Thanks to Dejavu1978 for the help.


John sat by Annie's bed the rest of the night. He called Caroline and checked on Payton. She said that she was sleeping and had had a great time so far but she wanted to see Annie, the baby, and Randy.

"John." Annie said softly.

"Annie, thank goodness you're okay."

"Where's Payton?"

"She is at your parents. The baby is fine. He is in the nursery."

"What about Randy? Is he still out there?"

"No, he is in the hospital. He can't hurt you."

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault."

"No, it's not. This is my fault. If I haven't had that affair, none of this would have happened."

"I'm sorry that I fell for his charm and sweet neighbor routine. I didn't see him for what he was. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. He played on your vulnerable after the home invasion."

"It was him you know."

"What?" John was shocked by her statement.

"Randy was one of the men who broke into the house. He is the one who raped me."

John was stunned by this. Randy had planned this from the first home invasion. He couldn't believe that his affair, that only lasted a few months, had caused all of this.

"I'm sorry, Annie. This is all my fault." He sighed. "If I hadn't that affair, none of this would have happened."

"I don't think your affair caused this."

"It did because the woman was Randy's wife. After the affair end, she apparently left him and divorced him. So he blamed me. That's why he went after you and Payton."

"She was his wife? I can't believe this."

"I'm sorry. Annie, please forgive me for everything. For the affair, for always traveling, for not believing you when you said nothing happened with you and him. Just for everything." He took her hand in his. "I want us to start over. You, me, Payton, and your little boy."

"Can you really do that? Can you forget everything? And most importantly, can you really raise a baby who isn't yours but the man's who pretty much destroyed us?" She heard his words and she heard him say her little boy.

"I can. I know I can. We can be a family. You, me, Payton, and your little boy."

"That's just it right there. You keep saying my little boy. That says you can't consider him yours." She sighed. "John, I won't be angry or mad if you can't. Okay, now that Randy is going away, I don't have to be afraid. I can get a job and raise Payton and the baby myself and you can see Payton anytime you want. I love you and that hasn't change even after a year of him holding me hostage pretty much. He was never my husband. That has always been you. But I understand that things have changed. For us all. So much as happened. We aren't the same people we were."

He moved closer to her. "Annie, I don't want us not to be together. I love you. I can think of this baby as mine. He is a part of you. I know I keep saying your little boy. It's just going to take time. Annie, please. We can make this work. I love you and I never stopped loving you. I want to start over. Forget everything that has happened. I'm willing try. Are you?"

"Yes. John, I spent a year trying to get away from Randy. To get me and Payton back to you. Having the baby wasn't something I planned. He planned it. He made sure I got pregnant. But that little boy is mine. That doesn't change. You have to be able to accept him for us to be together."

"I can do that."

"Okay, then we can see if we can make this work."

"What are we going to do about Payton? She thinks Randy is her father and when she saw him earlier, he made sure he kept that connection to her."

"She saw him?"

"Yes, she wouldn't go with your parents without seeing him. The doctor thought he wouldn't wake up but he did. And she was so happy. She calls him daddy. That breaks my heart."

She squeezed his hand. "We will make sure she knows you are her father and she will remember that you are. I tried so hard to make her know that he wasn't. But she's a little girl. She had no photos of you. Over the months, the memories faded and she only knew him. I did go along with it because he threatened everything and everyone."

"Alright." He smiled. "Now, you need to see the baby and name him. He can't be baby boy Cena forever."

"I want to see him."

"Okay, let me go tell the doctor." John left to get the doctor.

Annie sighed once he had left. Could he really be okay with this? Could they rebuild their family and their marriage? One thing she knew, it wouldn't be same as before.

"Okay, the nurse is bringing the baby to see you."

"Great." She smiled as the door opened the nurse came in.

"Here is your son." The nurse carefully handed Annie the baby. "He is perfect. All his tests were normal."

"Thank you." Annie said as she took him. She looked into his face and smiled. He was a beautiful baby. "I think your name should be Jacob Anthony."

"I like it." John smiled. "He really is a beautiful baby."

"Thanks." Annie held the baby close. She looked at him and realized that she needed to see Randy. She had too to able to move on and put this behind her. To start over. "John, I have to see Randy."

"See him? Why?"

"John, don't take it that way. I don't love him the slightest bit, but for this strange feeling I need to see him and know that he can't hurt me anymore."

"Annie, I'm sorry. But hearing you say that makes me believe that you do love him and you would still be with him if I hadn't found you."

"You really think I would want to be with someone who would hurt me this way?"

"Some women like that ... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"You're hurting too. I understand that, but John. I want to see him bruised and beaten. Maybe that makes me a bad person, I'm sure it does."

"You're not a bad a person. You could never be a bad person. If this is going to help you feel safer than I will be right there beside you." He didn't like it but maybe it was the right thing to do.

He took the baby back to the nurse and helped Annie into a wheelchair and took her to ICU. He waited outside as she went in.

For the first time Annie felt no fear when she gazed at Randy. Her nostrils flared with anger. She felt no sympathy for him.

"You stole a year of my life." She whispered. "You pretended to be my friend just so you could rip me apart." She felt weak from her injuries and she had to sit down. "You could have easily won my heart without doing what you did. How could someone be as cruel as you were to me? How?"

"I was so afraid of losing another woman ..." she heard the choked and babbling words. She could barely make them out. "What does he have that women love so much. They all leave me."

"I would have stayed with you in the gated community if you hadn't tried to force me. I could have easily fallen in love with you. I was having feelings for you."

"I know that now. I'm not as terrible as you think, Annie. My mind snapped. I think about what I've been doing and I can't believe I did it myself. You should hate me because I hate myself."

"I could never hate anyone, even if they deserve my hate."

Randy managed a smile and then a loud, uninterrupted beep sounded. His head fell to the side. It was over. Randy was dead.

Annie moved to the side as the medical personal rushed in. They did their best but it was too late. He was dead. Annie knew he had been waiting for her. Waiting for her to come and see him. They had their final meeting and she realized it was over. The hurt he had caused her. Now she had to rebuild her life. She had changed and even though she knew he had been horrible, he had caused her to realize her strength. She could move on with her life with or without John and knew she would be okay.

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