this chapter is hopefully as good as i pictured it. i hate it when u think its gonna be awesome but then when u write it, it really doesnt seem as awesome as u thought. uhm...yea anyway enjoy! one more chapter until its all over...unless anyone has more ideas. in that case ill lengthen the story, but if not im gonna end it next chapter. much love everyone!

(btw Amber...check out the last chapter of my other story. i used one of ur characters and gave u a shout out ;) thanks girl!)

Two Hearts. One Dream Ch. 29

"What would you say if I told you we were going to the zoo tomorrow?" Michael asked me.

"The zoo? Neveah's first zoo trip at three years old..." I pondered. "Sounds nice."

Michael grinned and kissed my cheek. Neveah was asleep in her toddler bed, now in her own room right next to ours. Michael and I were sitting on his bed watching a movie. He was sitting against the head board and I was in front of him. He was sweet enough to give me a shoulder massage after a long day at the hospital.

Neveah was now three years old, if you haven't already guessed. Michael's addictions got better with time. He still had trouble sleeping at night. The only way he would sleep soundly was if I ran my fingernails lightly over his skin, or played with his hair. He loved it when I played with his hair.

"I think our first family outing is just what you need. You've been working too hard sweetheart," he whispered in my ear.

"Yea you're one to talk...two albums done in a week...three tours in only six months...and you say I've been working too hard?" I nudged him. "Lay off the crack Mike, it's bad for you."

He chuckled and continued massaging my shoulders until I fell asleep. The next morning, Neveah ran into our room and jumped up and down on the bed. I groaned and Michael seemed to already be awake when she came in and he pretended to be asleep just to scare her.

"You better stop it!" he growled and grabbed her, pulling her onto her back and tickled her. She giggled wildly and kicked her legs.

"No daddy no!" she squealed. "Momma help!" she laughed. I raised up and quirked a brow.

"No one can save you now!" Michael teased and she squealed under his torture.

"You think so, huh?" I asked with my hands on my hips. He stopped and looked at me for a minute before I tackled him. We wrestled around Neveah, making sure we didn't hit her and she giggled.

"Go mommy!" she cheered as I pinned my husband and looked back at my daughter.

"Free shot little angel...come get him!" I laughed. She smiled evilly and crawled over and started tickling Michael on his sides. He laughed like crazy.

"Two on one isn't fair!" he yelled.

"Payback sucks, huh daddy?" Neveah giggled.

"Yea...you're right..." he said and flipped us both off of him and I jumped up with Neveah in my arms. We backed up slowly as Michael sat on the bed, rubbing his arm. "You know...I don't know what it is, but I have this horrible pain in my arm..." I quirked a brow and tried to decide if I should take him seriously or not.

Too bad for Mike, he couldn't keep a straight face and Neveah caught it before I did. "Run mommy it's the claw!" she squirmed out of my arms and ran and I took off behind her.

"No one can stop the claw!" Michael yelled in a raspy voice and chased after us. We ran for a while through the house until Jermaine decided to jump in and grab me. Neveah ran behind Latoya just before Mike caught her. "Uh oh..." he froze his hand in front of Latoya. "Sub zero temperature is the claw's only weakness!" he made a funny sound and acted like his hand died and Neveah giggled.

"Very funny...jerk," Latoya snorted and walked away.

"Daddy you're silly," Neveah grinned. Michael winked and picked her up.

"Runs in the family sweet angel. Hey...how would you like to go on a family outing with me and mommy today?" he asked.

She bounced in his arms. "Yay! Where daddy?"

"Well we were kinda thinking the zoo...but you don't wanna do that stuff now do you?" he teased.

"Yes yes! Can we go pleassseeeee?" she begged. I giggled at Mike's face. He tried so hard to keep a straight face but he just couldn't stand it. His eyes lit up when she came in the room.

"Of course we can," I smiled. "Let's have some breakfast first and then we'll get changed and head out, okay?"

"Okay!" she jumped out of her daddy's arms and ran into the dining room. "Morning Auntie Kai," she grinned at Kai and Kai smiled brightly.

"Good morning little angel. I hear you're going to see a bunch of animals today."

"Uh huh," she grinned. "I'm gonna see the gorillas!" Kai giggled and served us breakfast. I watched my daughter eat like a big girl. She was so intelligent for her age.

I had already gotten into arguments with Michael about putting her in school. He insisted on home schooling her and I wanted her to have a more social life. He finally agreed to enroll her in private school when she turned four.

After breakfast, we all changed clothes and headed out in Michael's car. Raymone followed close behind and had backup on call just incase. We slipped in and thankfully no one had noticed us right away. Michael wore all black and wore his big shades and I wore all white, wearing my new shades Michael had gotten me. I also had a scarf around my neck to cover my face if I needed to.

Michael kept a mask in his pocket and an extra scarf to cover Neveah's face if we needed to. We all held hands and walked through the park like a normal family. Neveah giggled at the animals and named every single one of them. She was so smart, sometimes I didn't think she was really mine.

"Where to next angel?" Michael asked her.

"Gorillas daddy!" she smiled.

"Okay, gorillas and then lunch, okay?" he said. We both nodded and walked to the gorilla enclosure. There was a huge glass wall seperating us from the animals. We stood in front of it for a minute before a huge silverback walked up to us and started using sign language.

"What in the world?" I stared at the animal while he moved his huge furry hand in a circular motion around his face.

"Aw, he's saying you're beautiful," Michael cooed. I blushed and shot him a look.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Duh, I study everything," he grinned.

"Everything?" I asked.

"Lola...come on, how long have you known me?" he teased.

"Okay okay shut up, I get it. You know everything....geeze mr. ego," I mumbled the last part and Mike shot me a look and I looked away.

"What's he saying now daddy?" Neveah asked.

He started hopping up and down and beating on his chest and Michael studied him for a minute. He looked at me and I shrugged and then he looked around and got wide eyed. When I followed his gaze, people with cameras started to approach us.

"Lola...scarfs out now," Michael snapped. I threw the scarf over Neveah and covered my face with my own. I looked at Michael and he picked up Neveah and threw on his mask. "Raymone! Code red!" he shouted and made me jump. He pushed Neveah into my arms and then pushed us behind him so the crowd couldn't get to us.

In a matter of moments, the crowd was split in half from security, Raymone being in the middle. He ran up to us and checked me and Neveah over.

"We're okay Raymone..." I whispered. I looked around and my blood ran cold when I saw a familiar face in the back of the crowd, grinning a familiar cocky grin. "Take Neveah and get her out of here," I handed her to Raymone and he took off to the car. He knew better than to ask questions in these kinds of situations.

"Lola...let's move," Michael grabbed my hand and I froze in place. "Lola?" he pulled again and dragged me through the crowd. Eventually the security got the crowd far enough away to where I could actually hear myself think.

"What the hell?" I asked. I jerked away from Michael and looked around. Michael stared at me for a minute. We weren't in danger that he could see, so he just waited to see what I was doing.

"Daddy!" Neveah called from the car and tried to get out. Michael whipped around and held his hand out to her.

"Stay there angel...its not safe," he took a few steps closer to the car and I started walking a little too far behind him. I felt a sudden swish of wind and was suddenly grabbed with my arms locked behind me.

"Mommy!" Neveah cried. Michael turned back to see Brian holding me tightly against his chest and grinning.

"Dam!" Raymone yelled as he started to get out of the car.

"Don't interfere or she dies!" Brian growled.

"Raymone no! Get Neveah out of here!" Michael yelled over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off of Brian's. Raymone hesitated and then got back into the car and sped off.

"Poor little Lola...losing Will so you go make a new brat without me? Traiter!" he spat in my ear. Michael clenched his fists and I remained frozen.

"Watch what you say about my daughter," Michael growled.

"Silence," he tightened his grip and I winced, causing Mike to clench his fists even harder.

"You're pathetic," I growled between clenched teeth. "Can't move on and find someone new...you just had to come and try to ruin my life because yours sucks, am I right?"

"Shut up! You owe alot to me...you both do!" he growled. "You took my heart Lola...and you...the freak!" I growled and Michael stood his ground. "You took my family away from me...now I'm gonna make you pay."

"Really? How would you be doing that?" Michael taunted him.

Brian growled and slipped out a blade, putting it against my throat. Michael froze in his tracks and my heart started pounding. Adrenaline started pumping through my veins. "You're going to kill Neveah, the same way Will died. Lola is going to leave you like she left me...and then she's gonna die by my hand."

"I don't think so..." Michael stepped forward.

"No? Then I'll kill her right here!" he held the knife tighter to my throat until it nicked the skin and started to bleed.

Adrenaline shot through my arms and my eyes grew wide. "Oh, I don't think so," I yelled and reached my arms back away from his grip and around the back of his neck, rolling him up and over my shoulder and he crashed into the ground on his back. My knee was held over his throat and he stared at me in shock.

Seconds later, police came and arrested him. Tito walked with Michael next to me and helped me up. "You better take her to get that looked at Mike. I'll take care of this asshole."

I didn't bother to say anything, but once the adrenaline wore off, I felt a stinging sensation on my neck. I winced and reached up to grab it and Michael grabbed my hand before I could.

"Don't touch it until we get it clean. He got you pretty good when you flipped him. Good job, sweetheart," he kissed my head and I sighed.

"What happened?" I asked numbly as we got back into Michael's car and headed for the hospital.

"I'm guessing adrenaline, but I didn't know you had enough strength to throw someone as big as him," he complimented me and I smiled weakly.

"Uh, thanks. Where's Neveah?"

"Safe at home with Raymone and Jermaine. We will meet up with them after we get you looked at." Michael reached over the seat and took my hand. I looked out the window and let a tear slip. "Hey, don't let what he said get to you. We're a family now, Lola. Nothing is gonna take you and Neveah away from me."

"I hope not," I whispered. "Did you hear the way she screamed for me when he grabbed me? She sounded so...scared," I whimpered a little and Michael squeezed my hand.

"That's why we have people like Raymone around, to help protect our family. You got away from him too, so it's okay. We're okay. I'm just sorry I didn't think ahead and get more security," he mumbled.

"Don't blame yourself. There's no possible way you could've known to prevent it anyway. Besides, other than that crazy psycho invading our family day, I had alot of fun, and so did Neveah."

He smiled and kissed the back of my hand. "I did too sweetheart, but next time we decide to go out together like that, remind me to get more security."

"You got it captian ego," I teased and he rolled his eyes as we headed to the hospital.

A few bandages and a short drive later, we were at home and bathing Neveah. She was so excited to see us when we walked in the door.

"Who was that scary man mommy?" she asked as I washed her hair. I paused for a moment and Mike leaned forward to rinse her hair for her.

"No one you will ever have to worry about again. Uncle Tito got rid of him for good," he winked at me and I smiled and looked away.

"Good," she grinned happily. She seemed satisfied with such a simple answer. I was jealous. I wish I could be that simple alot of the time, but then if I was, Michael would get away with alot more of his childish antics, like somehow throwing me into the tub after Neveah gets out, soaking my clothes in the process.

Neveah giggled like crazy and left with Janet to change into her pajamas. I growled at Mike as he stood over me. "You make bubbles look good," he grinned.

"Do I?" I mumbled and dragged him in with me. "Then we're two of a kind aren't we?"

Once again, we ended up covered in bubbles and laughing at ourselves in the mirror. Only this time we were fully clothed and mother snuck in and snapped a picture.

"Woo that will be a good Christmas card for Liz," she grinned and left.

"Ah hell," Michael grumbled. "I'm never gonna hear the end of this."