Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN RENT!

A/N: Hey everyone. So I haven't even gotten to read my reviews yet, if there are any because my internet is being a tardface. I did not mean to offend anyone by using that last word, so if I did I'm sorry. But I just am really starting to hate AOL. My friend and I decided that it's a love/hate relationship with things like AOL and Myspace and iTunes, because they are so great yet they're always on the fritz. Same thing with DSL. I'm trying to get it to work again with very little luck. I just finished my homework, but since the internet needs to die or something because it won't work, I've decided to write a chapter. Hopefully by the time I'm done it'll work again and then I can answer whatever I feel like anyone needs to know that was asked in reviews by this chapters closing note. So now:

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Marli really didn't want to go to Scarsdale to meet Mark's family and tell them about the engagement. According to basically everyone who had ever met them, they definitely weren't the easiest people to be around. And besides, she was throwing up and the idea of getting on a train right now seemed even worse. Being pregnant sucked and no one was ever honest. Really, why did they call it morning sickness if you could still get it in the afternoon?

Aside from worrying about the torture she was about to endure in Scarsdale, her head was still reeling from everything she had found out earlier. She was having twins, as in two babies twins, and it seemed as if Maureen was pregnant too, although Marli didn't quite understand how. After all, wasn't she a lesbian? Well, maybe she had a gynecologist appointment, after all most doctors who were OB's were gynecologists as well weren't they? She hadn't really checked about Dr. Morgan. And she really didn't know why she cared anyway. Why should she? She had her own problems to worry about.

Marli came out of the bathroom at the train station, more dizzy and confused than she was when she entered. Mark was waiting for her in the area designated for when you were waiting for your train. He was reading a magazine he had bought in the station intently. She smiled. He was so cute and adorable and amazing…and best of all, he'd be hers forever. She loved him so much it was unfathomable. Before she met him, she didn't know what love was like. Now she did though…and she loved it almost as much as she loved him. She walked over to wear he was sitting and sat down next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder, grabbing his hand.

"Hey Mar. Are you okay? You don't look too good." He put his hand up to her forehead to see if she had a fever. She didn't.

"I'm fine. It's just all this throwing up. Lunch with my parents was one thing; it was an in-and-out kind of thing. But how ever will we hide this at your parent's for a whole night?"

"I don't know. It's probably going to be a bit problematic… I'm not even going to lie. My mom's the typical observant Jewish mother. She's going to notice everything. Right down to you throwing up after dinner and desert. So either you're going to have to find something both the babies will agree on and it won't make you sick or you're just going to have to push things around your plate and not really eat. Since you are pregnant, I would suggest the former, but that's just me."

Marli forced a smile. She could do that. She had managed to find something that didn't make her super sick at lunch today, so hopefully dinner would be a similar ordeal. Their train was called and they stood up and walked to the platform to board the train.

After a long train ride, consisting mostly of sleep for both of them, they ended up in Scarsdale. Oh god! This was actually happening. She was actually going to have to meet Mark's parents.

"My parents are supposed to picking us up here and then I guess we're going back to their house," he told her as he squeezed her hand.

"Do they, um, know we're engaged yet?"

"No. The point of us coming here was to tell them."

"I know. It's just going to be really, really, awkward. It's like 'Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. You don't know me, but I'm Marli. I've been dating your son and we're engaged!'"

"You know, I always saw myself telling them about it…Marli get ready, there they are! Hi mom! Hi dad!"

"Hello darling," Mark's mom gave him a big wet kiss on the cheek. Marli put her hand behind her back and twisted it so the diamonds were facing the bottom. "Oh and you must be the famous Marli. How are you darling?"

"I'm very good, thank you Mrs. Cohen."

"Oh and so polite and pretty, too. She's a catch Mark."

"You know, I'm glad you think that because…" Mark's mom suddenly reached out and reached for Marli's left hand. Shit! She was going to find out!

"Marli, sweetheart, you seem to be wearing a ice-skating ring." She flipped Marli's ring over to see the three perfect diamonds in all their glory. Mrs. Cohen gasped. Even Mr. Cohen, who had stood off to the side the whole time, quiet, looked shocked. "Mark? Does this mean what we think it means?"

"Um, yeah, I guess. Mom, Dad, Marli and I are engaged." He looked very flustered and embarrassed. It made Marli smile. He was so adorable.

"Um, congratulations, to both of you. Oh Mark, after Maureen left you, we thought you'd never get married. Welcome to the family Marli."

"Um, thank you Mrs. Cohen."

"Oh no, you're family now. Please feel free to call me Rhonda. Oh and call my husband Ted."

"Um, okay." They left the train station, with Rhonda chattering about how she never thought she'd see the day where Mark got married. And now this meant he could have kids and carry on the family name. Oh, Mrs. Cohen, aren't you in for a treat. And besides, it's not like there aren't enough Cohen's in this world to begin with.

Ted decided he wanted to take them out for dinner instead of eating whatever it was Rhonda had cooked. He chose his favorite restaurant, which was always Mark's favorite as a boy. This made Mark nervous. It was a fish house, which needless to say, was bound to make Marli sick just by the smell of it. One wrong scent and their cover was blown. If his parents found out Marli was pregnant, they probably wouldn't be quite as supportive of the engagement, so it was best to keep that part a secret for now.

When they entered the restaurant, Mark realized how much he missed his hometown. Not as much as he loved the city. Definitely not as much as he loved Marli and the babies. But he loved it. It was quite and no one was ever rioting or trying to make you pay rent you don't have. Chances are, if you lived here you could pay rent anyway so it didn't matter.

He looked over at Marli, who was desperately trying not to gag and to act like a normal, non-pregnant person would. He frowned when he saw he eyes water from the strain of not throwing up from the smell of fish. It made him feel really bad, that she had to come here. Even though it hadn't been his idea to come here, he definitely hadn't protested it.

They looked through the menu. Marli found something she could hopefully eat. He knew she didn't want to have to throw it up later. Mark tried to be sympathetic, but not ordering fish, but his parents ended up ordering it for him anyway. Marli was drinking her soda that she was hoping would settle her stomach, even for just a little while. Hopefully his parents couldn't read her expressions.

Marli managed to make it through dinner without throwing up. It was quite a miracle she hadn't, actually. She had come close twice. That wouldn't have been such a pretty sight. Somehow she managed to hold it in.

They left the restaurant and Mark's dad pulled him aside for a talk. Marli got a page from her agent and ran off to make a call. Mark and his dad walked by the little pond out by the restaurant, just like they used to when he was a kid. "Mark, what's up with your girl? She looks like she's about to be sick."

"Nothing. She just got out of the hospital, so that's probably it."

"Why was she in the hospital? Does she have AIDS like all your friends seem too? Not that I don't love Roger or anything…"

"No dad, she doesn't. She's just really stressed. She got dehydrated and fainted."

"Are you sure that's what it was? It seems like she's pregnant or something." Mark tried to continue walking, swallowing a hard lump in his throat. He had to say something. He couldn't let his dad find out their little secret.

"Nope. She's not pregnant."

"Are you sure? You know if she is, you can tell me. I won't tell your mother it'll be our secret. That is, until you're ready to tell her."

"No Dad. Marli's not pregnant, she doesn't have AIDS, and you tell mom everything."

"She is isn't she? Pregnant, I mean. That's why you guys got engaged so quickly. I mean by the way you talked about her, I figured you two would eventually get married, but not this soon. And the way she said she couldn't drink champagne because of dehydration. You don't want anyone to know yet that's all."

"NO! DAD! MARLI ISN'T PREGNANT! GOD, LEARN TO GIVE UP WHEN YOU'RE WRONG!" Mark yelled at his father. It wasn't loud enough for his mother to hear, but definitely loud enough to get his point across. Eventually, his dad would know the truth, but he couldn't know yet. Not now, no way.

"Mark!" His father turned to face him and put rested hands on his shoulders. "Look at me! Tell me she isn't pregnant without blowing up or getting defensive." There was a very long silence. There are always answers in the silence. "Exactly. Mark, if she is, I'm not going to be mad at you. I can't speak for your mother, but I won't. It's an honest mistake for her to get pregnant when you aren't married. Just admit it. I won't tell your mother until you're ready for her to know, but Mark…you've got to trust me. I'm you're dad. If there's anyone you should be talking to about it, it's me. Okay, Mark, just talk to me."

"Christmas. That was when all of the shit started to hit the fan. The night before Marli and I had a mini fight. Then we made up…by having sex. We were really careful, but I guess somehow things happened. The next day, her ex-roommate who had a crush on me, pinned me against a wall and kissed me. I pushed her off, but Marli saw. She saw everything. I tried to explain, but I went back home, since she really didn't want to speak to me. A month passed and we were both depressed. We saw each other at all of the meetings for the movie, but it was almost as if we had never known each other. One day, three days ago, I was really tipsy. I ran uptown to go talk to her. I saw her and she was sick and crying. We made up, but she was terrible…seemed to have a case of the stomach flu. I offered to take her to the doctors. She fainted after showering and getting changed. I called 911 and they took her to the hospital. There she found out what apparently you figured out without the tests they did: that she's pregnant. Today we found out she's having twins. There? Happy?"

"I'm very happy, Mark. I think you should tell your mother, though."

"No. Not yet. Next week. When everyone else finds out."

"How do you feel about it all?"

"I don't know. Nervous, worried, excited, scared. I don't know how to feel it's all mixed up…" Then, in a rare gesture, Mark broke down and cried. It wasn't something he did often, but when he did it, he needed to do it. For his own sake.

Mark's dad put an arm around him. "Buddy, don't cry. Everything is going to be okay. Wipe your eyes and compose yourself. You don't want your mom to get suspicious, do you?" Mark could've sworn he saw his dad wink. Mark put on his best fake smile. He may have had all those mixed emotions underneath, but he couldn't let his mom see them.

Later, on the train ride home, he couldn't sleep, so he watched Marli do so instead. She had survived her first visit to Casa Cohen. Everything had gone right. So why did Mark feel so shitty? Perhaps because he fully realized just how he felt about to babies: excited, but scared. My, what a scary thought.

A/N: I kind of like this chapter. Do you? Next chapter: why Maureen was at Dr. Morgan's office. Stay tuned!