Chapter 34

"Ready to go?" Jake asked when he walked in her room, placing his arms on her waistline.

It was 4PM and Kimberly was gathering some of her stuff to take to Jake's house.

After the proposal, Jake had said right away that she'd live with him in his city, in his mansion. Kimberly didn't complain; all she wanted was to be with him. It didn't matter if it was a rushed decision; Kimberly just wanted to be the closest to him.

"Yes, I am ready." She said with a smile as she looked at the ring in her hand, "I still can't believe you asked me to marry you." Oh yes, that had surprised her more than anything.

"You better believe it, baby." Jake kissed her neck softly, "My mom and Sid are going to be crazy."

"Oh yeah." Kimberly turned around to face him, "They are going to love this…" She softly passed over his lips with hers, as one hand of her was moving throughout his chest.

When she reached his jeans, Jake broke the kiss and said right away, "Baby, don't. We really have to go. Later… Tonight…"

"Hum… Ok. Then… let's go. I've finished packing the essential. We can come back by the end of the week to take everything…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll arrange some guys to do that; don't worry." Jake grabbed Kimberly's bags and her hand, and walked out of her room. "You're going to sell the house?"

"I don't know… If Sid gets in the college she wants, she will have to keep living here…" The thought of being away from her sister that long, made her think twice. She knew Jake had to stay in his city in order to be close to his company, but her sister… Sid had to stay here… And the thought of her sister alone in a city where she wasn't… "I'm kind of worried about that."

"Kimmy," Jake stopped in the middle of the hall, "Sid will be eighteen in three-four months, I'm sure she is responsible enough to live alone. She's your sister, isn't that right?"

"What does that have to do with my worries?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, your parents died two and a half years ago, right? You managed to take care of you and your sister in those years, all by yourself. I'm sure she has your responsibility and strength to take care of her own issues." Jake passed a finger through her cheek, "Don't worry, Kimmy. Besides, she can stay at the house we lived before."

That caught her off guard, "I thought you had sold the house."

"Yeah, well…" Jake ran a hand through his wild dark hair, "I didn't. I like that house too much to sell it. Besides, it's already paid. Sid wouldn't need to be paying every month for the house, like if she had to pay if she stayed in this one."

"You're right… Still, I'll talk to her to see what she thinks about it. Let's go." With a smile on her face, Kimberly looked one last time at that house. She had only lived two months in that house, the two months she had suffered because of her decision, but she was already starting to feel comfortable there. Now… that was nothing compared to how she was going to feel from now on. She was sure this house was nothing compared to Jake's mansion and what she felt in this house was going to be overpowered with the happiness she was going to feel from now on, by Jake's side.

Kimberly walked out with Jake and she didn't looked back to think about those horrible two months spent in that house.

As they got in the car, after placing her bags on the back of Jake's car, Kimberly asked, "You know… am I still going to work for you? I know I quitted, but I will have to do something…"

When Jake started the car, he replied, "Baby, if you want, you won't have to do anything for the rest of your life." He started paying attention to the road, although his words were being carefully said, "You're going to be my wife and that means we will share everything, which means my money is your money-"

"I know you'd say that. But I'd bore myself to death if I didn't do anything for the rest of my life." It was true. She was sick and tired of not doing anything in those months and just the thought of not doing anything for the rest of her life… "Besides, I wouldn't feel that good in spending your money-"

"Our money." Jake corrected her.

Kimberly pretended she hadn't heard him, "…just like that! It doesn't seem fair!" Then, a thought occurred in her head, "Oh, I get it! You want me to be at home, without working, to take care of the baby, while you go to work or go do something else! That is so not fair!"

"You know, you just seemed like one of those… girls… I… had sex with. All whiny about everything." It was the first time Jake hadn't called them sluts or whores, or hadn't said he had fucked them. "Of course I'm not saying I want you to be at home just to take care of the baby while I'm doing god knows what. I'm not like that and you know it."

"Yeah, sorry…" What a stupid thing to say. Kimberly regretted it right away.

"I know what you could do."

"Oh really? What?" Kimberly looked at him, her eyes glowing with hope. "Something related to Math?"

"Unfortunately… no. Sorry. I guess you studied Math for god knows how much time for nothing. It has nothing to do with Math."

Great. She had studied all of those months to have good grades only to not use it on her work in the end. "Then what is it?"

"You can be my personal assistant." Finally, after Jake coming back to her, Kimberly thought about Heidi. Oh… how that bitch was going to suffer what Kimberly suffered. "You haven't thought about her since we came back?"

"Actually, no."

"That is something that surprises me." Jake laughed, "You did the opposite with Joanne. The second I said I wanted you; you made me call Joanne and break up everything with her."

"Yeah, well, it was different this time. My mind was filled with ecstatic thoughts of coming back to you. I didn't want to ruin those moments with the thought of her." That was true. Maybe their night would have been different if Kimberly had brought up the Heidi's issue. Thank god she didn't.

"So, what do you think? You could even be my public relations like Sean since you know better than anyone what happened in my life, but I think being my personal assistant suits you, and me, best."

"Oh really?"

"Actually, yes."

"Explain me why, baby."

"If you were my public relations, it would still work, but it wouldn't be good for you. Imagine someone wants to know something about the both of us… no, better. Imagine if someone wanted to know things about the fiancée of the owner of the company. I know you wouldn't like to be there talking about your past or something."

"You're right." Kimberly smiled. Jake knew her better than anyone. Kimberly would hate to talk about her life to someone that was just interested in dirty gossip. Although she was not raised in the same world than Jake, she knew how hard it could be. "And me being your personal assistants would suit you best because…?"

"Because there's no one better than you to take care of my life, me and also help me taking care of the business. After all, that is what a personal assistant does. Besides, you would be at my side every day." That last sentence was said with a smile, which pleased Kimberly. "So, you accept to work with me, Miss Roberts?"

The second Jake treated her like that, Kimberly said, "Oh, now you reminded me! Do you know how much I hated you for calling me Miss Roberts and for making me calling you Mr. Dekker? I so fucking hated it!"

"I did it on purpose, baby. I knew you would hate it. Every time I saw you, I just wanted to make you feel bad for everything."

"You succeeded, you know." Kimberly avoided a possible sideway glance from Jake.

"Yeah I know. I regretted what I did every time you left my office with your heart broken." At least, he was being honest. But it made Kimberly feel good when Jake said he regretted what he did to her.

"Where are we going first? To your house or your mother's?"

"None of those. First we're going to the company."

Kimberly didn't ask why. She knew the reason. Jake was going to the company to face everyone and Heidi. And just like he had done with Joanne, he was going to hurt her badly. Jake was a heartless bastard to everyone, and sometimes even for the ones he loved.

The atmosphere in the car heaved a bit, so Kimberly exchanged the theme of their conversation, "I still haven't forgotten you managed to schedule an exam to know the sex of the baby next week."

"I haven't forgotten about that either, baby. Don't worry."

As Kimberly thought about the exam and the baby, Jake called her to reality, after some time, "Kimmy?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him and noticed his dark eyes were serious.

"When you worked at the strip club, you never really-"

"No, Jake. Never. You should already be sure of that. I only worked there to have money. Otherwise how could I pay for college and the things me and my sister needed? Besides, if I hadn't worked as a stripper, I wouldn't have had money to look for a house and so, I wouldn't have looked for houses, which meant we wouldn't have met, Jake."

"That's true." He seemed thoughtful, "You know, when Ben and Aiden took me to the strip club, I would have never guessed you worked there."

"That's because I warned everyone to pretend they didn't know me." Kimberly laughed as she remembered that night, "You can't possible know how stressed I was for you guys being there. That was the night Aiden found out I was a stripper. Eric got drunk and told Aiden…"

"Yeah, I know." A shadow crossed Jake's face. "You had no idea how much I was hurt for finding out that you were a stripper and that everyone knew, but me." Oh yes, she knew how much it hurt him. It hurt him so much that Jake broke up with her right there and wanted her out of his life.

"I know-"

"No, you don't know, Kimberly." Another red light appeared and Jake stopped. He looked at her, and Kimberly could still see how hurt he was for the lack of trust 

Kimberly had had in him. "I admit, you being a stripper at the same time I was dating you, made me mad, really. My own girlfriend, working as a stripper, showing off her great body, at the same she dated me? It hurt me and I hated you and myself, for letting me fall for you."

"I know, Jake. I meant to tell you, but I just didn't have the courage! I was afraid you would break up with me! And you did!" Kimberly pointed at him, "You said those horrible things to me! If you felt what I felt…" As much as Kimberly didn't like talking about that issue, she knew they would eventually have to talk about it.

"No, Kimberly, I didn't break up with you nor said those horrible things to you because you were a stripper. If that had been just the end of it, I would get mad, really, but I knew I would get back at you. I would understand you had to be a stripper to take care of your life." Jake's eyes were piercing through her, letting out the pain he had felt that night. "But, no. You know damn well that wasn't the end of it."

Kimberly tried to avoid looking at such an angry Jake, but he had locked her eyes. "What really brought up all the shit in me was the fact that everyone around me knew you were a stripper, except me, the one person you loved!"

"They all just knew because Eric knew! Eric told me them all! If it hadn't been for Eric, your mother and Aiden wouldn't have known!" Kimberly attacked, defending herself.

"You're wrong there, Kimberly. My mom would know. I know she would. You know how she is. She wouldn't rest until she had found the stripper. And lucky she, the stripper was the woman both of her sons loved!" Thank god, the light had turned to green, and Jake placed his dark green eyes back on the road. "What also made me angry was the fact that my brother knew, but I didn't! You loved me, not him, still he knew and I didn't!"

There. She knew Jake would eventually get to that point of the story. Come on, she only told Eric because he was the only one who could help her! How could Kimberly ask for help to Jake, when they had argued badly that morning? Besides, Jake lived with her! At that time, she didn't loved him and Jake only cared about sex and hurting women, right? He would only make everything worse! Yeah, maybe he would probably help her, but then he would mock her! He wouldn't love her after finding out she was stripper, thinking she slept with a different guy every fucking night!

"I only told Eric because he could help me! How could I ask you for help when I knew you only cared about sex? Yeah, maybe you would help me at the time, but wait, dating a stripper? Don't you hate all the women you slept with? Why? Because they sleep around too and because they show themselves to everyone! Isn't that almost the same thing as a stripper to you? Maybe you would still want to have sex with me, but I know you wouldn't want me to be your girlfriend!"

"That's not like that-"

"Yes, it is, Jake, and you know it." Kimberly interrupted him, letting out a deep breath when she finished her sentence, "What do you want me to do now? I know I hurt you, but I didn't mean it. I loved you; do you think I wanted to hurt you on purpose? Guess what, you hurt me too!"

Out of a sudden, Jake decided to park the car. Lucky him, they were on a service area because if they weren't, he couldn't park the car since they were on the highway. He got out of the car aggressively and stood in front of the road, looking at nothing.

As for Kimberly, unlike Jake, she got out of the car calmly and walked till Jake. As she put her arms around his waist, she said, "We were fine minutes ago… Look, I'm sorry for-"

"No, Kimmy… I should be the one apologizing." Still, he didn't turn around nor placed his hands over hers, "You're right. I would have helped you, but after finding out you were a stripper… I don't know how things would turn out then…"

"Let it go, Jake. We are together again. Isn't that we both wanted?"

"Yeah, it is." Jake turned around and faced her. "That's what I most wanted in the world."

"Great. Then let go of the past. I know it's hard, but I know you can make it."

He lowered his head and brushed his lips on hers, "I already let go of it, Kimmy, yesterday. When I came after you." A passionate kiss woke up something inside Kimberly. Passion. Love. Desire.

"I love you, Jake."

"I know baby. I love you too." With a smile on their mouths, both Jake and Kimberly headed back to the car. "One more hour, and we'll be at the company." Jake said as he started the car.

Kimberly didn't answer. She didn't want to think about what Jake would do once they got to the company… All she knew was that Heidi was going to pay for her bitchness.

After a long time in the road, they finally arrived at the company. It was now. Jake would face Heidi. Jake would hurt her badly. But this time, unlike Joanne, Kimberly wouldn't feel pity for Heidi. She wanted Heidi to suffer, just like she had made Kimberly suffer with her provocative words.

Still, Kimberly's uncertainty made itself be heard, "You're sure you want to do this right now? I mean, you just came back to me yesterday and it hasn't even passed a day since you proposed to me and-"

"Baby." Jake said when Kimberly reached him, after getting out of his car. He put his hands on her shoulders, "I don't have any doubt. I just want to do this so that I can really rest after being in pain for two fucking months."

"Ok, but…" Not very certain of what Jake would say to Heidi, Kimberly followed him and walked in the huge building. As always, Jenny, the receptionist was working in her place.

"Kimberly!" Jenny called her, "I thought you had quitted the job yesterday! Heidi said you-"

"Where's Heidi?" Jake asked with an aggressive tone. Although Kimberly knew he didn't make that aggressive tone on purpose, she noticed Jenny thought it was because of her.

"I don't know, Mr. Dekker." She lowered her eyes, avoiding Jake's deadly green ones, "She's been wondering around the company all crazy, today… She's been asking about you to everyone, if they saw you and on and on-"

"Call her and say I'll meet her in my office." He interrupted her in a not very nice tone, although Kimberly could see he was trying to control himself. Why the sudden anger for Heidi now?

"Ok, sir." In that same second, Jenny grabbed the phone and dialed some numbers as Jake and Kimberly were ready to go to his office.

"Come on, Kimmy."

Jake turned around and Kimberly did the same thing. She started following him, but god knows why so many people were doing in the hall at that time, making her lose Jake from her line of vision. But then she remembered it was time to go home and the majority was leaving the building to go to their houses.

She stopped in the middle of the huge hall, as she tried to see Jake again. The people were taller than her, which made her task a bit more difficult. She tried to see the 

elevators where Jake would have to be since they were suppose d to go to his office, but she couldn't see a damned thing.

Suddenly, Kimberly felt a hand on her arm, pulling her behind. When she turned around, her eyes sighted Jake. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't see you. Some people got in my way and-"

The words got lost in her lips, as Jake kissed her in front of everybody, without warning her. Out of the blue, the noise around her diminished and she started hearing whispers around her and Jake. He knew this was going to happen, why did he do that?

She felt his hands sliding down her back, pulling her close to him. Then, when he broke the kiss, he whispered in her ear, "I just want everyone to know we're together."

Great, she wanted people to know that too. She wanted the women that worked there to know that Jake was hers and nobody else!

Kimberly was going to answer him, but her smile vanished from her tanned face when everybody heard someone shouting, "JAKE!"

Silence. Everybody, including Kimberly and Jake, looked at the place from where the sound had come. All sighted an angry Heidi, ready to shot someone in the heart if they stepped on her way towards Jake.

Kimberly squeezed Jake's hand, waiting for a squeeze from him, but the only thing she felt, was his fingers caressing her hand. He was calm. Then, Kimberly remembered. Jake had been used to this before he met her. Wasn't he always trading girls whenever he felt like? Kimberly was sure Jake had already done this a lot of times.

"Hello Heidi." He said with his meanly smile. "Jenny told me you were worried about me."

Heidi didn't even seem to have heard him. Her eyes were on Kimberly, ready to kill her. Forgetting all of the people around her, she shouted, "What the fuck are you doing with her? You promised you had nothing with her!"

"My promise was real, Heidi. I just couldn't keep it." Jake placed an arm over Kimberly's shoulders and when he was ready to talk again, he didn't look just at Heidi, "You see, I am incapable of letting go of the woman I love, the mother of my son, my fiancé."

Whispers burst out in every mouth Kimberly could see.

"Mother of his son?"

"Dekker is the father?"

"They're going to marry?"

"Who is she?"

"When did he meet her?"

"I didn't know he was engaged…"

Did Jake know what he was doing? He was literally spitting details of his personal life to people gossip about it for days!

"You incredible son of a bitch!" Heidi pointed at him, her eyes starting to hold on some tears, "I thought you loved me! I thought, I… You said you liked me!" That's what she wanted, but didn't have, on the contrary of Kimberly. Who had the love she wanted from him.

"I liked you for sex, Heidi. Nothing more. Can't you see? You're Kimberly's clone! I chose you because you looked like Kimberly! Otherwise I would never really date you! I just used you for sex! Hell if I ever chose a gold digger to be my real girlfriend!" Yes! Jake also knew, just like Kimberly! Heidi may like him a bit, but all she wanted was his money!

So Jake had chose Heidi on purpose… Because she looked like her.

Heidi was heartbroken. And this time, Kimberly didn't care. She had felt pity for Joanne, but Heidi was way bitchier than Joanne. "You!" This time, the yell was for Kimberly. "This is your entire fault! You come here, claiming it's his son! I bet you just got pregnant of some fucking retard and happened to have sex with Jake after and just couldn't let that chance go pass!"

What the fuck? Was she mentally retarded? "Oh, listen to me, you big-"

"Don't you even dare laying one look on my fiancée!" Jake interrupted her. What? Now she couldn't even defend herself? She could be pregnant, but she was still capable of defending herself!

Heidi seemed to have guessed her thoughts, "Oh, she's so weak that she can't even defend herself! The big boss has to come in her recue!" She yelled at everybody, while laughing.

"No, I am not weak, Heidi, I am perfectly capable of dealing with you! You-"

Once again, Jake interrupted her, "The problem is that my girlfriend is too good to be here losing her time with you. I'm done with you, Heidi. Just get the fuck out of my sight and go away of this company. You're fired."

"You can't! I am your personal assistant! If you fire me I will tell everyone, everything about you!"

"Is this what you do when you have no more things to say in your defense? Blackmail?" Jake's laugh echoed in the huge hall of the company, where everyone stood, watching them. "You know nothing about me. The only thing you know is about the company, and even what you know is nothing important. Do you think I would reveal important things about my life and the company to you? Well, you're dumber than I thought, then."

There he was. That heartless part of him, hurting his target.

"I know-"

"If you knew important things, you would know who Kimberly was the second you saw her for the first time, just like Sean. If you knew more things about the company, you would notice that you know nothing important, except for the dates of my meetings." Jake's cold tone of voice stroke her like a bullet in her heart.

"So I was just a sex toy to you, is that it?" She had stopped crying.

"Yes."

"You'll regret this, Jake. Oh, you will, I'll make sure of it-"

"I think that is enough, don't you think, Heidi?" This time, it wasn't Jake talking. It was Sean, his public relations. "You would do very well, if you left the company now, otherwise I'll have to call the police, saying you are threatening the owner of this company."

"I don't care-"

Sean interrupted her nicely, with his calmly smile and voice, "And if you ever, ever tell anyone things about this company, I'll make sure the company's lawyers sue you."

Heidi was speechless. Kimberly could never guess how dangerous Sean could be. Besides being Jake's public relations, he also knew how to take care of situations, like this one, for example.

With a proud look on her face and anger burning inside her, Heidi said, "You'll regret what you did to me, one day." And then, she left, leaving everyone staring at Jake and Kimberly, waiting for some kind of reaction or words.

The only thing Jake did was to say with his bossy and dangerous tone of voice, "If I ever catch one of the company's workers gossiping about what happened here; I will fire that person, understood?"

"Understood."

"Yes."

"Of course."

"And, if I ever hear one of you talking, commenting, whispering or even muttering something under your breaths about me or my girlfriend, I will make sure you will be fired. Know this, I am not kidding."

Jake heard the same answers and whispers.

Kimberly knew why Jake had said the last part. He knew how Kimberly hated to be a motive of conversations. She hated when people talked about her, about her own life. So, with this rule, Jake was making sure they wouldn't talk about her nor wouldn't look for information about her, making sure her past would not be of their knowledge.

After shooting some dangerous glances, Jake grabbed her hand once again and led her, not to his office, but outside. They were going home, finally.

As they were walking towards Jake's car, Sean was by their side, answering to Jake's questions. "Anything happened while I was out?"

"Well, Heidi was asking about-"

"I know that, Jenny as already told me she kept asking about me to everyone. Other than that?"

"Hum, you have two new meetings next week, one on Monday and one on Thursday-"

"Cancel the meeting on Thursday." Jake interrupted him.

When they reached the car, Sean said, "It is an important meeting, you have to-"

"I can't go. I have a meeting with a doctor because of the baby. Kimberly is going to make an exam." Jake placed his hand over her belly, and with a proud and silly smile, he explain, "We're going to find out the sex of the baby."

"I see." Sean blinked his eye to Kimberly, "Nothing is more important than our children."

"You got that right." Kimberly said, grabbing Jake's hand that still moved over her belly.

"Anything more? I am in a hurry."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Your brother appeared here today, around noon." Eric? What did he want?

Jake heard Kimberly's unspoken question. He shared the same doubt, "What did he want?"

"I don't know." Sean narrowed his eyes, as he locked his eyes in Jake's, "He came here asking about you. When I said you weren't here since yesterday he was ready to leave."

"Nothing more?" Oh, Kimberly knew Jake was curious about his brother coming to the company, looking for him. Maybe Eric just wanted to know what Jake had done after their conversation.

"I asked him what he wanted, so that when you came back I would warn you about his coming, but he just said that he wanted to talk to you, to see if you had answered to his question." What question? Jake hadn't told her anything about a question Eric had done to him.

"When Heidi showed up and asked him if he had seen you, because you were missing since yesterday night, Eric made the happiest smile, but at the same, the saddest and said, 'It seems I have the answer.'. Nothing more."

Both Sean and Kimberly stared at Jake, waiting for some reaction to what Sean had said, but like always, Jake hid what he thought and felt, and said, "Ok. Well, we should go, Kimmy. I'll see you tomorrow, Sean."

When Jake unlocked the car, Kimberly also said, "See you tomorrow too, Sean!"

With a confusing expression, Sean asked, "Didn't you quit yesterday?"

"Yes, but I was offered to a new job I couldn't possible refuse. I am Jake's new personal assistant now!" A huge smile lit up Kimberly's face. Oh, if Heidi had known about this one, she would have been even more angry and furious.

"Oh… Ok, then. I will see you tomorrow and the next days, Kimberly! Goodbye!"

After waving goodbye to Sean, Kimberly got in the car and her smile vanished. "What was the question?" That issue was on her head and Kimberly couldn't stop thinking about what the question was.

"As I told you yesterday," When he started answering, he seemed really tired, "Eric made me see the mistake I was going to commit. To help me seeing that, he also made me this question that he knew I had to answer to myself and not him, in order to know I couldn't possible lose you."

"And the question was…"

"If I still loved you." Kimberly was going to open her mouth to say something, but Jake kept going, "I knew I loved you, Kimmy… But, what you made me… the hate you made me feel for you because of what you did to me, managed to overpower the love I felt for you and… if Eric… hadn't…"

"If Eric hadn't insisted, we would still be apart from each other."

When he started the car, he replied, "Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, Eric made me see I was wrong. If it hadn't been for him, I would still be in my office, putting up with Heidi and you would be in that house, crying because of what I said to you…" Yes, Jake was reaching the point of the conversation she wanted him to reach, "What more do you want me to say? Yes, Eric saved us, so what? He also helped us ruin the relation."

"Still, you should-"

"Again? I said I didn't want to talk about it, Kimberly! I won't thank him! Maybe sometime in the near future, but not now! I can't thank him!" Since she knew he was going to be pissed off about the theme of the conversation, Kimberly placed her hand on his, and stepped back on the conversation.

"Ok, it's your decision. I won't talk about it no more."

When they were almost arriving at Jake's mother's house, Jake seemed to have forgotten their little discussion and said, "When we get inside the house, don't say anything."

"Why not?" What was he planning now?

"Let's pretend we didn't get back at each other when they first look at us. Then, just… show them the ring." When Jake parked the car, Kimberly got out right away and ran to his arms.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Why would I?"

"For bring up Eric's issue-"

"No, I am not, baby. Let's not worry about this right now, ok? Let's just enjoy this moment." With a smile on his lips, Kimberly thought Jake was going to kiss her when his face got near her, but he fooled her well. He placed his arms on her body and lifted her up.

"Oh my god, you're going to make me fall, Jake!"

"No, I'm not, Kimmy. Somehow, I had to let go of the anger I felt for you when you broke up with me so… I let go of the anger, by working out a lot, which means, I 

can easily lift you off and carry you till the house!" In fact, Jake seemed he was doing no effort by carrying her.

"Yeah, but I also gained weight in these past two months!" She wrapped up her arms around his neck, afraid he would really let her fall.

"Baby, you really think you're really fat, don't you? You're almost the same! Your belly is bigger, but that's normal! The only thing that has really changed a bit, it's your legs! Don't worry about it, Kimmy. I still love you. Besides, when you have the baby, you'll be hot again."

"Yeah, yeah… That's what you say… Most of the women who have babies end up fat!" It was true. The average woman who had babies ended up with a lot of weight that she simply couldn't lose. Kimberly was really glad about her baby, although she was too young to have it, but she still couldn't believe she was going to end up fat…

"That's because they really don't try anything to lose the weight they've gained! Look at all of those movie stars who have babies! They're still sexy!"

"But that's because they have money to pay for a personal trainer to make them get back to the perfect shape they had before!"

Suddenly, Jake stopped, and looked at her, rolling hia eyes, "You have the money too."

There he was again, "I wouldn't feel comfortable in-"

"That's what you'll say now, baby. But you'll get used to it." Jake blinked his green eye and placed her on the floor. "I'll make sure you'll get back to your old shape."

When they reached the door, Jake said, "Ok, don't forget your sad look."

"No, I won't, baby." With a smile that had to vanish in the next seconds, Kimberly knocked on the door. She looked behind and saw Jake with no smile in his face at the same time his expression had hardened.

The door was opened and Kimberly saw Alex, the house's butler. "Miss Roberts? Sir?"

"Hello Alex." Jake said with his normal tone of voice: cold as ice. "My mother and Sidney are here?"

"Yes, sir. In fact, they were going to leave right now. Apparently, they were going to take Sidney back to her house in the other city." Alex said as he made his way inside the house, leading Kimberly and Jake to the main living room. "They're here, saying their goodbyes."

As Kimberly walked in the living room, noticing Jake had stayed behind, they all got up, surprised, "Kim!" Sidney said, running in her sister's direction, "I thought you were at home! What are you doing here? Angeline was going to take me to the house now!"

"Yeah, Alex told me." Kimberly answered. Her eyes were on Angeline, but then they passed to Eric. He had a confused expression, a thinking one, and one eyebrow raised showed that. He didn't get up; he stayed there, watching her.

"Kimberly…" It was Angeline's voice, "Hum… I know you might not even know this, but have you seen Jake? I haven't heard of him since the last time we had lunch together and Heidi keeps calling me, asking me where he is. Do you have any idea about where he might be after the huge fight you two had?"

"I… Ah…" She tried not to break, but it was impossible for her to hide her happiness. "He went to look for me, yesterday."

"What?" Kimberly heard two voices: Sidney's and Angeline's.

She was going to continue but, Jake appeared behind her, waving his head, "Damn, baby. You should be making a sad look, not that happy smile!"

"Jake?" Once again, it was Angeline's and Sidney's voice together.

"Yap. It's me. Sorry for making you get worried, mom."

Still, Angeline didn't smile or hugged Jake. "What does this means? I thought Kimberly had come back to her house…"

"And I did."

"… and that you had gone to some other place to think about this week. But when Heidi started calling me about you, I started to get worried! So, this whole time, you were with Kimberly?" Angeline asked, eyeing Kimberly and her older son, very carefully.

"Yes."

"Doing what?" It was his voice, Eric's.

Immediately, Jake gazed at Eric. His green eyes could easily beat the greenish in his brother's eyes. Everything in Jake could easily beat everything in Eric and they both knew it.

Kimberly was going to say something, to ease the atmosphere, but Jake spoke before her, "It doesn't matter what we did." Is voice was cold as ice, but when he looked at Sidney and his mother, he already had a smile and his hand was raising Kimberly's hand, the one with the ring, "What matters now, is what happened after what we did."

The moment Jake showed them the ring; both Sidney and Angeline become ecstatic.

"Oh my god! Are you kidding me?" It was her sister, grabbing her hand, and looking at the ring.

As for Angeline, she started hugging Kimberly and Jake, "I am so happy for you two! I wanted this to happen for so long!"

"Me too!" Sidney supported Angeline, "Oh my god! I still can't believe! Is this for real?" She pointed at the ring and looked at the couple.

As Jake placed his arm over Kimberly's shoulders, he said, "Yes, it is, Sid. You better believe it, because me and your sister…" His green eyes jumped to Kimberly, "We are going to marry."

Suddenly, Eric got up and walked towards Jake and Kimberly. Amazingly, he spoke for the both of them, "I am happy for the two of you. Despite of what… happened… you deserved this. The only thing I have left to say is that I am sorry for making everything take longer to happen and… I hope that one day; you guys can forgive for what I've done. Well…" He took a deep breath and tried to smile, but Kimberly knew how hard it was for Eric to say this, when he still loved her, "I don't want to bother you guys anymore, so I'll just go to my room or something."

Eric looked up at Jake, waiting for him to say something.

Kimberly knew what Eric wanted Jake to say. He wanted Jake to thank him; Eric wanted Jake's forgiveness and wanted Jake to say he could stay there, with them, sharing their happiness, but no.

Jake said nothing.

With his heart broken, Eric lowered his head and walked out of the living room, leaving the four of them, sharing the happiness, while he had to stay out of the circle due to what he had done.

Kimberly said nothing towards Jake's attitude. She wasn't in the right to forgive Eric for Jake, but she knew that at least, he deserved a thank you for what he did, because if it weren't for Eric… Kimberly could still be at home, crying over what once had been and what could have been and thanks to him, it was now.

Quickly forgetting the moment, Kimberly turned at them and saw Angeline asking, "Why don't you stay for dinner?"

Before she could reply, Jake spoke first, once again, "Sorry, mom. Maybe another time. I would like to be alone with Kimberly for now." The way he eyed her with Sidney and Angeline there, made her blush, "Besides, I know Kimberly must be tired of the trip so it's better if we go home."

Go home? Which home?

"Ok, then. I understand."

"What about you, Sid?" Jake asked before she could even think about her sister. "You can come with us or you can stay with my mom, I'm sure she doesn't mind of having you here. In fact, she loves your company."

"I know. Angeline has invited me to stay here more time, even not knowing you two had come back. I said yes, of course, but I'd spend that time here, later. Anyways, I know I would only disturb you guys, so I think I'll spend that time here, now." Her perverted smile made Kimberly blush once again.

"You would never bother us, Sid." Kimberly said, hugging her sister. When they broke the hug, she said, "Oh, by the way, Jake and I have decided to sell our old house."

"What?" Sidney's happy expression vanished right away and Kimberly knew why, "Kim, you know I planned on staying in that house because of the college!"

"Well… you can stay on that house or you can choose on staying on the other house." Kimberly said. She saw her sister getting confused.

"What other house?"

"The one where we used to live all together." The house that made her and Jake know each other and fall for each other. If it hadn't been for that house, Kimberly probably would have never met Jake.

"You mean… that house?"

"Yap."

Suddenly, Sidney started talking too fast, as she smiled and laughed of happiness. The only things Kimberly understood were, "Yes! I loved that house better than the other we lived!"

And then, it was time for Angeline to exchange her expression with a confused one, "I thought you had sold the house, Jake!"

"Yeah, I didn't."

"Why not?"

Because he simply couldn't get rid of the house where he had met her and had shared all of those bad and good moments with her. Even though the last memory they both had in the house, wasn't that good, Jake simply couldn't sell it, because of the meaning it had for him. It could be just a house, but both Jake and Kimberly knew that if it hadn't been for the house, they would have never met each other.

Still, Jake didn't give his mother the true answer, "I couldn't find anyone that wanted to buy it."

"Then why did you say you had sold it?"

"Maybe I thought you had asked some other thing." Jake said, like if he had really answered wrong. No one could read him.

"Hum… Ok." Kimberly knew Angeline hadn't believed in his answer. "Oh well, go off then. I expect you two here tomorrow, so we can have lunch together."

"Sure." Kimberly said to her future mother-in-law. Mother-in-law… Wow. She looked at Sidney, "Well, we will have to see if you got in the college you wanted, this week, ok?"

"No problem, Kim. We'll see that tomorrow."

"Well, we should go." Jake said.

"Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow." Kimberly hugged Angeline and Sidney. Jake did the same to Angeline, but elbowed Sidney.

"You're going to have a hot brother-in-law, hum?" He winked his eye and made Sidney burst out laughing once again.

"Oh, shut up, Jake." This time it was Kimberly the one elbowing. "Let's go." She grabbed his arm and pushed him.

"Bye!" They both said, and then they walked out of the house.

"So, we're going home, hum? I didn't know we already had a home." Kimberly said when she got in the car. She knew she'd go to Jake's house, but calling it home… was a long way to go, yet.

When Jake did the same, he replied, "My house, remember?"

"Yeah." Then, a thought occurred to her, "But… isn't Heidi there? I mean, you were with her…" The thought of living in the same house where that bitch had lived… Yuck.

"Baby, I was never with her and she never lived on my house. She only stayed there when we had sex. Still, I tried not to bring her to my house a lot of times. I didn't want the only place I could be at peace being infested with the smell of a slut." Jake said. After all, that bitch never really lived with him.

"Oh ok. Then…" She placed her hand on his leg, without any second thoughts, "Show me our new home."

Without looking at her, Jake started the car and drove them to his house, or better saying, to his mansion.

Kimberly wasn't amazed when she saw the house for the first time. Actually, it was almost equal to Angeline's. Then again, almost all of the mansions from the rich ones were the same. What mattered to them was to show that the house was big, not pretty. Although in this case, Kimberly believed Jake had just chose this house because he just wanted to get out of his mother's and he really didn't had the time to look for pretty houses. Well, Kimberly would eventually solve the problem. She knew that if she asked him to do something to the house, he would do without questioning her motives.

"This is it." He said when they both walked in the house. Kimberly took her first look into the house and was amazed when she noticed that the house was really well decorated.

Without any smile at all, she asked, "Was it Heidi?"

"Of course not," Jake answered right way, "I hired an interior decorator to do the work for me. If you want, you can change anything. Personally, I think its fine like this, but now, I am not the only living in the house, am I?"

"No, you aren't." She turned around and linked hands with him. "Maybe I'll change a few things, I don't know… I also like the way it is. Anyways, why don't you give me a tour to the house?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

As he led her throughout the entire mansion, Kimberly learned the house had 10 rooms, 2 living rooms, 1 huge saloon to parties, 1 inside pool, 1 huge pool in the huge backyard of the mansion, 1 big kitchen, where Jake had already a chef for cooking, 1 personal gym where he had all type of things to work out and 3 garages, which were already filled with cars, not to mention the little divisions that were spread throughout the house. In two months, Jake already had a mansion equipped for himself.

The tour took more than an hour, because every time Jake showed something to Kimberly, she would say what she liked in that place and sometimes Jake would agree and sometimes, he wouldn't.

Still, Kimberly loved the discussions she had with him about the house. It could be fights, but it was fun to fight over something else other than them and their relation.

The last thing Jake showed to Kimberly was the balcony of their room. Their room was beautiful actually. The interior decorator had done a nice work on the room, which meant it was definitely a woman trying to impress Jake. That was for sure.

Now the balcony…. It was big. It had a table where Jake and Kimberly could be if they wanted to have breakfast outside and one hammock where Kimberly could already picture herself lying there, on a sunny day, resting her body… Oh yes. But the view… Since it was almost 8PM, the sun was going down, and due to that, they had a beautiful view.

"You liked the house?"

"Yes, I loved it, Jake."

"I only have one maid and one chef right now, since it was just me, but we should hire more, since you're here now and also because you're pregnant and you will in no way do something on the house like cleaning the rooms or prepare some meal-"

"Don't exaggerate, Jake. You make me feel like I am someone who needs to depend on another one." Kimberly turned around, to enjoy the sunset.

Jake reached her, and she felt his body touching hers from behind, "You depend on me, Kimmy. You would be miserable if it weren't for me, because you simply can't stop loving me-"

"Look who is talking!" She interrupted him, turning around quickly, only to end up with Jake's head inches apart from her. "You were also miserable when you were without me. Admit Jake, as much as you loved to have sex with those… sluts, you now love the happiness you share and will keep sharing, with me."

Jake laughed and put his arms around Kimberly's waist, "You're getting cheesy, Kimmy. I'll admit that, if you admit you depend on me."

"Hum… Ok. I depend on you."

"Good." He didn't say anything else, which made Kimberly slap his arm.

"You're not going to say anything? You prefer having sex with those sluts other than being happy with me?" Her shocked expression made him laugh again. How she loved that laugh.

"I won't admit anything, because what you said it's a lie. The one thing I will admit is that what I most loved other than having sex with all of those bitches was to have sex and love the most beautiful and hot stripper I have ever seen in my life. That is what makes me happy now, to be happy with my own personal stripper." It was the first time ever that Jake referred to her as a stripper, or even mentioned she was a stripper, even though, he said that with his typical amused smile, provoking her, with that sentence.

She poked his arm, "First you broke up with me because I was a stripper, and now I am-"

"I did not break up with you because you were a stripper." Jake interrupted her, correcting her mistake. Yes, yes, she remembered that. "Yes, now you are my stripper. And the only person, who you are going to strip, is to me, only me and nobody else. Just like the first time you came to me to have sex."

"Oh god, you still remember that…" She lowered her head, running away from his eyes.

"Of course I remember, Kimmy. I would never forget how everything started." He made her lift her head and look into his eyes, "I would never forget when you got drunk right on the first nights you spent at the house and couldn't stop pissing me off. 

Then, all you wanted to stop pissing me off was a goodnight kiss. Even on that night you simply couldn't deny what you were going to feel for me in the future."

"Oh please…" She said with disdain. That had been the night when Peterson had harassed her. Maybe if he hadn't done what he did and Kimberly hadn't drunk all of that vodka, would that helped preventing the relation she and Jake would later develop?

That was a question she would rather let remain answered.

"It's true. You know-"

"Jake." She placed a finger over his mouth, "I don't really give a damn about what happened between us in the past, now. All I want to talk about and focus on is on our future together and our future as parents."

"Parents." He repeated like if it was the first time he had really thought about it.

"Oh yeah." Kimberly hugged him, "We're going to be parents. And now I don't have to think about how it would work between us if we weren't together… I love you, Jake. I am so happy now… I know I am young to say this, but I am so happy for this baby… It's ours, Jake. We're going to start a family."

She felt his lips glued on her forehead. "I know, baby. That's what I most want now. Our own family."

Their own family.

Kimberly kissed him with all of the love she felt for him.

That was what she wanted now: his kisses, his touches, his caresses. Kimberly wanted his love. She wanted everything from him; she wanted all of his love, all of his attention focused on her. She wanted to melt in his love…

But, the most important of all, she wanted that feeling they both felt now, lasted forever, and that feeling was what linked them and made them look into the future with nothing but good thoughts and hopes: their love for each other.

Finally, after everything that happened between them, since they met each other, they were happy, they were together and they truly loved each other. They were going to marry and they were going to have a baby.

Kimberly could have never asked for anything better, other than what she already had in that very moment: a future with Jake.

Fim.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: DONE!

If you guys are wondering, Fim, means the same as the end, only that it is in Portuguese.

Anyway, done, guys. At the beginning, I admit, I thought I wouldn't finish this story, but… damn. It was one hell of a story that I simply couldn't stop writing and had to finish to let myself see the end of this story.

It was one heck of an adventure; I had never written such a story nor had tried to. This story… it was hard, it was a type of story I was not planning on writing, and I am not talking about the romance, because almost all of us, plan on writing that, it's the essence of a story. I am talking about the twists, the drama and some other things, like sex… I must admit that, there were times where I thought I was just adding too much problems, too much dramas, too much characters, but in the end… I think it all turned out good, nit perfect (I wish), I have a long way to go, yet. And I'm talking about learning some more of English, too, because I am not as good as I want to be.

But of course, I wouldn't have arrived to the end if it hadn't been for your guys. You all boost up my inspiration :) You guys are my muse :) Every bit of you guys, make my muse :)

Well, I don't want to be too cheesy. It's not like I'm going to stop writing or something ;) And that leads me to… THE SEQUEL!

Yes, guys, to the ones who are interested and already know, the sequel's title is AGAINST THE WORLD and will feature new characters, and the old ones, like Kimberly, Jake, Eric, Angeline and Sidney.

If I can, I'll update tomorrow, at the same time than I updated SUL today. If not, I'll be here, for sure, on Thursday, to publish it. But, I will try my hard to be here tomorrow and publish the sequel :)

Well, I'm not going to say nothing more. I just hope you all enjoyed reading SUL and this last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it and reading it, too. I also hope, you guys will enjoy the sequel as much as you enjoyed SUL :)

Thank you for all your support guys ;) You all made me get here and finish this. Thank you!

12'06'2008

EDIT

So, I have decided to not continue with the sequel (it only had seven chapters, though). Why? Because right now, I don't have the patience, time and inspiration to deal with these characters that mean the world to me. I'm sorry if you finally reached the end of the story, thinking there was going to be a sequel to read after, but no, you face this message. I'm not saying I'll never write a sequel for this story. Oh, I will, believe me. I won't leave these characters alone, you can bet on it. But, I just can't write about them, right now. I hope you understand.

Thoughtfully, Nereids.

/EDIT