Hey! Here's chapter six. I know what you're thinking: EB91? UPDATING TWICE IN ONE WEEK? What is this?! XD Let's just say, I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter, what I wanted to put in it, and I just wanted to write it while it was still fresh in my mind and before I forgot everything. Hehe.
I hope you like this. It's much longer than the other chapters (about 2,000 words longer!), and I wrote it in two days. My hand is killing me from writing it and typing.
So, read, and please review and tell me what you think! I love getting feedback. :)
Note - All belongs to the great Jonathan Larson, minus Annalise. :)
Alright, I know, I know. I deleted this chapter just because there were a few things that were bothering me. I have slight OCD, and I just needed to go back and change them. / But, they're small little tweaks, thing's you'll barely notice. Soo...it's all the same, just a few words are different. Enjoy. :)
--
Mark could see her in the distance. She was dressed all in white – a billowy skirt and tight tank top, and her crazy brunette curls were flying around her face. The sun was shining bright, and the contrast between her outfit, the bright blue sky, and the emerald green grass made her seem to have a glow around her. They were in a spacious field, separated by wild flowers of every color imaginable.
"Mark!" he heard her distantly shout. She held out her arms and started running towards him.
"Maureen!" he shouted and started towards her, arms outstretched in front of him as well.
"I love you, Mark!" she shouted. From the distance, Mark could make out the huge smile on her face, going straight across from one ear to the other.
"I love you, too, Maur – " he stopped short of speaking, a terrible odor wafting over his face. He looked down at the flowers as he ran, his face screwed and scrunched.
'Geeze, for being so beautiful, they sure do smell like shit...' he thought, but kept on running.
"Mark!" Maureen shouted again. He looked up at her running. She hadn't noticed the stench yet; she still had that wide smile on her face.
'Hmm...whatever...' Mark thought. He chose to ignore the smell and keep running.
"I love you, Ma –!" Maureen started saying, but she too stopped short, just noticing the offensive smell herself. Mark could tell – her wide grin had turned into a deep frown, her eyes closed tightly shut, and her eyebrows were burrowed. Like Mark, she chose to ignore it, and kept running.
A few seconds passed by, and the stench still hadn't gone away. Their running slowed down into a fast-paced walk. Maureen had her hand placed over her nose and mouth in attempt to filter her breathing air; Mark had pulled the neck of his shirt up and over his nose and placed his hand tightly over it.
They finally met up to each other in the middle of the field. Waist-deep in the rank flowers, Mark and Maureen approached one another slowly. For a minute, they just looked at each other.
"God, it smells like shit!" Maureen cried out suddenly, speaking for the both of them. Her eyes were watering from how bad the stench was.
Mark just nodded his head in agreement, afraid that if he opened his mouth, more than words would come out.
He looked to the ground. 'Well, this sucks.' he thought, looking at the flowers. 'What a fucking mood-killer.'
Beside him, Maureen let out a deafening wail.
Mark jumped and awoke with a start. He was still on the couch, slouching down with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Annalise was still being cradled in his arms, just like how she was when they decided to take a cat-nap together. The only difference now was that she was now squirming and kicking in his arms, wailing like before.
Realizing it was all a dream, Mark shook his head to wake up a bit. That's when he smelled it again: That horrible, hideous stench from his dream.
"Uggghhh!" he cried in disgust, looking down at his crying daughter. "Gross! Ugh!" He swung his feet off the coffee table and sat up, resting the baby on his lap before picking her up under her arms. He lifted her up.
'I guess there's only one way to tell...' he thought, bringing the baby close to his face. He slowly inhaled.
"Oh, God! Fuck!" he coughed, extending the baby as far away as his arms could reach. Annalise let out a great wail, tears rolling down her face. When Mark looked up and saw how miserable she was, his heart broke.
He sighed. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up...somehow." he said unsurely. He got up, and walked over to the metal table where Roger had placed her pastel blue baby bag. Arms still outstretched like a fool, he leaned over and placed Annalise on her back. She was still squirming, kicking and throwing her tiny fists around.
"Shh, I know, I know." Mark said softly, quickly going through the bag in searching of a fresh diaper. When he found the pack, there were only four left. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was ten o'clock in the morning.
'Hmm...these should last the rest of the day.' he guessed, grabbing one out of the pack. When he looked back at Annalise, he realized he had absolutely no idea how to change a diaper. Unsure of what to do, he did the only thing he could think of.
"ROGER!" he yelled loudly in the direction of Roger's room. A loud mumble was his only response. Apparently, Roger had decided to go back to sleep. "Roger, come help me!" he called louder, and more forceful than before. There was another loud mumble, but much to Mark's pleasure, Roger emerged from his room.
"What's up?" he asked Mark, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he stiffly walked over to join the filmmaker and the crying Annalise at the steel table.
"Were you asleep the whole time she was crying?" Mark asked in amazement. Roger was usually a very light sleeper.
"Trying to – UGH! GOD!" he yelled, instantly clamping one of his large hands over his mouth and nose.
Mark raised his transparently blond eyebrows and put on a big, fake smile. "Want to help me change her diaper?" he said quickly, holding his hands out to Annalise, as if to make the idea of changing her diaper more appealing.
"Ugh..." Roger groaned, muffled by his hand. Finally, he sucked it up and took his hand away from his face. "Can't you do this yourself? I mean, she is your kid and all!" Roger asked, hoping Mark would agree with him.
"Please, Rog? I don't know how to even begin changing a diaper!" he pleaded.
"Oh, and what makes you think I know how to?" Roger shot back. Mark just looked back at him with a pleading look on his face. "Please!" Mark mouthed at Roger, picking up the clean diaper.
Sighing loudly, Roger dramatically rolled his eyes, ripping the diaper out from his friend's hands. "Fine. How hard can changing a diaper be, anyway?"
He walked around to the other side of the table so that he and Mark would be on either side of Annalise, and to be out of each other's way as much as possible. Roger sighed and glared at Mark. He was only going to help Mark if he needed it; Mark was going to do all of the 'dirty work', so to speak.
Getting the hint, Mark reached forward and unsnapped her yellow onesie, sliding it off her, and laying her back down on the table. As soon as her tiny back touched the table, she let out a louder cry than before.
"Shit!" Mark exclaimed, scooping her up into his arms and holding her kicking body close against his warm chest.
"The table must be freezing to her...Rog, can you go find some newspapers or something we can lay her down on?"
Roger slightly gaped at his best friend. "What is she, a fucking dog?" Roger asked Mark, looking at him as if he was the dumbest person in the world.
"Okay then...go get a towel or something then!" Mark shouted impatiently. Annalise's wails were getting louder and louder. 'She must be so uncomfortable, poor thing...' Mark thought, and kissed the top of her head lightly. Roger swiftly walked into the bathroom to fetch a towel.
When Roger came back with a thick, white, fuzzy towel, he laid it down on the table in-between him and Mark. Mark leaned forward and gently placed Annalise down. Her screams didn't get any quieter, but they certainly didn't get and louder. "That's better, huh?" Mark smiled down at Annalise, and reached out to pull the tabs of her diaper back.
"Welp, here goes nothing..." he said, taking a deep breath and folding the diaper back.
"UGHH!" they both groaned in disgust, stepping away from the baby, coughing.
"Go get me," Mark managed between coughs, "Go get me some fucking toilet paper or something!" he ordered Roger. More than happy to get away, Roger nodded and quickly dashed to the bathroom in search of toilet paper.
"For someone so tiny, you sure can make a big mess." Mark frowned down at his daughter as Roger came walking back, a roll of toilet paper held at the end of his outstretched arm. He gave it to Mark and took a step back. Grimacing, Mark folded back the diaper once more.
"Now what?" he asked, unrolling the toilet paper. Roger looked at him. "What do you fucking think? Wipe!" he practically yelled at him.
"Ughh..." Mark sighed in utter disgust. "This is wrong...just wrong..." he said, trying to figure out how exactly to do it.
"Mark." Roger said after a minute of watching Mark debate on what to do.
"What?" he asked, getting annoyed.
"What the hell are you doing?"
There was an awkward silence where Mark glared at Roger. 'What the hell does it look like I'm doing, you dipshit?' he thought.
"Trying to figure out how to clean her..." he answered. Roger rolled his eyes. "What!" Mark asked, annoyed.
"Well...don't you like...lift her up by her ankles or something?" Roger asked.
"Oh...yeah...I guess..." Mark agreed. 'Of course you do, you idiot!' He felt like smacking himself.
He gently grabbed her ankles with his left hand and lifted her carefully, exposing her backside. The whole time Mark cleaned her, the look of disgust never left his face.
"There." he said when he was done cleaning her. "Can I have the diaper?" he stretched out his hand towards Roger, who handed the small, puffy diaper over.
"Don't you have to put baby powder on her or something?" Roger asked while Mark tried to figure out which way the diaper went. "I don't know," he answered, not taking his eyes off the diaper he was now turning over in his hands. "I don't think I saw any in there, anyway." he jerked his head towards the blue bag.
"Ah." Roger responded. He looked down at Annalise, who had stopped crying finally.
"That must've really been bothering her." Roger pointed out. "That, or she just likes to be naked around guys." He and Mark shared a chuckle. "Let's hope not." Mark smirked as he finally figured out what was the front and what was the back.
"There!" he smiled proudly once the diaper was secured into place. "Tadaaa! As good as new!" Mark exclaimed, smiling, and held out his arms as if expecting a round of applause.
"Congratulations." Roger clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You just changed your first diaper. One down, oh, I don't know, fifty million more to go?" he laughed and started walking to his room.
"Hey, Rog?" Mark asked quietly. Roger stopped in his tracks. "Yeah?" he asked, turning around. Mark was now putting the onesie back onto Annalise and snapping the buttons shut.
"Do you want to come to the store with me? She only has three diapers left, and I figured we could pick up your AZT while we're there." He was now looking through the bag for socks, shoes, pants and a coat. When he found them, he looked up at Roger with happy, hopeful eyes.
Roger sighed. "Sure." he answered. "I'll never get back to sleep now, anyway." He went back over to the steel table to grab his leather jacket. He looked at Mark, who was struggling to put pants on Annalise, who was giggling and cooing all while kicking her legs. After a minute or so, Mark laughed down at her.
"You just like being a little pain in the ass, don't you?" he said cutely, trying once more to get her tiny, kicking legs into her pants. All while he was watching this, Roger had a smile on his face.
"Here." he said after he put his leather coat on. "I'll finish dressing her. You go get your stuff." he bumped Mark aside, taking the tiny pair of pants from his hands.
"Alright, thanks." Mark walked to his room to get his plaid coat, knitted navy blue and white scarf, and his money. By the time he came out of his room, Annalise was completely dressed and being bounced in Roger's arms.
"How'd you dress her so quickly?" Mark asked in amazement, taking her from Roger.
"I'm just that special." Roger smirked as they walked out the door. Mark smiled and rolled his eyes.
--
Mark and Roger walked to the nearest drug store, Mark held Annalise close against the harsh January wind. 'I should've looked for a hat in that bag while I was at it.' Mark thought as Annalise's wispy, soft, strawberry-blonde hair danced in the bitter wind. He put his hand on the back of her head, bringing her closer to the warmth of his big, oversized coat.
"My God, it is cold out." he said, looking at Roger, who was walking briskly beside him. "You should look at yourself. Your nose is as red as a tomato!" he chuckled. Mark rolled his eyes and kept walking. Roger loved to tease him about how pale he was, and Mark hated it.
The rest of the walk to the drug store was in silence. When they reached the drug store, Mark opened the door and quickly walked in. He took his hand away from Annalise's head and looked at her, making sure she wasn't too cold.
"I need to get her a hat." he sighed and looked over at Roger. "How much money do you have on you? he asked, knowing the answer. Roger shrugged. "Enough for the AZT, but that's about it." Mark frowned. He didn't have enough to buy diapers and a hat. He hardly had enough to buy the basic necessities for living.
Mark sighed and walked towards the baby section. When he got there, he stopped, coming face-to-face with a wall of all different kinds of diapers.
"Shit." he whispered, unsure which one to grab.
As Mark was looking and comparing the different diaper brands, Roger came over, laughing. "Hey." he said through his laughter, trying to get Mark's attention.
"What?" Mark asked, looking over. He quickly regretted it. He rolled his eyes and sighed, and went back to comparing diapers.
"You should totally get this for Maureen. I think she'd appreciate it ver – " Mark cut Roger off.
"I am not getting Maureen a huge stuffed animal!" Mark exclaimed.
"Oh, come on! She'd love it!" Roger practically begged, shoving the fat, stuffed cow toy in front of Mark. "Just give it to her and say you're sorry."
"Yeah." Mark snorted. "I'll try to apologize, and she'll think I'm calling her a fat cow. Not good."
There was a silence. Roger was trying to hide his laughter, but was failing terribly at it.
"What?" Mark asked, annoyed.
"Oh, nothing, nothing..." Roger said in a sing-song voice, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"What!" Mark demanded again, getting annoyed with his friend's behavior.
"It's just...I mean...she is...kind of a cow." Roger giggled.
Mark was taken aback. How dare he insult his girlfriend in front of him like that? "She is not a cow!" Mark defended angrily.
"Well, I mean, she is kind of bigger..." Roger started to explain.
"So?" Mark interrupted. He didn't like where this was going. Yeah, Maureen was a little bit on the chubby side, but he never really cared. All those stickly girls grossed him out; they looked too fragile, like they'd break it he touched them.
"So," Roger went on, "all I'm saying is – "
"Well, maybe I like girls with a little meat on them! I like curves!" he said, stepping forward and ripping the stuffed cow out from Roger's hands. He turned towards the diapers and threw it on the shelf.
"I think she's got more than just curves going on there, buddy...rolling curves..." Roger chuckled quietly. Mark sighed heavily and grabbed a package of diapers. "Whatever." he said, making his way to the pharmacy to get Roger's AZT.
When he got Roger's medicine, he shoved the small, white bag into Roger's hands and made his way to the front of the store to pay. He put the package on the counter and took his wallet out from his back pocket. While the diapers were being rung up and bagged, he counted his money. Eight dollars and sixty-four cents. 'A pack of diapers shouldn't cost more than that.' he thought, taking it out.
"That'll be fifteen-fifty, sir." the young woman at the register said. Mark shook his head, shocked. "What?!" he said, his wide eyes looking at her like she had a second head growing out of her neck.
"That will be fifteen dollars and fifty cents..." she said slowly.
Mark ran his right hand through his hair and let out a deep breath. "Well, I don't have that much!" he exclaimed.
"Well, I'm sorry sir, but you're going to have to put these ba – " she started.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you don't understand," he said, leaning towards her, "I need these." he said, tapping the diapers with his right pointer finger. 'Why is a fucking package of diapers so expensive?! They're only going to be shit in!'
"Well, sir, like I said, I'm sorry, but – " Mark opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by someone else.
"Here, let me help you." Mark looked behind him and saw a young man who was waiting for his medication at the pharmacy when he and Roger were waiting. He looked as young as he was, maybe younger, and Puerto Rican he guessed.
"Oh, no, you don't have to – " Mark protested, but was cut off again.
"Now, really, I insist honey." he said with a smile, handing the woman a twenty dollar bill. Mark noticed his nails were painted a metallic blue when he handed the money over. When the cashier handed the man back the change, he turned to Mark.
"Here," he said, handing him the change, "keep it for the next time." He smiled and began to walk away.
Mark, stunned by the other man's generosity, looked up at him. "Hey!" he called. The man turned.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Um...thanks. You know, for helping." Mark smiled.
The other man grinned again. "No problem." and walked out the door. Mark watched him leave, and turned back to the counter, grabbing the plastic bag that contained the diapers.
"That sure was a nice thing for a stranger to do, especially in New York City." Roger said, opening the door for him and Mark and walking back out into the bitter coldness.
"Yeah...it was." Mark agreed and snuggled Annalise close to him as the two friends made their way back to the loft.
--
Sooo...what do you think? I really liked this one, personally. :) It was loooonngggg, and I love long chapters.
Being the youngest one in my entire family, I've never had to change a baby's diaper. I had to look up on Google, how to. Let's just say: As cute as babies are, I really don't look forward to changing a diaper when I'm older. It's gross.
OH! And I thought that diapers were like, six dollars at CVS. I went on the website, and HOLY CRAP! I can't believe diapers are so expensive! They're almost fifteen dollars or more. Holy cow. No wonder new parents go crazy about diapers. O.o
ANYWHO! Please read, and leave a review about what you think. I hope you enjoy!
-EB91 :)
