"You weren't so bad yourself."

"Yeah, that's why it only took you a couple days before you couldn't resist my southern charm."

"Are you being serious right now? You're really that sure of yourself?" I wanted to know. He was being very ornery.

He started laughing, while stroking my arm. "Well, I reckon in the big picture of things that maybe I wanted it to happen. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't want to betray my cousin, but once I knew that you weren't really together, well that was a game changer for me. I wanted you so bad and walkin' away just wasn't in my mind. The more time we spent together, the more I knew you were the one for me. I just needed you to know it too."

I ran my hand over his face and leaned up to kiss his lips. Of course, I had to lay sideways to cuddle with Colt nowadays. "Falling in love with you was so easy. I tried to deny my feelings, but there was no way I could have ever been happy without you."

"Look at how happy we all are now. I know we have been through some hard times, but we have the best family and we are so close. I never could have pictured our life would be this way, especially with Ty."

"Ty is the reason I have you Colt. For a while I wanted to hate his guts, but I see my life with you and thank him every single day. Besides, I have never seen two people more made for each other than he and Miranda."

Colt kissed my forehead. "Except us Darlin'. We were also made for each other. At least, I know you were made for me."

"Except for us, babe."

Colt held me until I finally fell asleep, with only thoughts of our beautiful life in my mind.

Chapter 25.

Colt There was nothing better than waking up and feeling my baby kicking. Savanna was still asleep, but I couldn't help sliding over and putting my head over her belly. It didn't matter to me whether we were having a boy or a girl, I just couldn't wait to meet him or her.

Savanna stirred in bed and let out a little cackle when she saw what woke her. She ran her hand over my shoulder and through my hair.

I kissed her belly and smiled. "Mornin', Darlin'."

"Hey Baby," she whispered.

"I was just spendin' some quality time with the newest member of our family."

"I can see that. I was wonder......." Savanna was cut off by a fat yellow lab and a boy running in and jumping on our bed.

"Wake up! It's raining. Can Dad stay home today?" Noah climbed up between us, hugging his mother. He also bent down and kissed her belly. "Good morning Ninja."

"Ninja?" Savanna and I both laughed at the same time.

"Yeah, wouldn't it be cool if we named him Ninja? We could dress him in karate clothes and he would be super cool." My son's imagination made us both laugh.

"Noah, we can't name the baby Ninja. You really need to prepare yourself in case it is a girl."

"I have girl names too. You wanna hear em?"

Something told me that I should have said no. "Sure Buddy."

"I like Bella."

Savanna interrupted him. "Sweetie, we can't name the baby Bella, because it is already your cousin's name."

"But that is the only girl I like."

I looked to Savanna who was really cracking up. "Mommy has a book with all kinds of names. Maybe we could look at it together today, because guess what?"

"What?" He seemed excited.

"I'm staying home!"

We'd never taken care of an infant, albeit I never had any doubts about Savanna's mothering skills. If you asked our son, he would tell anyone that he had the best mother on the planet.

It just so happened that the day consisted of the worst rainfall we had seen so far this season. I had enough employees that on days like these I could stay home with my family. Of course, after having company over the weekend, we had run out of all of our favorite food and snacks, so we were forced to go out in the mess to fill our cupboards back up.

I made us all pancakes for breakfast, at both of their requests. Noah helped me as much as he could with one arm. He liked to make monster shapes and snakes. Savanna got out the cool whip and made him a six inch high stack of sweetness. Noah ate every single bite and sat back rubbing his belly. "Mmmmmm, thank you, Daddy."

"Did ya like em?" I asked, even though I already knew he did.

"Yup. What's for lunch?" Our son, the bottomless pit.

After helping my little buddy get dressed, we all climbed in the truck and headed to the grocery store. Savanna hated it when Noah and I went along, because we ended up buying all sorts of junk to eat. Noah and I together were her worst nightmare. We knew how to work as a team to get her to cave and buy what we wanted. He found it to be very fun, in a sneaky kind of way.

We'd been in the store for a good twenty minutes. Noah was riding on the back of the cart while I steered from the front. Savanna was behind us with her coupon contraption. She was totally involved in those d.a.m.n things to notice where she was going. As we pa.s.sed a couple in the center of the aisle, I turned around to make sure she was paying attention to where she was walking.

Before I could open my mouth to warn her, she collided with the female and her hand basket of groceries. Coupons went flying into the air, as did the woman's groceries. They both crouched down and began picking up their things. At first Savanna was only worried about picking up the mess and apologizing, but as I bent down to help my wife, I watched her get a good look at the lady.

They were both apologizing one minute and then in a frozen stare the next. We all stood up at the same time, in which Savanna grabbed our cart and headed out of the aisle one way, while the other couple went the opposite direction.

When I reached her, she was breathing heavy and basically hiding out in the corner of the store. I finally made it to her side and pulled her into my arms. "Darlin', what is goin' on? Did you know them?"

She looked up at me and had tears in her eyes. "Call the police Colt. Call them right now."

I had no idea what was going on, but as I pulled out my phone, I watched my wife hauling a.s.s up one of the aisles. The nine-one-one operator came on the line asking what my emergency was, but I had no idea what to say.

After deciding to just have them send a cop to the grocery store, Noah and I went running after Savanna. She was standing by the window, in between two giant sales ads. With her coupon book in one hand and a pen in the other, she started jotting down something. I got closer and saw it was a tag number and the make and model of a car. "Savanna? Tell me what this is about."

Both Noah and I were standing there waiting for her to explain. She was trying to talk, but hyperventilating instead. A cashier came running over, handing her a brown bag to breathe into. She grabbed Savanna by the arm and sat her down on a nearby bench. I stood over her waiting to find out what the h.e.l.l was going on. Savanna was holding onto her belly, but not acting like she was in any pain.

After a few minutes and the sound of police sirens in the distance, she looked up at me. "They were the ones with Tucker, the ones the police never caught. They were the ones that helped him take me. They took our baby from us Colt."

I crouched down to my knees and pulled her into my arms. "Jesus, Darlin' I had no idea."

She shook her head against my shoulder. "It's not your fault. You didn't know." She began crying heavily and I couldn't make out her words. Noah sat down beside his mother and held her hand. He surely had no idea about what was going on, but he sure as s.h.i.t did a good job supporting her. Through her tears she leaned down and kissed his head.

"It will be okay, Mommy."

"Thank you, Baby." She looked up at me and finally started to calm down.

The police came in shortly and were directed toward us. Of course, they wanted her whole statement, which required us to go to the station. After paying for our groceries, we stopped by the station and Savanna talked to the original officer on the case. He was very kind to her and she finally calmed down after time.

The police put out a bulletin about the vehicle and the two pa.s.sengers. Savanna never had a name for them and with Tucker dead, she never seemed to care about what happened to the other two people. It was later that afternoon that she explained she had received a letter stating they were closing the case about a month before. At the time, she was so focused on Tucker being dead and what she had to go through, that she didn't seem too concerned about the other people involved. Tucker's mother was never charged on account of lack of evidence. Her attorneys played some bulls.h.i.t scenario that Savanna couldn't have been in her right mind after being kidnapped. They claimed that her overhearing a telephone call did not prove his mother was on the other end of that call.

With Savanna home safely, and suffering from major post traumatic stress, we didn't talk much about it. She saw a doctor and through therapy and medication, she finally got better. What really healed my wife was Noah. He made her forget the pain and look forward to our future.

My son held true to being Savanna's biggest supporter. In the police station, he stayed by her side, clinging to her. On the way home, she sat in the back seat next to him, while he was still holding her hand.

Noah was a good boy. He never asked questions, but just stayed close to her for support. It was the same case once we got home and she started to relax. Instead of going upstairs to his playroom, he cuddled with his mother on the couch. After a couple of hours, he finally fell asleep still attached to her. I carried him upstairs to his bed, before coming down to sit with Savanna.

"You okay, Darlin'?"

She leaned her body into mine. "I'm sorry for losing it today. I saw them and everything that happened came flashing back into my mind. Our baby, the miscarriage, I just couldn't handle it Colt. I know that neither of us will forget our baby, but that just brought back all of the bad s.h.i.t too."

"Darlin', you don't have to apologize to me. If I could trade places with you and take away that pain, I would in a heartbeat, you know that. I hate that you went through that."

"I just panicked. One minute I was apologizing for b.u.mping into her and the next second I am running for my life again. I can't explain it any better than that."

I kissed the top of her head and ran my fingers through her hair. "Try not to let it bother you. You positively identified the other two people involved. You gave them the vehicle. They have their names and will catch them Savanna. They both have records and they will be put away for a long time. They will be held responsible for what they did."

She sobbed in my arms and finally, after some time, her sobbing subsided. "There is something I have to tell you about that night, Colt. I can't keep it from you any longer."

My stomach immediately knotted up. I couldn't imagine what she needed to tell me. My first thought was that he raped her. The saliva was building up in my mouth just thinking about someone doing that to my wife. A part of me didn't want to know, but I knew I had to. "You can tell me anything, Darlin'."

She shook her head. "Not this Colt. If I tell you this, then you probably won't want me anymore."

Is she nuts? I could never not want her.

"That's not possible, Sugar."

I brushed the tears away from her face and waited for her to start talking. She looked down at her wedding ring and began twisting it around. "When Tucker took me I was so afraid. All I could think about was getting home to you and keeping our baby safe. He had me tied up in that bas.e.m.e.nt by plastic wire ties. At first he wasn't physically violent. He was verbally threatening me, but he never inflicted physical violence on me, aside from subduing me."

She leaned over and took a drink of her water. "He kept leaving me alone in that bas.e.m.e.nt. I could hear him upstairs talking to the two other people. A couple times he came downstairs to check on me. Every single time he left me alone, I did everything I could to free my hands from those ties."

"I saw your wrists Savanna. I know what you had to do to get free." I ran my hand over her face, moving the hair out of her eyes.

She shook her head again and looked right at me. "He came down this one time saying he was going to make a phone call and that I had to tell you I was okay, so I guess he could get your money. Tucker didn't know that I had freed my hands. I wasn't going to sit around waiting to be found. n.o.body would have known where I was. So, I waited until the right moment. He went upstairs and I tried to climb out of a window. He came flying down those steps and ripped me from the window, causing me to fall all the way down to the concrete floor."

I was picturing it all playing out in my head and all I could see was how petrified she must have been. "You don't have to tell me anymore, Darlin'."

"No Colt, I do. You need to know this." She wiped her tears and looked back at my face. "I tried to fight him, to protect myself and the baby, but he kept kicking me and hitting me. I felt that boot go into my stomach and my side. I felt what was happening inside of my body, Colt. Tucker killed our baby, but I couldn't put all of the blame on him."

I cut her off. "What are you talkin' about? Of course you can blame that son of a b.i.t.c.h for it."

She shook her head again. "No Colt. As he was beating me, he was telling me that hurting me was never the plan. He was beating me because I ruined his plan. It was my fault he laid a hand on me. It was my fault our baby died. I killed our baby. It was me. I did it, not Tucker. If I would have just sat there and waited, our baby would have lived. It was all my fault."

I pulled her into my chest. "Jesus Savanna, you can't believe that. You were trying to escape from being kidnapped. You didn't kill our baby. Don't you ever think that way. Darlin' I would never blame you for what happened. You need to get that out of your pretty little head. Tucker Chase did all of this, not you."

She cried so hard in my chest and I couldn't blame her. She had been carrying around that guilt for over a year. It was time for her to understand she wasn't to blame.

"How can you not be mad at me Colt? If I would have just listened to him, our baby would be alive today. It's my fault for trying to get away."

I cupped my hands over her face. "You listen to me right now and you listen good. You are not to blame for what happened to the baby. You acted on instinct to try and survive. You were trying to save our baby and yourself. What happened was a horrible accident, but you are not to blame for it. Don't you ever say that again Savanna. Please don't ever even think that." I pulled her back into my chest. "I thought I was never going to see you again, Darlin'. I was so scared over it. Losing our child was awful, but losing you would have ended me. I don't want to ever be without you. I will miss our first baby forever, but I will never ever blame you for what happened. You never should have been in that bas.e.m.e.nt in the first place. If it's anyone's fault, it's Miranda's for bringin' that piece of s.h.i.t into our lives."

Savanna pulled away from me and shook her head. "No, I will never blame her. People make their own choices in life. Miranda was never anything like Tucker. She had no idea he was capable of being the person he became when they first met. I will never blame her. I love her too much to put the blame on her."

"Then stop blamin' yourself. It ain't n.o.body but Tucker's fault."

She agreed by smiling. "Okay, I will try."

For the rest of the evening we all three lounged around the house. Noah woke up from his nap and claimed he was dying of starvation, so Savanna made us all grilled cheese sandwiches. She cut Noah's in the shape of a heart, which he got a big kick out of. He still ate the cutoff pieces, claiming the crusts were the best part.

We sat around the kitchen table laughing and carrying on and I felt like somehow something had changed. Savanna seemed at peace.

Chapter 26.

Savanna The next three months went by so quickly. The bigger I got, the more Noah and Colt did for me. I wasn't helpless, in fact I spent most of my days trying to reorganize the entire house and Colt's garage. He was fine about the house, but when he came home to me standing in the garage in one of his winter coats, putting screws into jars, he lost his temper with me.

It was funny, he never raised his voice. He got this mad look on his face, that was more s.e.xy than scary and he pointed to the door to the house. I took a second to finish up what I was doing before stomping back into the warm house.

The winter was rough and we were being pounded by another snow storm. It didn't help that I was in full nesting mode and bored out of my mind. Every drawer, cabinet, and closet in our house had been completely organized. I even went on a binge and made photo collages for the whole family. I was out of my mind. Our little baby had begun moving around so much at night that I wasn't getting any sleep. I had two weeks to go until my official due date and I was going totally insane.

Sunday morning came and I knew we were at least going to trudge through the snow to get to Colt's mother's for Sunday funday. Noah had been going in and out of the house constantly. Colt was trying to clear me a good path to walk to the truck, I felt bad he had to go through such hard work just for me to have dinner at his mother's house. Noah had already built three snowmen and I was running out of household items to use for the faces. We were out of grapes, carrots and b.u.t.tons, as well as toothbrushes. He used the toothbrushes instead of pipes because he learned smoking was bad for your health.

By noon, I had dried his snowsuit three separate times, washed the foyer floor around ten times and done three loads of laundry. When Colt said it was time to head over, I was beat. I threw on a pair of his sweatpants from college, that were old as s.h.i.t and came walking downstairs. I looked like the abominable snowman.

"Darlin' is that what you're wearin'?" He knew as soon as he said it that it was a mistake. You NEVER talk about a pregnant woman's attire.

"Yes, this is what I'm wearing. Why? We are going to your mother's not a fashion show."

He started to say something, but bit his tongue and changed his tone. "I was just wonderin' if you are goin' to be comfortable, that's all." He smacked my a.s.s as I walked past him.

"Seriously? That hurt."

"You liked it. Stop your complainin' before I take you upstairs and give you some more." I knew he was teasing as I watched our son jump off the couch.

"I'm ready too!" Noah came to the front door in a pair of superman underwear, a hoodie and a cape, as well as giant red rain boots.

Oh, Good lord!

"Noah, Honey, what on earth are you wearing?" I asked.