Part 89 (1/2)

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 s.h.i.+rt 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.