"Baby, we're gonna be late." Roger shouted from the kitchen taking his AZT.
"No, we're not. Just give me a minute. It's hard to rush around with this basket ball in the way." she yelled from the bedroom trying to tie her sneakers.
"Well, I don't want to be waiting all day in the clinic." he said drinking the rest of his water.
"Sweetie, I know you're excited, but calm down. We've got time." she told him coming out of the bedroom.
"Of course I'm excited. We're gonna see if the baby is a boy or a girl today." he said wrapping his arms around her disappearing waistline.
"I know. I can't wait to see if we're having a Lynda Marianna or a Richard Mark." she looked up at him smiling.
"Are you ready Baby?" he asked leaning down to give her a kiss.
"Yeah, let's go." she said smiling as Roger grabbed his keys and left.
"Mr. And Mrs. Davis. The doctor will see you now." the receptionist said as Roger and Gina looked at each other before getting up to follow the nurse.
"Good morning Gina. How are you feeling today?" he asked looking down at her chart.
"Fat. But excited." she said smiling as Roger helped her up onto the examination table.
"We got your HIV test results back. You're still negative, which is excellent. Are we ready to see our little one?" he asked smiling at Roger and Gina.
"Thank God. Yes, we're ready." Roger said excitedly caressing Gina's head.
"OK. Just lie back and lift your blouse up just enough to show your belly and we can take a look inside." he said preparing the gel and putting the sonogram machine on. "OK, everything looks great. Good growth. Nice weight and size. Now let's see if we're gonna be able to tell the sex." the doctor continued as he moved the transmitter around her stomach.
"Look Roger. Look how big baby is already." Gina said smiling with tears streaming down the sides of her face.
"It's so beautiful." he said tearfully as he held Gina's hand.
"Well, it looks like she is doing just fine." the doctor said looking up at Gina and Roger, who had turned to one another.
"She? We're having a girl?" Roger said as tears continued to fall down his face.
"Yes sir. You are gonna have a daughter in 2 months." the doctor said smiling at him.
"Roger, we're gonna have a baby girl." Gina said crying as he caressed her face still staring at his daughter on the sonogram.
"I can't believe it. That's my daughter." he said smiling pointing to the screen.
"Would you two like a picture of your daugter?" the doctor asked punching something into the keyboard.
"Yes, please." Roger said wiping his eyes as he caressed Gina's hand.
"One moment and then you can be on your way." the doctor said as the picture printed out.
"Oh my God Roger. A baby girl. Are we gonna tell the others?" she asked as they left the clinic to go home.
"Of course. You know you can't keep a secret from Mimi." he said laughing as he held her close to him.
"Yeah like you could keep it from Mark." she said looking up at him smiling.
"True. Who do you want to tell first?" Roger asked as they approached the building.
"Your mom and then we'll start calling the others." she said as Roger opened the door.
"Sounds good to me, Baby." he said taking her arm to help her up the stairs.
"I am really hating these stairs." she said struggling to climb the stairs in the summer heat.
"I know Baby. I'm sorry." he said as they stood at the top of the first landing so Gina could rest.
"Why didn't I move into a building with an elevator?" she said laughing as she looked up to see how many steps she had left.
"Because you weren't pregnant when you moved here." he told her as they climbed the rest of the steps to the apartment.
"So what are we having?" Mimi shouted running down the step from the loft.
"Holy shit, Mimi. Where the hell did you come from?" Roger asked leaning against the wall surprised.
"I was upstairs waiting for you guys. What are we having?" she asked again with her arm around Gina's shoulders as Roger opened the apartment door.
"A girl." Gina told her excitedly as the women hugged.
"No way. I'm gonna have a namesake?" she asked happily.
"Yes you are. Lynda Marianna Davis." Gina told her rubbing her stomach.
"Oh chica that's incredible. Congratulations. Wow Roger with a daughter. How' that for karma?" Mimi said laughing.
"What do you mean? I respect women." he told her picking up the phone to dial his mother's number.
"I know, it's just the rock star, sex god image you have is gonna be softened by having a little girl." Mim said laughing.
"Whatever... Hey mom it's Roger... yeah we just got home... well, get ready for your granddaughter... Thanks mom... yeah, I'm very happy. Actually, I couldn't be happier... OK, We'll come see you this weekend... OK I love you too mom... OK Bye." he said as he hung up the phone.
"So what'd she say?" Gina said as Mimi rubbed her belly.
"Well now she can't wait to spoil her granddaughter, so expect to be at the mall a lot this weekend." he told her laughing.
"Roger, I've been really tired lately with this heat. I really don't thing out of town is really someplace I should be. Especially up there." she said leaning back on the couch caressing her stomach.
"Are you OK Baby? Is Lynda OK?" he asked rushing to her side.
"Yeah, we're fine. It's just with this heat and all the weight I gained with her. I just don't think I should be traveling. Plus the seats in the car are really uncomfortable." she said running her hands though his hair.
"OK, I'll call her back later and let her know. She'll understand. Is Mark upstairs?" Roger said caressing Gina's stomach as he looked at Mimi.
"Yeah, he's editing some stuff in his room. I was supposed to go up and let him know." Mimi said starting to get up.
"No it's cool, you stay here with Gina, in case she needs anything. I wanna be the one to tell him anyway." Roger said smiling at Gina.
"Roger, I'm fine. It's just this August heat is really knocking me out." Gina said looking up at him.
"Why don't you go lay down and Mimi'll stay here with you. I'll be right upstairs." he said kissing her before helping her up.
"OK sweetie." she said holding on to Roger.
"I love you Baby. I'm not gonna be long, OK? I'll be right back." he told her helping her into the bedroom where a bassinette sat next to the bed and a crib was set up on the other side of the room.
"I love you too. Take your time Roger. I'm fine." she said laying on the bed.
"I'm serious Mimi. Keep an eye on her." Roger said coming out of the bedroom.
"Don't worry Roger. I'll take care of our girls." she said smiling at him getting up to hug him. "Congratulations daddy." she said smiling at him.
"Thanks. She is so gonna be such a daddy's girl." Roger said hugging Mimi.
"I know she is." Mimi said laughing as Roger left the apartment.
"Hey Mark. Are you here?" Roger said sliding the loft door open.
"In here Rog. I'll be right out." Mark shouted from his room.
"Come on man. I can't hold this in anymore." Roger said running into Mark's room.
"So what are we having?" Mark asked pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"A girl. I'm gonna have a daughter." Roger told him excitedly.
"Oh man, that's great. Congratulations Roger." Mark said giving his best friend a hug.
"Yeah, you're gonna have a goddaughter." Roger said laughing.
"Awesome." Mark said smiling at his friend who was ecstatic. "You are really happy aren't you?" Mark asked as Roger sat on Mark's bed.
"Yeah, I really am." Roger said looking up with tears forming in his eyes.
"So what's wrong?" Mark asked sitting next to him.
"I'm really worried about Gina. When we got home, I guess the stairs wiped her out. She's been tired a lot lately." he said looking over at him.
"Well Rog, she's 7 months pregnant. Those stairs must be killer on her. And it's the middle of the summer. Dude, if there was anything wrong don't you think the doctor would have caught it this morning?" Mark asked trying to ease Roger's worries.
"I know. I guess I'm being over protective again." Roger said laughing.
"Yeah, it seems like that's what you do best. But she is your wife and she's carrying your daughter." Mark told him laughing as he got up and went back to his editing.
"Yeah, I know. What are you working on?" Roger said following him.
"Nothing really. Just editing some stuff." he said looking at the screen.
"Oh OK. Well I'll get out of your way then. I gotta go and relieve Mimi anyway. I have her keeping an eye on Gina. I'll see you later. I'll call everyone else from my place." Roger said patting Mark on the shoulder.
"No problem. Mimi'll probably want to make dinner for everyone anyway tonight to celebrate." Mark said smiling at Roger.
"That sounds cool. I just hope Gina's feeling up to it." Roger said before leaving the room to go back downstairs.
"How is she?" Roger said reentering his apartment.
"Fine. She's sleeping." Mimi said standing up.
"Good. I hope she's gonna be OK." Roger said looking worried.
"Roger, she's pregnant in the middle of the hottest summer we've had in quite a while. And she just climbed how many flights of stairs? Don't worry so much. It's normal." she told him touching his arm.
"I know. It's just that, if anything happens to her or my daughter. I don't know..." Roger said before Mimi grabbed his shirt and dragged him into the hallway.
"Roger Davis, stop talking like that. Nothing is gonna happen to Gina or Lynda. You two have come too far for anything to happen to them now. Now you go in there and go lay down with your wife. I'm sure she would love to wake up in your arms." Mimi said quietly pointing her finger in Roger's face.
"OK. You're right. I'm sorry." he said leaning down to hug her.
"I wish you would stop talking like that." she said rubbing his back.
"I know. I just can't help it sometimes. Things are going so good that sometimes it doesn't fell real." he told her pulling away from her.
"I understand that. But you have to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop or you'll never be able to enjoy your family." she told him as Gina opened the apartment door.
"Hey Baby, are you OK?" he said turning to her.
"Um yeah. As well as can be expected for a woman who's in labor." she said standing in the doorway. Roger looked down and noticed her clothes were wet. Her water had broken.
"Oh my God. It's too soon." Roger said panicking.
"I'm gonna go get Mark. Roger, help me sit Gina down on the couch and call the doctor. Gina, are you getting contractions yet?" Mimi asked holding her other arm helping her to the couch.
"No, not yet." Gina said leaning back to sit on the couch carefully.
"OK. I'll be right back chica. Roger, doctor." Mimi said pointing to the phone before running upstairs to get Mark. "Mark, Gina's water broke. We gotta get her to the hospital. It's too soon. The baby's not ready yet." she said out of breath beginning to break down.
"Mimi, calm down. Is Roger calling the doctor?" Mark asked rushing out of his room at Mimi's panic.
"Yeah, he is. Mark, it's too soon. If anything happens to Gina or Lynda, it'll just kill Roger. He won't be able to take it." Mimi said crying as Mark held her in his arms.
"Mimi, nothing is gonna happen to Gina and the baby. They're gonna be fine. The baby might have to stay in the hospital for an extra week in an incubator until her lungs fully develop, but she'll be fine. If there was anything wrong, the doctor would have caught it." Mark said caressing her hair.
"How do you know that Mark?" she asked looking into his bright blue eyes.
"Because I was 2 months premature and I'm fine, aren't I?" he said looking down at her smiling.
"You were?" Mimi asked smiling up at him.
"Yeah. Everything is gonna be OK. We should go down there and help Roger. He must be a wreck." Mark said kissing her head.
"Yeah, he is." she said wiping her eyes laughing at Mark. "Thank you for rescuing me from myself." she said leaning up to give Mark a kiss. The kiss took Mark by surprise. He had wanted to kiss Mimi for a while now, but could never get up the nerve to do it. "Oh my God, Mark. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that." she said holding her hand over her mouth. Mark couldn't say anything. He just held her face in his hands and kissed her again. His kiss was long and tender.
"I've been wanting to do that for a while now." he said smiling down at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked looking up at him.
"Too scared I guess." he answered sheepishly smiling down at her.
"MIMI, MARK!" Roger yelled up the stairs frantically.
"Oh my God, Roger and Gina." Mark exclaimed as he and Mimi ran out the door.
"We're sorry Roger. What did the doctor say?" Mimi said as she and Mark ran down the stairs.
"He said we should meet him at the hospital. We're leaving." Roger said going back into the apartment to get Gina, who had gone into the bedroom to change her clothes. "Baby, where are you?" he asked running into the bedroom.
"I'm just changing my clothes, Roger. I'm fine. Are they here?" she asked putting on her pants.
"Yeah, they're here. Are you almost ready?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, I just need to get some things." she said reaching up to her jewelery box.
"What are you doing Baby?" he asked getting her jewelery box off of the dresser for her.
"I need my locket Roger. I can't have this baby without my locket." she said getting it out of the box and putting it around her neck.
"OK, you have your locket. Can we go now?" Roger asked holding her hand.
"But my stuff." she said as Roger helped her up.
I'll get it chica. We have to get you to the hospital." Mimi said helping Roger get her off of the bed and out of the apartment
"Mark, start the car please." Roger said tossing his keys at him.
"No problem." Mark said running down the stairs to the car.
"Oh my God." Gina said gripping Roger's arm tightly.
"What's the matter Baby?" Roger asked stopping to look at her.
"Contraction, I think." she said beginning to breathe deeply.
"Hang on Baby, we're almost downstairs." he told her looking over at Mimi, who seemed very optimistic.
"You're gonna be OK chica. We're here for you. Just one more set of stairs and we'll be outside." Mimi told her smiling over at her.
"Rog. What's goin on?" Collins asked standing by the car.
"Gina's water broke and now she's having contractions. We gotta get her to the hospital." Roger said sitting her in the front seat.
"I'm coming." he said running around to the driver's side and hopping in the back seat.
"Are you OK, baby girl?" Collins asked leaning forward to Gina who was clutching her locket breathing deeply.
"It hurts like a bitch, Collins." she said gripping Roger's hand.
"I know baby girl. But you'll be OK. So will the baby. Didn't you guys find out if your having a boy or a girl this morning?" he asked looking over at Roger.
"Yeah, we're having a little girl. But we could have saved the trip to the clinic if we waited one more day." Roger said laughing nervously.
"Roger, I'm fine. Everything is gonna be fine. Don't worry sweetie." she said looking over at him.
"I know. It's just too soon Baby. We're not ready yet." he said as he drove carefully to the hospital.
"Well, I guess she is. It'll be fine. Roger, please calm down. Ow, oh my God." she said gripping the handle on the door because of another labor pain.
"Another one?" Roger said looking over at her.
"Roger, the road." Mimi yelled at him as she sat up and caressed Gina's shoulder.
"We're almost there." Mark said putting his arm around Mimi. Mimi looked at back at him and smiled.