Disclaimer: I wish I were genius enough to think of RENT.
A/N: What does someone who hates football do on Super Bowl Sunday when her whole family is getting ready for the game? Write another chapter, of course! I don't have much to say besides that last chapter, one I expected to get a lot of reviews for, didn't do so well. Not that I don't totally heart the reviews I did get! You guys totally rock my socks! Still, I kind of want to know why one of the biggest chapters in the whole story didn't get a lot of reviews. Did you all not like it? Ok, whatever, now that that's over with….
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Soon, Blair and Riley were ready to come home from the hospital. Mark was looking forward to it. They had been living in the hospital for the past five days, and it was on the verge of being annoying. Not that he really minded. After all, his beautiful wife and beautiful daughters were there and he loved them so much. It's just the hospital isn't a very pleasant place to be. September 9th, 1992, the girls were born and September 14th of the same year, they'd be coming home. Mark was filming it all.
"Smile for the camera Blair-bear!" He zoomed in on a sleeping Blair…or at least he thought it was Blair. Get a look at the socks…pink, okay it's Blair. He so wasn't a bad father! It really wasn't his fault that he had identical twin girls. And at least he had a semi-idea of which girl was which. Hopefully it would become easier as they got older and developed their own personalities.
"Mark, must you film everything? I mean, why do we need three hours of footage of Blair and Riley sleeping? Not that I don't love you and how much you care and everything, but I can see this becoming a little annoying." Marli laughed as they got everything out of the car that had driven them back to their apartment and loaded the twins into their stroller. Well Marli was doing that. Mark was too busy with that camera of his to help.
"It's not going to get annoying! Okay, maybe a little, but don't you want to remember the day we brought them home from the hospital forever?"
"I'll remember it in my head." She gave him a kiss and kept a hand on the stroller.
"Actually, if you get long-term memory loss, you won't remember it. Or Alzheimer's. So I should record it so that if either of those things are to tragically happen, you will be able to see yourself bringing them home from the hospital."
"Mark, babe, I love you so much. You're the love of my life and the greatest husband I could've ever asked for. But, that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life!"
"Aw, nice to know you care. Love you too. Come on let's go up before the babies wake up. We wouldn't want to drag them through the building screaming, now would we?"
"Nope, I guess we wouldn't." Marli then directed her attention to the little baby girls asleep in their stroller. "C'mon girls, let's go home." All she got in response were the gargling noises Riley was making at the moment. Marli giggled and she and Mark headed to elevator.
They got upstairs and made it halfway down the hallway when Mark dropped the diaper bag. He couldn't believe how clumsy he was. Marli had given him all the easy stuff to do and yet, he still managed to drop it. Then again, it was probably because he was still filming Blair and Riley, asleep in their stroller. They walked to their apartment and opened the door. Inside, they found Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Collins, Daniels, and surprisingly Benny, all waiting there to welcome them home.
Of course, they completely ignored Mark and Marli. They went straight to Blair and Riley. They were all crowded around the strollers cooing over the little babies. It was odd, or at least Mark thought so. He had always thought girls were the only ones who went gaga for babies. Turns out he was wrong…and stop being sexist!
"Aw! Can I hold her?" Collins asked, looking at Riley and without waiting for an answer from either one of them, scooped her up and held her gently. "Which one is this?"
"What color socks is she wearing?" Mark couldn't really see the baby and neither could Marli, so Collins would have to tell them.
"Uh…white."
"That's Riley then."
Collins smiled really wide. "Okay," he then turned his attention to little Riley. "Hello there Riley. You're going to be a smart one, I can tell. You're so cute. Yes you are, yes you are! One day, I'm going to teach you my theory of actual reality and teach you all about philosophy. Then we're going to read a lot of poetry!" He cooed this all in a voice Mark never expected his friend to have. Even though it was a bit over-the-top, it was also endearing.
"Collins! Don't get too far ahead of yourself. She's only a newborn after all. You'll have plenty of time to map out your plan for her later." Mark said this with a laugh and a huge smile. It really was funny, once he thought about it.
He looked over to see where Blair was. Joanne was holding her and telling her to be afraid of her parents. "They may be pretty," she cooed, "but they aren't normal, trust me. Your mommy carries notebooks everywhere so she can write whenever the mood strikes her and your daddy films everything that goes on. Don't trust anything they say without running through me first, 'kay Blair? Because you're going to be a smart girl and we can't have you believing everything your loony parents say."
Mark and Marli came over to where Joanne was sitting as she said that. "You know Joanne, when your baby comes home from the hospital we'll be sure to poison it's mind too!" Marli added a giggle to show Joanne that she was joking. She hoped that she got the joke.
"Very funny. But that's what Maureen is for. Everyone knows that!" Joanne was laughing and Maureen gave her a playful punch on the arm.
"Hey! I resent that!"
Joanne looked her straight in the eye and just said, "you would." To that, there was collective applause and laughter around the room. Joanne handed Blair to Maureen who was waiting for the little girl with open arms. Maureen holding his daughter made Mark nervous, so he chose to stay by Blair and make sure Maureen didn't drop her. It was actually a miracle that Maureen could hold the baby, as she was so close to popping herself. Somehow, she managed though.
"Aw, Marky! She's so cute! And she's so blonde it looks like she's bald. But she isn't! Her hair is just as blonde as yours and Marli's. She's a little towhead! And I'll bet she has really pretty eyes!"
"Well, we've yet to see her eyes, but I'm sure they'll be pretty. Thanks. She's just gorgeous, isn't she?" Having a conversation with Maureen alone was really weird for him. They hadn't really talked too much since everything that happened at the wedding without someone else there.
"She's beautiful. So is Riley. You and Marli…you guys did good, I must admit." Maureen turned her attention to the tiny baby, "you, my dear, are so cute I could just eat you with a spatula!"
"Spatula? I think you mean spoon, Maureen."
"No, I mean spatula! That's how the phrase goes!"
"No, the phrase says spoon, not spatula!"
"Spatula!"
"Spoon!"
"Whatever! I give up!" She handed little Blair to her daddy, announcing that she had to pee really badly. That was way more than Mark needed to know. He just took Blair and started cooing to her. She really was a gorgeous, tiny little thing.
As Mark sat in the living room with Blair, Marli was sitting on the other side of the room with Riley and Mimi. Roger had gone over to be with Mark and Blair. Mimi was holding Riley and making silly faces at her. Riley was awake, but you still couldn't see her eyes!
"Marli! She's so cute! And she has the blondest hair I've ever seen! Is this what your hair looked like when you were a baby?"
"Yeah. People used to come up to my mom and tell her what a cute little boy she had. And I would be wearing a pink dress and a bow!"
Mimi let out a huge laugh. Now that Marli thought about it, it really was funny. She just didn't want anyone saying that to her girls. Especially since they each had names that could be used for a boy or a girl, even though she'd never met boys named Blair or Riley in her life. "Wow, Marli. That's hilarious. I don't think you'll have to worry with these girls! They definitely look like girls. Right, Riley? You look like a girl. Yes you do, you beautiful child."
Marli smiled. Riley really was beautiful. She didn't need Mimi telling her that. But it never hurt. She and Mark had done well so far. The babies were beautiful and perfect. Now all they needed to do was raise them right and hope for the best.
After everyone had left, that night, Marli and Mark had each fed a baby a bottle and gave them their first baths before putting them to sleep. They were very easy babies, hardly any trouble to get to sleep or bathe at all. They were dressed up in cute little unitard-like things and their color-coded socks, of course. Mark was exhausted and just ready to sleep.
He and Marli climbed into bed and she fell into a deep sleep right away, cuddling against him. He held her tight, knowing that the days of them having peaceful sleep would probably be over for a while, no matter how good the babies were. Chances are, they'd need a diaper changer or to be fed in the middle of the night, and someone would have to do it. But for now, he held his wife close and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep at ten PM.
Four hours later, he and Marli were woken up by the phone, and also by the babies. Marli ran off to the nursery to check on her precious babies, leaving Mark to answer the phone. He rolled over, put on his glasses, and the reached over and picked up the phone. Who the hell would call him at this hour?
"Hello?" He knew he sounded like a jerk, but he was tired and pissed that someone had called him this early in the morning. It was 2 AM for crying out loud.
"Mark? It's Roger." Roger sounded like a cross between worried, scared, and excited. Yet, he didn't sound good at all.
"Hey, buddy. What's wrong?" Mark was suddenly more awake. He was genuinely worried about his best friend.
"Nothing. Well, actually…Mimi's in labor."
"Then what are you so glum about? You should be happy that you guys are about to have a baby."
"Well, yeah, I guess I should be. But because of everything that's going on…HIV, all that, they won't let me in with her. I'm so scared Mark." If Mark had heard right, it sounded like Roger was crying.
"Don't worry, it's going to be okay. But why won't they let you be there with her?"
"Because they want to keep her under special watch or some shit like that. And they're making her have a C-Section. And they won't let me there. I'm her husband and the father for crying out loud! I should be allowed to be with her!"
"You should be," Mark said. He didn't know what else to say. It wasn't the easiest situation to find words for.
"Mark, would Marli totally hate you if you came here to wait with me? I'm really nervous and I don't want to wait alone."
"Probably not. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?" Mark felt terrible that he couldn't give an answer right then and there. Had things been different, he probably would've been over the second the call came in. But Blair and Riley changed everything. He couldn't bear to leave Marli alone with them if she couldn't handle it yet.
"Yeah, okay." That was all Roger managed to gasp out. "Thanks." And then the phone line went dead.
Mark got out of the bed and headed to the next room, the nursery. There, he saw Marli sitting with Blair, rocking her to sleep. Riley was peaceful in her bassinette. Mark came in, very quite, making sure he wouldn't disturb either of the babies.
"Hey stranger," Marli whispered, half smiling. "Who was on the phone?"
"Roger." Mark swallowed hard. He really didn't want to leave Marli alone with the babies tonight, but he couldn't bear to leave his best friend in the waiting room of a hospital, wondering what was going on with his son and wife.
"What's going on?" Marli had gone into sudden panic and stopped rocking Blair, who scrunched up her tiny, newborn face, about to cry.
"Mimi went into labor and they won't let him be with her. He's really scared and just wanted to talk." Blair's piercing screams rang through out and Marli started rocking again.
"Oh my god! That's terrible! You should go be with him! Poor guy is probably worried sick. He could use his best friend there." Well, at least she had brought it up before he had.
"I want to. But I'd feel so bad leaving you here with the twins. You've never been alone with them. What if something happens and you can't be with both of them at once? Then I'm at the hospital with Roger and you have no one here to help you."
"Mark, go. I'll be fine. Roger needs you more than I do right now. Riley and Blair are going to be good. Riley didn't even stir to begin with. Blair is the fussy one. We'll be fine. Go! Your friend needs you! I'll call my mom. She's staying a few blocks away and she'll come help me with the girls if I need it. Maybe, if she's feeling brave I can come and help you both out. Just go now, okay?"
"Okay, alright, I'll go." He got dressed quickly in jeans and a sweater, quickly heading out the door. He practically ran to the hospital, the crisp September air whipping against his face. Two-thirty AM and he was on his was to the hospital, less than a day after he last returned home.
When he got to the hospital, he ran the familiar route to the Maternity ward, where Roger sat slumped in the waiting room. He looked terrible and he'd obviously been crying. Mark had never seen his friend this way, not even after April died. He was worried sick, poor guy. Mark went over and sat by him. "Hey. What's up?"
"Nothing," he sniffled. Mark could tell it wasn't true. "The doctor just came out. They're prepping her for the C-Section. Apparently, there have been a lot of complications. I'm so scared. What happens if something goes wrong and she dies? I can't live without her. And if the baby dies with her, then only piece of her I would've had is gone."
"Roger! Don't think like that! Mimi is going to be fine. The baby is going to fine. They aren't going to let her die, Roger."
"How do you know Mark? When Marli had Blair and Riley, you were with her weren't you? You didn't have to worry about the extremely vague details the doctors gave you about your wife's condition! You didn't have to worry that maybe neither your wife nor the baby would make it. Everything was so uncomplicated with you and Marli! So how can you possibly know that she's going to be fine? Most people don't go out of their way to save someone who's HIV-positive."
"Roger calm down! So maybe I don't know that she's going to be fine. But the point is you can't think about the worst. Just try not to think at all. It makes things a lot easier when you actually get the news."
"So I can be numb like you, Mark? Is that how you'd like it. For me not feel emotion, just the way you used to be, before Marli? I bet it is! You just don't want to help me go through a depression again. Face it, you just may have to." At this point, Roger was crying and he just gave Mark a hug. "Thanks for being here, Mark. You're the best friend I could ever have!"
"Your welcome." At the moment, nothing else seemed important to say.
Then Dr. Gale came out, to tell Roger how things had gone. The doctor was still dressed in his scrubs and seemed to be pretty pleased. Mark took that to be a good sign. "Roger, Mimi lost a lot of blood, but she's going to be fine. We gave her a few transfusions and handled whatever got over with extreme care. Your son is going to be fine as well. He so far has tested negative for HIV, but we have to keep him on the drugs for at least another year before we can know for sure. Would you like to see your wife and son?"
"Yeah, I would really like to see them. Mark thanks for being here man. Come visit us later?"
"Yeah, Marli and I both will come. See you then!" Mark then took off for his apartment.
Later, they'd visit again and find out that Roger and Mimi's little boy's name was Adam Michael Davis. He was absolutely perfect and healthy…so far, but probably would continue to be. Yet another couple had become parents. And Maureen and Joanne would be soon! Woah! Scary thought!
A/N: So I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter. I like it a lot. But what do you think? Let me know. Next chapter: Maureen and Joanne's baby. I know I said it would be here, but I decided on something different that wouldn't fit here. Ok so review and peace! Oh and THE STEELER'S WON! AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I CARE, BUT I'M VERY HAPPY! Now I'm really done.