Cain shot up from the sofa. "Keith's here?"

Bonnie frowned. He didn't wait for an answer. He ran for the door.

"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THAT?" he shouted until his voice went hoa.r.s.e.

Simone favored her side. The landing on the floor was awkward. Her ankle felt as if it was twisted in a knot. She winced. All she could think of was the baby. She prayed the cramping was just from the fall.

"You're crazy," she said. She scooted back. "I don't know who or what you are any more. Except that you're crazy!"

"I'll show you crazy, baby," Keith said undoing his belt buckle. His right sleeve was crimson red with his blood, but he seemed indifferent to it. Simone scooted back on the floor, trapped. "f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" he said taking a step toward her then getting yanked back. Simone blinked at Cain delivering a punch to Keith's face repeatedly while holding him by the front of his shirt before the shock wore off and Keith fought back. Cain went under taking him by the waist with his shoulder, and then running them both into the tallboy. Keith threw him off, punching and then kicking him. Cain was dropped to his knees, but he yanked Keith's legs from under him to bring him down as well. The two rolled with Cain ending up on top, pummeling him.

Suddenly, Cain stopped.

From Simone's position she could see little. Cain slowly got to his feet and stepped back.

"That's right, motherf.u.c.ker! Get back." Keith wiped the blood from his swollen lips with the back of his hand.

Simone managed to stand. The fight had ended for one reason. Keith had a gun.

"Get the f.u.c.k back!" Keith said through a maniacal grin.

"Keith, don't! Please," Simone begged. She was paralyzed by the thought of him pulling the trigger.

"Be quiet!" Cain ordered, waving her away. "Aim the gun at me, Keith. I'm the one you want. Not her."

Keith laughed. He put the gun on her then on Cain, then on her again. "This is perfect. f.u.c.k, it's perfect. You did come a little early, Cain. See, the missus and I were going to take care of a little business, and then you were going to come in when I finished her off. This was supposed to happen at Kim's place. But this is better. Yeah, yeah, see we'd struggle and the gun would go off. I'd tell them that me and my baby were reconciling, and you, you in a jealous rage attacked me." Keith grinned, blood staining his teeth. "I dreamt about this in prison. Day after I got out, I broke into your house, got this gun from your desk drawer, Cain. Figured you had one. I waited for days, but you two were never together. Now this. This is perfect. Yeah, I came home and my wife was f.u.c.king me as she should, and you came in. Yeah...yeah, you couldn't take it, so you pulled the gun and shot her! And I got the gun from you and shot you." Keith waved the gun at Cain. "Payback is a b.i.t.c.h, motherf.u.c.ker."

"Keith, you aren't a killer." Simone said despite Cain's look for her to be quiet.

"Sweetheart, let's just agree to disagree on that, okay?" Keith said.

"I'm pregnant," Simone said limping forward. She blinked away the dizziness from the blow she took from his hand. "You hear me? I'm pregnant."

"Don't," Cain panted, trying to push her back. "Keith, it's me and you man, just me and you. Leave her out of this. Simone, shut up!"

Simone shook her head. "You know how bad I want to be a mother, Keith. Please. Just end this. Let me go. Let us both go. Let me have my dreams. That's all I ever wanted."

"Pregnant?" Keith said. He looked to her stomach, then to her. He raised the gun and released the safety. "You're pregnant?"

Cain pushed Simone behind him. Keith gripped the gun with both hands. "I'll end it. Oh...yeah, let's end it, you wh.o.r.e! You think I'm going to let you have his baby? Humiliate me further? I should have done this the moment I walked in."

Bonnie Hollingsworth slammed a crystal vase to the back of Keith's head. The gun misfired as he went down. Simone clutched her chest and then Cain's arm. Feeling faint from the fright of it all, she nearly collapsed. She heard Cain tell Bonnie to call the police. She felt him carrying her. Then everything was a blur.

"You okay?" Cain asked, stroking her forehead.

Simone didn't answer. She hadn't spoken when the cops arrived. She hadn't said a word when Keith was taken away in handcuffs. She said nothing when the paramedics asked her questions and Cain kept reminding them that she was pregnant. She waited. Because she knew eventually, the news would come. She knew that eventually the price would have to be paid for her dreams. And that price could mean the child that was never meant to be.

Cain looked up when the doctor returned. He held her hand, but she could see the fear on his face. They had made plans for the baby. If it was a boy, he would be a Jr., and Cain wanted their family to begin with their son. If it was a girl, she liked the name, Gina. It was so sweet, and innocent. She just thought it would be fitting. Now all she wished for was a healthy baby.

"Doctor, is she okay? She hasn't spoken. What about the baby?" Cain rushed in a single breath.

"She's fine and the baby's fine."

Simone closed her eyes.

The doctor came to her side. "She's in shock. we'll give her something to rest. Something mild. She has a nasty bruise to the side of her face. She's a lucky woman. Not sure about the concussion, so we think we should keep her overnight. You're okay, Mrs. Livingston."

Cain kissed her cheek. "Her name is Simone Wilson, soon to be Gatlin, but never Livingston, doctor."

Tears slipped from her eyes, the first tears to fall since it all began. Cain reached for her, and she for him. The tears exploded. She wept uncontrollably in his arms.

In the darkness, her eyes opened. The lamp above her bed was the only light in the room. Slowly the shadows took shape and her gaze sought him. She had been dreaming. A little girl with burnished brown skin and sandy red curls played in the gra.s.s as her father worked under the hood of a car. It was a sunny day. Simone could see them from the window. She called to him for lunch and he emerged. Together, her family headed back inside. It was a simple dream. No big revelations or exaggerations. Just the three of them and it felt right.

Simone looked over to the fetal monitor. She could hear the sounds of the baby's heartbeat. Their baby.

"Cain?"

Slumped down in his chair with his head thrown back, his mouth open offering a slight snore, she couldn't see all of his face. Simone peeled off the tape from her belly. She moved the covers back and eased out of bed. Her head still hurt, her side too, and her ankle was tender, but she managed. She hobbled carefully to him. The chair was a recliner, the largest one she'd seen in a hospital room.

Simone eased onto his lap, throwing her legs over the arm of the chair. Cain's head lifted immediately. She kissed him before he could speak, hugged his neck and let him hold her.

"I want to get married before the baby comes," she said.

"Okay. We can do that," Cain said.

"I want to stay in New York to be near Mom and Kim."

"We can do that too," he nodded.

"I don't want to ever talk about what happened with Keith after this day. From this moment forward, we start over."

"Will start living our dreams. I get it, babe. I understand. If I had lost you, I don't know how I would have coped."

She put a finger to his lips. "You didn't, and that's no accident. It's you and me from this day forward. I won't take that for granted anymore. I won't take anything for granted. Everyone tried to warn me about Keith, but I only saw what I wanted to see. Now I see the truth. Life doesn't just happen to us. It's what we make it. There are no accidents, Cain Gatlin. I'm supposed to be your wife, the mother of your babies. I believe that with everything in me. I believe in you and me."

Cain smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, Cain, always and forever."

She relaxed, her head on his shoulder. In the darkness of her hospital room, they waited for tomorrow. For their new life to begin.

Epilogue.

Happily Ever After Maybe it was the southern magnolias. They bloomed everywhere. Large, white, rose-like petals nested in green leafy coves hung off of low reaching branches of trees that possibly stood since the Civil War. The ocean breeze pushed through the palmettos and surrounding cypress, causing a stir of floral nectar that singed her nasal pa.s.sages and forced repeated sneezes. From the moment they landed, Simone had been under attack. First came the sniffles with a pesky itch to the back of her throat. Then that morphed in to a full-blown hay fever fit, including violent sneezes and red burning eyes. It was as if she was allergic to the city. Through it all, she had to admit one thing. Charleston was perfect for her sister Kimberly.

"Here, babe, try this." Cain handed her a plastic CVS bag with boxes of relief inside. CJ clung to his father's neck. He sucked voraciously on his pacifier with wide round eyes blinking at her. His skin was b.u.t.terscotch brown, and he had the roundest face and chubbiest cheeks. To her, he looked just like his father through and through, though Cain saw the opposite.

"Thanks, sweetie," Simone sniffed, taking out the box of Claritin first. "Hope this works. The Benadryl didn't."

"Everyone inside?" Cain asked, his eyes lifting all the way up to the steeple as CJ tried to remove his father's aviator sungla.s.ses from the front pocket of his shirt. Simone leaned in to kiss her baby boy's naughty fingers, then his cheek. CJ countered by spitting out his pacifier and opening his mouth wide for a kiss, arms outstretched for her. She took him from his father and laughed at the s...o...b..ry kiss he gave her. "Yep, they're inside. I was waiting on you two. Mom is upstairs with Kim. I'm heading in. You sure you're okay with CJ?" She squinted up at her husband against the blazing rays of the sun.

Cain chuckled. "I think I can handle my boy."

Simone gave Cain Jr. back to his father. He was growing like a weed. Just the other day she could remember standing at the altar saying her vows, and only a few weeks later being wheeled down the hall for a tortuous eighteen hour labor and delivery. Now CJ was six months old and trying to take a step on his own. Kim said he was moving out the way for baby number two. He better not be.

"I guess I better go in. Daddy's in a mood. He can't get to Mama. Can you talk to him? You two seem to understand each other. Diane doesn't want to see him, and he has to respect that."

"Charles will be fine. Everything will be fine. Go and see to your sister," Cain rea.s.sured.

Simone believed him. Everything was just fine. She was married, a mother, and in love with her life. What a difference his love made. She sneezed. Cain frowned, but she put her hand up and waved off the worry in his eyes. "I'll see you two soon."

Cain moved in on her. As Simone fought the groping hands of her infant son who grabbed at her earrings and yanked on the pearls around her neck, she noticed that naughty look in her husband's eyes. "What is it?" she asked, shaking her head no to CJ.

"You."

"Me?"

"You look so s.e.xy in this dress." He moistened his lips and his voice went even lower. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Simone sneezed with her hand to her mouth and nose. She shook her head. "Tell me tonight. Okay?"

"Wait." He caught her by the waist with one arm and balanced their son with the other. "Over a year ago, I almost lost you. Now, I have more than either of us knew possible. I want to remember always how blessed we are."

"Okay, sweetie." Her hand cupped his neck. She brought his face to hers and kissed him, as tender and sweet as any kiss between a husband and his wife. "Now I really do have to go. Oh, wait a second. While you were at the store, your brother Joseph called. He wants us to come down and see him. Think we can drive down to Florida instead of heading home?"

"Sure. I knew they wanted to meet CJ," he said, and continued to keep her close to him.

Simone pushed away from his arm. "I have to go. They're waiting."

"We'll be waiting."

Simone looked to CJ. "Be a good boy for Mommy. I'll see you two soon."

Before he could delay her further, she turned and ran up the church steps, careful to hold the side of her dress, with the CVS bag swinging from her wrist. She ducked through the abbey doors and looked back once more. Cain winked. G.o.d, she loved that man.

"Mama, will you stop pacing?" Kim said. Anne worked on her eye shadow so she couldn't turn her head to address Diane.

"How you know I'm pacing?" Diane huffed.

"I can hear you panting behind me," Kim smiled.

"Where's Kitt? She the maid of honor, ain't she? She out there fussing over that baby and man."

"I think she went to get something for her allergies," Anne offered.

Diane huffed. "I don't know why we had to do the wedding here. All these white folks, and I don't know none of 'em. I thought this was the south. Where the black people at? You could've come back home and gotten married there, in your church, like Kitt did."

"That's not my church. Plus, I live here now. This is Matt's family church. Besides, we talked about this. We've got the practice to run and the house we're building. His family has been really sweet to you, Mama, so stop it. This is my home."

Anne stepped back and let Kim see her handiwork. She batted her lashes at herself, amazed at the transformation. "Thanks, girl."

"You welcome, sweetie."

Kim looked back at her mother, pacing. She shook her head. Diane had the worst of it the past year. She relapsed twice. The last one was pretty bad. Kim flew up to New York immediately. With Simone and the help of Diane's sponsor, they did an intervention. They convinced her that her sobriety would require her to make some life changes. To the shock of them all, mostly their father, she filed for divorce from Charles Wilson and removed him from her life. Today was the first day she'd seen Charles since the divorce. The moment she laid eyes on their father, she bolted up here and hid out. Kim wished she knew the things in her mother's head. But slowly, she was learning her heart. Diane loved harder than them all, and felt everything even more. All these years Kim had it wrong. She wasn't going to ever repeat that mistake.

"Anne, can you go find Simone? I want to talk to my mother."

"Sure thing. I'll check on the boys too."

"Thank you." Kim rose from her chair at the vanity, gripping the front of her gown. "Ma, you okay?"

Diane sighed. "Lots of rednecks here. Ain't no black people," she mumbled under her breath. "And it's hot as h.e.l.l here too. I don't like the south. How them babies gone know they black?"

"What's really bothering you Ma?"

Diane cut her a look, then backed away.

"It's Daddy, isn't it?"

"I'm sober, Kim. I has been for six months. Then here he come trying to mess with me," she said, crossing her arms tightly over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Ma, he came to give me away at the wedding, right? He didn't give me away the first time. I wanted him to be here. You don't have to speak to him."

"You don't understand your father. He messing with me I tell you!"

Kim walked over to her and threw her arms around her. She hugged Diane to her. She missed her mother's sharp tongue and her feisty nature. Matt said they should have her come down more often and she was beginning to agree. "I'm so proud of you, Mom. You did it. You did it for you. Daddy has nothing to do with it. Simone told me how good you are with CJ. She told me that you started baking again, doing a little catering. I'm so proud of you."

Diane dropped her head and cried.

"Ma? What is it?"

Diane turned, stammering through her tears. "Ya-you the one that did it, sweetie. Kicked all them funky habits. You come down here and work on you. Look at you, baby. You and Mathew doing good, huh? He still a doctor, and you run his practice, even if you ain't the nurse. You can run it your way. You two a team. And you healthy too." Diane wiped away her tears, this time smiling. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you and Kitt to make you weak, like me. I'm so sorry that it took me so long to understand."

Kim shrugged. "We all learn in our own time. We all grow. But, Ma, we both did it. We slayed the dragon."