A/N: The song I use in the flashback between Rog & Meems is one of my favorite songs from Repo! The Genetic Opera - it's called I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much.

CHAPTER TWO
(chapter title - I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much)

The next day, Kate and Mark had gotten the okay to take the girls home. As Mark signed the release papers, Roger and Mrs. Cohen helped Kate feed and change the girls.

"We ready?" Mark asked, kissing his mother on the cheek. Kate and Roger nodded and together, the three of them carried the girls outside for the first time and put the girls in their car seats.

"Hi girls." Roger greeted them as he sat in the seat behind Mark so that he could look at the girls. They were all sleeping soundly, which made the three adults happy.

Upon arriving at the house, Roger jumped out of the van and went to take care of the dogs while Joanne came out to help carry the girls inside and to the nursery.

"Which one do I have?" Joanne whispered, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms.

"Savannah." Kate whispered back, placing Amber in her crib as Mark placed Isabella in her crib. Joanne kissed Savannah on the forehead before placing her in the crib. The three adults exited the room and went to join Roger, Angel and Maureen in the other room.

"Where are Mimi and Collins?" Joanne inquired, following Mark to the large kitchen.

"They're at home with Eric and Marta." Mark answered, opening a bottle of Champaign.

"Eric and Marta are still sick? Poor babies." Maureen said from the couch.

"I know. I feel so bad for them." Kate spoke up, smiling as Mark handed her a glass of Champaign and sat down next to her.

"Mark, it looks like you're outnumbered." Joanne teased. Mark rolled his eyes and went to get the telephone.

"Hello?...Hey Jerry!....I'm fine…The babies are sleeping….Yeah, we brought them home today….How's Ben doing?....That's good….Listen, I don't mean to sound rude, but I have company over….Tonight? I don't think it's gonna work, but tomorrow might….Seven sounds great….Okay, I guess Kate and I will see you and Ben for dinner tomorrow at seven….I'll tell her that….Okay, bye Jerry." Mark smiled and walked back over to his friends, bringing the phone with him.

"Let me guess – that was Jerry?" Kate asked as Mark sat down next to her again.

"Yeah, it was. She told me to tell you she says hi and that she and Ben want to take us out to dinner at seven tomorrow." Mark told her, kissing Kate's cheek.

"Who's Jerry?" Maureen asked, sort of confused.

"Jerry's a good friend of mine. I actually work with her husband, Ben." Mark answered.

"That still doesn't explain how you know Ben and Jerry." Roger said.

"I've been friends with Jerry since middle school. I met her husband, Ben, the first day we worked together at the photography shop. He and I hit it off right away." Mark explained as best as he could.

"How did you know that Ben was married to Jerry?" Joanne asked.

"I was at their wedding and that's how I met Kate." Mark answered, a little irritated.

"Does someone need a nap?" Kate teased. Mark rolled his eyes and got off the couch. He went to the guest room where he and Kate kept the dogs if they had company and let the boys outside so that they could play.

"Mark, did you put on their collars?" Kate asked as Mark came back to the couch and sat back down.

"Honey, they have their collars on all the time – even their Invisible Fence ones." Mark answered, kissing Kate on the neck.

"We better get going – it was nice to see you guys." Joanne told the couple as she got Maureen and Roger out of the house.

Mark and Kate made their way to their bedroom and closed the door behind them. They then got on the bed and kissed each other. Mark ran his hands down Kate's slim body and took off her underwear before placing a hand between her legs. His lips were kissing every inch of her they could find.

Kate put her hands under Mark's shirt and carefully took it off of him, throwing it to the floor. Her hands latched behind Mark's neck and kissed him all over.

Mark unbuttoned Kate's dress and tossed it to the floor. He then unfastened her bra and discarded that, too. He kissed each of her swollen breasts and carefully suckled on each nipple. One hand was between her legs, the other was stroking her long back hair.

Kate's hands shook as she unzipped Mark's jeans and removed them, along with his boxers. She held his shaft in her hands, admiring it as if it were her first time.

The next two hours of lovemaking flew by and now the couple was fast asleep in each other's arms. Mark listened to Kate's heart as it beat below her breast. He gently squeezed her breast and went back to sleep.

On the baby monitor, the babies were starting to wake up and stir, but Mark and Kate were fast asleep.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, startling both Mark and Kate. They threw on some clothes and went to answer the door. Standing before them was their neighbor, Felix, and one of the dogs. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

"Felix? Is everything all right?" Kate answered, opening the door.

"No, everything's not all right – I called the pound to let them know your dogs were running around wildly. This was the only one I could catch." Felix said, slapping the dog – hard – on the back end to make it go inside. The dog quickly ran into the guest room and hid on the other side of the bed.

"Why did you call the pound? Our dogs aren't doing anything wrong." Mark said, looking over his shoulder. Kate had gone into the nursery and brought out a fussing baby.

"Which one is it?" Mark asked his wife.

"Amber." Kate answered.

"I called the pound because something had to be done. They said that if you don't come pick them up in twenty-four hours, they'll put them down." Felix told the couple, storming off the porch and went back to his house, muttering angrily under his breath.

"I'll call Maureen and Joanne to see if they can watch the girls while you and I go get Rex and Marley." Kate told her husband, handing Amber to Mark while she called Maureen and Joanne. While Kate called Maureen and Joanne, Mark changed and fed Amber.

Ten minutes later, Maureen and Joanne arrived. Both Kate and Mark told them what to do and what not to do.

"Oh, Oliver is in the other room, so don't bother him." Kate told the girls, kissing Amber, Isabella and Savannah on the forehead.

"Is he okay?" Maureen inquired. Kate quickly explained what happened while Mark wrote down phone numbers for the girls, including the number to the loft and various cell and house phones. He also wrote down his and Kate's cell phones.

"Okay, we'll be back soon." Kate told the girls as they headed out the door. Mark blew kisses at the babies and followed Kate out the door.

It was a long wait at the pound, but finally someone helped them. She led Mark and Kate to the back room and stopped in front of a large kennel.

"Are these your dogs?" she asked in a bored tone. Kate looked at the collars – one was red and the other was blue. Oliver wore an orange collar.

"Yes, these are our dogs." Mark answered, getting Rex and Marley's leashes while Kate paid the fee.

Arriving home, Kate saw Roger's car parked in the driveway. Mark shut off the engine and opened the car door. Marley and Rex followed their masters, knowing they were in trouble.

"Hello?" Mark called into the house, ushering Marley and Rex into the house. Both boys went to the guest room.

"We're in here." Roger called from the bathroom. Kate and Mark followed the sound of Roger's voice.

"What in the world is going on?" Kate inquired. All three girls were in the tub, crying loudly. Maureen and Joanne were doing their best to calm them down. Roger was sitting on the toilet, watching the girls.

"Why are you washing the babies in the bathtub and why are you giving them a bath in the first place?" Kate and Mark asked at the same time.

"We're all the youngest – or only child – in our family and we were never taught how to change a diaper." Maureen answered. Kate let the water out of the tub while Joanne, Mark and Kate got baby towels and dried the babies off. They then carried the girls into the nursery while Maureen and Roger cleaned up the bathroom.

"Joanne, why did they do it?" Mark asked, getting a clean diaper for Isabella and put it on her. He then reached into the drawer next to the changing table and got out a pair of pajamas with princesses on them.

"I don't know, Mark." Joanne answered, changing Savannah. Kate already had Amber changed and took her into the other room so that Kate could breast-feed her.

"Joanne, you could've talked them out of it. Why didn't you?" Mark asked.

"I tried, but they didn't listen to me." Joanne answered.

"THE BABIES COULD HAVE DIED!" Mark yelled, startling both babies. Mark and Joanne calmed the babies down as Maureen and Roger entered the room.

"Mark, I'm sorry." Joanne apologized.

"I don't want to hear it – you three are banned from the house until I get an explanation about what happened here! Now, get out!" Mark ordered. Joanne put Savannah back in her crib before exiting the house.

"I don't understand why they would do that." Kate said, her voice shaking with anger. She and Mark were in the master bedroom with the girls. Savannah was taking her turn being breast-fed while her sisters slept.

"Me, either, especially Joanne – she's a lot smarter than that." Mark told her, his voice also shaking with anger.

Once the babies were done nursing, Mark and Kate fed them a bottle while they watched Wheel of Fortune. Isabella was the first one done with her bottle, followed by Amber. Savannah was taking her sweet time on her bottle.

"I'll put Amber and Isabella to bed." Mark told Kate, carefully taking Isabella and Amber from her. Kate nodded and held Savannah while Mark put the others to bed.

"…Please don't take my sunshine away." Mark sang, putting Amber and Isabella in their cribs, which were right next to each other. He then kissed both girls goodnight and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

He then went to the kitchen and was about to order a pizza when the phone rang, startling Savannah, who started crying. Kate took her into another room to calm her down while Mark answered the phone, dreading about who would be on the other line.

"Hello?"

"MARK COHEN! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, BANNING ROGER FROM THE HOUSE? HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND!" Mimi yelled on the other line.

"He, Joanne and Maureen were bathing MY DAY-OLD DAUGHTERS IN THE BATHROOM TUB! THE BABIES COULD HAVE DIED!" Mark yelled.

"HE WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Mimi argued.

"WELL, HE WASN'T HELPING, MIMI! HE DOESN'T REALIZE HOW SERIOUS THIS IS!" Mark shot back.

"YOU GUYS DIDN'T SHOW HIM OR THE OTHERS HOW TO CHANGE A DIAPER OR WHAT TO DO!" Mimi said, trying to calm down.

"He has a son, doesn't he? A four-month-old." Mark pointed out.

"ROGER DOESN'T CHANGE ERIC'S DIAPERS – IT'S ALWAYS ME!" Mimi yelled again.

The conversation continued like that for two hours until Mimi had to hang up – she had work the next day.

"I may have cost us our friends." Mark told Kate that night as the two of them ate pizza and watched Repo! The Generic Opera on TV.

"Way to go." Kate answered sarcastically, helping herself to another slice of pizza.

There was a moment of silence before either of them talked again.

"None of our friends are probably gonna talk to us again." Mark spoke up.

"How do you figure that?" Kate asked, taking a large bite of pizza.

"Roger, Maureen and Joanne are banned from the house, which means they'll never talk to us again; Mimi is Roger's wife and she's beyond pissed at us; Angel is Mimi's best friend, so she and Collins will probably never speak to us again." Mark explained. Kate sighed and put her paper plate in the trash before going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Mark sighed as he put the rest of the pizza away, turned off Repo and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed.

Towards the middle of the night, Mark was startled out of his sleep by a nightmare. Panting heavily, he got out of bed and walked next door to the nursery. All three girls were fast asleep. Mark kissed each of their foreheads before going back to the master bedroom.

Two weeks later, Kate headed back to work, leaving Mark in charge of watching the girls and caring for the dogs. He ended up calling Sondra, the neighbor that lived on the left side of them, to come over and help out with the babies.

Fifteen minutes later, Sondra came over to help out for a while.

"I really do appreciate this." Mark told the other woman as he made a quick lunch – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – for them to eat.

"It's not really a big deal, Mark. The boys are with their father for the weekend." Sondra told him, helping get lunch together. Sondra and her husband of thirty years had divorced over the summer and shared custody of their fifteen-year-old twin boys – Lucas and Alex – every other Tuesday and Saturday. They also alternated holidays and birthdays.

Lunch was awkward, so conversation was avoided. Mark quickly ate his sandwich and went to check on the girls while Sondra did dishes and put the food away.

Around eight o'clock that night, Kate came home as Mark and Sondra were feeding the girls their bottles.

"How were they today?" Kate asked, going over to help feed the babies.

"They were fine." Mark answered, handing Isabella to Kate. Kate smiled at her youngest daughter as she fed the baby her bottle.

After the babies were done with their bottles, Mark, Sondra and Kate put Savannah, Amber and Isabella to bed. Once that was done, Sondra headed to her house.

"Honey, I have an idea, why don't we hire Sondra to care for the babies." Mark suggested as he and Kate got ready for bed.

"That's not a bad idea – she's alone in that big house, unless the boys visit." Kate agreed, putting on her reading glasses and picked up her book.

"I got a call from Roger today." Mark told Kate, climbing in next to her.

"Really? What's going on?" Kate inquired.

"He says he's sorry about what he did and he wants to have a talk with us tomorrow after the girls go down for a nap." Mark said, taking off his glasses and turned off his lamp on the bedside table.

"Is it going to be here or there?" Kate asked, also turning off her lamp and took off her glasses.

"Here." Mark answered, kissing Kate's neck.

"What time tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"After the girls go down for their afternoon nap, so around noon." Mark answered.

"I hope it's nothing serious." Kate said, taking her hair out of its ponytail. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders like a black waterfall.

"He just said he needed to talk – that's all." Mark told her, kissing her cheek.

The next afternoon, Mark, Kate, Mimi, Roger, Joanne and Maureen gathered in the Cohen's living room. Angel and Collins had offered to babysit, so they wouldn't be attending the meeting.

Roger took a deep breath, feeling tears in his eyes. Mimi squeezed Roger's hand for support.

"I went to the doctor's yesterday after I left here." Roger started. "It turns out that my HIV has progressed to AIDS – my T-Cells are very low, so the doctor is concerned."

Mark felt tears in his eyes – Roger was his best friend and had been since they were in high school. He couldn't afford to lose him now. He looked around the room to see what his friends were thinking.

Kate was stunned – all the time she had been married to Mark, Roger was like a brother to her – she really didn't want to see him go. She and Mark were planning on asking Maureen and Joanne, plus Roger and Mimi to be godparents to the girls.

Maureen couldn't believe her ears – she didn't want Roger to die. Sure, she annoyed him from time to time, but it was all playful fun.

Joanne had tears streaming down her cheeks – ever since Roger had come out of his shell (thanks to a certain Angel), he had become more involved in his friends' lives.

Mimi was hysterical – she was losing her husband, her best friend, the father to their only son. He was the best husband and father she and Eric had ever known.

All of them stood up and joined hands.

"There's only us, there's only this
Forget regret or life is yours to miss.
No other road, no other way
No day but today." All six of them sang, squeezing the others hands.

TWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWL

Mark felt tears in his eyes as he laid a white rose on Roger's grave. The rocker had died three weeks ago, due to AIDS. The others – Mimi, Mark, Kate, Joanne, Maureen, Collins and Angel fought back tears as a sweet melody of One Song Glory was played on a flute.

That night, Mimi remembered her last conversation with Roger. They were in the hospital, singing their song I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much from their favorite movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera, with the words changed, of course.

"Rog, be still,
There's nothing more to say,
It can wait." Mimi sang softly in Roger's ear.

"Meems, April's calling me." Roger whispered.

"Sometimes I wanted to cry
When the people on TV were not quite the way we were
Somehow I guess I just knew.
But I didn't know I'd love you so much
I didn't know I'd love you so much
I didn't know I'd love you so much
But I do." Mimi sang. She could feel the tears in her eyes.

"Sometimes I'd stay up all night
Wishing to God that I was the one who died.
Sometimes it's not enough time.
But I didn't know I'd love you so much
I didn't know I'd love you so much
I didn't know I'd love you so much
But I do." Roger crooned, his eyes slightly closing.

"Didn't know I'd love you so much." Mimi sang.

"Didn't know I'd love you so much." Roger sang.

"Didn't know I'd love you so much
But I do." The two of them sang, Mimi making herself comfortable in Roger's arms.

"Meems, go." Roger told her when a room nurse came in, a threatening look on her face.

"Rog, I will not leave you here

You will live." Mimi told her husband, ignoring the nurse's death-grip on her arm.

"But you've already saved me, Meems.
Go and change the world for me." Roger told her, nodding to the nurse to leave them alone. With a threatening glare at Mimi, the nurse left.

"We will always have each other
In our time of need." The two lovers crooned.

"Roger, you're the world to me." Mimi sang, tears in her eyes.

"Mimi, you're the world to me." Roger sang before closing his eyes and took his last breath of air.

The next day, Mark was at work, leaving Kate and the full-time nanny they hired, Amanda, to care for the triplets.

"I can't believe he's gone." Kate sobbed that night. Mark only nodded and kissed her forehead – he was in total shock, too.

"Shh, baby, I know." Mark soothed, rubbing a hand up and down Kate's back.

"T-The girls w-w-will n-n-never k-k-know w-w-w-what a g-g-great m-m-man R-Roger w-w-w-was." Kate said between sobs.

"Of course they will – I have film reels of Roger." Mark told her, kissing her forehead.

Over at Maureen and Joanne's, both women couldn't stop crying – they had considered Roger to be like a brother to both of them.

"If we have a son, we should name him after Roger." Maureen said, looking at her swollen belly. Joanne nodded, her chocolate-brown eyes eyeing Maureen's stomach. The two of them had discovered that they were pregnant 8 months ago after a fellow worker raped Maureen. The worker had been fired, and after discovering she was pregnant, Maureen was certain that Joanne would be angry and leave her. She did just the opposite – she was supportive and loving to her lover.

Meanwhile at Collins and Angel's, the two of them were having a hard time going to bed. They were still shocked that Roger was gone and he wasn't coming back.

"I miss him so much." Angel said sadly. Collins put a comforting arm around her shoulders and drew her close.

"I know – I miss him, too." Collins said, brushing Angel's hair out of her eyes and ran a hand down her cheek.

"Poor Mimi-chica. She must be having an awful time."

"We'll go visit her and Eric tomorrow." Collins promised, getting comfortable in bed. Angel let out a sigh and climbed in next to him.