The final showdown

Sharon's eyes sprung open. She was sure she heard a crash. She vaguely remembered that nobody was in the house. She was alone. Well, not really alone. She thought with a small smile while stroking her belly. She slid her legs out of bed to go check what had made such a crash. Probably Iago had tumbled into something. He began barking.

"It's okay baby, I'm almost there" she yelled. Iago wouldn't keep quiet. He barked again and skidded across the floor until he slid and bumped into her feet. As she was about the bend over and pick him up, she heard the click of a revolver. She looked up slowly until she was facing her gun person. Sharon lifted up both hands in surrender and felt tears slide down her cheeks. Iago growled at their attacker and Sharon shushed him. She looked back up at her doom. He was blond with green eyes and had a huge scar across his face. He was very muscular,she could tell even if he was wearing black. She wondered why he didn't come with mask. Realization struck her. He was going to kill her. She thought of Ty and then of their baby. She couldn't die now, she hoped she could calm him down first. She glanced at the table right beside her and spotted a big, ridiculously ornate vase.Her lips felt dry but she spoke quietly.

"What do you want?" He kept quiet and walked towards her and slapped her across her cheek. Hard. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. She stumbled to her feet again. Just then, he lifted his foot and kicked her in her stomach. Where the baby was. She flipped and fell on her back. Her mouth oozed something but she couldn't taste it. She felt white hot pain sear through her head as he grasped the back of her head and dragged her to the sitting room.

Iago jumped on the man's back and with some difficulty, he managed to distangle himself. Iago ran to the kitchen and jumped out the window and began to run. He shook off his collar and ran past the police station. There was a rising case of rabid dogs and animals without collars would be sent to the pound. The police man rolled his eyes and chased after the dog. Iago turned around and ran back to the mansion and jumped through the doggy door. Just then, Policeman Andrews heard a gunshot. He pulled out his radio and called for backup. Then, he tried to jump over the fence.

Sharon looked up at the king sized chair and wasn't shocked to see Corrine's mother. Her foster mom. She'd definitely aged over the years. There were more wrinkles on her face and her eyes seemed black with malice. She looked up at her and the old woman glared down and she spoke with a calm voice.

"Give me the gun Barry"

"Yes ma'am" he dutifully handed her the gun and walked into the kitchen. Sharon didn't have much time.

"Take a seat"

Despite her pain, Sharon giggled. Some intruder was offering her a seat in her own house. She got up slowly, winced and sat down beside Olivia. Olivia sighed greatly pointed the gun at Sharon's stomach. Sharon acted fast and jerked the gun from the old woman without much fuss. She didn't know how to use a gun and was staring at it stupidly. Olivia sprang up and turned Sharon to face her. Barry appeared from behind them and fired his own gun. He mistakenly shot Olivia and the bullet passed through Olivia's stomach and hit Sharon's. Ty pushed the door opened and froze.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Sharon vaguely heard a beeping sound and felt horrible. The last time she heard a beeping sound, she'd lost her baby. Oh no! Her baby. She tried to touch her stomach but her arm felt heavy and it couldn't move. The first tear fell when she remembered that she had been shot and she knew exactly where the bullet had hit. She instantly stopped crying though when she felt pain rush through her head. She leaned back heavily in her hospital bed and closed her eyes, imagining what her baby would've looked like. Then she slipped out of consciousness.

Ty was going crazy. He couldn't lose another baby. The doctors had to give him some sedatives because he was actually having a panic attack. He was blabbing like a hysterical moron and he even knocked down two of the doctors to get to Sharon's hospital room. Then he heard the doctors yelling "Code Blue" while running to Sharon's ward. His head plummeted to his throat and he followed them. Sharon's heart monitor had just started making an annoying, persistent long beeping sound. He knew enough about heart monitors from being with his brother in the hospital. She was dead or dying. He pushed the head doctor aside and pushed down on Sharon's chest repeatedly, doing his best to perform CPR.

"Come on Sharon, you can't leave me. Fight it do it for me, for the baby. We love you so much" Ty didn't realize he was crying. The doctors pulled him away. He fought them but then gave up and slumped to the ground with his head in his hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Just then, one nurse gasped dramatically.

"She's alive" She screamed. The head doctor jumped up. "Check her vitals" he ran all around the room. Ty slowly got up and held her cold hand.

"She's pregnant. Well, she was shot in her stomach. Is she still pregnant?" He asked emotionlessly.

" Oh..what?" Asked the nurse who was bubbling with excitement. He repeated his question miserably. " Why...of course she is. It's quite a miracle sir. The bullet hit right above where the baby was. No major organs were hit. "

Many, many hours later, Sharon opened her eyes tiredly and was surprised to see Ty 's green ones staring back.

He stood there. Shocked. Like an idiot. Finally she was awake. He lifted his hand to brush her hair out of her face but paused because he was scared to hurt her. She smiled and closed her eyes and fell asleep again. The days dragged on slowly and miserably until the day that Ty could finally her could take her home. Veronika had prepared the entire house and all the servants. They waited at the gate for Sharon. As soon as Ty lifted her out of the car, Veronika rushed to her and hugged her. Sharon winced and Veronika pulled back, blushing slightly. After all the congratulations and other compliments, Sharon finally went in the house and raced the room. Iago had made himself comfortable on the bed and jumped down as soon as he saw her. He wagged his tail enthusiastically as she got on the bed.

Sharon eagerly climbed into the bed and lay back, stroking her belly. She thought again of how the baby would look. Perhaps it would be a girl. She didn't care much for gender but she would be quite happy if her baby was a girl. Her daughter would have Ty's lovely green eyes and maybe her brown hair. Would her child be short or tall? Slim or fat? The possibilities were endless. With her mind on this thoughts, she drifted off to sleep with Iago dosing on her pillow.

The days passed by quickly and Sharon got rounder, and rounder with pregnancy. Ty found her more and more difficult to deal with. One moment she wanted a kiss, the next she would slap him for capitalizing on her vulnerability. Her cravings were the worst. They ranged from disgusting to hopelessly outrageous. She wanted to eat anything and everything. Onions with whipped cream or sushi mixed in tea. Ty spent sleepless nights cuddling with her, trying to get her to go to sleep. They rarely talked of the baby even though when she was sleeping, he put his hand on her belly and felt the baby shift a bit. Her birthday was coming up and he wanted to surprise her. Quickly, he picked up his phone and placed a call.

He woke Sharon bright and early the next morning for her checkup. Sharon grumbled profusely and struggled to take a shower, refusing to let Ty help her. They got in the car and drove off. Sharon hated the hospital but was ashamed to say so. She'd rather hold Ty's hand when she entered but she was scared he'd laugh at her and tell her to be a woman. Trembling, she stood at the entrance, troubled by memories of her childhood. Ty sensed her preoccupation. He did the only thing he could, Ty grabbed her hand and literally pulled her behind him. Content, she followed.

After her checkup, she noticed he wasn't taking the road back to the mansion. She felt the baby move vigorously and she put a comforting hand on her belly and patted it.

"Where are we going?" She asked hesitantly

Ty turned to her with a look of disbelief.

"Sharon"

He looked concerned. She looked down at herself to see if anything was the matter. Confused she looked up at him. "What?"

"Today is your birthday" he said. Slowly spacing out the words as if she were a toddler that couldn't understand a word he said.

She sat back in her seat and giggled, looking at the dried leaves on the car road. Fall was a nice enough season. She suddenly felt the urge to jump into the leaf pile. When she looked ahead of them, she finally saw where they were going. Tears welled up in her eyes and she choked back a sob.

"A fair? You're taking me to a fair?" She asked incredulously. She'd never been to one. Anytime Olivia carried Corrine, they'd make her wait in the car. She'd sit there for hours imagining what they were doing. She remembered the heat in the car and how Corrine would be smiling when she got back. Corrine wouldn't even share a candy stick with her. She'd watch Corrine eat every single bit and She'd watch quietly. She'd never seen what it was like in a real fair. She'd only ever seen it in movies. She nervously climbed out of the car and glanced at Ty. He was fumbling with the car keys. He looked so adorable.

"Should I wait here?" She murmured. He looked at her like she was a fool for the second time that day.

"Of course not. I brought you here." He thought for a while. " Don't you like it here? We could go somewhere else. "

" How'd you know I'd like it here? " She asked .

" You murmured something about wanting to visit the fair in your sleep. So I brought you here. " He shrugged and pulled her inside.

She gasped and sighed softly. It was beautiful. She couldn't decide what she wanted to do. The baby moved in her belly and she decided to do something that wouldn't shake the baby up too much. She'd really wanted to ride something violent but she was expecting. For the first time, she wished that the baby had waited a bit.

Ty walked quietly behind her as she figured out what she wanted to do.

"The carousel!" she screamed. "I wanna ride it" she said jumping up and down. She looked like a child. Ty sighed softly and took her to ride it. After 10 rounds of riding the carousel, he determined that she would be tired but she kept riding all kinds of rides. Some of them looked dangerous but before he could stop her, she had jumped on. He couldn't stop staring at her. She was beautiful. Finally, she got dizzy and decided to try a shooting game and get a prize. She wasn't a sharpshooter and kept missing the last target. Ty jerked the gun from her and expertly hit all the targets. He won her a big stuffed caterpillar. It was horribly heavy and Ty had to lift it in put in the the car. He regretted that he had felt the need to give her what she wanted. Sharon didn't help with anything, she just kept smiling like an idiot.

It was getting late. Sharon had gone somewhere to ride something. Again. Ty stared at the setting sun and then he saw Sharon. She was running towards him with two sticks of cotton candy in her hands. Smiling, she pushed one into his hand. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He caressed her face and bent over to kiss her.

Sharon felt the baby somersault in her belly and she trembled slightly when she felt Ty's tongue slide over hers. He pulled away and smiled at her.

"Let's go home baby"

She reluctantly climbed into the car and blabbed about the fun she had until they reached home. She'd bought toys for Iago and a gift box for Veronika. After giving them their gifts that they accepted gratefully, she dropped on the bed and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Fall passed by quickly and the slowly emerged into winter. Sharon and her belly grew quickly until she could barely get out of bed. One day, Veronika decided to visit her friend and despite Ty's warning about a snow storm coming up, she left. Sharon was playing with Iago when she felt a sharp pain stab her in the back. She ignored it but it kept coming. Stronger and stronger. Her vision blurred and she sat down heavily on the ground. Iago, thinking that they were still playing, barked and licked her face. She pushed him away and sighed softly pressing a hand to her back. She got up slowly and fell down again crying out. She gritted her teeth against the sudden onslaught of pain. Tears stung her eyes and she took a deep breath.

Iago had grown quite a bit and was very huge. He ran downstairs and rudely woke Ty from his slumber in his office. Ty was sleeping down there because Sharon had insisted that she wanted time alone to play with Iago. He frowned at the dog sleepily.

"She threw you out too?" He murmured. Iago barked at him and looked at the door. Ty ignored the dog and closed his eyes. Then he heard Sharon scream. His eyes shot open and he ran upstairs to their room.

Ty rushed upstairs almost tripping over Iago. He pushed open the room door and saw Sharon slumped on the ground bleeding profusely on the white carpet. He remembered how he paid $500,000 dollars for that carpet in Italy. He wisely refrained from making an insensitive comment and walked to her. She looked pale. Her amber eyes were huge in her thin face

"Call the doctor" she said through dry lips. He nodded and dashed downstairs almost tripping over Iago again. He cursed the dog and ran towards the phone. He hurriedly placed the call and waited. There was a long, dull ring and the line clicked. Assuming something was wrong with the house phone, he ran to his study and picked up his iPhone and placed a call. Same result. He looked out of the window and let out a stream of slow, steady insults. He finally knew what was wrong. There was a goddamn snow storm. All the lines were cut. He opened the door. Shivering, he stepped outside. He instantly sunk down into the snow until he was hip deep. Giving up any hope of taking Sharon to the hospital, he got back into the house. As soon as he closed the door, she heard Sharon's moan of pain.

He ran through the house and lit fires in every single fireplace. The mansion might be too cold for the newborn especially since it was winter. He ran upstairs and lit a huge fire in their room. He turned around and looked at Sharon. She had paled more considerably and she was almost the same color as the rug. He tried lifting her to put her on the bed but she shook her head.

"The lines are cut" he said quietly.

She looked at him and tried to smile " Take me to the hospital then"

He shook his head " I can't, there's a snowstorm"

She winced and put and hand on her stomach. "The baby can't wait"

He squatted down in front of her. "Don't worry baby. I... I have to sterilize stuff and... Get you in... into bed and... and... " he knew he was babbling but he couldn't stop. He was so scared that he'd loose them both .

He went downstairs and shouted orders to the maids. Scared, they did all that he asked. In a matter of minutes, there was a warm blanket on the bed, a tub of hot water to bathe the baby in, a crib Sharon hadn't known that he'd bought and shiny medical equipment. Sharon was changed into a soft cotton dress.

Ty lifted her up and instantly regretted lighting all those fires. Her body was so hot, he thought he might get burnt if he held her any longer. Ty laid her down gently on the bed and spread her legs. He bent over her and checked the baby's progress. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, she walked up to the head of the bed and smoothed Sharon's hair back. Determined to distract her, he asked " How far apart are the contractions?"

She took a deep breath." T...two minutes. The baby can't wait". After a while, she gasped " I... I wanna push"

Ty bent over her again to check her progress.He shook his head " I'm not seeing a head. You might hurt yourself"

Stubbornly she repeated "i have to"

He frowned and knelt down before her open legs. " Fine, push on three. One. Two... " he looked up at her. Her eyes were closed and her lips were parted slightly. Beads of sweat slid over her body. She trembled slightly. Ty took a deep breath " Three"

Sharon fought with the painful bands tightening around her belly. She pushed and she thought she would pass out. She'd never experienced this kind of pain. She felt a burning sensation down there and she knew the baby was crowning.

"Come on Sharon, I have the head. Your baby's beautiful. Let's see the rest of it" Ty noticed that his voice was trembling but he didn't care .

Reassured by his words, she closed her eyes and pushed harder until she heard a sharp cry pierce the quiet air.

Ty hands trembled as he felt the slight weight in his hands. The tiny bloody bundle of flesh screamed in his hands. His son was beautiful in every way. And very loud. The baby was quite big for a newborn but then he remembered how much Sharon ate during her pregnancy. He stared into the baby's green eyes and felt a surge of love. He moved quickly, taking mucus out of the baby's ears, nose and mouth. He bathed the baby with a mild soap and wrapped him in a soft, blue cotton and silk blanket. The baby quieted down and fell asleep. Ty laid him gently in the crib and he heard Sharon gasp. He turned around quickly. She was much more paler and he was sure he could see right through her. She stiffened on the bed and he knew they had a big problem.

"Oh no" Sharon whispered.