AN: And here it is- the final chapter. Special thanks to Forget Regret05, Feline Mimi, Tina101, Serendipity Kat, AlyssaLLBlack13, and anyone else who offered assistance in coming up with gift ideas. This chapter, therefore, is dedicated to you. So, enjoy.
Roger laughed in amusement as the multitudes of streamers from the party poppers flew at him, most getting caught in his hair, prompting him to try and pull them out with the help of Mimi, who was perched on his lap.
"Zoom in on Roger," Mark narrated, whipping out his camera, "who's just turned twenty-five."
"Aw, put that camera away, Mark," Emily laughed, reaching over to lower Mark's arm. "This is a night best left for memories." Mark joined into Emily's laughter as he returned his camera to his bag.
"What?!" Maureen gaped. "For nearly four years, he's ignored us when we told him to put away that camera, but Emily only tells him once, and he listens?"
"Call it the Filmmaker/Photographer Pact, Maureen," Emily grinned.
The Bohemians were gathered at the Life Café, celebrating Roger's birthday. Roger and Mimi were at the head of the table, with Collins, Joanne and Maureen on one side, and Mark and Emily, with Penny sitting between them, on the other. Roger kept tugging at the string that held his paper party hat in place.
"Roger, stop!" Mimi scolded after the fifth time. "Leave it alone!"
"Aw, come on, Meems. Please let me take this ridiculous thing off. The string's cutting into my skin."
"No! Please, baby, keep it on." Mimi begged, snaking her arms around his neck and running a finger across his jaw line, favoring the cleft in his rough chin, before whispering into his ear. "I promise I'll make it worth your while when we get home."
"Oh, really?" Roger grinned deviously. "What did you have in mind?" Mimi replied with a devious grin of her own, and the couple was all over each other in an instant.
"Seriously, how do they do it?" Emily asked Mark in wonderment, after five minutes had passed and Roger and Mimi were still showing no signs of pulling apart. "When do they breathe?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Roger and Mimi only pulled apart once their dinner had arrived.
"Present time! Present time!" Maureen began to chant as soon as the meal was finished.
"Prese..." Penny started to join in.
"Penny, don't encourage her," Emily play-scolded. The Bohemians, minus the scowling Maureen, started laughing at the fact that Emily had told a seven-year-old not to encourage a grown woman, when it was usually the other way around. Once the laughter had subsided, Roger complied with Maureen's request and started on his presents. From Mark, he got an entire photo album, filled with pictures of the two of them that went way back to the days when they had lived in Scarsdale as small boys. Mimi had given him a thick manuscript, The Big Book of Staff Paper. However, upon opening Maureen's gift, Roger half-choked on his beer, staring wide-eyed at a box with the words "The Naughty Weekend Kit" printed on the cover. Roger glared at Maureen, and Mark helped Emily cover Penny's eyes and ears, as Mimi examined the box, which contained things like a red velvet blindfold, massage oil, and an instruction book.
"No offense, Maureen," Mimi giggled. "But I think I know more tricks then this booklet could."
"Moving on," Roger mumbled, a definite reddish tint appearing on his cheeks. The rest of the gifts were unveiled with a little less awkwardness, such as a guitar tool kit and strings from Joanne, and a shot glass chess set from Collins. Penny's gift was a small silver medallion with the image of a woman on it.
"It's St. Cecilia," the small girl explained. "She's the Patron Saint of Musicians, Poets, Singers and Composers."
"Wow," Roger chuckled. "Thanks, Penny." Emily's gift came last. It was a flat, thin package in balloon-patterned paper.
"It's something you definitely don't have," Emily explained. "I thought that you'd want it." Roger opened the present to reveal the sole content of a single black and white photo. He stared at it in shock.
"Is…. Emily, is this…?" he whispered, in dawning realization.
"Musetta," Emily nodded. "If anyone had a right to keep that, it would be the child's father." Roger continued to look at the ultrasound in silence. "I'm sorry," Emily said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you…"
"No, Emily," Roger shook his head abruptly, a slow smile stretching across his face. "It's…. thank you. You'll have a hard time topping this present next year."
The party continued well into the night, finally ending around one in the morning, at which the group of friends went their separate ways, Joanne and Maureen heading to the apartment they shared, and the others heading back to the Loft. Roger and Mimi were walking along, arm in arm, followed by Collins, who was dropping Roger's gifts back at the Loft before taking the subway to his small pad, the one Angel had left him, and Mark and Emily, the latter carrying a sleeping Penny. Despite the cooling night breeze that was hitting Roger's face, nothing could ruin this night for him. As cheesy as it might have sounded, despite the gifts he had gotten that night, his favorite gift of all had been the love his friends, his family, held for him.
AN: I know the ending's cheesy. Sorry 'bout that.
The next sequel planned is a Fourth of July fic. Watch for it. Until next time, this is Data Girl 3, signing off...