Part IV - Casting the Truth:

Part A:

"I, Miriam Elizabeth, take you, Shawn-Douglas, to be my lawful wedded husband. For better and for worse. In sickness and in health. Forsaking all others; 'til death parts us." - she smiled. "I love you, Shawn."

The memory of their wedding played slowly behind her closed lids.

"Meems?" - Shawn called when he stepped through the doorway of their apartment. A small smile, no less arousing than his touch, came to his face at the sight before him. Mimi lay on the couch with rose petals strewn all over the floor. Soft lighting from the candles enhanced the silhouette of her scantily clad body, covered only by the thin, peach negligee she wore. "Babe…" - Shawn's voice was thick with lust when he spoke. "…what's all this?"

Mimi smiled, that bright, hopeful smile, and raised her hands out to him. Like a moth to a flame, Shawn was powerless to resist. He wanted to play it cool. Wanting to look at her like that for a little longer; so ready and waiting for him. But his body had full control. In two quick strides, he was at the couch. She raised up to allow him room to sit on the couch and he took her hands, turning them over and kissing her palms slowly as he sat down.

"I'm welcoming my husband home." - she rasped out breathlessly as his tongue flicked over her wrists. When he looked up at her, his eyes ablaze with passion, her smile grew. Butterflies filled the crevices of her stomach and took flight. It simply amazed her that she had this type of power of him.

"Are you going to welcome me like this everyday?" - he questioned huskily. Unable to deny the craving any longer, he fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her mouth crashing to his. Despite the force in which it began, the kiss was slow and deep. Shawn found that he never tired of kissing his wife. It was more than a meeting of lips with her. She was giving herself to him intimately. Bringing to surface all the desires within him to meet them with another kiss or some other way.

"Everyday for the rest of our lives like this if you want me to." - she said when they pulled apart. Framing his face in her hands, she pulled him down on to the sofa with her.

"Have I ever told you how happy I am that I married you?" - Shawn joked as his hand hooked lightly underneath her thigh, pulling her leg up and then wrapping it around his waist.

With another heart stopping smile, "Yes." - her hands fumbled with the snaps of his jeans. "Though I don't think you've shown me today." - her grin was wide and wicked.

Standing just long enough to let his jeans pool to the floor so he could step out of them, Shawn once again covered his wife's body with his own. "My mistake." - he told her. He kissed her lips softly. "Let me make up for that."

Jason watched Mimi's face as her head rested on his shoulder. She had fallen asleep some time ago and was locked in dreams that brought a smile to her face. Smiling as he brushed the hair out of her face, he realized he would rather her be asleep and happy than awake and not. He wouldn't disturb her. Not when she smiled like that.

Besides, she would wake up soon enough.

Still, he couldn't help but wondered what she was dreaming.

"Hey, hey, Shawn, look at me." - Mimi commanded. She had finally gotten him to calm down enough to sit in one spot. Of course, she had to sit on his lap to restrain him, knowing he wouldn't get up in a huff if it meant she might be tossed to the floor. Framing his face in her hands, she forced him to look in her eyes. "I have faith in you." - her voice was soft yet conveyed all the conviction she felt. "Just because Max is behaving like a moron chasing after Chelsea and wants out of the business doesn't mean that you can't continue on." - she placed a finger over his lips when he went to protest. She knew her husband. It was best to stop him before he began. "You've risked everything for this garage and it's going to be a success. You just have to believe that and want it bad enough."

"Yeah, but, Mimi, if Max leaves he's taking the working capital with him. I don't have enough money to put into this business full time."

"So, we'll get a loan. I'll take on an extra shift at Alice's." - she offered.

"No, Babe." - Shawn protested. "You won't have time for classes. You barely have time as it is." - when his face fell again, and his eyes spoke of self-loathing, she had just about had enough.

"Stop this!" - she hissed. "Stop being so down on yourself and thinking that I deserve better." - she called him on it. "I know that's what you're thinking and it isn't true. There is no better than you. I love you and I'm not going to give up on you or our marriage. I'm not going to let you give up on yourself or your dream." - silence fell between them. When she calmed down enough, she began to speak again, this time softer. "I have enough money saved that I can give you. It won't interfere with school and we can still live here. We can start checking on loans in the morning and I'll look for a better paying job in between classes and work." - looking him square in the eyes, she showed him her determination. "I'm not going to let you give up. Your business partner may be a fool, but your partner in life isn't. You've been there for me so many times before; let me return the favor."

Smiling, Shawn kissed her lips softly. He knew well enough now that she meant what she said. There was no point in going against her wishes. Honestly, it touched him deeply that she would fight for him so adamantly. He kept kissing her until she relaxed in his arms and smiled against his lips.

Pulling back, he ran his fingers gently over the outline of her mouth. Kissing her smile again, he silently vowed to do whatever it took to make her smile that way at him every day for the rest of their lives.

"Thanks, Babe." - he whispered against her lips; his brow rested upon hers.

"For what?"

"For being my babe." - he told her. "For not giving up on me, not letting me give up on myself." - he kissed her again and caressed her face. "Just for being you. Loving me the way you do."

When he wanted, Mimi thought, he could be the most incredible man on earth. "Always, Baby." - she promised him, as well as herself. "Always."

Waking up with a jolt, Mimi wasn't even aware that she had fallen asleep. It took her a moment to remember where she was and all that had happened before. Part of her wanted it to be a dream. Part of her wanted nothing more than to be back in Salem with Shawn. Instead of here on this airplane headed so far away from everything and everyone she's ever known. The only saving grace was that God had been generous enough to send her an angel to walk her through this transition. An angel she never had expected. Jason Welles would be cast in her book after this flight as a true hero.

Raising her head from his shoulder, she tossed a smile at her. Thought she saw pity in his eyes but it was only curiosity and worry. Her smile grew wider, grateful for that. "Where are we?" - she asked. "How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been asleep for quite a while." - he told her, taking the questions out of order. "I didn't move that big head of yours over because I didn't want to disturb you. You seemed like you needed the sleep." - she made a face at him in response to his comment about her head size. "How very mature of you, Lockhart." - he said in response to the face she made. "Currently, we are floating somewhere above the state of Texas. I have no idea why they have to make the flights so long and fly down instead of straight across. But then, I know nothing about airspace controls and restrictions and could be biased based on my sheer hatred of flying." - he tossed a charming grin her way. "Not enough leg room." - he motioned down to the small amount of space. Mimi nodded and smiled her understanding. She was much shorter than he was and her legs felt a little cramped as well.

Silence fell between them for a beat. Mimi grousing from the pain in her neck, fully waking now, and trying to find the courage to continue. She was trying so hard to not give in to her insecurities. That was why she wrote Shawn the letter in the first place. She hated who she had become. She was a liar. For all intent purposes, from the day she learned the truth, she was a liar. She had found the strength to tell Shawn the truth and to walk away from their life. Telling Jason what she had done, her reasons for running, wouldn't be nearly as bad as that.

"Brady." - Mimi said softly, her eyes staring out the window.

"I'm sorry?" - Jason looked up from his book onto her profile.

"You said Lockhart." - she told him when she brought her face around to meet his. "It's Brady."

Realization dawned. "Oh." - Jason said. More clarity came. "Ohh. Shawn is…"

"The husband I betrayed? Yes."

Book and everything else forgotten, Jason gave her his full attention. "Are you ready to tell me what happened now?" - he questioned gently; giving her time to make up her mind, showing her that he wouldn't pressure her.

"No." - she said. "I'm not ready. But I will tell you what happened anyway. Because you're right, Jason. I do need someone to listen to me. Someone who won't tell me that what I'm doing is wrong. On the other hand, maybe someone who would. It just so happens that it's you."

Jason reached over and grabbed her hand. "Whenever you're ready." - he told her and Mimi smiled at his initiative. He would make an excellent psychiatrist one day. "And remember, I won't judge you. I couldn't possibly. I just don't like to see you hurt."

Smiling again, "Thanks." - Mimi replied. "For you to fully understand the choices I've made that led me here, I'm going to have to go back a little farther than before Shawn and I got together." - at his confused gaze, Mimi bit back a smile. "I'm going to have to go back to the first time I ever lied to a man I loved."