Sorry this took so long to update! My computer broke down and I didn't get my new computer for a while and when I did get it, it didn't have Microsoft word installed on it so I had to wait for my dad to bring home the program. Injoy the new chapter!

P.S. This is the the chapter before the last chaper. After I'll have an epilog (sp?) so injoy while it lasts!

I left off where Jack and Ryaina are going to the hospital in an ambulance. Don't remember? Then go back and read the last chapter! For all those who do remember, on with the story!

"We are gathered here today to honor Jack Mercer. A loving young man who was killed by another awful shooting that is so common in this town. Jack Mercer leaves behind many family and friends, but most importantly a loving girlfriend and child…" I cried on Bobby's shoulder. After Jack had held on for life in the hospital for a few hours, he didn't have enough strength to hold on any longer. I haven't even stopped crying the past four days. I don't even know how I was going to raise this baby alone without Jack.

The men started lowering Jack's wooded tomb into the 6 feet of earth. "No…" I sobbed.

Bobby started rubbing my back, "It will be okay Ryan. Everything will turn out okay." He soothed.

I shook my head, "No…it won't!"

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep, I groaned. +What is that+ I opened my eyes to be blinded by a completely white room and my eyes were blurred. I groaned again and wiped away my halfly dried tears, "What the hell? Was that dream real?" I moaned and reopened my eyes. I was in a hospital bed, and by the looks of it I was sharing it with another person. But I didn't really care about that at the moment; I was too interested in finding out what that 'beeping' was. I looked all around my side of the room but nothing was beeping on my side. +My room-mate's side…+ I thought looking over to my partner's side. My partner looked pretty jacked up; he had a few bruises, a sling on his right arm and a bandage around his bare middle. He wasn't that bad looking either, he was young, had messy dirty blond hair, was about 6 foot and was in good shape. +I wonder what happened to him. + I looked around his side of the room and saw a heart monitor+so that's were the beeping was coming from. + I thought trying to go back to sleep when he started mumbling.

"Ryaina…don't leave…me…" He moaned, I was shocked. I knew who he was and why wouldn't I share a room with him?

"Jack?" I asked, a smile flicked across the man's face. "Jack!" I happily sighed, so the dream wasn't true, Jack was fine and lying next to me. Jack opened his eyes and looked at me, "Rain…!" Jack smiled and beckoned me over with a hand jester. I smiled, got up and walked over to him. I was glad to see that I wasn't wearing one of those stupid gowns that the hospitals put on you when you were unconscious. I was wearing the shirt I had on when the shooting happened and a pair of my pj pants, my favorite ones. They were just plain black flannel, Alyssa must have brought them. Jack moved over to the side of his bed and I laid down beside him.

"How are you felling?" I asked.

"Fine, but that's only because of the Novocain." we laughed, "Ask me when we get home." Jack wrapped his arms around me and put his hand on my stomach.

I smiled, "Are you ready to be a dad?"

Jack moaned, "No, but I will in 9 months."

"Do you know how long it's been since the ambulance ride?" I asked hoping it wasn't to long.

"No." Jack groaned, I could tell he was between sleeping and being awake.

"Thanks that helps." I chuckled.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Jack spoke up again, "I'm still sorry."

"For what?" I asked.

"Cheating…"

"Why did you cheat on me?" I asked wishing this hadn't even come up.

"Because someone told me that they saw you kiss some guy at the movie theater, so I got mad and jealous." Jack trailed off.

"Who told you that? Please tell me it wasn't Kate that told you that lie." I groaned. Kate was this girl that had a huge crush on Jack and would do anything to be with him, it wouldn't surprise me if it was her.

Jack chuckled, "That obvious? I don't know why I listened to her, or why I turned to her when I thought you had cheated on me."

"Yeah, it wasn't lovely seeing her attached to my boyfriends face in front of my next class." I bitterly chuckled. There was a loud racket in the hall.

"I don't care if visiting hours are from 11 to 9!" Unmistakably my brother Bobby yelled. Bobby was so loud I didn't even hear the nurse's response. "Well look lady; I'm not one to really follow rules so no matter what you say I'm going in there to see my brother and sister!" Bobby yelled again this time storming through the door with the nurse behind him, and Angel, Sofi, Jerms, Camille, and Alyssa behind her.

Bobby looked to my bed, the one that was closest to the door, and seeing it unoccupied freaked out, "Where's my sister! What happened to her!" Bobby yelled.

"Bobby!" I hissed, the pour nurse looked scared to death, "I'm over hear!" Bobby looked over at me, and saw Jack behind me.

Bobby turned around, "Sorry, but we need privacy!" The nurse nodded and happily left.

"How did you know that was my bed?" I asked before Bobby could start yelling for no reason again.

"We came last night after the shooting, but you were asleep." Bobby answered sitting in a chair. Alyssa went and sat on Bobby's lap.

"How are you both feeling?" Camille asked, I knew she already knew about the Mercer on the way.

"Fine" Jack and I answered at the same time.

"So when do we get to go home?" Jack asked

"The doctors said that if you stay off your feet and get a lot of rest, so on and so on, you can both go home today." Alyssa said pushing Bobby away as he tried to kiss her neck.

"Well then get us some crutches and let's go." I said getting up.

"Hey! Sit back down!" Bobby said pointing at me.

"The doctors will be in shortly to check up on you two, until then you have to wait here." Jerms said making Jack and me sigh.

"Home Sweet Home." I muttered. Finally after being at the hospital for a couple hours, we were finally allowed to go home, but it seemed Jack and I weren't going to be able to finish the battle we started with our brothers. "Alyssa, I want to go to my room, can you help me up the stairs?" I asked. It sucked, I had to use stupid crutches for most of my walking, I could walk short distances but that was it. So my independent ways were over for a week or so. I had to be helped up and down stairs, and through this snowy weather, it was all fine and dandy. Mmm, can you taste the lovely sarcasm?

"Sure, no problem." Alyssa said rushing over to me and helping me up the stairs. Finally, when I got to my room, I plopped down on my bed.

"Thanks Alyssa. I would talk to you but I'm sorta tired." I said chuckling.

Alyssa laughed, "I bet, I'll be downstairs if you need me later." She said walking out the door and closing it behind her. I sighed, put my arms behind my head, and just sat in bed and thought. I thought about what happened this week, what happened when mom was alive and all the Mercer children lived with her, and I thought about the future. +How are we going to be able to take down Sweets? He's a smart man; we're going to have to think of something that he wouldn't have thought about. But I'm going to have to sit on the side-lines with Jack, Camille, and Sofi. + I thought agitated. Then my mind ran from hate and blood to a different direction, love and family. +After all of this, what's going to happen? Will we all spilt up again? And where will I go, to live with Alyssa again or to live with Jack? I don't want to separate from my family again, but then again this isn't exactly the safest place to raise a child.+ Thoughts flew in and out of my mind, none of them answered. But the last thought in my mind before I fell asleep I will think about for awhile.

What will happen to Jack and me after this is over+

(2 days later, 11:37 a.m.)

Jerms, Bobby, Angel, Alyssa, Jack, and I were in the dinning room planning our major revenge on Sweets. "Ok, so Alyssa will drop Bobby off here…" I said pointing to a map of Detroit and the shack where Bobby was to be dropped off. "…And after Sweets car drives off to the location, Bobby you start jogging to the location. Just don't tire yourself out cause you're the one that has to finish off Sweets. It should only take you 10 minutes to get there." I said finishing off the plan we had all put together and looking around at my family.

Bobby started clapping, "I'm proud of you little sister, putting that plan together mostly by yourself."

"Yeah Ryan, how'd you come up with that?" Angel asked in his usual sly voice.

"Well I've been making all the plans for your guy's schemes since I was 12, they just weren't this big." I said sipping at my orange juice.

"Ok, well Jeremiah, go and see if you can get Sweets boys to turn on him with that 400 grand." Bobby told Jerms.

(3:26 p.m.)

"Have fun guys and you all better come back alive!" I yelled over the wind. It seemed everyone had a part in the plan but Jack and me. Sofi had to go to the police station, Camille-well she didn't really have a part- but she had to leave town with my nieces, Angel had to go set up Fowler-who Bobby told me was dirty the whole time, Alyssa had to drive Bobby to the shack, Jerms had to go to the meeting, and Bobby of course was the one to have to kill Sweets. So Jack and I were pretty pissed when we didn't get to do anything.

"So what to do know?" Jack asked teasingly.

I cocked my eyebrow at him, "Well we aren't going to do that, so just forget it."

"Aw! What about a movie?"

"Ok, we haven't done that in awhile." I said looking at the movies we had, eventually picking out Little Nicky. I laid down in front of Jack (He would be behind her lying down and she would be in front of him also lying down, if you didn't get it.) and wrapped his arms around me.

Half way through the movie Jack leaned over my ear a little more. "Marry me?" Jack whispered out of no where into my ear as I was drinking some of my Dr. Pepper. +WHAT! Did he just ask what I think he asked+ I thought choking on my soda. I started coughing and sputtering. Jack started patting my back, "Are you ok!" Jack asked concerned.

I nodded my head, "Yeah. Did you just ask what I think you just asked?" I asked in a hushed tone.

Jack pushed himself off the couch and got down on one knee in front of me. "Ryaina Mercer, will you marry me?" Jack asked pulling out a black velvet box and opening it to reveal a silver banded ring with a pointed oval garnet and a small diamond on each side.

My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't talk for a few minutes; I just sat there looking at Jack then back at the ring with wide eyes. I couldn't speak so I just nodded my head a few hundred times. Jack smiled and hugged me around my waist and slipped the ring on my finger.

"How did you get this? How could you afford it?" I asked still shocked, not taking my eyes off the ring the whole time.

"I found it in mom's spice cabinet with a note. It said that she knew I'd be the only person in the family to go through there because I'm the one always cooking. Well she said that it was her mother's wedding ring, whose birthday was also in January. So she gave it to me so I would have a ring to give to you when I proposed." Jack laughed.

"How did she always know everything?" I asked out loud.

Jack was now back in his old position behind me and moaned his answer, "I don't know, but she's amazing."

"Mmhmm." We went back to watching the movie.

A few minutes later Jack spoke up again, "Where do you think everyone will go after this?"

"I don't know, I just love being back with my family again. I don't want to leave, but then again this isn't the best place to raise a child." I said, just noticing it was dark out.

"That's what I've been thinking. We also have to come up with some names for the baby." Jack said, surprising me.

"Well let's hold that off until we find out if it's a boy or girl." I laughed.

"Could you imagine if we had twins? Or triplets?" Jack laughed excitedly.

"Don't scare me like that!" I groaned making Jack chuckle. I heard a car pull into the drive-way and stopped laughing, I looked over at Jack he apparently had herd it too. I reached under the couch cushions and pulled out the pistol I hid there. "Do you think it's them or Sweets?" I asked, Jack shrugged. "Thanks for the help." I groaned sitting up so that I could see over the couch and get a good shot wear the door was.

A tall, muscular man opened the door, "Hey! Where are you two?" the man yelled through the house.

"Don't move." I growled, I knew I was Angel but I wanted to see if I could scare him.

The guy looked over at me and everyone else walked in, one of them turning on the light - one of the only things that still worked after the shoot out. "Ryan! The hell are yo..." Angel madly asked, but I cut him off by shooting the porcine doll behind him. +I've always hated that thing. + Angel yelped, and everyone else jumped.

"RYAN! ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ANGEL!" Sofi yelled.

"I was just protecting Jack and myself. I knew it was Angel the whole time, I just saw that doll behind him - you know the one I've always hated- and decided to destroy that thing once and for all." I said jumping back down on the sofa, hurting my leg by landing on it. I winced, "Dammit..." I mumbled.

"There was something seriously wrong with your parents, because you and Bobby are both like that!" Jerms said, getting a smack on the back of the head by Bobby. Bobby walked over and sat on the beaten up arm-chair that now had bullet holes in random places all over it.

Everyone else found somewhere to sit down, "So when's Camille and the girls supposed to get back?" Alyssa asked.

"Tomorrow. I can't believe that we won that!" Jerms said shaking his head.

"Believe it, brother." Bobby said, sighing in relief. Jack started tickling me, so I pushed him away giggling but my ring caught the light and hit Angel directly in the eye. Angel squinted and looked at my hand.

Angel looked wide-eyed at me who was still goofing around with Jack, "Ryan! What is that?" He asked pointing to my ring.

I looked at Jack then to everyone else, then back to Jack, "Well should you tell them or should I?" I asked, I could tell Alyssa and Sofi already knew what was going on because Sofi was squealing and Alyssa was jumping up and down.

"Why don't we both tell them?" I nodded and we looked at everyone, "We're getting married!" Jack and I said in unison. Our brothers looked shocked and Sofi and Alyssa ran over to me and started asking me questions.

"How did he propose?" Sofi asked, looking at my ring.

"Do you have a clue when you want to get married?" Alyssa asked, hugging me. Their questions went on.

"Okay! Okay! Stop it!" I gasped pushing them away.

Bobby walked over to Jack and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, "You know Fairy, if you're not good to my sister than I'll have to kill you." Bobby said poking Jack in the chest every once in a while.

"That was a really dumb thing to say, being as I'm your brother." Jack said, poking Bobby back.

"Yeah but she's real blood, you're not." Bobby replied poking Jack a couple more times.

Alyssa and I rolled our eyes, "Would you two stop poking each other, you look like morons." Alyssa said, and then turned back to me, "So I guess you won't be going back to Chicago and living with me when this is over."

I shook my head, "I guess not. I'll really miss the place." I said sadly, I didn't see Jack's face light up from an idea he had just gotten as Alyssa, my new friend Sofi, and myself walked upstairs to my room to plan some simpler things for the wedding.