Cherish and Priest had been back from Joux Plane Morzine Village in France for a couple of days now. Christmas was perfect to say the least, there was no drama and a lot of reconciliation happening.

Cherish made up with her aunt and Marcus. After hearing the truth, Cherish had forgiven them while asking for forgiveness from them. She felt so bad about how she cut both of them out of her life. How she woke up in the hospital and made them leave because she didn't want them to know she needed them and was lost without them in her life. How she didn't attend Marcus's wedding.

Cherish told Priest that it was okay for Asia to come along, since she felt sorry Asia had no family to spend Christmas with. It shocked everyone, but didn't shock Asia in the slightest. Asia hears whenever Cherish name was brought up how she has a big heart and seems to see the good in people. Weirdly enough, there was no awkwardness between them. Not even when Priest would find some way to be affectionate with Cherish. When Asia told Cherish that she's rooting for them to get back together, she gained the side eye of suspicion from Cherish until Asia explained why.

Assad showed up with Hendrix, which had Cherish a little angry considering they hadn't spoken since September. Therefore, Assad shouldn't have come. Nothing was resolved between those two. Assad kept trying to talk to Cherish, but she was over it.

"Mr. Blackmon, do you plan to just sit here and not talk? Or are you going to elaborate further?"

"How many times you gon' ask me that shit?" Priest frowned.

"As many times as I have to." His therapist, Candace, didn't back down.

Priest chose a woman for a therapist because he couldn't see himself letting all of his vulnerability out with another man; a stranger, no less. Even with his brothers Truth and Shooter, they only see that side of him when it comes to his kids and Cherish. His father see a little bit more, but never how Cherish witnessed. If he felt the urge to drop a tear, he couldn't do that in front of a man. He couldn't see himself baring his soul about the details of what he had been through with another man. Maybe it was ego, perhaps it was pride, or potentially he would rather not be looked at like a liar—he didn't know, but he rather his therapist be a woman. He didn't knock male therapists because a man could be just as helpful, but what he went through—he just couldn't. He didn't want any man looking at him like he was weaker than he feels.

It was time for Priest to take that step towards healing, like he promised Cherish he would during their Christmas trip.

"Are you okay?" Cherish rubbed her hand up and down his bare back soothingly as Priest stared out of the glass door, which was in the room he was sleeping in as the snow fell.

"You invited your man, so you two must gon' work shit out." Priest spoke, but continued to stare out of the glass door.

"You know I didn't invite him here. You and everyone else clearly saw my reaction to him being here when he came through the door. And Assad isn't my man. He cut me off during the summer and then again after he came to the hospital. I haven't even said a word to him since they got here." Cherish looked at him, but he didn't turn around.

"You made up with Rissa and Marcus. I guess he next. You said you in love with the nigga." Opening up to Cherish made Priest feel hella insecure when it came to other men possibly gaining Cherish's attention, since he convinced himself she saw him another way.

"I said nothing about I was in love with that man. Part of me still feels something for him, but it's only a small part. I don't love Assad, nor am I in love with him. I'm not on that type of time with him. You're the one who fell in love, not me. I didn't invite him here, Hendrix did. Why are you acting like this?" She frowned.

"I didn't fall in love. I love Asia as a friend, and that's as far as that love shit went. I'ma always be in love with you, mama. You want to know why I'm acting like this? It's because you deserve someone like Assad. Someone not fucked up. I don't know how many times I need to say that to you for you to understand. I am fucked up."

"Don't do that. I hate what happened to you has you questioning where you stand in my life. Don't downplay the man I love because he's going through something. Something fucked up happened to you, but you are not fucked up. We all go through things mentally, Priest. I'm always calling myself fucked up, but the truth is we both been through a lot, especially individually; that doesn't make us fucked up people because we've been dealt a bad hand. It just means we need to heal the pain that was inflicted on us because we are strong enough to make it out of that darkness."

"I don't know how you could stand to be near me, mama." Priest sighed.

"What do you mean? Look at me." Cherish spoke softly while grabbing his arm. Priest turned around and looked down at her, his eyes instantly connecting with hers. It never fails. They couldn't look at one another without staring into the other's eyes. "I don't ever want you not near me, Priest. EVER. That might have been the first time I've heard what you have been through afterwards, but it's not the first I've found out what happened to you. I knew the truth after I left, remember? My love for you hasn't changed. In fact, it has grown. Knowing how you've been dealing with it doesn't make me look at you any differently. Have you forgotten the past months of me fighting to get you back? If I saw you differently, why would I go through the trouble? Especially after how you were treating me. I didn't stop fighting for you right off though." Priest's hand reached out to rub her stomach. The moment his hand came into contact, he felt movement.

"You feel that? Your sons hear your voice and know when their father is upset. They know what'll put him at ease, even for a moment." She added.

"Hasaun and Hasani... daddy love y'all for real. I can't wait to meet you, lil dudes." Priest crouched down and kissed her stomach before standing back to his full height and continuing to rub her stomach.

"Hasaun and Hasani?" Cherish looked at him.

"I'm just messing around with some names. I was thinking we could name them Hasaun Ayaan and Hasani Ayaan—Ayaan since your middle name is Ayanna. Hasaun spelling is different from H-A-S-S-A-N, it's spelled H-A-S-A-U-N. What do you think?"

"You be coming clutch with baby names, that's for sure. I love them. The Ayaan for Ayanna means a lot to me. You seem to always come up with the best names for our kids, and I love that." Cherish smiled.

"You think I'll be a good father to them? Having sons is different from having daughters. How can I raise my sons to be young kings when I..."

"You will be an amazing father to our sons as you are to our daughters. Don't even think like that. They don't see a flaw in you. They adore their father and love him more than anything. In their eyes, he's a king, and they're the princesses. Our sons will love their father as well. Nothing is wrong with you. You're not weak, no matter how much you think you are. We're weak for each other, but you're not a weak man in that sense. And you will overcome this. You told me you couldn't understand why God had chosen you to keep fighting battles that are too big at times. To endure pain and not fold. I should've told you that God always gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers because it's the truth. You didn't deserve that, but you're strong enough to fight the battle to overcome it. I don't care how long ago it happened. That's something that'll always be a part of your story—the dark part of your story."

"We all have insecurities. You remember when you found out about Malaysia? You fucked me like you hated me, it was rough but not in a way that'll hurt me and... so damn good at the same time if that makes sense." She sighed. "That's why these twins will be bad as hell. Their daddy didn't show their mommy any mercy while they were being conceived." She shook her head, joking. "I'm getting off the subject at hand... my point is, I only knew you didn't fully hate me because there were moments I looked at you through my teary eyes and noticed how your face would fight to soften. The anger would try to fade from your eyes and your actions wanted to turn gentle, but didn't. You were stuck between not making love to me after so many years and continuing to fuck me like you hated my existence, so you chose the latter. Knowing that struggle convinced my heart that we would overcome keeping her from you. Then you said the two things that triggered my insecurities, even after we spoke about my insecurities moments before." She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I kept saying I didn't deserve what you did to me, which it was done to me, but I was using the wrong word. It's what you said to me afterwards. You said, I was the most unlovable person you've met. People leave me because it's hard to love someone like me. That when my kids—our daughters, get older, they're going to leave as well because their momma is fucked up and can't be fixed. Priest, that crushed me. You knew my insecurities, but didn't know just how much I struggled with being a good mother. How much I felt like I wasn't a good mother. How our daughters view me, but when you said that, my heart cracked. You already know how I feel about people leaving me, so I believed you were right. The only reason I could forgive what you said and move past it was because I knew how angry you were in the moment. I felt it."

"I shouldn't have said that. Again, I apologize, baby. I didn't even mean that shit. I really was just angry, and it was fucked up of me to say what I did. It was just part of me wanting to hurt you like you hurt me, but it wasn't right, so again, I apologize." Priest thumbs ran underneath her eyes, wiping her tears. Not even caring that he slipped up and called her "baby."

"You've already apologized, and we already move past that. I'm just super sensitive while being pregnant and can't help but cry at times. I brought that up because it's okay to have insecurities. As I said, we all have them. You just have to be willing to work on those insecurities. I really think you should tell your parents about what you've been going through. Depression is hard. Fighting it on your own is even harder. I know you don't want to because men subconsciously think that they can't express themselves, since most times the moment men do, they're labeled as weak. Even when they're not, in some kind of way, society has conditioned men in some kind of way to think they are. Society has taught men they shouldn't have feelings, but that's not true at all. The only way I've been able to fight these battles is because I had my family, you, and Yaz in my corner. You have me, Yaz, and you need your parents."

"I got me a therapist. My first appointment will be when we go back home. I'm still not sold on this therapy shit."

"I'm so proud of you, Priest. I mean it. You opening up to me, and now you took the first step to heal that trauma. Hopefully, you don't back out of going."

"I appreciate you so much, beautiful. You really make everything better." Priest looked at her.

"I don't know about that... I do know that I'm here for you. Whatever you need and whenever you need me."

"I love you. You know that?" Priest pulled her closer before kissing her forehead. "I don't have your name tatted over my heart for shits and giggles. You're my heart, mama."

Her index finger traced her tattooed name over his heart. "And you're mine. I love you, Priest. Friends?"

She was starting to realize how they always find their way back to the middle and to each other. They couldn't fight destiny and what's meant to be. They were destined to meet. Destined to fall in love for the first and seems like the only time. Destined to have a family together. Destined to go through trials and tribulations. Destined to grow together. She knew right now Priest wasn't ready for a relationship, so she'd offer him her friendship instead. If they're meant to be together, then that's what it'll be. She was no longer holding out for Priest despite the emotional outburst she had days ago. She had to finally face reality; there's a chance they might not get back together.

"You've always been one of my best friends on some real shit, so yeah. I got something for you."

Priest walked over to one of his duffle bags and pulled out a velvet jewelry box. He walked back over to Cherish and placed the box in her hand. "One of your Christmas presents, even though it's not Christmas yet."

"I don't think nothing could top red diamonds." She smiled.

"This will."

Cherish opened the box eagerly. When she saw what was inside, she looked at Priest. Her thumb traced across the added blue diamonds. "You got our engagement ring made into a pendant?" Cherish smiled with tears, biting down on her bottom lip. That's one thing she absolutely loved and cherish; her engagement ring before Priest took it back. The ring turned pendant was beautiful, especially with the added blue diamonds. "Thank you, Priest. It's beautiful." She loved it because it was a thoughtful and sentimental gift, even though she was sure the added diamonds and alterations were expensive.

"I should've never taken it from you. Even when I took it, I kept it put up. I knew how much it meant to you and decided to have it made into a pendant, since you were rocking it around your neck. I had Ricardo to add the diamonds to bring it out more."

"My Christmas present for you seems so small in comparison." She pouted cutely.

"I got the best present already. That's spending Christmas with my kids and you. I'm sure I'll love whatever you got me though." He told her. "Let me put it on for you." Priest grabbed it from her hands as she turned around. Her hair was in a messy bun, so he moved the hair that was hanging out of the way. The way his fingers gently brushed her skin gave her butterflies. "Now it's back where it belongs."

Cherish turned around and looked up at Priest as he looked down at her. She didn't know what else Priest had gotten her for Christmas, but that one was already her favorite and thought nothing else could top it. "Yeah, it is."

Priest had taken Cherish's advice and told his parents what had been going on with him throughout the years. Patience cried for her son, since she didn't notice how much pain he was in and the depression he was going through when it came to what happened to him. No matter how old Priest is, that's her one and only child. Priest said he'll see a therapist and now, here he was and this wasn't easy at all for him. He wanted to be better—healed for himself, for his kids, for her.

"Something happened that fucked me up. The mother of my kids saw that shit for herself. What more is there to say?" He shook his head before running his tattooed hand over his face in frustration.

Despite Priest giving therapy a chance, he was feeling a lot like it wasn't for him and a waste of time. After opening up to Cherish, it really did bring them closer together. That's why they could settle on being friends. The only challenge with that is that they were never just friends before. There was still a part of him that was convinced Cherish thought something was wrong with him, regardless of her reassuring him otherwise. In all honesty, he rather he talked about Cherish than what he'd been through.

"This is our first session, Mr. Blackmon. Typically, the first few sessions are the hardest. I need you to give me something to work with. Before we dive into the big stuff, let's start with how you feel about other things. The first thing you said—the only thing you've said, was that you feel weak around the mother of your children. Tell me about that—dig a little deeper on that feeling." Candace spoke calmly.

Priest thought about Cherish's extended reaction after they finally managed to pull away from their embrace when he first opened up to her.

Completely enveloped in each other's arms, Priest and Cherish held on to each other, feeling if they were to let go, the other would be gone. Cherish felt like shit after hearing everything Priest told her. She left him when he needed her the most, and that hurt her so deeply that she couldn't stop the pain from forming in her chest or the knot in her throat. Tears burned her eyes as she bit her lip. Her heart was physically aching for him. Despite promising Priest she would be there for him, she silently made the same promise to herself. She couldn't—no, she wouldn't turn her back on him again. From the way he held her, she knew that he needed her. Truth is, she needed him just as much.

Slightly detaching, Cherish stared into his eyes. His eyes held pain she has never seen before him opening up. She really hopes that Priest understands she doesn't think less of him, and she hopes that he really take the steps to heal properly. She cupped his face into her soft hands before pressing her forehead against his. Closing her eyes, she prayed for him and the peace she knew he desperately needed. His heart felt an immense connection in that moment as if he could hear her prayer out loud.

Amen. She thought as tears dripped down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Cherish sniffled.

"I told you—"

"I should've been there for you, Priest. I should've!" She shook her head. "I really left you at a time you needed me most. I should've come back for you—I should've—but I didn't. I was too busy selfishly keeping my fake abortion from you after knowing that you were ra—I'm sorry." She verbalized, each word uttered with a crack of her voice. "How could I—"

"Stop crying, mama. You really have nothing to apologize for. I need you to calm down before you get my sons worked up." Priest rubbed her stomach. Cherish body was shaking as she cried.

"You needed me and I—"

"I need you now." He wiped her tears before kissing the dampness on her face. The softness of his lips moved over her eyelids. Her nose. Her cheeks. And the corner of her pretty lips. Resisting temptation to kiss them, his lips moved to her ear. "Calm down for me, mama. I need you to do that." Cherish sniffled, nodding as a form of response.