"If you're sure?" Benjamin nodded firmly and her father took the key and patted his arm. "I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered, leaning into her ear and kissing her temple. "Okay, momma, time for bed," Benjamin commented and she looked at her boys. "They're safe here. You need rest so you can cope with the upcoming days." "I know… just... it's just… I don't want them to be alone." Benjamin cut her off and knelt down in front of her. "My mom is on her way back now to stay with them for the night and I'll have my pager. If we're needed, the boys' nurse will page me." Pandora frowned, unsure of why he thought that would calm her down. "I'm spending the night here at the hospital with you if that's okay?" "I would really like that, are you allowed to stay?" "Yes, of course. I may not be your doctor anymore, but I would like to keep a close eye on you, and be here for the boys." Pandora leaned into Benjamin and wrapped her arms around him "Thank you," she whispered, knowing that he
She then slowly opened them. Feeling the need to use the restroom first, she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She took care of her needs as her mind did a fast rerun of what happened yesterday. She washed her hands, feeling weird—not only was she a mom, but she was also a wife. "Did yesterday really happen?" she asked him when she walked back to the bed. "If you're talking about delivering the twins in a car, and finding out that you're married to a great doctor who's also a handsome guy, then yes," Benjamin replied lightly as he handed her the breast pump. "Oh, that's right, where is my handsome husband and great doctor at anyway?" Pandora retorted as she looked around the room. "Hey, wife, I'm your great doctor and handsome husband. You must obey and respect me." She raised her eyebrow at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Fine; you found out you were married to a geek," he muttered, making her laugh. "A handsome geek," she added as she hooked up the breast pump. "I knew
Pandora looked away from Lana to Benjamin. She didn't remember hearing about a sister. "She was stillborn," Lana clarified, making her gasp. "I'm sorry," she said quickly and she gave Pandora a gentle smile. "When Ben was in here, I couldn't handle it to say that he forgot to breathe ten times a day, so I started calling it blips." Pandora nodded at her in understanding. "It does sound much better, just this is all new, I feel..." "Clueless? Like you're being judged for not knowing the right way to do things, or what to do?" Pandora nodded again because that was exactly how she was feeling. "I felt like that, too. I know it seems overwhelming, and that there is so much to learn with the boys being in the NICU. But, Pandora, I have faith that you can and will learn and be fine," Lana kissed her head before standing up. "I think I'll leave you two with your boys. I need coffee– do either of you need anything?" Pandora shook her head and Lana smiled again before turning and walking
FLASHBACK:“Benjamin, Mom knows something is up. You will have to tell her,” Alexis told Benjamin. "No, I don't. I am going to get an annulment; therefore, there's no need to tell her anything," he replied, checking his mirrors as he drove. "Then why are you still wearing the ring?" Benjamin glanced at her hand, still unsure why he couldn't take it off. "I'll remove it later." "Benjamin, she could be your one." He shook his head at her. "If she were, then I wouldn't have grown attached to another girl." Alexis looked at him and then frowned. "Benjamin, she's a patient, and she's married." "She's divorced," he gritted out. "Some divorced people get remarried again, she may still love him. The babies could bring them back together." "He doesn't care about her or them. Besides, she said they weren't his," he stated. Alexis just shook her head. "You're seeing this only from the way you want to see it. What about the father of the babies? I'm just asking that you look at the whol
"Have you heard of a spray tan and hair dye? I mean… this girl’s name was DORA?" Emily asked and he glared at her but she just glared back at him. "But she would remember me, wouldn't she? She would know I like her?" Emily snorted. "Pandora is very smart, but she's quite obtuse when it comes to certain things. There were at least six guys who made it painfully obvious they liked her back in high school, and she never picked up on it. They gave her flowers, candy, and cards, but she never got the hint." He chuckled as he looked at Emily. "Then why did she think they were giving the things to her?" "To say thank you because she was always helping everyone." "She still helps everyone." He smiled, shaking his head at Emily. "Just tell her your story about being married and she will then, in turn, tell you her story. Who knows; it may just match up?" He patted Emily's arm as she stood up. "Don't give my mind any false hope." He walked out of the room and headed back down to look af
The light from the window brought her out of her dream. She stretched and then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Morning, sweetheart," Benjamin mumbled. "Morning," she replied as she moved her head off of his arm. Benjamin started to run his hand through his hair. As she watched him, she could see his mind was going a mile a minute. "Has something happened?" she prompted, and his head snapped quickly around so that he was looking at her. "What? No," he responded quickly, but his eyes were filled with guilt. "Then what is it?" she questioned even softer. "You are going to be discharged today," Benjamin informed, closing his eyes at the same time. "But the boys are... They have to stay—" she stuttered, cutting herself off. She should have realized that she would be getting sent home before them. "Love, I don't want to leave without them either, but we need to." Benjamin stopped and swallowed. "My dad has a big office here, and we can sleep in that maybe one or two nights, but we c
"It was so hard to cope with everything on my own. I was keeping our home clean, building on it, working full-time, and cooking. I think if I'd been truthful with myself, I would have realized I felt stuck because I didn't want to admit I was wrong. I didn't want to admit that I deserved better." "You do know now that you deserve better—so much better?" Benjamin whispered to her, but she got so caught up in his eyes that she didn't answer."Breakfast for two," someone said and she looked at the door to see Peter standing there, with an 'oh shit face'. "Thanks, Dad," Benjamin commented as he cleared his throat. He moved out of the bed as Peter walked into the room. "Well, I am going to sit with your mother and spend some time with my grandsons before I need to start work." Peter moved his eyes to Pandora. Then he proceeded to tell her how every one of their friends and family members was going to take turns watching the boys. In the end, Peter raised an eyebrow almost as if he was a
"Hey, sweetheart," her dad said as he walked in with Nina."Hi, Daddy," she said hugging him. "I am going to express some milk." She turned, giving Nina a look to ask if she would like to come with her. Nina nodded, picking up on her unspoken question. "Would you stay with my dad?" she asked Benjamin. "I would love to, sweetheart." Nina linked her arm with Pandora’s, and they walked to Peter's office, where her things were for the time being. "How has my dad been?" she asked once they were settled. "Pandora?" she tutted and she roll her eyes. "Has he been okay?" she repeated. "He's been upset, and I have locked up all of his guns. Milton has talked to the other officers at the station; we are on it." Pandora let out a breath, feeling relieved that they seemed to have a plan in place to stop her father from killing Derrik. "But Derrik's due some bad Karma, and by God, do I want a front-row seat to see it." "Bad Karma… he needs more than that," Pandora snarled. "What's going o
"Looks like you are going to have a baby," Emily said, showing her the test. "Or maybe two. Knowing you and Benjamin, it will be twins again," she laughed. "Hush," Pandora gritted out and glared at her. "Hey, you never know, it could be three this time," she smiled. Pandora snorted and slapped her arm. "No, thank you! Now, not a word about this to him. I want to surprise him!" Emily nodded. "Just glad I know someone that's having a baby who will be around this one's age," Emily rubbed her tummy as she spoke. "Maybe you'll have a boy and I'll have a girl and they'll get married," Pandora joked. Emily’s eyes lit up and Pandora knew her joke backfired when she got a big smile on her face. "That would be so awesome," she said. Pandora heard Benjamin yell her name and Emily winked at Pandora. "I better get back to work. Text me when you tell him!" "I will," Pandora replied and she opened the door and ducked out. "Give me three minutes, and then you'll be free to get out of here wi
"It was just some homeless man. I really don't know why they even followed up on it. But I was blamed, and then put in jail. JAIL! When I got out, I was a laughingstock. No one wanted to know me. No one, not even the people I had made great. They all left me to rot. My daddy left with all the money he had and started over in another country. I had nothing. I have nothing and it's all your fault." At that point, she stood and charged at Pandora again, but Pandora easily deflected her arms, grabbed her, and held her down as Raegan hissed and growled at Pandora. "Oh shit!" she heard Milton say and he moved quickly to her, restraining Raegan. "I told you to stay away from this place," he said. "This is all your fault. You and that bitch took my life. I was meant to be Mrs. Parks—it was my life!" she yelled and Milton sighed. "Handcuff her. We have to drop her off at the hospital again," he sighed to the female officer as Pandora watched her place handcuffs on Raegan. Pandora stood, a
Their imperfections, and the fact that they didn't want to be perfect, or have a perfect marriage made them able to cope when one of them made a mistake. Thankfully, Pandora was very kind, and since it was Benjamin that normally screwed up, that made him lucky. Benjamin glanced at Pandora who was hugging his mother, and he noticed she had a warm glow around her. He had always seen it, but it had become more evident to him since they renewed their wedding vows. Benjamin wanted—needed—to marry her again, not because they were both drunk the first time, but because he needed her to know that he meant it all and that he wanted her to be his wife. Pandora looked stunning in the wedding dress that Maisey had made her, but he thought she could have worn a trash bag and still shone like a star. She was so happy and cheerful that he made it his vow to make her that happy at least once a day. He hated to let her dance with anyone else at their reception, but it did give her a chance to hold
"Where are we going tomorrow?" Jack asked. "The zoo," Amy answered with a roll of her eyes. "We can't all be great at remembering stuff," he replied, making the rest of them roll their eyes at him. "It's on the family schedule on the fridge... Oh wait, that's right, you don't look at that because then you would need to do your homework," Beth was quick to point out. "You're just jealous that I can do it in five minutes flat and still pass," Jack boasted. "That's not always going to work, and you will no longer be doing the work moments before it's due to be turned in; do you understand me?" Pandora asked him. "But, is it more important to get it done right or promptly?" he asked, making Benjamin stifle the chuckle that was starting to bubble up, knowing he just stepped into it. "No, mister smarty pants, and you'd be wise to use those smarts to mind what you argue. Getting your work done promptly and done correctly are both important and if you keep doing it at the last minute,
"They must have been naughty, they're back to being just mine," he said with a chuckle, knowing full well that they had been fighting all day. He gave her one last kiss before walking away. "Okay, Amy, you're up first," he said, pointing in front of him as he sat down. He took them one at a time, listening to what they each had to say. As it turned out, this was just a fight about whose turn it was to pick something to watch on the television. So as a punishment, he removed their TV time for the rest of the day and the next. "I can't believe I am going to miss watching golf!" Jack tutted. "What am I going to do now?" "You could read, like Amy," Beth told him with a touch of attitude. "I am not reading one of her silly books!" he bit back. "They were Mom's books," Micheal reminded him. "And Dad said he read them, too." "Yeah, I guess, but what about tomorrow? No TV tomorrow and I planned to watch the tournament. I wish school started already." "Jack, we have plans for tomorrow–
Benjamin took his time looking at the screen. He looked over all the measurements and made sure the spine was straight. Next, he paid close attention to the beating heart and found that it, as well as the other organs, were seemingly perfect. He let out a soft breath when everything looked good, and looked up with a smile. "Mackenna," he said softly as she had her eyes tightly closed. "Come on, open your eyes and look up here at the monitor. She's fine– everything looks great," Benjamin whispered. Mackenna had four miscarriages in the past ten years, and where Benjamin couldn't prove that they were caused by the mistreatment that she received at the hands of Derrik, he stood firm in his belief that the drugs he had given her had some long-lasting effects. About eight years ago, Pandora and she ran into each other while out around town. They got talking and Mackenna accompanied Pandora to the tattoo store Benjamin frequented. The couple had planned on getting matching tattoos on the
“On the twelve counts of Identity Theft Fraud, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the four counts of Attempted Murder, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.”“On the three charges of Breaking and Entering, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the five counts of Mortgage Fraud, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” “On the six counts of Aggravated Assault, we, the jury, find the accused, Derrik Preston, guilty on all counts.” The reading went on, covering all the different charges. Meanwhile, Miriam was wailing. Pandora closed her eyes, feeling a sense of relief, as each charge came back guilty. "Mr. Preston, you have been found guilty by a jury of your peers; you will be remanded in custody and sentenced on Friday at ten a.m.—" "No! No, not my boy! You've made the wrong choice, you stupid people! I'll end you all for doing this to my baby
Benjamin and Pandora arrived just as the court was starting up. First up was Derrik, who sat there for almost three hours, trying to paint himself as the victim. It was hard sitting there listening to him spew out how Pandora was trying hard to ruin him, and she did all that herself to set him up. Miriam was the next to take the stand and she just glared at Pandora as she was sworn in. "I would first like to ask you about your son, who is he?" Derrik's lawyer asked. "Oh, my sweet Derrik is such a good boy. He was a star football player, but she..." Miriam hissed with a nod in Pandora’s direction, "made him give up his dream. She was always bossing him around, telling him what to do, and what to wear. He wasn't allowed friends, and she even tried to stop him from talking to me. But I wouldn't allow that to happen. I would walk through hell for my son." "So, Mrs. Preston, you are saying that Mrs. Parks was controlling your son?" "Oh yes, he wasn't allowed to work because she was af
During her testimony, Pandora learned that she was also known as Brownie. As she continued through the questions she was asked, Pandora had to bite her lip to stop the sobs from coming out. She told the court how she was paid to pretend to be Pandora. It was one thing to hear how she pretended to be her, but then she told the court how Derrik had sex with her several times inside Pandora’s home. She talked about being in Pandora’s bed, and it just about broke her. For the first time since all of it had started, Pandora was grateful that she had sold her home. "We have one more witness, Your Honor," the District Attorney said and with a nod, the Bailiff walked out. "We call Hannah Song to the stand." Pandora looked over to see a girl who looked like a teenager walking in with her head down. She was sworn in but her head remained down. "Can you tell the court your age?" the District Attorney asked. "Nineteen," she answered quietly, so the Bailiff adjusted the microphone in front of