"Has you seen Collins? He's not in his room and his bed hasn't been slept in." Brenda asked pouring coffee for herself and Roger.
"He said he was going out with Eric and just said don't wait up." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her good morning.
"Oh really? Well that's interesting." she laughed looking up at him.
"Yeah well, they hit it off pretty good yesterday." he smiled sitting at the kitchen table at the Davis house.
"Apparently. Wouldn't it be funny if they start dating and Eric and Robin move to the city?" she smiled sitting next to him.
"Slow down Baby. They just met yesterday. Maybe they were up all night talking." he laughed looking over at her.
"I know, but wouldn't it be great? I mean, Eric and Collins?" she laughed looking over at her him.
"Well don't jump to conclusions." he smiled looking over at her.
"OK fine. So what's on the agenda for today?" she asked looking over at him.
"My parents want to take Rosie out shopping today. Did you want to do anything special with her?" he asked looking over at her leaning back in his chair.
"No, I guess that would be OK. As long as she'll go with them. You know how she is with new people." she said before bringing the coffee mug up to her lips.
"I know, but she seems to have taken to my dad. I think it's because he reminds her of me." he smiled putting his mug down on the table.
"Maybe. Whatever it is, I'm glad. She needs to have more family. Especially yours." she said putting the mug down on the table.
"Baby, I'm fine. I'm healthy and nothing is gonna happen to me. At least not yet." he said looking over at her.
"I know. I just worry about it sometimes. I mean, you and Collins are gonna be gone eventually and Rosie's gonna be without the 2 men in this world she loves the most and so am I." she said as tears rose to her eyes.
"Bren, we're here now. I wish you wouldn't think about that." he said looking up at her.
"I can't help but think about it Roger. It's real to me. You and Collins are gonna be gone too soon. I think about how I'm gonna go on without you two. We've been through so much, the three of us, you know. I mean you're the love of my life and he's like my protective big brother. I hope I'll be able to be strong for Rosie's sake, but I don't know." she told him getting up from the kitchen table trying to hold back tears.
"Baby, I love you more than anything in this world. I always have. And when I'm gone that's not gonna change. And you know Collins' love for you will never die either. It never could. I think you're the only woman he's ever really loved. You're gonna go on. You're the strongest woman I know. And if you need help, you know Mark, Maureen and Joanne are not gonna turn their backs on you and Rosie. They love you too. You're their family too. You are not gonna be alone. I promise." he said getting up to go to her.
"It's not the thought of being alone that scares me. It's the thought of being without you." she cried as he swept her into his arms to comfort her.
"I'm here now Bren." he whispered kissing her head.
"I'm sorry Roger. I'm ruining everything, aren't I?" she asked looking up at him wiping her eyes.
"No, you're not Bren. You don't have to hold this in. You shouldn't have to. You can always talk to me. I'm always here for you." he said looking down at her holding her close as someone else entered the kitchen.
"Is everything OK?" Mrs. Davis asked looking over at them.
"Yeah mom. Everything's fine. We were just talking. Is Rosie up yet?" Roger asked as Brenda wiped her eyes dry.
"Not yet. Are you sure everything is OK?" she asked looking over at them.
"Yeah mom. We're fine. Really. Don't worry. I'm gonna go check on everyone else." Brenda smiled looking up at her before leaving the kitchen.
"OK sweetie." she smiled watching her leave the room.
"Roger, what's the matter? Brenda was crying." Mrs. Davis asked looking up at Roger.
"It's complicated mom. I don't want to get into it right now." he told her going back to the table to drink his coffee.
"Well you know if you ever do feel like getting into it, I'm here." she smiled looking up at him.
"OK mom. Thanks." he said looking over at her.
"Is Brenda OK with your father and I taking Rosie out today?" she asked pouring herself coffee.
"Yeah, she thinks it'll be really nice for Rosie to spend more time with you and dad. And for you and dad to get to know Rosie. She's a great kid mom." he smiled looking over at her.
"She is Roger. We're glad you brought Rosie out here." she smiled looking up at him.
"So are we mom." he smiled as they sat and drank their coffee.
"Hey, you're up?" Brenda smiled standing in the doorway of Roger's old bedroom where Rose slept with her arms folded.
"Hi mommy." Rose smiled looking up at her beginning to stretch.
"Hi sweetie. Did you sleep OK?" she asked entering the room sitting on the corner of the bed.
"Yeah, I like it here. Is daddy awake yet?" she asked sitting up in the bed.
"Yeah sweetie. He's in the kitchen with grandma." she smiled reaching over to sweep the blond hair out of her daughter's face.
"I like grandma and grandpa. They're fun." she smiled looking over at her.
"Good sweetie. Me and daddy are glad. How would you feel about going shopping today? Just you, grandma and grandpa?" she asked looking over at her.
"Yay, can I mommy? Please?" she asked looking up at her excitedly.
"Sure sweetie. You can go with grandma and grandpa." she smiled as Rose jumped up and hugged Brenda.
"Thank you mommy. You're the best." she smiled hugging her tight.
"That's because I have the best kid in the world." she smiled kissing her daughter's head.
"It's different here, isn't it mommy?" Rose asked looking over at Brenda.
"What do you mean sweetie?" Brenda asked looking back at her.
"Before we met daddy, it was just you and me and Aunt Chelsea. Now we have a lot of people to love us, right?" she asked looking up at her.
"Yeah sweetie. We do. We have a lot of great people who love us." she smiled caressing her daughter's cheek.
"I'm gonna go see daddy and grandma, OK mommy?" she asked starting to get out of the bed.
"OK sweetie." she smiled watching her daughter put her slippers on.
"Are you coming mommy?" she asked smiling up at her.
"Yeah sweetie. I'll be there in a minute. I just need to check on Uncle Mark, OK?" she smiled looking over at her.
"OK mommy." she smiled before rushing out of the room. As Brenda looked around the room, she remembered the summer she and Roger met. They would sit around and talk for hours on the rainy days and sometimes she would watch him sneak out of the window to see her in the middle of the night. They were so young and crazy then. All they cared about was being together. They didn't have jobs or bills or HIV to worry about. And they didn't have Rose either. They were just young kids who fell so head over heels in love over the course of a summer, they couldn't think of living without each other.
"Bren, are you OK?" Mark asked standing in the doorway.
"Um.. yeah Mark. I'm OK. Just memories." she smiled looking back at him wiping the tears from her eyes.
"It's hard being back here, huh?" he asked entering the room.
"Yeah, you can say that. The last time we were here all we had was our future. Now I can't think about anything but our past." she said looking up at him.
"I know sweetie, but you still have a lot more future to look forward to." he told her putting his arm around her.
"I know. I just can't stop thinking about when he's gone, you know? I wasted so much damn time being scared of facing him and now I'm scared to be without him." she said starting to cry again.
"You're not gonna lose him. At least not yet. He's still healthy." he said comforting her.
"I just can't help thinking about it. It's my fault you know. That he's positive." she said looking up at him.
"How is him being positive you're fault?" he asked pulling back to look at her.
"If I hadn't run away, he wouldn't have gotten involved with April and he wouldn't have wanted to forget so badly." she said looking up at him.
"Bren, that's in the past. You need to concentrate on now. You and Roger living your life and raising Rosie." he said looking down at her.
"I know. I just can't help thinking about what I did to him. To us. I mean, I kept his daughter from him for almost 5 years and I caused him so much pain and heartache." she told him as tears continued to roll down her face.
"None of that matters now. Least of all to him. He loves you and Rosie so much. You guys are his life. You're all of our lives." he smiled kissing her head before hugging her again.
"Thanks Mark. You have no idea how much I needed you to bring me back down to earth." she laughed looking up at him before wiping her face dry.
"That's what I'm here for." he smiled looking down at her.
"Well I'm glad you're here. You have no idea how much it means to me." she smiled looking up at him.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else sweetie." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.
"Thank you for taking care of him for me." she said looking up at him.
"Bren, he's my best friend. I would do anything for him. And you too. You know, when Collins told me about you, it explained a lot about how he was." he said looking down at her.
"What do you mean?" she asked looking up at him.
"Well, one day at the loft, me and Collins were sitting around and there were pictures of you and him piled up on a desk in the corner. I asked Collins who you were and he told me. He told me about how much he loved you and I mean, when he was performing girls would come up to him, but he'd blow them off. I always wondered why. I mean, he's a good looking guy and he could have any girl he wanted. But he didn't give any of them the time of day. And then Collins told me about you and it explained a lot. He still loved you. When he was going through withdrawal, he kept talking about losing someone. Chasing someone away. I knew he was talking about you and your son. But I never brought it up to him because Collins told me not to talk to him about you because it still hurt him. He always loved you Bren. You being gone 5 years didn't stop that, what makes you think him dying is gonna?" he asked looking down at her.
"I guess it's not. Plus, he gave me the greatest family a girl could ask for." she smiled wiping her eyes again before hugging him.
"Well, you are our family Bren. You and Rosie. we'll do anything we can to help you through it." he said looking down at her.
"I know. Thanks Mark. I love you." she smiled looking up at him.
"I know Bren. I love you too." he smiled kissing her head again as Roger listened from the doorway smiling.