The city had grown into a melting pot that had its residents groaning and growing antsy. I had begun to grow more conscious of the evils lurking on my radar and I had no real grasp on where to begin. The things that mattered had begun to change by then and my priorities mostly revolved around the child growing inside me that I found myself speaking to.

After going for my first doctor's appointment with Eva the first real sign, the first real flicker of life on the screen had me bursting into tears especially when I heard the heartbeat. The occasion till now is marked as one of glee but sheer sadness at Nicholas' absence. But I had a stable support system.

By then sleep was returning to me bit by bit. I still found myself waking up sporadically in the course of the night. Instead of wandering around the quiet house I forced myself to grab a warm glass of milk to usher my soul to rest. I couldn't waste the chances to get a full nights sleep with an infant about to arrive to steal that away.

It was after that appointment when we went to visit Marcie. The first time I had visited her, I had been so caught off guard by how pale she looked. Fortunately she was looking healthier and when she walked into the room Eva and I were waiting in, the smile on her lips pushed me to smile as Joseph also followed close behind his daughter to join us. "How's the soon to be mommy doing?" Marcie squealed throwing her arms around me. The hug was truly soothing from the day I already had and I pulled back to produce a picture I had asked to receive showing the baby. Though the child was still the size of a baseball I wanted to document every stage and burn it all to memory.

Her grin widened when she looked at the picture, "I'm going to be a great aunt. I'll be there to stop Nicky from fucking up so much," she said making me release a deep chuckle at the image of her breathing down Nicky's neck scrutinizing every little thing he did.

But any mention of him held the possibility to make me cry and despite the fact I was laughing the tears cascaded down my cheeks. Concerned Marcie reached out to wipe my cheeks that shone with moisture, "These damn hormones," I sniffled rubbing my nose profusely.

"He'll be there, you know?" looking up at the deep voice I found Joseph's orbs on me. The illuminated shine in his eyes had me taking in his words with comfort. "And I'm going to do anything I can to help," he reassured coming to take a seat closer to us. "You can start by telling us the name of the witness, Sonny mentioned," I proposed staring at him. Joseph unlike Sonny was a bit more welcoming in his treatment of me. We had hardly spoken since we met but when he didn't put up much of a fight telling me the name that had threatened our peace we grew to talk more in time.

Once the visit came to an end the drive from the rehabilitation centre was quiet. No one said a thing which was probably for the best considering the rage coursing through my veins. Marcie and Eva had tried to calm me down when Joseph told me who went to the police and offered a name. I hadn't been completely blindsided but I shouldn't have been surprised at all and yet when Eva disembarked and asked if I was coming I simply remained in my seat and said, "I'll be coming."

Glancing up I wasn't surprised to find Daniel watching me through the rear view mirror, probably wondering what had gotten into me. "I really hope you aren't the type who'll tell me to just watch and do nothing," I said waiting to see a reaction. His brow lifted but he didn't say anything. I took his silence as a sign to air out what I had spent the entire drive thinking about that was only the first step into being unafraid in the face of confrontation, "I need you to do me a favour..."

***

It's true what they say; it really isn't easy to reach a place where you can forgive someone. All I can say with absolute certainty is that I didn't see myself reaching that place in regards to those trying to hurt those I care for most. It was hard functioning with a weight on your chest but after my talk with Daniel, I couldn't lose any composure.

It hadn't been long since he drove off when my phone rang as I entered the house. My heart skipped a beat at the voice on the other end telling me a prisoner was attempting to call me and I leapt to the opportunity to accept the call. "How did it go?" he asked and I plopped onto the nearest seat in the room fighting the urge to smile. "Good, I heard the heartbeat and right now the baby is about the length of a pea pod," I replied pushing away those dark thoughts to soak in the little time I had with him. "And how are you?" the question proved difficult to answer but I had to stay strong and after searching for the appropriate response I replied, "I'm okay, been getting a lot more sleep and I can already feel my breasts getting bigge –" I stopped short at the groan on the other end that had me sitting up in concern that something bad had happened. "Baby, are you okay?!"

"No," he grumbled, "I'm not there to play with them. Fuck!" he cursed and I shook my head in amusement at what the man was throwing a fit on. "You're unbelievable, out of all the things to be irritated over."

He chuckled and I sat there mentally drawing an image in my head of his eyes crinkling anytime he laughed. I had secretly begun to hope the baby would have his smile. "Have you seen you? I have a right to be annoyed at the fact I can't take full advantage of your hormones," his voice had lowered an octave and I grew flush taking a look around the room to ensure his mother wasn't close by. "Nice to know you're enjoying these new changes happening to me."

"Have you finally told your parents?" Shutting my eyes at the uncomfortable situation awaiting me, I had been procrastinating as a result to tell them. "Liyah?" his voice came out as a warning when I didn't reply. "I-I haven't exactly like come around – I mean with the different schedu –"

"Liyah!" he bellowed making me deflate in my seat due to feeling defeat. I took a deep breath before giving a straight answer instead of beating around the bush. "No."

When he sighed I already knew he was going to lecture me over keeping my lips sealed, "And yet you complain to me about keeping things to myself," he stated and upon instinct I grew defensive. "If I tell them now I know my dad will want to rip your throat out meaning he's likely to come here to do so. The last thing I want is for either of them to find you in prison. My parents are already pretty traditional, I'd much rather deal with them being annoyed that this child will be born out of wedlock than to have them pissed I'm –"

"With a criminal," he finished.

"That's not how I wanted to put it."

"I know," he sighed, "but considering we're going to be parents I can see how they're bound to be disappointed." It remained silent for a second or so, before I spoke, "You just need to get out soon."

"I will and I'll be there to support you when you get your work published," he replied, snickering into the phone at that dream. I had been ecstatic when I received a publishing deal making all the time and effort spent worth it. "How are things going with the case?"

"I'll be honest the evidence isn't playing in my favour. If only there was some honest way to prove that I didn't touch that cop."

"So who did?" I asked listening attentively as he relayed the details of that night.

After we got shot at Nicholas had assembled most of his men to attack a club located in Downtown Brooklyn Lucien and his men conducted most of their business from. It had been a reckless move fuelled by emotions rather than logic and when Nicholas arrived they opened fire killing most. He had been disgruntled to learn Lucien hadn't been there but the message had been sent.

It was a shame that Nicky happened to drop his gun on the scene and that same weapon was used to lodge a bullet by one of Lucien's men to kill Cornelius Burks who happened to be on the scene secretly keeping surveillance on the place. He had barely been on the force for long but he was a good man who was respected by his peers and was even looked up to by the youth.

Now armed with the knowledge of who falsely accused Nicky, I was ready to return to the simpler times. As the call came to an end I sent a silent prayer to my Maker for the necessary fortitude to keep the faith and hopefully one day reach a place where I could maybe even forgive...