Warning: This story contains adult language, graphic violence, attempted rape, attempted suicide, and sexually explicit themes. Reader's discretion is advised. Rating - R.

Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. Apollonia, Giselle, Checkers, and other miscellaneous characters are all mine.

Alternate Ending:

The dawn's early light, birds' chirping, and warm sunshine introduced a brand new day. Like many other days in New York, another presented events of both the predictable and the unpredictable. The weekend came and sleeping in was the order of the morning. Sunny and clear with a light breeze, God saw fit to make this day a beautiful one. Large white clouds decorated the blue sky as birds flew without a care to carry out nature's activities.

The couple had to be awake for an appointment for the doctor to come to the house and check up on the progress of Apollonia's pregnancy. Her beloved did not want her traveling to the hospital for fear of an accident occurring to her on the street.

Apollonia woke up slowly and in a content mood as she turned to her side, looking at the man to her immediate left. "Good morning, mon amour." She said as she placed butterfly kisses on the back of his neck. Slowly but surely, he woke up, blinking lightly as he stretched his arms to welcome an embrace of his lady love. He kissed her lovingly as she accepted his affection. She looked upon him with warmth in her dark eyes.

Her love was still engrained in their relationship and she still loved being a part his life. His sky blue eyes alone told a story of triumph. After all these years, he was still on top.

"I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that I was working in the steel mill and it had exploded. After that happened, Jack came to see me and I died. Killian was in my dream, too. He tried to rape you and Jack saved you from him. I also dreamt that you and Jack fell in love and moved to Santa Fe, and all of these things happened to you two out there. And then you guys got married."

Apollonia shook her head at him. "Mon Dieu, Spot! You have really got to stop eating sweets and partying the night before. Ever since I became pregnant you have been dreaming crazy for the past eight months!"

"Hey, don't start a fight with me, baby. When it comes to you, I'm a lover not a fighter. Now if you can get with that we can talk." He said huskily, smiling wickedly as he leaned in for a smoldering kiss.

Apollonia was thrilled when she found out that she was pregnant with their first child. Spot was also overjoyed with the news of their upcoming offspring. He and Giselle were at her beck and call for damn near everything. They watched her every move to make sure that she did not do anything to endanger her health or that of their unborn child. Both knew Apollonia to be a headstrong young woman and would not do anything stupid to cause a miscarriage, but Spot couldn't help but be overprotective. This was their first baby together.

In the midst of all of his visions, one in particular was quite peculiar. Spot noticed that the main part of his dream was about Apollonia and Jack. He heard that Jack moved to Santa Fe, operated his own ranch, and eventually married. According to many accounts, the woman he married was the spitting image of Apollonia and she, too, was from New Orleans. She could have been Apollonia's twin. He believed that his dreams displayed his deepest fear; dying and leaving Apollonia forever. Be that as it may, he was glad that Jack had moved on with his life.

Spot reminisced on the part of his dream when he was lying in the hospital and had forgiven Jack face to face. Even though it was just a hallucination, Spot did, however, forgive Jack in his heart. It was both refreshing and comforting to know that he was at peace with himself about the events of the past. He was even more at peace knowing that he was going to fulfill a new role; the role of a family man. Apollonia and Spot spent the last two months choosing names for their new arrival. For a boy, they decided on the name Dylan; for a girl, Marie-Celine.

Giselle was asked to be the child's Godmother and Spot's cousin, Lucas, also known as Runner, was asked to be the Godfather. Both happily accepted the honor. Runner would visit his cousin every other day just to hang out and he would brag to Apollonia how much of a great Godfather he would be. His green eyes sparkled as he talked about sending his young cousin to the private school he attended and raved about taking them to Coney Island for fun whenever Spot and Apollonia wanted to have a romantic tryst, just the two of them. Runner looked forward to those future activities. And Spot was grateful to have such a dedicated and loving family member. Runner would make frequent trips to the couple's brownstone, running errands and assisting Spot with Apollonia's well-being. He practically lived there. Ever since he moved back to New York, he spent more time in Manhattan than in Brooklyn, wishing to reestablish his close relationship with his cousin.

The two were beaming with pride as they awaited the arrival of their progeny. Spot had always dreamed of being a father and he couldn't wait to live that reality with the love of his life. He also wanted to pick up from where his father left off; he would never leave his family. He made a vow to himself and to Apollonia that he would always be a good father and husband to his family.

They had fun trying to figure out what their children would look like, whose personality they would possess, and what colleges and universities they would attend. Spot wanted to give his children all of the benefits in life he had been denied and Apollonia wanted her children to have just a many privileges as she had, and more.

The nursery was decorated completely. All that was needed were splashes of color, either blue or pink. Spot would walk into the room and scan it, thinking to himself about how wonderful it will be to hear his child's voice calling him, screaming "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" as he would walk through the door from a hard day's work. He would go to bed at night tending to Apollonia, gently rubbing her stomach, waiting for the day of delivery to meet his young. He would talk to her belly and kiss it before retiring every night.

He walked over to the lane chest that was at the foot of their bed and opened it to retrieve his cane and slingshot. If he had a boy, he knew that these heirlooms would be gladly handed down to him. If he had a girl, he would do the same. In addition to these, he would also bequeath to them the key that he wore around his neck in his days as the Brooklyn newsie leader. The key was to strongbox that his father had before he left them. The vault had been lost, but always kept the key as a reminder.

Immediately, he put the remnants of his past life back into the trunk and proceeded downstairs. Entering the parlor, he found Apollonia sitting quietly in her chair, sewing a sweet, sentimental phrase on a blanket for their new arrival. Spot stood there, leaning against the paneling of the entrance, looking at the woman who was expecting his baby.

He just stood there taking in all her beauty, his eyes glazed with passion. Her being expectant somehow made her more desirable. He couldn't explain it. He felt that her pregnancy told him that the two of them would be tied together for all eternity. Blending both of their genes to create another life made Spot feel something he had never felt before. Words could not express it. He was glad that out of all of the women that he had ever been intimate with that Apollonia was the woman that he impregnated. And he was grateful to God for such a blessing. She drowned him in her love, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. He knew what life was all about by loving her. She was the sunlight in his universe.

He walked over to her while she was heavy into her task. Looking down on her physique, seeing her huge breasts sticking out above the top of her maternity gown, he watched as she sewed an affectionate saying on the blanket. His hands raked through her hair as she continued her undertaking. He knelt down towards her, placed his index finger beneath her chin, pushed her face upward, and kissed her passionately without admonition. Sending his tongue into her mouth, he swirled it around and around as she graciously accepted his romantic gesture of oral exploration. With gentle pleasure, he increased the tempo of his stroking tongue right before ending it with a soft, devastating kiss on her moist lips. She then looked up into his light blue eyes and smiled.

"I love you, too, Spot." was all she said to her loving husband.

The End

Author's Note: Due to many people loving Spot so much in both this story and its predecessor, I thought that it would be a good idea to give an alternative ending to 'Empire of Dreams' for those loyal to Spot. I hope whoever likes the alternate ending will be very appreciative, most notably Morning Dew! Love ya, girlfriend! :)