A/N: Sorry for the long wait, life has been crazy, i won't bore you with details but it's slowing down now so the updates should be pretty regular as the story wraps up.

Three Weeks Later

Midge was both incredibly excited and incredibly stressed. Oh, she was tired too, and considering what she was about to do, she was nervous and preemptively pissed off at Joel. Last week, she got the call, the call that said the tour was back on and that Shy was well rested now and ready to get back at it. Which was great, really. She loved touring. Well, that wasn't exactly true, she loved being on stage, making people laugh, and seeing all these new places but touring itself kind of sucked. Especially when you had kids, oh, and you were a newlywed whose husband moved around for work just as much as she did.

Anyway, overall, she was happy and ready, she decided. Sure, all of the tour dates changed because of the break, and that would mean having to come up with a completely new schedule than the one she originally made, which took 12 hours to put together, six martinis, and probably ten years off her life. So she wasn't looking forward to going through that again, especially because her life had changed drastically since the last time she went through it, on the upside, Lenny was there, and the kids loved him, so there was another person to add to the schedule. On the downside, the idea of having to explain that to Joel was already giving her a headache. Plus, his manager set up a small tour in the northeast, so when he was away, there would be three kids to find proper supervision for instead of two. That wasn't a problem necessarily; Kitty moved into their lives seamlessly, and sometimes Midge was sure that she was now the favorite grandchild, even for Moishe and Shirly.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Joel entered the coffee shop, as soon as she saw him in there, she cringed, she wasn't sure why she kept choosing this as their meeting spot; it had so many good memories, sure, but those were from the beginning of their marriage when they were still happy. Things have changed a lot since then. She was in a new marriage, one that felt more real and happy than whatever she and Joel ended up being. She supposed she was just nostalgic, plus she knew he loved the rugelach here, and he had the same good memories she did, which would come in handy now, considering the talking they had to do.

When he sat down across from her, she pushed the rugelach forward and started making small talk. Precisely 12 minutes of small talk, not too short to be rude but not too long to drag on. Once he seemed relaxed, she started on the real conversation, "So I got the call, the tour is starting back up."

"Oh."

"Yeah, which is great, you know it's great, I'm so excited. And of course, the money of it all but obviously, all the tour dates have changed so I'm going to have to make a whole new schedule."

He shrugged, reaching forward to grab his coffee mug, "I could have Mrs. Moskowitz do it."

"I can make the schedule for the kids, Joel."

"Okay, fine. Make the schedule." He said a little shortly. He put the mug down, a little harder than necessary and reached into his coat pocket, "Here's this month's money. I don't know why I'm still paying this, by the way, you're remarried."

The last part was grumbled, which wasn't surprising, it was clear he wasn't a fan of her being married to Lenny. Which sucked because it made her life a lot harder, it seemed like a fight started at every kid pick up or drop off.

"It's child support, Joel. You know to support the children you helped make? Not alimony, you're no longer responsible for me."

"Yeah, well…" He said, still grumpily as she put the envelope in her purse. "Now what do we do about Collegiate?"

"Celebrate, throw a party for the amazing school Eithan got into?"

"Really? That's your answer?"

"It's what we wanted."

"It's what we wanted two years ago. Things are different now."

"Eithan at Collegiate, Esther at Brearley, that was the plan."

"Look, it's great he got in but let's face it, Collegiate's not cheap. And we're both working now, and we're both working nights. Once this club opens, I'm fucking Dracula. You're on tour and even when you get back…"

"What are you saying, Joel?" Midge cut off to rush him along, even going as far as to move her hand in motions telling him to speed it up.

"I think we should consider putting him in school in Queens."

She looked at him for one long moment, trying to comprehend, "I'm sorry, I wasn't ready. Let me take a sip of water so I can do a proper spit take."

"Midge…"

"If anything calls for a spit take it's the words 'school' and 'Queens' in the same sentence." She said taking her sip.

He was officially annoyed now, which she regretted pushing him since she hadn't brought up the Lenny of it all yet, "Collegiate's in the Upper West Side! No one in our family lives on The Upper West Side."

"Have you heard of a car?"

"I am going to be at the club every night once it opens. Eithan starts school in fall. Where are you in the fall? Let's see…" He reached over to her paper that had the tour dates on them.

"My we have discovered a flair for the dramatic, haven't we?"

"Dusseldorf, Frankford, Zurich, Stockholm," He said pointed at each city written on the paper before folding it up. "Great, so, I'll drop him off and you'll pick him up?"

"Joel, our children can not go to school in Queens."

"Why?"

"Because… Queens!"

"Need a little more."

"We live in Midtown, so it's not that much of an inconvenience, Mama, Papa, and Lenny will all take turns getting him there. They're already planning for it. More importantly, he has to go to the best school, he has to be with the bright kids or he won't live up to his potential. They say he's advanced."

"Ethan?"

"Yes."

"Our Ethan?"

"I know, I was shocked too."

"Who says that?"

"They."

"Who's they?"

"Them."

"Advanced. Ethan?" His disbelief clear.

"They say he shows promise."

"Now promise I can buy."

"Joel! Promise can turn into potential if he goes to Collegiate. If he goes to Queens U promise turns into… into," She deepened her voice, "'Move it, Pal, forklift coming through',"

"First of all, if he gets into Queens U at five he's definitely advanced. And second, I'm not the bad guy here. Think practically for a second, I have to move out of the factory soon or it's just weird. I should find an apartment close to the club. So, we can put him in a school in Chinatown if we want him to be behind in two languages. His grandparents live in Queens, and it's already set up they're staying with my parents most of the time."

"You had to choose now to open the club, right? Great timing."

"Hey. Sorry about the timing but if you remember, you were supposed to be in the home stretch of your tour right now. No one told me to add two months so Shy could have a breakdown."

"It wasn't a breakdown, he was exhausted! And if Ethan goes to school in Queens and later finds out he got into Collegiate, he will hold it against us."

"We won't tell him" He said as if that fixed everything.

"Someday, he will date a girl whose father is head of Collegiate admissions, and he will mention that they were very disappointed that we didn't put him in when he got accepted, and then we won't be invited to the wedding."

"How's he going to meet this girl? He'll be in Queens."

"He'll go into the city."

"We won't let him."

"He'll find a way."

"We won't tell him there's a city."

"You don't think he's going to know there's a city, won't he read?"

"He goes to a school in Queens, the chances are 50-50."

"Do you think this bit is helping things?"

"I don't want to fight! I want him to go to Collegiate, too. I want him to be with the advanced kids. But I can't afford it, and we don't live there anymore!"

She mentally shook her head, then did so again literally. She didn't want to fight and she didn't want to let her emotions take control because she'd end up saying something she'd regret. Still, they were more than just a three income family now, when it came to the kids they had three, Lenny already told her he'd help how he could. "No, wait, wait, wait, none of this matters. Your parents are just going to have to take the trip to come visit the kids. Because none of this is a problem. Collegiate isn't too much of a trip from our house, and there are more people there to watch over the kids. Plus, their sister, is there, and they already made it clear they want to stay with her."

"Step-sister."

"Sure, whatever, try explaining that to them. They've lived together for less than a month and it's like they think they've been together forever. It's cute really. You should have heard the fight Lenny and I had to deal with when it was time to visit you. They either didn't want to go, or they wanted to take Kitty with them. We had to promise them a big slumber party in the living room just to get them to go with you."

"Oh, you really know how to make a man feel good, Midge. It's a wonder we didn't work out."

"Yeah, right. Don't go rewriting history. We both know good and well why our marriage didn't work out. You got bored, and instead of fighting, you decided all your problems were because of me, and to solve that problem, you stuck your dick in the closest vagina in proximity."

Joel stood up so quickly that the chair fell over and the things on the table clattered. "What the fuck, Midge? are you ever going to let that go?"

"Hmmm, am I ever going to let go of the fact that you destroyed our family and blew up my life on a whim? Hmm, let me think about that… No. I don't think I will." She said, standing up too. She took a deep breath, calming herself down when she realized everyone was staring at them, as she was looking at the crowd she noticed the time on the wall clock. "Shit… I have to…"

"Yeah, me too," He said defeatedly. "We'll talk about this later, we don't have to decide anything right now.'

"There's nothing to decide, Joel."

"Yes there is…. I'm not letting some other man… that man…. Ugh, I can't do this right now, I'll call you later." Joel didn't wait for her to respond, instead, in his normal dramatic fashion, he ran out of the small restaurant.

Midge stopped holding back the urge to roll her eyes as she grabbed her purse and took some money out for the coffee and a nice tip. She quickly made her way back to her apartment, she had a lot to do today, and really, she could use a few peaceful moments alone with Lenny as she bitched about her ex-husband.

Lenny was sitting at their kitchen table, reading the newspaper when there was a knock on the door. He had no idea who it could be and if he was being honest, he didn't want to answer it. He was around way too many people on a daily basis since moving into this apartment and didn't want to see one more if that were possible. So he ignored it. Well, that was until the nice knocking turned into a fast rough banging accompanied by a woman smoker's voice so deep he had a feeling it was mistaken for a man often.

"Lenny! Lenny! Open up, I know you're in there! I need to talk to you, and quick, before Midge gets home!"

Lenny's eyebrow quirked without his permission; he couldn't deny that it piqued his interest. So he stood and made his way to the door, every step closer getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach that whatever she had to say, he didn't want to hear. He opened the door with an annoyed air about him. "What do you want, Susie, you ought to know by now that I'm rarely up before the clock hits double digits."

"Don't bulllshit me, Bruce. You're a family man now, and Midge tells me everything, even when I beg her not to. I know you get up with the kids in the morning, make breakfast, get them dressed, all that domestic shit."

His lips twitched as he stood aside, offering entrance into the apartment. Susie stomped in angrily as if she owned the place and walked right over to the standing bar, pouring both her and Lenny their first drinks of the day. She downed hers in one long gulp, and when she turned around she had a completely different demeanor, more calm, sad— meek, almost penitent. Lenny quirked his brow again, this time on purpose as he took the offered drink.

"So what do I owe this almost rudely early visit?"

She looked at him for a long time, he knew her well enough to know she was thinking through her words and it made him even more sure that he wasn't going to like what she wanted to say. "Thanks for the drink, could I have another one?"

Lenny sighed but held his hand out to the bar, offering permission. "You wanna start a tab?"

Lenny was surprised when she didn't have a witty retort. "Alright, you got my attention. What do you wanna talk about."

"Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'll start…" she said but didn't continue. At Lenny's sure nod, expecting something she finally opened her mouth after downing the second glass as another shot. "So I know you are not a friend, we barely know each other. We talked what, seven times ever? Three of those times I wasn't a blubbering fool of a fan."

"Ehh…" Lenny said, he figured they might not be friends but they were friendly and thought they'd be friends sooner or later.

"Okay, okay, one time I wasn't a blubbering fool…" He covered his smirk with a drag of a cigarette. "Either way, I need you to do something for me…" She paused so long he was losing patience. "I need you to take care of Midge's money for me."

Lenny's eyes widened, not expecting that. His brain started thinking of all the reasons a manager of all people would need him to take the money over for their client. The only ideas he could came up with was bad things. She was doing something stupid, probably an addiction of some sort, and spending midge's money, and she wanted to nip it in the bud before it got too far. Christ, how much money of Midge's did she spend? "Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute…"

It was as if he wasn't speaking, she kept talking over him, "Keep track of what's there, what's she's owed, what she spending…"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Susie?!"

"I can steer her career, I got that down, I'm going to make her a very big star. But the money… I need you to protect it from now on."

"From what?"

"From me."

"Susie, what the fuck did you do? I know if you're…"

"I will send the checks directly to you as soon as I get 'em."

"Susie…"

"Maybe I should just have Shy's people get them to you directly… Cut out the middle man… me. Cut out me, yeah, that's probably the best idea."

"Susie, what the fu…."

"I'll transfer you all the money she's made so far. Every penny. I just need a little time to get it all…"

"What do you mean you need time to…"

"…Organized but I will get it to you. But then once a week. I will send you the checks once a week, or they will send you the check. Once a week, you will get a check."

"Hold the fuck on…" he was beyond pissed.

"So, thanks for the drinks…" She said, starting to move to the door, taking the drink out of his hand and downing it on the way out, "We'll talk more later."

"Susie, I swear to the God I don't believe in, you better not take one more fucking step until you explain this to me."

She stopped and when she turned around her attitude was back in full force, "I thought I explained it pretty fucking clear."

"Don't get all righteous with me, you know damn well there's only one reason you'd be asking me to watch Midge's money and that's if you couldn't handle it yourself. Have you been spending her fucking money?"

"What? I didn't say that!"

"Come on, Susie, I've been in the game long enough to read between those particular lines. And let me just say, I'm really fucking disappointed, I expected better from you, thought you had Midge's back as much as I did."

"Hey! I'm asking for a favor, that doesn't mean you get to talk shit about me and talk down to me, you don't know what I'm going through, why I need— want your help."

"Sure, sure, but I can guess. Let me take a crack at it… Hmm, no sunken eyes, no shakes or pinpoint eyes, so you're not strung out or jonesing. It's gotta be some kinda addiction cloudin' your mind enough to screw with your clients— no, your best fucking friend's money. So what is it? Men? Women? You gotta problem at the strip clubs or spending too much on hookers? No, don't think that's it. That doesn't leave many options… gambling… you owe your bookey some money that you didn't have and decided to take it out of Midge's account?"

"You know what, fuck this! I don't need this!"

"Yeah, sure, run away like the coward you're becoming!"

"I should have gone to Joel, he wouldn't have asked as many questions."

"You can't just come in here like that. I mean why— why me? There are business managers, and accountants, and a lot of other people who are trained to do this. I mean, hell, Shy must have a team of people who could do this for—"

"Because you love her! You've always loved her, I think you'll always be in love with her. You might not have the best reputation but I know for a fact you won't possibly let anything bad happen to her if you can stop it, ever. It has to be you… well I mean or that piece of shit ex of hers and I don't think either of us wants that."

Lenny looked away, feeling a mix of emotions. He knew what she said was true so he felt his heart pounding, both with anxiety and love. On the other hand he was still really fucking pissed. He might have never said it but he trusted Susie to have Midge's back, to protect her and be in her corner as much as he was and, well, let's just say this made him see her in a new light, and she really fucking let him down. Lenny opend his mouth to speak but no words came out, that was okay because Susie was already speaking again.

"…Just let me tell her, okay?"

Well, Lenny never said he'd do it, and it was pissing him off even more that she'd assumed he would, but he was pretty sure that was only because she was pissing him off. Because of course, he'd do it, not for Susie, but for Midge. He couldn't let another penny of her hard-earned money go to waste. His girl worked so hard and she earned every penny. Maybe more importantly than that, she considered Susie her best friend and he wasn't sure he was ready to burst her bubble about what a shitty friend she could apparently be.

"Tell her what, that I'll love her forever?"

"No, about the money, she knows the other shit already, everybody does."

Lenny looked at her for a long second before looking away, still incredibly pissed the fuck off, trying to figure out how to handle this. Because even though he didn't want to hurt Midge, didn't want to show her how shitty her friends and those close to her could be, if he kept his mouth shut he'd be lying to her, right? And even though they hadn't been married long, he hadn't lied to her, and he had no intention to start anytime soon. He wanted this marriage to work and hiding something so huge didn't seem the right way to go about it. Apparently, Susie took his quiet as acceptance and started walking to the door again.

"I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention… thank you."

She opened the front door and was out of it, the door mostly closed, before he spoke again: "You have one week to tell her. No more. If you don't, I will."

They made eye contact, anger flashed in her eyes and he was sure her first instinct was to fight, get mad, yell but her shoulders slumped and she nodded her head once decisively before letting the door close behind her. Lenny fell limply, he had the idle thought that he was happy he happened to be in front of the couch or else he'd have just fallen on the floor. He used his long hands to reach the bar, grabbing the decanter of the most accessible liquor and pouring it into the cup. He didn't realize what it was until he took a sip and cringed, pulling his glass away from his face to see a clear liquid, gin. Ugh gin, he hated it. Still, he took another sip finishing it.

He didn't realize how early it was until he heard the scurrying of three little children leaving their rooms, all just waking up. It was much too early to be drinking this hard. He took a deep breath and stood, pushing his cup to the side and deciding to go on with his day, not worrying about the money anymore. If he didn't hear anything about it from his wife after a week, he'd start worrying again.

Hours later he was surprised that the first thing Midge did after walking through the door was head straight to him, wrap her hands around his waist, and bury her face in his chest. His arms came around her automatically, pulling her closer like they'd done this a hundred times before. The kids exchanged confused glances—Mom wasn't usually one for displays of vulnerability.

"Well, hello to you too," Lenny said, glancing down at her. "Rough day with the ex-husband?"

"Understatement," she muttered, her voice muffled by his shirt.

He gave her a comforting squeeze, then kissed the top of her head. "Want to talk about it, or shall we skip straight to the ceremonial burning of his favorite things?"

"Not worth the matches," she said. "But thanks."

"Well, screw him then. You don't have time to let him get under your skin. Tonight, you're playing the Apollo, which, by the way, is not something he or any other angry, unfunny divorcees in the greater New York area can claim. You're better, Midge. Let him wallow in his irrelevance."

"Yeah! Fuck him!" Kitty shouted, punching the air for emphasis.

Lenny froze for a moment, his lips twitching as he fought not to laugh. "Kitty," he said, turning toward her with exaggerated sternness. "What's our policy on bad words?"

"To make sure I use them correctly and sparingly so they stay powerful?" she offered, wide-eyed and completely unrepentant.

"Christ, I did not say that, did I?" He asked.

"Sounds like you," Midge snorted, finally pulling back just enough to grin up at him.

"Fantastic," he muttered. "We've got ourselves a tiny philosopher with the mouth of a dockworker. You must be so proud."

"Beats a tiny philosopher with a clean mouth," Midge quipped. "Much more authentic."

"Suppose that's true. I shouldn't be surprised, really, in fact, it's more surprising your kids are so clean-mouthed living with both of us."

Midge laughed, "We'll see, they're still young yet, they got time."

He leaned down to kiss her, keeping it chaste in front of the kids despite the part of him that very much wanted to whisk her into the bedroom for a more... thorough distraction before her big night. But he knew better—his wife's pre-show ritual was as sacred as the Torah. The next few hours would undoubtedly involve a whirlwind of dresses, accessories, and the inevitable debate over which pair of heels had the most "chutzpah."

Midge pulled back first, smoothing his tie and shooting him a coy smile. "So, Mama and Papa have the kids tonight. I've got something special planned after the show since it's our last night together before I leave."

His eyebrows shot up. "Well, color me intrigued. Do tell, Mrs. Bruce."

"It's called a surprise for a reason, Mr. Bruce," she teased, tugging on his lapel. "Now, I know you have that meeting with the lawyers today, but you'll be done in time to make it to the show, right?"

"Of course," he said with mock indignation. "I tried to get them to reschedule, but apparently judges don't think 'my wife's doing a show at the Apollo' is a valid reason for unpreparedness. Go figure."

Midge rolled her eyes. "And here I thought judges were supposed to be the smart ones."

"Clearly not," Lenny said with a smirk. "Not a single one's ever laughed at my courtroom material. I'm giving them gold, Midge. Gold!"

She chuckled, glancing at her watch. "Alright, go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can meet me backstage. I hate admitting it, but I'm nervous."

His face softened, and he cupped her cheek. "Sweetheart, you're going to kill it. And if you don't, I'll be there to distract you afterward with my boyish charm and rugged good looks."

"Don't even joke about that!" she said, swatting his chest. "Failure is not an option here. This has to be my best show ever. Do you know how many Jewish housewives can say they've played a sold-out show at the Apollo?"

"None," he said without hesitation. "Because none of them are you. You're one of a kind, Midge. You've got this."

She let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "Yeah, okay. You're right. I already have material that works—I just need to tweak a few things. Punch up some punchlines."

"Exactly," he said, kissing her forehead. "Now go focus on being brilliant, and I'll handle the boring lawyer stuff. See you tonight."

"You'd better," she called after him. "Your name's already on the list, so don't you dare be late!"

He turned to the kids, pressing a kiss to Kitty's and Esther's heads and giving Ethan's hair a ruffle. "Be good, alright? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Daddy!" the girls chimed in unison. He was still getting used to hearing that from Esther.

"Bye, Lenny!" Ethan added enthusiastically.

With a wave over his shoulder, he headed out, the weight of the upcoming meeting creeping back in. Between the case in Los Angeles and the one in New York, the stakes were high—jail time high. That was why he was shelling out a small fortune for these lawyers. But for now, he had one goal: make it back in time to see his wife shine.

Lenny was right. Midge spent the rest of the day making sure to pick out the perfect outfit while Rose and Abe were in the living room with the kids. Her mama calmed down over the last few weeks. She was originally very upset at being in the 'in-law suite,' but she saw the plusses quickly, especially when the kids got extra loud or were bored and wanted to be entertained by their grandparents. They enjoyed being able to shut the noise away by closing a door or coming out when they wanted to spend time with their family. That was why her hostility towards Lenny lessened a lot as well.

Midge gave herself one more look in the mirror and deemed herself ready. Which was good because when she looked at the clock she realized she had to leave right then or she was going to be late. She ran towards their front door, yelling over her shoulder, "Bye Mama, Papa, we won't be home till late, so don't wait up!"

She didn't wait for a response, the door clicking behind her on the way out. She thankfully caught a cab quickly and drove in eager silence to the show, slowly the excitement lessened, being replaced by anxiety. When they pulled up in front of the Apollo, Susie was standing out front waiting for her. She quickly hopped out and ran over to her.

"Am I late? I thought I was early. There was a last-minute shoe issue, the color was different in different light, so I had to ensure I was properly prepared. Brought an extra pair but they hurt my feet and I walk a little funny, which might be fun since I'm a comic, right? It worked for Chaplin. But I didn't think it added that much time… oop, yup I am late" She said looking at her wristwatch again. She shrugged, "Well, la-ti-da."

"It's fine." Susie soothed.

"I'm excited. The Apollo, right?"

"Hey, you read the sign." She quipped, then she sighed, "Look, I— uh— I have a thing I have to take care of tonight."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's a bullshit family thing but I want it taken care of before we go. So, I may have to miss your set."

"It's because I wore the wrong shoes, isn't it?"

"Yes. So if I don't talk to you before, I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow night."

"Okay," Midge agreed, her anxiety racking up another notch.

"You're going to be great."

"There is no other option."

"You bet your ass. Wait where's Lenny, I thought he was coming as moral support or whatever domestic supportive bullshit you want to call it."

"He'll be here soon, he had another meeting with the lawyers."

"Oh, okay. Well, tits up?"

"Tits up!"

Susie nodded and started walking away, when she was a few steps down the sidewalk she turned and yelled over her shoulder, "Don't be late for the fucking plane."

"I'm never late!" With another look at her watch, she remembered that she was in fact late right that minute, and ran into the theater.

She was having a great time catching up with Shy, talking with Reggie, and just loving the general atmosphere of being backstage. That was until she talked to Moms Maybley and her manager. What was Midge doing here? She didn't deserve this spot at a place as famous as this. She didn't know how to play for a group like this, so loving to Shy in his hometown of Harlem. Why was Moms opening for her and not the other way around? It felt wrong; Moms was beloved, and her career had lasted a lot longer, too. She was sure she was going to bomb at this point. What was she going to joke about? She realized she couldn't do a regular set; this was no regular show. Fuck, she wished Susie was here, she always knew how to talk Midge off of this particular ledge. Double fuck, where was Lenny? When she saw Reggie she opened her mouth and all her fears and worries came pouring out.

Fuck, he was late. The meeting went on much longer than it was supposed to. When Lenny left the house this morning, he was sure he was going to make it to the show before Midge did that night but now he was so late he just hoped he'd make it before she went on stage. His cab finally pulled up to the venue, he threw money at the driver, sure he gave much more than necessary as he rushed out of the cab and into the Apollo. He pushed through people, trying to find his way backstage, ignoring the few who recognized him and tried to get him to stop and talk. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the guy with the clipboard keeping people from wandering backstage. His foot was tapping incessantly as the man took his good old time searching through the list for his name and gave him an absent nod of thanks when he was let through.

When he finally found Midge she was talking to a man he knew was a part of Shy's tour. He wasn't sure what the man did but he knew he saw him before and he was dressed well so he must be important. As he was walking up he heard the end of their conversation. "… yes, this is going to be a tough show. They will love you or they will hate you and they'll let you know their verdict immediately. And maybe you should cut back on the Jewish brisket talk a little. Listen, you know Shy. They know Shy. Get out there and talk about Shy."

"I—I'm not following."

"You're great at riffing, I've seen you do it. Shy is like family to these people. They want to hear stories about him, stories about the road, late night craziness, gossip, tantrums, they love that sort of shit."

"You want me to talk about Shy on the road? Shy?"

"Yes! It's not something you should do anywhere else but here, in Harlem, his hometown, they'll eat it up. You calm now?"

"I'm here, I'm here," Lenny said, finally making his way next to her.

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god, I thought you were going to miss it. I thought we agreed, I'm the one always late in this relationship."

"Oh good, it's you, I know you. Didn't I read something about you two getting married? You know what? Doesn't matter. Can I assume you can take over now?" Reggie asked Lenny.

Lenny nodded but didn't take his eyes off Midge, Reggie took the opportunity to quickly leave though neither of the comics noticed. "What's wrong, Upper West Side?"

"I just don't know what I'm doing here. This is the Apollo. Moms Maybley opened for me tonight. I didn't earn this. I don't know what to say to make these people laugh, to like me."

Lenny scoffed, "Like you? Who cares if they like you?"

She scrunched her nose in confusion, "What? I do! It's the whole point of getting on stage, isn't it?"

He took her by the shoulders so she was looking right at him, "Fuck no. The point is to make them laugh and have a good time. Who cares what they think of you while they're doing it? We've talked about this before, didn't we? Do you think the people who come to see me actually like me? No, half of them hate me but know I'm funny and know I'm speaking the truth, another big portion are only there to watch me get arrested, and that last little sliver of people might like me, maybe. You're not here to make friends, you're here to make people laugh, and you know how to do that better than anyone else I know."

She looked at him as if she didn't understand the concept, she mumbled as if talking to herself, "They don't have to like me?"

He laughed, "No, you'll probably be more successful when they don't. It'll draw in more people. And you can believe me, I know a thing or two about controversy and how lucrative it can be."

She cracked her first smile in what seemed like hours, before nodding. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking, I just let everything get into my head. I've got this."

"Hell yes, you do!"

She stood on her toes and kissed him deeply for a long moment, "Thank you. I don't know what I'd have done if you weren't here. Susie left and I was about to take advice from Reggie. What was I thinking? He doesn't know anything about being a comic or how to manage one."

He smirked, "Go on, go take over the show, you know how hot it gets me seeing you on stage like that."

She was happy she was wearing so much makeup because she was sure she'd have been blushing as she went onstage otherwise. She gave him one more long kiss before pulling away when her name was called from the stage. She smiled at him before turning around and walking on stage, waving to everyone in their seats.

It took a few jokes that fell flat for Midge to figure out the crowd and make them laugh to hit her stride but it wasn't long before there was almost nonstop laughter filling up the room. Lenny watched from backstage proudly as his wife swept everyone under her spell, it wasn't surprising to him, he knew how great she was, and how she was going to make it big.

The rest of her set went just as great and when she finally introduced the band she ran off stage and into his arms, smiling, laughing the whole time. "I did it! I feel dumb for being nervous in the first place. I did amazing, I'm amazing!"

"Yeah, you are." He said, just as happy as her.

"Alright, come on, let's get out of here. I got us a hotel for the night so we can have some privacy for my last night in town."

He quirked his eyebrow, intrigued. Instead of asking questions, he simply held out his arm to her and she took it with a smile.