Note: In Episode 110 ("Die but Once"), Lucious is told that Malcolm put in for a "long weekend". In the United States, that would fall on a Thursday and end on a Sunday. Hence, the reference to Cookie having spent four days with Malcolm, not three.

Note #2: As the season two Empire midseason finale ended in May 2016, Bella's birth date is being used on that day. The story opens in April 2017, making Bella just shy of a year old.

- Reference: "...the two of them could at least talk like friends." - Second chapter of Simply Beautiful.


During the week of Easter, Lucious Lyon left his wife Anika in New York City and flew to Jamaica to be with his one true love, who conveniently left her fiancée Angelo in New York as well. Between marathon sex sessions, Lucious and Cookie spent most of their time fighting, demanding that the other leave his or her significant other for good. Lucious refused to divorce Anika until Cookie called it off with Angelo, while Cookie refused to call it off with Angelo until Lucious produced divorce papers. Meanwhile, Cookie's wedding date was drawing nearer and nearer, and both ex-husband and ex-wife were miserable.

"You don't even love him!" Lucious shouted, as he had over and over again. "You're just trying to be what your father wanted you to be!"

"You don't love her!" Cookie screamed, hurling whatever was nearby at Lucious's head. "Why don't you divorce her since you love me so much, huh? Why don't you divorce that bougie bitch!?"

It was the same circular argument. Lucious had to keep up appearances, even though the FBI case against him had been dropped months ago. Then there was Bella to think about, or so Lucious claimed. "She would never just take off!" Cookie insisted. "She would never take Bella from us!"

"She's done it before!" Lucious fired back. "She would do whatever it takes to hurt this family!"

"She is family, stupid! She's our granddaughter's mother! And she's your wife. Anika Lyon. You did that, remember! You did that!"

"I never loved her! I love you, Cookie! You're the only woman I ever truly loved..."

They would shout at each other, and Cookie would cry, and Lucious would comfort her and turn her tears into sweat and her screams of pain into cries of pleasure. And then they would do it all over again, and again, and again.

It was sick and twisted and unfair to everybody involved. Angelo was a good man. A loyal man. A man who had stood by Cookie when any other public figure would've avoided her like the plague. A man who, in just three weeks, would make Cookie the First Lady of New York City. He deserved so much better than what Cookie could ever give him. And Anika? The ghost who haunted the halls of the Lyon House of Horrors, rarely to seen or heard from by anyone? The shameful truth was that Anika was a non-factor in Lucious and Cookie's relationship, wife or no wife.

The first time Lucious and Cookie went on vacation together was Valentine's Day. Cookie paid Anika the respect of telling her that they were going to Jamaica before she heard it from somebody else. She apologized over and over, but Anika brushed the whole thing off. "Best Valentine's date he could give me," she replied when she recovered from her shock. "Have fun, Cookie."

This last time, Cookie didn't even bother, largely because she knew Anika didn't care. Every vacation with Lucious was the same: fighting and fucking, yet Cookie couldn't tear herself away from it. How ironic, Cookie thought, that a woman who sold drugs to her community and gave pills to her drug-addicted son was now fighting an addiction of her own. Loving Lucious made Cookie high. Without him, Cookie was dope sick, and Lucious was the only cure.


Dope sick was the only way to describe Cookie's mood when she dragged herself into the Empire office first thing Saturday morning; the two of them hadn't even made it to the weekend this time. The morning meeting was Lucious's way of making everything look normal, as Lucious had returned to New York the night before. earlier. Of course, such a performance fooled no one.

Sitting on the other side of Lucious's desk as Cookie came through the door was Malcolm DeVeaux, Empire's current (and former) head of security. If Lucious was Cookie's first love and Angelo was her destiny, Malcolm was The One Who Got Away. He was the wild card, the question mark, the one that could've been Angelo had Cookie let him be.

Cookie reached out to Malcolm after Lucious had to admit that Empire's security problems could only be brought under control by the best of the best. Malcolm responded to Cookie's employment offer by reaching out to Lucious, not to her, and any chance of recreating their Berkshires magic disappeared within five seconds of their reunion. "Madam First Lady," Malcolm greeted Cookie on his first day back at Empire, referring to Cookie's pending nuptials to the new New York mayor. There was such a coolness behind it, as if Malcolm could take her or leave her. It stung a little.

"Mom!" Jamal, along with Hakeem, Andre, Lucious and Malcolm all stood up respectfully when Cookie entered the room. After the Lyon brothers all greeted their mother, Jamal went on excitedly. "Did Malcolm tell you that he's getting an award tomorrow night?"

"Not yet," Malcolm said. "She knows it now, though."

"Aw, man...sorry, Malcolm," Jamal said apologetically. "Since it's coming from WOKE, I figured that Mom already knew about it."

"Really?" Cookie wasn't surprised that Malcolm hadn't said anything. The man was humble to a point of fault. Lucious would've had the news on the front page of the Empire blog. "What's it for?" Cookie asked.

"Mental health," Malcolm replied, as reticent as usual.

"It's for the work he's been doing for WOKE with PTSD and war vets," Jamal supplied. "Malcolm didn't even tell us about it until last night, and he's known about it for months. Angelo's going to be the presenter."

"He is?" Angelo hadn't mentioned it to Cookie. Why wouldn't he invite Cookie to the ceremony if an Empire employee was getting such a prestigious award? Malcolm had been doing volunteer work for WOKE for going on four months now, and Cookie knew that Angelo and Malcolm were tight.

"I'm surprised you didn't know, Ma," Hakeem said. "Angelo said he was planning to take you to the ceremony."

Cookie had ignored Angelo's calls all weekend. "Well, congratulations, Malcolm," Cookie said, stepping forward to give him a friendly hug and kiss. "You definitely deserve it."

"Thank you, Cookie," Malcolm stopped Cookie in her tracks when he stuck out his hand. God, Cookie hated the way Malcolm spoke to her now. It was so formal and courteous, so dry. Even before they had their brief fling, the two of them could at least talk like friends. Now, they were just co-workers, boss and employee, nothing more. All Cookie could do was shake Malcolm's hand and step right back, ignoring the smirk on Lucious's face.

"You planning on celebrating?" Lucious asked. He hadn't congratulated Malcolm, nor did Cookie or Malcolm expect him to. Malcolm had been sitting and talking with Lucious for well over an hour, and not once did he mention that he was being honored with a citywide award.

"Your sons took me for a night on the town, trust me." Malcolm gave Jamal a friendly punch and ducked a playful uppercut in return. "Sometimes I forget how old I am."

"Please." Andre shook his head. "You practically carried me home, old man."

Much to Lucious's aggravation, Malcolm had become tight with all of Lucious's sons. Andre, along with Anika, had helped Malcolm study for the GRE exam in hopes of getting into graduate school for months. Jamal volunteered with Malcolm at WOKE, bouncing ideas about PTSD and other mental health issues with each other. Most troubling were the times Lucious found Hakeem talking to Malcolm about things that Lucious wasn't privy to because Hakeem never talked to Lucious about anything except music. It was almost like Hakeem had accepted Malcolm as his father, while Lucious was little more than his business manager.

"You should do something nice for Anika, too," Cookie recommended slyly. "Since the two of you spent so much time studying together."

Cookie enjoyed the scowl that came across Lucious's face. "I am," Malcolm said. "I was going to ask Anika to be my guest at the banquet tomorrow. Plus there's a French film festival that's at the Lincoln Center tonight. I was going to ask the two of you if you could babysit for us that day, maybe for the weekend?"

It was like the oxygen had gone out of the room, and Cookie's stomach began to churn. She'd seen this coming for a long time, but she never thought it would come together like this. "You're asking me if you can take my wife out on a date?" Lucious asked incredulously.

"No," Malcolm clarified. "I'm telling you that I'm taking your wife out on a date. I'm asking you if you could babysit if she says yes."

Any minute now, Cookie and Lucious knew that Malcolm would tell Lucious that he was only joking and they could go back to talking about Malcolm's award or his upcoming GRE test date or get a briefing on security while the two of them were away. Or maybe some cameramen were going to jump out of the walls and tell them all to smile. None of those things happened. Rather, Malcolm just sat in his chair as if he was actually expecting an answer to the babysitting question.

When Cookie didn't give one, Lucious did. "Nigga, are you outcho fuckin' mind?!"

Malcolm shrugged. "Is that a no?" he asked politely.

The tension in the room was nearly tangible, with Lucious's growing fury colliding like a freight train against Malcolm's calm. "You know, Malcolm," Lucious said as he stood up slowly, "I didn't say anything when you were going into the nursery every night to read to Bella. And I didn't say anything when your dumb ass needed help on that test to get into college. I didn't even say anything on New Year's when you went hiding in my baby girl's nursery 'cause the fireworks gave you war flashbacks or whatever the hell that was-"

"Dad," Andre cut in as Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "That's not cool."

"-but you seem to think that you're my wife's boyfriend or something," Lucious went on, as if his oldest son hadn't said anything. "Are you sleeping with my wife?"

Malcolm didn't blink. "Yes."

That threw Lucious off again. He'd often amused himself with the idea of Malcolm torturing himself trying to stay away from Anika, or maybe sleeping with her and denying it. He wasn't expecting such unapologetic honesty. "When was the last time you slept with her?"

Malcolm checked his watch. "Two hours ago," he answered.

Jesus Christ! Cookie thought. "You bored with her yet?" Lucious asked insolently.

"Not at all," Malcolm replied pleasantly. "She keeps me quite...entertained." Then Malcolm cracked a rare smile that said everything without saying anything at all. Lucious didn't miss it. "Is Anika more entertaining than Cookie was?" he pressed.

"Wait a minute!" Hakeem gestured between Malcolm and Cookie. "You two were fucking?"

"Watch your mouth," Malcolm and Lucious said simultaneously.

"What, Malcolm didn't tell y'all over drinks, Hakeem?" Lucious went on. "Your boy Malcolm had your mama all up in the mountains for four days." He threw Cookie an angry look. "I dunno, maybe they was playing chess all that time. But she sure as hell came skipping back in the building talking shit. Like she got her back blown out."

"Okay, stop it." Andre moved in closer to the desk, though he wasn't sure who was going to hold back – Lucious or Malcolm. Lucious was his father, but Andre didn't have any faith in Jamal and Hakeem to hold Malcolm back should things get any worse.

"No, really!" Lucious said in a faux-friendly manner. "You wanna stand here and test nuts and talk like you got the big dick, Malcolm? Fine, so tell me who's better? Cookie or Anika?"

"Lucious, you can't be serious." It was supposed to be a respectful answer, but the way Malcolm's eyes flicked over to Cookie, looked her up and down, and then dismissed her without a second glance felt like a slap to the face.

"Okay, y'all ain't about to talk up my dress," Cookie warned. "Don't put me in this." Cookie felt the blood rush to her head. Wasn't this the same simp who asked her to move with him to D.C. the minute they got back to New York? I know Boo Boo Kitty ain't got it like that, Cookie thought angrily. There was no way that her bougie debutante ass could throw down like Cookie could. Why else would Lucious cheat on Anika time and time again?

"What?" Lucious said playfully. He was having a high time making both of them uncomfortable. "I'm just wondering if Malcolm enjoys my wife more than he enjoyed my ex-wife. That's all."

"I suspect I enjoy being with your wife as much as you enjoy being with your ex-wife. By the way," Malcolm continued as he stood, "how did the two of you enjoy Jamaica?"

Cookie's heart began to race. "What the hell are you talking about?" Lucious asked slowly.

"I'm talking about the vacation you and Cookie just came from." Malcolm's voice was measured, but tight. "The one where my security team is working like crazy to keep pictures of your titties and Cookie's naked ass from spreading all over the internet."

"Again!?" Hakeem and Jamal blurted at the same time, while Andre looked more than a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, again. And because Angelo is my friend, I have to bust my ass to make sure he never sees them. Remember Angelo, Cookie?" Malcolm went on. "Your fiancée? So don't come preaching to me about sleeping with a married woman, Cookie, especially not a woman in this fake-ass marriage. Not only did you screw Angelo, you screwed me, too!"

"Wouldn't be the first time Cookie screwed you," Lucious pointed out.

Cookie felt her way to a chair, which Hakeem helped her into. Pictures. Again. This time with another man. Angelo...oh, my God. She was less than a month of being First Lady of New York City. It was one thing to have a topless picture leaked by a hacker – that made Cookie a sympathetic figure. But pictures of her naked and frolicking in Jamaica with her ex-husband? There was no recovering from that.

"If you're protecting my fake-ass marriage, then why are you trying to take my wife out?" Lucious wanted to know.

"Because if you're not going to respect your fake-ass marriage, why should I?" Malcolm asked. "You get to take Cookie out of the country, but you're pissed at the idea of me taking Anika to a film festival?"

"A film festival is one thing," Cookie pointed out weakly. "You're talking about taking her to an award ceremony with press and cameras."

Malcolm shot Cookie a look as if he didn't know if he wanted to reason with her or throw her down a flight of stairs. "Anika is my lady now," Malcolm informed Lucious curtly. "You can keep your fake-ass marriage on paper, Lucious, but it's over between you two."

"Oh, God. Here you go again," Lucious groaned, his voice cruel and mocking. "Chasing after one of my wives. You gonna ask her to move with you to D.C. next?"

"D.C.?" Andre asked. He looked over at Cookie, whose head was now on Lucious's desk as she fought back tears. "What are you talking about, Dad?"

"Didn't I say keep me out of this?" That weekend Cookie had with Malcolm was a pleasant memory, something pure and wonderful with no ulterior motive behind it. Even now, she could think about their time in the Berkshires and smile. Now Lucious was about to ruin that time in her life, just like he ruined everything with such ease. Dope sick? Cookie just felt sick.

"Jesus Christ, Lucious..." Malcolm muttered, running a hand through his hair. "That was a million years ago. Hell, you've picked up a wife and a grandchild since then. Cookie is engaged to be married...why are you bringing all this up?"

"How long have you been sleeping with my wife?" Lucious demanded to know for a second time.

"Well, let's see now." Malcolm was starting to sound like Lucious, and Cookie didn't like it. "We first got down when you two went off for Valentine's Day...that's what, about two months?"

Cookie nearly fainted. How in the world had they missed all this? "Is that why Anika moved into the guest house?" Andre added. Like Hakeem and Jamal, he was still stuck on the fact that Malcolm had the nerve to ask Anika out on a date. He hadn't even digested the sex part yet.

Malcolm shook his head. "Anika moved into the guest house because she didn't want to be around Lucious anymore, not that I could blame her. That didn't have anything to do with me."

"So wait," Lucious interrupted. "You been fucking my wife in the nursery? You been pulling out your dick out where my granddaughter sleeps?"

Malcolm pretended to think it over. "It's a four-room suite. Define 'nursery."

Rushing from around his desk, Lucious shoved Andre to the side, then cocked his fist back and landed a punch to Malcolm's jaw so hard that Malcolm's neck cracked as he spun around and hit the ground."Lucious!" Cookie screamed, but Malcolm just laughed as he got back to his feet - not very quickly, Cookie noted. "You hit like a bitch, Lucious," Malcolm laughed, and he spat a mouth full of blood and spit right onto Lucious's $96,000 carpet. "Why are you so pissed off anyway? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"The fuck you mean, isn't that what I wanted?" Lucious demanded. Everyone else in the room was equally confused. What was Malcolm getting at?

Malcolm leaned against the back of Lucious's chair; the punch had rocked him far more than Malcolm wanted to let on. "Cut the bullshit, Lucious. This was your plan all along, wasn't it? To be nice to your sad little wife with the low self-esteem until she got lonely enough to get with me while you ran around after Cookie?"

"I said keep me out of this!" Cookie couldn't stand here them talk about her this way, even though Cookie knew that Malcolm was speaking nothing but truth.

Malcolm ignored Cookie, as did Lucious. "And when that didn't happen fast enough for you, you left the goddamned country. You left Anika alone on Valentine's Day with me-"

"Is that the first time you fucked her?" Lucious demanded.

"Lucious," Cookie interrupted, her voice shaking.

"You were never going to stop until I slept with that damned girl!" Malcolm's voice was uncharacteristically beginning to rise. "You got what you wanted! And now you wanna square up with me because I want to take her out?"

"I pay you to fuck my wife, not to be her BFF!" Lucious shouted.

"Lucious, that's enough!"

"What do you care if I fuck your wife or not?" Malcolm yelled back. "You can't stand her anyway!"

"Malcolm!" Cookie rushed forward and grabbed Malcolm's arm. "Malcolm, stop! Stop!"

"Get off me, Cookie!" Malcolm whipped around in Cookie's direction, knocking her arm away. He was sick of Cookie enabling Lucious, of Cookie leading Angelo on, of spending all weekend having to suppress Cookie's pictures when he could have been spending time with Anika. Malcolm was sick of having to be the better man all the time. Most of all, Malcolm was sick to death of Cookie Lyon, even more than he was sick of Lucious.

But before Malcolm could unleash his wrath on Cookie, he found the source of her anguish. Standing in the doorway, ghostlike as always, was Anika. Even Hakeem hadn't noticed her there, and she had been standing right next to her child's father. "Anika..." Malcolm said, stunned, but he couldn't say anything more. Everyone in the room was frozen solid, even Lucious. It was as if they were giving Anika the first word.

"You slept with Cookie?" Anika finally said, barely able to speak. After everything nasty thing she'd heard Lucious and Malcolm say, that was the first question she came up with. It was one Malcolm wasn't prepared to answer.

"Anika," Cookie tried. "Anika, it was just one-"

"I'm not talking to you." Anika's eyes never left Malcolm.

It didn't mean anything! Cookie wanted to cry out, though her lips couldn't form that lie. Meanwhile, Lucious was grinning like the Cheshire cat. He'd found his mark, and he hit it flawlessly. "Did you sleep with Cookie, Malcolm?" Anika asked Malcolm again, her voice cracking. Still, Malcolm wouldn't answer.

"It was after you went to suck Beretti off, Anika," Lucious offered helpfully. "But before you fucked Mimi Whiteman to try to take my company." Now Anika was the one whose eyes grew wide as Malcolm's face registered shock. "Just so you know, Malcolm, your girl likes them girls. Man, wait until you see her with her face between a bitch's legs-"

Cookie stepped forward and backhanded Lucious across the face, finally rendering him silent. No matter what their history was, watching Anika growing smaller and smaller under Lucious's gaze broke Cookie's heart. This was their grandchild's mother, for crying out loud. Why did Lucious always have to do this? The Christmas singalong...the New Year's party...Valentine's Day...now this. Cookie knew that Lucious didn't love Anika, nor did Anika love Lucious. Why did he have to tear her down so?

"Anika," Malcolm tried again, reaching for her hand. "Please, can we go somewhere and-"

Anika broke Malcolm's grasp and shoved him away. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Anika fled the room, not able to take the hurt look in Malcolm's eyes as she ran away from him. "Leave me alone!" she screamed over and over, and her sobs echoed through the hallway as she ran to the nursery. When Anika finally reached the sanctuary of the nursery, she slammed the door behind her and pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to suppress a scream. I thought he liked me...

"Miss Anika!" Juanita exclaimed as she rushed around the corner with Bella. "What's wrong, child? Are you okay?"

"Please, Juanita. I'm fine. Just-just go. Please." Anika took Bella from Juanita's arms, holding her close and using the baby's body to hide her face. She made it to the rocking chair before she broke down. Soon, the high-pitched wails of her daughter matched her own. "I thought he liked me," Anika whispered in Bella's ear, utterly defeated. And to think, she thought miserably, staring at a beautiful framed sketch on the wall, this all started with a sheep.


In the beginning, Lucious was thrilled to have Malcolm back, especially when Malcolm found four additional bugs in less than an hour after the initial home sweep. "Don't get rid of them," he advised Lucious. "Feed them a bunch of nonsense. Set your brother up with a sting and he'll get off your back."

In gratitude, Lucious offered Malcolm even more money to do security at the Lyon mansion, along with a bonus. In exchange for Malcolm holding it down at the Lyon compound, Lucious offered Malcolm a place to stay at his mansion, rent-free. "I'll give you the entire east or west wing. Bella's in the north wing." And so is her mother, Lucious added silently.

As far as Lucious was concerned, the setup was perfect. Anika was lonely and thirsty, while Malcolm was probably still on his Super-Save-a-Ho swag. In no time, Anika would be out of his way, Malcolm would have a prime piece of ass, and Lucious could go back to the future Mrs. Angelo DuBois, who was starting to weaken again. All Malcolm had to do was keep the security system and cameras up and running in the basement hub and patrol the place at least once a night.

But Lucious's plans had a major flaw. Anika spent most of her time holed up in the nursery, and the four-room layout doubled as Anika's primary living space. Anything needed for Bella was delivered. All the shopping was done by the servants. Even something as simple as a morning run took place on an outdoor track built on the property. Anika never left the mansion, and no one ever came to see her. It was if she went through great lengths to not be seen.

It would be over a month before Malcolm and Anika interacted, and it was purely by happenstance. One of Anika's favorite children's books was The Little Prince. Bella seemed to be enchanted by the pictures, and the sound of her mother's soothing voice seemed to calm Bella, who would drift off to sleep as Anika read to her in French. [Thus you can imagine my amazement, at sunrise,] Anika read as Bella settled comfortably in her mother's arms one night, [when I was awakened by an odd little voice. It said: if you please-]

[-draw me a sheep!] a male's voice chimed in.

Anika looked up, and so did Bella. "What?" Anika said, startled.

Malcolm smiled. "Draw me a sheep!" he repeated in English. His smile faded when Anika said nothing. "Sorry," he said, feeling foolish. "The Little Prince was one of my favorite books as a kid."

Was Malcolm being serious, or was this his way of making fun of her? "Mine, too. I cry at the end, every single time, even though I know how it ends," Anika admitted. "I don't know why, but I just do. The ending is so sad."

Malcolm leaned against the doorway. "Is this your first time reading it in French? It's not quite the same."

"I'm starting to see that. Come in," Anika invited, not expecting Malcolm to actually do so. Hardly anybody came into the nursery, and virtually nobody passed into the second doorway, past the crib and into the sitting foyer. "Where did you learn to speak French?"

"I was born and raised in Martinique. It's the official language. You?"

"Boarding school. I lived in Sweden, and we had to take four years of a foreign language. English didn't count. Neither did Swedish. So I took French. I understand it, but I haven't spoken it in years. You can tell, can't you?" she asked when Malcolm's lips curved upwards.

Malcolm didn't have the heart to tell Anika that her French sounded like Swedish. "It'll get easier once you get used to it again. Here." Getting comfortable on the floor, Malcolm took the book from Anika, who was grateful to give her arms a chance to relax and just cuddle with her baby. Anika's French speaking was decent for a non-native, but the words and phrases around Malcolm's tongue were smooth as silk, and Bella fell asleep within minutes.

After that, Bella preferred Malcolm's reading voice to hers, and she would whimper and cry and fidget when Anika tried to read to her in French or English. "Probably because you're a native speaker," Anika commented. "Or maybe my baby has her first crush," she added teasingly. Malcolm gave an embarrassed grin, but he rarely missed a night reading to Bella, and Anika found herself missing him when he did. While Bella slept, Anika and Malcolm had spirited conversations about the snake and the fox, the rose and the glass and the grown-ups and if there really was a sheep in that box or not.

Anika dreaded getting to the last two chapters of the story, but in Malcolm's voice and Malcolm's native tongue, the words actually seemed more magical and held more hope. That night, the two of them discussed the true fate of the little prince over chips, salsa and Cherry Cokes until they dozed off together. It was the first time Malcolm fell asleep in the nursery, but it wouldn't be the last. When Malcolm mentioned that he was studying for the Graduate Record Exam in February, Anika offered to help him study. Malcolm was fairly strong in Quantitative Reasoning - with some lunchtime tutoring from Andre, it would be his strongest section by far - and being bilingual gave Malcolm an advantage in the Verbal Reasoning section. But Malcolm struggled with Analytical Writing, which was where Anika's assistance came in. "You're overthinking things," she would chide him night after night. "Try to whittle your thoughts down to the most basic ideas."

For weeks, Anika and Malcolm worked on untangling and streamlining Malcolm's thoughts until he could express himself in a much more linear fashion in both English and French. Over time, Anika's French improved tremendously and Malcolm's writing began to become as strong as his math and verbal skills. Anika had mentally prepared herself with a battle with Lucious over Malcolm spending so much time alone with her, but it never happened. Malcolm's presence became so common in the nursery at night that even Lucious didn't bat an eye if he came in and found Malcolm changing Bella or rocking her to sleep. For the first time since moving back into the mansion – hell, since she'd ever lived in the mansion, period – Anika had one thing she'd never had before: a friend.

Every month, the Lyons celebrated Bella's life as extravagantly as birthdays, and her five-month celebration happened two days after Malcolm and Anika finished reading the French children's classic. Malcolm stopped by with a present for Bella, unaware that the entire Lyon family would be in the nursery at around the time Anika would normally be putting Bella to bed. "It's beautiful!" Anika breathed as she unrolled the picture. "I'm going to have it framed first thing in the morning."

Hakeem frowned at the plain black-and-white pencil sketch in Anika's hands. "What is it?" he asked.

Anika blinked back her tears. "It's a sheep," she explained.

Lucious looked over Anika's shoulder. "Just looks like a box to me," he said dubiously.

"The sheep is inside the box," Malcolm and Anika said together. As the men in the room exchanged looks and shrugged their shoulders, Cookie took note of the look Malcolm and Anika shared. It stung. It stung a lot.


Before Malcolm could run after Anika, Hakeem stepped forward and blocked the doorway. "I got this, man," he assured Malcolm. "I got this." It was easy for Hakeem to follow Anika, who was hurling and smashing everything she could get her hands on, her sobs echoing through the halls.

Sitting in his desk chair, smugly taking in the chaos that just ensued, was a triumphant Lucious. "I guess you don't need a babysitter after all, do you?" he asked glibly.

In a flash, Malcolm flew over Lucious's desk – not around it, over it – and tackled Lucious to the ground. Malcolm put Lucious in a full mount, purposely cutting off Lucious's oxygen supply very slowly as he grabbed Lucious by his hair with both hands and repeatedly slammed Lucious's head into the ground. "You won't be happy-" Wham! "Until everybody-" Wham! "In this house-" Wham! "Is as miserable-" Wham! "As you!" Wham-wham-wham!

Andre and Jamal finally dragged a furious Malcolm away from Lucious while Lucious's eyes slowly rolled to the back of his head, then closed. "Say something now, motherfucker!" Malcolm raged, breaking away from Lucious's sons and rising to his knees to lunge at Lucious again. "Say something now, you son of a bitch!"

Click.

The cool feel of steel was pressed against the back of Malcolm's head. "If you don't get up right now," Cookie promised, "I'ma end your black ass right here and now." She patted Malcolm on the jaw with the pistol, none too lightly. "Now get up."

It was Malcolm's job to study things. The glass curio cabinet gave him a clear view of Cookie's reflection. Cookie's gaze was steely, her hand steady. "How many years will you get for that, Cookie?" Malcolm asked coolly. "20 years? 50? Life? You think Lucious will wait for you like he did last time?"

Cookie ignored him. "I said get your punk ass up!"

"Mom," Jamal begged, trying to appeal to her sanity. "Mom, please..."

"Put the gun down..." Andre pleaded, just as terrified as his younger brother. "He's not worth it. Mom, please."

From time to time, Malcolm could be rash, even irresponsible. But Malcolm was no fool. He knew that love was a much stronger motivator than anything else he could think of. Slowly, with both hands raised, Malcolm rose to his feet and met Cookie's eyes in the glass in front of him. "Never thought I'd see the day Cookie Lyon would be content with being a side chick," he said coldly, but Malcolm didn't lower his hands.

"And I never thought I'd see the day that Malcolm DeVeaux would be Lucious Lyon's bitch." Cookie stood in front of Malcolm and pressed the barrel of the pistol directly against his temple. "You're only with Anika because Lucious made it that way. Remember that when you're fucking that dirty bitch." Cookie shoved the gun against Malcolm's head so hard that he stumbled a bit. "Now go see your ho...ho," Cookie ordered him.

Malcolm's smile spread across his face grudgingly. "Madam First Lady," he said sarcastically. He bowed slightly at the waist, then left the room, making a show of stepping over Lucious's body on the way out the door.

"Dad! Dad!" Andre rushed over to join Jamal and his father, who was slowly coming to. Just then, Malcolm stuck his head back in the doorway. "Hey, about that babysitting thing-"

"Get out!" Andre stood up and charged towards the door. "Get the fuck out of here! In fact, get off of the property!"

"Blow me, Andre." Malcolm strolled out of the office and down the hall as if he didn't have a care in the world. What was Lucious going to do – fire him? Call the police? No one else in the world could prevent those vacation pictures from leaking at this point except Malcolm and his crew. As angry as Lucious was - or would be when he finally came back to the land of the living - Malcolm knew that Lucious wasn't going to do anything to him. He loved Cookie too much to risk pissing Malcolm off.

And while he might have been out of his damn mind, Cookie had to give it to Malcolm for standing up for Anika, just as Lucious would've done for her. It was hard to explain, but Cookie felt almost proud of Anika. Not only had she moved on – something that Cookie had yet to do in regards to Lucious – but she had done so with a wonderful man who Cookie knew would treat Anika like gold. What Malcolm saw in Anika, Cookie had no idea whatsoever. But couldn't the same thing be said for Cookie and Lucious?

Oh, yeah. Lucious. Cookie turned and looked down at Lucious, who hadn't bothered to get up off the floor. He felt like his skull had been smashed in two, and he was still seeing two of everything. Besides, Cookie had seen him in far worse shape. Why front? "Go get some ice," Cookie ordered her sons, and they rushed off to do their biding.

When their eyes connected, Lucious smiled up at her. "Still ride or die," he admired. It didn't matter if Lucious was right about the whole Anika and Malcolm thing or not. Cookie was going to have his back, and Lucious was going to have hers. That was just the way it was, and that was the way it always would be.

Cookie knelt down and stroked Lucious's hair lovingly. "I told you to let that perm go," she said, running her hands through what was left of Lucious's hair. "You alright, baby?" she asked, taking two bags of ice and a towel from Jamal and Andre before dismissing them for good.

"Mmm...that feels good," Lucious said. Cookie smiled as she iced his forehead, then the tip of his nose, then his lips and finally warmed them all with her kisses. Lucious put one hand around Cookie's hips and brought her down for a real kiss. Cookie, despite everything that had happened, joined Lucious on the floor, putting her head on his chest. "I cracked his ass good, didn't I?" he asked Cookie.

Cookie laughed. "You still got it, old head." Despite Malcolm's posturing, Cookie could see Malcolm rubbing his jaw on the way out the door, and she smiled at the memory of Malcolm's split lip and mouth filled with blood as he struggled to get back to his feet. "I bet he won't be smiling at any damn ceremony tomorrow."

The ceremony. Angelo. Those vacation pictures. Damn it.

Cookie knew she needed to call Angelo back as soon as possible. She needed to make sure that everything was okay and that Angelo hadn't seen those vacation pictures, and was she going to be his date tomorrow or not? But even with all of that over her head, Cookie didn't move from Lucious's side. These were the moments Cookie lived for - lying with her head on Lucious's chest, stroking his hair, kissing his lips, straddling his lap as she pulled her up to her waist and unbuckled Lucious's belt. Cookie loved this man. She needed this man. The sickness, the withdrawal, the cruel reality of their situation and the inevitable fall to earth – all of that could wait. For now, Cookie was high again.