I held my eight-year-old daughter's hand as we rushed down to the foyer. She had practically been attached to my hip for the last two weeks while Maxon was away in New Asia and as wonderful as it had been to spend so much time with her, it would be nice to have another person for her to love. Even with the help of all of my friends it was difficult to care for four children on my own for so long. My respect for Aspen's mother grew tenfold and she raised her children alone for years.

We got to the bottom of the steps just as my husband strolled through the front doors, a grin splitting his face as soon as he spotted us. In a very un-kinglike manner he jogged to us and scooped Amber up, her size not seeming to have an effect on him. He kissed her all over her face and laughed as she spewed forth everything that he had missed over the last couple weeks.

Finally he put her down. "Why don't you go tell your brothers and sister that I'm here and that we can all go to the pool room in ten minutes?"

Amber threw her hands up in the air in celebration. "Yay! Thank you Daddy!" She ran back up the steps to do her job, waving goodbye to me on her way.

"I think this is the first time in nearly ten days that she and I haven't been in the same room together," I commented, watching her go.

While I was distracted, Maxon stepped up to me and placed his hands on my hips. "I've missed you," he whispered softly, his voice still a little gravelly with want. I smiled up at him and nodded in agreement, too lost in his eyes to really respond. "I'd like to kiss you now." And so he bent his head down to kiss my lips passionately, ignoring all rules of propriety.

When we finally pulled apart I was left breathless. "Wow, yeah, I've definitely missed you too," I told him.

He smiled and his eyes lit up suddenly. "I brought you something!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet nearly identical to the one he had gotten me from New Asia eleven years ago. Mine had broken during an unfortunate tantrum thrown by Khalil when he was just two years old. Our youngest son had certainly inherited my talent for causing trouble. "You seem to have a preference for blue," he added, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Yes, I do have a preference for blue. But I have to say, that green tie is doing wonders for your eyes," I complimented. "Whoever bought that tie for you must have impeccable taste in colors."

"Uh-huh. I believe you gave this to me for Christmas last year, my dear." He put his arm around my shoulders and we walked upstairs to our rooms in companionable silence. I knew he would fill me in on his trip later but for now he needed to decompress with the help of his family.

"So swimming, huh?" I asked suddenly, surprised that he had suggested it. The scars had faded after nearly eleven years of being untouched but they were still prominent to the naked eye. The kids never asked about them but Amber and Shay were growing up and I knew that in time they would start asking questions. Questions that Maxon and I still weren't ready to answer.

He shrugged. "What? Khalil is getting to the age where I'd like for him to start really learning how to swim."

"He's four," I reminded him.

"And that is when I started taking swim lessons."

I nodded and followed him into his room where his luggage was already waiting at the foot of his bed. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at me seriously. He put his hands on my shoulders and I could see that he was searching my eyes for any sign of distress. "Really, America, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I told him too quickly.

He raised his eyebrows. "These past few weeks must have been difficult on you, I know."

"Oh, Maxon, you shouldn't worry so much. You wouldn't have left if you thought I was in danger of jumping off a building, right?"

His eyes darkened at my poor attempt for humor. "I have a confession to make. While I was in New Asia I talked to Elise about what we've been going through." My heart constricted. He had told Elise about our private lives? I understood that she used to date him and was now married to another man but it still hurt to hear that he was discussing such intimate things with her. "She had difficulties conceiving her first child and she said that she eventually did what's called artificial insemination. It's not as romantic as natural conception, I know, but maybe we could look into that. If you feel that's appropriate."

I looked away, looking for the right words. I didn't know how to respond. It touched me that he was so desperate for another baby but I was still hung up on him talking about it with Elise. "Maybe we can talk about it later, okay?" I finally asked, knowing that our kids were probably waiting for us in the poolroom.

Maxon looked disappointed but nodded anyway and went off to change. I could see that he was mildly upset but it was for the wrong reasons. He thought that I was giving up when really I just didn't want to talk to him about this anymore. We had spent two years trying to make a baby and we had gone through twenty-four months' worth of disappointment whenever I had to ask Mary for a box of tampons. I had thought more than once that maybe four kids was it for us. It wasn't such a bad thing but after finally agreeing to a fifth it was crushing for it to not happen as quickly as we had wanted.

Later that night, Maxon fell backward on our bed and I smiled at him. He let out a content sigh and then climbed up to join me at the top of our bed. "You have no idea how much I've missed this. I'm never going away again," he told me.

I smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "You said that last time."

"I mean it now." He put his head in my lap so I could keep stroking his hair, which I knew was relaxing for him. "The kids completely wore me out. How do you do it when I'm not here?"

"It's just because they were excited to see you," I said, laughing.

He shook his head in bewilderment. "I should've known that you and I put together would create energy monsters." I laughed out loud and kissed his forehead. He sat up and put my feet on his legs to massage them. "So what's new with you?"

I raised my eyebrows. "We've talked on the phone every night Maxon. You know everything already."

"Two weeks is a long time though. You may have left something out."

I shook my head as there was a small knock on the door, one I instantly recognized as coming from a small person. "Shalom," I guessed.

"No, definitely Amber," Maxon said, playing along with our little game. "Come in," he called and sure enough, a head of long red hair appeared at the door. He smiled triumphantly as Amber walked up to our bed, a piece of paper clutched in her hands.

"I know I'm supposed to be in bed but I wanted to give Daddy his present now," she said, holding the paper out to him.

He lifted her up to sit on the bed with us and studied the paper. "Is this our family?" he asked, Amber perching on his knees. I heard more quiet footsteps and wasn't surprised to see Shay, Khalil and Win running into the room and joining us.

My heart picked up pace in anticipation as Amber started explaining the people in the picture to him. "That's Aunt Marlee and Uncle Carter with Kile and Jules and that's Uncle Aspen and Aunt Lucy with Abigail. Then there's us. You, Mommy, Shay, Winn, Khalil and I."

He smiled as she pointed to each person. "Who's this?" he asked, pointing to the extra person that Amber hadn't accounted for.

"That's the baby in Mommy's tummy," Amber told him. Maxon looked up at me abruptly. Amber didn't notice his distraction and kept talking. "She said she doesn't know if it's a brother or sister yet and that she'd have to talk to you about it. Do you know Daddy?" she asked, bouncing up to sit on her knees.

Maxon kept looking at me with wide eyes. "You're…" I nodded, a small smile creeping onto my face. He let out a laugh and leaned over to embrace me, planting kisses all over my face.

"Ew, Daddy stop!" Shay exclaimed, covering his eyes.

"We're having another baby?" Maxon asked, pulling away to look at me seriously.

I nodded. "We're having another baby," I confirmed. "I found out last week and told Amber. I hope you don't mind that she was the first to know. And she insisted that she got to be the one who told you."

"We had been trying for such a long time," he whispered, still awestruck.

"I guess we just had to be patient," I told him, shrugging.

He laughed again. "You let me go on today about artificial insemination without telling me?"

I nodded, joining him in his laughter. "It took an enormous amount of willpower, believe me. But I couldn't disappoint Amber," I said, looking down at our daughter. Khalil climbed into my lap and started playing with my hair.

"I'm gonna have a little brother?" he asked me, looking at me with his big blue eyes.

"We don't know yet. It could be a little sister," I told him.

He frowned. "I want a brother."

Win huffed. "Well I want a sister. If I have a brother I'm living with Micah," she informed us, making Maxon laugh out loud.

"I'm sure your cousin would love to have you but you never know, having another little brother could be fun," Maxon told her as Shay pulled the picture from Amber's hands.

"Maybe we could have both! Like Amber and me!" Shay exclaimed enthusiastically.

I shook my head. "No, Dr. Ashlar has already confirmed that it is not twins, thankfully." I looked around at my little family. Despite their excitement over the news, I could see the fatigue from a long afternoon at the pool wearing on them. "Okay, bedtime for everyone."

"Can we sleep with you and Daddy?" Win asked, climbing up on her knees and grabbing my shoulder.

I looked at Maxon. We had been hoping for some alone time, especially so we could celebrate this news but spending a night with our kids was okay too. "Yes, you can stay," I answered, seeing Maxon's answer clearly in his eyes. We could have some alone time later that week. For now, we were both content with sleeping with our four precious children tucked up between us.

My fourth pregnancy proved very early on that it wasn't going to be easy. I suffered from a mild case of hyperemesis in my first trimester, sometimes not leaving my bed for days. Maxon was worried sick and while I was losing weight due to incessant nausea he was losing weight due to worry. By the time the hyperemesis was waning during my fourth month, we both were more than ready to just have this baby.

Then, one night in early October, I was woken up by intense cramps. Not just intense, excruciating. "Maxon," I groaned, hitting his shoulder as I rolled on my back in pain. I had gone to bed thinking that I was just experiencing some back pain but they had obviously gotten much worse as the night went on.

Maxon moaned as he slowly woke up, snapping to attention when he heard my sounds of grief. "Ames, what's wrong?" he demanded, sitting up and looking me over. "America, you're scaring me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I don't know. It feels like I'm having contractions…" I ground out.

"Contractions? You're only twenty-seven weeks; you can't be having contractions," he exclaimed.

I shook my head. "I don't know how else to explain it." He took a deep breath and suddenly got to his full sense of awareness, leaping out of our bed and grabbing my robe from the floor. He quickly wrapped it around my shoulders and held out his hands to help me stand but I shook my head. "There's no way I'll make it."

Without another word he leaned down and scooped me up as if I still only weighed one hundred thirty pounds. The edges of my vision blurred as he carried me. "Ames, stay with me, we're almost there," Maxon told me urgently, not bothering to keep his voice down in the early hours of the morning. But I knew he wasn't a fast runner, especially with me in his arms.

My eyes were getting heavy and it was taking every ounce of energy in me to keep them open. I concentrated on Maxon's face. The sharp lines of his jaw, the warm chocolate color of his eyes, the laugh lines that had formed around his lips and eyes over the last ten years. This was the face of the man I loved. And even my eyes slid shut and I was pulled into darkness, his face was there, smiling, and holding me to the earth.

When I woke up again, there was a bright light above me. At first I wondered if I was in the hospital but then I realized that there was no one around me. I was on a beach, much like the ones back in Carolina. Tall sea grass on top of the sand dunes swayed in the wind coming off the ocean. I smelled the familiar briny scent of sand and dirty salt water. The water here was nothing like the crystal clear waters of St. George.

I looked down at my clothes. I was just in a simply white dress that was in my closet back at the palace. I wasn't pregnant. I could see my toes which were clean and lacking the blush colored polish Mary had put on them earlier this week.

"Kitten," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned slowly, not wanting to turn and see a face that wasn't the one I was imagining. Because there was only one match for that voice and it was a voice I heard for over seventeen years, a voice I took for granted way more than I should have. A voice I hadn't heard in almost eleven years.

But when I saw that it was, in fact, him, I couldn't help the tears that pooled in the corners of my eyes. "Dad," I whispered, not understanding why we were here together in this dream world but not about to question it. This was a dream that I not only wanted but one that I needed as well.

When he saw my tears he stepped toward me and pulled me into his embrace. In the strong solace of my father's arms I lost all composure and started sobbing uncontrollably. "There, there, my girl. Don't you cry, kitten," he whispered into my hair.

It was a hug so different from Maxon's but still so comforting in ways that only my father or husband could comfort me. It was a strange comparison to make but for the longest time my father gave me the best hugs. The only person to give better hugs had to be my husband. If it wasn't, then I needed a new husband. "Dad, what are you doing here? What are we doing here? Where is here?"

He laughed and brushed away some tears. "You have always been a curious one, haven't you?" he chuckled. "You're fine, don't worry. There've just been some complications and you've passed out. I'm sure the doctors will have you awake soon."

"Complications? But the baby…" My hand instinctively reached down to my stomach, searching and resting over my empty womb. The skin there was smooth and my stomach muscles were taut as if I had never carried any children.

"They're doing their best to save the baby. You've put them in a tough spot, kiddo."

"What's happening?" I asked, only imagining the hell Maxon was being put through.

Dad smiled grimly. "It's called preeclampsia. I'm sure you know all about it what with having four kids and all…" he said, his voice holding a strong note of pride in it. "They're going to have to do an emergency C-section to save you and the baby. Your husband is worried sick."

"I should be there," I realized, pulling away from my dad to look around for any way back to the palace. Back to where I belonged.

"Hey, hey, kitten, don't you think you're here for a reason?" my father asked, pulling on my hand. He looked no older than the last time I had seen him the morning of Marlee's caning.

I frowned and kept looking at my surroundings. It didn't make sense for me to be here. It's not like we ever went to the beach as kids. We never had the money for swim costumes. We just had to swim in our undergarments at the community pool. "Why am I here?" I finally asked, my voice shaking. "I'm not dying, am I? Daddy, I can't die. I have the kids, and Maxon…oh my god, Maxon. If I die…"

"Shh, Kitten, you're not dying. You'll go somewhere else when you die. I think your head just needed a break from your world so it sent you here, to my world."

"Your world?" I repeated.

He shrugged. "I could have made it into whatever I wanted. I could have made the tallest mountains with a luxury chalet in them, much like the one you own in Swendway," he elbowed me playfully, "or I could have made the clearest ocean water you've ever seen, like in Columbia. But this is home. And I miss home."

"Are you upset that Mom moved everyone?" I asked him reluctantly.

"Kitten, we would've moved there anyway. My being alive wouldn't have changed that. Besides, I think it's worked out well for your mother moving there as a single woman. She's happy with Alec," he said in a resigned voice.

I looked up at the clear blue sky, a familiar sky that I had seen painted on at least a dozen canvases. "Daddy, did you paint this sky?"

He smiled and followed my gaze upward. "Yes, I did. I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out. It's supposed to be like the sky in Angeles. That way I could live here in Carolina but also have a reminder of my new home in Angeles. The one I never got to experience."

My face fell. "Daddy, I wish more than anything that you could be there with us. There are so many times a day where I think, man, if only Daddy was here…"

"I know, kitten," he said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "But you must know how proud I am of you. You've grown up and become the most beautiful young woman. You're so brave and strong," he reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, "and I could never be more proud to call you my daughter. You're abolishing the castes and making Illea into the best version of itself all with carrying a family of six on your back."

I sniffed and shrugged. "Maxon does a lot to help," I said.

Dad nodded. "And I couldn't be happier with my son-in-law. I never doubted that you would win. When he talked to me before Halloween I saw the look in his eyes. He was determined to marry you, no matter how long it took to convince you. I think that if his father wasn't so strict he was ready to send everyone home right then and there and wait for you."

"He's pretty stubborn," I agreed. I felt myself getting tired and knew that this was coming to an end. "Daddy, what if I lose the baby? I can't lose anyone else…"

"If you lose the baby, know that I will be here, taking care of her for you until you get here. And you listen to me America Schreave, you are not coming here for a long time," he told me seriously, his eyes boring into mine. "I know that it may seem like the world is ending but that's normally when everything is really coming together. Its during our most broken moments that we often find who we really are because we're never more stripped down than in those difficult times. You just have to be faithful that the worst of the pain will pass. It will never leave you, just like how you said that you still miss me. But you will get through it. Because you may be Queen America Schreave, but underneath all of that makeup you're still America Singer. And Singers don't give up."

I nodded and sniffed back my tears. "I don't want to say goodbye to you again."

"Kitten, you never did say goodbye because I've never left you." He wiped the tears off of my cheeks and looked at my pitifully.

"I'm so scared," I admitted in a tiny whisper.

He shook his head. "You shouldn't be scared. Maxon will be at your side through it all. He will never let you lose yourself. Now, you need to be getting back kitten. You have a very worried husband."

"Daddy? Thank you," I said, hugging him again.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he answered, "Love you too, America."

Then, as if I blinked, I was staring up at a bright light again but I knew that this one was a fluorescent light. I tried to move but found that the lower half of my body was completely numb and my hands were strapped to the table. I was trapped. What was happening? Was I paralyzed? What had I missed since passing out?

"She's awake!" someone called into the room.

"Give her an extra dose of morphine. We need to get her heart rate down." I recognized Dr. Ashlar's voice and he sounded scared. I had never really seen him lose his composure before. "Maxon, talk to her!"

Then I heard the voice that I fell asleep to every night and woke up to every morning. "Ames, my love, darling it's okay. You need to be calm. Please, just stay with me and calm down. Listen to my voice Ames," he urged, his lips brushing my ear.

I turned my head and looked at him. "Maxon…what's…"

"They're doing a caesarean. Right now you're just being prepped. They had to give you anesthesia to your lower body and for the surgery they'll have to put you under again," he explained. His face was pale and it looked like he'd been crying. "They're not…it's risky…it's…they're not sure…" he stuttered, not knowing what to say but I could gather enough from his sadness.

"Listen to me," I whispered. "I'm a fighter. I always have been. You're not going to lose me. But, Maxon, this has to be it. No more. It's getting to be too much. After this we need to stop," I said, tears brimming in my eyes. "It's too dangerous now." He looked sad for a moment but I could see a deep understanding emerging in his eyes. "Do you trust me?"

He nodded slowly and a few tears slipped down his cheek. "Of course," he answered.

I reached for his hand and our fingers twisted together. It felt strange not having my wedding rings on. He was still wearing his. "Then you have to take care of the kids. If anything happens to me, you need to be their father. For me. Don't shut down, be there for them."

With a heave he sobbed and rested his head on my shoulder. "This is all my fault," he cried repeatedly.

I wanted desperately to reach up to comfort him but my hands were bound and I couldn't move my numb body. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Maxon Schreave. We both did this. I love you and you love me and the world keeps going around. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing. In death and in life, we're a team. No matter what."

"You're my wife. I'm supposed to protect you," he mumbled.

"And you have. You've protected me and loved me through some of my worst times. You had no way of knowing this would happen," I told him.

"America," Dr. Ashlar interrupted, "we're giving you the rest of the anesthesia now."

I nodded and then looked back at Maxon, seeing the hopelessness in his eyes. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I whispered, squeezing his hand.

He nodded and leaned in to kiss my temple. I noted that my hair was pulled up in some kind of cap. His lips lingered on my face and I heard him start whispering. "Remember the day we got married? I remember when I saw the rain and you running outside I was so shocked and awed by you. You were breathtaking, absolutely stunning, even in a wet satin robe and with your hair all messed up. And then, within a few hours, you were transformed into this beautiful creature. I have no words for how incredible you looked walking down that aisle toward me. You just looked so beautiful, I loved you so much. Now I love you even more, if that's possible. I love you America, I love you…"

It seemed like it was only seconds later when I opened my eyes. My body felt like I had rolled in glass and then been hit by a truck. But more than that, I felt empty. I no longer had the comforting movements of my baby to keep me company. I looked around the room, noticing that I was in the room I usually stayed in following delivering my other babies.

The only other person in the room was Gerad who was sprawled out in the plastic chair, propping his head up in one hand as he slept. "Ger, where's my baby?" I whispered to him.

He immediately jumped at the sound of my voice, rubbing his hands over his face. "Sorry, Ames, I didn't mean to fall asleep," he said in a thick voice. His eyes widened.

"Where's my baby? Is it…please tell me Ger…" I said, my words tumbling around in my mouth as I started to panic. I needed my baby. All of my other babies were with me after I had them. We were never separated those first few days.

Before I could stop him he sprung up and left the room. While he was gone, I worked on getting myself up to a sitting position. I was just awkwardly rearranging the pillows behind my back when Maxon ran in, Dr. Ashlar following behind him at a slower pace. "Ames, you're awake," Maxon breathed out as he sat down next to me on the bed to embrace me lightly. He looked even more tired than the last time I had seen him, the bags under his eyes darker and with a clear layer of stubble on his jaw.

I frowned at him and Dr. Ashlar's perplexed expression. "Where's the baby?" I demanded, looking straight in Maxon's eyes. I knew I would see the truth there but instead of the grief I was expecting I only saw worry.

"She's…well…" he started but he turned to Dr. Ashlar for help. For a moment I let myself muse over the fact that I had a daughter but didn't rejoice in the news for too long. I couldn't get my hopes up.

"America, you were twenty-seven weeks along when she was delivered," Dr. Ashlar began. "After having several children already, you know that the baby is not fully developed at that point. She is alive but that is all I can tell you now. She is incredibly small and fragile and must be kept in an incubator for a few weeks minimum. The good news is that with our technology, she has a ninety-five percent chance of survival after discharge. We are also very lucky in that she had begun to blink early so her eyelids were not fused."

I looked between the doctor and Maxon, trying to understand this. "How small?" I eventually asked.

"Two pounds, four ounces," Maxon said quietly. "She fits in the palm of my hand Ames." There was a mix of desperation and awe in his voice, as if he recognized her grave situation but couldn't help being awestruck by our newest daughter.

"The reality is that she is much safer now than she was a few days ago in your womb," Dr. Ashlar continued. "We don't know what caused the preeclampsia America but I do strongly urge you two to discuss the wisdom behind having more children."

Maxon looked away from me for the first time since he had come into my room. "Why? Is there some sort of risk?"

Our doctor shrugged. "I just think that at this point it would be best for you two to appreciate the children you do have. I'm concerned because we don't have a known cause for this and after almost losing America…" his voice trailed off, seeming to know that he didn't need to finish that sentence.

"We'll talk about it," I told him, even though I could see in Maxon's eyes that there was nothing to talk about; if there was a possibility of my life being in peril again he was going to do everything he could to prevent it.

It was quiet for a few moments before Maxon asked me, "Would you like to see her?"

I nodded and slowly sat up straighter. Maxon put an arm around my shoulders as Dr. Ashlar brought in a wheelchair. They both steered me slowly to the chair and ensured that I was comfortable before moving me.

She was being kept in the nursery of the infirmary. May was in there, talking quietly to a nurse but shutting up when she saw us enter. I didn't know what to expect out of seeing my youngest daughter for the first time but nothing could have prepared me for the horrifying sight of her tiny body being held in a plastic container with numerous wires and tubes attached to her. I put a hand over my mouth as I put my face as close to her as possible. Maxon crouched down to put an arm around my shoulders as we both stared at our little girl.

May went to my other side and leaned her head against mine, our ginger hair twisting together. "I did this," I whispered, not meaning to let the words slip out but I had been thinking that since I woke up. I was an unfit mother to this tiny miracle. I was supposed to care for her but I had failed. Her life was jeopardized because of me.

"America, no. This isn't your fault. Like Dr. Ashlar said, they don't know the reason for this happening. It could have happened to anyone," Maxon told me. "All that matters is that she's here now and she seems to be doing well."

"How long was I asleep anyway?" I asked.

"She was born yesterday, October second," May answered softly.

I nodded, taking that in. My daughter had a birthday. As time wore on over the next couple weeks, I became obsessed with insuring that she wouldn't have a death date so soon after. It was difficult to explain to the kids, especially Khalil, why they couldn't hold their baby sister yet. I was only able to hold her a few weeks after her birth to start skin-to-skin contact and to feed her. Dr. Ashlar still had to put me on specific pills to make my milk come in though.

A month after her birthday she was finally at a weight of six pounds and she was pronounced healthy enough to live on her own, separate from the aid of an incubator. This was a huge step but even as we made the move from the hospital to the third floor, there was one matter that had yet to be dealt with.

"We can't just not give her a name," Maxon admonished one night while I was feeding her. While her health was flourishing, we still looked as bad as we did on the day she was born. The last month had been difficult on both of us. Gerad was a saving grace, taking advantage of being in the offseason so he could be a babysitter. He even took the kids to the Halloween party Aspen and Lucy held since I could never leave my little girl in the hospital and Maxon wasn't leaving my side.

I sighed. "We'll give her a name. I just want to wait a bit longer."

"If we wait any longer, she's going to develop an identity complex!" he exclaimed in an exasperated voice. "She needs to become a citizen of this country, America."

"Is that all you care about? We both nearly died and all you seem to worry about is giving her a name. If you're that cynical about this, then give her a damn name yourself," I snapped, the emotional and physical fatigue of the last four weeks catching up to me.

He threw his hands up in the air and backed out of the room. "Fine. Maybe I will."

I looked down into the face of my little girl. I couldn't bear to give her a name until I was absolutely positive that she was healthy. Losing her would be difficult enough; giving a name to that loss would be too much.

That night I was soaking in a bubble bath when Maxon walked into my bathroom with a sheepish expression on his face. "I'm sorry I've been pressuring you," he apologized, perching on the edge of the tub and staring at the bubbly water around one of my knees. "I just want to be able to call her something besides 'little girl' and 'the baby.'"

"You gave her a name, didn't you?" I asked, recognizing what his embarrassment was. Shalom was the only one of our kids who had been given his whole name by his father. I named Amber and Win and Khalil was a joint effort.

"I hope you don't mind," he said, pulling a birth certificate out of his pocket to show me.

I read it over, tears pooling in my eyes when I read the name. "Annie America Schreave," I read aloud.

Maxon smiled grimly. "Annie means blessed. I thought it would be a nice tribute to your maid that you were so close to and it also seems appropriate. And well…we both know what America means."

"Certifiably insane?" I asked.

He laughed and shrugged. "Only sometimes. I was thinking more along the lines of her being a fighter." He paused. "Do you like it?"

I looked up at him and thanked my lucky stars once again for having been given this incredible man to share my life with. He was better than anything I could have imagined as a little girl. It scared me at times how much I loved him because I knew that if anything happened to him, I would be permanently broken. But the feeling he gave me when he smiled at me with that dopey smile or gave me random, surprise gifts made that fear completely worth it. "Get in here, you," I invited, sitting up in the tub to make room for him.

"In…in there?" he stuttered, getting excited.

"Yes, and hurry," I said, watching him unabashedly as he took off his clothes.

So this is the second time I'm doing this. I hope you guys like this chapter because it was an ordeal updating. Anyway, these responses are going to be somewhat short just because i already typed all of this up but then the page refreshed and i lost all of the stuff i had typed out before that. ugh. but i'll give y'all an age update when i pick up with Amber's story either next chapter or the chapter after that.

Val: let's make a deal: i'll write another Maxon POV if you give me an idea for what to write it on.

winterprincess: idk, i always find it so easy to write from his POV. but yeah, i ended up buying Mockingjay on iTunes. i needed all of the BTS Joshifer wonderfulness. oh, and i was going to write that part but the chapter just got to be too long. maybe i'll do it as a shorter one-shot later.

bonjourbeth: no problem! glad you're enjoying it!

Casslover: thank you!

Weatherbug02: haha i love Sherman. he's such a beast on the field. it's almost like watching Ray Lewis play!

Mac: shhhhhhhh...

Totalbooknerd13: two new babies!

Sci-FiGenius: thank you!

prnamber3909: thanks! i teared up a little bit writing it. i remember when i read this part of the book, i just had no idea what to do or think. it was an incredible plot twist from Kiera.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews lovelies!