When Mark woke up the next morning, he shuffled out of his room, expecting to see Roger on the couch where he'd camped out last night. Instead, he found paper torn out from Roger's old notebook with a note written in his handwriting.
Up on the Roof. Don't bother me. I want to be alone.
Now that Mark was listening, he could hear Roger venting out his emotions on the fender as the notes floated in through the Loft window. Crumpling the letter up and tossing it into the metal barrel in the corner where he and Roger sometimes lit fires in the winter, Mark began to strongly consider going in to see Mimi. After all, Roger's note hadn't mentioned anything about not talking to her. But before he could take a step, the metal door slid open and Maureen practically flew in, followed by Joanne, who was carrying a flat white box, and a very tired-looking Emily.
"Good morning, Mark!" Maureen belted, extremely perky.
"We've been up all night," Emily mumbled, falling into a chair at the metal table and resting her head on her arm. "She better appreciate it."
"Where'd you three disappear to last night?" Mark asked.
"First, where's Mimi?" Maureen waved away Mark's question.
"In the bedroom, but what….?" Before Mark could finish, Maureen had dashed into Mimi and Roger's room and emerged moments later, pulling Mimi with her.
"Maureen, please," Mimi groaned. "I just want to be alone."
"Mimi, don't try arguing," Joanne reasoned. "We all went through a lot of trouble putting this together for you."
"Okay, what are you three talking about?" Mimi eyed the three girls.
"About this," Joanne placed the box she was carrying on the floor and opened it. Mark and Mimi both stared as Maureen and Joanne pulled out a white spaghetti strap dress with lacy embroidery sewn to the bodice and the helm.
"Where'd you get that?" Mimi gasped.
"We made it!" Maureen announced proudly.
"Three fabric stores and a whole sleepless night," Emily imputed, looking completely out of it. "And I got pricked with those pins so many times, I felt like a human pincushion. But I'm not complaining."
"Maureen came up with the idea, and we went to a few fabric stores to get the material," Joanne explained. "And Emily took up the role of model."
"But who put it together?" Mark wondered.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Maureen exclaimed. "Joanne was the top of her home economics class in high school!"
"We just wanted you to have a good dress to wear when you get married tomorrow, Mimi," Joanne concluded. Mimi instantly looked away, a mixture of hurt and sadness on her face.
"There's not going to be a wedding," she announced stiffly.
"What!?" Joanne and Maureen cried while Emily let out a bewildered noise.
"Come on, you three," Mimi snapped. "Just look at what's been going on since we started planning. Everything has been going wrong. It's like the wedding was cursed, and I'm starting to believe it is. That's why Roger and I can't get married. I don't want to see things get worse for us because we ignored the omens Nana was talking about."
"That's why Roger was so upset last night, wasn't it?" Mark stepped in. "Because you called off the wedding."
"I had to," Mimi replied, her voice cracking slightly. "I love him, but…. I couldn't stand it if something worse happened to us. And with the way things have been going, if we ignore more of those omens and go through with the wedding, then something really bad could happen."
"Is that what you think?" Emily had appeared to have perked up a bit. "You think all of this stuff has been bad omens?"
"What else am I supposed to think?" Mimi was close to tears now.
"Well, you want to know what I think?" Emily asked. "Because I remember a time when I thought my life was cursed. Everyone I cared for died. My mother, my father, and my brother. My life was always in danger, too. And I had no real friends to stand by me. That is, until I met a guy who crashed his bike in front of the Center. After that day, it was like the curse over my life ended. But the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking that my life wasn't cursed after all.
"If my parents hadn't died, Zack and I would never have come to New York. And it's because of us coming to New York that Zack became a cop, who eventually got infected with HIV while trying to protect me. And if Zack hadn't died in the way that he did, I wouldn't have been so compelled to start working at the Center. And if I hadn't been working there, I might never have met Mark, or any of you. And it's because of you that the Rat Fangs were put in jail."
"What's your point?" Mimi sighed.
"My point is, all of that 'bad luck' I had wasn't really bad luck at all. I've started to see it as what paved the way to the life I have now. I don't see any reason to not think the same about you and Roger. You still love him, don't you? And you still want to marry him, right?"
"Of course I do!" Mimi replied. "But…"
"But nothing. Mimi, if you still want to marry him and spend the rest of your life with him, don't you think that shows how strong your love really is? It takes a really big love to survive anything. Perhaps all of these disasters aren't bad omens, but tests of your love for each other. Whether or not you pass those tests is up to you. You can either let the ball fly by you, or you can take a chance, and swing the bat." For a long moment, Mimi stood there, her mouth open. But then she carefully took the dress from Joanne and Maureen, gazing at it quietly.
"You really made this for me?" she whispered.
"Think of it as part of our wedding gift to you," Joanne smiled. Seconds later, Mimi mirrored the smile, and hugged the two women in gratitude before sending the same gesture toward Emily.
"Thank you," Mimi wiped away a tear that had escaped from her eye.
"Sure, no problem," Emily smiled weakly, fighting back a yawn without much luck.
"Hey, Emily," Mark placed a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder. "If you're tired, you can get some rest on my bed."
"Mmmm. Thanks, Mark," Emily moved into Mark's bedroom like a zombie. "I just know I'll pass out halfway down the stairs if I try to get back to my pad right now." Once Emily had disappeared into Mark's room to get some rest, Maureen and Joanne both turned to leave, but Mimi stopped them.
"Hang on," she said, the bright smile returning to her face. "Please, just wait for a few minutes. I just need to do something real quickly." With that, she disappeared into her bedroom.
Roger made the journey back to the Loft from the roof. He just couldn't play anymore right now. All of his energy had been drained. And yet, he still felt unfulfilled. The memories of last night kept replaying in his head. He needed to talk to Mimi, even though he wasn't sure what to say to her.
When he entered the Loft, he didn't know, or even care, what Maureen and Joanne were doing over, and passed by them without a little more then a half-hearted wave on his way to the bedroom. But when he opened the door, his heart nearly stopped. Mimi was in the middle of putting some of her things in her duffel bag, which Roger had gotten her last Christmas. But wouldn't that mean…? No, she couldn't! Calling off the wedding was one thing, but actually leaving? That would have meant it was actually over!
"Mimi, what are you…" Roger whispered in shock.
"What's it look like? I'm heading over to stay with Maureen and Joanne for…"
"No!" Roger grabbed the shirt she was taking out of the closet. "Mimi, please! It doesn't have to… Meems, if you don't want to marry me, that's fine. Just don't leave." Mimi opened her mouth to say something, but Roger cut her off. "Listen, I don't care about bad luck, or omens, or any of that sh-t. And I don't give a fu-k if the wedding was cursed or not. The only thing that mattered to me is that you'd be right there, and that I'd always have you. If you're there, Meems, I wouldn't care if I had to live with bad luck for a thousand years, or however long I'm going to be alive. Because I know I could face anything if you were there to face it with me. So please, Mimi. Call off the wedding if you really want to. Just please don't tell me that we're over, too."
"Roger," Mimi fought back a laugh, taking his face in her hands. "I'm packing an overnight bag, because I'm spending the night at Maureen and Joanne's place. You might not care about bad luck, but I don't want to take the risk of more of it coming around because you saw me before the wedding."
"Wha… wait, what?" Roger gaped, extremely confused. "Are you… you mean we are getting married?" In response, Mimi wrapped her arms around Roger's neck. Burying her fingers into his hair, she kissed him deeply, and was met with a passionate response.
'Does that answer your question?" Mimi grinned when they came up for air.
"Yeah, I guess so," Roger nodded, slightly breathless. "But what happened to all that talk about bad omens, and not paying attention to them?"
"Does it matter? Because I don't think it does."
"No, I don't think so, either." For the second time, the lovers shared a tender kiss. "I love you, Mimi," Roger whispered, resting his forehead against hers. "I love you so much.
"I love you too, Roger. So much." For a moment longer, they stood silently, simply holding one another, but then Roger stepped back, holding her out at arms length, bending slightly to look her straight in the eyes.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he smirked. "Maureen and Joanne are waiting for you on the couch. Better get going if you're staying at their place tonight."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Mimi promised, quickly kissing his cheek. Then, taking her duffel bag, she left the bedroom, pausing at the door to smile back at him. Moments later, after he'd heard the Loft door sliding closed, Roger crossed the room to the bedroom window, so he could watch Mimi head down the street with Maureen and Joanne. As he did so, he couldn't stop himself from smiling at the thought that at this time tomorrow, they would truly be together, for the rest of their lives.
AN: I've just uploaded the picture references for this story on my photobucket account. Namily the ring and Mimi's two dresses. Aslo, this is the end of the drama in this story. From now on, it's just a humorous, fluffy story.