“Well you’ll have to wait until I get my figure back. In the meantime, turn around.”He flashed me his earth-shaking smile before he turned. I changed quickly into flannel pants and his sleeping shirt that he had let me keep. “You can turn around now.”He turned around with my smile still in place. “You still look beautiful.”“Don’t taunt me.” I moved to the bed and got in. He sat on my bed on top of the cover. “Ash, can I ask you something?”“Sure.” He looked down at me.“Did Baku want Rosa?” The second I said her name his face dropped and his body tightened. He folded his arms over his chest and looked straight ahead.“Yes.” His answer was blunt and emotionless. I wasn’t sure if I should keep asking but I had already started.“And he killed her because he couldn’t have her?”“Yes.”

Ash you need to get back here now!Joe’s thoughts were loud in my head. I turned and kept my eyes on the other door. It was closed but that wouldn’t stop them if they wanted to crash in.How many!“There’s only one in the house.” My voice was shaky. Ann pulled me back to stand behind the island. Joe moved closer to the door blocking it with his body.There is only one foreign scent. I’ll take him.“Joe, don’t. What if it’s a trap?”She’s right. We’ll be there in a minute.“Sooner than a minute would be great.”“Lee what’s going on?” Maria asked with a quivering voice.“Ash and the others are on the way; in the meantime Joe is going to keep him away from us.” I shifted my eyes to Maria for a second before they went back on the door.“Lee, sit down, I’ll cover the door.” Ann stepped around me.“Why?”“One, you are pregnant, two I’m the one with the gun.” Ann pulled it up and aimed it at the door.“Sure, Salt, the spot light is all yours.”“Now is not the time to make jokes!” Maria hushe

“They will be forced to mature quicker. They will grow faster, tearing and crushing you and then finally they will rip themselves out of you as fully grown toddlers.” He spoke looking directly at me, making sure I understood every word he said. I was getting it, loud and clear.I looked at him speechless. My throat felt dry at the thought of the pain that would cause me. The image of them coming out of me grown like I was a sleeping bag they had unzipped, scared me even more. “Talk about skipping the three a.m. feedings,” I whispered.“That isn’t funny, neither is the image in your head.” Ash came close to me and pulled me up from the seat. He held me tight against him. I couldn’t feel his anger anymore. All I felt was fear.“How do we know he’s not making it up, maybe Baku sent him,” Maria asked her voice broken.“Practical is more believable than theory.” He stood up and extended his arm to me. “Lee.”“Eri, no,” Ash said harshly. He moved me to his side away from Eri.“I won’t hurt

“Where are we going?” Ash pulled the jeep out of the garage and sped down the path and out to the main road.“We are going to the beach.” I looked at him smiling like a fool. Eri had turned out to be the best burglar ever. He’d given me leverage and the rest no other choice but to accept my decision on having these babies. Not that it would have mattered. I would have been able to protect them from Ash just fine—well with a little difficulty but I would have pulled it off somehow. But that didn’t matter anymore. He was going to let me have them, let me have his children.He looked away from the road and stared at me, his lips pulled up into my smile. “I can’t remember the last time I saw that smile.”“What smile?”“The ‘truly happy’ smile.” He glanced at the road when he took the corner before he looked back at me.“When was the last time you saw it?”“When you realized your dad was real and not a figment of your imagination.”I laughed remembering that day. It was the best yet most

I was getting tired of this. I couldn’t take it anymore. The constant black outs and nausea was becoming too much for me to handle. Ash was right, and they were doing more than killing me, they were annoying the hell out of me but they were my children what else could I do?I sat on the patio swing, watching the sunset under the tall trees. After a day and a half of holding my head over the toilet puking out all the blood Joe had administered into me through an IV and away from Ash’s hysterias, these few moments felt like paradise to me. Ann and Maria were seated with me talking about the latest hot movie star while keeping an eye on me. No one wanted to leave me alone now that I was finally feeling the effect of the pregnancy. Joe and my dad were in the house, preparing for the C-Section, which they always did in anticipation of the fifth pain and any other problems that were bound to occur. With Ash gone, Dad was my space heater.Ash had left angry with me for not doing what he want