A.N. Yep, so Roger and Joseph did have an older sister, Emma. Her fate isn't as important right now as it will be far into the future. Both Roger and Anita's parents have their own stories that are a little tragic, although Bella and James are the only ones I've ever felt sympathy for.

Last chapter made me a little anxious, so in the follow-up I'm taking it nice and slow. Dragging out a few details. It's quite sad how near the end is.

Oh, and another warning for the suggestion of mature content. XD

Chapter 16

From the Beginning

Anita pulled up in front of the hotel right on time, a quarter after seven. She still looked upset, like she'd spent the last few hours doing little more than crying.

"You're sure about this?" he asked her, standing in the darkening parking lot.

She gave a mighty sniff. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure," she answered defiantly, but it still sounded like she was trying to talk herself into the plan.

Roger gave her a worried look. "All right then. And you're okay driving the car?"

Anita rolled her eyes. "Yes. Stop trying to talk me out of your plan!"

With a weak smile he pulled her closer. "See you in Vegas then."

o.O.o

The traffic out of the city was still a little chaotic despite the hour, and Anita spent four lonesome hours watching the tail lights on the truck as they sped down the freeway. The radio helped a little, she had it turned up so loud she couldn't think straight. She especially liked the function that made it crank up when she hit the gas.

Eventually the music drifted off into a long string of commercials and she found herself playing the game she had played as a child, pretending she was racing with all the cars around her. Unfortunately, the longer they drove, the fewer cars there were to race with.

She was so distracted by her own boredom, that it caught her by surprise when the bright lights of Las Vegas began to shine in the distance. Anita had never so much had been out of the state of California, and a tiny flutter of excitement took root in her stomach.

Once they were inside of the city, following Roger became a much more difficult task. At least his giant truck, still covered in mud from the last time he took it out, was easy to spot in a city filled with cabs and fancy cars.

At long last they were slowing down, the lights had faded as they gave way to the residential area they had entered. The streets were littered with giant apartment complexes that rose several stories into the air.

Roger's blinker flickered on, and he made a sharp turn into a parking garage. Anita followed, parking the car in the spot next to the truck.

She popped her door open before he had the chance, stretching out all of her sore muscles, and they hadn't even made the biggest trip yet. "Where's Jack?" she asked, leaning against the side of the car.

"Asleep," he said with a smile. "I didn't want to wake him up yet." Anita yawned. "I thought that after we dropped him off, we could go get something to eat, and get a room here. Do the rest tomorrow?"

"That sounds good," she agreed. A strange thought struck her. Here they were, running off together, getting engaged, and having a baby, and they hadn't so much as ever slept in the same bed together. Until tonight. Anita fought the urge to squeak and run like a terrified mouse.

Roger didn't seem to notice, however, and went to pop the passenger doors open so he could get to Jack in the back. He was still very asleep, his blond head hanging limply, and his puppy clutched tightly in his hands.

Anita stood back, wanting to help, but not really having anything to do, as Roger slung the bag over his shoulder, and unbuckled the straps that were holding him in. He maneuvered Jack effortlessly, cuddling the boy to his shoulder. Roger even managed to close both of the doors and lock up without a problem.

She twisted her hands together, still anxious about the rest of the night, and followed behind Roger as they made their way to Tiffany's. A large, elderly woman met them at the door when they got there. Anita surely hope that she wasn't Tiffany, but Roger hadn't talked much about that whole situation.

Jack blinked, and rubbed at his eyes when they stopped. "Nana!" Jack said excitedly, followed by a sleepy yawn.

'Nana' didn't say anything, just took the boy out of Roger's hands and gave him a hug.

"Mildred," Roger said to the woman with a nod. "By Jack. Daddy will come see you soon, okay?"

"Bye-bye," he answered. "Bye-bye, Nina."

Anita smiled at him and pinched one of his chubby legs. "Bye, Jack. Be good."

"Jack good," he agreed and then turned to Mildred once more. "Lunch?"

They all chuckled at him one last time before Roger could drag himself away. Anita took his hand and leaned against him. "He'll be okay," she chanted. "A few weeks, and he'll be at home with us." She spewed all of the helpful nonsense she could come up with as they retraced their steps back to the vehicles.

She didn't know if she was actually helping, but Roger seemed to loosen up. They seemed to reach the cars much faster than they left them, but when Anita tried to unfasten their hands, Roger tugged her the other direction, pressing her against the truck. He gave her a deep, long kiss that left one feeling empty and needy while gasping for breath.

"What was that for?" she gasped as quickly as she could, eyeing him suspiciously.

Roger grinned, placing another, albeit softer, kiss on her lips. "I love you. So much."

Anita suddenly felt extremely tingly.

Food no longer sounded like an important detour, so they piled into their respective vehicles instead, and found the nearest place with an open room. The air seemed to spark every time they so much as looked at each other, which didn't help her nerves any. There was no stopping what was about to happen.

The lady behind the desk handed Roger a room key, and off they went. They didn't stop to unpack or get more comfortable or even go to the bathroom. One moment they were simply fighting off the energy half-heartedly, and in the next they were plastered to each other, half-naked.

"Are you sure about this?" Roger asked, his fourth question in as many seconds.

"Stop. Talking," she huffed. Her raw nerves were feeling too much for her to simply stop now. "Please?" she breathed when he didn't make a move.

That seemed to trigger him, and suddenly Roger was back in his right mind. He tugged the blanket right over their heads, blocking out the light, and making everything just right.

o.O.o

Morning came shortly after they had finally managed to get some sleep. Anita was the first up, she had an intense need to relieve her bladder, but found she was trapped. Roger was a complete bed hog. He'd told her that before, but she hadn't thought that he might actually take up so much space that he would be laying on top of her.

She attempted to wriggle out from under him, but he simply pulled her closer and snuggled into her hair. She wanted to smile, she probably would have, if she didn't have to pee so badly.

"Roger," she said quietly, shaking him. "Roger!"

"Huh?" he asked, blinking open one eye. He yawned. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, but get off of me!" she shoved him again. Thankfully he got the message and rolled to the other side of the bed, glaring at the clock.

"It's only five," he groaned, laying back and covering his eyes with his arm. "Where are you going?" Anita was already up and running to the bathroom, shivering from the cold and trying to cover up her bare skin. The door shut with a sharp click, and he chuckled softly.

Anita returned twenty minutes later, wrapped in a pair of towels. She bent over her bag, digging out some clean clothes, and yelped when he slipped off the bed and snagged her from behind.

"What on earth are you doing?" she giggled. Her cheeks were stained red, and he was very aware of her state of undress.

"Pay back," he muttered, "for waking me up too early." Then he scooped her up in his arms and set her back on the bed.

She stuck up her little nose, "It's not my fault. You should blame the baby."

"Hmm," he hummed, getting to his knees at the foot of the bed. "So its her fault, is it?" He poked her stomach gently. "She still doesn't have a name, does she."

Anita cupped her hand over his, "Nope. And she could still be a boy, you know."

He nodded like he was humoring her. "Rachel," he offered, with an amused smile. "What do you think of Rachel?"

"Rachel?" she tried. "Rachel… Rachel May Darling. I like that."

His smile turned smug. "And if you get your way?" he asked, still focusing on the bump.

"William. William something."

Roger wrinkled his nose dramatically. "William isn't a very good name for a pretty little girl like this one. She's going to be amazing." They sat there dumbly, grinning at each other. "Where was I? I think I got a little distracted."

"No idea," she whispered, the blush returning to her cheeks.

"Oh, yes, I know. I was about to devour you." He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world, but it had bolts of lightning racing down her spine.

She could only manage a shiver in response.

o.O.o

It was late afternoon before they made it out of Las Vegas. They might have stayed there all day if the cleaning crew hadn't kicked them out at eleven. It was hard to separate when they did have to go, especially with the thought of a seven hour drive in front of them.

Roger offered to have the car transported, but she thought that was silly and a waste of money just so that they could be in the same car. They filled up both of the vehicles and shared a long, depressing moment that felt like they were moving to opposite sides of the country instead of going in the same direction.

The ride dragged at first, but as the anticipation grew, it seemed to speed up just a little. The flat, blank terrain didn't help matters any however. They stopped twice along the way, once for the bathroom, and once to eat dinner.

It was tempting to pull over and stay out another night, especially after they were full and exhausted from driving so long, but they only had two hours left. So close they could taste it.

City was nothing like she had imagined when they finally pulled in just a little before eleven. The spot on the map didn't really classify as a city to her, she'd grown up in a real city, but it wasn't a bad sort of place.

They got a room in one of the few hotels in the region, and crawled into bed, too tired to do much more than cuddle and whisper in the dark. Not that it mattered to either of them.

o.O.o

The next day was the big one, they were going hunting for their own place to live. They jumped right in, touring the city looking at places from apartments to real houses. They didn't find anything that stood out immediately, but Anita knew she didn't have to be in love with a place to make it their temporary home. They were going to build their dream house after all.

They grew tired of circling the city after just an hour or two, and so Roger suggested that they go see the mountain. It wasn't really a mountain, she pointed out, when he showed her where it was. "It's a hanging valley," she told him, but Roger didn't want any of that. It was the mountain, they're mountain.

He tried to explain what she was to expect as they climbed into the truck and started down the highway, but she was more interested in the scenery than the details. Once they set foot outside of the city limits it was at once clear that their little paradise was truly in the middle of nowhere. The open country side rolled around them as they sped down the interstate and then the highway, trees and meadows, and only a scattering of civilization. There was no sign of the sprawl as they were accustomed too. No suburban housing or even clustered subdivisions. Nothing but the wild.

Twenty minutes later as a bridge crossed over a canyon of sorts Anita got her first glimpse of the wild horses, fifteen mustangs around a tiny creek. "Are those…?"

"Yep," Roger answered, glancing out the passenger side window. "Those are ours. Beautiful aren't they?"

"Mhm," she replied, spreading her fingers against the window as she turned to watch them before the landscape stole them away.

"We're almost home, it's just up this hill," he said, pointing towards the rugged hillside that climbed high into the air. Already she could see the massive waterfall streaming down, wetting the rocks. A magical place that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The double lane road curved away from that place however, leaving only a rough looking one lane road lined with gravel, but Roger's truck handled the climb easily. Anita kept her eyes wide taking in the sight for the first time. The lake shimmering in the sunlight, the fluffy little sheep on either side of the road, the feel of the terrain as asphalt turned to gravel and gravel turned to dirt. It was amazing, and most of all, it felt right.

At long last the winding road flattened out as they crested the top of the mountain. The top, however, was not the amazing place that the rest had been. A giant field exploded in front of the car, tall waving grass grew around old junked up tractors and cars, one spot was scorched in a giant pit, and several old stumps were trapped firmly in the ground.

"Roger…"

"I told you it wasn't all that pretty. Father wouldn't do anything with it, and the locals have used it as a dump for quite a while."

"How are we supposed to live up here? This will never work."

"Of course it will. You'll see. We've got more than enough money to live in the city for a few months, and I'll start getting this place cleaned up, then you'll see. It will be amazing."

She glanced around once more, sucking in a breath. Maybe they could pull it off. Roger squeezed her hand encouragingly. She just had to have a little faith.

A.N.2 So the fact that I mixed up their mom's names becomes apparent here. Rachel being named after Roger's mother makes so much more sense! Ugh. I am very failtastic.