Still In

XXXVI

6 months later...

Tanya

"Mommy!" Daniel yelled from the living room.

I placed the knife down and walked out the kitchen. Walking over to the play pen, I realized why he was calling me.

"Hi, mama. How was your nap?"

Toni Olivia Jackson- my babygirl. I was so scared when I was giving birth to her. Nobody I knew was in the room. I had complications and in the end had to get a C-Section. Everything worked out just fine minus her needing to be in a incubator. I was stressed out and extremely emotional. Finding out about Dave didn't help either.

~Flashback~

There was a knock on the hospital room door. It opened and in walked Kianna, Grandma Angela, and Sean. When I saw Sean, I was nervous and confused.

"Sean? What are you doing here? Where are the boys? Where's Dave? Who took them? What h-"

"Tanya, breathe." He said. "The boys are with Cash. They're safe and unharmed."

"Who took them?"

"A girl named Cara. Chris's sister."

"Chris had a sister?" Kianna asked.

"Yeah. She wanted revenge for Dave killing him. She was only using the kids as bait."

"Who was she working with?"

"Carrie and Marcus."

"That grimy bitch." Kianna mumbled.

"Watch your mouth, girl." Grandma said. "That little bitch."

"Wait, so, where's Dave?"

"Dave was shot, Tanya. The doctors are working on him now."

My eyes watered and I wanted to scream. Sean came over and rubbed my back. How could the love of my life be fighting to stay in this world when his daughter was just brought in?

~ End of Flashback ~

When I found out about Carrie and Marcus, I wasn't as hurt as I thought I would be. Carrie changed as soon as we graduated and her breakup with Randy didn't help at all. Marcus has always been grimy.

I slightly felt bad for the Cara girl. Well, not her but her mom. Within a year, she had lost both her kids by the hands of the same man. I couldn't imagine how she's feeling.

I picked up Toni and she was immediately removed from my arms. I looked over at Dave and stale faced him as he kissed Toni's cheek while she just laid on his shoulder.

After Dave got out of surgery, the doctor updated Rashad. He came in my room and let us know what he was told. Apparently, during surgery, Dave had died for five minutes. He was pronounced dead and while the doctor was preparing to let somebody know, his heart started beating again. He told me later in the week that in the short time he was dead, he saw Bryan. One thing that Dave never told me before was that he blamed himself for Bryan's death. He felt like if he would've had Bryan stay with him, he could've protected him.

"Can I have my baby back please?"

"Nope." He said before kissing my forehead and sitting on the couch.

Dave and I are in a much better place now. Once we were both healed and out the hospital, we decided to go to counseling. Our patience and communication is significantly better. He also understands that the trust I once had in him won't be back overnight nor will it be at the level it once was.