Disclaimer: I still don't own it…
A/N: I know I promised an update yesterday, but my dad decided to take me to the hockey game and it was a team from Canada and I couldn't turn it down. Of course, I would later find out that I would've rather updated because the game sucked and the weird guy who's season tickets are next to mine was being all weird and it kind of freaked me out. But yeah…the rare event of no homework before a B day has occurred so I'm going to update….
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Two months later and not much had happened. Aside from finishing filming for the movie, nothing particularly eventful had happened. But it was May and Marli's birthday was in two days. That was how Mark had ended up here, in Barney's, a place he still detested despite Marli dragging him there every opportunity she got. He needed to get her a birthday present and he had no idea what to get her. God, he was such a terrible husband.
He walked through the store aimlessly. There was no need to get her clothes. She had gotten so huge over the two months that had passed. No way would she fit into these gorgeous cashmere sweaters until after the babies were born. Ugh. It was really hard to buy something for your pregnant wife.
He felt like giving up on the whole thing. Everything irritated pregnant women and you couldn't buy them clothes. Basically, any normal gifts were out of the question. What do you get someone whose six months pregnant with twins? He could buy her jewelry, but she already had ungodly amounts of that. He walked through the store thinking seriously. Maybe he could get her…oh shit! He had just bumped into someone. "Sorry. Excuse me." He tried to brush past whomever it was that she had just bumped into, but whoever it was acted too quickly.
"Mark?" Oh…shit…fuck! It was Alexandria the Bitch, once again prodding back in at the most inconvenient times.
"Um, no." Ok, so apparently whoever this new him was, he had a British accent. "Sorry I can't help you out there!"
"Mark, I know it's you. You can't hide from me! You know I'm not an idiot!"
"Really?" Shit! He just blew his cover. Oh well, he may as well have fun with it. "Funny, I was under the impression that you were the biggest, bitchiest idiot around. Not to mention the biggest whore!"
"Listen, Mark…about Christmas…"
"Alexandria, it was six months ago. That's a half a year! Give it a rest. And besides, I know your little Christmas destruction was all an attempt to win me…but you can't have that."
"And why can't I? I'm Alexandria Lawrence, and in case you don't know, I get everything I want. So answer my question Mark."
"I'm married." He waved the platinum wedding band in front of her face. Take that whore-bag!
Alexandria gasped. Yes, he had finally gotten under her skin! "When did this happen?"
"About two months ago."
"Does Marli know?" If he wasn't mistaken, he could almost detect a hint of remorse in her tone. Maybe she felt bad! Oh yes, let's keep this game going. It's getting good!
"Yeah, Marli knows." He looked to the ground for a dramatic effect. If he was going to play this game, he would at least play it right.
"Oh…and how's she taking it?" She was sympathetic? Since when was the Park Avenue Princess sympathetic? As long as he'd known her she'd only cared about one thing and that one thing was herself.
"She's taken it really well. Really well." Of course she has! She was the one you married!
"Oh. So who's the lucky girl that won your heart once and for all?" Alexandria looked on the verge of tears. Maybe she cared about more than one thing after all.
"Marli." He said his wife's name lightly, pretending to closely examine a pair of women's tortoiseshell sunglasses.
"What? You married Marli? That bitch!"
"Don't you dare talk about my wife like that! Oh yeah, and just so you're not completely in the dark, she's pregnant too." She opened her mouth to say something but he beat her to it. "And no, the wedding wasn't shotgun. We were engaged before she found out she was pregnant."
"How could you do this to me Mark? I loved you and you go and marry my ex-best friend and get her pregnant! I loved you!"
"No, you didn't. You never did. You just liked the idea of someone your parents would blatantly disapprove of! And the idea of hunting down someone that wasn't always putty around you. I have to go." And he turned around and left Barney's. Maybe he hadn't gotten a present for his wife while he was there, but he definitely felt like he got a lot accomplished. He stepped into the warmth outside of the department store, thinking that just maybe he took care of Alexandria Lawrence for good.
During Mark's ordeal in Barney's, Marli was with Mimi and Maureen shopping for baby stuff. They were walking through the baby department in Bloomingdale's, as Marli decided that her little girl's needed lots and lots of expensive pink clothes. Mimi and Maureen, who were both having boys, didn't really need to worry about that. Their babies wouldn't need frilly pink clothing.
"So Marli, have you and Mark come up with any names for the girls?" Maureen touched a small little pink dress and waved it in Marli's face as she said this.
"Um, sort of. I have suggested a lot of names. Mark has turned down virtually all of them. The ones he suggested are just plain hideous."
"What are some of the ones you suggested?" Mimi finally jumped in the conversation after being seemingly away for fifteen minutes.
"I'd really been pushing Lillie for a while, but he won't budge. Then I said Emma and he told me he hated it. Isabelle, Adalee, Katherine, Madelyn, Haley, Rebecca, Paige…just about every name and he won't agree with one."
"What does he want?" Mimi seemed to like this name talk more than décor talk.
"Not sure, but he seems to think I'm giving birth to a pair of eighty year olds. He likes Rose, Esther, Rosie, Ruth, Sally, Sandra, Dana. I honestly have no idea what goes on in my husbands mind. Apparently nothing too good if likes those names." Marli had a look of utter disgust on her face. It was kind of a combination of restating the names Mark seemed to like and looking at this disgusting pink faux-leather baby dress. Talk about tacky!
"Aw, you poor thing!" Maureen pulled her into a hug. "I would kill Mark if I were you. No way would I ever name my baby that! If Joanne or Keith wanted to name our baby something like an old guy, I'd probably end up killing them or injuring them severely. You should hire someone to make sure he doesn't do it behind your back."
Marli laughed. She had to admit, pregnant Maureen was a lot funnier than normal Maureen. "I may look into that. So what have you guys been thinking of for your babies?"
"Well Roger and I really want to use an A so it's like we're honoring Angel. Alexander, Alec, Aaron, Andrew, and Adam. Those are our favorites. What about you Maureen?"
"Oh ours are all over the place. I happen to like last names as first names."
"Such as," Marli questioned.
"Porter, Connor, Cooper. I also like Dylan, Ryan, Max, Zach, Michael, Darren, and Nate."
"And Joanne and Keith like them too?" Marli was jealous that she could get so much approval, when Mark vetoed everything.
"Yeah. They really like all the names. I think the hard part is going to be chosing which to use." Maureen stole a glance at Marli who was pouting. "Marli, don't worry. Eventually Mark will realize that you're babies won't be eighty and you'll agree on names. And if worse comes to worse, you can each name a baby." Maureen's comforting efforts were touching, but lame.
"Don't think so. One baby will be jealous of the other. I mean one will have a really cool name like Becca or Katherine, and the other will have an ugly name like Ruth or Dana. It's not fair to the babies if I do that. God, Mark and I are going to be the people with the six-month-old identical twins that are still being called 'Baby One' and 'Baby Two' aren't we?"
"Don't say that Marli! Your babies' names are going to be so cute! All the other little girl babies are going to be so jealous of your babies' cute names. You just have to toy around with Mark a little, no biggie. Eventually, he'll give in. Just make the names grow on him. Eventually, he's going to let you name them whatever you want!" Mimi gave Marli a hug. They really were trying to cheer her up about the name situation.
"Well there are two names we can both agree on…and I think those are going to be it…"
"What are they?" Both of them were pressing, genuinely wanting to know.
"I promised Mark that no one would find out. But you'll like them, I promise. Very cute names, I must say. We both love them. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. The babies will probably be born early and by then you both are going to be living in our building so you'll be kind of sick of hearing those names by then." That was another thing. Everyone was moving into the upscale building that Marli and Mark called home. They didn't like to think of it as selling out though. No, they'd always be bohemian at heart. It was just, when you had a baby, you couldn't live an industrial loft anymore. It just wasn't right to live in a place like that in the winter with a newborn. Technically, they wouldn't live the bohemian lifestyle anymore, but they'd always have the hearts. You can't live that way for that long and not. It just wasn't possible.
Marli took the pile of clothes, blankets, socks, and everything else she managed to pick up in the baby section of Bloomingdales to the cashier, who rang her up. She took the three Big Brown Bags and walked off with Mimi and Maureen to go to lunch. They had certainly shopped a lot during the day.
A/N: Okay, this is a short chapter, but I really want it to get up by tonight so yeah. Next chapter will either be the baby shower or the movie premier…what do you think? It'll probably skip about a month and a half- two months. Let me know what you think and keep those reviews pouring in!