Dean:

I had backhanded Desiree across her face. She put a hand to her face and discovered a bit of blood trickling from her nose. It was too late to take back the damage. She looked at me with nothing but rage in her eyes. She wiped her face and she flipped. She had every single right to be mad at me. But this wasn't the way to handle anything. Unfortunately, we were on the verge of tearing each other's heads off.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Desiree screamed at me.

She hit me in the face, which stunned me for a little. She hit me again and again, managing to knock me onto the bed. She climbed on top of me and kept trying to hit me again. I grabbed ahold of her hands.

"Let me go!" she said.

I flipped her over and kissed her. She was trying to get away from me but to no avail. She kept struggling and struggling and struggling but couldn't break free. She tired herself out and gave up.

I got off of her. Desiree curled into a ball on the bed, crying. I wanted to comfort her. To tell her how sorry I was. How I messed up. But I decided to leave the room instead.

I found AJ in the living room. She was texting. She had looked up at me with a worried look on her face.

"You two sounded like you were going to murder each other. I took Dave and Destiny to Mrs. Langston's house so that they wouldn't continue to hear the commotion."

"Thanks," I said.

"You have blood on your lip."

I wiped my lip with a tissue.

"I'm going to get the kids. Desiree is still upset," I said, grabbing my car keys.

"You don't look good," AJ said.

"I know," I said, walking out of the door.

I got to Desiree's mom's house. I hesistated a bit before knocking on the door. I walked away from the door and was about to go back to the car when I heard the door open.

"Hello, Dean," Mrs. Langston said.

"Hi, Mrs. Langston. I'm here to pick up Dave and Destiny."

"Come in," Mrs. Langston said.

I stepped into the house. Dave was watching t.v. with his uncle Biggy. Biggy was holding Destiny. Dave turned back and saw me.

"Dean!"

He ran to me. "Are you and Mommy okay?"

"Yeah. We are."

Biggy looked at me.

"Hey," he said. He didn't look too pleased to see me. The feeling was mutual.

"Hey," I said back. "Can I hold Destiny for a moment?"

Biggy got up and gave Destiny to me.

"Hey there," I said. Her pigtails were still in place.

She blew bubbles from her mouth. I wiped her mouth with her bib.

"Daddy's here to take you and Dave back home," I said.

"Before you do, I want to talk to you, Dean," Mrs. Langston said.

I handed Destiny back to Biggy and went to join Mrs. Langston on the front porch. She patted a spot next to her on the bench, signaling to me to sit down. I sat down and glued my eyes to the ground.

"AJ told me what was going on," Mrs. Langston said. "You and Desiree are fighting?"

"We were fighting," I said. "And we got physical. She hit me, I slapped her."

"Why were you guys fighting?"

I knew I had to tell her that I cheated on her daughter.

"I had slept with one of my co-workers. One night I couldn't sleep. I was stressed. And I wanted to get a drink. I ran into her and she gave me some liquor. I went back to my hotel room and drunk it. Got tipsy. Heard a knock at my door and it was the co-worker. She walked into my room and I told her to leave but the liquor overpowered me and I ended up sleeping with her."

Mrs. Langston was quiet for a while.

"And what happened after you told her?"

"The co-worker had called my phone and Desiree answered it. I know she told her everything. Desiree was livid and crying. She wanted to kill me."

"Did you apologize?"

"She didn't want to hear it," I said.

"Well, Dean, you two have been through ups and downs. Destiny is a blessing to the both of you and Dave is, too. I admire how you took up responsibility for Dave as well. Despite what you did, I want you and Desiree to work this out. I want her to learn how to stay with the one she loves through thick and thin."

"I love your daughter so much. I know I screwed up," I said, breaking down. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Mrs. Langston comforted me as I cried.

"I let her down...I let Dave down...my baby Destiny...FUCK!"

"It'll get better. Pull yourself together, Dean. Remember your family. Desiree loves you. Dave loves you. Destiny loves you," Mrs. Langston reassured me.

"I know, but..." I was trying to speak but I was crying too hard.

"Sssssshhhhh," Mrs. Langston said. She patted my back.

I managed to pull myself together. I took the kids home.

The baby had fallen asleep.

"Is Mommy okay, Dean?" Dave asked me.

"She's fine. Just remember that me and her love you and your sister. Don't you forget it. Promise?"

"I promise."

Once I got home, I went into Destiny's nursery. She was sound asleep. She looked like a little angel in my arms.

"Destiny, I'm sorry for what I did. Forgive me for what I did. I didn't mean to hurt Mommy, you, or your brother. I made a mistake I cannot take back. I wish to God I could take it back. But I can't. Daddy still loves you no matter what." I began to cry again. "Daddy loves you, princess."

I laid Destiny in her crib, gave her a goodnight kiss, and left the room. I went to the kitchen and grabbed some liquor out of the cabinet. I also grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.

I went into the bathroom and locked the door.

I opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out sleeping pills. I opened the bottle, poured some pills into my hand, and downed them with the liquor. I went through the bottle quickly and opened another bottle of painkillers. I downed them with the liquor as well..

Before I lost consciousness, I managed to write a letter to Desiree:

"Desiree,

I wish I could take back what I did. I didn't mean to hurt you. But I did. I put you through unimaginable pain. I can't take it back. All I can ask is that you find it in your heart to forgive me. If you don't, that's fine, too. I'm a worthless piece of shit. I don't deserve someone gorgeous, caring, and wonderful as you. I wish I could make everything better but you probably don't want to see me again. I just wanted you to know that I still love you. Forever.

-Dean"

I set the pen down and sat against the wall. My eyes were slowly closing.

Then, everything went black.