"Hey Baby, what are you still doing up?" Roger asked seeing Brenda sitting on the couch writing in a notebook as he entered the loft.
"I couldn't get comfortable. So how was the show?" she asked looking up at him.
"It was OK. I couldn't wait to get home though." he said leaning down to kiss her hello.
"Why's that?" she asked smiling up at him.
"I couldn't wait to do this." he smiled taking her into his arms.
"You are so sweet Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss him. "Your daughter and I had a little discussion today that you might be interested in." she smiled leaning back into his arms.
"Oh yeah? I can't wait to hear this." he laughed looking down at her.
"She wants to name the baby Colin if it's a boy and Angel if it's a girl." she said as he kissed her head.
"How would you feel about that? Naming the baby after Collins and Angel?" he asked looking down at her.
"I would really like that. But I want the baby's middle name to be Roger if it's a boy." she said shifting to look at him.
"Are you sure?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I am. After my boys." she smiled leaning in to kiss him.
"OK Baby. We can do that." he smiled reaching up to caress her face.
"And if it's a girl, I wanna her middle name to be after Mimi." she said looking up at him.
"Miriam? You want the baby's name to be Angel Miriam?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, why not? Mimi meant a lot to everyone, which means she means a lot to me." she said looking up at him.
"I think that would be an excellent idea Bren." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.
"Roger, they were a part of this family and you always say that Mimi brought me home to you." she smiled looking up at him.
"Yeah she did Baby. I used to tell her about you all the time when she was sick. She really liked you. She made me promise to look for you after she died." he said looking down at her.
"Sounds like I would have liked her too." she smiled looking up at him as he caressed her belly.
"You would have. She didn't put up with my crap either. She got in my face all the time. When she came in here that Christmas Eve, I had shut everyone out. It was after withdrawal and I was trying to deal with being positive and I was thinking about you and Roger a lot. Then she came in here and made me get out. Start living again. The last thing I wanted was to fall for her, but..." he started as Brenda shifted to look up at him.
"Roger, it's OK. You didn't know where I was and..." she said looking up at him.
"Bren, she was good for me. When I talked about you and Roger, I felt free. Not like when I told April about you. Telling her about you made me want to forget you. It hurt too much. That's how I got into shooting smack. She promised me it would make me forget. And it did. But then when I got clean, I tried my hardest to remember. Then she came along and helped me remember. Remember what it was like to love and be loved. It felt good about telling her about you. She helped me understand why you left." he said taking her face in his hands.
"I didn't want to leave Roger. I had to." she said as tears filled up her eyes.
"Baby, it doesn't matter. None of it does anymore. All that matters is this. Now. Our life the way it is right now. You, me, Rosie, our baby and our family. That's all that matter now." he smiled leaning in to kiss her before taking her into his arms and holding her close.
"I guess it is." she told him laying her head on his chest as they lay back on the couch as they fell asleep in each other's arms. When Roger woke up the next morning, he looked down at Brenda and smiled. She looked so peaceful. He leaned down and kissed her head before getting up and going into Rose's room.
"Princess, it's time to get up." he whispered sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Morning daddy. What are you doing up so early?" she asked looking up at him.
"Me and your mom fell asleep on the couch last night. You know how uncomfortable that thing is, but it seems to be the only place your mom can sleep these days." he laughed quietly as she rolled over.
"Yeah, mom said the last couple of months before she had me she couldn't sleep anywhere." she laughed looking up at him.
"You know, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you were born. If I knew..." he started when she interrupted him.
"I know daddy. It's not your fault." she said sitting up in her bed.
"It's not your moms fault either, you know? We were both young and she was scared. Especially after what happened with your brother." he said looking down at his lap.
"I know dad. Did mom tell you what I want to name the baby?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah she did. It's a great idea princess." he smiled leaning over to kiss her on the head as Brenda appeared in the doorway.
"Hey." she smiled leaning in the doorway.
"Good morning Baby. How did you sleep?" he asked smiling up at her.
"Surprisingly well. How did you sleep?" she laughed walking over to the bed.
"OK considering that that's the most uncomfortable couch on the planet." he laughed standing up to kiss her good morning.
"Sorry Baby. Come on Rosie, you have to get ready for school. I'll go make your breakfast." she smiled looking down at her daughter.
"OK mom. I'll be out in a minute." she smiled looking up at her parents.
"OK sweetie." Brenda smiled looking down at her before leaving the room.
"Sit down Baby. I'll make breakfast this morning." he smiled as they walked to the kitchen.
"Oh? To what do I owe this honor?" she laughed sitting on the stool at the metal counter.
"I don't know. I just feel like it. And I'll take Rosie to school if you want to try to lay down for a little while longer." he smiled getting the eggs out of the refrigerator.
"OK, what did you do Roger?" she asked smiling up at him.
"What makes you think I did something?" he asked leaning on the counter.
"You're up early enough to wake Rosie up, you're cooking breakfast and you're gonna walk her to school." she laughed looking up at him.
"Is it such a crime that I want to do something for my wife and spend some extra time with my little girl?" he asked leaning over the counter to kiiss her.
"Just checking." she laughed reaching up to caress his stubbled cheek.
"Ha ha." he smiled looking into her beautiful blue eyes.
"I gotta go to the bathroom. Our little bohemian is dancing on my bladder again." she laughed getting up from her stool.
"How do you want your eggs?" he asked smiling over at her.
"Scrambled. I'll be right back." she smiled looking over at him before rushing to the bathroom.
"Hey Roger. What are you doing up so early? Is Bren OK?" Chelsea asked coming out of hers and Mark's room.
"Yeah, she couldn't sleep in the bed so we fell asleep on the couch. You know no one can sleep on that thing." he laughed beginning to cook the eggs.
"Except Bren. I remember when she was pregnant with Rosie. The only place she could sleep was on this damn bean bag chair I had in my apartment. She couldn't get out of it, but it was the only place she could get comfortable." she laughed looking up at him.
"How was she? When she was pregnant with Rosie? Except for the fact that she couldn't get comfortable anywhere, I don't know anything about it." he said turning to her.
"Roger, it's not your fault, you know? She just needed time." she said looking over at him.
"I know, but I missed it. I missed finding out she was pregnant with her. I missed the cravings, I missed fighting over what we were gonna name her. I missed the birth of my daughter." he said turning back to the stove.
"Roger, you didn't miss much. Trust me. She was moody, depressed. She was a ticking time bomb." Chelsea said getting up to go to him.
"But I missed it Chelse." he said looking down at her.
"And you're here now. Rosie is the center of your world and this baby is gonna be too. Roger, Bren did the only thing she could do at the time. She didn't want to hurt you." she said looking up at him.
"I know. I don't blame her. I don't. Things were really hard back then and I didn't make it any easier by the way I was acting. She couldn't talk to me because I was impossible to talk to. I wanted to forget about Roger and just move on. I saw the signs, I just didn't do a damn thing about it." he said quietly so Brenda and Rose couldn't hear him.
"Roger, stop beating yourself up. You've more than made up it. I've never seen Bren and Rosie so happy. You're their world just as much as they are yours." she smiled looking up at him.
"I would do anything for then Chelse. Too bad I'm gonna hurt them before this is all over." he said as Rose came running out of her room.
"Daddy, I need you to sign my permission slip. Mom forgot last night." she said rushing over to the counter before dropping her book bag on the floor next to her.
"Sure princess. What is it for?" he asked looking over at her.
"The planetarium. And I need 8 bucks." she smiled looking up at him.
"OK princess." he smiled looking down at his 8 year old daughter.
"I'm gonna go check on Bren." Chelsea smiled looking up at Roger before going towards the bathroom. "Bren, are you OK in there?" she asked knocking on the door.
"Um... yeah. Can you get Roger please?" she called out as Chelsea looked to Roger who rushed over to the bathroom upon hearing this.
"Bren, open the door Baby." he asked standing at the door.
"Roger, my water broke." she told him.opening the door.
"Your water broke. That means you're..." he started looking down at her.
"In labor. Yeah." she smiled looking up at him.
"I'll get Mark." Chelsea smiled running to her bedroom.
"Mom, does this mean I can stay home from school?" Rose asekd looking over at them.
"Well you are gonna be a big sister sweetie." Brenda smiled looking over at her.
"Cool. I'm gonna call Uncle Collins, Uncle Eric, Aunt Maureen, Aunt Joanne and Aunt Robin." she yelled excitedly running to the phone.
"Don't forget everyone else sweetie, OK?" Brenda smiled looking over at her as Roger put his arm around her back leading her to the bedroom.
"Come on Baby. We gotta go." Roger said looking down at her worried.
"Roger, everything is gonna be OK. We're about to be parents again." she smiled looking up at him as they got into the bedroom.
"I know. I'm just really worried." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, I'm fine. Now help me get dressed so we can get to the hospital so this baby can be born." she smiled looking up at him. He could never resist her smile.