Free Imagined Love by Diamond Drake Page A

on I always made it a point to have money of my own.
    “And I know it’s gonna be even harder now being a single mother with two kids, but I still believe I can make a life for myself—the one I want to have. I wish I could have my marriage and a career but Miles had made it clear it won’t be with him. And I’m tired of doing what everyone else wants me to do. When it’s all said and done I want to look back on my life and know I lived the best one I could doing what I wanted to do.”
    “I know that’s right, girl. And I’ll be here to support you every step of the way. You gone make it, Willa, I can feel it. You been through a lot and it’s your time to finally be happy.”
    “I hope so, Cicely. I truly hope so.”
     
    The next day Landon, Robert, and Alonzo helped unload Willa’s and Jade’s things into their new apartment. Cicely and all the kids helped unpack and everything was put away in a matter of hours. Willa got Kentucky Fried Chicken for everyone and thanked them for helping. They truly had made her life easier and she appreciated it.
    Willa left a copy of the divorce papers and a note with her new address on the kitchen counter for Miles to find when he returned home from work. He was upset but surprisingly calm when he came by that evening. They discussed custody arrangements as well as child support. Miles had no intentions of paying but planned to provide for Jade and the baby by physically going to buy whatever they needed. There was no way he was giving Willa money when it was her decision to leave. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him but it was clear to her that they would be going to court to settle the matter. Neither had been perfect in the marriage, but Willa couldn’t imagine a judge not siding with her and making Miles pay child support and alimony. All she was asking for was money to take care of the kids but since he wanted to fight her about it, she planned to get everything! His offhanded comment about not knowing if the baby was even his let her know Miles was planning to go toe to toe with her. Sadly, things didn’t turn out the way either of them had expected.
     

5
Chapter Five
    Miles ran into the hospital room and spotted Jade on the floor crying in Cicely’s and Katrina’s arms. Landon was standing off in the corner, his face wet with tears. Miles felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as tears began to fall down his cheeks.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, almost too afraid to hear the answer. “Baby, what happened?”
    Just then the doctor entered the room looking somber as he explained the situation to Miles.
    “Noooo!” he screamed and let out the sickest, most heartbreaking sound.
    His cries only made everyone bawl more. Then he walked over to Willa’s bed and grabbed her hand, placing it next to his heart. He laid his head on her stomach desperately hoping the baby would kick or move or do something. There had to be some kind of mistake. His son couldn’t really be dead!
    Willa rubbed Miles’s head like she used to do to calm him when he was stressed. He closed his eyes and whispered to the baby how much he loved him. More than anything, Miles wished he could uncoil the umbilical cord from around his son’s neck and give him a chance to live. Heartbroken, he laid in the bed next to Willa and they held each other and cried together for what seemed like forever.
    Landon had to leave the room because he couldn’t take seeing Jade and her family that way. Cicely and Katrina left as well so the three of them could be alone. Miles and Willa tried to get Jade to go home with her friends but she wanted to be there when the baby was born like they’d planned.
    The doctors had already induced Willa’s labor and within a few hours she was in agony. The physical pain was nothing in comparison to the devastation of knowing she was going through all of it for nothing. There wouldn’t be a first cry. She wouldn’t see her baby’s eyes or feel