"Timeless Sequel: Time's Up" Part 5b

[CarolinaCutie]

“Dn. I’m not believin’ this!”, Don anxiously thought to himself as he scanned the front page of the Sunday morning paper. There was a news-breaking headline about Peaches’ car accident from the night before and the mysterious disappearance of the passenger, Kiara Andrews, who wasn’t at the scene according to a driver who stopped at the scene to call for help. However, the police had discovered Kiara’s purse in the back of the vehicle. The article went into further detail mentioning Mark’s name and how he said that the girls were on their way to a surprise baby shower for his 7-month-pregnant wife.

Don didn’t have to see Mike’s name written in the article to know that he most definitely had something to do with this.

“Isht! I bet I know where that na went, too!”, he stated aloud to himself as he climbed behind the wheel of his ride.

Sure enough, he noticed that no one answered Michael’s door after he rung the bell a few times.

“Dn, homey! I can’t see ya go out like this!”, he huffed as he headed for the police station to seek their help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Tamir was back in Peaches’ room, he told her that with her doctor’s approval, he had a surprise for her. Turning around and waving his arm at Momma Ruffin, she brought Taymar in to see his mother for just a few minutes.

The minute Taymar saw his mommy, he began to whine and reached out his arms to her to be held. When Peaches heard her baby’s voice, for her it was a pleasant surprise.

“Granny got’cha suga! Mommy can’t hold you right now.”, Momma Ruffin sighed as she tried to keep him still in her arms. “Stop that now!” However, her commands fell on deaf ears as Taymar began to cry.

“I got him, ma.”, Tamir chuckled as he pulled him from her arms. He carefully leaned the baby over the bed rail so he could touch Peaches’ hand that she slowly raised in the air. For a moment, everyone became emotional, including Peaches’ who began to cry as Taymar began to laugh and say Dada in a sing-song fashion.

“Okay, sugapie…we gotta go now.”, Momma Ruffin smiled as she took Taymar back into her arms. Before leaving she exchanged a hug and kiss with Tamir and rubbed Peaches’ hand.

Several minutes later, as Tamir laughed at a rerun of “A Diff’rent World”, he thought he was hearing things.

“Mir.”, Peaches faintly replied two times in a row before he turned around and noticed that she had turned her head to face him while fluttering her eyes open.

“Boo?”, he whispered while becoming choked up. He immediately stood to his feet while still holding onto her hand. “Ah man!!!” He took his other hand and began to stroke her face.

All of a sudden, he left the room and ran up and down the hall looking for the doctor while laughing and shedding tears of joy. He found a nurse and brought her back into Peaches’ room.

“Well what do we have here?”, the nurse smiled after noticing that Peaches was awake and alert. “You feelin’ aight, sweetie?” Peaches smiled and nodded her head.

“I love you!”, Tamir grinned as he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

“I love you too.”, she whispered while grinning back.

“I’m gonna get the doctor that’s on duty right now and have him come in to check her out juss to make sure that everything’s fine. Glad to have you back with us, honey.”, the nurse grinned as she rubbed Peaches’ arm before leaving the room.

“Where’d the baby go?”, she asked as she and Tamir continued to look into each other’s eyes.

“Ma took him back home with her.”, he replied.

“Are Kee and the baby alright?”, she asked with a look of concern.

Tamir shook his head with a solemn look. “She’s missin’.”

“Oh no. So Mike did take her.”, she sighed as tears began to run down her face.

“I need to make a phone call, boo!”, Tamir anxiously stated as he walked over to the other side of the room to use the telephone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What tha' hell do you mean he's not in the area?!", Mark shouted at the detective as the two of them stood in the middle of the police station.

"Mr. Andrews, you're goin' to have to lower your voice.", the detective warned in a calm manner.

"Look, this is my wife and child that are missin'! So don't tell me to calm down!!!", Mark yelled as he glared at him.

"I undastand that, but you have to realize that we are doin' all we can to find them.", the detective replied.

Mark was about to go off some more until his phone began to ring.

"Hello.", he snapped.

"Hey, man...it's Mir. Listen...I got some good news and some not so good news.", Tamir stated.

"Yeah...", Mark huffed.

"Well the good news is that Peaches is awake and the bad news is that she knows for a fact that Mike was involved in her accident.", Tamir replied.

"Oh isht! Hol' on a minute, man! I'm tryna tell these cops that he's involved with it.", Mark hurriedly responded as he lowered his phone by his side to explain it to the detective.

The detective decided to talk with Tamir directly. After getting the needed information, he and Mark both headed up to the hospital to talk with Peaches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm back.", Michael smiled as he stepped inside the bedroom. However, Kiara had fallen asleep right after he left for a while.

"Kee...I'm home.", he playfully whispered as he laid down on the bed next to her. But she still didn't budge. What he didn't know was that she was deep in a dream about being back home with her family and friends. When she felt someone gently shaking her shoulder to wake her up, she was thinking that it was Mark. She was dead wrong! When she looked over her shoulder with a small smile and realized that it was Michael, she quickly sat up and moved to the far corner of the bed. Kiara didn't want him anywhere near her.

"Will you quit actin' like I'ma hurt you?! Dn!", Michael spat as he reached his hand out to her. She reacted by backing up farther against the wall away from him.

"Juss stay away from me.", she whispered as tears began to fall from her eyes. She was beginning to wonder if anyone would come to her rescue.

"Okay...I'll wait until you come around.", he sighed.

"I bought you some lunch. I see you still didn't eat your breakfast.", he stated as he looked at the plate of food he had made for her earlier that morning.

"I don't want ANYTHING from you!!!", she yelled as she turned her back to him and leaned her head up against the wall. However, she got to thinking for a few seconds and decided that she had to think of the baby. "Look...juss leave whateva you have for me next to the bed. I'll eat it when I get ready."

"It'll be best if you eat somethin' now. You don't look too well.", he stated in a solemn tone as he noticed her dark and swollen eyes. He also witnessed how her skin was beginning to become pale.

"What do you expect when you put me in this situation?!", she snapped as she glared at him.

"You put yourself into this situation. If you had only listened to me the first time I begged you to come back, I wouldn't have to force you into bein' with me again. But like I said...I'll wait until you come back around.", he replied with a shake of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

Later on in the evening after leaving the hospital, Mark decided to go hang out at the local sports bar, alone, to get himself together. He kept replaying Peaches' recollection of how Michael had ran her and Kiara off of the road over and over in his mind. That's when he decided to walk over to the bar to numb his feelings of hurt, anger, and fear.

About an hour or so later, Don, decided to drop by the bar to chill for a while. After being told by the police department that they were doing all they could to find Michael and Kiara, he decided to let things be. He chose not to tell them that he knew the exact place that Michael had to be with Kiara.

When Michael was released from prison, he had shown Don the farmhouse he had bought. Michael said that this place was gonna be his getaway spot from the city when he felt like he needed some time to himself.

While thinking, Don figured that if he went out to see Michael, he might be able to talk some sense into him if he was indeed there.

"Mark?", Don stated as he walked up to the bar. He noticed him downing 4 shots one right behind the other.

"Yeah.", Mark huffed as he turned around on the bar stool. When he saw Don standing behind him he quickly jumped up. "Since I can't get to yo' boy, I should kick yo' @$$!!!"

"Wait a minute, man! Before you jump to conclusions...I wanted to let'cha know that I may have an idea of where your wife is.", Don quickly replied as he stretched his arms out to Mark while stepping back.

"What did you say?!", Mark asked in shock.

"Yeah, man...", Don began in a hushed tone as he motioned for Mark to sit down with him at a table away from everyone else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kiara was sitting in the living room by herself while Michael went into the kitchen to grab a cold drink. He felt confident enough that she wouldn't try to escape. When she was sure that he was all the way into the kitchen, she quickly reached over the arm of the sofa to grab the cordless phone from the end table next to her. She then proceeded to turn the ringer off and placed it under the throw pillow behind her back because her plan was to take it into the bathroom with her later on to make a phone call.

"Isn't this juss like ol' times?", Michael grinned as he walked back into the living room carrying a bottle of beer for himself and a bottle of juice for her.

She never answered him. She just kept her focus on the big screen television in front of them.

"C'mon...please talk to me. I told you I'm ready to start a whole new life with you and I'll get you anything you want.", he stated as he sat down next to her. "Juss ask and it's yours."

"I want you to leave me alone.", she calmly replied as she continued to watch the tv.

"I can't...and I won't.", he whispered as he moved closer to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. Kiara immediately tensed up and tried to move away from him, but she couldn't because he had a strong hold on her.

After a few more minutes, Kiara told him that she wanted to take a shower and change into her nightwear that he had bought for her earlier in the day. He had also bought her some more clothes for her to change into from day to day now that he knew what size she wore. "I'm gettin' sleepy and wanna turn in for the night."

"Okay...", he agreed with a nod of his head. "I'll join ya because I'm beat too!" He proceeded to get up to go check the burglar alarm. As soon as he turned his back to Kiara, she quickly grabbed the phone from behind the pillow and placed it under her sweater.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark and Don were talking about what they were going to do in order to rescue Kiara from Michael when Mark's phone began to ring.

"Hello?", he answered after noticing the strange number that showed up.

"Mark, it's Kee! I'm alright!!!", Kiara anxiously replied into the receiver as the shower ran to throw Michael off who was on the other side of the door lying down watching tv.

"Kee! Boo, are you aight?!!!", Mark cried into the phone when he heard the sound of her voice. "Where are you?!!!!!"

"Michael has me at his farmhouse, but I don't know where we are! Please send for help! I can't make it too much longer without you.", she heavily sighed as tears began to quickly fall from her eyes.

"I'm gonna do everything I can to get'cha away from there! I'll lay down my life for you and the baby.", Mark solemnly stated as his eyes watered up. "I love you too much not to."

"I gotta go...I love you!", Kiara stated before hanging up the phone.

"Kee! Hello?! HELLO?!!", Mark yelled into his receiver but all he heard was a dial tone.

"Did she say where she was?!", Don asked after knowing that Mark was talking to her.

"Yeah, man.", Mark sniffed while nodding his head and wiping at his eyes. "She said that sick cufk has her down at his farmhouse. We gotta go now!" Mark jumped up from the table to head for the door.

"Wait a minute, man...maybe it would be best if you didn't go there. It wouldn't be safe for you or Kee. But since I been down with Mike up until recently, maybe he'll listen to me.", Don replied.

"I don't give a cufk about him right now! I'm juss ready to get Kee away from him if it costs me my life!", Mark yelled as he burst through the doors to walk outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before leaving out of the bathroom, Kiara placed the phone in the back of the linen closet between dozens of large, fluffy towels.

"What took you so dn long?", Michael asked with a puzzled look as Kiara walked over to the bed.

"Tha' hell you think I was doin'? Climbin' out that small @$$ window to leave?!", she snapped as she sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him. She wanted to wait until he fell asleep before lying down next to him although she made sure to keep as much space between them as she could.

"You know what? I see right now I'ma have to deprogram you. You neva talked back to me the way you do now.", he huffed while looking at the back of her head.

"I'm not your dn child so you ain't gonna do isht! I let you control me for too long and I'm not about to sit here and let you start that bullisht up with me again!", she loudly replied as she jerked her head around to glare at him.

In no time flat, Michael was at the foot of the bed next to her. He forcefully grabbed her by the chin to make her look at him. "You will do as I say! Now I don't wanna hear anotha' word about this...do you undastand me?!" Kiara tried to snatch her face away but he wouldn't let her.

"Kee...do...you...undastand...me?" She slowly nodded her head out of fear. He slowly removed his hands away from her face.

"Yeah...that's what I thought!", he hissed as he grabbed her by the wrist. "C'mon let's go to sleep.", he ordered.

"No!", she shouted as she tried to break away from him. However, she shrieked in fear when he threatened her with a raised hand.

"I said let's go to sleep.", he whispered as an evil look came across his face. Reluctantly Kiara moved backwards up to the head of the bed to join him as he continued to hold on tightly to her wrist. Before turning the lamp off, he pulled her into his arm and kissed her. "G'night."

After turning her back to him as he continued to possessively hold her in his arms, she silently cried herself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mark, c'mon, man! You're not thinkin'! Don is right...you'll be jeopardizin' both your and Kee's safety if you go up there!!!", Rufus tried to reason with him as he along with Don and the rest of the guys sat in Mark's den in the middle of the night.

"Look! That's my cufkin' wife he has! I don't care what the hell yall think!!!", Mark barked while pointing his finger at all of them across the room.

"We hear ya and everything, but you've got to think about this. If Don goes up there, there's a good chance that Mike will let her go!", Tamir stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

"That's right, man.", Larry agreed with a nod of his head.

"Listen, Mark; if you love Kee, you'll do what we're askin' and stay away.", Don pleaded as he watched Mark becoming angrier and angrier.

"Like, I said...I'm goin'! Look, I need some time to be by myself, but I thank yall for comin' ova to talk with me." Mark proceeded to stand up and give them pounds before walking down the hall to the front door so they could leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"G'mornin' Mrs. Ruffin.", her doctor grinned as he walked into her room the next morning.

"G'mornin'.", she smiled as she turned down the volume on the tv. "So when can I get outta here?", she joked.

"Uh oh...somebody's ready to leave in a bit of a hurry.", the doctor chuckled as he scanned Peaches' chart.

"Yeah...I'm not one who likes to lie still for too long.", she giggled.

"Well, you have made an amazing recovery. You weren't supposed to make it after the trauma you suffered to your head.", he replied with a shake of his head.

"You're a true survivor, Mrs. Ruffin. But we do want to keep you for just a few more days before we discharge you. If you continue to do well, you'll be ready to leave this place and the hospital food in 3-4 days.", the doctor smiled.

"You promise?", Peaches laughed while pointing her finger at him.

"I promise.", he replied with a grin as he held his hand up as if taking an oath. He then proceeded to do his regular routine of checking her blood pressure and other vital signs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

Michael was in the kitchen the next morning fixing breakfast while Kiara was sitting up in the bed watching the bright morning sun in the sky from the bedroom window. She thought about Mark because he would sometimes tease her about being a bird in her next life because no matter if it was day or night time, she always stared at the sky in amazement.

She proceeded to stand up and walked over to the window to have a better view. While doing so, she felt the baby begin to kick and move.

"G'mornin' boo-boo.", she smiled as she looked down and rubbed her tummy. "I would ask if you had a good night’s sleep but because you kept me up half the night movin' from one side to the otha, I take it that you didn't."

After a few more seconds of gazing out of the window while rubbing her tummy, Kiara began to sing a few lines of "Never Make A Promise" which seemed to calm the baby down. Just as she was about to go into the chorus, Michael opened the door and glared at her when he heard what she was doing.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to hear anything concernin' HIM!", he hissed as he slightly slammed her breakfast down on the nightstand. Kiara simply looked at him, shook her head, and turned her attention back to the morning sky.

"Look! It's not that I wanna treat you like a 2-year-old, but you know how I feel about him, Kee.", Michael quietly stated as he walked up behind her. When he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, she sucked her teeth and quickly walked away from him. She then flopped back down on her side of the bed and held her head downward.

"Michael, how long is this supposed to go on? Why don't'chu take me back to my family and friends?!" She began to sob as she rocked back and forth while holding onto her tummy.

"Here we go again!", he huffed as he walked out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Kiara took her plate of breakfast and threw it upside the door smashing the dish into a thousand pieces! "I hate you!!!", she shrieked before throwing herself across the bed and having a good cry. Michael heard what she had done, but he didn't feel like getting into it with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, b...", Tamir grinned before he realized that Peaches was taking a morning nap. He crept over to her bed and noticed that she had a troubled look on her face as she slept. Every time she fell asleep, she would have the same recurring nightmare about the car accident.

"Peaches?", Tamir whispered as he gently took a hold of her hand when he witnessed her beginning to toss and turn in her sleep while moaning in what seemed to be pain.

"Boo...wake up!" He proceeded to gently shake her shoulder to awaken her.

Peaches eyes flew open and her breath was caught in her throat. "Oh, hey.", she sighed as she took her free hand and placed it on the top of her bandaged head. "How long have you been here?" She proceeded to squint her eyes so she could get a better view of everything while getting herself together.

"I juss walked in...are you aight? You need me to call a nurse or anything?", he asked as he gave her a concerned look.

"Nah...juss havin' anotha nightmare as usual.", Peaches sighed as she motioned for him to give her her cup of ice water to drink.

"It's been almost 2 days and you're STILL havin' the dream you told me about?!", he angrily asked.

"Mir, it's coo'! I told the doctor about it and he said this type of thing is normal. Now don't go gettin' upset. I'll be okay.", Peaches smiled as she pulled his hand towards her mouth which she gently kissed.

Just as Tamir was taking a seat next to her bed, Mark walked in with Don who felt the need to explain himself to why he was so anxious to talk with Peaches at the mall a few weeks back.

"I apologize for the way I acted.", she faintly smiled as she glanced at Don after he had explained everything.

"No, I fully undastand. But that's why he and I are goin' to go up to get her tomorrow mornin'. Mike has some serious issues but maybe if I can talk with him, he'll give her up.", Don replied.

"Oh! So you ARE goin' up there in the mornin'?!", Tamir asked with a look of shock as he glanced over at Mark.

"Yeah, man! If he's there, I'ma kick his @$$ after his boy has his talk with him. That's my woman and child he took from me!", Mark shouted as he paced back and forth across the room.

"Well, yall can count me in because I wanna kick his @$$ too for havin' my baby in here like this! She can't even sleep on the count of him!", Tamir huffed.

"Okay...first of all, please don't yell because my ears can't take it, and second of all...can you two excuse me and Mir for a few minutes?", Peaches asked as she looked at Don and Mark.

"Oh yeah, sure! We were juss droppin' by for a quick minute anyway...I have some last minute stuff to take care of before we leave tomorrow.", Don stated with a nod of his head.

"Well take care, and don't worry...Kee is gonna be back with yall. I guarantee it.", he smiled.

Peaches didn't know how to reply to his statement, so she looked from him to Tamir to Mark. "Well, ummmm...I'll see yall lata.", she stated as she waved goodbye to them. As soon as the door was shut, Tamir began to speak.

"Look, Peaches...don't try to stop me on this. Ya know I've been thinkin' that I should've listened to you when you tried to tell me a few months ago that you and Kee felt like he had a hand in all of these things happenin'. Well now I'ma make sure that he pays for what he did to all of us!", he yelled as he walked back over to her bedside to lean up against the railing.

"Mir! Do you hear what you’re sayin’?! Why put yourself in that situation?!! It's bad enough that Mark and Don are not only riskin' their safety and possibly, lives, but they're also puttin' Kee and the baby at risk.", Peaches heavily sighed as her eyes watered up.

"Not if we take care of his @$$ from the jump!", he huffed as he pounded the wall next to him.

"Stop it, Mir! Aight?!! Juss stop!!! It's bad enough that I'm not back home with our son yet, but if you decide to do somethin' STUPID, who will our baby have to look out for him then…huh?!!", Peaches shouted as she pulled herself up in the bed with the help of the railing.

When he didn't answer her, Peaches proceeded to go on. "You can't answer that can you?"

Tamir took a deep breath and placed his hands on the top of his head. "Peaches...what's gonna happen now?" Tears began to fall from his eyes as he thought about Mark and Kiara.

"C'mere.", Peaches softly stated as she opened her arms to embrace him as he proceeded to weep while holding onto her. She also began to cry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning when Kiara decided to get up, she crept over to the bedroom door when she noticed Michael wasn't in the bed next to her. However, when she went to turn the knob, it was locked as usual. She then proceeded to yell his name a few times before figuring out he wasn't there.

"Lord, I thank you for keepin' me, and my prayer continues to be that you send help my way.", she sighed as she looked out at the morning sky. Tears began to slowly roll down her cheeks.

Just then she heard what sounded like a car pulling into the driveway out front. "I guess he's back.", she whispered as she rubbed her tummy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Detective Lockmat and the cops should be arrivin' at Mike's place in juss a few minutes.", Tamir stated in relief as he looked over at Peaches after they both realized that it was almost 11 am.

Mark had left Tamir Mike's address on the night before so he'd know where he and Don were in case anything happened.

Tamir took it upon himself to the detective the information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

"Isht, man! How are we gonna get in here?!", Mark whispered as he and Don turned the front doorknob several times before they realized they couldn't get in.

"Juss stay calm!", Don replied as he took a step back from the door. He kicked on it several times which alarmed Kiara when she heard the noise. She ran over to the window and opened it up.

"Who's there?!!!", she yelled as she leaned out of it.

"Kee?! Is that you?!!!", Mark shouted as he and Don tried to see which window she was yelling from. However, because the window was on the back and the house was fenced in, they couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see them.

"Oh my God!", she cried. "Yeah, it's me! Where are you?!!!"

"I'm out front! Can you let us in?!!", he anxiously replied as he continued to look for her.

"I can't because I'm locked in the bedroom upstairs!", she cried.

"Well, we're comin' in through the window, aight?! Don and I are gonna save ya in juss a sec, boo!!!", Mark yelled as his voice began to crack. He was anxious to see her.

Several minutes later, he and Don took the tire jack from Don's ride and broke the large bay window on the front side of the house and proceeded to climb in even though the alarm had went off. Mark was upstairs before Don in no time and began to yell for Kiara.

"I'm right here!", she shouted as she began to pound on the bedroom door.

"Stand back!", he and Don both shouted as Don proceeded to kick the door in. After the 2nd kick, the door flew open.

"Mark!!!", Kiara shrieked as they both ran towards each other. They both broke down into joyful tears

"God, I neva thought I'd see you again!", Mark sobbed as they held each other tightly. Don felt himself becoming a little emotional but he had to keep his composure.

"Look, we have to hurry up and get outta here! Let's go!", he commanded as he ran over to help Mark with Kiara so they could leave ASAP.

However, they were confronted by Michael at the bottom of the stairs.

"Surprised to see me?!", he sneered as he pointed his handgun at them.

"Don? What tha' cufk are you doin' here?!!! You crazy, na?!", he barked.

"Look, man...don't do this aight? I'm tryna help you out! I can't let you go out like this and return to prison ova some bullisht! You been my boy for too long to let the crazy isht you been doin' come between us. Man, juss let them go!", Don nervously stated as he, Kiara, and Mark slowly came down the stairs.

As soon as Don was in front of Michael, Michael punched him in the jaw which sent him to the floor. Mark quickly jumped in front of Kiara.

"Listen, man! You'll have to kill me if that's what it takes to let my wife go free because she hasn't done isht to you!", Mark angrily yelled as he glared at Michael.

Michael smirked as he scratched the side of his head with the gun while Don slowly stood back up. Suddenly, Michael took his gun and shot Mark in the shoulder without thinking twice about it. Kiara yelled out of fear and jumped to the side as Mark fell to the floor and yelled out in pain.

Michael then pointed his gun at her. However, Don diverted his attention back to him.

"Drop the cufkin' gun, man!", Don yelled as he pointed the gun he had brought with him at Michael.

In the meantime, Kiara ran back over to Mark and held him in her arms while crying hysterically. Mark continued to groan in pain as he held onto his shoulder with his free hand.

"You ain't got the mn' balls to kill me, you son of a itchb!", Michael chuckled as he pointed his gun at Don.

"I'll do what I have to do, even if it means my takin' you out! So don't test me, man!, Don warned as he and Michael stared at each other. At that very moment, they heard police sirens approaching the house.

"I can't believe you would be such a itchb @$$ to do me, your boy, this way!!! Well, you know what punk? If I'm goin' down...so are you!", Michael shouted as he began to squeeze the trigger.

When Don saw what he was about to do, he immediately shot first hitting Michael in the upper chest. Kiara screamed and covered her ears while ducking. Michael fell back against the banister of the stairs for a moment. Then, without saying a word, he slowly lifted his gun back up to try to shoot Don, but out of fear, Don shot him once more in the neck which sent Michael falling to the floor in a heap.

"Dn, man!", Don began to sob as he slowly lowered his gun back down. "It didn't have to come to this if you woulda juss listened to me from the get-go!" He then slowly kneeled to his knees and placed his hands on top of his head. He would later be found not guilty of his crime due to the jury deciding that what he did was in self-defense.

Kiara began to cry harder when she turned around to look at Michael who was lying on the floor in a pool of blood next to her. After turning back around to look at Mark who was breathing heavy, she told him in between sobs that he was going to be okay.

"I know.", he whispered as he gave her a small smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Tamir and Kiara slowly walked into Peaches' hospital room.

"Guess who?", Kiara smiled as she and Peaches made eye contact with each other.

"Kee?! Oh my God!", Peaches' sighed as she placed both of her hands over her mouth out of happiness. The waterworks came on full force.

Kiara quickly walked over to her bed and gave Peaches a warm hug. Neither one said a word although they were both crying and laughing. Tamir stood behind Kiara with a big grin on his face.

"I'm so glad you're okay.", Kiara smiled as she stood back while holding onto Peaches' hands.

"Ditto!", Peaches laughed as her tears continued to fall. "Is Mark okay?"

"Yeah, the guys are downstairs visiting him in his room. He has to keep his arm in a sling for a few weeks even though they said he can go home at the end of this week if things are still goin' ok. But you know him...he's gonna be Mark, regardless!", Kiara joked.

"Well, dang! The doc told me and Mir earlier this mornin' that I'll be goin' home at the end of the week too! Girl can't nothin' keep this family apart!", Peaches grinned as she and Kiara proceeded to hug each other again.

[glow=red,2,300]“It’s hard to believe/That you are here with me/Makin’ all my dreams/A sweet reality”
—Mary J. Blige: Ooh[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,300]*Conclusion Comin' Up*[/glow]

[sexysmile]

*clapping* Bring on the conclusion girl I can't wait!!!

[Jewlnmbr1]

ITS BOUT DAMN TIME MIKE GOT HIS ASS WHUPPED!

LoL...girl this story is just DA bomb! I'm so happy that Mark got Kiara back...poor boo got his arm messed up tho, it's okay. Yayyyy conclusion!

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

Yeah! He's gone!!!!! Can't wait for the conclusion!

[VirgosAngel19]

That story was THA BOMB!! I love it. Man, it's about time somebody put a bullet in Mike's ass. And my po' baby. Oh I'm here Sisqo. Mama loves ya.