The wind howled outside as Milinda stood in the dimly lit room rocking her five-day-old daughter to sleep. Cradled in her mother's arms the little girl looked up at her with her blue eyes, and even though Milinda knew that Kylie's vision was still blurry and she couldn't quite see her just yet her daughter knew that she was there and always would be. 

Eventually, after the sixth or seventh lullaby, Kylie's eyes fluttered closed and she gave out one last little sigh before falling asleep for at least the next few hours if Milinda was lucky enough. As she set Kylie down in her crib she stood to the side for a few moments watching her sleep. Nine months ago Milinda didn't want this baby. She didn't want to be a mother she didn't want the future she planned for herself to go up in flames. Oh, how the times had changed. Now Kylie was her whole life, in the five days she had been on this Earth Kylie had stolen her whole heart. 

The nursery door gently swung open and her parents walked in. Unlike Milinda, their opinions on the baby didn't change when they saw her. They still wanted Milinda to give her away so that she could go to university. Milinda was accepted into so many schools including Harvard which was her dream school but she gave it all away to work a restaurant job and look after her baby. 

"Honey, can talk outside?" Milinda's mom asked quietly. 

Milinda half-turned to look at them anger from all their conversations about Kylie still shining in her eyes. "Sure," she whispered.

Milinda kissed the top of her pointer finger and gently pressed it to Kylie's cheek before setting the toy elephant closer to her and placed the duck blanket that the hospital gave them over her.

"Goodnight, baby," she whispered and then followed her parents out of the room and toward the lounge. "Let's just get this over with," she sighed as she sat in her regular seat across from them. 

Her parents looked at one another before her father sighed. 

"So, your mother and I went to a few homes and they have plenty of young couples who are willing to take Kylie off our hands," he said. 

Milinda scoffed and shook her head. She thought that by now she would be used to hearing them talk about how she had to give her baby away but she wasn't. Each time ripped a piece of her heart off and nothing changed. If anything it had gotten worse. 

"For the last time, I'm not giving her away. I can't believe you guys would go to homes and arrange to give my daughter away!" she cried trying to not raise her voice too much. 

"Well, we can't believe you are willing to throw your very bright future away for that bastard child!" her father yelled. 

To everyone's surprise, Milinda's hand flew through the air slapping her father across the cheek. The slap echoed off the walls along with her mother's gasp. Her father had said many things about Kylie before but she never thought he would go this far. She never thought he would hold this much hatred toward his granddaughter. 

"Milinda," her mom snapped after the shock had worn off.

Her father hunched over the couch one hand on his cheek and the other curled into a fist. Slowly he turned his head to look at her raw anger fuming in his eyes. "How dare you," he hissed through clenched teeth. 

"No, how dare you! You sit there and call my child a bastard and tell me that you made plans to give her to other families and expect me to just sit here," Milinda yelled as tears began to flood her eyes. "I'm scared about raising a child but I thought at least I would have my parents to help me. I'm disgusted at what you guys have said to me over the last few months and I'm disgusted at the fact that you went to those homes to send my baby away. Now I have said this a million times but I'm going to say it again. I am not giving Kylie away, because she is my baby and I'm going to raise her," she sobbed. 

They looked at each other with sadness and shook their heads. 

"I'm sorry but we can't condone what you are doing. And we will not help raise that child. We want you packed and gone by the morning," her father said solemnly. 

She wanted to scream at them to make them see how much they were hurting her but she knew them well enough to know that they had made their minds up. This was their decision and they were never going to change their minds. So, with tears streaming down her face Milinda ran upstairs packed up her and Kylie's things and with her baby in hand she left. 

That was the last time Milinda saw her parents. Grayson had helped her out by collecting the bigger stuff she couldn't take that night because Milinda refused to see her parents until they apologized to her. They were her mom and dad and even though she loved them with all her heart she couldn't forgive them for what they said about Kylie. And now here they were standing in front of her a whole four years later. 

"Milinda," her mom repeated with a small smile on her face. She tried to reach out and grab Milinda's hand but Milinda stepped further back into her apartment her hand on the door waiting for her moment to slam it in their faces. 

Time had not been kind to her parents. Her mother's hair which used to be as red as hers was covered with long strips of grey and was cut into a pixie cut. Wrinkles lined her face and she looked paler than ever. The wrinkles that came with old age didn't spare her father either creating lines under his eyes and his once thick black hair that he was so proud of was thinning out and had speckles of grey. They looked much older than their actual ages, hell her mom wasn't even fifty yet. 

"Hi, Care Bear," her dad nervously said. Milinda wanted to scoff, he was nervous enough to speak to her again but not enough to use the nickname he called her as a child. A nickname he stopped calling her after she agreed to continue the pregnancy. The same one he told her she didn't deserve anymore when she disgraced him by having a baby so young. 

Milinda's sharp glare was turned on he father. "You have no right to call me that. Not after what you did," she harshly snapped.

The couple took a step back frightened by their daughter's harsh words yet still understanding of them. They knew the risk of coming here, they knew there was a chance she would slam the door in their faces and never speak to them again. But all of the risks were worth having the chance to talk to her just once. A chance to apologize for what they did all those years ago. 

"Milinda, we are so sorry for what we did. We know now how wrong we were for kicking you both out. We... we thought we were helping you. You were our overachieving child and we always had a specific future planned out for you. So when you decided to keep your child and raise her instead of going to university we were shocked and a little disappointed. But over the last few years, we've realized just how wrong we were-"

"Then why didn't you come to me sooner?" Milinda cried. 

"We wanted to. Honey, you have no idea how badly we wanted to but after that night and what your father said to you we thought you never wanted to see us again. And when we finally felt brave enough to go to try and talk to you your apartment was abandoned. Grayson was gone, and you and Kylie were gone. It took us two years to track you down." She chuckled, "You can imagine how shocked we were when we found out you were here in America." Tears started to well up in her eyes as she reached out and took her daughter's hand in hers. "Sweetie, we know what Grayson did to you, we saw the reports. We know he abused you and that's why you had to run. And we found an article about the things he did here. We are so sorry you didn't feel like you could come to us back then when it started. Honey, we are so sorry and we will do anything to earn your forgiveness... that's if you're willing to give us a chance."

By now Milinda was holding in full-on sobs. She wanted nothing more than to pull her mom into her embrace. To be held by her parents again was everything she wanted but they needed to earn that again. And she was going to give them that chance to earn it. Yes, they kicked her out but they were still her parents and Kylie's grandparents. She had to do this not only for her sake but for Kylie's as well. She deserved to have loving grandparents.   

"I don't completely forgive you but I am willing to give you a chance." 

Before her mother could collapse from relief, joy or something else her father pulled her closer to him turning himself into her walker.  

"Milinda, who's at the door?" Akhona asked the floorboards banged as she started coming toward them. She stopped just behind Milinda, her face scrunched in confusion as she tried to figure out who the two figures in front of me were.

"Who is this?" Milinda's mom asked as she pointed at Akhona. 

"You must have read my mind, lady, because I was just about to ask the same question," Akhona replied in a cocky tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

Milinda looked at the two of them. Is this what the atmosphere was like when they were meeting Akhona then how were they going to react to meeting Shawn? 

"Mom, this is Akhona. Akhona, these are my parents Amanda and Francois Van der Merwer."

Akhona's eyes widened in shock. Milinda never told her much about her parents only that they kicked her and Kylie out. Akhona leaned closer to Milinda. "I thought you said your parents wanted nothing to do with you and Kylie?"

"They want to earn my forgiveness," Milinda whispered back to her. 

Akhona's eyebrows were knitted together. "Is that even possible?" 

Milinda looked at her parents and back at Akhona over and over again before settling her gaze on Akhona. "We'll see," she whispered. 

"Mommy!" Kylie yelled from her room her voice bringing a new kind of tension to the situation. 

Amanda and Francois gasped at the sound of her voice, and for the first time, Milinda could see some joy in their eyes about Kylie. 

"I'm coming, sweetie!" Milinda called out to her. She turned back to her parents who looked like they were going to cry. "Would you like to meet your granddaughter?" 

"We would love to," Francois said with a small smile tugging at his lips. 

Milinda led them into my apartment and Akhona closed the door behind them. They followed her down the passage towards Kylie's room. Milinda carefully opened the door revealing the yellow and pink room. A few months back Shawn, Milinda and Kylie worked together to redecorate Kylie's room and it looked better than ever. 

"Hi, Mommy," Kylie giggled as she jumped up and down on her brand-new Barbie-themed duvet. 

Amanda let out a small gasp when she saw Kylie, and Francois's smile grew wider and wider.

"What have I told you about jumping on your bed?"

She stopped jumping and sat on her pillow looking up at her mom with soulful eyes.

"Sowwy, Mommy."

"It's all right, sweetie, just don't do it again," Milinda said as she sat down beside Kylie and kissed her cheek. 

"Mommy."

"Yes, baby."

"Who that?" Kylie nervously asked as she pointed to the two people she didn't recognize. 

Milinda looked past her shoulder at her parents and back at Kylie. She never imagined she would be in this moment. She never imagined she would have to introduce her daughter to her parents. She thought they would go their lives never seeing Amanda and Francois ever again. But apparently, life wanted to throw Milinda another curve ball. "Well... they are your grandparents."

"Gwanpawents," she fumbled through the word something that her teacher said she would get over eventually. 

"They are my mommy and daddy. They came from South Africa to meet you," Milinda explained. 

Standing on the edge of her bed Kylie looked up at the people who her mother claimed were her grandparents. They looked like her mother, the woman more than the man. Shyly she raised her hand and waved at them. "Hi." 

"Hello, Kylie," Francois greeted the little girl who reminded him so much of his daughter when she was little more for her personality than her looks. 

Amanda smiled at her. "You've gotten so big. You were just a baby the last time we saw you."  She slowly moved across the room and took a seat beside Kylie. 

This sudden action took Kylie by surprise and she scooted closer to her mother burying her head in her chest. 

"She's shy," Milinda said stroking Kylie's mattered hair. 

"You were too at that age," her mom chuckled. 

"Really?"

"Oh yes, you never wanted to leave your mother's side." 

Milinda laughed at the image of her hiding behind her mother. "I don't remember that."

"You were little. Besides, you grew out of it after you turned six. It was quite a miracle. Your father and I couldn't believe it." 

"Gwanny," Kylie suddenly said slightly moving away from her mother's side and closer to the woman on the edge of her bed. 

"Yes," Amanda said with a beaming smile tugging on her lips. 

"Gwanny," Kylie giggled.

Finding a sudden rush of bravery she crawled over to Amanda and hugged her. Tears trickled down Amanda's cheeks as she returned the hug. 

Milinda looked over the scene with a heart so full of love. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, she thought.

* * * * 

Red and blue lights flashed lighting the dimly lit garage. Glass was scattered all over the floor from the broken case that must have held some weapons. Pools of blood-covered spots on the floor leading up to the body. Shawn watched carefully where he stepped as he examined the man laying face down in his blood the knife still sticking out of his back. 

"So, what are we thinking, partner?" Camila asked as she sipped on her coffee. 

Shawn looked around the room once more before his gaze settled on his partner. "Well, our DOA over here was arrested a while back for smuggling weapons into the country and the sale of illegal weapons. So, I guess that that case held his merchandise. He had a client over and a purchase was taking place. Something went wrong perhaps a fight broke out about payment and they started fighting. The victim has defence wounds on his hands and the case might have been broken in the fight because he has glass embedded in his face. The client grabbed a knife from here or has one already and stabbed our man in the back, took the weapons and then fled the scene."

Camila looked around the scene and smirked. "I will forever be impressed at how much you can gather at a scene from just looking at it."

"And I will forever be impressed by your ability not to," Shawn chuckled. 

Camila flipped him off and the few other officers and forensic analysts laughed. 

"At this rate, me attending your wedding is looking slim especially if you're gonna talk to me like that."

Shawn raised his hands in mock surrender and laughed. "I'm simply giving you my professional criticism, besides, it's the least you deserve after you shouted out the announcement of my engagement before I even got to work." 

"I was just being a good friend and I wanted us as an office to congratulate you, and you can't tell me you didn't enjoy everyone yelling congratulations."

"I almost had a heart attack. I almost dropped dead in the lobby." 

"Oh don't be such a baby. How Milinda deals with you the Lord alone knows," Camila huffed as she took a clipboard from one of the officers and started jotting down notes. 

"Speaking of my fiancé she messaged me earlier saying she has a surprise for me."

Camila chuckled her focus still on the paper in front of her. "Maye she's going to tell you she changed her mind and doesn't want to marry you."

 "I doubt it," Shawn scoffed he knew Milinda loved him and would never leave him but not even he couldn't deny the curse being a police officer brought upon marriages, engagements... relationships in general. The long hours, sometimes going undercover for weeks or months on end and the emotional withdrawal after dealing with certain cases were too much for some people to handle. They wanted someone who was there for them so being a cop and being in a relationship wasn't normally a good mix. Half the cops in his station were either single or divorced with only five having survived in their relationships for longer than five years. 

What if Milinda was leaving him? What if one day she did pack her bags and leave? What if one day years from now he comes home after a long day and she and Kylie are gone with all that's left of them is her ring on the table next to a note? No, Shawn, don't think about things like that, he thought. She loves you, he reminded himself. Besides, half of the guys in the station's relationships ended because they fell into bad habits like drinking or they found comfort in the arms of other people and you would ever do that... right?  

"Are you all right there, partner?" Camila asked her voice drawing him from the dark depths of his mind.

Startled by the sudden interruption to his mental battle Shawn stumbled back ever so slightly his mouth frozen in that O shape and his eyes darting all over the room. Forcing himself to calm down he looked at his partner and nodded as he cleared his throat and fiddled with the collar of his shirt. "Yeah, it's just getting stuffy in here." He turned to the head of a forensic team, "How long until Detective Martin and I can get the results from all your tests you guys are gonna run on this evidence?" 

The man looked at the stack of evidence bags in his case and shrugged. "Probably only tomorrow morning."

Shawn dramatically clapped his hands. "Perfect," he turned to look at Camila, "You can finish up here I'm clocking out so I can go see what this surprise is." After a curt wave goodbye, Shawn rushed off to his car and sped off. 

Standing with her arms crossed over her chest Camila looked down at the forensic guy who was also looking at the empty spot where Shawn's car was only seconds ago. 

"You really spooked him there, didn't you?" the man chuckled looking back at her.

Camila scoffed and shook her head. "He doesn't get spooked, besides, Milinda loves him too much to leave him."

The man shook his head and chuckled. "Cam, everyone knows marriages in this station don't last. It's like we're all cursed; cops more than anyone."

Camila looked down at the man with her eyebrows knitted and her head moving from side to side. "That can't be true."

"Sadly it is, three weeks ago my second marriage just ended," he looked around the room, "And I can name at least four people in this room who have been divorced at least twice. Police officers are just not meant to be married."

"Well, aren't you just a ball of sunshine today? Just get those stuff back to the lab and get testing," Camila said as she rolled her eyes. She put her notes into her pocket their temporary safe place until she could put them on her desk in a brand new file. Walking to her car to go back to her car she thought back to what the forensic man told her. Cops aren't meant to be married. Boy, she hoped he was wrong. 

* * * * 

Milinda's stomach twisted with nerves as she watched the clock's hand move slower than ever. Shawn would be here in about five minutes expecting it to be the three of them for dinner. She told him that she had a surprise for him but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that her parents had returned. She couldn't tell him over text so she was going to show him in person. 

"Are you alright?" her mom asked as she set their cups of coffee on the counter. 

Milinda picked at her nails and the skin of her palm. She hadn't been this nervous since she had to tell her parents that she was pregnant. 

"Yeah, it's just my boyfriend... my fiancé is on his way," Milinda faltered her hands shaking from all the nerves coursing through her. 

Amanda's eyes widened with shock and her mouth fell agape. In her mind, Milinda was always her sweet young daughter only eighteen years old getting ready to go study. Now here she was standing in front of her adult daughter who not only was a mother and living on her own in another country but had managed to survive some of the worst situations a person could go through and now on top of all of that she was engaged. 

"Honey, that's amazing news. When... when did this happen?" 

Milinda smiled and her chest felt lighter like a weight had been lifted off.  "Thank you, he asked me yesterday after just over a year of dating." 

Amanda smiled from ear to ear and she leaned against the nearby counter to stop her legs from falling out from under her from all the excitement. It was the one thing about herself she never understood. It amazed her to know that after almost fifty years on this Earth, there were still things about herself she couldn't understand. 

"Well, I can't wait to meet him." 

Ding dong! 

"Well, here he is," Milinda mumbled under her breath. 

Her hands shook as she walked to the door. Her mother's approval was only half the job done she still had her father's reaction to worry about. Like any typical father, he didn't like it when a boy gave her any romantic attention when she was growing up. His head almost blew off his body when she told him that she and Grayson had been together so she could only imagine this. 

As she reached the door she turned the handle and pushed it open all her nerves drifting away as she looked up at Shawn and the bouquet of blue Lilly's in his hand. 

"Hey, you." He smiled. Leaning down he pressed his lips to hers and for the briefest of moments, all of Milinda's worries vanished. 

"Sweetie, who's at the door!" Francois called out from the living room. 

 Shawn hastily pulled away from Milinda looking down at her a small glimmer of pain shining in his eyes. Milinda could see the gears turning in his head and while on the one hand, she couldn't believe he would think she would cheat on him, but on the other hand she understood that the shock of hearing her father's voice took him to that place. She would feel the same way if roles were reversed. 

"It's not what you think," she chuckled. 

"Well then what is it?" Shawn snapped.

From the corner of her eye, Milinda saw her father approaching them stopping beside her. His calculating eyes looking the man holding the flowers up and down. 

"Milinda, who is this man?" Francois asked. 

Shawn looked at the man with utter confusion. And her dad looked at him in the same way any dad would at a man standing in his daughter's doorway with flowers in his hand. 

"Shawn, this is my dad. Dad, this is Shawn."

"Her fiancé," her mom added as she joined the awkward situation. 

"Fiancé," Francois gasped.

"Dad," Shawn gasped.

"Oh boy," Milinda mumbled running her hands down her face.

* * * *

"So let me guess this straight you're a detective at the San Francisco police department. Last year you helped my daughter because she was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend who I hope rots in hell for all the things he did. And while helping her you started dating her and now you're engaged," Francois slowly said taking in all the information his daughter had just given him.

On the sofa across from him and Amanda, Shawn wrapped his arm around Milinda and gently squeezed her shoulder. She wondered if he was trying to calm himself down or her. 

"Yes," Shawn replied.

Silence settled over the room as the men stared at each other. Francois tries to figure out if he accepted this man for his child and Shawn waiting to see if the man would thank him or tell him to leave. 

"Well, then we owe you a great thanks for keeping our daughter safe." Francois smiled raising his wine glass.

Shawn breathed a sigh of relief. "It's my pleasure, Mr. van de Merwer."

Amanda and Francois's eyes widened in shock looking at one another before looking back at Shawn.

"I'm surprised you know our surname. When our private investigator found Milinda we had noticed she changed her last name," Amanda said taking a sip of her wine. 

"Yeah well, when Grayson revealed himself as the stalker I had to tell Shawn everything," Milinda explained with a nervous smile. She wondered how her parents reacted to finding out she changed her last name. Were they angry? Understanding? 

"Well, no matter what the circumstances of how you came to start dating. You are a beautiful couple and, Shawn, I can see you make our daughter very happy." Amanda smiled.

"I try, Mrs. van de Merwer." Shawn smiled taking Milinda's hand in his and kissing it. 

Milinda looked at her family and smiled at how perfectly everything was going so far. Her parents were treating her like a daughter again, they had met Shawn and were accepting of their engagement. Shawn also seemed to be bonding with her parents. 

Ding dong!

Milinda looked over her shoulder in confusion. Akhona shouldn't be here and if it was her she wouldn't have knocked she would have just barged right in. So, who could be at the door?

"Oh, she's here," Francois said getting up from the sofa and making his way to the door. Now Milinda was even more confused. 

"She wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow," Amanda mumbled to her husband who looked at her with the same level of anger she had. 

"Whose here?" she asked her mother taking quick note of how worried and angry her mother looked. 

Amanda looked at her daughter and nervously bit her lip. "Chanelle." 

All the colour left Milinda's face turning her into a ghost. Her hands curled into fists and she started shaking slightly. Shawn quickly taking note of the sudden change in her behaviour held her tighter against him and kissed her forehead hoping it would calm her down.

"Whose ?" Shawn asked desperate to get more context about the sudden guest.

"Grayson's mom," Milinda whispered to him and she felt him tense up. 

The three of them looked up as Francois came back into the room a middle-aged woman trailing behind him. While Francois returned to his seat Michelle stood in the entranceway to the living room intensely staring at the couple on the sofa, but most of her focus was on the woman she hadn't seen in years. 

"Milinda, it's so lovely to see you," Chanelle said with a smile edging on her lips. 

"Hello, Mrs. Taylor," Milinda greeted nervously smiling at the woman in front of her. 

The two women moved closer to each other and hugged each other. 

"Please call me Chanelle," she insisted as they moved away from each other. 

She still looked the same as the last time Milinda saw her probably from all the Botox and plastic surgery she used to keep herself young. All of that brought back the memory of the last time Milinda saw her. 

Chanelle never liked Milinda and Milinda never liked her. She thought Milinda was a poor girl who wanted her son's money. The last time Milinda saw her she was six months pregnant, and they were having tea. Michelle was making her usual comments on how Milinda was pretending that the baby was Grayson's just to get his money. After months of being told to keep quiet, Milinda snapped and told her that she was only there because Grayson and she had gotten drunk at a party, and he got her pregnant. And that if she wasn't determined to have her child raised y both of her parents then she wouldn't have even been there with her. 

That argument was the reason Grayson moved out of his parent's house. He said he didn't want the negativity around the baby. And now here she was standing in Milinda's living room four years later looking for who knows what. 

"How have you been, Chanelle?" Milinda asked sitting back down next to Shawn who was her only source of comfort at that moment. 

"Well not so great. I mean my son was killed," she said probably searching for whatever sympathy she could get. Well, she wasn't going to get it in that room.

"Well, he deserved it," Shawn snapped.

Chanelle gave him that 'how dare you say anything bad about my precious angel' face, and Milinda wished she could walk over to her and smack it off of her. Chanelle spoilt Grayson from the moment she pushed him out of her and he could get away with anything according to her. 

"I'm sorry but who are you?" she asked glaring at Shawn. 

"This is Shawn, he's my fiancé," Milinda quickly replied putting her hand on his thigh. 

Chanelle dark blue eyes widened as much as her Botox could allow as she looked at the couple. "Wow, you certainly know how to move on fast." She pursed her lips. "Anyway, where is that granddaughter of mine? She was the only reason I agreed to come down here to this... place?"

"She's asleep for the night. You can meet her tomorrow," Milinda said trying her best to hide her anger. She didn't want Chanelle to even be there so she certainly didn't want her around her daughter right now. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep her from Kylie forever but she could it for tonight. 

Chanelle looked around the room before her gaze settled on Milinda. "Well, then I'll see you all tomorrow."

Without saying goodbye she swung her Gucci bag over her shoulder and left slamming the door behind her. 

"No wonder her son was an asshole," Shawn mumbled downing the last of his wine.

"You can say that again," Francois chuckled pouring himself a second glass. 

"Why would you bring her with you?" 

"Because like us she wants to meet her granddaughter. Milinda, you have to remember that Kylie is some of the only family she has left. Her husband left her a few months back and her son is dead." 

Milinda sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I understand that but did she have to come all the way here? Skype is still a thing, right?"

Amanda set her glass down and walked over to her daughter setting her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, once she meets Kylie I'm sure she'll go crawling back to that new mansion of hers."

"We can only hope." 

* * * *

After Chanelle's departure, the four of them ordered pizza for dinner and chatted as they finished the bottle of wine. Slightly tipsy they all made their way to the door where Amanda and Francois's driver was waiting for them. 

Milinda pulled her parents into a group hug. "I'm glad you guys came down. I've missed you," she whispered to them. 

"We've missed you too," her mom whispered with a smile beaming on her face. As they pulled back Amanda kissed Milinda's cheek.  "See you tomorrow." 

"Bye, Mom."

"May I call you care bear?" Francois asked as he stepped closer to her. 

Milinda smiled and nodded. "You may." 

"Goodnight, care bear." Francois chuckled pulling his daughter in for another hug. 

"Night, Dad."

As the car drove away Shawn and Milinda made their way back into the apartment locking the door behind them. 

"So... care bear," Shawn laughed wrapping his arms around Milinda from behind.

Milinda shoved him away from her and slapped his shoulder. "Shut up," she snapped. 

"Okay, I'm sorry," he mumbled planting a few light kisses on her neck.

Milinda sunk into his arms again reveling at the physical contact. "Mmm... how was your day?" she asked pulling his head away from her neck as he started to suck on the one spot he knew drove her crazy.

"Same old same old, except for the part where Camila announced to the whole station that I was engaged, and she asked me if she could be my best man," he laughed.

"Really," Milinda chuckled.

"Yeah, and I think she would be perfect for that role," he chuckled but his smile dropped seconds later and his gaze shifted to the floor. "Well, that and I don't have any male friends in my life that I'm close enough to ask."

Milinda's face contorted with confusion. She thought he would have at least one person he could ask. She thought he had someone. "Nobody?"

Shawn shook his head. "I would have asked my brother if he were still here."

Milinda's heart sank. Even after so many years since that traumatic day, Shawn's little brother was still a sore topic along with his father. Shawn rarely talked about his past or the people he lost but on the off chance he mentioned something about any of them Milinda could feel his pain and her heart felt like it was being ripped apart. She hated that he had to go through what he did, hated it with all of her heart but there was nothing she could do other than comfort him any way she could. 

"As long as you remember him and keep him close to your heart he will be there."

"What coffee cart did you get that from?" Shawn asked a small smirk on his lips. 

"My mother after my grandfather died."

"Well, your mother sounds very wise."

Milinda shrugged. "When she wants to be."

"Now, I am going to hit the shower, and then we can go to bed," Shawn said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Milinda scoffed and shook her head. "We are not having drunk sex again."

"This is different we are not that drunk... just tipsy," he chuckled.

"Still not happening." Milinda pushed past him and made her way to the bedroom with a whiny Shawn trailing behind her. 

"Oh, come on just a quickie."

"No," Milinda said as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. 

"You can be so boring sometimes!" Shawn called out to her but the only response he got was the sound of the shower turning on. 

* * * * 

The ground crunched under his boots as he walked closer and closer to her apartment. He loved seeing a victim's place for the first time. A person's house told him a lot about them. Were they rich or poor? Clean or messy? What did they like? So many things he could discover about a person simply by looking at their house. 

She had a small apartment which according to his research she's had since she got into the country. It was small so she didn't have a high-paying job. He cupped his hands over his eyes so he could look through one of the nearby windows. She's a neat freak, he thought taking note of how everything had its place and nothing deviated from it. She has a child too, he mentally said to himself when he saw a teddy bear on the sofa. Her having a child meant nothing to him, so many of his victims before had children too. Children, boyfriends, husbands it didn't matter because they were his and his alone. 

He managed to find the window that looked into her bedroom. She was fast asleep in her bed wrapped in the arms of the same man she was with at the cabin. This man was an obstacle but one he would take care of eventually. He wasn't in a rush... not with this woman. He hadn't hunted in such a long time so he was going to take his time with this one. Take in every moment and enjoy every bit of it. 

He took the note out of his pocket the black envelope blending in with the darkness of the night. Using some tape he kept in his car he stuck the envelope onto the window. After blowing a kiss to the sleeping woman he quietly made his way back to his car and drove away already counting the minutes until they would see each other again. 

* * * *

The early morning sun streamed through the curtains pulling Milinda from her deep sleep. Groaning she turned over to see Shawn still sleeping his face half tucked under his arm and small snores echoing from his partially agape mouth. She quietly chuckled as she reached over and played with his shaggy hair. A perfect moment was sadly broken by the sigh of a black envelope resting on her bedroom window. 

"What the hell," she whispered, my voice still groggy from sleep. 

She ripped the covers off of her and rushed to the window opening it just enough to grab the gift that was left behind. With her brows pulled together she opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper within. Flashbacks to getting notes from Grayson played through her mind and she had to shove them back down. Grayson was dead, he couldn't hurt her anymore... or could he? She unfolded the paper gasping at the note. 

You guys make a lovely couple but it won't last long. Soon you will be mine. 

Love,
The Casanova Stalker

The End of Episode 2

Poor Milinda, the girl just can't seem to catch a break. She is like a magnet for creepy stalkers who love leaving unsettling handwritten letters.