Max & Kenny:

She smiled at Kenny as he placed his hands on her eight-month-pregnant stomach. "She's moving around in there."

Not sterile, he thought, she's not infertile…we made a baby. She's glowing. "You should get off your feet."

"Stop," she sighed. "I'm fine."

Soft, pretty, so feminine and I've never seen her like this…I never thought I would. This is how I love her. Wrapped around me, the girl next door, not jumping into danger, waddling around, my wife. "You always are."

"I'm still me…just fatter."

"I know you're not enjoying this."

I've been so sick, she thought, even now. My belly…how hard it is to keep the weight on being this sick. How Jill is worried about premature labor. My baby…I should have told them about my abortion. If it did something to me and…How can I tell him now? "I feel okay. I know it's been rough. She's going to worth it."

"You're really pale, Honey."

"Kenny," she sighed, as he led her to the couch. "Stop. I'm not broken. Just pregnant."

"With our kid, Honey, and it's been hard on you. Let me take care of you."

She bit her tongue, as he all but sat her on the couch. He's being sweet and rubbing my feet. Looking at her swollen stomach. My other baby would be…16. The hardest thing I did was aborting it and Luc is the only one who knows. Luc, who I almost slept with eight months ago. Oh, it would have been…nope, not cheating on Kenny. I love Kenny, even with this.

"Max?"

Would he still love me if I told him? My Catholic husband, who told me didn't believe in divorce, abortion and only consented to birth control to be safe. Would he still look at me like this? This utter love and devotion. My deepest secret…the part of me Luc only knows.

"You with me?"

She smiled at that, leaning back against the cushions. "Pregnancy brain."

"Max?" he asked, as she passed out. "Max?"

Kenny

"She has placental abruption," Jill said. "I want her on bed-rest."

He looked at his passed-out wife in the hospital bed. Blood. "She won't like that."

"She needs to or…It's a high-risk pregnancy now. She needs this."

Max

"But why?" Max asked, looking at her belly. "Will she be okay?"

"We're going to monitor you. You're going to rest. Max, we're going to schedule a C-Section."

I need to know, she thought, Kenny went home to get me clothes. "Can I ask you something? As my doctor…and I…I don't want Kenny to know."

Jill looked at her young and pale friend. "Of course, you can."

"I…I had…I had an abortion when I was 16. Did that…did that cause this?"

Oh, Jill thought, seeing her look away at her soft admission. She did what? And she looks ashamed. "Max, no. Of course not."

She gulped. "Kenny can't know."

"You were a child yourself."

"We went to Canada…my parents never knew. Just me and the father and…it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. We just cried in his car and…we were too young."

"You did what?"

Max felt her world go still at Kenny's shocked and angry expression. "Hi."

"You had an abortion?"

She gulped. "I was 16."

"You killed a baby."

"It wasn't a baby."

"I can't look at you right now."

Damn it, she thought, as he tossed her stuff in the chair and left. Damn it.

"He'll come around, Max."

Not to this, she thought, never to this.

Max

She looked at the days old baby in her arms and smiled despite everything. Taylor, she thought, she's perfect. Oh, I like this…and I love her so much. Inhaling the sweet scent of baby, she marveled at the ease of feeding the tiny person in her arms. Looking up she saw her husband looking at her. "Hi."

Max, he thought, with our daughter. The baby killer…is…she killed her baby. How could she? "Hi. She's almost done."

She lied to me. She's a killer…who is so loving and delighted by being a mom. She could have been one all along. "Is she?"

She looked up at her husband. "How long are you going to be mad at me for?"

"How long has your baby been dead for?"

"That is not fair. I was 16, Kenny. It's something I never told anyone before."

"Because you're ashamed and know it's wrong."

"It isn't something I'm proud of…but I'm not ashamed."

"You murdered a baby."

She burped Taylor, keeping her temper in check. "I was 16 and made the hardest decision of my life, with just my boyfriend with me. We talked about running off, getting married, keeping it…his mom got cancer and…Do you really think it was an easy choice? I loved our baby but…we were young."

"Not so young that you made and killed a baby with him."

"There you go, Tay," she smiled, burping their daughter. "My abortion has nothing to do with you and me. Stop punishing me for something I did before I even knew you."

"I don't know you anymore."

"No, you just can't stand it when I do something that isn't in your ideal vision of me."

"You killed a baby."

"I love you. I love the family that we have with Taylor. You can't keep treating me like this."

"How can I ever trust you not to hurt her after what you did? Your body tried to kill her."

"Oh, you asshole," she spat. "Taylor is a living and breathing…she's our daughter. I love her. Stop punishing me."

"You're not who I thought you were."

She looked at him. "Who am I then?"

"I don't believe in divorce."

She felt her heart run cold. "You want to divorce me over something I did a lifetime ago?"

"We're not getting a divorce, Max. You're my wife."

She stood up slowly, snuggling with Taylor. "Then treat me like it. I'm not your punching bag. I'm going to put Taylor to bed. What?"

My Max, he thought, with our daughter. "Who was the guy? You never mentioned him."

"His name is Lucas."

"You loved him?"

"I did. Very much."

"Did he force you?"

I almost slept with him nine months ago. I always slept with him when I was single…we laugh together. He gets me in a way that no one else does…I'm not that teenager anymore. "Force me?"

"The abortion."

She shook her head. "We really considered keeping it. He really wanted to keep it, we talked about running off, getting married, being a family together… but…I wouldn't have gotten through it without Luc."

"You were going to marry him?"

"I was 16, Kenny. I was fighting with my parents all the time. Running away and getting married and having a baby… Don't you remember being that age?"

"I wasn't killing babies."

He won't forgive me. Does he get how hard it was? Just me and Lucas, that old car, and how tightly he held me. How I still wonder… "I'm going to put Taylor to bed. Let me know when you get off your high horse."

Max & Jill

"She is adorable."

Max cuddled a month-old Taylor after her checkup. "I think so too…but I'm biased."

Jill looked at her for a long moment. "How are you doing?"

She looked up at that. "I love being a mom…even with the late-night feedings, diapers and…I'm exhausted and…Oh, I just love her so much. I didn't know I could love someone like this."

"And Kenny?"

"He's a great dad."

How tense he was with her in the hospital, every moment after he found out about her abortion. "Is that all?"

"He can't let go of something I did a lifetime ago. That had nothing to do with him. It's like I'm revolting to him…he's sleeping in the guestroom."

"Max."

"I fell off the pedestal. He has this idea of me and… He told me he doesn't know me anymore. He won't talk to me, look at me…We just had a baby and…I don't think he wants me anymore. I think he stopped loving me."

She is glowing with Taylor, Jill thought, she has since she held her the first time. "Max, Kenny loves you."

"I'm not so sure anymore."

Max & Kenny

"My parents really want to meet her."

"You hate your parents."

Max bit her lip. "Sometimes."

"I have to work."

And I want some space…I can't live like this. "Maybe a few days apart would do us some good."

"Is that what you want?"

"I want my husband to treat me like he doesn't hate me. I can't live like this."

Kenny looked at her for a long moment. Softer, hurting…I can't. I can't believe she did that. How can she love Taylor so much after killing her other baby? "I can't."

She nodded, her heart breaking in two. "I hope whoever you are with next doesn't disappoint you like I did…because what you're doing? It isn't fair."

Max – Vermont

They flew me and my six-week-old baby on a private jet. My perfect Taylor, a few tears, but she was happy to feed and snuggle with me. Oh, how can I be upset when I have this perfect girl? Kenny just let us go…told me that I'd better be back soon, or he'd file kidnapping charges. I think he hates me…the man I love. My parents…they're better grandparents.

"She is lovely."

Max smiled at that. "I couldn't believe it, Mom."

"She looks like you."

Kenny's eyes, she thought, all that dark hair. I see it in the face, I'm such a softie with her. "She's a mix of us."

"How long are you staying?"

She tried not to squirm at the way her father was looking at her. "A few days. I wanted you to meet your granddaughter…Kenny has to work and."

"He won't come here," he father said. "He keeps you from your family."

"We haven't been close in a long time, Dad. It was just," Max trailed off. "Having a kid…I don't want it to end up like we did."

"Stay, Maxine, for as long as you like."

Kenny & Jill

"It's none of your business."

Jill looked at the young man that she thought of as her own. "She took your daughter, your new daughter, to Vermont. Kenny, she's really upset."

"What she did…"

"What Max did was almost 18 years ago. She was very young. Her family doesn't know, just the father, until us."

"He's in Vermont."

"I think they're still friends."

"She never mentioned him either."

"If you want to fix your marriage, you need to go to her. You need to make this right."

Max & Lucas

"Max?" She looked up from where she was talking with her sister and broke into a grin. "Lucas."

He grinned back at her and nodded to her baby sling. "That new?"

"Do you want to meet her?"

Gorgeous, he thought, as she handed him Taylor. "Ah, Darlin, look what you did."

She smiled at her ex and her daughter. He is sweet with her, and oh that smile. "You're good at this."

Should be us, he thought, she still makes my heart melt. Nah, she's happily married. A new mom. That kiss almost a year ago? I almost thought…until she pulled away. "You did good. She's just as pretty as you. Damn, the boys are in trouble when she grows up."

Oh, crap, she thought, seeing Sarah suppress a smile at his blatant flirting. "I'm kind of a mess right now."

Battered old jeans, sweater, pony tail… "Nah, you're always lovely to me. How long are you around for?"

"It's open ended. You know, maternity leave and…I want to spend some time with my family."

"We should get a drink."

And end up naked. No, it didn't happen last time. Last time I had a husband who didn't treat me like crap. Do not sleep with Lucas. Don't kiss him. Stop flirting. I'm drowning in his eyes. A drink. He's the only one I can talk to about this. "We should."

Kenny

Max flew on a private jet, and she never takes anything from her family…and I'm in the back row, middle seat, in the middle of the night. They're probably eating a five-course meal and decking Taylor out in designer clothes. You're both coming home with me. My wife and daughter.

Max & Lucas

"Look at you. Where is your kid?"

"Being spoiled by her grandparents," Max said, as she sat across from him. "They're better grandparents than parents."

He grinned at her with that. "They know you're out with me?"

She winced a bit. "No. I just said old friends. They really don't like you…and if it makes you feel better? They don't like Kenny."

"I don't like him either."

"You don't even know him."

"Talk to me, Darlin."

She smiled at the familiar nickname. Filling him in, she didn't pull away as he took her hand and laced his fingers through his. "I need this space."

"He's an asshole. It had nothing to do with him."

"He's not…He just doesn't get it. He has no idea…and I…I wasn't going to tell him."

"It doesn't give him the right…Are you leaving him?"

"I love him, Luc."

"He doesn't deserve it."

"He didn't even try to make me stay. Just that…he would file a parental kidnapping charge if I didn't come back. He doesn't…I don't know how to fix this."

He squeezed her hand with both of his. "Do you regret it? The abortion."

"We weren't ready."

"Not what I asked, Darlin."

"Yes. I know it would have been hard and…I wonder about our baby. What would have happened…My whole pregnancy I thought about it."

"We'd have a teenager…and I'm betting a house full of kids. We would have gotten married, we'd have a family…we'd be good."

"And you're emotional," he said. "And hurting…and I'm not helping."

"It does hurt."

"You need to go home…figure it out with him. One way or the other. You're a mom…we can't just…Why are you so damn pretty, Darlin? I couldn't believe you were talking to me when we were 14."

She smiled at that. "I had a huge crush. You were sweet, Luc."

"That goes against my bad boy image."

"You were gentle and kind."

"And you were this incredibly pretty, smart, fun, and…you were this rich girl who I had no business with. Your friends hated me."

"Because you were different."

"Because I'm black."

"You know that never mattered to me."

"You know it pissed your parents off."

She winced a bit at that. "They thought you were a phase."

"Max," he said, looking at their joined hands. "You need to go…before I can't let you go again."

Don't sleep with him. It would be easy to. To just let it go and…No. Don't. "I'm so messed up."

"You deserve better."

"Max? What are you doing? Where is Taylor?

TBC