"Mark!" Maureen gasped when her ex-boyfriend turned on his projector against a blank wall in the restaurant. "Don't show people that!" It was a completion the filmmaker had made with all the footage of Maureen.
"I just want to show people what Maureen was like before her name became Mommy." He smirked taking his place next to Lily. They looped their hands together and kissed. The pair had become inseparable in the past few months, Mark had moved out of the loft and into Lily's Upper West Side apartment.
The group was really separated now, Maureen and Benny were uptown in the Upper East Side, Mark and Lily lived on the other side of town, Roger and Mimi in the East Village and Collins and Luis in Chelsea, but their bond was stronger then ever.
"Oh Maureen, come on, I made sure he didn't pick any thing embarrassing" Lily smiled and took a sip of her water. She still wouldn't drink until she turned 21, unlike the rest of them. Mimi still wasn't old enough to drink and she could pound them down with the best of them.
Benny had pulled some strings and emptied out the Life Café for the night. It was the day before the heavily pregnant Maureen's due date and they were having a small party.
Benny kissed Maureen's hand and she looked at him. They were both very excited but she could tell that he was just as nervous as she was. "Are you happy?" he placed his hand on her stomach and she nodded her head. "I'm really happy. Thanks for this." He had actually surprised her with the party.
"Maureen I got you something!" Luis stood up from the floor where he was sitting with the almost equally pregnant Mimi.
Maureen watched him walk into another room, a storage closet. "Luis, you weren't supposed to get me anything, Benny and I have everything we need."
But Luis came out of the room with three rectangular packages wrapped in gold paper with pink ribbon. He set them down in front of Maureen.. "Open them." He grinned
She did and she gasped "Luis these are amazing!" a happy tear ran down her face. They were three canvases that Luis had painted amazing abstract paintings on. They were mainly circles in beautiful colors. Perfect for the baby's room. "Thank you!"
"I will not play Spin the Bottle!" Lily squealed as Mark pulled her into his lap. They were all sitting around the table here Maureen had placed a ketchup bottle on its side.
"You have to." Mimi laughed "It's a party tradition."
"I'll go first." Maureen said and leaned over to spin the bottle.
The bottle spun around and around until it landed on Roger, who was sitting across from Maur. Roger gave Benny an extremely apologetic look before kissing Maureen. "He's still a good kisser." She joked when they came apart.
Roger gave the bottle a spin and it landed on Lily. "We don't have to if you don't want to." He told her. But she shrugged "Can it be a kiss on the cheek?" they all nodded and Roger kissed her cheek. When he went back to his seat Lily's cheek were crimson.
She spun and it landed on Mark. "Cheating!" Mimi cried pounding her fist on the table but Mark and Lily kissed anyway.
By the time the game was over Maureen and Mimi had kissed every one and they had eve gotten a Roger on Mark kiss for 2 seconds. They ate and drank. And by 2am Luis and Collins had gone home and Mark and Lily had also left.
Maureen and Mimi rubbed their bellies together. "So you really aren't finding out until it's born?" Maureen asked. Mimi nodded her head "We want to be surprised."
"I had a lot of shopping to do." Maureen laughed "I spent a lot of money, so much." It was true, Maureen had put a good dent in even Benny's credit card. When Maureen was trying to put everything she had bought away Benny had joked the baby had an outfit for every day of the year. In all actuality Maureen agreed with him.
"Yeah, Riley shouldn't need clothes until she's 16." Benny said Turing away from the discussion he and Roger had been having.
The women laughed "Shut up!" Maureen flipped him off . "The baby needs clothes, so what if I spent a little more than necessary?"
Maureen felt a spasm in her stomach that made her think her whole body was cramping. "Holy shit!" she moaned and sat down. Benny got up and ran over to her. "Fuck this hurts." She moaned.
"Are you ok?" Mimi asked sitting down next to Maureen.
"I think I'm having a contraction." Maureen said through gritted teeth. "Oh my god." She held onto her stomach and closed her eyes until it had passed. "She's coming."
Benny's eyes widened "Now?"
She rolled her eyes "No Benny, if a few years. Yes now!"
Roger stood up "Well, we need to get you to the hospital, I'll get a cab."