CHAPTER TWELEVE
(chapter title - Remembering Mimi)
I can't believe it's been eight years today since Mimi was taken from me Roger thought as he lay in bed that night. Turning over on his side, he thought about the first time he had seen Mimi…
A young girl shivered as she leaned on her balcony railing, smoking a cigarette. She had had a long day at work and wasn't about to take any crap from anyone.
Meanwhile, a man with shoulder length blond hair and green eyes was yelling at a black man from his balcony. The other blond man that was with him, yelled at the black man, too.
As soon as the men stopped yelling at the black guy, he signaled for them to come down. The man with shoulder-length blond hair looked down and saw the young girl, smoking. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Rog! C'mon!" the skinner blond was calling to his friend.
"Coming, Mark!" the man called Rog was saying to his skinny friend. He then disappeared into his apartment. The girl watched the two blond guys talk with the black man.
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About an hour later, the girl decided to check on the guy called Rog, just to see how he was doing. She exited her apartment and climbed the stairs to the third floor. She knocked on what she thought was the blond guys' door and waited for an answer. The guy called Rog opened the door and smiled at her.
"Hi." she greeted him.
"Hi yourself." he muttered.
"Um, do you mind if I come in?" she inquired.
"Why?" he asked.
"I noticed that you need some company." she noted. Not waiting for a response, she let herself into the loft and plopped down on the couch. The guy just let out a sigh and closed the door behind her.
"What's your name?" she inquired as he walked over to her.
"Roger. Roger Davis." he answered.
"I'm Mimi - actually, my real name is Naomi Eileen Marquez, but everyone calls me Mimi." she told him, smiling slightly. That's when his eyes lit up like lights on a Christmas tree.
"Oh yeah! You work at that Cat Scratch Club!" he said, his tone excited.
"Yeah - my work name there is Cha-Cha." she told him, a little embarrassed.
"Why?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"It's because I can give a pretty good lap dance." she answered.
"Really?" he asked, putting an arm around the back of the couch. She nodded and smiled wickedly.
"What?" he inquired, looking at her wicked grin. She shook her head and toned her smile down a little bit.
For the next hour, they ended talking about their lives, but nothing too personal. He didn't want her to know that he had HIV - it would probably scare her or something. The more they talked, the more he grew to like her.
Roger woke up, tears streaming down his face as he thought about Mimi and the wonderful person she had been. Blinking his tears away, his memory went to the day that he had asked Mimi to marry him…
"Mimi, honey, there's something I have to ask you." Roger started, seating Mimi on the couch opposite him.
"Okay. What is it?" she asked.
"We've been going out for what - nine months?" he inquired.
"Yeah. So?"
He pulled a ring out of his pocket and placed it on her left ring finger.
"Oh my God! Roger!" Mimi gasped.
"Naomi Eileen Marquez, will you marry me?" Roger asked, his eyes welling up with tears.
"Of course I will!" Mimi hugged Roger and kissed him, too afraid to let him go.
His favorite memory of Mimi was when she had gone into labor with Jules. Turning over on his stomach, he could remember that day - well, night - perfectly...
"Roger! Hurry up! It's happening!" Mimi screamed as she lay on a hospital bed dressed in a pink hospital gown. Roger had gone to check on the others - Joanne, a very pregnant Maureen, Mark, John, Collins and Eileen - were doing. Joanne had insisted that they were fine and to go back with Mimi.
When he arrived at Mimi's side, she was having a hard time breathing - almost like she was hyperventaling or something. Roger just took her hand in his and had her squeeze it. He also helped her sit up a bit so that she could push easier. She had asked him - through her panting, screams and breathing - if he could help her with her breathing exercises that the two of them hand worked on the night before at their Lamaze class.
Five hours later, Mimi was holding a bundle in a pink blanket.
"We did it!" Roger whispered, kissing Mimi's forehead. She smiled up at him as she nursed her newborn baby girl.
"Well, do I have a name here?" the delivery nurse asked, holding a pen and paper in her hand.
"What about the name we agreed on?" Mimi asked her husband. Roger nodded and smiled.
"Julie Hope Davis." Roger told the nurse as Mimi carefully held his daughter. He sung softly to her as the gang came into the delivery room.
"My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble sick with fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?
My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
How can I keep from singing?" Roger sang softly to his newborn daughter, tears in his eyes.
A/N: don't own the lyrics to How Can I Keep From Singing. belongs to respected owner. 'nuff said.
