Author's Note: Thank you all for taking the time to read this and kind reviews. This chapter took me all of an hour to write, which has me concerned that its not good. The ideas and words just poured from my head and I hope I was able to capture the emotions and really do the scene justice. I suppose you all will decided that. Hope you enjoy. I think I will have have one more chapter to end this book.

The young man had sprinted from the other side of the facility occasionally tripping or bumping into someone, but none of those obstacles deterred him, and by the time he reached his destination he was nearly out of breath.

"Mr. Elias," The man gasped out as he clutched at the bars of the open prison cell door. Two muscular men stepped up and blocked the younger man's entrance. The older bald man who was seated eating a lobster and steak dinner casually regarded the man a moment and then noticed the cellphone he held out. The bald man waved at the man and the guard stepped aside to let him through. The young man entered the cell with his head bowed, purposely averting his eyes as so not to stare directly at the man before him, a man to his knowledge ran the entire prison. Elias smiled at the bowed head before him as he grasped the cellphone held out to him.

"Yes," Elias spoke into the phone. He listened silently to the other voice on the line who told him about a black female cop named Carter, who came snooping around the docks. "I'm intimately familiar with Det. Carter. She's one of my loose ends and you know how I feel about loose ends. I trust that you'll take care of it and make sure that it doesn't come back to me. Oh and Jimmy you better get all your guys in on this. That's right all of them trust me you'll need them because Det. Carter has a guardian angel looking out for her and he's a hard s-o-b to get rid of. Call me when it's done." Elias ended the call, handed the phone back to the young man who still stood before him with his head bowed. After the man left his cell, Elias took a sip of red wine and then resumed eating his meal.

Later at Carter's Brownstone

The cellphone rang again and Carter lifted it and saw 'unknown' on the id screen to which she rolled her eyes, tossed the phone back onto the countertop, and then continued chopping up the tomatoes and cucumbers for the salad she was making. The teenager who sat on the stool on the opposite side of the counter eyed her as he snatched up a cucumber and popped it into his mouth.

"Are you going to stay mad at John forever?" The teenager asked as he then plucked up a tomato slice and devoured it.

"What have I told you about staying out of grown folks business Taylor, and quit stealing the veggies." Carter said as she swatted his outstretched hand away from the plate with the tomatoes and cucumbers on it.

"Mom, John is kind of like my surrogate dad, so it is kind of my business too." Taylor said as he eyed his mother as he gauged her reaction and hoped that his words wouldn't upset her. Carter stopped chopping up the vegetables and stared at her son.

"You really think of him like that?" She asked her son.

"Well…yeah, I mean he's kind of taken on the role. He hangs out with me, he teaches me self-defense, we talk about gir…stuff, and I know that if I ever need him for anything he'll be there for me. I'm not planning on calling him 'daddy' or anything but I do hold him in the same regard as I do 'dad'. That's ok, right?" Taylor asked and again he watched his mother's reaction closely.

"Yeah that's ok if you feel comfortable with that. John's a good man and I know that he thinks of you, of us," She let her hand settled upon the swell of her belly as she spoke. "As his family now, he loves us and he'll protect us and always be here for us."

"So he loves you and you love him….right?" Taylor asked and Carter smirked and arched a brow in reply. "I know, I know…grown folks business, I'm just saying whatever he did to make you mad he did it out of love, so talk to him, and tell him you forgive him so he doesn't stay away." Carter thought on her son's words she knew that he was right John had only argued his point about her staying home out of his love and concern for her and their unborn child. She also knew that Taylor was right about John staying away and that he'd feel dejected until she told him she forgave him. Then another thought occurred to her and she threw suspicious eyes onto her son.

"Wait, its Friday which means an all-night marathon on Call of Duty 4, right?"

"I'm sooo close to beating his high score." Taylor groaned out and he pinched his pointer finger and thumb close together to emphasize his point, just as the cell began to ring again. This time Carter snatched it up and answered it.

"What," She spoke harshly determined to at least sound mad even though her talk with Taylor had melted her resolve a bit.

"How's my pack?" Reese spoke gently into the phone as a smile spread across his lips at hearing the attitude that laced Carter's voice. He knew she was still mad but the fact that she answered the phone told him that she had cooled down some.

"All three present and accounted for," She replied.

"Hey John," Taylor called out as he once again reached over and grabbed a cucumber and Carter threw him a warning look.

"Tell Taylor to get ready for another spanking in Call of Duty 4 when I get home," Reese tossed out to test the waters to whether she would accept or reject his company tonight.

"Oh he's already planning his comeback," She replied with a smile and Reese inwardly sighed in relief. "Dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes you think you'll make it in time?"

"I'll be there in 2, I'm just about the pass the bodega on the corner you want me to pick up anything?"

"Yeah, we need more milk, and…" Carter turned and opened the fridge to see if there was anything else. Just as she bent down a bit to get a better look the sound of breaking glass could be heard a millisecond before the bullet struck the cabinet right behind where she had just been standing. "Taylor, get down!" Carter yelled as she dropped the cell and ducked down, she instinctively reached for her waist where her gun was usually holstered and then remembered she had taken it off and sat it on the table in the parlor. "Shit!"

"Jos!" Reese yelled into the phone as he sprinted from the block over. He was very familiar with the sound a bullet makes when it strikes a hard surface. When he didn't get an answer he ended their call and tapped on his ear piece. "Finch,"

"I already know Mr. Reese both Taylor and Carter's numbers just came up, I was just calling you." Finch spoke out. "What do you need?"

"Call the cops it sounded like gunfire at Carter's," Reese said as he reached for the holster in his back and pulled his gun readying to do whatever it took to protect his family. He decided to cut through the alleyway and approach the house from the back, figuring the shooters wouldn't want to take the time to scale the high privacy fence Carter had up, and chance being trapped.

"I'll do better than that," Finch said as he pulled up the local emergency dispatch screen. "All units, all units there have been reports of multiple gun shots at 3001 E 5th Street, all available units report to 3001 E 5th Street." Finch spoke out as he frantically typed in the address and sent it out to all the patrol cars in the vicinity. He then pulled up the traffic light and camera controls with the intent to set a clear path of the police. As he watched the different screen he noticed that there seemed to be something occurring that blocked all ways. "Mr. Reese we have a problem it seems that every way to get to Carter's has been blocked by different accidents, coincidence?"

"No, someone wanted to make sure that they didn't get interrupted before they could finish the job. What's the closest patrol car's eta?"

"Rough guess 30 minutes, and that's once they've cleared the road of the beer truck that's spilled its content and all the looters."

"Mom," Taylor's frightened voice called out to Carter as she contemplated how she was going to get to her gun just as several more bullets flew into the kitchen.

"Just stay down Taylor, stay down baby." She instructed as she began to crawl to the corner of the counter to peer around it and see how far the table in the parlor was from her position.

"Under the counter mom," Taylor called out to her again but Carter wasn't too focused on what he was saying. "There's a gun, under the countertop, right there on the corner, look up." Carter did as he instructed and there was in fact a gun taped just under the countertop and a full clip taped right beside it. "There's another one behind the bottom grate of the dishwasher too." Carter didn't have time to question how the guns got there or how her teenaged son knew they were there, besides she already knew the answer to both questions was 'John', and she swore in that moment she'd never fuss at him about hiding guns in her house, but she was surely going to thank him, if she survived. Another round of bullets sliced through the air and Carter realized that she could only hear them when they struck the different surfaces in the house. She figured whoever was shooting had silencers on their guns probably so they wouldn't raise suspicion with the neighbors who might call the police. So these guys whoever they were, were professionals. It got quiet for a moment and Carter assumed the shooters were probably reloading and she planned to take the opportunity to move her and Taylor more into the center of the house, where there were more walls the bullets had to travel through. She moved the crawl around to where Taylor was on the other side of the counter but was stopped by the sharp pain that stabbed her in the stomach.

"Oh No!" Carter gasped out in a panic.

"Mom, are you ok, were you shot!?" Taylor's panicked voice called out to her as he swiftly crawled around the back side of the counter and moved up behind her.

"No baby I'm not hit, I'm not hit." She answered and then groaned out as another intense pain hit her womb. She knew that she hadn't been hit by any stray bullets but was instead going into labor. Tears filled her eyes as they settled on to Taylor's fright filled eyes. "But I think your baby sister is about to make an appearance." Taylor's eyes widened even more and he looked down at his mother's belly.

"What do we do?" Taylor asked but it wasn't his mother's voice who answered him.

"Stay down," Reese spoke out as he appeared from around the corner, crouched low to the floor with his gun aimed.

"John, oh thank you God," Carter cried out as her tears finally fell free from her eyes.

"Are you both alright?" Reese asked as he brushed his free hand over Taylor's head and briefly looked him over before he settled his hand and eyes onto Carter. "Were you hit?"

"No, we're ok, well...except mom," Taylor replied and Reese's eyes honed in onto Carter's face and could see her face was contorted in pain. "She's having the baby." Taylor announced and Reese threw a wide-eyed look from Carter, to Taylor, and then back down at Carter and if she hadn't been in so much pain she would have laughed at the comical panicked look on Reese's face. "What do we do?" Taylor asked again.

"Hey," Reese spoke softly as he reached out his free hand and caressed Carter's face. "Do you still have that bag of goodies I gave you a while back?" Carter knew he was referring to the bag of arsenal he had given her when she protect the mob leaders from Elias. She nodded her head as she bit her bottom lip and grunted through an intense contraction. Reese instinctively grasped her hand to help support her through it. When the contraction eased up so did her grip on his hand.

"In the back of our bedroom closet," She huffed out as another contraction hit, Reese realized that they were just seconds apart and Vivian would be showing up very soon. He felt conflicted he knew that danger still lurked outside but he also knew that Carter needed help delivering their daughter. Carter saw the conflict in his eyes and she squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"Protect your pack John, and make sure that 'this' particular threat never comes back," She said and he knew what she was consenting to, and it made things easier on his conscience, because he had already decided he was going to kill everyone involved. Now he didn't have to worry about facing her disapproval.

"Here," He snatched the taped gun from under the countertop and then the clip and loaded the gun, "Do you think you'll be able to aim and shoot through the pain if you have to?" John asked Carter as he placed the gun in her hand.

"I'll put a bullet right between their eyes if they step foot in this house," Carter confirmed as she gripped the gun. Reese threw her a smile and then focused on Taylor.

"Hey," He spoke to Taylor as he gripped the back of the young boy's head. "You keep your head down and stay behind your mother, you understand?"

"Yes but I can help too, just give me a gun."

"No!" Both Reese and Carter spoke out.

"Son, shooting those paper targets when we go to the range is a lot different than shooting a human being. The best thing you can do right now is stay down and out of the line of fire will you please do that for me?"

"Yeah," Taylor said with a nod and Reese threw him a warm smile and a nod just as the bullets started to riddle the house again.

"I'll be right back," Reese promised and disappeared back around the corner and bounded for the stairs. After a few minutes of rapid gunfire coming into the house, the shots began to come sporadically and then stopped altogether. A couple more minutes passed and the sound of footsteps echo through the now quiet house, Carter aimed the gun at the entryway to the kitchen. "It's just me Jos," Reese was sure to call out before he stuck his head around the corner, because he knew firsthand how good a shot she was. She dropped the hand holding the gun and finally let her head rest back against Taylor who had positioned himself behind her to support her back, so she could aim better. "Hey," Reese spoke directly to Carter as he grasped the gun from her hand and secured it against his back by tucking it in his pants. "How are you doing momma?" He asked.

"Are we safe," She panted out as the sweat beaded across her brow and dampened her hair. "Did you…"

"I did what I had to do to protect my family," Reese answered as he looked at both Carter and Taylor. "There were about a dozen or so of them and only one left limping."

"What? I told you to make sure they would never come back," Carter grunted out as she frowned up at him.

"Don't worry I'll find him, I needed him to get away so he can lead me to who set this all up. I've already made arrangements with Finch to get you and Taylor someplace safe in the meantime, but right now we have other pressing matters don't we?" Reese asked with a nervous smile and Carter vigorously nodded her head.

"We need to get these pants off 'cause I really need to push," Carter stated and Reese reached up and grasped the knife off of the counter top. "Be careful I think her head's already crowning." Reese nodded as he swallowed the lump in his throat and then with a steady hand cut the fabric just at Carter's knees, and when he had a large enough hole he put down the knife and used brute force to tear the pants with his hands. Reese then picked up the knife again and carefully cut at the waist band of Carter's panties and then pulled them away. He was greeted with a soft patch of black curls atop a tiny head, Carter had been correct Vivian was about to make her entrance into the world. Reese couldn't resist reaching out and letting his finger brush against the soft curls on his daughter's head. It was Carter's scream that snapped him out of his reverie. "I need to push, now!" She cried out.

"Ok, I so don't want to see this," Taylor announced and swiftly closed his eyes while still supporting his mother's back.

"Ok baby, ok, just a second," Reese moved swiftly and yanked up the towel that Carter kept looped over the oven door handle. He moved back to Carter and draped the towel across her chest. He then removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "Alright Jos, push," He instructed and Carter grasped her hands against both her knees and bore down.

"UUUHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Carter screamed as she pushed and in seconds she was rewarded with the small cries of her child. Carter let her exhausted body collapse against her son, who was now staring at his baby sister with a smile. Carter too smiled as she watched the man before her who gently cradled their daughter in his arms and stared at her in awe. "Ten fingers, ten toes?" She asked jokingly and giggled a bit when Reese actually appeared to be counting. After looking the baby over once more Reese finally leaned over and laid her gently upon her mother's chest, being careful of the umbilical cord which was still attached. Carter immediately enveloped her baby close to her and gazed at her with loving eyes. "God she's so beautiful."

"Hey Vivian Reese Carter, I'm your big brother." Taylor spoke out as he brushed his finger against the baby's tiny clinched fist. Reese's chest tightened and his heart swelled with emotions he never thought he'd ever feel as he stared at the three most important people in his universe; his family.

"Mr. Reese," Finch's voice filled Reese's ear.

"Yeah Finch," Reese replied but never took his eyes off of his family.

"Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah," Reese said around a goofy smile. "Jos, Taylor, and Vivian are all fine." It was then that Finch heard the baby's cries.

"Good and congratulations Mr. Reese. I know the last thing you probably want to do right now is leave them but there are a dozen cops and a couple of ambulances almost at your door. And since I'm sure you've probably littered the area with bodies you might want to be gone when they get there." True to Finch's words the sounds of sirens filled the house.

"You need to go," Carter said as she locked eyes with Reese. "Baby I know you don't want to but you have to. You said Finch had a safe place for us, right?"

"She is correct. I have secured a spacious 4 bedroom furnished apartment in a high security building. I will escort them there myself, they will be safe I promise you." Finch stated.

"You still have unfinished business to take care of anyway, remember?" Carter reminded him, knowing that revenge would be the right motivation to get Reese to leave them and the impending danger that was fast approaching. Reese gave a curt nod as he moved in and captured Carter's lips in a sensual kiss. He pulled back and gazed at her lovingly.

"Thank you for giving me a family and a home," He said and she could only smile in reply as tears reformed in her eyes. Reese then leaned down and kissed the head of his now sleeping daughter and then placed a swift kiss upon Taylor's forehead before the teenager could protest. Reese then placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder and stared at the boy with pride. "You did real good tonight Taylor and I am so proud of you son." Taylor smiled broadly and gave a nod. Reese hesitated another moment.

"Go," Carter said and Reese stood and quickly made his way out the back, the same way he had come in. He had scaled the fence just as the first three patrol cars pulled up in the front.

"Finch," Reese called out as he made his way from the back alley two blocks from Carter's.

"I'm here Mr. Reese."

I left one guy standing, I hurt him enough that he'll need medical attention but in case he didn't I also planted a tracker in him, find him, and then send me his location. These guys were just thugs, they were organized but definitely thugs, which means there was a bigger player behind this and I want him."