Charleston Dash was a stern businessman and loving father. He had three adult children, Jackson, his oldest son, was a neurosurgeon living in Albany, New York. Christian his youngest, was a full time musician and part time mailroom clerk at the family firm. Then there was Cressida his only daughter whom he cherished. Charleston's wife, Harmony Davis Dash, had been placed in a psychiatric hospital three years earlier.

"Dad, what is this about?" Cressida stormed into his office and threw the files onto his desk.

On the phone with a client, Charleston took one look at his daughter's face and knew the conversation with his celebrity client would have to be placed on the back burner. "Yes, something just came up. I will have to call you back. No, I promise you everything is going to work in our favor. Okay, take care now." He set the receiver down and picked up the file his daughter had so dramatically thrust before him.

"Cressida, I gave you this case because I thought you would be the perfect person to handle it." He spoke like the self-confident businessman that he was.

"What? Are you kidding me? Dad this is the same man Mom said broke into our home and attacked her!" Cressida's shrill voice echoed across the walls of her father's office. She was furious at her father's carefree demeanor.

"Pudding, your mom is not in any position to talk. She has lost her mind. You can't listen to her," Charleston replied. He made his way over to the bar to pure himself a drink.

Cressida regretted the harsh words. She knew the topic of her mother always led him to a drink. "Daddy, I'm sorry. It's just that... this man is pure evil. I can't defend someone like this. Daddy, Blake Carter, raped and killed over twenty-three young girls and boys." She went to stand behind her father. A tear rolled down her cheek as she pictured the faces of the innocent children who'd been hurt by this man. "Only a fool would take this case. His guilt is obvious."

Charleston set his glass back on the bar and turned to face his daughter. "Cressida, had I had another option, I wouldn't have asked you. Nobody will take this case. I would take it myself, but my workload is already overflowing, and with your mother's illness I can't afford to lose anymore cases. Look, honey, it truly is a done deal for Blake Carter. It's an easy case. No jury in their right mind is going to let him off." He placed his arm around his daughter's shoulder and pulled her closer to plant a kiss on her temple. "Please, for Daddy. I have no one else."

Cressida crumbled under her father's embrace. "Okay, Daddy. I'll take it." She felt as if a part of her had just died.

"That's my girl. Hey, we can't always have the good cases. We have to sometimes defend filth. At the end of the day all you need is a shot of rum and a piece of a..."

"Daddy!" Cressida cut him off before he could finish.

Charleston let out a hearty laugh as he walked back to his desk. "Well, you know what I mean." He smiled and settled into his chair.

"Dad, you're a pirate." Cressida remarked as she made her way to the door.

"Hey!" Her father called out holding up the file for the Blake Carter case.

She walked back and hesitated for a moment before snatching the file out of her father's hand.

"Ar, ar, ar," he snorted in his lame attempt at a pirate.

Cressida smiled nervously. She had a bad feeling about this case. She looked at her watch. Five o' clock had finally rolled around. She rushed to her office, shoved the file into her briefcase and grabbed her coat. With a quick flick of her wrist, she locked her office door and headed out.

As she walked, Cressida pulled her hair out of its tight bun and shook it loose. One of her friends had set her up on a blind date. The timing was great; she needed something to distract her thoughts from this upcoming case. She made her way to the local gourmet restaurant and headed for the bar where they'd agreed to meet. All Cressida knew about Joshua Smith was that he was a local realtor in his mid-forties who was divorced and had five kids.

She made herself comfortable at the bar and ordered a rum and coke thinking about the last statement her father had made only moments earlier. Occasionally checking her watch, Cressida waited and ordered another drink. She looked around at the other patrons wondering if there'd not been a mix up. Was she in the right place? Yes, this was exactly where he'd said to wait for him. She waited another half hour, but her date never showed. Feeling lower than dirt she ordered three straight shots of vodka. She quickly swallowed them down and kept ordering more as if each one held the power to make her forget about her miserable life. The bartender ended up cutting her off.

Beyond drunk, Cressida was unable to get off of the bar stool.

Meanwhile Maxwell sat in the dining room having coffee with a business associate when he noticed Cressida at the bar. . "So are we done here? I can see a friend of mine is in trouble at the bar."

He took the napkin off of his lap and placed it on the table.

"Yeah, sure. It was nice doing business with you," Hank Williams replied, putting his hand out for Maxwell to shake.

Maxwell shook his hand, threw down some money for the meal and stood. "I'm sorry for cutting this short, but it appears that my friend is about ready to fall off that stool. Call me later so we can finalize everything. It was good meeting you, Hank," Maxwell said before hastily making his way over to Cressida. He reached her just as she began to slide off the bar stool. He held her as her head rolled backwards.

"How much did she have to drink?" he asked the bartender.

"She had eight shots of vodka and two rum and cokes," he replied. "Lucky for her it's early and the place isn't too busy. I was able to keep track of her. Any busier and I would have let her drink herself into oblivion."

"I understand." Maxwell grabbed her things. "Cressida, it's Maxwell. I'm going to help you out, okay?"

No response came from her.

He picked her up and carried her out the door. On his way he passed a short, plump and bald middle-aged man standing there bewildered as he held a bouquet of flowers.

First Night.

Mei paced along the beach in front of their makeshift camp. Max had been gone for more than an hour and she feared the worst. It had taken her some time to calm Uriel down, but before she even realized it, he'd fallen back asleep. Tears flooded Mei's eyes as she reminded herself to keep the faith. No matter what happened, they were all in God's hands.

She stopped pacing when she heard a noise behind her. Turning around, she saw Max standing there smiling at her. Mei ran to him, crying and laughing at the same time. "Max, I'm so sorry. I was wrong to make us come here. I don't know what I was thinking. Let's just go back home first thing in the morning." Mei rambled on as she held Max tightly.

"Baby, no. I was wrong."

She took a big step back and looked at him, scrunching her face in confusion. "Oh no, you're a ghost. The Max I know wouldn't say that," Mei cried.

Max laughed. "You are impossible woman. Now that I finally understand your point and I agree with you, this is the thanks I get?"

"Max when I thought I lost you...I can't do this without you."

He stepped closer to her pulling her into his embrace. "Stop it. That was a garden lizard on steroids. I have fought bigger reptiles in my sleep."

"Yeah, Mr. Alligator Wrestler. Where did you learn to do that?" Mei asked.

"That's how I realized you might be onto something. If I hadn't seen you in danger, I don't think I would have been able to do what I just did. I learned something new about myself."

"That was scary. I don't want to ever go through that again."

"Are you okay? Is there anything I need to kiss?" Max whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Yeah, my butt for giving me a heart attack." She smiled before kissing him.

"Bend over," Max joked.

"Okay, but don't get mad. I got bit by something." Mei hesitated to even bring it up.

"Let me see. It can't be poisonous or you would have been... Just let me see." Max didn't want to finish his initial thought."

"It's dark, babe. Watch the baby. I'll go wash it off in the ocean." Mei walked away. She could now relax knowing that her husband was safe.

When she returned she joined Max who was sitting next to the fire.

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"It's fine. The salt water will kill any bacteria. It's really not that bad." Mei didn't tell him it was a snake bite and that she had two puncture wounds on her ankle. However, she knew it was a non-venous snake or she would have been dead by now.

"It's been one hell of a night." Max yawned.

"I know and we haven't even started yet."

"Let's go to bed. It's only a couple hours to sunrise and tomorrow is another long day."

Max stood up and stretched before offering his hand to help Mei to her feet.

They made themselves comfortable sleeping on either side of their son fearing he would wake before them and wander off to the ocean or forest. Max and Mei slept lightly, waking at the slightest sound or movement Uriel made.

By sunrise they were up and ready to hike their way to the campus. They were soon hot, sticky, hungry and exhausted. After a few hours of trudging through the forest, they came to a clearing. Just a few more yards and they would be climbing the front steps to the college.

Max and Mei were not alone. Many other students walked like zombies to the registration hall. Tidbits of conversation came to Mei's ear and she soon realized everyone had been left stranded on various locations around the island and all had to hike their way to the college.

Mei spotted two other couples with young children. They argued amongst themselves as they walked towards the campus steps. Mei knew what that felt like. If she and Max hadn't been so exhausted by their trek, they'd most likely be arguing right now as well.

Walking under the boiling heat of the sun was causing people to want to kill each other. Tempers rolled high and patience was all but gone.

Grateful that they had pre-registered, Mei smiled when a staff member led them to a private meeting room with other couples who also had young children with them. Max and Mei found a seat in the class while everyone waited for a staff member to explain what was happening.

A professor entered through a side door. Everyone grew quiet as the professor called everyone's attention.

"Good morning," the professor greeted loudly. In his fifties, he was an average height man with a slim build.

He walked to the front of the room with a sure and confident stride. He cleared his throat and began to speak. "First I would like to welcome you all to King Solomon's College of Divine Wisdom. My name is Professor Adam Boyd and I have taught at this college for over twenty-five years. I will be your spiritual warfare professor. This year we are trying something new. Normally we do not allow young children at this college for safety reasons. However, the board has requested we temporally change our policy and allow young families to attend. Our campus is not equipped with the necessary facilities for children. Changes are being made as we speak to correct this. In the meantime, I will be assigning the first mission." He looked around the room. "I want all the fathers to stand."

All the men hesitated, but eventually stood up. The professor looked at each one of them carefully, nodding his head as if speaking to himself. "How many of you knew that you would be in this situation?" he asked.

No one raised their hand.

"Sometimes, God chooses the most unlikely to carry out his important missions." He stated. "Okay, sit down. I know you are all tired."

Everyone sat down without a word. You could hear toddlers getting fussy in the background and mothers trying to comfort them. Uriel was no exception as he threw himself back is his mother's arms, no doubt frustrated and hungry. Mei handed him to his father as she quickly searched for toddler snacks for him. Max rocked and gently calmed his son as Mei finally found a box of animal crackers, Uriel's favorite snack.

"I will make this quick," Professor Boyd went on. "We don't have coed dorms so until the dorms are built you will have to stay in separate dorms."

A mixture of groans, sighs, and cheers circled the room. Max and Mei looked at each other. This would be a problem. Uriel was used to sleeping in the same room with both his parents. In the middle of the night he would only want his father to rock him back to sleep, or insist on sleeping between his parents. They watched as Uriel contentedly ate his cookies. He was now happy in his own realm.

"I don't know how you will want to work out your schedules, taking turns and whatnot, but this will be a part of your second assignment from my class."

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves.

"Yes, your first assignment was last night and, telling by the fact that you are still here, I know that I have succeeded in weeding out the weak and have found the strong ones. Over the past two days sixty young families have been left stranded on the beach or in the forest and you guys are the first to stay and stick it out. I am very proud and eagerly look forward to working with you all."

Everyone was quiet, shocked by what they'd heard. They could see that this college would test them when they least expected it. A student in the back of the room raised her hand to ask a question. The professor nodded to her.

"Professor, what will we do when we need to go to class?"

"We have an on-campus childcare center. It is brand new and we have an excellent staff." The professor answered then turned to point to another student. "Yes, you in the back there."

"How long will it be before a coed dorm is built?"

"When you come to class on Monday, I will be able to answer that question for you."

Mei leaned over to Max and whispered to him, "What are we going to do?"

"Let me take him tonight. You really look tired. Besides, if he cries for me in the middle of the night, it won't be a problem."

"Okay," Mei whispered, but she felt a profound sadness pass over her. This would be the first night she'd sleep without her two favorite men. Already she felt lonely and sick to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Max asked.

"Yeah, babe, I'm fine." He always had a knack for seeing right through her and though she tried to hide her sorrow, she knew Max could read the sadness in her eyes. Nothing he could say would take that away.

The professor pointed out that the two faculty staff members at the back of the room would guide them to their dorms. Mei reluctantly handed Max the baby bag, kissing her son and Max goodbye as if she would not see them ever again.

"Baby, stop it," Max said in a soft hush. "I'm just going to see the dorm and settle in. Maybe bathe him with me and then we can meet in the cafeteria for something to eat."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I know. It's just hard for me. I've never spent the night apart from Uriel and you. It's going to be odd." Mei complained.

Max leaned down and kissed her. "We always have our dreams." He smiled before turning and leaving with his group.

Trinidad.

The sun was beginning to set when they decided to call it a day. Makayla was relieved to know that she could catch a month-long break after today. She was exhausted, starved and upset that Tamarius hadn't stuck around to see the rest of her shoot. He wasn't even there when she wrapped up her last shot.

Makayla thought he most likely needed a break from her.

She stepped into her trailer to take off her make up and change. Before she could lock the door behind her she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door to see a messenger holding a note. "Thank you." She said taking the note and closing the door.

While working, a call had come in from her father. The note read: Makayla, we need your help back home. The orphanage your cousin owns is in danger. Can you please call me when you get this message?

Makayla quickly reached for her purse and pulled out her cell phone to call her father. No one answered and, as she was hanging up, she felt large hands slide around her waist while soft lips kissed her neck. "Mmmm," she groaned. "Is that who I think it is?" She smiled and turned to face Tamarius who was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh no, it's just you." Makayla teased, pulling away from him and laughing.

"Wow, that was cold. I knew you had someone on the side. Who is he? I'm going to kill him," Tamarius said with feigned anger.

"Stop it. He's just a kid." Makayla played along while she began to pull off her bathing suit.

Tamarius rushed to lock the trailer door then turned back to Makayla. "Please, always make sure the door is locked before showing everyone my gifts." He smiled and Makayla smiled in return.

He was everything she was looking for in a man; charming, funny, romantic and sincere. Of course this is what also scared the crap out of her. "I'm..." Makayla began, stopping to sigh and scratch her head.

She stood there naked and was amused by the difficulty Tamarius was having paying attention. "I'm sorry about earlier. I was...I don't know. Tamarius, I've been through a lot."