. Here's everything else and I will see you guys in three weeks."

"Thanks." Marli said, her tone basically saying that she wanted out of there ASAP.

"Oh and Marli? Don't put a lot of stress on yourself. Especially since you're having twins. We don't want any complications, now do we?"

"Um, no I guess we don't. But my job has been so stressful lately that I'm not sure how to avoid stress. I'm a screenwriter and I have a new movie being made."

"Oh, I see. Well I don't have too much experience with things like that, but I would suggest maybe hiring an assistant. And Mark? Make sure she doesn't put a lot of stress on herself, okay?"

"Sure. Now I have an excuse to do that."

"Good, I'm relying on you to do that. Well, I will see you two in three weeks. Make sure to take your vitamins." Dr. Morgan gave them one last smile and then was off.

They both got up and walked out holding hands, and Mark was pleasantly surprised to feel Marli's grip loosen. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. He loved her, oh yes he did. Everything was falling into place. It reminded him of something his mom used to tell him when he was younger, "when you're in love, it may take forever or it may happen too soon, but everything falls into place and seems right." When she used to tell him this, he still thought girls had cooties, but now he understood completely. With Marli, it had happened so suddenly, but he could feel everything would be perfect. The feeling was in his gut. But then again, when did his instincts ever tell the truth?

Yeah, he definitely spoke too soon. Because as he and Marli walked out of Dr. Morgan's office, he saw someone he never expected to in the waiting room. It was Maureen. Technically it could be worse. It could've been Alexandria waiting there or someone equally as horrible, so really he should've been relieved. But he wasn't. If Maureen looked up from that Entertainment Weekly she was reading and saw them, basically everyone would know about Marli's pregnancy. And besides, what was Maureen doing there anyway?

Mark acted as fast as he could, pulling Marli into a corner. "Mark, darling, what are you doing? Trying to make me get dizzy and throw up? Because I definitely could do that without your help. Well, really I couldn't because the babies are what are doing that to me and I couldn't be pregnant without you, but still…"

"Marli, you're rambling. Do I need to use the rambler's badge on you?" That was an inside joke between them. Whenever one of them rambled, they pulled the rambler's badge to remind them not to ramble. Marli shook her head no. "The reason I pulled you here is because Maureen is in the waiting room and I don't want her to see us. If she finds out, the plan goes down the drain…I know neither of us wants that to happen, so we have to hide from her."

"What is she doing here anyway? Obviously, we aren't the only ones hiding something."

"Well, I could've told you that a while ago, before we ever saw Maureen here. Seeing as Mimi and Roger are pretty much hiding something as well…"

"Mark, rambler's badge. And besides, I meant that in another way. But seriously, she cannot see us. But I really have to go to the bathroom, so we are going to have to escape quietly, without her noticing us. She seems to be engrossed in that EW so let's make a quite exit while we can."

They tiptoed out and everything was going smoothly. That is, it was going smoothly, until Marli stepped on Mark's toe in her heels, causing him to scream in pain. Maureen looked up. "Mark? Marli? Hi guys. What are you doing here?"

"What, Marli? This isn't the right floor. You left your slippers two floors down in the room you were in until today, come on, let's go get it." He smiled and waived to Maureen, signaling that he was leaving and had no desire to figure out why she was there whatsoever, even though he really did want to know.

A nurse came out. "Maureen Johnson? Dr. Morgan will see you now. Oh and Marli Ryan? Is that you? You left your vitamins and ultrasound photos in Dr. Morgan's office. Thank god you're still here. I have them with me right here." She handed the vitamins and photos to Marli, who was furiously blushing a bright pink. Mark was blushing crimson and Maureen was blushing, but in idle shock as well.

Correct him if he's wrong, but all arrows point to Maureen being pregnant. And if that's true, there must be something in the renowned tap water of the city, because people were getting pregnant as if you could catch it like a cold.

A/N: Chapter twelve. I really like this chapter…but do you? Tell me what you think, as always.