"Drummer, how could you fucking agree to testify against Brandon!? He's your best friend and would do anything for you!! You can't go through with that shit! You have to tell him everything about him being investigated and that you're going to testify! I'm sure you two can figure out a plan or something! You have to! This can't happen!!" I yell loudly as I stuff my mouth with fries and a burger. I'm glad we stopped at McDonald's.

"Milani, I already feel bad. I don't need you to keep talking about it!! There's nothing I can do at this point. I told you it was either I go to prison and you raise our son by yourself or I help Penelope lock Brandon up. I hate to say it, but I'm not putting my friendship with him over raising my son and that's the end of it."

"You don't have to do this!! You can just talk to your family lawyer and let him get you out of this mess! You're literally about to ruin your friendship with Brandon! There's no going back after this! Do you understand that?"

"Of course, I understand, but..." Drummer trails when we pull up to the house and see red and blue flashing lights. "We'll finish the conversation later, stay in the car and let me see what's going on."

Ignoring Drummer, I get out of the car and follow him to where the officers are standing. Some of them are carrying boxes of my clothing from the house and sitting them on the grass.

"What the hell is going on??! Those are my things!! I live here." I yell loudly, looking around.

"After Nolan Stevenson was severely injured, he finally woke up and was alert enough to tell his wife all about his affair with you. She called the station and told us how you're obsessed with him and that you forced him to let you live here, saying that you'd make his life a living hell if he didn't agree to it. You even threatened his family and threats aren't taken lightly around here. Mrs. Stevenson wanted you removed immediately so I'm sorry ma'am, but you do not live here anymore."

My face distorts at the bullshit ass story Nolan and his bitch made up. Sighing loudly, I take in a deep breath as I try to calm myself down, but it doesn't work. The officer starts to walk away and I wobble after him, ready to attack until I am grabbed from behind.

"Chill out or you gone end up in jail, next. You know that shit ain't true so don't even feed into the bullshit. Calm down, stop stressing my baby out, and get in the car. I'll handle everything else!" Drummer whispers in my ear until I've calmed down.

As I'm walking back to the car, I hear the familiar voice of one of Nolan's wives. She's crying and acting like she's terrified and thankful that the police could help protect her family from me.

"HEY OFFICER!!! You know what else you should look into!? Nolan Stevenson has WIVES! Not just one, but two! They're in an ILLEGAL bigamy relationship!!" I yell loudly, making Nolan's wife buck her eyes.

"You see what I mean! She's acting like an animal! She's so crazy and I hate that my husband picked her to cheat with. He could've at least picked someone more classy. I mean just think about it, she's been obsessed with him, threatening our family, and had her gangster boyfriend to beat Nolan up! He almost killed him!"

"BITCH, I'LL BEAT YOU UP IF YOU KEEP LYING!!!" I say as I make my way over to her, only to be stopped by an officer as Nolan's wife cowards behind two other officers.

"Ma'am, you've caused enough problems in this woman's life. I suggest you peacefully leave the premises or we'll be forced to take you down. If you return to this property again, we'll arrest you. Have a nice night and stay away from married men."

Realizing that I can't win in this situation, I walk back to the car and get into the passenger's seat, rubbing my belly to calm my nerves. About 30 minutes later, Drummer has packed his bags and all of my things into the trunk and backseat of the car.

"Everything is going downhill! What the fuck are we gonna do!?" I cry as Drummer drives us off the property before the officers start back harassing us.

"Lani, stop crying, love. I already have a plan. We're gonna get a hotel room for the night, book flights, and go back to Chicago. We can't stay here and you know that. You're literally pregnant as fuck and homeless, jumping from house to house. We can't raise a baby like that."

Looking out of the window, I wipe my face before speaking, "I don't want to go back to Chicago, Drummer. How about we both get apartments here in Vegas?"

Drummer pulls the car over on the side of the road and stares into my eyes. "Two apartments? I thought we figured shit out! I thought we were gonna be together?"

"I didn't say that. I said we needed to talk before I made a final decision."

"But you kissed me."

"I know." I say, biting my lip. "I know, I kissed you and that made things more complicated. I'm sorry and I won't do it again."

Drummer ignores me and starts back driving, following the GPS until we make it to our hotel. Once we're inside we take whatever room they have available and head into the elevator. As it goes up, I start fanning myself with one of the room service menus that I grabbed. It's hot as hell and the silence between Drummer and I is making me uncomfortable. He hasn't said a word since we were in the car talking about our relationship.

"What do you want to eat for dinner? I can order room service since you paid for the room. I'll even pay for my own plane ticket." I say as I put my hair up into a messy bun.

"..."

"Hello! I know you hear me talking to you, Drummer! If you don't say something, I'll just order myself a meal. I'm not about to kiss your ass!"

"..."

"Well fuck you too then!!!" I scream before grabbing my phone and portable speaker then carrying them into the bathroom.

Stripping out of my clothes, I run myself a nice, hot, bubble bath while finding a song on my phone. After making sure the water is the right temperature, I slowly lower myself into the tub and lay back, resting my neck as plays softly through my speaker.

"Can I come in?" Drummer asks, knocking on the door and I ignore him.

He walks inside and sits down on the floor next to the tub then looks my body up and down; licking his lips. Rolling my eyes, I sing the lyrics softly until he turns the music off which forces me to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Milani."

Without a word, I just nod my head and reach for the speaker, but he moves it to the sink counter; knowing I can't reach it while I'm in the tub.

"I'm sorry for every bit of sadness and pain that I've caused you. I'm sorry you heard me having sex with Emma and I'm sorry that I even had sex with her in the first place. I'm sorry that I missed most of your pregnancy and wasn't there when you needed me the most. As you can tell, I'm sorry about a lot of shit, but I'm not sorry that I'm in love with you. There's a lot of shit I regret in life, but I definitely don't regret my relationship with you, loving you, or getting you pregnant. I shouldn't have let you leave Chicago. I should've fought harder for you to stay, but I didn't want to keep stressing you out while you were pregnant. I should've came after you. I failed as a boyfriend and I've been failing as a father by not being around, but I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to be better for you and our son. I just need the chance to show you how much I've changed. When you left, I stopped drinking and smoking for a while. I even went to therapy to make myself better for our family." Drummer explains with tears in his eyes that he tries to cover by rubbing his face.

"Why didn't you come after me?" I say, barely above a whisper.

"I swear I wanted to come after you sooner, Milani, but somebody started blackmailing me. They threatened to hurt you and knew you were in Vegas so I did whatever they said. A lot of shit has happened since you left and before I explain it all, you've got to promise me that you'll listen to the whole story before you respond. You have to promise that you won't switch up on me afterwards because I did it all to protect you. Some of the shit I'm gonna say is about my very fucked up past and makes me sick to my stomach to repeat it, but I have to tell you since you're coming back to Chicago."

"Drummer, wait, don't tell me yet. Help me out of here so I can get dressed and we can talk on the bed, over food because I'm starving. Also, I promise I won't switch up on you. I'm carrying your child, I'm stuck with you for at least 18 years." I smile as he helps me up then bends down to let the water out for me, drying his hands on a towel.

"I'll order the room service and book the flights. What do you want to eat?"

"I'll take the half roast chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and sautéed greens. Sprite to drink and I also want a piece of strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Oh and the cookies and milk!"

Drummer bucks his eyes and laughs before walking away to order the food. While he's doing that, I quickly dry myself off and get dressed in a black dress with white stripes, holding my baby bump as I walk into the room.

"You're getting so big. It's amazing and the food is on the way." Drummer says as he pulls me towards him. I want to push him away, but at the same time, my body wants him near.

As if the baby knows his daddy is near, he starts kicking me like crazy so I grab Drummer's hand and place it on the bottom of my belly; watching his eyes light up when he feels the kicks.

"I know you're worried about being a good father and you're afraid to tell me whatever you've done, but I won't judge you and neither will this little person in my stomach. He'll adore you and form his own opinion of you by the way you treat him. Your past and all the bad things you've done won't matter to him. No matter what, I'll never bash you to our son, together or not. I'll make sure he knows how amazing you are." I tell him, rubbing my fingers across his hair.

"Thank you for that. I appreciate it and you."

Nodding my head, I sit down on the bed while Drummer answers the door then brings our food to the bed. Licking my lips, I say my grace before digging in and he tries to talk to me, but we can't hear anything except me smacking.

"Damn little lady, you sure know how to put it away!" Drummer laughs and I do the same as I clean my plates, washing it down with my sprite. "I am so full!" I sigh and he nods.

"Now that we're finished eating, let's talk. I want you to tell me everything. I'm here for you." I say as I focus my attention on Drummer.

Drummer takes a deep breath and starts explaining what happened. He starts with the blackmailer saying they'd go public about what we did to Tony, Jarell, and Holloway, him shooting Hazel, falling out with his dad, the situation with Princess's parents and her addiction, The truth about Niyah's death, him having to take care of Princess, and finding out that Niyah may not have been his. Hours later when he's finally finished telling me everything, my mouth hangs open and my eyes are filled with water.

"Say something, Milani. Please." He says lowly, a stray tear running down his face.

Not knowing what to say, I pull him into my arms and the two of us cry onto each other's shoulders. I rub the back of his head as I hold him tightly, whispering that everything will be okay and that I forgive him for his mistakes.

"I had no idea you were going through so much, Drummer. I'm sorry that I left you and I'm sorry for how I acted with Chanel, for having sex with Nolan, for letting Brandon kiss me, for not letting you be around for my pregnancy. I can't help, but to feel like it's my fault that you were getting black mailed and I really do apologize. I'd never purposely put you in harm's way." I say as I look into his eyes.

"I forgive you, Milani. I just want us to stop with the back and forth. I want to be with you and as you can see, I would do anything to keep you safe. I told you, I need you and our son in my life. I know I suggested coparenting, but I don't want that. I want to raise our son in a loving, two parent household. Before we take off in the air on that plane to Chicago, I have to have an answer about our relationship because with me testifying against Brandon and having to take care of Princess, shit is gonna get rough. I need to know that you'll stand by me through whatever. I need to know that you love me as much as I love you."

"I'll have your answer in the morning, but for now, let's just go to sleep." I say as I get up to turn the lights off then come back to the bed.

As I'm trying to fall asleep, I think about whether or not I want to stick around with Drummer and all of his flaws. I know I can't judge him based on what he did to keep ME safe. Nobody forced me to help them get rid of Tony and his rats so Drummer could've easily turned me, Chanel, and Brandon in to save himself, but he didn't. He did go to therapy and tried to make progress, but the odds were against him. That's not his fault.

"Ugh decisions, decisions" are the last words I say to myself before letting sleep take over.

******

"You finished with your phone calls?" Drummer asks as we board the plane.

"Yeah I am. I told Michael he could take over the event planning business, thanked Kimora for dropping us off here, agreeing to ship my other stuff to me, and keeping my car. I also had my doctor transfer all of my information to my obgyn in Chicago."

"Good."

The two of us get comfortable in our seats and I try my best to calm my nerves, hoping Drummer has forgotten that I haven't given him an answer yet. Moments later, we hear an announcement from the pilot saying that take off is in 5 minutes and Drummer stares at me.

"What did you decide, Milani?"

"I did a hell of a lot of thinking before I went to sleep last night and this morning. There are a lot of risks I'd be taking by being with you, but you've taken a lot of risks to keep me safe and make sure that I'm not going to prison. You've loved me, despite, me pushing you away, running away with your baby, letting your best friend kiss me, and having sex with another man. You've also shown a lot of improvement with your listening and communication skills. You even agreed to testify against Brandon so that you'd be able to be in our son's life. Although that's terrible, you're doing it for a good reason."

"Okay, so what are you saying?" Drummer asks, biting his lip.

"I want to be in a relationship with you. I know it'll be hard, but we'll make it work because we love each other and our son will keep us motivated to fight through the obstacles. I love you, Drummer."

With a smile on his face, Drummer kisses my lips passionately and tells me that he loves me before leaning down to my belly. "You hear that son? Yo daddy finally earned your mama back. I did it!!"

"Shh!" I say. His loud ass had people staring at us.

The plane takes off and we interlock our fingers, enjoying the ride until we make it back to Chicago. By the time we catch our Uber back to Drummer's house, I'm tired and sore. All I want to do is eat and lay down. Being 34 weeks pregnant is so exhausting.

While Drummer holds our bags, I open the door and am shocked at the shit in front of me. The sounds of moaning and skin clapping almost makes me gag.

"NIGGA, WHAT THE FUCK, BRUH!!? YOU FUCKING MY BABY MAMA!!??" Drummer yells as he drops the bags, running into the house and prying Brandon off the woman who I now know as Princess.

As I walk into the house, I can't help but to feel hurt that he called her his baby mama like I'm not standing right here. Hell, he doesn't even know if Niyah was his! At least, I know for a fact I'm pregnant with HIS son.

And to think I had hope that shit would be okay being back here.

So much for