CHAPTER 2

Three years had passed since Cole's disappearance. They were hard years, but to her surprise, they had been a little softer because her baby brought her joy as she grew. Phoebe was a good and loving mother, and made it important to raise her daughter to the best of her ability. Phoebe sold Cole's share of the business to Linda and she used that money to live. Gwen also helped by waiting tables at a coffee house down the street from where they lived. One day Gwen found Phoebe staring out the window of their house that was Phoebe's now. Gwen still lived with Phoebe and her daughter.

Phoebe's eyes were glazed over and she seemed deep in thought. Her long beautiful cinnamon brown colored hair and big brown eyes and her perfect full lips were only parts of her class and beauty. Gwen was very proud of Phoebe as she watched her with her daughter and respected how she carried herself in spite of all she'd been through. "What is it Pheebs?" Gwen asked as she entered the room.

"He told me he would never leave me Gwen." She said softly.

"I know sweetie but he's gone now and you have to move on. You can't keep waiting for him to come home, he's not going to."

Phoebe took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

" I know," she said sadly, "But I keep hoping he will."

Then she went to her daughter, who was playing on the floor across the room from her, and picked her up smiling. Phoebe put her hand on the girl's head laying it down on her shoulder and began stroking the girl's long black curls. She had named her Dallas, because it was where she found Cole and her new life. The little girl looked up at her mother with her beautiful blue eyes and smiled at Phoebe. This brought tears to her eyes as she put the girl's head back on her shoulder. Gwen walked over to them, and reached for Dallas.

"Mamma loves you baby" she said and handed her off to Gwen to put down for a nap.

Then Phoebe looked out of the window again. Gwen came back to the room a moment later after Dallas was asleep.

"You'd better hurry girl, Levi is going to be here soon, and you're not ready" Gwen said as she gathered the little girl's toys from the ground.

"Gwen this is weird to me, you were the one who was supposed to be with Levi, not me." "Phoebe, he fell for you as soon as he saw you. And I told you, you guys fit better anyway." Gwen said smiling while she put her arm around Phoebe.

"But, on the other hand, he was so good in bed, and we fit pretty good!" Gwen said and, they both started laughing.

"You slut!" Phoebe teased.

Gwen didn't mind that Levi fell for Phoebe. After all, Phoebe did try to protest, but he soon won her over. Phoebe needed Gwen's approval of course, but Gwen was never all that interested in Levi anyway. In fact she was glad that Phoebe was trying to move on. Gwen was with all different guys and wasn't attached to any of them. She thought it was safer that way, she didn't want the commitment.

"Gwen, am I making a mistake by marrying Levi, I mean what if Cole is still out there?" Phoebe said more serious. "I keep waiting for him to come home to me and tell me it's ok, and that he is home to finish living our life that was stolen from us, and help me raise our child that he has never seen."

"Phoebe we've been over this," Gwen said trying not to be irritated.

"I know but they never found him." Phoebe said with an inkling of hope.

"Sweetie, Cole loved you more than life it's self. Don't you think if he was alive, he'd have come for you by now?" Gwen said as she finished picking up Dallas's toys.

"I know but…" Phoebe looked back out the window before she finished, " What if they caught him and they're holding him and he can't…"

This thought made her sick. She couldn't help but wonder if some how this was related to the nightmare she tried so hard to leave in Chicago.

"We have talked this Phoebe"…. Gwen stopped herself, when Phoebe looked at her with a sad smile.

"Abe is gone Phoebe, he will never find us, he doesn't know where you are. He's probably moved on. This is the best thing you can do for you and the kid." Gwen finished.

"I know, I just want to be sure," Phoebe said trying not to be afraid.

"You can learn to love him, and he's good for you" Gwen said coming towards Phoebe.

Phoebe put her arms around Gwen as she said,

"There's loving someone Gwen, and then there is being in love with someone."

She squeezed Gwen and started to leave when something struck her, it stopped her in her tracks. This feeling that she hadn't felt since the day she got the news about her husband. She fell to her knees. Gwen ran to her and grabbed her shoulders. Phoebe was out of breath.

"What's wrong?" Gwen said in a panicked voice.

"Something is wrong Gwen, it's big!"

Phoebe ran to the room where daughter was, but she was sleeping peacefully. She was almost relieved as the feeling started to fade, but just then she felt it again, it was like a knife in her belly. Then the doorbell rang, and both of the girls gasped.

"Phoebe, what is going on?"

Phoebe ran downstairs to the door, ignoring Gwen. She hit the door hard and waited for the second ring, and then she shut her eyes and she opened the door, preparing herself for what it might bring on the other side.

"Oh, hello…Levi" she said as she tried to calm herself.

"Hello Phoebe, is everything alright?" He said looking at her funny.

Phoebe paused, "Oh ...yes ... I…"

Just then she heard Dallas crying. She motioned Levi inside, as she turned to go to her daughter, but Levi grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, and softy said,

" I missed you."

He started to kiss her, but she pulled away and then smiled. Levi raised his brow at her.

"I'm sorry Levi I'll be right back."

"Promise?"

Humoring him, she smiled and said, " Promise." She turned and ran back upstairs and out of his sight.

Gwen was holding Dallas, and Phoebe reached for her. She took Dallas in her arms and held her tight.

"Shhhh…" Phoebe soothed her back to sleep, and then laid her in the bed.

"What's going on, is that Levi down there?" Gwen said confused by Phoebe's actions.

"Yes, he's waiting out in the main room. Maybe I'll stay in tonight, she needs me Gwen, and …I. Gwen the last time I felt this way was when…"

Gwen stopped her.

"She'll be fine honey, I'll be here, and anyway, Levi needs you. You've been putting him off all week, he misses you, and it sounded like he wanted to talk about something."

Gwen put her hand on Phoebe's cheek and smiled, then she got up from the bed and went downstairs to stall Levi so Phoebe could collect herself. Phoebe smiled at her sleeping child and kissed her rosy warm cheek.

"Mamma" the baby said tiredly in her sleep.

"Mamma's here… sleep baby, sleep." Phoebe's eyes filled up with tears as she tilted her head back and blew in her eyes fighting back a break down. Something was going to happen but she didn't know what. She had learned to follow her instincts after the situation in Chicago.

"There you are, I thought you weren't coming back" Levi joked as he saw Phoebe walking down the stairs towards him.

He put his glass of brandy down that Gwen had poured him. He grabbed Phoebe's coat and swung it around her shoulders.

"I'll be home later," she told Gwen as they hugged.

"Have fun and don't worry sweetie, everything is fine." Gwen assured her.

Gwen shut the door behind them and sighed in relief. She was running out of excuses to tell Levi of why Phoebe was taking so long. Gwen knew Phoebe was always right about her intuitions, so she couldn't help but be uneasy.

Phoebe laid in bed that night thinking back on the life she and Cole had. After three years she still longed to feel him. Even just to hear his voice. She missed all the things that made him the man he was. He was so handsome and so strong. She got butterflies when she remembered how he would watch her in their bedroom, even the thought of him looking at her thrilled her. The five years they spent together was so wonderful, and she needed them back, but they were gone.

She was slowly drifting to sleep without realizing it. As she drifted off, something still bothered her. The feeling she had earlier was the same as she had the day the men came to her door to tell her of Cole's accident. She had the feeling all day, and she knew something was wrong. She was due to have their child any day. The news had thrown her into labor that same day that she heard the news. What was worse, was that there was no end to it. She didn't know if he was dead or alive. The police just told her he was in an accident, and there was no sign of his body. His car had blown into pieces when it spun out of control, and smashed into the rock wall, and it was impossible for survivors. There was a funeral, but no body. So that left her with no closure.

The night before Cole disappeared, he and Phoebe were getting ready for a dinner party. They often attended these parties. Cole was a good attorney, and it was important to show up at the parties for business. Everyone always expected him to show. Especially Linda. She always had a thing for Cole, and worse she was still his partner. She always treated Phoebe like lower class, after all, Phoebe tried to mug her once. Phoebe tried to ignore her but when she would flirt with Cole it would get her attention. Cole never paid any attention to Linda's attempts. He was used to working with pretty women, and he used to be seduced very easily, but now he only had eyes for one woman. She was the light of his life, and he was no longer tempted by other women, or wanted them for that matter.

Phoebe was sitting at her vanity stand brushing her hair for the party. She sat the brush down and looked at her stomach in the mirror with a frown. Cole was coming out of the shower, and walking from the steamy bathroom to the connected bedroom, with a white towel around his waist, and a hand towel that he was rubbing his wet head with. He looked at Phoebe and noticed the frown. She looked so beautiful to him and this sight turned him on. As her white lace slip was formed to her shapely body, the strap had slid down her right shoulder and half of her breast was exposed. The dim lighting made her tan skin glow, as she picked up the lotion and massaged it on her neck and chest, then caressing her arms. She was still in very good shape, and you couldn't tell she was pregnant from the back of her, only the front showed a perfectly round belly. It was starting to be very uncomfortable for her these last few weeks, because she was due anytime. The baby was very active and she had started showing signs of a birth soon. She hadn't noticed him looking at her yet. Cole just stood at a distance soaking her in, with drops of water slowly running down his broad chest to his tight muscular stomach, then into the towel around his waist. He ran his fingers through his wet black hair and hung them back to his side. Testosterone oozed off of him, as a sexy smile formed to his full seductive lips, when Phoebe's eyes met his through the mirror.

"What, is it baby?" He asked as he came towards her.

Phoebe sighed heavily in frustration. Cole was now leaning over her, with his arms straddled around her, and his hands on each side of the vanity's edge. He started kissing her smooth shoulder. She tilted her head back and smiled, after watching him in the mirror, kiss her softly. She let out a pleasant moan when he reached her neck.

"Oh nothing new, I just feel as big as a house, that's all!" She said before meeting her lips with his.

Cole chuckled quietly at her sarcasm, while still kissing her. He stood up slowly then lead her to the bed.

"It's not funny Cole, and HE is kicking the hell out of me." She said smiling back at Cole who was now lying on his side with his head propped in his hand and smiling sweetly at her.

"There is nothing sexier than the mother of my child," he said softly, "especially when she is half naked in our bedroom." Cole said raising his eyebrows at her suggestively and pulling her to sit on the bed.

"Cole is that all you think about? I am nine months pregnant and I don't feel the least bit attractive." She said in frustration, wiping the water drops on his chest.

He rolled on his back and laced his fingers behind his head. She could see his arousal through his towel.

"Well SHE, is going to be worth all the hell, when SHE gets here!" He said pulling Phoebe on top of him.

Cole and Phoebe would go back and forth about what the baby's sex was, all the time. Cole would say, SHE is going to have his brains and Phoebe's looks. Phoebe would argue, that HE was going to have her brains and Cole's looks.

Gwen was downstairs getting ready herself to go out. She was putting on her coat at the door when Cole and Phoebe walked down the stairs towards her.

"You guys look great!" Gwen said raising her eyebrows.

"So do you sweetie, where are you going?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, well I met someone this afternoon in my coffee shop, and he asked me out. He kind of looks like you Cole only shorter." Gwen said as she just now noticed the resemblance between them.

"What is his name? Is he safe? Are you sure he is a good guy." Phoebe said in a protective but nervous voice.

Gwen looked at Phoebe and knew what she was referring to.

"Phoebs, he's ok, his name is Levi and he's clean." Gwen said assuring her.

"Ok honey, are you ready?" Cole said opening the door for Phoebe.

Cole was confused at Phoebe's sudden tension, but he was used to the girls being cautious of strangers. He knew they had an ugly past, but they didn't like to talk about it.

"Ok, don't wait up! I don't even know if I will be home!" Gwen said as she looked back with a smile before hurrying out of the opened door, and getting into the car that had just pulled up to the house.

"Take care of you!" Phoebe yelled.

"Take care of you!" Gwen yelled back before she shut the door of the car and drove off.