Note: Wow, I can't believe how much positive feedback I'm getting on this. I'm really glad you're all enjoying reading it as much as I like writing it! This chapter's not terribly exciting, but I promise it's all going somewhere...Oh and I hope the timeline's not confusing, but I realized that since Maria's birthday was 2 months into school, it should be about the end of November by now.
Maureen was in the kitchen making dinner when the phone rang.
"Honey, can you grab it? I'm in the middle of cooking!" she called.
"Yeah, I got it."
Mark tossed down his book and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Mark, it's Cindy. How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"Pregnant!"
"What?"
"Well you know that Jake and I wanted more kids."
"Yeah…"
"And I'm pregnant again!"
"That's great, Cind! Congratulations!"
"Thanks. We're so excited."
"You know how far along—"
"No, not yet. Just found out, like, twenty minutes ago. We called Mom and then called Jake's mom and then you."
"Well, I'm flattered."
"Hey, Marky? I gotta go. We still have to call Jake's brothers and his sister."
"Oh okay. Give him our best and congrats. And give the boys a hug for us."
He hung up and went to the kitchen, smiling. Maureen turned and smiled back at him. "Hey, baby. Who was that?"
"Cindy."
"Oh. How's she doing?"
"She's pregnant."
"Aw! Cute! Is she excited?"
"Very."
"That's great."
"Mmhmm…And I've been thinking…"
"About what?"
"About us maybe trying for one," he said, leaning in to kiss her neck as his arms slipped around her waist.
Maureen bit her lip. "Mark…"
"What? I thought you wanted kids."
"I…I do…I just…Not now, Mark."
Before he could say anything, she'd pulled away and carried dishes into the dining room. Mark followed her in.
"Maureen—"
"Mark, I don't want to talk about it."
"Honey, what's the matter?"
"Nothing. I'm fine. Everything's fine." She continued to set the table without looking at him. Mark put a hand on her arm.
"Maureen. Just tell me. Why not now?"
"We can't, okay? We just…we can't try now."
She tried to pull away but Mark held her arm gently. "Maureen, baby, is something wrong?"
"No. It's…no, it's nothing. Nothing."
"Look, if you don't want—"
"I want kids, okay? We just can't try now."
"Can't I ask why?"
"Because."
"Maureen, that's not a reason."
"Because what if I don't get pregnant."
"Is that what this is about?"
Maureen shook her head. Mark brushed them away and kissed her forehead.
"Baby, it's okay. I'm sure you'll get pregnant—"
"It's just…I mean, what if we're not ready? What if we suck at this? What if I'm a bad mom? What if we totally screw up this kid?"
Mark pulled her into his lap and hugged her to him. "Mo, calm down. You're getting yourself worked up. We're ready. We've got a house of our own, we're both done with school. And we won't suck at this. We'll learn together. We'll be fine."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
Maureen nodded. "Let's have a baby."
Mark snaked one hand up into her hair and pulled her down to kiss her. She jumped up and went to the kitchen. "Shit!"
"What?"
"I forgot dinner was in the oven. Damn it! I was making that chicken that you like so much and I forgot and—fuck!" Maureen opened the oven to a full blast of thick dark smoke. "Damn it! I burned it!"
Mark smiled. "Forget it."
Maureen shut the oven. "Well now what the hell are we supposed to eat?"
"Well, ya know, I'm not too hungry right now…Maybe we should work up an appetite first," he said with a wink.
"You tryin' to seduce me, Marky?"
"Why? Is it working?"
"Hell yes, baby," she laughed.
Mark grinned and reached over to turn the oven off and then took Maureen's hand, leading her down the hall.
--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--
"Mrs. Cohen, can I asked you something?"
The other children had just left and Roger had called to say he was running late. Maureen knelt in front of the little girl. "Sure, honey. What is it?"
"My daddy gotted a new friend. A lady friend."
"Oh really?"
Maria nodded. "Her name's Joanne."
"Oh! She's a nice lady."
"You knowed her too?"
"She works with Mr. Mark."
Maria stared at her a minute.
"You okay, honey?"
"Is Joanne gonna be my new mommy?"
"What?"
"The other kids all gots mommies and Daddy's been talkin' lots to Joanne so is she gonna be my new mommy?"
Maureen sighed. "I…I don't know, Maria. I think that's something you need to talk to you daddy about."
"How come?"
"Well because he's the only one who really knows the answer to that."
Maria nodded and returned to her coloring. "Okay."
Maureen stood up and watched the little girl. She hoped Roger wasn't making a mistake.
--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--
"So how's things goin' with that girl you were seeing?" Roger asked. They'd just gotten out of their meeting and were headed to the parking lot.
Benny shrugged. "You know me. Like to keep it low-key. Nothin' serious. Not even exclusive."
Roger laughed and nodded. Benny quickly changed the subject. "How's Maria feeling?"
"Much better. Now I just gotta get through Thanksgiving at Mom's and then the wonder of Christmas shopping."
They reached Benny's car and stopped. "Okay, well, you and the little one have a good Thanksgiving."
"You too, man."
Roger reached his car a minute later and headed for Maria's school.
--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--
Angel slipped off her coat and hung it up. Her sleeve stretched up revealing a sizeable bruise.
"What the hell…"
"Somethin' wrong, baby?" Collins asked, coming up behind her. His eyes fell on the bruise. "Damn, Angel. What the hell'd you do?"
Angel shook her head. "Don't know. Don't remember doing anything."
She turned to Collins and laughed. "Probably nothing. Must've hit it on a drawer at work or something."
--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--
Joanne drove down the highway to her parents' house. She hated holidays with the family, but preferred it to staying home alone. As she drove, her thoughts turned to Roger and Maria. She and Roger had been casually seeing one another for a while now. He was different than the couple of guys she'd dated before. Sweeter, smarter for damn sure, not to mention shyer. They had yet to even kiss. She hoped that was some of those old-fashioned manners coming out again and not a lack of interest.