AN: Sorry for the long wait. Late December's a busy time of year for my family. But now that things have calmed down a bit, I can have more time to concentrate on my writing. Happy New Year to all.
When the morning sun shone through the window the next day, Mark let out a low groan, squeezing his eyes shut against the offending light that glared through his eyelids. He rolled over so his back was to the window, hoping to get back to sleep, but thoughts of getting more rest vanished from his mind when he heard Emily's voice nearby. Opening one eye, he glanced over to see she was on the phone with someone.
"So, she's still sleeping then? Did she say anything about what happened last night?...Okay, then, just be sure to call us when she explains everything, all right? We were pretty worried about it, too....Thanks, talk to you later. Bye." As Emily hung up the phone, Mark pulled himself out of bed to walk over and hug her from behind. Emily jumped a bit from the embrace, but quickly calmed down.
"Morning, Emily," Mark chuckled. "You're jumpy this morning, aren't you?"
"You startled me," Emily scolded, reaching back to lightly touch his cheek. "I thought you were still sleeping."
"Next time I'll announce it when I wake up. How does that sound?" Grinning widely, Mark placed a kiss on the back of Emily's head. "So who was that on the phone?"
"Joanne. I wanted to see if she'd figured out what got Maureen that upset last night?"
"And?"
"Well, Maureen hasn't said anything about it yet. Whenever Joanne tries to ask, Maureen always changes the subject. I asked Joanne to call us back the moment she gets Maureen to explain."
"Sounds good." For a short time, Mark was quiet, simply resting his forehead on Emily's shoulder. "Um, Emily? You know how I had to give a rain check for the trip to the zoo yesterday? How mad would you be if I skipped out on 'family time' again today?
"You have plans?"
"Peter mentioned he wanted to go out for a drink today."
"That's great, Mark. Be sure to have fun, okay?" Mark took a brief moment to glance at Emily, and saw her smile reached her eyes.
"You… you're sure?"
"Mark, sweetie, of course its okay with me! You deserve a day out to just be a guy. I was thinking about heading over to Joanne and Maureen's place anyway, to see if I could help Joanne get Maureen to explain."
"And what about the children?" Mark asked.
"James was going to stop by today with his little brother, Sammy. I'm sure he and Penny can baby-sit for a while."
"Oh, James, huh?" Mark frowned ever-so-slightly. In response, Emily lovingly ran her fingers through his hair.
"Don't act that way, Mark, sweetie. You know you'd like him if you just took the time to get to know him. Just think about what type of guy Penny could have ended up going out with. Some loud-mouthed punk with every inch of his face pierced, hair clipped off in some spiky green Mohawk, with the numerous names of all his sexual conquests burned into his arm with a lit cigarette." Mark couldn't stop the instant laugh from Emily's description.
"Where'd you ever come up with that profile?" he asked.
"Oh, some distant relative of mine on my mother's side. Only met him once, but that was enough." Mirroring his chuckle, Emily placed a kiss on Mark's cheek. "Now, you go and have a good time with Peter, all right?"
"Yes, ma'am," Mark teased. But when she turned to leave the room, he took hold of her wrist, waiting until she turned to face him before speaking softly. "I love you." Smiling just as softly, Emily took Mark' face in her hands, so hazel eyes and blue ones could meet more easily.
"I love you," she replied. Pausing only for a moment to share a smile, they momentarily came together for a kiss that lasted for a few seconds.
Inside Freeman's, Mark and Peter were conversing over the drinks they'd ordered. In the middle of their conversation, Peter suddenly noticed that Mark was constantly glancing around the room, with a distant, pained look on his face.
"Did I say something wrong?" Peter arched an eyebrow.
"No, it's not that," Mark shook his head. "Just old memories. I used to come here all the time with my friends, in the early days before we discovered the Life."
"Ah. I see," Peter smiled in understanding. "Well, why didn't you mention that earlier? I would have been more then happy to have them join us." Mark's eyes fell to the floor for the moment, Peter's words hitting him harder then he'd have liked.
"You don't understand," Mark forced the words out. "They…they died about ten years ago. Complications, due to the AIDS virus."
"Oh!" Peter's face registered multiple expressions of surprise and sympathy. "Mark, I am so sorry. I had no idea."
"It's fine, Peter. I know you didn't." For a time, the two men were silent, until Peter spoke again.
"So, does that mean you no longer have any male friends?"
"Well….there is Benny, I suppose," Mark mused. "But he's usually busy with his job these days. Plus, he has his own wife and son to spend time with."
"Mmm. Well, then it's probably a good thing I came along. Ten years is a long time to not be able to spend time with any other men. Perhaps, after I've returned home after this business trip, I can someday return for a visit."
"Yeah," Mark gave a small smile, grateful for the friendship. "That would be nice."
Back at the Condo, Penny and James were sharing a seat on the couch, with Sammy sitting between them, flipping through a picture book. In front of the television, Rodolfo and Zack were in the middle of playing Super Mario Brothers 3, taking turns while controlling Mario and Luigi, while Lucia simply watched, perfectly content in viewing her brother and 'cousin's' walkthrough of the game. However, the moment of silence was broken when Rodolfo cried out.
"Zack, will you wake up?" Rodolfo gestured violently to the screen as Luigi lost another life. "You just stood there and let that Goomba kill you!" When Rodolfo glanced over at Zack, he saw that the blue-eyed boy had once again directed his attention to Zoey, who had been sitting quietly by the window all day, working on some sort of needlework. She hadn't spoken a single word to anyone all morning, and Zack couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. Yesterday, he was sure she was starting to open up and coming out of her shell a bit. At least he'd gotten a smile out of her. But now, she was even more withdrawn then she had been upon arriving.
After a moment of thinking it over, Zack gestured to Rodolfo to wait one moment and got up, crossing the room to Zoey's side.
"Hey, Zoey," Zack began, trying to not sound too nervous as he gestured to the game he was playing. "You want to join us? Girls vs. boys, me and Rodolfo alternating with Mario, and you and Lucia alternating with Luigi."
"No," Zoey spoke softly. "I….I don't know how to play. And my father wouldn't approve of me doing something that wasn't constructive."
"This is constructive!" Rodolfo, who had been eavesdropping, inputted his opinions. "Having something to unwind and have fun with is very constructive! If you can't have fun from time to time, your head would explode."
"Come on, Zoey!" Lucia grinned, walking up to lightly pull on Zoey's arm in encouragement. "Please come play with us." The moment Lucia took hold of her arm, however, Zoey winced and gave a small jump.
"No!" Zoey insisted, pulling away in an almost defensive manner. "Please, I don't…"
"Guys, just leave her alone," Penny instructed, finally stepping into the conversation. "If she doesn't want to play, she doesn't have to." Zoey took this chance to try and retreat to the upstairs bedroom, but as she passed, James stood up, looking at the young girl in a scrutinizing manner.
"Zoey, hold on for a minute," James requested, heading over before crouching down in front of her. "Could I see your arm for just a moment?" Once again, Zoey looked extremely worried about something. Clearly noticing this, James went on in a gentle tone. "I'm not going to hurt you, Zoey. I just want to see your left arm for just a moment. Please?"
Hesitatingly, Zoey held out her arm and allowed James to carefully roll her sleeve up a bit. This action made it possible for everyone to see the blotchy purple bruise that was positioned on her arm.
"Whoa!" Rodolfo gaped as everyone stared. "How'd you do that!?"
"It's nothing," Zoey insisted. "I bumped my arm when we got on the plane coming here, that's all." For a brief moment, James glanced down at the bruise that had formed on Zoey's arm with a faraway look in his eyes, but then he stepped back.
"Thank you, Zoey," James gave a supportive smile. "You can head up, now." Not needing further invitation, Zoey hurried off upstairs. For a time, everyone was quiet until Penny told the boys to return to their video game. Once everyone was distracted again, Penny started an aside talk with James.
"I've seen plenty of bruises at nursing school, at the hospital where I study, and even in the old days, when I was growing up at the Center," she mused out-loud. "That bruise did not look like she'd had it for over three days. It still looks fresh."
"Yeah, I know," James agreed, the distant look still hanging in his eyes. "I've seen bruises that that, myself." Penny paused for a moment, half-expecting James to clarify his statement. But when he didn't, she went on.
"What do you think, James?" She asked.
"Hopefully?" James closed his eyes as he spoke, as if he was trying to block out past demons. "Hopefully, for her sake, it's nothing to worry about." But from the look on his face, Penny could tell that James seriously doubted it was nothing.
AN: Lucia watching Zack and Rodolfo play their video game was based on my own experiences as a child. One of my favorite pastimes was watching my older brother play computer games. (Although, that usually got my brother angry at me, since I was a loud breather, and that distracted him from his game.)