As the months went on I managed to put aside what happened that night and move on with my life. Samantha was a wonderful baby and provided me with more joy than I ever thought possible. By the time her first birthday came around she was walking and knew how to say Momma. Every milestone she reached was cause for celebration. Grace and Jack laughed at the efforts I put forth to celebrate such events, but Will was as enthralled with her as I. Samantha adored Will and when he was in the house she wanted nothing to do with anyone else, including myself. They had a very special bond and I was glad to know she would have a man in her life to look up to. He had become a part of our everyday life and as Samantha grew, their bond only became stronger. Jack adored her as well, but he didn't quite have that paternal instinct that Will had.

Jack and I were still very close of course and spent many late nights discussing his ever changing love life. Grace and I continued to be close friends and I will never forget how much she helped me during the most difficult and frightening time of my life. There were issues I faced soon after the rape that I was only comfortable sharing with her and that sharing forged a bond between us that would never be broken. Grace understood what I was going through as only a woman could, and as much as Jack tried to help me there were some things I just couldn't share with him.

Stan pleaded guilty to first degree rape and was sentenced to five years in prison. I was horrified to learn he would only be put away for five years, and the though of him making parole after only two years scared me to death, but as time went on I was able to get past my fears and accept that there was nothing I could do but move on.

It took a long time before I was able to return to that room. I spent months avoiding going anywhere near it. Samantha was nearly two years old when I was finally able to enter it again. There was still blood on the carpet and Samantha's old crib was unmade and disheveled. I searched through her drawers and found clothes she had never been able to wear. There was a stuffed bunny rabbit Jack had given her sitting in the corner of her crib and a blanket from Grace was folded over the back of the rocking chair. In her closet I found dresses, shoes and bonnets that had never been worn and baby toys that had never been played with. I spent a good hour in that room going through her old things but my moment of reminiscence was interrupted when Samantha woke from her nap. I grabbed the stuffed bunny from the crib and the blanket from the rocking chair and left to retrieve my daughter from her room.

That was the last time I entered that room. I donated the furniture and clothes to a local church and they came and removed everything. Grace had offered to redecorate it and turn into a playroom for Samantha, but I wasn't ready for that. I had come a long way, but a part of me still held onto the horror of that night, and perhaps a part of me always would.

THE END