"I can't believe you talked me into this." Brenda said looking over at Roger as she put some of Rose's clothes into a bag.
"Baby, it'll be fun. My parents are gonna be there this weekend and it'll be good for Rose." he smiled looking over at her from the foot of the bed.
"Yeah but, everyone? Why should Mark, Collins, Maureen and Joanne have be put in the middle of this?" she said folding Rose's sweatshirt.
"They won't be in the middle of this. Think of it as having moral support. Lots and lots of moral support." he smiled getting up and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
"Between my mom, my grandparents, my sister, my brother and your parents, I don't see this going well. Especially since your parents, my grandparents and my sister and brother have yet to meet Rosie." she said looking up at him.
"Bren, it's gonna be OK. I highly doubt anyone would want to cause a scene in front of Rosie." he said kissing her head.
"I just don't like the idea of us all being there at their mercy." she said looking back at him.
"Baby, we're gonna be fine. I promise. Don't worry so much. Let's just go and have a good time, OK?" he smiled turning her around before leaning down to kiss her lips.
"I haven't been back there since we left to get married." she said looking up at him.
"Me neither, but it's gonna be OK Baby. You'll see. Everyone is gonna have a great time and more importantly, Rosie is gonna have a great time." he smiled looking into her blue eyes.
"I so hate you right now." she laughed looking into his green eyes.
"No you don't. You love me, just like I love you." he smiled leaning down to kiss her again.
"Yeah I love you. But I hate when you tell me everything is gonna be OK. I always believe you." she smiled looking up at him.
"Isn't everything always OK eventually?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah." she mumbled looking down at his chest.
"So you see. I never break a promise to you." he smiled putting his hand under her chin to lift her eyes to him.
"No, you've never broken a promise to me. That's one thing I have always been able to count on." she smiled leaning up to kiss him as he held her tight.
"This is where you guys met?" Maureen asked as Joanne pulled in front of the Durlach house.
"Yep, and that's my car. I can't believe she still has my car." Brenda smiled looking in the driveway with tears in her eyes.
"We had some great times in that car, didn't we Baby?" Roger smiled looking over at her.
"Ewww, that is too much information." Maureen laughed looking back at them.
"Sorry 'Reen." Brenda laughed looking up at Roger.
"Come on princess, it's time to get up." Collins whispered trying to wake Rose up.
"We're here?" she asked looking up at him from her booster seat.
"Yeah sweetie, we're here." she smiled as Joanne put the SUV into park.
"And here comes the welcoming committee." Roger laughed looking out the window as his parents came from down the block and Brenda's family came out of the house.
"I hope everyone's ready." Brenda laughed as they all got out of the car.
"Come on princess." Collins smiled unbuckling the seat belt for Rose.
"You're all here. Where's that baby we've heard so much about?" Mrs. Davis asked looking into the truck.
"She's coming mom." Roger laughed looking over at his mother as Collins took Rose out of her seat and they got out of the car.
"Roger, she looks just like you. She is so beautiful." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at her as she rubbed her eyes.
"Come her my sweetie. You are so beautiful." Brenda's grandmother said smiling at Rose.
"Her name is Rose. Rose Michelle Davis. We call her Rosie." Brenda smiled looking over at her.
"Hi Rosie. I'm your great grandma." she smiled as Collins put Rose down.
"Hi." she smiled holding on to Collins hand burying her face in his leg.
"It's OK princess. Say hello." he smiled kneeling down in front of her.
"She doesn't do well when she first wakes up. That's another way she's like her father." Brenda smiled looking up at Roger.
"You two look so good." Christine, Brenda's sister smiled looking over at them.
"Thanks Chrissy." Brenda smiled looking over at her.
"She's amazing Bren." Robert, Brenda's brother said smiling at them."
"Yeah, she's something else." Roger smiled going over to Collins and Rose. "Come here my sweet girl. Say hi to everyone." he smiled picking her up as the little girl rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm tired daddy." she whined looking up at him.
"OK, why don't we go inside and let her wake up a little bit." he smiled looking up at everyone.
"You can lay her down in Brenda's room if she wants to go back to sleep." Mrs. Durlach smiled looking over at them.
"I think that's a good idea. She was so excited, she barely slept last night." Roger laughed propping her up more on his shoulder.
"You never did well when you were woken up in the car either. You always needed a little more time to rest before you were coherent." Mr. Davis laughed looking up at Roger.
"Yeah, yeah. Well she is my daughter." Roger laughed as they went into the house to lay Rose down in Brenda's old bed.
"She is so beautiful Brenda." Mrs. Davis smiled looking at Brenda.
"Thank you, but did you have any doubt with Roger as her father." she smiled looking over at her.
"Or you as her mother." Mr. Davis smiled looking over at her.
"Thanks Mr. Davis." she smiled looking up at him.
"Dad. You are my daughter in law." he smiled hugging her.
"I know you're all probably really mad at me and Roger for the past 8 years. Quitting school, us getting married so young, running away and not telling anyone where we were and having Rosie without telling anyone." Brenda said looking at everyone as they sat in the Durlach living room.
"Brenda, what's done is done. All that matters is that you, Roger and Rose are OK." Brenda's grandfather smiled looking over at her.
"Thank you grandpa." she smiled looking up at them. "I better go see how Roger and Rosie are doing. I'll be right back. You guys can make the introductions, right?" Brenda asked looking over at Collins.
"Yeah, we got it Babygirl. It's OK." he smiled as she went towards her room. She stopped just short of the door upon hearing Roger and Rose talking.
"Daddy, I don't know all of those people." Rose said sitting up on the bed.
"Rosie honey, they're our family. Mommy and daddy's, which means their your family too. They love you already. You don't have to love them right away. Just get to know them. You'll grow to love them. Just like you grew to love Uncle Collins, Uncle Mark, Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne." he smiled looking down at her.
"OK daddy, but you're gonna be right there, right?" she asked looking over at him.
"Of course my sweet girl. I'm never gonna leave you" he smiled taking her in his arms and kissing her head.
"Rosie, are you ready to go meet everyone?" Brenda smiled softly stepping into the doorway.
"Yeah mommy. I'm ready." she smiled looking over at Roger.
"Come on sweetie." she smiled holding her hand out to her to her.
"Daddy, you're coming, right?" Rose asked looking up at Roger.
"Yeah my sweet girl. I'm coming." he smiled getting up off of the bed taking her other hand.
"Everyone, we would like to introduce you to Rose Michelle Davis." Brenda smiled as they entered the living room.
"Hi sweetheart. I'm your grandma. Your daddy's mommy." Mrs. Davis smiled looking down at her.
"And I'm your grandpa." Mr. Davis smiled looking down at her.
"Hi grandma and grandpa." she smiled looking up at Roger and then looking at them. "You look like me and my daddy." she smiled looking up at Mr. Davis.
"Yes sweetie, I do." he smiled looking down at her.
"I'm your Uncle Robbie. Your mommy's brother." Robert smiled looking down at her.
"Hi Uncle Robbie." she smiled looking up at him.
"And I'm your mommy's sister. Your Aunt Christine." Christine smiled kneeling in front of her.
"Hi Aunt Christine." she smiled looking up at her.
"And this is my mommy and daddy sweetie. Your great grandma and great grandpa." Mrs. Durlach smiled introducing Brenda's grandparents.
"Hi." Rose smiled as Roger leaned down to pick her up.
"And you know that motley crew of people, huh?" he laughed pointing to Collins, Mark, Maureen and Joanne.
"Yeah, that's Uncle Collins, Uncle Mark, Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne." she laughed looking over at him.
"That's right princess." Collins laughed looking up at her.
"I know I'm right. I live with you." she laughed looking down at him as everyone laughed with her.
"Are you hungry sweetie? We made lunch for everyone." Mrs. Durlach smiled looking up at her.
"Can I daddy?" she asked looking down at him.
"Sure sweet girl. Go with grandma." he smiled kissing her head before letting her down as she rushed to Mrs. Durlach.
"OK, we want to hear everything. How Roger was as a kid? How Brenda was? Stuff like that." Maureen smiled looking up at them.
"Um, Maureen we're here all weekend. Why don't we just start off slow?" Brenda smiled looking down at her as Roger put his arms around her as the phone rang.
"I'll get it." Mrs. Durlach called out rushing to the phone in the kitchen.
"You guys met here?" Joanne smiled looking out the window.
"Yep. Roger was playing his guitar over there on his porch and me and Robbie were playing catch in the yard. I heard the guitar playing and just went down the block to see where it was coming from." Brenda smiled looking up at Roger.
"I did that on purpose." he laughed looking down at her.
"It was my idea, actually." Mr. Davis smiled looking up at them.
"What? I never heard this." Brenda smiled looking up at Roger.
"I saw you leaving your house earlier that day and I couldn't get you out of my mind. My dad suggested that I sit on the porch playing my guitar to get your attention. And it worked." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.
"Really? How come you never told me that before?" she asked looking up at him.
"What and look like a dork? No way. I was trying to be cool." he laughed holding her close.
"You could never look like a dork Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"Guess who's coming over?" Mrs. Durlach asked standing in the kitchen doorway after putting a plate in front of Rose.
"Who?" Brenda asked looking up at her.
"Robin and Eric. They're in town visiting Robin's parents and just wanted to call and see if we heard from you two." she smiled looking up at them.
"Robin and Eric? Isn't Eric gay?" Joanne asked looking over at them.
"Yeah, but they're roommates in LA." Mrs. Durlach smiled looking over at them.
"Oh my God. I haven't seen them since the night before Roger and I got married." she smiled looking over at her.
"Well you're gonna see them now." she smiled looking over at her. "If anyone wants some lunch, it's on the counter. Help yourselves." Mrs. Durlach smiled looking over at them as Collins, Mark, Maureen and Joanne got up to eat.
"Mrs. D, this looks really good." Collins smiled looking over at her.
"Thank you Thomas. Take as much as you want." she smiled looking over at him.
"How did you all meet?" Mr. Davis asked looking up at Roger and Brenda as they sat on the couch.
"Well, I picked Collins up in a bar where we were performing in the city." Brenda laughed looking up at Roger.
"His boyfriend had just broken up with him and he was upset so Bren took pity on him and invited him to roommate with us. It was just the three of us until Bren left. Then I met Mark and another friend of ours Benny. Then Mark started dating Maureen and when she broke up with him she started dating Joanne." Roger smiled looking over at them.
"Brenda always did have a big heart. It must be nice, all of you living so close to one another? It's nice for Rosie to have all of those people who love her and take care of her." Brenda's grandmother said smiling at them.
"It is. Rosie is the center of our universe." Roger smiled looking over at everyone eating lunch in the kitchen.
"We can see that. She is so beautiful." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at her granddaughter as the front door opened.
"Thanks mom." Roger smiled looking over at Brenda.
"I don't believe it. You finally came home." Robin smiled looking over at Brenda and Roger.
"Hey, I missed you guys so much." Brenda smiled running over to Robin and Eric.
"We missed you too sweetie. What took you so long?" Eric smiled looking over at her.
"It's a long story, but I'm here now." she smiled looking up at him.
"Hey Roger. It's really nice to see you again." Robin smiled hugging him.
"You too Robin. How have you been?" he asked smiling at them.
"Really good. Me and Eric live in LA now. But we're thinking of moving back to New York. Too much silicone in LA." she laughed looking up at him.
"That would be so cool. Listen, there are some people we want you to meet." Brenda smiled taking their hands and leading them into the kitchen.
"That is definitely yours and Roger's daughter. I would recognize that face and those eyes anywhere." Eric smiled looking down at Rose.
"I'm Rosie. You know my mommy and daddy?" she asked looking up at them.
"You bet we do sweetie. We were there when your mommy and daddy fell in love." Robin smiled looking over at her.
"And this is our family, Collins, Mark, Maureen and Joanne." Brenda smiled looking down at them.
"It is really nice to meet you." Collins smiled getting up to shake Eric's hand.
"It's nice to meet you too." he smiled back as Brenda smiled back at Roger seeing the sparks fly between them.