Zach sat on the private plane, he chartered to take him, Ciara and his friends to Vegas where they would be married, thinking about what his future wife had revealed to them before they left Atlanta.
When she said there was one more thing that she needed to tell him before they continued on with his plan, he didn't expect what she told him. They went back out on the balcony.
"Okay," Zachary teased, "lay it on me."
"Emilee isn't my biological daughter," Ciara said deciding to just say what she had to say.
"What?" Zach said his face now sporting a surprised look. "I thought..."
"I lost my baby," Ciara said. "Emilee's mother was Cara, my identical twin and we were both pregnant at the same time." Ciara said continuing on with what she had to say. "Her parents Cara and Thomas, were drug addicts. They both became addicted to crack when they were in high school. My family tried to help Cara beat her addiction and Thomas' family tried to help him beat his addiction by placing them in rehab centers throughout the state of Georgia, even some outside of Georgia. But, Thomas and Cara would always find a way to contact each other, make plans to meet up and leave the centers. They would always steal something from either the center or another patient so that they could buy more drugs to feed their addiction."
"My goodness," Zachary said astonished at what he was hearing.
"Everyone in my family and Thomas' family hoped and prayed that when Cara found out, she was pregnant with Emilee that Cara would stop using because she knew what crack could do to the baby. Thomas' family hoped that if Cara stopped using it because of the baby that he would follow suit. But, that didn't happen."
Zachary's heart grew heavy with sadness and anger as Ciara continued with what she had to say.
"Crack had a hold on my sister that she couldn't shake or beat," Ciara said sadly. "Even knowing that she was pregnant and harming her child couldn't make her stop. My parents threw her out of the house, which didn't make sense because by the time Cara became pregnant she was living out of on the street most of the time, she rarely stayed at home. She said the disappointment, shame and hurt, she saw in my parents' eyes, whenever they looked at her was too much for her to bear."
Zachary watched Ciara as she stood up and began pacing as she continued her story.
"My family lost track of Cara during her pregnancy," Ciara said. "No one knew where she was for almost the full nine months until she showed on my doorsteps in labor. I had just gotten in from work and was about to slip a frozen dinner into the microwave when Cara banged on my door screaming that she needed me. My mother had told me that if she came to me that I should send her away and not have anything to do with her because she made her bed and she should be left to lie in it. That sending her away would force her to see what she was doing and she might wake up and straighten her life out."
Zachary nodded his head up and down understanding what her mother was hoping to accomplish.
"But I couldn't do what my mother said," Ciara replied. "Cara was my other half. Even though she was hitting below the bottom of the barrel, and she was doing it to herself and my little niece, I couldn't turn my back on her. When I opened the door to my apartment the person I saw on the other side was someone I barely recognized. She looked at me, her face wet with sweat, dripping with tears from her eyes, and said she was about to be a mother, collapsed in my arms, gave birth and died."
By this time Ciara's breathing had become labored, but she had some how managed to keep the tears that so desperately wanted to come out of her eyes inside.
Zach stood intending to go over to comfort her.
"Don't," Ciara said. "I promised myself that I would cry for her one time but never again."
Zach moved away from her, sat back down, and Ciara continued telling him how Emilee came to be in her care.
"When Cara collapsed in my arms her body released Emilee on to the floor," she said. "I was so shocked I couldn't believe what I was seeing had just happened. I told myself it wasn't real. That my sister hadn't collapsed on my floor and dropped a baby at my feet. I don't know how long I stood there before the sound of Emilee crying brought me back to my senses, and I realized that I needed to get medical attention for my sister and her baby. I picked up the phone and dialed 911, the paramedics came about five minutes later. When they arrived, I was holding Emilee, who was still attached to her mother, lying dead on the floor. One of the paramedics checked Cara to see if she had a pulse. I knew she was truly dead when he shook his head no to his partner. He then turned his attention to Emilee and went through the process of cutting her umbilical cord. He then reached over to take her away from me, but I couldn't and wouldn't let her go. She was the last connection, I had to my dead sister, and I just couldn't let her go."
"What happened next?" Zach asked when it appeared that Ciara had gotten lost in her thoughts and wouldn't continue.
"The police arrived," Ciara said, "and the paramedic that was trying to take Emilee away from me, walked me down to the ambulance with Emilee still in my arms. I rode to the hospital to get her checked out still holding her in my arms. When we reached the hospital a doctor came in to check Emilee to see if she suffered any health issues from the way my sister gave birth, and I held her in my arms, a nurse came in clean her up and draw blood. She said she needed me to lay Emilee down so she could clean her up and draw blood for some tests. I told her to draw the blood, but I would clean her up. I wasn't going to let my niece out of my sight. I felt that if I let her go I wouldn't ever see her again."
Zachary's heart went out to Ciara as the image she just painted appeared in his mind.
"I called my mother and father to let them know that their daughter had died," Ciara said her voice filled with pain and sadness when she spoke of her sister's death and Emilee's birth, "and I told them they had a granddaughter. They came to the hospital and were cooing and smiling over their new granddaughter until the doctor told them that her system was filled with crack cocaine. Then they suddenly moved away from the child, they were calling beautiful only a minute ago and were now looking at her, as if she had some horrible contagious disease that they could catch if they touched her and would kill them in minutes. The looks on their faces grew even more disgusted when the doctor told them and described some of the things Emilee would go through as the cocaine left her body."
"My parents made the decision that it would be better if we let the state tend to Emilee's needs, since they were more accustomed to dealing with children suffering from Emilee's condition."
"That was the first time I cursed my parents," Ciara said wiping away a tear that hung from the side of her right eye. "I called them cowards and snobs because they were worried about people continuing to talk about and remember the life Cara led if Emilee's condition became known. I told them to go ahead and leave the hospital. That I would take care of Emilee, and they didn't have to worry about her being around to embarrass them."
"How long before you adopted her?" Zach asked.
"Three months later," Ciara replied.
"Does she know?" Zach asked.
"Yes," Ciara replied. "I explained to her that her mother loved her, but she made the terrible mistake of becoming involved with and using illegal drugs, and it took her away from us and her."
"How did she take it?"
"About as well as a six year old could take it," Ciara said her eyes becoming sad as she remembered that day. "We cried, talked about her feelings, ate butter pecan ice-cream, and went to bed."
"What about her father?"
"He died of a drug overdose a week before Cara did," Ciara replied her voice becoming cold and emotionless.
"That little girl has been through a lot," Zach said his mind spinning when he thought about the things Emilee had been through, and she was only eight years old.
"Yes, she has," Ciara agreed, "and she still has more to go through with her legs being broken. But, I'm going to make sure she has everything she needs so that she can stand on her own two legs again."
"And I'm going to help," Zach said his tone sympathetic. "You won't have to do this alone."
"Thank you," Ciara said smiling at him, "but you don't have to do that. I just felt you should know about it."
"Anything else I should know?" Zach asked.
"I can't think of anything", Ciara said. "I'm telling you everything that I think anybody having me investigated might be able to find out," Ciara said. "I didn't want you to be caught by surprise."
"You expect to be investigated?" Zachary asked his tone showing his surprise at what she said.
"Zach, you're a rich man, who's coming home suddenly with a wife that no one knew you were dating," Ciara said a grin on her face. "An African-American wife, with a little girl. Of course I'm going to be investigated if not by your family, by someone wanting to know more about me."
"You like being prepared," Zach teased.
