Imperial

Five months later

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“How are you feeling?” Machi asked, holding his hand up to the glass and smiling.

“Big.” Giggling, I pressed my hand against his and blew him a kiss.

Pushing the phone into his ear, his grin widened. “You look beautiful.”

The trial was hard, watching them try to hammer Machi into the ground. The prosecutor did everything in his power to try and burn Machi at the stake. It didn't work.

After the jury learned about the writing I found on my bed and saw all the pictures taken inside those walls; they didn't see the monster he was painted as, they saw a man, they saw a person who had been to hell and back, and lost everything along the way.

The verdict came in after only five hours of deliberation, and I couldn't help but think someone was looking out for Machi from above. They ruled in his favor, while being confined to the terms of the law.

He was never charged with Ethan's murder, they agreed unanamously that he had acted in self-defense. As far as Sylvan's case went, they weren't as harsh as they could have been. Sylvan wasn't armed, but the jury took pity on Machi, finding him guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

When the judge read the verdict, my world slowed to a stop. I was angry and frustrated, unable to comprehend the fact that he would actually have to do time behind bars.

In my eyes it wasn't fair, not after all the women Sylvan probably led to their deaths.

Five years, that was how long it would be before we could touch again, before I would feel his arms around my body and his lips on mine. But I wasn't going to let that push me away, I would still be here waiting for him.

It wouldn't be easy having to travel three hours both ways every time I wanted to come up to visit. But knowing he would be out one day and coming home to me, that was all I needed to keep going.

“Stand up, let me see you.” Biting his lower lip, a devilish smirk peeled up on his face. “It'll give me something to think about later.”

“You're sick, you know that?” Cocking my head, I smiled big and giggled.

“I know, that's why you love me. Come on, let me see you.”

Standing up, I wrapped one hand around my bulging stomach, cupping it from underneath. “Well, I'm huge, aren't I?”

“No, you're fucking gorgeous. Look at you, when I think you couldn't get anymore beautiful, you prove me wrong. How's she doing in there? Keeping you up at night still?”

“Yeah, she really seems to like kicking my kidneys.”

His palm pushed against the glass, trying desperately to reach through the barrier and touch my belly. And as if our daughter knew her father's fingers were stretching in thought, she gave the inside of my stomach a few good kicks.

Her small feet thumped hard, rippling the fabric of my shirt with footprint-shaped waves. A glint of sadness sparked in Machi's eye as his fingertips dragged down the glass, leaving foggy streaks.

“I wish you weren't in there, I wish you were home with me.” Placing my hand on the small of my back, I dropped back into the chair. “How am I going to do this alone?”

“You're never alone, Imperial, I'm still with you no matter what. Even these walls can't stop me from feeling you when we're apart. Do you ever dream about me?”

Parting my lips, I sighed. “Yes, but it's not the same as actually having you.”

“What did I tell you before? Do you remember?”

Swaying my head to the side, I glanced up at the ceiling in thought. He had told me a lot of things. Machi had told me about his father who died in a car accident, he told me about his time as a cop and how hard it had been to focus on others when his sister still needed him.

He wrote me all the time, letter upon letter showed up in my mailbox, and I loved every single one that came. It was the next best thing to hearing his voice.

“I told you that when you left, I'd find you; even if it was only in your dreams. So I am there, Pixie, every night I show up in your head.”

Smirking, I pursed my lips. “Pixie? Really?”

Holding out his arms, he winked. “What? You were mischievous, that hasn't changed.”

Through slit lids, I cocked my head into my shoulder. “Is that why you called me Pixie? Because I was nosy?”

Nodding his head, his lips fanned up. “It was. But, from the sound of it, someday soon, I'll be calling that little girl in there my pixie.”

“Not soon enough,” I said, the words drifting off into the cool prison air.

Things were going to get harder, I couldn't blindly allow myself to think that everything was just perfect. This wasn't the happy ending you read in romance novels or watched on the big screen.

This was our realty.

I wanted Machi to be there when our daughter came into the world, I wanted him to be there to change diapers and clean bottles. Every night I laid my head down on the pillow and wished he was beside me.

But that wasn't going to happen. . . One day, but not today or tomorrow.

It was a harsh reality, and it was one I had to come to terms with. And as much as it pained me that we wouldn't have a normal birth and our child wasn't going to get to meet their father in person until they were old enough to walk and talk, and probably about to head into grade school. . .

I still wouldn't change anything.

What he did was something he needed to do. His sister deserved justice, justice that wasn't going to come if Machi didn't take charge. He was finally able to close one chapter of his life and in time, he would open the door to a new one.

He had a new life waiting for him on the outside. He had a family again, one that would always be there.

Machi had my love, and it was a forever kind of love.

He was right when he said he owned me. I was his and he was mine.

And together, we became one.