Here is the next chapter of DKOL.

Decided to up the rating. I was gonna stick with just rating the chapters for awhile, but, then, I really thought about it and chose to just up the rating altogether. That was the original plan anyhow. LOL.

As always, thanks for the amazing, continued support.

Up In Flames

"Baby... what did just you say?" Bianca asked her eight-year-old daughter the next day- Saturday morning. The two of them were in the guest room they'd been staying in- which was inside of Bianca's first cousin's house.

"I said I wanna have dinner with Aisha and Daddy tonight," Ariel replied. It hadn't taken her long to fall in love with Zack. "You should come, too, Mama."

Bianca fought hard to ignore her sudden rush of anger. She gripped the edge of the mattress tightly, took a deep breath and smiled at the girl. "I would really like that, sweetie, but, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Ariel asked with a confused frown.

'Because I hate your stepmother with a fiery passion,' she thought. She cleared her throat. "Because I kinda wanted you to myself today, baby. We were gonna do whatever you wanted and I was gonna cook your favorite foods. I'm... glad you like spending time with your father and Aisha, but, Mama was hoping it would be just you and her today." Sure, she'd told Mike she'd be with him tonight, but, she'd give him some excuse. She didn't want Ariel around Aisha today. 'I've gotta try and keep her from totally brainwashing my child.'

Ariel grinned. "Okay, Mama!" she said before hugging her mother.

Bianca held her daughter tightly. 'Ariel's all I have- for now- and I'm not gonna let anybody turn her against me. That's why Aisha has gotta go.' Mike had laughed about it last night, but, she'd been completely serious about getting rid of "Mrs. Taylor" permanently.

Ariel pulled out of her mother's embrace and looked at her. "But, can I be with Daddy and Aisha tomorrow? Please, Mom?"

Bianca stared at her for a few moments, then, sighed. "Yeah, sweetheart. You can be with them tomorrow."

Ariel cheered. "Can we eat breakfast now? 'Cause I'm soooo hungry."

"Why don't you go on in the kitchen. Your cousin Jada is cooking right now," Bianca said.

Ariel nodded, hopped off the bed and raced out of the room.

Bianca sat completely still... letting her hatred towards Aisha flow through her. She enjoyed the way it felt. Her eyes narrowed as she wondered for the millionth time how Zack could stay with the other woman. No way was he actually that much in love with her. Hell, he probably wasn't in love with her at all. Aisha had probably forced him into that ridiculous marriage. 'But, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because I'm gonna free you, Zack. I'm gonna free you and we'll have the life we should've been having all these years. It will not take you long to realize and accept that no one else could ever love you the way I do.'

Adam was in the kitchen at the house he shared with Tanya- cooking breakfast for the two of them. He did it every Saturday. Tanya was still in bed- as far as he knew anyhow. 'Maybe we should have breakfast in bed- seeing as how we haven't done that in awhile,' he thought as he flipped a pancake over. Then, he began thinking of how he and his wife should get away for a weekend. It'd be good for them.

"Sweetie?"

Adam looked over his shoulder to find Tanya in the doorway. She, of course, was still wearing what she'd slept in last night, which was one of his T-shirts. He couldn't help smiling. He'd always thought she looked cute in his shirts. A warmth washed over him as he remembered the first time she'd ever worn one of them to bed. "Morning, honey."

"Morning, baby," she said as she made her way up to him. "Everything smells delicious." She hugged him from behind.

"Thanks, but, was there ever any doubt?" he said teasingly.

"A bite-sized one," she joked.

"You're mean, but, it excites me," he joked back.

"Adam!" she said, mock astonishment. "You're not supposed to be naughty. Whatever would people think?"

"What can I say? I live to shock," he said, grinning.

"How are you at receiving shocks?" she asked.

"All right, I guess. What's your secret? Are you really Tanya's twin sister or something?" he said with a laugh.

"Oh, I'm the real Tanya... the possibly pregnant Tanya," she said casually.

Adam dropped the cooking utensil he'd been using and turned to face his wife. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open. Pregnant? Had she seriously just said pregnant? "You... you're..."

She laughed. "I see that's one shock that won. I've been having the symptoms lately, so, I bought a home test yesterday. I didn't wanna tell you until I took it. Anyway, I just did and it's positive. Adam, we... might be having a baby."

Happiness replaced his shock. The very idea that Tanya might be standing in front of him carrying a baby that their love had created made him want to fly. He smiled. "Tanya, if we are, it's gonna be great. I'll be as happy as I was the day you became my wife."

"So will I," she said, smiling as well. "It's perfect timing, too."

"That's true," he agreed. "I can't wait until we find out for sure."

"Same here. But, I have a feeling that we're definitely pregnant," she said.

Adam's happiness increased. He felt like running around as though he'd eaten too much candy. A baby. They were most likely going to be a family. He, Tanya and their son or daughter. Family. He pulled her into a loving embrace.

Jason entered Kimberly's and his apartment with a sigh that night. He'd been out running some errands and he was now hungry as all get out. 'If Kim hasn't cooked anything, I'll just heat up a frozen dinner,' he thought as he closed and locked the door. "Kimberly, I'm back!" he yelled. When he got no response, he headed for the kitchen- thinking she was there and engrossed in some telephone conversation with one of their friends. However, she was nowhere in sight. He turned and exited the room.

After checking the bathroom and bedrooms, he stood in the hallway, wearing a frown. Where in the world was she? Just then, his cell phone rang. He removed it from his pants pocket, looked at the caller ID and answered. "Kim, where are you?" he asked.

"I figured you'd be home by now. I'm on the roof of our building," she said.

'What?' "The roof? Why?" he asked.

"Come on up and find out," she said- the smile clear in her voice.

"Kim, what's going on?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

She laughed. "Seriously, come on up and find out. You really should." Then, she ended the call.

Jason pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a second. His curiosity began overpowering his hunger. He returned his phone to his pocket, then, turned and practically hurried for the door- wondering what his fiancee was up to. A short while later, he opened the door that led to the roof and stepped out. He looked to his right and his eyebrows shot up.

There was a table and two chairs. On the table was a white tablecloth, two plates loaded with food, a bottle of champagne sitting on ice in a bucket, champagne glasses and candles. Music was streaming from the speakers of a small radio and Kimberly was standing next to the table with a huge smile on her face.

"Hungry, Rex?" she said as he started towards her.

"Very. This is nice, but, what made you wanna do it?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't in the mood for an ordinary Saturday night."

He smiled. "Well, it looks great and so do you."

"Thanks," she said, then, gestured towards the food. "We'd better eat. The last thing I need is a tyrannosaurusy, future husband dying of starvation." He laughed and they both sat across from each other. Kimberly took a sip of her champagne. "I think we should do this once or twice a month."

"I'm game," he said, then, picked up his fork.

"We're really getting married in three weeks," she said, a bolt of happiness going through her.

Jason felt the same bolt. "It can't come fast enough for me, Pinky."

"Feeling's mutual. Jase, I cannot wait to become Kimberly Scott," she said.

"Could you say that name again?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Kimberly Scott," she said with a soft smile. A short while later, she spoke up again. "Let's dance."

"All right," he said, pushing his chair back and standing. She stood as well and they met up around the table. He pulled her to him, she curled her arms around his neck, he wrapped his arms around her waist and they began swaying to the music. "Is this one of your mix CDs?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm," she said, then, sighed almost dreamily. "I love this song. It kind of reminds me of us. A lot of songs remind me of us."

"Including Old MacDonald?" he teased- unable to resist.

"Well... yeah. But all I'd want on my farm is a Jason-Jason here, a Jason-Jason there, here a Jason, there a Jason, everywhere a Jason- Jason," she said, a playful and flirtatious glint in her eye.

"A helluva lot of Jason, baby," he said huskily.

"That's cool because you're the one thing I can never get enough of," she said.

"Works both ways. I love you, Kim," he said, staring down into her eyes.

"I love you, too, Jason," she said.

It was now three days later- Tuesday morning- and Trisha was basically dragging herself to her kitchen. She wasn't the biggest fan of mornings. At the moment, she'd love nothing more than to hop back into bed and grab a couple more hours of sleep... . But, if she wanted to keep a lovely, little roof over her head, she had to work. Luckily, she enjoyed her job- most of the time.

She headed up to the refrigerator and the cordless telephone rang just as she was about to open it. She groaned. Geez. The blonde turned and headed for the phone. She grabbed it and saw Chloe Hamilton's name flashing across the caller ID screen. Chloe worked at Alluring Style with her- she was an assistant fashion editor as well. "Chloe? What's up?" Trisha asked.

"What's up? You can go back to sleep is what's up!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Huh?" Trisha said, confused.

"The magazine, Trish. Our workplace. It's insane!" Chloe said. She sounded incredibly upset.

"What about the magazine? Chloe, what happened?" Trisha asked.

"It's gone!" Chloe said.

"What? What do you mean 'gone'?" Trisha asked incredulously. She was completely awake now.

Chloe took a deep breath and began speaking again. "Burned. It was burned down to the ground."