Chapter 1

The streets of West Newbury, Massachusetts looked calm and peaceful to visitors and unsuspecting eyes of the people that lived in the small town, but on the inside, things were far from calm and peaceful.  Behind closed doors, shattered dreams and broken promises lingered in the air, thickening more and more with every tear that fell from the eyes of the onlookers. 

Her feet guided her down the sidewalk of downtown West Newbury and tears immediately filled her big ocean blue eyes as she seen him.  His arms wrapped around another woman's waist and his hot breath whispering sweet nothings into her ear.  It was heart breaking to say the least, but she couldn't stop now.  She had to continue living her life, no matter how much pain her heart felt.  It was a matter of life and death out on the streets and besides, she had a gig that night at the local night club.

Her hip hugging blue jeans clung to her every curve like a second skin as her long, flowing red hair cascaded down her back in luscious waves.  Her white camisole she had chosen to wear for that night hugged every curve of her body as she ran a hand through her hair, her blue eyes refusing to let the tears that were welled up in them spill down her cheeks. 

'He's not worth the pain.' She thought as she turned around and walked down the sidewalk, not believing how cruel her ex boyfriend had been to her upon their breakup, but then again, she seen it coming a mile away. 

Mark's lips curved into a small smirk upon seeing his ex girlfriend seeing him groping some hoochie on the street and knew he had broken a little more of her heart.  He craved to hurt the bitch for what she had done to him, even though the REAL object of all his pain and agony was his ex-wife Mandy.  They had been married for five years when he walked in on her one night screwing his best friend.  It hadn't been the first time she had committed adultery against him, but it was the first time he had caught her doing so.  It was almost as if Mandy wanted him to catch her in the predicament cause all she did was giggle coyly and asked him if he wanted to join in on the fun.

Something that painful hurts for quite sometime for any normal person and rightfully so, but Mark had taken it too far and he knew it.  He didn't care though.  Mandy had broken his heart so he was going to make sure every woman he came in contact with received the same pain that his ex caused him to feel.  It wasn't that Mark hated all the women of the world, but he couldn't help, but feel insecure to have another relationship with another one of them. 

Mandy did other things, things that were too evil and heart wrenching to even think about so Mark quickly turned his attention back to the whore who was on his arm.  His gaze couldn't help, but fall back on his ex girlfriend and knew he had let the best thing that ever happened to him go.  All of his friends said the same thing and Mark was starting to realize it himself, but he didn't care.  All he wanted was a good fuck session and with the body he had on him, any woman would kill to have him in their bed for one night.  Mark knew it was true and used it to his full advantage.

"What are you looking at, baby?  We gonna do this or what?" The whore asked coyly as she batted her eyelashes at him, pressing her breasts into his chest, and rubbing up and down his sides, trying to get him to turn his gaze away from the sidewalk.

It wasn't happening as Mark watched the silent tears roll down his ex's cheeks and knew he was causing her excruciating pain, but at that moment, he really didn't give a rat's ass.  He smirked down at the whore, after tearing his gaze away from her, and stated in a low voice, "Let's go.  I need a good blow job and you better get the job done or else you won't get paid."

The whore giggled as she nodded and licked the side of his neck before whispering in his ear as a reply, “Don’t worry, sugar.  I’ll give it all to you and then some.  Now let’s go.”

Leticia shook her head at the exchange, not even having to turn around to watch as Mark took the whore into his car and drove down the road toward his apartment.  It was amazing how people revealed their true selves after being together for some time passes.  It was sickening as Leticia closed her eyes, already knowing what song she was going to sing that night at the club, and hurried home to get herself ready for the night.

An hour later, wearing a pair of black leather pants with a cropped white shirt that showed her navel and stomach, Leticia drove herself to the club that she performed at every weekend and parked her car, sighing when she seen Trademarc and John Cena walking up to her car.  She turned off the key to her ignition and slowly stepped out of the car, making both of the men whistle in approval of her style that night, and Leticia just rolled her eyes in response.

“Damn, LT, you clean up nice!” John commented and laughed when his girlfriend of four years, Cynthia, came up and smacked him upside of the head for his troubles.

Leticia smirked at her long time best friend and said, “Thanks, Cyn.  I didn’t think you’d let him say that shit without gettin’ a pop for it.”

“Of course not, girl!  Shit, you think I’d actually let him pull that shit?  Get REAL!  So, what song are you singing tonight?” Cynthia asked as she shoved past John and Trademarc to get to her best friend so they could talk.

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.  Come on, I gotta get goin and we can chill and chat while I wait for them to call my name.” Leticia stated as she locked up her car, not trusting anyone around that area, and took a deep breath, hoping the building didn’t boo her at her choice of song that night.

John seen his cousin was staring at Leticia like she was some piece of meat and smirked as he nudged him and asked, “You like her, dontcha, Marc.” It wasn’t a question, just a simple fact of life.

Marc sighed deeply as he finally nodded, watching her every move as her hips swayed gently back and forth as she walked into the building before saying, “Yeah, I’m diggin’ on her, but I refuse to be the rebound of Jindrak, man.”

John nodded in full agreement as he sighed and said, “That motherfucker betta NOT show up tonight or else I’m gonna have to pound him into the ground after the shit he pulled on my baby sister.”

Leticia and John really weren’t brother and sister, but as far as John was concerned, she was the closest thing he’d ever have to a sister since his mother wasn’t having anymore kids.  Five boys were enough for the poor woman, but she loved them all equally, including Marc.  Besides, John’s family adored Leticia and invited her over for dinner and hang out time all the time.  Marc, of course, was always made sure to be there so he could see Leticia.

About an hour later, Leticia sat backstage as she took a swig of her bottled water, when she felt two hands cover her eyes.  She smiled when she smelled the cologne and said, “Marc, knock it off before I castrate you.”

He laughed as he released his hands from her eyes and turned her around as he stared into her eyes, seeing something different about her, and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back one of our long time singers, Leticia Jamerson as she sings the new song by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Like We Never Loved At All.” The announcer Jim stated in the microphone, making Leticia smile at Marc before walking on stage, feeling eyes boring into her as the applause soothed to a calming silence as the music began flowing through the speakers of the club...

You never looked so good as you did last night

Underneath the city lights

There walking with your friend, laughing at the moon

I swear you looked right through me

But I'm still living with your goodbye

And you're just going on with your life

How can you just walk on by

Without one tear in your eye?

Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me?

Maybe that's just your way of dealing with the pain

Forgetting everything between our rise and fall

Like we never loved at all

You, I hear you’re doing fine

Seems like you’re doing well as far as I can tell

Time is leaving us behind

(Time-leaving us behind)

Another week has passed

And still I haven’t laughed yet

So tell me, what your secret is

(I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know)

To letting go, letting go like you did, like you did

How can you just walk on by

Without one tear in your eye?

Don’t you have the slightest feelings left for me

Maybe that’s just your way of dealing with the pain

Forgetting everything between our rise and fall

Like we never loved at all

Did you forget the magic?

Did you forget the passion?

Oh, and did you ever miss me

And long to kiss me?

Oh baby, baby

Maybe that’s just your way of dealing with the pain

Forgetting everything between our rise and fall

Like we never loved at all

Tears streamed down her face like a waterfall as she finished off the ending of the song and held her hands up high, like she was worshiping it, and finally died down as the song came to a close, but added a special part of her own to it.  Her eyes locked with his green orbs as they bore through her on stage as she added her final ending to it a cappella. 

Like we never loved...at...all....

Oh yes we did....yes we loved....

But did you ever love me at...ALL???

The final note hung on for what seemed like hours as she finally fell to her knees and whispering in the microphone, never taking her eyes from his heartless green orbs, just as the curtains fell down in front of her, “Thank you.”

Chapter 2

Leticia slowly stood up to her feet and was met by the deep, concerned filled blue eyes of Marc, and sighed deeply.  She knew he was worried about her.  Hell, when wasn’t the boy NOT worried about her?  NEVER! 

“I’m fine.” She stated as she ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep breaths to calm down her racing heart.  She still couldn’t get the look of Jindrak’s green eyes slicing through her soul through the entire performance and shivered.

Marc seen this and knew exactly why she was shivering.  He had noticed Jindrak sneak in after the lights died down when she went on stage and wondered why he had been there.  He sighed deeply as he went over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes, and asked gently, “Are you sure?  You didn’t seem fine when you were singing that song and that asshole was starin’ at ya like you were some piece of meat.”

Leticia sighed heavily as she ran a hand through her hair and stared into his eyes.  She smiled sadly at him as she ran her hand down his face and replied in a soft voice, “Yeah, I just need to get out of here and far away from him.  Will you help me?” She asked, her silver colored eyes pleading with him to do this for her.

“Yeah, come on.  I’ll key up John and let him know what’s up.” Marc replied as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, knowing she needed this more than anything at that moment, and walked out of the back door of the club toward his car.

The entire ride back to Leticia’s place was made in pure silence, each in their own thoughts.  As promised, Marc did key up John on his cell phone and explained to him what was going on.  John understood and said he’d talk to him later because Cynthia was giving him her undivided attention.  Marc smirked, knowing exactly what that meant, and hung up as he started chuckling.  The two couldn’t for the life of them keep their hands off of each other. 

Marc glanced over at the beautiful woman that sat in his passenger seat and wondered if her heart would ever heal from Jindrak’s betrayal.  Marc honestly wanted to murder the little punk for what he put Leticia through, but then again, maybe this was a blessing in disguise.  Nobody, except John, knew about how strong Marc’s feelings actually were for Leticia, but he’d never have the balls to admit it to her openly.

One thing about Marc was that he kept things locked up deep inside himself.  He was never one to be real with a woman, not even Cynthia.  They were close, but only John knew the truth about how strong and deep Marc’s feelings were and it was going to stay that way.  Leticia had been through a horrible breakup with Jindrak and needed time to adjust to being by herself again.  She would never be alone, but Marc wasn’t about to just ask her out right away after being cheated on by a scumbag.

He parked the car in front of her apartment building a few minutes later, after all the deep thoughts that were running through his mind, and looked over at Leticia’s sleeping form.  ‘I can’t wake her up.’ Marc thought as he quietly got out of the car and walked around, opening up the door, and scooped her up in his arms from the car.  He smiled when her arms immediately went around his neck and looked around before carrying up to her room.  He dug in her pocket to find her key and once he found it, he slipped it in the keyhole and opened her door, balancing the beauty in his arms as he did so.  

Leticia started to awaken as Marc shut the front door of her apartment and moaned out softly, “Mmm Marc?”

Marc’s gaze immediately fell down on her as her eyes slowly fluttered open and said, “Yeah, it’s me.”

She looked around her apartment and surroundings as she snuggled more in his chest and arms, yawned loudly, and whispered out, “Thank you for bringing me home.”

He felt his breath catch in his throat upon hearing her soft voice and could already feel his body responding to her touch as he said, “No problem, come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Not about to argue at this point, Leticia just nodded as she leaned her head against his shoulder as he walked into her bedroom and gently laid her down on the bed.  Marc stared down at her as he took off her shoes, socks, and unbuttoned her jeans as he slowly slid them down her legs, making Leticia groan as she whispered out, “W-What are you doin?”

“Undressing you and putting more comfortable clothes on you.  I don’t want you sleepin’ in jeans.” Marc responded, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, and smirked when she just nodded and lifted her butt up off the bed so he could have better access.

She trusted Marc with everything in her and knew he would never hurt her or cause her pain of any kind.  Something about him always intrigued her and it just made them greater and better friends than ever.  Even though at times when things got tough, they would occasionally fight and blow off steam with each other, but that’s all it was.  They were friends after a few days of no contact.  Neither could stand to be away from each other and it confused the Hell out of everyone with why they weren’t together yet when it was so obvious that they belonged together. 

Marc was having a hard time trying to keep this in control because the feeling of her skin against his hands was enough to drive him insane.  He took a deep breath and smiled down at her as he said, “Lift up.”

She did as he asked and lifted her arms up as he pulled her tank top on and smirked as she said, “You know I can get dressed right?”

“Shut up and enjoy the pamperin’, woman.  I don’t do this for just anybody.” Marc retorted and shook his head when she started laughing at him.  She had the most intoxicating laugh he’d ever heard before and it was started to react to his body.  ‘I gotta get out of here.’ He thought suddenly as he finished up by slipping on her sleeping shorts and stared down into her eyes. 

Leticia slowly reached up and stroked his face with her hand, staring deep in his ocean blue eyes, and said, “Thanks, Marc.”

“No problem, baby cakes.  Get some rest and I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Marc replied as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before walking out, feeling his entire body reacting to what he just did.  He looked down at the problem that was in his pants and shook his head with a sigh.  ‘Gonna be a long night.’ He thought as he got in his car and peeled out of her driveway and down the road.

Leticia sighed as she touched her forehead with her fingers and turned over on her side, wishing she could tell Marc how she felt, but then again, she wasn’t ready for a new relationship.  Jindrak had hurt her really bad and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to fall in love anymore.  Tears formed in her eyes and slowly slid down her cheeks as she closed them and let the darkness of sleep consume her entire body.

The alarm blared in her ear as her eyes slowly fluttered open and looked around the room, her head pounding from crying herself to sleep, and sighed heavily as she looked at the clock.  ‘Another meaningless day.’ She thought as she padded into the bathroom to brush her teeth and to take a shower. 

As soon as she stepped out a half an hour later, pounding on her front door, and walked over to it since she had a towel wrapped around her waist.  She looked through the peephole and immediately opened it, staring into the tear-filled eyes of Marc, and caught him as he collapsed against her. 

The boy wasn’t light by any means, but somehow, someway, Leticia managed to drag him into the living room and on the couch.  She looked down at him and stroked his face with his hands as she asked, “Marc, sweetie, tell me what happened.”

Marc stared up at Leticia with the blood in his hands before saying, “It’s Cynthia...”

Leticia’s eyes immediately widened upon hearing her best friend’s name escape his lips and picked him up by his face as she asked frantically, “What about Cyn?  What’s wrong with her!?  MARC!”

He was still in too much of shock to tell Leticia what was going on and shut his eyes tightly before finally opening them back up again and stared at the tear filled eyes of Leticia.  He took a deep breath before saying, “Cynthia was shot last night.  She’s at the hospital...”

Chapter 3

It was like a bad dream as Leticia stared at Marc in pure shock and began to tremble all over.  Her hands were shaking so bad and tears were threatening to spill from her eyes, but she refused to let them. 

She took a few deep breaths as she looked at the shape Marc was in and asked, “Can you make it to my car or do you wanna stay here?”

Marc looked up at Leticia and for the first time, he seen the tears in her eyes, which broke his heart instantly.  He knew she was going to see Cyn and honestly didn’t blame her. 

He sighed heavily before responding, “I can’t see her like that.  Not again.”

Leticia nodded in understanding as she grabbed her keys off the hook on her wall and took off out the door and toward the hospital, hoping Cynthia was still alive when she arrived.

Just as she was about to pull out of the driveway, her passenger door opened and Marc climbed in, making her look over at him in surprise.  “I thought you...” She started to say, but Marc cut her off with his finger on her soft, sweet lips.

“Just drive.”

Leticia nodded as she focused on the road ahead of her and in a few minutes, they arrived at the emergency doors of the hospital.  Shutting off her car and grabbing her bag, Leticia took off into the hospital, knowing Cynthia absolutely despised hospitals.  She felt Marc grab her from behind by the arm and guided her down the hallway toward Cyn’s room.  Tears immediately welled up in Leticia’s eyes upon seeing her best friend in the hospital bed and broke away from Marc’s grip as she walked over to John.

Just one look in his blue eyes and Leticia knew this was bad.  She took a deep, shaky breath and asked, “How is she?”

John sighed heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck and replied, “Her vitals are looking good and they managed to stop the bleeding in her stomach, but...” John trailed off and looked down, tears welling up in his eyes, and Leticia was becoming scared to death.

“John, John please, tell me what happened.” Leticia pleaded as she took his face in her hands, seeing the tears, and felt her own tears building up while Marc stood behind her, like always.  She closed her eyes when she felt Marc’s hand on her shoulder and knew whatever this next bit of news held wasn’t promising.

John looked into Leticia’s tear filled eyes and sighed heavily as he whispered, “She was pregnant, Leticia.  She lost the baby...”

The tears could not be stopped as they started flowing slowly down her cheeks as her eyes closed, not believing this was happening to her best friend.  She immediately turned around as she wrapped her arms around Marc’s neck, crying her heart out, and buried her face in the crook of his neck for comfort.

Marc held her close, stroking her back and smoothing out her hair, knowing she was really upset about the news, and looked at his cousin, silently sending him his condolences on the lost of his baby.  He closed his eyes as he buried his face in Leticia’s neck, breathing in her scent, and wished he could give her the comfort she desperately needed. 

Leticia looked up into Marc’s eyes and sighed heavily as she wiped her tears away.  Marc cupped her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead before hugging her again.  Leticia rested her head on his shoulder and started to cry again, not believing what had taken place. 

“Who shot her, Marc?” Leticia whispered out as Marc held her in the middle of the hallway of the hospital. 

“We don’t know yet, but I’m sure John won’t stop until he finds out.” Marc replied as he sighed when Leticia broke away from him and walked over to the window.

Through the glass, she could see her best friend hooked up to a bunch of monitors and machines that beeped continuously.  John was sitting by her side, rubbing her hand with his thumb, and felt her heart tear in half at the sight of his tears.  She looked back at Marc and then through the glass before knocking softly and entered. 

John’s head snapped up and nodded when he seen Leticia enter the room before turning back to staring at Cynthia’s pale colored face. 

Leticia looked down at her best friend as she took her other hand and took her hand as she said, “Hey, chica.  Listen, you’ve gotta get better okay?  You have people who love you and want you to be strong through this.  And I swear to you on my life I’ll find out who did this to you and make them pay.”

Nodding in agreement and pressing a kiss to her hand, John added his two cents in by saying, “I swear to you, baby girl, whoever did this will die by my hand.  Nobody hurts you and gets away with it.  Nobody.” The seriousness and determination shown in John’s eyes was enough to make Leticia just nod, fully understanding what he was saying.

Marc decided to walk in next and went over to Leticia’s side, staring down at Cynthia, and could feel the anger flow through his veins.  She looked terrible, but it wasn’t her fault.  Marc vowed he’d find out who did this and together, with his cousin and Leticia, the bastard wouldn’t get out of this alive.

Leticia sighed heavily as she stayed by Cynthia’s side for most of the day before finally leaving to go home.  She looked down at Marc, who was sleeping peacefully in a chair while John was staring at Cynthia in some sort of trance. 

She looked at John as she whispered in John’s ear, “Call me if she wakes up.  I’m going home for awhile to rest up.”

John nodded as he kissed Leticia’s cheek and whispered back to her, “Thanks for coming, LT and one more thing.”

“What is it, bro?” Leticia asked as she smiled down at him softly, making John look over at his sleeping cousin.

“Give Marc a chance.” John whispered to her, making Leticia sigh as she nodded and walked out of the hospital room, knowing she had some serious thinking to do as far as what John just told her.

As soon as Leticia arrived home, she immediately stripped off her clothes on her way to the bathroom and turned the water on, making it as hot as she could possibly stand it.  She then took off her bra and panties and shut the door as she lit a few aroma therapy candles and turned the jets on in her bathtub. 

She sunk down in the hot liquid and closed her eyes, sighing in contentment as she leaned back against the tub.  ‘I just need an escape.  Just one escape.’ She thought as she ran the washcloth down her chest, knowing what was about to happen. 

Visions of Marc suddenly entered her mind, including those hypnotic eyes of his, and opened her mouth a little as a soft moan escaped her lips.  Her hand traveled lower underneath the water and gasped as she slowly slid her middle finger between her wet folds, crying out in pleasure softly at the feel of doing this to herself.  She hadn’t done this in so long and desperately needed a release, since sex was out of the question, especially after what Jindrak had done to her. 

She didn’t want to think about that right now though as her finger started working its way in and out of her soaking wetness, knowing her release was slowly building up. 

“Ohh oh Marc...” She breathed out in a whispered moan, going even faster as she could feel her nipples harden from the sheer pleasure she was giving herself.  Hey, if a man couldn’t do it, she damn sure could! 

The faster she thrusted her finger, the more intense her orgasm started to rise and soon, she screamed out Marc’s name in her release, leaning back against the tub, and breathing very sporadically.  Her heart was pounding in her ears and she could hardly breathe.

Her moment in the sun was suddenly washed away into darkness when a knock sounded at her front door, making Leticia groan in frustration as she slowly stood up from sitting in the tub on shaky legs and grabbed the nearest towel. 

She wrapped herself in it, tucking it in between her breasts, and stepped out into the hallway as she called out, “Just a minute!”

Not even thinking about looking through the peephole, Leticia opened her door and leaned against the frame of her door as those same blue eyes stared back at her that she had just finished masturbating to.

She smiled at him and asked, “What are you doing here, Marc?”

Marc didn’t answer her.  Instead, he took her in his arms by her arms and wrapped her up in his warmth as his lips came crashing down on hers, not able to hold back his feelings any longer.  He made her step back a few feet so he could enter and kicked the door shut behind him, never breaking the kiss from her soft, sweet lips that he had craved so long to kiss and touch with his own.

Chapter 4

A soft moan followed as Leticia wrapped her arms around Marc’s neck tightly and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and locked her ankles so she didn’t fall.  Marc groaned in her sweet mouth as he ran his hands down her sides and caressed her thighs before gripping her perfectly round shaped ass, giving it a little squeeze.  He crushed her against the nearest wall and ripped is lips from hers, tilting her head back against the wall and started kissing down her neck.  He groaned at how good her flesh felt against his lips and tongue, becoming harder for her instantly.

“Ohh Marc..” She moaned softly in his ear as her eyes drifted shut, the feelings inside of her body igniting instantly for him.  The fire of desire burned within her soul and was spilling over as her nails ran down his muscular shirt covered back.

“What baby cakes?  Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.” Marc whispered back at he flicked her earlobe with the tip of his tongue, making her shiver with pure desire all over. 

Leticia ran her hands down his chest as her eyes locked with his, seeing his eyes had turned from a dark deep blue to almost black clouded over with desire.  She pressed her lips softly to his and pushed his shirt up and over his head, letting it drop to the floor, and smirked when she seen he had at least four other shirts on underneath.  One by one, she slowly took them off until his strong, muscular tanned chest was staring back at her.  She licked her lips hungrily and started her assault by pressing a soft kiss to the side of his neck.  Marc groaned as he held her closer, loving the feel of her soft hands caressing his neck and bald head. 

She pulled back from the beginning assault and said, “Take me to the bedroom.”

Marc nodded, not about to argue with her, and pulled her body from the wall and carried her like that into the bedroom.  He kicked her bedroom door shut and slowly guided her down on the bed with another mind blowing kiss, rubbing her sides gently as he inches his hands underneath her towel covered body. 

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t gone for this sooner as he looked up in her eyes and asked, “Are you sure you wanna do this?  Cause there’s no going back once we do this, Leticia.”

Leticia took his face in her hands, staring into his beautiful desired filled eyes, and passionately kissed him before whispering against his sweet lips, “Make love to me, Marc.  We’ll worry about the consequences later.”

Marc nodded as he kissed her back, groaning as he trailed his hands down and broke the kiss as he untucked the towel from her breasts and slowly opened one side.  He smirked wickedly as he licked his lips and took one of her nipples into his mouth, while moving the other half of the towel off of her body, and began massaging her other one with his strong hand.  Leticia was in pure desire as she arched her body to his hands and tongue, letting him know just had much she was enjoying what he was doing to her. 

When Marc felt her nipple rise to the occasion and harden like a little pebble, he proceeded to do the same torturous procedure to her other one, while rubbing her already erected nipple between his thumb and pointer finger.  Leticia couldn’t stop the throaty moans that escaped her lips as she rubbed Marc’s head with her hands and smiled when he gently pushed her down on the bed.  She pulled his face up to hers and kissed his lips softly, wrapping her arms around his neck as she rolled them over so she was now on top, straddling his pelvis. 

Smirking devilishly down at him, Leticia started her assault by kissing right down the middle of his neck, nibbling on his Adam’s apple for a few seconds.  She then traveled lower down the middle of his chest, leaving behind a trail of fire ridden kisses along her path, and smirked as she heard the groans escape his lips.  She then traveled to the side and proceeded to start kissing on the side of his nipple and all around it before flicking her tongue over his repeatedly.  Marc lost his fingers in her hair as she did this and Leticia started giggling when she brushed up against him. 

“Oooo somebody’s happy.” She commented in a seductive tone, making Marc look at her with a playful glare.

“Woman, if you don’t stop the teasin’, I’m gonna take matters into my own hands and it won’t be pretty.” Marc growled at her and that just made Leticia giggle more evilly as she got off of his stomach and bent down on the floor, making Marc look at her with a quirked eyebrow.  “What are you doin’ on the floor?”

Leticia locked eyes with him as she unsnapped his baggy jeans with a flick of her wrist, and stated, “Just shut up and enjoy this.”

She then pulled off his pants, along with his dark blue boxers, and licked her lips at the sight of his fully erected cock staring her in the face.  She smirked as she stood up on her feet and pushed Marc down on his back before straddling his knees, and ran her hands up and down his thighs, squeezing them gently and digging her nails in just the slightest bit. 

Marc groaned at the contact as he closed his eyes and hissed as she started kissing all around his perfect stomach and ran her hands up his strong chest.  She finally got to the part she wanted the most and took his engorged cock in her hand and began to slowly pump him.  Pre-cum formed on the tip soon after that and Leticia smirked as she took her tongue and licked it up from the tip, making Marc shutter from the feeling.  She moaned and looked into his eyes as she proceeded to take just the tip of him in her mouth, swirling it around her saliva and hot tongue.  Her teeth barely grazed him, making Marc growl at the feeling, and Leticia knew he wouldn’t be able to last much longer. 

She licked up and down the length of his shaft, making sure she got every speck of him, and finally took as much of him in her mouth as she possibly could.  Marc groaned nice and loud for her, wanting her to know just how much he was enjoying what she was doing to him. 

He hissed as she started deep throating him and growled out, “Oh fuck baby, right there.”

Leticia smirked as she locked eyes with him and proceeded to start bobbing her head up and down, thanking God silently that she didn’t have gag reflexes, and took her hand as she started fondling his balls.  Marc was in complete heaven as his breathing started becoming sporadic and his thighs began to tense up as his release climbed rapidly.  Leticia went faster, flicking his tip repeatedly with her tongue, and smirked as she deep throated him one final time before he exploded right in the back of her throat, making her swallow every inch and speck of him.

Leticia very slowly took her mouth from him, licking and sucking a little on his tip to get everything out of him that she possibly could, and smirked as she watched Marc’s chest rise and fall rapidly from the intense orgasm he just experienced.  She then scooted up against him further and leaned down, brushing her lips against his before slowly sinking herself on top of him.

Marc growled out at the contact and immediately took control as he shook his finger at her, sliding out of her, and stated, “Its my turn for some fun now.”

Leticia stared up at him with curious eyes and laid back on the bed as Marc kissed her breathlessly, making her feel beautiful on the inside and out.  He always made her feel special and wanted, the way Jindrak never could in a million years.  She moaned when he started kissing his way down the valley of her breasts, immediately running her hands over his smooth, bald head she loved so much, and bit her bottom lip as his goatee brushed against her lower section. 

Marc smirked up at her as he seen her eyes slowly drift shut and her knees bend up, granting him free access to her dripping wet pussy.  He licked his lips upon seeing the sight before him and started kissing her inner thighs, rubbing her outer ones with his hands.  Leticia moaned softly as she gripped the bed sheets, digging her nails in the bedding, and arched her body into his touch.  Marc smiled softly at her as he snaked his tongue out and licked up her wet slit, making a shiver flow throughout her entire body. 

“Ohhh Christ...” Leticia whispered out as she felt his tongue start to enter her fully, making her hips buck up instantly, but Marc’s hands held her down.

“Shhh relax, baby cakes.” Marc said as he kissed around her throbbing wetness and finally licked his lips as he drove his tongue deep inside of her, making a scream of pure pleasure escape her lips. 

Leticia bolted upright on the bed as she started screaming out his name, running her hands through her hair, and laid back on the bed as her breathing started becoming incredibly erratic.  Marc smirked as he swirled his tongue around in circles inside of her, reaching and searching every crevice of her insides, and groaned when he found that one spot that just made her cum instantly.  He started hitting her G Spot dead on repeatedly and soon, Leticia started cumming in waves. 

The most intense orgasm crashed over her like a tsunami tidal wave, making her scream out his name as her voice echoed off the walls of her small apartment bedroom.  Marc licked his lips as her hot, flowing juices came pouring out of her and proceeded to drink every last drop greedily, not leaving a drop anywhere, not even on the sheets.  He then sucked on her swollen bud, making her orgasm again, and Marc knew that was all she would be able to give him for the night. 

They weren’t done yet, though, not by a long shot. 

Marc smirked as he wiped the corners of his mouth from the incredible dessert he just had and hovered over her beautiful, flushed body.  She looked so beautiful with her cheeks reddened from the intensity of her release and her breathing was still ragged. 

He kissed her lips so softly as he nudged her thighs apart with his knee, making Leticia run her hands up and down his chest, locking eyes with him, and breathlessly said, “Take me, Marc, please.”

Marc smirked and wasn’t about to disappoint her as he kissed her again and very slowly started to push in between her throbbing lips, groaning as she felt Leticia’s walls start to clamp down around him instantly.  He knew this wouldn’t last long because of everything he had already put her body through, but he wasn’t about to stop.  He smiled down at her as he started kissing down her neck, groaning at the feeling of her. 

It was taking his own breath away because of how tight she was and grunted out, “Goddamn, baby cakes, you’re fuckin’ tight, girl...”

“That’s what happens...when you don’t have...sex for a long time....” Leticia breathed out in between gasps as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and sat up as she wrapped her arms tightly around Marc’s neck, making her moan louder as he started slamming inside of her.

Marc’s ass scooted against the bed sheets repeatedly as the pace quickened, each thrust becoming stronger and harder than the previous, and he knew this is what Leticia wanted.  He knew she wanted to be pounded into pure oblivion and her pussy to be so numb, she wouldn’t feel anything for weeks down there.  He growled as he took her flesh in his mouth and started sucking on it as her nails raked down his muscular back and back up and over his shoulders, down his chest. 

Leticia loved the feeling of his muscles as they rippled beneath her fingertips, and moaned out louder, “Faster, Marc.  Fuck, pound me and make me scream for you.  I need it, baby.”

Marc growled as he heard her dirty talk in his ear and started to thrust faster and deeper, driving himself harder inside of her, and smirked when he hit her G Spot yet again, making her scream out his name in pure ecstasy.  She kissed him roughly as his thrusts became more intense and rough as well and that’s what she wanted.  She wanted it rough and hard as he held her close to him while they were both sitting up.  Leticia whipped her head back as her entire body jolted at the contact of Marc’s thick shaft thrusting in and out of her so fast and after a few more thrusts, she finally couldn’t take anymore.

Her juices coated his thick, engorged cock and wrapped around him, making her shutter as her eyes locked with Marc’s pressing her forehead to his, and her breathing was incredibly ragged as her chest rose and fell.  She screamed out his name once more as she felt him thrust a few more times inside of her before finally exploding his seed so deep inside of her, she wasn’t sure he wasn’t going to be able to find his way back out without a flashlight.

Leticia held Marc close to her as both of their breathing began to slowly calm down and kissed his lips softly when she finally caught her breath.  Marc groaned as he laid her back down in bed and round two began.

They proceeded to make love to each other until the birds started chirping outside of her bedroom window as they both fell asleep in each other’s arms, not a word spoken to one another.

No words needed to be said.

Chapter 5

She closed her eyes, not believing what she was staring at before her.  How this could happen was beyond her, but she knew there was a chance.  Her hands were shaking so bad and tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she gripped the sides of her sink in her bathroom.

‘How could I have been so stupid?’ She thought over and over again as she ran a trembling hand through her hair and knew she had to call her best friend.

Cynthia had gotten out of the hospital two weeks prior to this moment and was on restricted bed orders.  She started dialing the number, but then stopped, knowing that was the last thing her friend needed to hear, especially after what happened.  They still hadn’t caught the perpetrator that had shot her because he was wearing a black mask.

Leticia sighed deeply as she placed the phone back on the receiver and suddenly felt this rush of adrenaline race through her veins.  She took the nearest thing she could get her hands on and hauled it across the room, watching the vase as it shattered against the wall into a billion pieces, and crumbled to the floor, crying her heart out.  How as she going to deal with this on her budget as it was?  It was almost impossible! 

After having herself a good cry, Leticia finally stood up, knowing she had to pull herself together incase someone stopped by.  Nobody was going to know about this until it was absolutely impossible to hide anymore, especially Marc.  She rubbed her stomach with her hand, not believing what was about to happen to her, and whispered, “We’ll make it, I promise.”

Just as she finished saying that, a pounding at her door sounded and Leticia suddenly became incredibly tense.  She slowly walked over to it and asked through it, “Who is it?”

“It’s Marc.” The gruff voice replied and Leticia sighed heavily as she ran a hand through her hair.  Her nerves were on edge, especially since she had just found out not more than a half an hour ago that she was going to be a mother.  It had been two weeks since she had last seen Marc and she wondered what he wanted.

Taking a deep breath, Leticia opened the door and asked in her attitude filled voice, “What do you want?  Haven’t you caused enough?”

Marc sighed as he brushed past her and into her apartment, making Leticia shake her head as she pointed to the door and stated, “No, get out.  I don’t want you in here after what you did to me.”

“Damn it, LT, will you shut up for two seconds so I can explain myself?” Marc growled back at her, his Italian temper getting the better of him because he knew Leticia had every reason in the world to hate him at that moment. 

Leticia looked at the clock that was on her far wall and stated, “You have five minutes starting now.”

Marc sighed heavily as he plopped down on the couch, his head lowered to the floor with his eyes closed, and said, “I know I shouldn’t have left you like that after what we did, but I couldn’t help it.  I didn’t want you to wake up and expect something to come of it.  I honestly didn’t mean for it to happen, LT.  We’re supposed to be enemies, but yet, we have this sexual tension between us that’s just indescribable.  When you answered the door in nothing, but a towel, I flipped out.  I completely lost all sense of reality and the only thing that ran through my mind was that I had to have you and I did.  My intentions weren’t to come here and fuck your brains out and then leave you high and dry like that.  I came here to see how you were doing, but then something inside me snapped.  I’m sorry, LT, I really am.  You know me.  You know I don’t apologize for a lot of shit, but damn it, I’m fuckin’ sorry for what I pulled on you.  I never meant to do it.  I don’t regret it happening, but I don’t want us to be weird around each other.  Do you get what I’m sayin’?” Marc asked as he finished his explanation, feeling like a total ass for what had happened between them, and Leticia could hardly breathe.

Even though he had said he didn’t regret it, the words spoke differently.  After what happened with her and Jindrak, she knew she wouldn’t be in a relationship for a really long time.  And now here she was in the room with the father of her child and absolutely nothing could come out of her mouth. 

She simply looked at him with this look in her eyes that said to get out and Marc knew what that meant.  He stood up from the couch and started toward her, but sighed heavily when she backed away and said, “I guess I’ll see you around.  Goodbye, Leticia.” He then walked out of the door, knowing he had done the right thing.

No matter how much Marc wanted to admit his true feelings to her, he knew it wouldn’t matter.  ‘She’s not over Jindrak, yet and I’m not about to be the backup.’ He thought as he walked down the streets of West Newbury, hoping he did the right thing by letting her go for the time being.

Leticia slammed her door shut hard and immediately collapsed on the couch, crying her heart out to the silence that surrounded her, and knew what she had to do.  She couldn’t have a man’s baby that clearly never wanted to be with her.  She wasn’t going to get rid of it, but she was going to lie about either.  Marc would never know that this was his child, even if it was the last thing she ever did.  She would simply lie and say it was Andrew’s, which was a good friend of hers that was always there for her, sexually or not. 

Andrew Martin was around six foot six and had the softest brown eyes she’d ever seen.  His hair was cropped short and usually spiked up and he was referred to most as Andy.  She called him Andy all the time, even though he didn’t like it, but she didn’t care.  That was her pet name for him so she could get away with it. 

Wiping her tears away, Leticia reached over on her nightstand and picked her up phone, dialing his number, and started to cry over the phone to him.  Andrew became scared and stated, “Leticia, what’s wrong, sweetie?  Slow down, you’re scaring me.”

“Andy, I need you to come over, please...” Her voice whispered back over the receiver, making Andrew sigh deeply as he ran a hand through his short blonde hair.

What ever happened to Leticia was serious and he wasn’t about to let her down as he said, “I’ll be over there shortly.” He then hung up and was out the door within a minute, making sure to grab his car keys and wallet on the way out.

Leticia had barely finished crying when she heard the knock on her door.  She didn’t even have the strength to get up, but knew she had to as she stumbled over to the door and opened it.  Andrew took one look at his friend and immediately took her in his strong arms, wondering what happened to her, and lifted her up with ease as he carried her from the door to the couch, kicking it shut on the way over.  He sat down with her in his arms and sighed as she buried her face in the crook of his neck while he stroked her back. 

“Shhh baby its okay.  You gotta calm down though and tell me what happened.  Please, Lettie, you’re scaring me.” He pleaded with her as he held her close, knowing she had to get her emotions out before she would talk to him.

Lettie was his pet name for her.  She hated it, but dealt with it since Andrew dealt with her calling him Andy all the time.  It was why their friendship was so tight.

After another half an hour of pouring her heart out to Andrew, Leticia finally wiped her tears away and looked down, her bottom lip quivering with fear, and softly said, “Something happened a few weeks ago and I’m not sure what to do about the consequences now.”

Andrew lifted her chin up with his hand, staring into her tear filled, bloodshot red eyes, and asked, “Lettie, what happened that would make you cry this hard on me?  I’ve never seen you this shaken up before.”

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Leticia ran a hand through his hair and said, “I’m...pregnant, Andy.”

Her voice was so quiet that Andrew wasn’t sure if he had heard her right.  When she repeated it again, Andrew held her closer to him and whispered as his eyes closed, “Good God.”

Leticia started crying again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed out, “What am I going to do?  How am I going to survive with a kid on the way?  My budget is limited enough as it is!”

She was hysterical by now as Andrew held her, not knowing what or how it had happened, but he wanted to know who the son of a bitch was who had dared touch his girl.  He referred her that way so nobody fucked with her around town, but in all honesty, they were just good friends with special benefits and both were completely fine with that.  He waited until she calmed down again before asking, “Who’s the father, Lettie?”

“Marc Predka.” Her shaky voice replied in a whisper and Andrew could feel the anger flowing through his veins instantly as he held her tighter, knowing she needed as much comfort as possible.

“That son of a bitch.  I’ll kill him.” Andrew growled under his breath and sighed when Leticia immediately protested it. 

“No, Andy you can’t!  You have to swear to me you won’t, especially after what I’m about to ask of you.” Leticia stated as she placed her hands on his chest, making Andrew quirk an eyebrow up at her in confusion and question.

He wondered what was going through her mind as he asked, “What exactly do you want me to do, Lettie?”

Closing her eyes as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks, Leticia looked down at her hands as her eyes opened and then looked up into his concerned filled brown eyes before responding, “I want you to pretend that this baby I’m carrying is yours.”

Chapter 6

For the next several months, after long consideration and hearing of Marc’s ways against Leticia, Andy finally agreed to pretend he was fathering her child.  He didn’t know what the Hell to do, but all he knew was that Leticia needed him at the moment and he wasn’t about to let her down.  Not to mention he was secretly in love with her. 

Andy would never in a million years confess that to Leticia though, especially with the condition she was in.  Three months had passed and Leticia was now in her second trimester with no problems physically, but mentally was a whole different issue.  All Leticia could do was cry about Marc’s betrayal towards her, as well as Jindrak’s, and how much they both hurt her and their unborn child.  How could she make Andy do such a terrible thing by making him pretend this was his kid when in reality it was Marc’s responsibility? 

The mere thought made Leticia’s blood boil as she rubbed the protruding belly that was starting to form and sighed heavily as she whispered, “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you and I apologize now for not letting you in about whom your real daddy is.  I would tell you if he wasn’t such an asshole.”

Andy sighed upon hearing that as he entered her bedroom with a plate of food he had prepared, knowing Leticia’s morning sickness had worsened, and stated, “You should forget about that asshole and start taking better care of yourself, girl.  He’s not coming back to you or this baby.  I’m here now so you might as well get used to it and face facts.  Marc is not coming back.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Andy!?  Don’t you think I know he’s never coming back?!  Christ, even if I were to tell him this was his kid, he’d deny it until he was dead!  I just...I don’t want this baby because it’s part of him.  How can I love something that’s apart of something I hate?” Leticia cried as she covered her face with her hands, letting the tears of heartache and pain flow down her cheeks and all Andy could do was kick himself mentally for not being more sensitive about the situation.

After all, it wasn’t her fault the scumbag walked out on her for a prostitute who was uglier than an old hag on a walker.  He sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his short blonde hair, his blue eyes holding signs of regret, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, trying to comfort her the best way he knew how.  He didn’t know what to do for her or what it was going to be like when the baby was finally born.  Suddenly, Andy became scared for the unborn child’s life as the words Leticia cried out to him rewound in his head. 

‘How can I love something that’s apart of something I hate?’  The words replayed over and over in his mind as he stroked her hair, hoping and praying silently that Leticia didn’t do something he knew she’d regret later.  ‘Man this is fucked up.’ Andy thought as he looked down at a now sleeping Leticia.  She had been sleeping a lot lately.

Andy slowly removed himself from around her shoulders and walked out of the bedroom after tucking her in and closed the door behind him, knowing what he had to do.  ‘I need to talk to someone.’ He thought as he grabbed his car keys, leather jacket, and walked out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him.

A few minutes later, Andy stood in front of a house that he knew all too well and brought his big hand up, knocking softly on it.  His blue eyes said it all as the owner answered and said, “Come on in, Andrew, I’ve been expecting your arrival.”

Andy smirked as he nodded and stepped inside the gorgeous house his friend, Serena owned, who was dating AJ Styles.  They had been best friends since high school and Andy knew if anyone would understand his story, it’d be Serena and AJ. 

Andy sighed heavily as he sat down on the plush, leather chair, and stated, “I need your help.  I didn’t know who else to come to that I could trust fully.”

Serena nodded as she brought him a cup of hot tea, knowing it would calm the big man down somewhat, and said as she sat down on the couch that faced Andy directly, “So, what’s on your mind, big guy?”

Andy sighed heavily as he ran his thumb across the brim of the coffee cup, not sure where to begin, and finally said, “I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing and I need advice on what to do about this situation.”

“Okay well, first you need to tell me what your situation is so I can understand what you’re talking about.” Serena replied as she took a sip of her hot tea, trying to get rid of a sore throat that was bound to overcome her sooner or later, but she wasn’t giving up without a fight. 

Andy sighed heavily as he nodded, knowing where Serena was coming from, and said, “Leticia is pregnant and she’s…she’s asked me to be the father even though I’m not.”

Her big green eyes bugged out of her head as she stared at Andy, not believing what she was hearing, and set her cup of tea down on the glass coffee table on a coaster before asking, “What are you talking about?  If you’re not truly the father, then who is and why does she want you to pretend that you’re the father of her child?”  So many questions ran through Serena’s mind at this newfound information as she started spitting them out left and right.

“The father is Marc Predka, but he doesn’t want anything to do with her.  They had sex a few months back and two weeks later, Leticia took one of those home pregnancy tests and it came back positive.  She didn’t go to a doctor because she can’t afford it, but she’s been taking care of it.  Anyway, Marc would deny rights to the child even if she told him it was his.  She needs me right now, but I’m conflicted because I don’t want to end up the rebound.” Andy explained, making Serena’s head nod in understanding as she ran a hand through her long, raven black hair that went down past her rear end.

After a few moments of silence, Serena finally broke the tension that was in the air by saying, “How does she know Marc would deny rights to his child if they indeed slept together the same exact date she conceived?  Not to mention the fact that wasn’t she dating Mark Jindrak as well?” She asked, remembering hearing something about the demise of their relationship as well.  This was one big mess just going around in circles and not able to stop.

Andy sighed as he took a sip of his now nuke warm tea before replying, “Marc even told her that he didn’t want anything to change between them after it happened.  He said he didn’t want to be with her and that he hoped they could still remain both enemies and friends.  He would just say that the baby was Jindrak’s because she did date Jindrak for a long amount of time before they slept together.  This is all a huge mess, Serena and I don’t know how to stop it.”

Andy was beyond frustrated by now as he leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes as he felt a headache coming on, and groaned inwardly.  This talk wasn’t solving anything, but he knew Serena was trying to help in any way she could.  After all, this wasn’t her fault that he’d gotten mixed up in Leticia’s mess.  It was nobody’s fault, but his own and now he had to find someway out of it before he got suckered into a life with a child that was not his.

Serena sighed as she shook her head, not believing how stupid Andy was for getting involved in such a mess, but she wasn’t about to say something that would infuriate the big guy.  She simply smiled at him sweetly and said, “Andrew, I really wish I could help you out, but the way I see, you’ve got two choices.  One, you could walk away from Leticia and this baby that isn’t yours and live your life the way you want to.  Or two, you could stay by her side and see her through this and raise that child as your own for the rest of your life.  You’ll end up hurting either Leticia or yourself, but one way or the other, you’re stuck between a rock and hard place.”

Andy nodded in understanding as he sighed heavily, knowing Serena would say something to that extent, and stood up from the chair as he looked down at her before saying, “Thanks for the advice, Serena.  Tell AJ I’ll call him in a few days about setting up a time where we could work out and talk.  I gotta get going though.  Leticia probably woke up already and I know her morning sickness is getting to her.”

Nodding in understanding back at Andrew, but sighing heavily to herself, Serena put on a fake smile as she stood up, hugging the big guy around the waist, and whispered, “I wish you all the luck in the world.  If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to stop by and I’ll let AJ know.”

“Thanks, Serena.” Andy replied as he hugged her back before walking out of the front door and toward his car, hoping he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life with what he was about to do.  ‘Forgive me.’ Andy thought as he started the ignition and drove down the road, knowing there was only one thing he could do in this situation.  He just hoped his life wasn’t ruined forever.

Chapter 7

~One Month Later~

The giggling of the whore’s voice rang through Marc’s ear, making him groan in dissatisfaction.  He just couldn’t get into the date he had made with this woman and knew he had to end it.  When she asked him to come inside for a nice fuck session, Marc declined, needing some time to think about his life and Leticia. 

It had been four months since they had sex and he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind.  Countless hours were spent writing rap songs based on love and heartache and Marc didn’t like it one bit.  It was the type he wrote about how hard it was growing up for him and trying to send a message out to people that he knew where they were coming from.  Rich, poor, young, old, it didn’t matter to him.  Nothing was perfect in life after all and nothing ever would.

Now here he sat in his living room, a sheet of writing paper in front of him, and all he could do was stare at it blankly.  No emotion played in the blue eyes of his as Marc picked the pen up and just threw it back down a minute later.  Nothing was coming to him and it was starting to affect his mind set with his lyric writing.

“Damn it, why can’t I stop thinking about her?” Marc asked himself in the silence of his house, wishing he knew the answer to that question and sighed when the telephone started to ring.

Sighing heavily to himself, Marc reached over and picked the receiver up, already knowing who it was as he asked, “What do you want, cuz?  You know I hate being disturbed during my writing time.” Marc reminded John, but this phone call wasn’t the ordinary one and somehow, Marc knew and felt it.

A heavy sigh of his own replied over the receiver as John rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he didn’t have to break this type of news to his cousin, but obviously, he had no alternative.  He looked over at Cynthia, who was biting her thumbnail nervously, and finally spoke to his cousin as he said, “No jokes this time, Marc.  I need to tell you something.”

“What is it, John?” Marc asked as he leaned back on his couch, wondering what type of news his cousin could possibly have to make his life worse than it already was.  “What could you possibly say to make my life miserable?”

“I heard on the streets today by someone that Leticia is…pregnant….” John trailed his words off, letting those words sink into his cousin’s mind and knew the blowup was about to commence. 

Marc couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, and couldn’t breathe as he dropped the phone on his chest.  His eyes were bulged out to the size of potatoes and his entire body was shaking.  Breaking out in a cold sweat, Marc felt sick to his stomach as he blinked several times, not believing what he was hearing.  Leticia was PREGNANT?! 

That word just made Marc feel sicker and he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer.  Bolting up off the couch and running into the bathroom as fast as his legs could carry him; Marc smashed the toilet lid up, cracking the porcelain, and vomited profusely.  After ten minutes of straight vomiting and knowing he had nothing left to spew out, Marc leaned back against his white porcelain bathtub and let the tears flow down his cheeks.  All the emotion he’d been feeling over the past four months finally came crashing down on him as Marc cried like a baby.  He wasn’t ashamed either.

The one woman he loved since the first time their eyes met was pregnant and he didn’t know who the father was.  Who could she have possibly gotten together with in such a short amount of time?  How far along was she?  Who was she with now?  Were they happy or was she single already?  And if she was with someone else, did she love them?  So many questions ran through his mind as Marc just sat there, his cheeks wet with despair and his heart shattering every second that ticked by.     

When John didn’t hear anything back from his cousin after five minutes, he hung up the phone and stood up, throwing his coat on, and said, “I’ll be back in a few.  I gotta make sure he’s okay.”

“Okay.  Please be careful, John.” Cynthia said as she kissed his lips softly, wincing at the pain her abdomen brought forth, and wished the blow would heal soon.  It had been four months since the shooting, but she was healing slowly.

John nodded as he kissed her back and then walked out of their house, making Cynthia sigh as she put her heads in her hands.  The pain was getting worse and she knew what she needed.  What would make her feel better and heal her faster?  The answer was simple. 

Pain killers.

She slowly stood up from the couch and walked into the bathroom, opening the cabinet, and took out the tan bottle that held her answer to the pain she was feeling.  Popping the lid on it, she downed three in a row and quickly placed them back in the cabinet.  She then walked back into the living room and laid on the couch, hoping the pain went away sooner rather than later as her eyes slowly closed.

With a regretful sigh, Andy walked inside Leticia’s apartment, knowing she wasn’t there.  The doctor’s appointment had just begun and he couldn’t find it in himself to go with her.  She had asked him a few times before leaving for it, but Andy just said he had to pick things up for the baby’s nursery.  Even though Leticia was a hard ass a lot of times, she wanted the best for her baby.  She also had decided not to find out about the sex of the baby.  She wanted to be surprised and Andy respected her decision.  After all, it wasn’t his child.  He was just pretending, but offered to build and fix up the back room, which was right next to Leticia’s bedroom, and would end up being the baby’s new nursery. 

Four months along now, Leticia was starting to show and speculation started floating among the streets of West Newbury.  She didn’t care though.  All that mattered was the health and life of her baby.  She smiled down at her protruding stomach and felt tears instantly well up in her eyes as she unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inside, knowing Andy was there.  She could smell his cologne floating in the air and couldn’t wait to tell him how her second ultrasound was.

She walked down the hallway, seeing the door to her baby’s nursery was closed, and placed a hand over her protruding stomach that held the life of her unborn child, wondering what was going on.  She softly knocked on it and gasped as it slowly opened, not believing what she seen.  Andy was in a white painter’s suit that looked adorable on him and he was covered in gray, pale yellow, and white, making tears instantly fill Leticia’s eyes.  It was her pregnancy hormones kicking in high gear and Andy knew that.

He smiled over at her from the latter and greeted, “Hey girl, how was the appointment?”

She smiled back at him appreciatively and replied with a bright, proud smile, “The baby is perfect.  I heard the heartbeat today.  The doctor said it was a little early, but apparently the baby had fast growing genes.” She giggled as she remembered Doctor Mirales saying that and also about the baby’s rapid growth.  She was a little scared to hear that the baby might be born prematurely if it grew any faster, but Leticia wasn’t about to tell Andy something like that. 

“That’s great, Lettie!  I’m really happy for you and I’m glad everything’s alright with the baby thus far.” Andy replied as he stepped down from the ladder and walked over to her, staring into her eyes, knowing she wanted to say something else to him.  “I hope you don’t mind me doing this, but I couldn’t wait to get started on it.  And since you’re not going to find out the sex of the baby until it’s born, I went with colors that don’t say it’s a boy or girl.” Andy explained rapidly, making Leticia smile at him sweetly.’

Her hand came up and gently caressed his paint covered cheek as she stated softly, “Don’t fret over it, Andy.  I love it.  The colors are perfect.  Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem.  So, what do you want for dinner tonight?” Andy asked as he smirked at her, making Leticia raise her eyebrow up in question at him. 

She placed her hands on her hips, wondering what he was smirking at her for, and asked a little impatiently, “What’s that smirk for, Andrew?”

Andy cringed when he heard her use his full name, knowing she only did that when he was stepping over the line, but he couldn’t help this situation from progressing.  He squared his shoulders and locked eyes with hers as he stated, “I just don’t want to cook something that wouldn’t satisfy those weird cravings you’ve been experiencing.” His smirk couldn’t help, but get bigger and groaned when Leticia punched him in the arm.  He rubbed it with his hand, pretending to act like it hurt, and stated, “Hey!  That hurt woman!”

Leticia smirked back at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and turned around, but not before retorting back, “Maybe next time you won’t be a smart-aleck about my pregnancy.”

All Andy could do was shake his head at her and turned around, wanting to finish the first coat of paint before getting started on dinner that night, which was spaghetti. He just hoped she liked it and it satisfied her cravings so he wouldn’t have to get up at three in the morning like he did the previous night.

Chapter 8

Ten minutes later and John was banging on Marc’s front door, hoping his cousin was alright since Marc had dropped the phone during their conversation.  He didn’t mean to drop the bomb about Leticia being pregnant like that, but when it came to revealing bad news to Marc, John had to be very careful.  Marc had it rough growing up. 

His parents had separated when he was a newborn and his father walked out on their family.  His mother had to work three jobs to keep a roof over his head, leaving his sister to take care of him.  She was only five, but his mother had no choice.  When Marc turned fourteen, his mother finally passed away, not able to take on the world any longer and the responsibilities it brought.  That left his only sister, who was five years older than him, to take care of him.  Her name was Jamie and she was the love of his life, until Leticia came along.

John sighed with great relief when he heard the lock click to the side, signaling that Marc had unlocked the front door, and immediately walked in, not believing the sight before him.  His cousin was sitting on the couch, his face tear streaked, and a huge bottle of Jack Daniels was sitting before him on the coffee table.  He shook his head at his cousin and asked rather bluntly, “What are you doing?”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?  I’m drinkin’ to forget about her.” Marc answered in a cold tone of voice as he took another shot of liquor, groaning at the burning sensation as it went down his esophagus, and sighed with a broken heart.

Sitting down next to his cousin and staring at the bottle of liquor before him, John put his head in his hands and said, “You know drinking will only make things worse, right.” It wasn’t a question. 

Marc leaned back against the couch, holding the shot glass that was now filled with more liquor, and downed it before stating, “I know, but this is the only way I can think of to forget about her, even for a few hours.  God how could she do this to me?  I thought she was diggin’ on me, that we could have a future together, but obviously, I was dead wrong.  She never loved me and she never will.  I just wish I knew who she was with so I could pound the shit out of him.” Marc growled out that last sentence as he poured himself another shot and looked over at his cousin, who was shaking his head in disapproval, and simply downed it without thinking twice. 

“Do you really think beating the shit out of her new squeeze will make you feel any better, man?  Come on, Marc, think about this.  She’ll hate you more if you go over there and act like a mad man and end up in the slammer, dude.” John said, trying to make his cousin understand that violence was not the answer at the moment. 

Not being able to take it anymore, Marc stood up and took the full bottle of Jack Daniels, hauling it across the room and watched as it shattered into a trillion pieces.  The liquor slowly slid down the wall as Marc collapsed back on the couch and started to cry harder than he ever had in his life.  He hadn’t cried this hard since his mother’s death and that had been over ten years ago.

John didn’t know what to do, what to say to make his cousin feel better because the situation wasn’t that great to begin with.  He knew Marc was in love with Leticia and knew that deep down; something wasn’t right about this situation.  How could Leticia have gotten pregnant so fast and in such a short amount of time?  Yeah it took one time to get done, but it still didn’t set right with John.  Suddenly, the light bulb clicked in John’s head as he started to think about the last time Marc and Leticia had made love and an idea formed in his mind.  

He stood up and looked down at his cousin before saying, “I’ll be back later to check on you, but there’s somewhere I have to go.  You gonna be aight?” John asked, making Marc nod as he stared at the floor, his head lowered, and his heart shattered just like the Jack Daniels bottle he’d thrown against the wall.

John nodded as he walked out of his cousin’s house and got in his car, jetting down the road toward Leticia’s apartment, and prayed that what just clicked in his mind wasn’t true.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Leticia was sleeping peacefully on the couch, the television still on from a movie she had been watching, when there was a knock on the door.  Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she looked down at her protruding stomach and smiled as she caressed it gently before standing up.  She stretched her arms out, hearing the knocking becoming louder with every step she took toward the front door, and wondered who was at her apartment this late at night.  It was ten at night.

Not thinking twice about it, Leticia opened the door, shocked at who was standing there before her.  Her eyes immediately narrowed to slits as his dangerous green eyes stared back at her, and demandingly asked, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

An evil chuckle escaped from the mouth of none other than Mark Jindrak as he stared back at his luscious ex-girlfriend, seeing the rumor of her pregnancy was indeed true, and knew it wasn’t his instantly.  That thought immediately got his rage flowing and vowed silently that if it wasn’t his child that she was having, she simply wouldn’t have it period.  The only way out of this was to either let him adopt the unborn child as his own or she would lose the baby on this night. 

He shoved her into the apartment with one hand and slammed the door behind him with a thud, making Leticia back up away from him.  She didn’t know what he wanted as she placed a protective hand on her stomach out of instinct and stated harshly, “What do you think you’re doing!?  Get your ass out of my apartment NOW, Jindrak!” She shouted at him and cried out in pain when his hand went back and backhanded her across the face. 

Leticia went down like a ton of bricks and started screaming as he pounced on top of her, not understanding any of this, and cried out as he roughly grabbed her chin as he finally spoke, “The way I see it, you’ve got two choices.  You either come with me and let me be the father of this child or I kill it right here and now!”

“NEVER!” Leticia screamed out at him and started to fight for not only her life, but her unborn child’s as he reached down, tearing her panties off from underneath the sheer white nightgown she was wearing, and felt the tears spill down her cheeks. 

Mark smirked down at her as he ran his hands down her sides, groaning at how good it felt to finally touch her again, and quickly discarded his pants as he stared into her eyes deadly before saying as he started to enter her roughly, “If you can’t have MY child…then you won’t have ANYONE’S!”

The screams of pure torture echoed off the walls of her apartment as Mark thrusted in and out of her harshly, not caring about her or her unborn child’s life, and started to slip into an unconscious state when her front door was kicked in.  Her eyes literally lit up upon seeing Andy standing there with fire ridden eyes and Jindrak knew he was in deep shit. 

He quickly got off of her and tried to pull his pants up, but it was too late.  Andy took his fist and plowed it straight into his nose, breaking it instantly, and shouted at the intruder, “You’re gonna PAY for hurting her and our baby, you motherfucker!” Andy then belted him one right in the gut, making Jindrak hover over in serious pain.  He’d broken a few of his ribs that much Jindrak knew was true, and stared over at Leticia with pleading eyes.

She simply stared at him as her back was against the nearest wall while Andy kicked the daylights out of him, and buried her face in her knees, wishing this would’ve never happened.  Her abdomen was on fire as well as her insides and there was nothing she could to stop it as she watched Andy toss Jindrak out of the apartment and down her steps.  He then slammed the door after taking the trash out, and immediately rushed over to her.

Andy could see she was in considerable amount of pain and growled when he seen the bruise start to form on her cheek from Jindrak’s backhand.  He touched it with his thumb gently, caressing it, and immediately asked her, “Are you okay?  Is the baby okay?”

Leticia couldn’t answer him as a painful cry escaped her lips, making Andy alert instantly, and looked down as a puddle of blood started to form underneath her.  “Shit!” He whispered out frantically and lifted her up with ease, making her cry out in more pain, and winced as she held her stomach for dear life.

Just as Andy was walking out of the apartment with Leticia in his arms, John arrived in his car and immediately knew something happened as he seen Jindrak laying on the ground unconscious.  Blood was coming out of his nose, mouth, and he had contusions all over his body, but John didn’t care at the moment.  He quickly rushed over to Leticia and asked instantly, “What happened?”

Andy stared into the concerned blue eyes of John and stated, “She was raped.  He attacked her while I was out getting something for a late night snack for Leticia and he raped her.  Will you drive us to the hospital?” Andy pleadingly asked John, not wanting to let go of Leticia until they arrived at the hospital, and John agreed without thinking twice.

The three quickly piled into his car, with Leticia lying in the back seat, clutching her stomach for dear life, and wished the pain would stop.  This wasn’t good for her unborn child as she looked out the window, staring at the lifeless body of Jindrak, and whispered to herself as she held her stomach with her hands, “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

Chapter 9

The drive to the hospital seemed like an eternity as Andy looked in the rearview mirror at Leticia, who was trying to breathe out the pain her baby was giving her, and knew this definitely wasn’t good.  He looked over at John and asked out of curiosity, “What did you want with Lettie anyway?”

John sighed deeply as he stopped at a red light and stated, not looking in Andy’s direction, “I wanted to ask her who the father of her baby was.  How far along is she anyway?”

“Four months and I’m the father of her baby.” Andy lied, knowing if he didn’t keep Leticia’s secret now that she’d never forgive him and he wasn’t about to let that happen.  He wouldn’t break her trust for anything or anyone, especially Marc Predka’s cousin.

“That’s hard to believe considering she was with Marc three months ago.” John pointed out as the light turned green and he sped off into the night, wanting to get Leticia to the hospital as fast as he could.  He just hoped he didn’t get pulled over for doing ninety down a thirty mile an hour street.

Andy had put his seatbelt on, but was concerned about Leticia’s safety as he shouted at John when the man blew a red light, “Are you crazy, man!?  She’s pregnant and doesn’t have a seatbelt on!  SLOW DOWN!”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we have an emergency on our hands so shut the fuck up and let me get her there!” John shouted back at him as he blew three stop signs in a row, knowing nobody would be on the road this time of night.  It was near midnight by now and the hospital was one block away.

In two minutes, they arrived at the hospital and Andy immediately got out, picking Leticia up in his arms, and shouted to the nearby ER crew, “I need an ambulance NOW!”

The ER crew took one look at the woman who was lying in Andy’s arms and immediately rushed over, grabbing a gurney in the process, and told him to lay her on it.  Andy hesitated at first, staring deep into Leticia’s silver eyes, and she simply nodded in response, letting him know it was okay.  Andy nodded as he gently placed her on the gurney and took her hand, kissing the top of it gently, and whispered, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Leticia nodded as she laid back on the gurney and released Andy’s hand, wanting to get medical attention for her unborn child immediately.  John placed his hand on Andy’s shoulders from behind and said, “Come on, man, let’s go get some coffee while we wait.”

Andy simply nodded after watching them wheel Leticia to the back of the emergency room and followed John inside the hospital.  He immediately walked up to the nurse’s station and stated demandingly, “My girlfriend is here and I want to know where she’s at and where they’re taking her.”

The nurse looked at the man, seeing the fear in his eyes, and sighed sympathetically as she asked calmly, “Okay sir, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”

“Leticia Jamerson.  Please, I need to know where she’s at so I can be there for her.” Andy pleaded with a voice full of concern and worry.  The nurse nodded as she started typing on her computer and finally brought up the woman’s file.

She smiled at Andy softly and replied, “She’s in the emergency room right now.  It’s down the hall to the right.  You can wait in the lobby until the doctor comes out to tell you something.  Does she have a referred doctor since she’s pregnant?” The nurse asked and Andy told her the doctor’s name.  She typed it in the system and nodded as she said, “Okay, it’s all taken care of.  Just go wait in the lobby until the doctor informs you of her condition, sir.”

John pulled Andy away from the nurse’s station and led him down to the lobby to wait for word on Leticia’s situation.  After making sure Andy wouldn’t go tear someone’s head off, he excused himself to make a couple phone calls.  He was smart enough not to mention that one of the calls was going to be made to his cousin, Marc.

Marc groaned as the ringing of the phone blared throughout the house, making his head pound even harder than what it was.  He growled as he stumbled down the stairs, wishing he could get a phone put in his bedroom, and tripped on the carpet on his way down.  This was just not his night. 

Picking up the receiver, Marc growled, “What?”

John sighed heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to tell his cousin about what happened to Leticia, and softly said, “You need to get to the hospital now.”

Immediately becoming fully awake upon hearing his cousin’s voice and the tone of it, Marc rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before asking, “Why do I need to be there?  Did something happen to Cyn?”

“No.  It’s LT.  She was…attacked tonight……” John stuttered out, his emotions getting the better of him already because he considered Leticia his little sister and couldn’t believe this was happening to her.

Rage instantly started to course through his veins as Marc clenched and unclenched his fist and asked sharply, “Who did it and is she okay?”

John cringed when his cousin asked that question and knew he couldn’t tell him over the phone like this.  It just wasn’t right.  He took a deep breath before saying, “If you want to know, you’ll come down here.” He then closed the lid on his cell phone and dialed home, knowing Cynthia wasn’t sleeping yet.  She was having bad insomnia as of late so he knew she was probably up surfing the internet.

When he didn’t get an answer, John suddenly had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but shrugged it off as he walked back inside the hospital, not about to leave until he spoke with Leticia’s doctor.

Marc growled when his cousin hung up on him and immediately stood up, pulling his jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, and hat on.  He grabbed his keys off the counter and bolted out the door, hoping nothing happened to Leticia.  His heart was pounding and his pulse was racing with fear that something bad happened to her and the baby.  No matter if he was the father or not, he still loved her and wanted her healthy and safe as well as her unborn child.

In record time, Marc arrived at the hospital five minutes later and ran inside, not caring if he parked his car in a handicapped zone.  The only thing that was in his mind and heart was Leticia.  He walked up to the nurse’s station and asked in a worried, demanding tone of voice, “I need to know how Leticia Jamerson is doing.  I’m one of her best friends.”

The nurse rolled her eyes, not believing how many friends this woman had, and simply pointed down the hallway as she said, “Go wait in the lobby with the rest of them.  I’m not here to be yelled at for someone’s health problems, buddy!”

Marc didn’t take the nurse’s tone to heart.  He ignored her rude comments and raced down the hallway, seeing his cousin John and Andrew Marlin sitting together, wondering what was going on.  Why was Andrew there?  What did he have to do with Leticia?  Marc’s head was swimming with so many questions as he walked over to his cousin and asked, “Any word on her?”

“You called him?!?” Andy exclaimed as he stood up instantly, glaring at the man who was legally the father of Leticia’s unborn child, but he wasn’t about to let Marc go anywhere near her.  Not after everything he put the poor woman through.

John sighed heavily as he stood up, trying to break the two apart, and stated, “Come on, guys, we’re not here to fight.  We’re here to find out what’s going on with LT.  Marc, just sit your ass down and wait like the rest of us and I’ll tell you who attacked her.  It wasn’t Andrew either.  He’s her new boyfriend.”

Marc glared hatefully at the man upon hearing that and growled out, “So this is the fucker who stole my woman?  I’ll TEAR HIM APART!” He shouted as he tackled Andy to the floor, wailing on him with lefts and rights, and all Andy did was block them the best he could. 

John immediately stepped in and pulled his cousin off of Andy, shoving him a good number of feet, and Marc landed right in a chair.  John then stood over him as he pointed and bellowed out, “STOP IT RIGHT NOW, MARCUS BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASS!” He then turned around to face Andy and stated in a calmer voice, “Sit down.”

Andy remained standing however, not about to back down from John’s cousin, and stated heatedly to the man in black, “Don’t blame me for fucking up your relationship with Lettie.  It’s not my fault she’s pregnant with my child and we’re together.  If you would’ve gotten your head out of your ass sooner, you would be with her.  She was broken hearted, but you know what, she’s not anymore.  She’s got me and that’s all she’ll ever need!”

Just as Marc was about to say something smart to Andy as a reply, Doctor Mirales walked into the room.  She shook her head at Marc and Andy, knowing they were the ones who were screaming at each other prior to her arrival, and simply stated, “If you two are finished with your childish antics, I’d like to tell you how Leticia is doing.”

Chapter 10

All three men suddenly paid attention to the doctor when she mentioned Leticia and wondered what she was going to say. 

The doctor smiled at all three gentlemen and said, “She’s fine.  Her insides were a little bruised and torn, but she’s fine.  The baby is fine, but she needs to take it easy for the remainder of her pregnancy.  No physical activity for two weeks whatsoever or she could lose the baby.  Whoever did this to her was gunning after the fetus, but fortunately, they didn’t get too far in depth.  She’s a little sore and her left cheek is bruised so don’t be surprised when you see her.  I assume all three of you want to see her, correct?” Doctor Mirales explained, smirking when all three of them breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

She then looked at Marc and Andy, leaving John out of the mix, and stated, “As far as you two are concerned, one more outburst like you did before I arrived in here and I’ll have you thrown out of not only her room, but the hospital altogether.  She doesn’t need this type of stress in her life right now, not with the baby’s situation being so critical from the rape.  Do you both understand?” She asked, making both of them nod in agreement with their heads lowered like five year olds being scolded.

John couldn’t help, but enjoy the scene of his cousin and Andrew being scolded like the children they were acting like by Leticia’s doctor.  He smirked and crossed his big arms in front of his chest, letting the doctor finish her statement before clearing his throat.  Once he had their attention, he asked softly, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go talk to Leticia alone for a few minutes.  There are some things I need to ask her.”

Marc and Andy looked at each other and then back at John before Andy stated, “We’ll wait here.” Andy already knew what John was going to talk to Leticia about and neither he nor Marc needed to be in the room.  It wasn’t any of their concern after all.

John nodded and smiled at the doctor before walking to the back toward Leticia’s room.  He sighed with relief when he finally arrived and knocked on it softly, entering when she said come in, and said, “Hey lil’ sis.  How ya feelin’?”

“Sore.” She whispered back softly and closed her eyes, her hand protectively on her stomach, and wondered what John was doing there.  “Where’s Andy?” She asked in a soft whisper, not being able to talk from all the screaming she’d done in the ER.

“He’s in the waiting room.  I wanted to come see you first alone and talk to you about something.” John said as he slowly walked over and sat down beside her in the chair, not wanting to scare her in any way.

Leticia started getting fidgety in her hospital bed as she kept her eyes on her stomach, wondering what John wanted to talk about, and had a feeling she knew what it was about.  She simply shrugged it off as being paranoia and simply asked, “What about?”

John sighed deeply as he rubbed his face with his hands and stated, “I think you know what it’s about, LT.  Andrew isn’t the father of your baby is he.” It wasn’t a question and the answer he needed was in the eyes of Leticia.  He wasn’t.

Leticia couldn’t believe how well John could read her as she looked down, knowing she couldn’t lie to the one person she considered was a brother to her, and whispered, “Please, don’t tell anyone.  I don’t want anyone finding out he isn’t the father.”

That statement brought John to his last question as he took a deep breath before asking it.  He reached over and lifted her chin with his hand, staring into her tear filled eyes, and asked, “Who is the father then, Leticia?” He never used her real name unless it was for a good, serious reason.

The tears started flowing as Leticia burst out in sobs, letting them tear through her body, and covered her face with her hands as she cried out, “I can’t tell you!  Nobody can ever know!”

Knowing he’d gone too far with her, John took the trembling body in his arms, and held her close, trying to soothe her soul.  He stroked her hair and whispered in her ear, “Marc’s the father.”

Crying harder than she ever had before, even when Mark was raping her, Leticia simply nodded as she sobbed in his arms, not knowing what else to do or say.  John sighed deeply as he held her close and finally pulled away as he stared in her eyes before asking, “Why don’t you want him knowing about this?  Don’t you think he has a right to know?”

Anger started to course through her body as Leticia’s eyes narrowed to slits and stated coldly, “Not after what he said to me the day after we had sex.  That’s all it was to him was sex.  I was going to tell him he was the father, but he tossed me out like yesterday’s garbage!  I’m NOT telling him EVER, John and if you do, I swear to God, I’ll NEVER talk to you again and I’ll take my baby and move somewhere unknown and you’ll NEVER see me or my baby again!” Her voice was low, deadly, and full of nothing, but seriousness. 

“He has a right to know though, Leticia!  Jesus Christ, the man loves you more than his own life!  You’re just being selfish!” John shouted back at her, his own anger consuming him, and it was making Leticia more pissed off by the second.

“This is MY life and MY baby.  I don’t need anyone, especially a man, taking care of us.  I’ll be just fine without Marc in my life and my baby’s.” Leticia cockily replied, making John growl at her as his blue eyes narrowed to slits of their own.

John shook his head at her, not believing the bullshit she was spewing out of her mouth, and growled back in his cousin’s defense, “That’s a fuckin LIE!  You’re lying to me, Leticia!  I know you fuckin’ love him!  I know it because I can see it in your eyes!  You can’t fool me or anyone else!  You love him and if he were to walk in here right now and tell you he loved you and wanted to marry you and have tons of babies with you, you’d jump in his arms in a split second and not think twice about it!” He stated in a heated tone back at her, not wanting to cause a scene, especially after what Marc and Andy did to each other earlier in the waiting room.

Leticia glared at him hatefully, not hating someone so much as she did John at that moment, and pointed to the door as she stated, “Get out of my room.  This conversation is over.”

“Fine, but remember this, Leticia.  I won’t tell Marc he’s the father, but he will find out eventually because he won’t stop trying to win your heart.  You think about that while you’re lying in that hospital bed with your own greed consuming your thoughts.” John stated in a tone that was so cold, it brought tears to Leticia’s eyes as he slammed her hospital door with a thud, shaking the window that the nurses and doctors looked in to check on the patients from time to time.

Storming into the waiting room, John growled at both Andy and Marc, “Good luck with the ice bitch in there.” He then walked out of the hospital and got in his car, speeding down the street from how much anger he felt toward Leticia, and headed home.

John never expected what he’d find once he arrived there and didn’t realize how worse his night was about to get.

Andy looked over at Marc in shock, who was watching his cousin’s temper flare out of control, and sighed as he said to Leticia’s new boyfriend, “You go see her next.  I’ll wait until she cools down because knowing my cuz, he ruffled her feathers.”

Not bothering to argue with him at the moment and worried about Leticia, Andy simply walked to the back room and rushed to Leticia’s side, seeing her crying.  He took her in his arms instantly, kissing her forehead and neck, and softly said, “Don’t cry, baby.  I’m here for you.”

Leticia cried harder when she heard Andy’s voice and buried her face in his neck, not believing she just spilled her secret to John.  She just hoped he kept his word by not saying anything to Marc.  That’s the last thing she needed at the moment was Marc to find out he was the father and have her baby taken away from her.  She would die before that happened as she clutched Andy’s t-shirt in her hands and whispered softly, “John knows that he’s the father.”

Andy released her and stared in her eyes, wondering what the Hell happened to make Leticia reveal her ultimate secret, and simply asked, “Is he going to tell Marc the truth?”

“Tell me what?” Came the voice of Marc Predka from behind as Leticia’s eyes shot wide open and knew that she had no choice, but to tell him the truth.

Chapter 11

John pulled into his driveway a few minutes later, having sped home from the hospital, and took his keys out.  All the lights were out so he knew Cynthia must’ve been getting some sleep.  He’d been worried about her ever since she lost their baby, but knew she was strong and would pull through it.  He never realized how wrong he actually was.

He slid the key inside the keyhole, unlocking their two story house, and walked inside, closing the door behind him.  He kicked off his sneakers, knowing Cynthia would kill him if he was caught with his shoes on their new carpet they’d just gotten.  He sighed heavily as he walked inside the kitchen, flipping the light switch, and got himself a glass of water.  He then turned around and smiled when he seen Cynthia sleeping peacefully on the couch. 

After downing three full glasses of water, John finally started to calm down as he walked over to his beautiful girlfriend, and knelt down as he stroked her cheek.  He immediately pulled away when he felt how hot she was and immediately stood up.  He rushed inside the bathroom and got a cold washcloth before running back into the living room and placed it on her forehead.  She was scorching and he knew her temperature was higher than one hundred degrees.

He tried to wake her up, but all Cynthia did was lay there, not moving one inch, and John started getting scared.  He stood up and went to the phone, dialing his cousin’s number, and growled when Marc didn’t answer.  He then ran into the bathroom to get another cold washcloth and started to rush back out to her, but stopped when he seen something in the sink.  He picked up the goldish, tan bottle of prescription pain pills and started to shake with fear.  ‘No…she didn’t.’ John thought as he quickly realized what Cynthia did. 

It was an overdose. 

She had all the signs.  A really high fever, not waking up from being shaken practically to death, shaking while being unconscious, it all matched up.  John quickly wrapped her up in a heavy blanket and carried her out of the house, hoping and praying she was okay.  He’d just came from the hospital and now he was going back, hoping his girlfriend would be okay, but somehow, he doubted she would.

After getting Cynthia into the ER and being forced to wait in the same waiting room he had been in with Marc and Andy, John finally sat down and felt tears slide down his cheeks.  Why couldn’t he have seen it sooner?  Why couldn’t he see how much pain his girlfriend was in?  It made him physically sick to his stomach as he bolted up and rushed into the bathroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, back in Leticia’s hospital room, Marc had been listening at the door and couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  Andy wasn’t the father?!  Then who the fuck was?!  He growled softly to himself when they didn’t reveal the name and finally decided to find out once and for all what was going on exactly.  He cleared his throat and asked his question, making Andy and Leticia look at him with widened eyes and Marc knew instantly something wasn’t right with this situation. 

Leticia looked up at Andy, silently pleading with him to do something, anything to distract Marc from what he’d apparently overheard them talking about.  She needed time to think of a quick cover up before her secret was spilled to the one who had put her in this predicament in the first place, the father of her child, Marc Predka. 

Andy sighed heavily, not knowing what he could say or do to make this situation easier, and said, “I’ll be out in the waiting room when you’re done talking.”

“Andy, no!  Don’t leave me here with him!” Leticia cried out to him, but all Andy did is walk out, knowing this is what should’ve happened when Leticia first became pregnant.  A stabbing wound in his heart started to hurt as he took one last glance at Leticia through the glass window before dejectedly walking out of the hospital.

Marc smirked as he watched Andrew walk out on Leticia and shook his head, not believing what a dumb shit the guy was, and turned his focus back on Leticia.  It had been a while since they last seen each other and Marc never realized how beautiful Leticia actually was, especially being pregnant.  She had that certain glow that made her twice as beautiful and Marc wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and never let her go again.

It would take time though.

Leticia didn’t look at him, heart broken over Andy’s betrayal to her, and knew she didn’t need anyone in her life, but her and her baby.  She rubbed her stomach that was growing with each passing day, wishing she was at home in her bed instead of an uncomfortable hospital bed, and pretended that Marc wasn’t even in the room.

Marc wasn’t going to let her get away that easily though as he sat down in the chair and finally broke the uncomfortable silence between them as he asked, “How are you feeling?”

No answer.

He sighed deeply when she didn’t answer him and lowered his head, wishing she would just talk to him or even yell.  Anything to get her to talk to him would’ve been great at this point.  He tried again by saying, “Baby cakes, please talk to me.”

“About what, Marc?  There’s nothing to talk to you about.  This has nothing to do with you.” She simply stated, not looking at him because she knew if she did, she would spill everything to him and that wasn’t going to happen.

“About what you’re keeping from me.  I know you too well, baby cakes.  I know you’ve been hiding something from me and I know Andrew’s not the father of your baby.” Marc pointed out, making Leticia’s eyes advert to her stomach, hoping he didn’t already figure out her secret.

“How much did you eavesdrop on?” Leticia coldly asked, still not looking at him, and growled when he tried to take her hand in his.  She quickly yanked it away from him, not wanting to touch any part of his body.

Marc sighed deeply; hurt that she would pull away from him, but honestly didn’t blame her for doing so.  He took a deep breath before answering her question, “I heard enough.  All I want to know is if Andrew isn’t the father of your baby, then who is?  Why are you keeping this such a secret?” He asked her, wishing she would just be straight with him instead of playing these constant games with everyone.

Leticia laughed sarcastically as she shook her head, not believing he hadn’t figured it out already, and sighed heavily before replying, “Because it’s no one’s business, but my own.  Why are you here, Marc?  You said enough four months ago when you walked out on me, on us.  I thought we could grow into something more after that night we had sex, but that’s all it was to you.  It was nothing, but sex.  So you tell me what do you want from me?” Leticia asked him in a sharp tone of voice, but kept it down so that way the nurses and doctors didn’t come in.

“That answer is simple.  I want you.  I love you so much, baby cakes and I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.  It’s just that…after what Jindrak did to you, I knew you were vulnerable and knew that it wasn’t our time to be together.  I didn’t want to be the backup boyfriend who you dumped two weeks later after finding the true love of your life.  I wanted you to have enough time to heal your broken heart before I stepped up to the plate.” Marc explained making tears instantly well up in Leticia’s eyes as she finally looked up at him, and he smiled at her as he said, “Hello there.”

Her lips slowly curved into a small smile back at him and softly replied, “Hi.” She didn’t know what else to say and was taken aback as Marc stood up and leaned down, brushing his soft lips against hers, and this time, she didn’t pull away. 

Instead, she embraced the moment, moaning softly at the contact and feelings Marc brought forth out of her.  Nobody, not even Andy, could make her feel the way Marc did as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss even more, and knew this is where she ultimately belonged.  When they broke the kiss, Leticia stared into his deep blue eyes before saying, “You’re the father, Marc.”

His blue eye filled with tears, along with the other one, instantly upon hearing that revelation and took her in his arms, passionately kissing her lips, but was careful not to hurt her.  It felt so good to be back with her again and Marc silently vowed right then and there to take care of his new unborn child and Leticia for the rest of his life.

Their tender, loving moment was destroyed when Andy barged into her hospital room and stated out of breath, “You two come quick, something’s happening with Cynthia.”

Chapter 12

The doctors were rushing in and out of the room Cynthia was being kept in, making John more frantic than ever as Andy, Marc, and Leticia arrived at the scene.  Leticia walked over to the window of the room her best friend was in and tears instantly came to her eyes at what she was witnessing.  There was blood all over the table and Cynthia was convulsing from the overdose. 

Leticia couldn’t watch the scene anymore as she ran over to John’s side and slammed him against the wall as she demandingly asked, “What the fuck happened to my best friend, John?!” The tears in her eyes was enough to make John break down once more as he wrapped his arms around her, praying that Cynthia would be okay.

Marc was right by his woman’s side as he pulled her from John’s arms and wrapped her up in his warmth, comforting him the best way he knew how, and gently whispered, “Everything’s gonna be okay, baby cakes, I swear.”

She sighed deeply and breathed in the scent of Marc’s, happy that she was back in his arms once again, but scared for her best friend’s life.  She buried her head in the crook of Marc’s neck as he held her close, doing some praying of her own, and wished this wasn’t happening. 

John looked over at Marc and Leticia embracing and became confused, but he didn’t have time to think about their happiness right now.  He sighed deeply as he sat down in a chair and looked over at the love birds before saying, “Do you wanna know what happened or are you two gonna make out in the middle of the fucking hallway while Cynthia is in there fighting for her life?”

Shooting a glare over at his cousin’s direction, Marc walked over to him with Leticia attached to his side and stated, “Don’t put us down, man just because your woman decided to do something stupid by taking a punch of pain pills without even thinking logically first.”

“Yo man you wanna step outside?” John growled as he sat up from the chair he was in and bumped chests with Marc, staring into his cousin’s eyes, and actually pushed Leticia out of the way in the process without realizing it.

“Yeah, I wanna step outside ‘cause NOBODY puts down MY relationship with LT.  Nobody!” Marc growled back as he continued the pressure against John’s chest with his own, making Leticia run a hand through her hair in pure frustration just as the doctor came out.

She immediately rushed over, not even bothering with John and Marc at the moment, and Andy was right by her side as she asked, “How’s my sister?”

The doctor sighed heavily as he ran a hand down his face and took a deep breath before responding to the young woman’s question, “You shouldn’t be out here right now, not with what happened to you tonight.”

“That’s not what she asked, doc.  Now why don’t you quit dicking us around and tell us what’s happening with Cynthia?” Andy stated as he placed his large hands on her shoulders, making Leticia smile at him appreciatively, and focused her attention back on the doctor with a nod of her head.

The doctor sighed heavily, knowing he couldn’t argue with Leticia, especially with this large man named Andy behind her, and said, “Cynthia is in a coma right now.  She lapsed into it during the procedure we did.  She swallowed a whole bottle of pain pills which is around twenty to thirty.  She should be dead right now, but luckily, we got most of it out of her system by pumping her stomach and that’s when she slipped in a coma.”

“Will she come out of it?” Leticia asked with a cracked voice, making the doctor sigh heavily as Andy wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving her the emotional support she needed at that moment while her newfound love and John were fighting.

The doctor took his glasses off and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he sighed heavily and answered, “Well, it really depends on her body and if she wants to wake up.  She’s got to want to wake up and nobody can make her, but herself.  She’s got to fight out of this and right now, I honestly don’t see her doing that.  She vomited blood while we were pumping her stomach so we had to give a blood transfusion.”

“Can we see her?” Came the strained, raw emotional voice of John as he stared at the doctor in shock, not believing what he just overheard the doctor tell Leticia and Andy.

The doctor simply nodded and walked over to John, patting him on the shoulder, apologized, and made his way around the corner to tend to his other patients.  John’s eyes were glazed over with unshed tears as he slowly made his way into the room and dropped to his knees, crawling over to where Cynthia’s lifeless body rested, and started to cry his heart out.

Leticia started crying as well when she seen just how bad of shape John was in and immediately went to his side, holding him close as her arms wrapped around his neck, not believing what had happened that night to them all.  “It’s okay, it’s okay...” She whispered as she cried along with him, squeezing him tightly against her.  “It’s gonna be okay, honey, I promise.” She whispered out into his ear and looked up at the sleeping form of Cynthia’s as she slowly stood up.

She sat down in the chair beside Cynthia, took her hand, and softly said, “Hey, sis, it’s me, LT.  Listen you can’t leave us.  You can’t leave John.  He loves you too much.  I love you too.” Leticia started smiling as she thought about Marc and continued, “Me and Marc got back together and I told him about the baby.  Jindrak raped me tonight…but luckily Andy showed up and saved me from the assault.  He didn’t make me lose the baby, which is a great thing because Marc is happy about it.  I just…I don’t want you to leave us.  I love you so much….” She couldn’t help, but cry her heart out as she pressed Cynthia’s hand against her forehead, hoping and praying she woke up sooner rather than later not only for John’s sanity, but for hers as well. 

Marc seen the display before him as he watched Leticia and John embrace in the room and couldn’t take it as he rushed out of the hospital.  His heart was shattered into a thousand pieces, not believing he didn’t see the ignited passion John and Leticia had for each other from the beginning.

Andy had left the hospital, wanting to leave the family alone for awhile, and needed some time to think to himself about what occurred over the past few months.  He was in love with Leticia, but knew he’d never have her heart, but he could be her friend.  He wasn’t going to walk away from her and would be there for her if and when Marc ever broke her heart again.

Leticia looked over at John as she wiped her tears away from her eyes and said, “Do you know where Marc went?”

John was sitting on the opposite side of Cynthia, kissing her hand over and over again, and simply shook his head, letting silent tears slowly slide down his cheeks as he watched the woman he loved more than life itself lay in the bed helpless.  He felt so vulnerable and weak because he couldn’t protect Cynthia from what she had done.  He knew she had been in a lot of pain from the loss of the baby, but he didn’t want to see it.  He wanted to believe she could handle anything big or small, but even as he sat in that chair staring at her lifeless form, John knew she was human and she could only take so much.

Knowing John wanted to be alone with Cynthia, Leticia simply walked out of the room and went in search of Marc, wondering where he had ran off to.  She walked outside, seeing it was starting to pour down rain, and seen him sitting on a nearby curb by the hospital.  Making sure she was covered up, Leticia walked over to him, her arms crossed in front of her chest, and asked, “What are you doing out here?  It’s freezing, come inside.”

“Why so you could break me in half once more?” Marc retorted toward her in a cold, meaningless tone of voice, taking Leticia completely aback.

“What are you talking about, Marc?  I never did anything to break you in half!  I love you!” Leticia shouted at him, her hormones from the baby getting the better of her as tears started to form in her eyes.

Marc stood up from the curb he was sitting on and turned around, staring down at the woman he thought he loved, but it was all a lie in all honesty.  He knew Andy loved her truly and didn’t want to break one of his best friend’s hearts, even if it was his own.  He looked down at the ground and stated, “You’re not in love with me and you know it, LT.  I do love you, but you don’t belong with me.  You belong with John or Andrew so quit wasting your time on me and…” Before he could finish, Leticia silenced him with a passionate kiss on the lips. 

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him closer to her pregnant body, moaning softly at the emotion and love that flowed from her body to his, and broke the kiss ten minutes later.  She stared up into his loving blue eyes that were filled with tears and gently wiped them away as she softly said, “I love you and no one else.  I don’t want you to ever think that way ever again.  I love you and I will always love you.  Andy and John are like my brothers, but you, you are the real love of my life.”

He smiled softly down at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life as he replied while stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, “Will you marry me, Leticia?”

Her eyes shined as bright as crystals as Marc pulled out a beautiful three stoned diamond ring with the middle stone being a black onyx stone from his pocket.  Tears instantly flowed down her cheeks as she pressed her forehead to Marc’s and whispered against his lips before kissing him once more, “Yes.”

Chapter 13

You feel like a candle in a hurricane

Just like a picture with a broken frame

Alone and helpless

Like you’ve lost your fight

But you’ll be alright

Four long months had passed since that fateful night of Cynthia’s overdose and things just weren’t the same.  John had gone into a deep depression and quit the WWE so he could be by her side.  He sat there by her beside night after night, praying for a miracle that she’d come out of this alive.  She had to for his sake and sanity.

Leticia had went and visited her best friend on countless occasions and talked to her about how the progress of her pregnancy was coming along and how much she missed their late night talks on the phone.  She’d run her hands over her oversized stomach, knowing any moment the baby could come.  This was one of those days as she walked inside the room, seeing Cynthia’s lifeless form sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed and John was in the chair right beside her, rubbing her hand as he stared at nothing, but her.

It broke her heart to see two of her best friends in this tragic state and sighed deeply as she knocked on the door softly, letting John knew she was there.  John looked up at her and simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of her presence before turning his vision back to his girlfriend.  Leticia slowly walked over, touched John’s shoulder, and asked softly, “How is she today?”

“Same as every day you come in here, LT.” John stated, his voice filled with so much pain and hurt that Leticia didn’t take what he said to heart.

She simply sat down in the chair that was on the opposite side of the bed and looked at her best friend, wishing there was someway to get her out of the coma she was currently in.  It’d been a month and Leticia was trying hard to make sure the baby didn’t come until her best friend was better.  That was going to be hard considering she was almost to her full term.  She was in her eighth month and the doctor had told her that she might not have to wait until the full term was over with because the baby was growing rapidly.

Leticia reached over and took her best friend’s hand in her own, rubbing the back of it gently, and said, “Hey, girly.  It’s me.  Listen, you need to wake up soon because I refuse to have the Godmother of my child miss it’s birth.  Not only that, but John needs you back in his life.  He’s hurting really bad, Cyn.  I know you didn’t mean to overdose on those pain pills.  Hell, I probably would’ve done the same thing had I lost the baby due to Mark’s selfish actions.” She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and silently hoped the bastard was rotting in prison for what he’d done to her.

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you’re made of

You might bend, till you break

Cause its all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you’ve had enough

You get mad you get strong

Wipe your hands shake it off

Then you stand, then you stand

The trial had been three months long, which was a significantly short amount of time, and Leticia couldn’t have been happier when she heard the judge’s verdict announced in the courtroom.  Mark Jindrak had been found guilty of rape and attempted first degree murder to her unborn child and was sentenced to twenty years in prison in upstate New York.  Mark was outraged and even threw a chair in Leticia’s direction, but she dodged it thanks to Mark as he screamed at her and called her a fucking bitch.  She didn’t care though because justice had prevailed once more and nothing would harm her or her baby, not even Mark Jindrak.

John looked over, seeing Leticia was deep in thought, and asked gently, not feeling the gentle squeeze of his hand, “What are you thinking about?”

Leticia smiled over at him as she rubbed her stomach absentmindedly and said, “About the trial and what Jindrak almost made me lose.”

John nodded as he sighed heavily and stood up from the chair, letting a long yawn escape his lips, and stretched his sore muscles as he released Cynthia’s hand.  He looked at the wall for a moment and ran a hand through his hair, wishing there was something he could do to bring his girlfriend back to life and in his arms.  He’d give anything to just hear one word from her beautiful, soft lips. 

His wish was granted at that moment as he heard a soft, faint whisper sound behind him and turned around, not believing what he was seeing as tears started burning his blue eyes.

“John.”

Life’s like a novel

With the end ripped out

The edge of a canyon

With only one way down

Take what you’re given before its gone

Start holding on, keep holding on

He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing as Cynthia’s beautiful blue eyes started to slowly flutter open and felt a huge lump in his throat form.  He looked over at Leticia, who was crying her heart out and had dropped to her knees, not believing this wonderful miracle.  When John had finally regained the feeling in his knees and feet, he immediately rushed over to her, touching her face with his hand, and gulped nervously as he whispered back, “Cynthia?”

She smiled softly at him, coughing a little, and pointed to her throat as she whispered out, “Water.”

Leticia immediately stood up from the chair and ran down the hallway, taking out her cell phone in the process, and screamed in the receiver when her fiancée answered, “SHE’S AWAKE!”

Marc’s jaw dropped to the floor when he heard what his girlfriend had said and stated in the phone, “I’ll be right there.”

She nodded and shut the lid of her cell phone, seeing everyone in the lobby was looking at her like she’d gone nuts, but it didn’t bother her.  Her best friend had woken up from her four month a coma and she wasn’t going to waste a single second.  Leticia quickly got the cup of water and rushed back to the room as fast as her belly would allow her and walked into the room, seeing John already had his arms around Cynthia’s body and was crying hysterically in her hair. 

The sight before her made Leticia’s eyes fill up with more tears as she took a deep breath before walking in and shakily handed Cynthia her cup of water, still not believing her best friend was awake.  The doctors and nurses rushed in immediately and had shoved John and Leticia out of the room, wanting to check on their patient.  John was beside himself as he dropped to his knees and put his head in his hands, squeezing what little hair he had left on his head, and growled out, “I can’t lose her again!  Goddamn it, I want to be with her!”

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you’re made of

You might bend, till you break

Cause its all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you’ve had enough

You get mad you get strong

Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Leticia sighed heavily, expecting the doctors and nurses to be that way with them, and guided John into a nearby chair just as Marc burst through the hospital doors.  He seen Leticia trying to calm John down, who was ready to blow a gasket, and sighed heavily as he walked over and asked, “How is she?”

Leticia immediately stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as her body started to tremble with fear for her friend, and shakily replied, “We don’t know yet.  The doctor’s kicked us out as soon as she woke up.”

“Yeah, after I fuckin quit my dream job to sit by her side, they fuckin decide to kick me out after she wakes up!  God, I HATE hospitals!” John shouted as he picked up the chair Leticia forced him to sit in and hauled it across the room, making it crash through the window of Cynthia’s room, and hopped through it. 

The doctors and nurses all looked at him like he was insane and went to restrain him, but all that got them were fists to their faces, except the nurses.  John looked over at Cynthia, who had a bewildered look on her face, and immediately ran to her as he looked into her eyes and asked, “Are you okay?”

He had little cuts all over his arms and legs from hopping through the now shattered hospital window, making Cynthia look at him in shock as she replied, “Well, not really considering you’re bleeding all over the place and just knocked out half the hospital staff.” Her voice was back to normal after drinking that cup of water Leticia had given her.

She hated the doctors and nurses for shoving John and Leticia out of the room just because she had woken up.  She knew she’d been out for a long time because her body felt like it weighed a ton.  Sighing deeply to herself, she crooked her finger over at John as he stepped over the knocked out doctor’s body and immediately took her in his arms.  Cynthia wrapped her arms around his neck and began to cry as she leaned against his shoulder, not believing she was back I his arms again.

Every time you get up

And get back in the race

One more small piece of you

Starts to fall into place

Ooohhh

Overdosing was definitely not the way to go because it had taken away an extensive part of her life that she could never get back.  Cynthia didn’t care if John broke the hospital in half, all she wanted to do was be in his arms for all eternity.  She sighed deeply to herself as John lifted her up in his arms, growling at the nurses who tried to stop him, and walked out of the hospital room as he stated to the people who were waiting in the lobby, making them rush over to her.

Leticia looked over at what John had done, keeping Marc away from his cousin for the time being, and immediately rushed over to her as she exclaimed, “Oh my God, Cyn!” She hugged her best friend tightly around the neck, seeing John was deadest on taking her out of the hospital and sighed heavily as she put her hands on her big hips as she stated, “You’re not taking her out of here until they check her over thoroughly.”

“Watch me.” John retorted as he looked at Marc, silently warning his cousin to make her move out of his way or she was going to get hurt like the doctors had. 

Cynthia sighed when she heard that, knowing John’s mind was set, and ran a hand through her hair as she whispered, “John, baby, maybe she’s right…”

John looked down at her with a quirked eyebrow, not wanting to be taken away from her again, and whispered in her ear, “I’ll heal you back to normal.”

Marc stepped in front of his cousin from carrying Cynthia out of the hospital, growling at his stupidity, and stated defiantly, “She can’t leave without getting checked out first, John.  What if something’s wrong with her from the overdose?”

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you’re made of

You might bend, till you break

Cause its all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you’ve had enough

You get mad you get strong

Wipe your hands shake it off

Then you stand, then you stand

Cringing at that statement, Cynthia could feel John’s entire body tense up as he sighed, knowing she was right, and looked down at her just as three policemen came walking in the hospital.  They looked straight at John and stated as they pulled their guns out, “Put the lady down, sir and nobody will get hurt.”

The hospital staff had pushed the security alert button, which made the police station nearby know that something serious was happening, and John’s temper had definitely got the better of him this time.  Cynthia seen what was about to happen and coughed out as she said, “Please put the guns down, officers.  He didn’t mean any harm.  Those fuckin moronic doctors and nurses shoved him out of the room after not hearing my voice or staring in my eyes for four fucking months because I was in a coma!  I’ll pay for the expenses, but please, don’t arrest him.  He didn’t mean any harm.”

As all this commotion was going down, Leticia was experiencing some of her own.  A blood curdling scream escaped from her lips as she dropped to her knees and bellowed out, “THE BABY IS COMING!”

Chapter 14

Marc’s body whipped around quicker than a tornado and stared at his fiancée, who was on her knees clutching her stomach with tears streaming down her face, and gulped nervously when he heard what she said.  His entire face went completely pale and he could feel his breakfast coming up.  His palms started becoming incredibly sweaty and his breath was short as his feet felt like they were planted in cement.

Cynthia had squirmed out of her boyfriend’s arms and crawled over to her best friend, still feeling incredibly weak from being asleep for the past four months, and whispered softly, “Breathe.”

John had picked her up, not wanting her to be on the cold floor, and held her close to his chest in a chair while the EMT’s wheeled her best friend to the back, knowing she was going to give life to her child on this day.  The same day the love of his life had come back to him.  It was truly turning out to be a miraculous day.

Leticia seen Marc was frozen solid to the ground and just staring at her like a regular fish out of water, making her feel even more helpless, and closed her eyes as she shouted out, “Oh fuck!!!” Another contraction had ripped through her abdomen, making her cry out in agonizing pain, and sighed with great relief when Andy slid on his knees in front of her.

He was coming in to see how Cynthia was doing when he heard Leticia’s screaming voice and immediately rushed to her, seeing she was clutching her stomach on the floor with wet cheeks, and pain was evident in her features.  He looked over at Marc, seeing the man was frozen to the ground, and walked over as he shoved him on his ass on the floor, bringing him out of his shock

Another scream echoed out of her mouth and that finally jogged Marc’s mind to finally realize what was going on as he rushed over to her and bellowed out, “I NEED A DOCTOR, GODDAMN IT!!!!”

Doctor Mirales had just came back from her hour break as she walked inside the office, saying something to a close friend of hers, when she heard an awful scream sound down the hallway.  She immediately rushed to the scene and was shocked to see it was her patient she’d been taking care of through her entire pregnancy for the past eight months, Leticia Jamerson. 

Snapping her fingers at some nearby EMT’s that had just came back from their lunch, Doctor Mirales looked at Marc and stated, “You need to go get some scrubs on while we prep her to have the baby.  Doctor Jonson will show you where you need to go to get them on.”

Leticia was scared to death as she looked up into Andy’s caring blue eyes and whispered, “Thank you for everything.  I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

Andy smiled softly down at her, patting her hand gently, and leaned down as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead as he stated, “You’re gonna be just fine, Lettie.  You’re too stubborn to give up now after everything this baby has put you through.”

Leticia got this determined look on her face as they lifted her on the stretcher and looked at Doctor Mirales as she asked with pleading eyes, “Can he be in the delivery room with me and Marc?  If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve never been able to have this baby today.”

Looking down at Leticia in shock and then over at Marc, who was going to get scrubs on with Doctor Jonson, Andy gulped nervously as he asked her, “Are you sure you want that, Lettie?  Marc is the father after all…”

Taking his hand in her own and pressing it to her cheek as a few tears slid down her cheeks, Leticia replied in a firm, painful voice as another contraction ripped through her abdomen, “Yes.  I want the Godfather of my child in the room with me when I have it.”

Smiling softly down at her patient, knowing this was what Leticia’s heart was set on, Doctor Mirales nodded as she pointed toward the direction where Marc and Doctor Jonson had disappeared to and stated, “Go get scrubs on.  We’ll see you in the delivery room.”

Andy wasn’t sure if he could pick his jaw up off the floor as he simply nodding, watching as the EMT’s wheeled Leticia behind closed doors, and quickly ran to catch up with Marc and Doctor Jonson to get his scrubs.  He walked into the room, seeing Marc looked like he was about to vomit from the nervousness, and chuckled as he said, “Don’t be nervous, man.  This is your moment in the sun.” He patted Marc on the shoulder, making Marc nod at him with a questionable look in his eyes.

“What are you doing back here anyway?” Marc suddenly asked, wondering what the man, who had tried to claim he was the baby’s father, was doing back there with him.

“Lettie asked me to be in the delivery room since I helped her through the first part of her pregnancy.” Andy simply answered as he pulled on the baby blue scrubs, along with Marc, who was more confused than ever.

Did she think he couldn’t handle it?

Marc didn’t need Andy in the delivery room with them, but decided to ask Leticia about it before jumping the gun about anything.  He pulled on his own scrubs before they both were escorted to the delivery room.  Marc cringed as he heard the blood curdling screams come from one of the rooms and he could tell instantly that it was his fiancée.  He immediately rushed inside and took her hand in his, seeing she was already drenched in sweat, and groaned when she started squeezing his hand as another contraction ripped through her body.

“OH FUCK ME!!!  I’M GONNA DIE IF THIS KID DOESN’T GET OUT OF ME SOON!” She screamed out and looked at Andy, who looked so out of place, and extended her hand as she breathed out, locking eyes with him, “I need your help, Andy.  Give me your hand, please.”

Marc seen this gesture and felt the green monster of jealousy start to come out as he felt her squeeze his hand again.  He knew every time she squeezed his hand, it was that much closer to seeing their unborn child, who was going to be a premature baby, but had all the faith in the world that it was going to be healthy.  He looked down at his beautiful panting fiancée and whispered in her ear, “What’s he doin’ in here, Leticia?”

She looked back at him with a glare in her eyes as she released his hand and stated angrily, “What the fuck does it matter, Marc?  This man helped me through the first part of my pregnancy and saved me from possibly losing our child to Mark Jindrak!  Don’t you DARE start getting jealous on me!  He’s like a brother to me and I love him and will ALWAYS love him!  He was there for me when you walked away from me so you know what, go fuck yourself if you don’t like Andy being in here with me!”

At that moment, another contraction ripped through her body, making her squeeze Andy’s hand, and ended up grabbing Marc’s hand, needing all the help she could get as she squeezed once more.  When the contraction came to an end, she fell back against the bedding the hospital had provided her with and looked at Marc, who had a heartbroken look on his face, and whispered gently, “I’m sorry, Marc, but Andy deserves to be here after all the shit I put him through.  Late night runs to go get me the food I was craving.  Ice cream and pickles, but mostly breakfast.  You have to understand why Andy is in here.  He’s going to be the Godfather of our baby.” She revealed, making Marc look over at Andy, and suddenly, he understood exactly why Andy was in the same room as him and Leticia.

Andy had truly been there for her through everything and Marc owed him a huge debt of gratitude.  He looked over at Andy and smiled as he said, “Thank you for everything you did for her, man.  You deserve to be here.”

Andy smiled back at Marc for the first time and nodded as he squeezed his eyes shut when Leticia started squeezing his hand again, turning it a light blue, same with Marc’s and had to take slow, deep breaths to keep from screaming out in his own pain.  He looked over at Marc, seeing the man had tears in his eyes from the pain his fiancée was causing him, and smirked to himself, knowing this wasn’t going to be the last kid they had together.

Three hours later and Leticia was exhausted beyond reason.  She looked up at her fiancé, who was staring back down at her, knowing his hand was probably broken from her squeezing, but none of that mattered now.  The head of the baby had finally came out and Doctor Mirales told her to rest for a moment.  “You’re doing great, Leticia.  We got the head out.  One more nice hard push and we should have it completely out.”

Shaking her head in disagreement, not wanting to go through anymore of this agonizing pain, Leticia stared up at both of the men in her life and stated, “I’m not doing it anymore.”

“Come on, Lettie, you got one more push, girl and you’ll have a brand new life to take care of.  I want to see my Godson, woman!” Andy stated excitedly, trying to motivate her to do it, but what he was saying wasn’t cutting it.

Marc decided to try as he looked deep into the woman he loved more than life itself eyes and stated, “LT, you’ve got to do this.  Not only for us, but for our baby.  Jindrak tried to take it away, remember?  He tried to take away this precious life and now you’re gonna lay there and tell me you’re not going to finish the delivery?  That’s bullshit, Leticia.  Come on, you can do this.  This is just another obstacle in life that you have to overcome and it all comes down to this one push.  Bring our baby into this world, Mami.  Make me a father and yourself a mother.  I’m so proud of you, Leticia and we’re going to love this child for the rest of our lives and watch as it grows into a beautiful woman or a handsome man like myself.” He smirked when she laughed softly at him and sat up, breathing heavily, and knew she wasn’t giving up by a long shot.

Closing her eyes as she visualized what Jindrak had done to her to make her almost lose what was happening at that moment to her and Marc, a sense of morality came over her as she squeezed her men’s hands and bellowed out, “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!”

Moments later, the sounds of a beautiful baby’s cries echoed throughout the delivery room as Leticia finally gave birth to the being who had been kicking and giving her those strange cravings for the past eight months.  Tears of joy slowly slid down her cheeks as the nurse wrapped the beautiful baby in a pink blanket and announced, “It’s a girl.” She then walked it over to the new proud mother and father, who had tears rolling down their cheeks, and started to place the baby in Leticia’s arms, but became confused when Leticia shook her head no.

She looked up at Andy and smiled as she looked at her beautiful baby girl and said, “I want her Godfather to hold her first.  She wouldn’t be here today without him.”

Tears instantly came to Andy’s eyes as the nurse nodded and smiled as she placed the breathtaking baby girl in his arms, making him start to tremble as he held it close to his chest, and whispered softly, “She looks just like you, Lettie.  I can’t hold her.  She’s so tiny, I’m afraid I’ll break her.”

Leticia smiled back up at him while Marc took his baby girl from Andy’s arms and held her close to him, not believing how close he was to losing her, and looked at Leticia as he whispered, “She does.  She looks just like her beautiful mother.  Hello, angel face, we’ve been waiting for you.”

Andy looked down at the beautiful sight before him and smiled, knowing this is how things were supposed to be, and locked eyes with Leticia as she whispered to him, “Thank you for saving my daughter’s life, Andrew.  We owe you forever.”

“No, you don’t owe me anything.  Just making me apart of her life is all I wanted so thank you, Lettie.  I’m gonna go and get something to drink and let you two have some time alone with her.” Andy stated as he bent down, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, and looked up at Marc before walking out of the room, knowing he would learn how to deal with the loss of the woman he was secretly in love with.

Once Andy had walked out of the room, Marc finally placed the sleeping, perfect angel in her mother’s arms, and kissed Leticia’s forehead as he whispered, “A perfect fit.”

Tears burned in her eyes as Leticia looked down at her baby girl, not believing how precious she was, and kissed her tiny head softly as she whispered, “So you’re the one who’s been kicking me and making me eat all that nasty food.” She wiped her tears away as she stared closer at her daughter and held her close as she added, “I will never let anyone or anything hurt you.  You’re more precious to me than my own life and I promise not to fuck up raising you like my parents did with me.  I love you, Andrea Marie Predka.”

Smiling proudly at that name that Leticia had named her and holding his family close, Marc Predka finally realized how to deal with his life.  The answer had been right in front of his face the entire time, but he’d been too stubborn and stupid to see it until he’d almost lost two of the most precious people in the world.  This could’ve been Andy in this position, but it wasn’t, and Marc was more than grateful for the opportunity to be Andrea’s father and guide her through her ups and downs throughout life.  He closed his eyes as he thought about his deceased mother and opened them, seeing her through Leticia’s eyes, and vowed to not turn his back on his family the way his father had when he was a little boy.

Life was so precious to him and he had to learn how to deal with all the tragedies and miracle’s it brought forth.  He was ready for it because after all…

Learning how to deal was life’s number one goal, right?

The End.