Two bags full of designer clothes sat at the front door. Four pairs of shoes – one Balenciaga, one Gucci, two Prada – were stacked next to the nightstand. A Versace makeup case filled with products. Two pairs of track cleats. A brand new Coach leather bag with a hidden matching purselet filled with $100 bills. This was what Lucious Lyon called "a little birthday gift" for his girlfriend, Cookie Holloway.

Cookie wouldn't turn 16 for another week, but it went without saying that her dope-dealing boyfriend would not be invited to the party. Then again, after the blowup Cookie and her father had on Friday night, Cookie wondered if she was even going to have a Sweet 16. Cookie's father had packed her a single suitcase with a bare minimum of clothes, her uniform (minus socks), her schoolbooks and no toiletries. When John Holloway kicked you out of the house, he kicked you out.

"I can't let him ruin them the way he ruins you."

"It's okay," Lucious said softly as they laid in bed together after the first time they made love. "It's a good excuse to go shopping tomorrow."

Of course, Lucious wasn't one to sit around while his girl was being taken care of. "Buy whatever you want," he'd tell her over and over, then go off somewhere to talk to "this guy" about "that thing." But Cookie didn't really know what she wanted. Much of Cookie's street clothes and jewelry were hand-me-downs from Candace. Her sisters did her hair. Her nail polish was $2.29 at Walgreen's, and her most sophisticated pair of shoes were school oxfords. Candace was the fashion expert, not her. It was a good thing for Lucious that Candace wasn't his girlfriend; she would've walked out with more clothes than Carol and Cookie combined.

Sitting at the hair salon while one person did her hands and another person did her feet, Cookie felt lonely, even bored. Lucious had invited Cookie to call her sisters to join them on her birthday spree, but Cookie froze and hung up the phone when her father answered. Still, Cookie's sisters were never far from her mind. She bought new art supplies for Carol, lots of beads and cloths and paints for Candace, who made beautiful homemade jewelry. Overall, leaving store after store with bags of stuff in her hands the morning after was a bit of a waste on a girl like Cookie, who spent 80% of her time in either her school uniform or her track clothes. But Cookie appreciated the pampering all the same.

The silliest part of the whole excursion was Cookie's trip to Victoria's Secret. It wasn't like Cookie could take any of it home. Her father would kill her if he even knew Cookie was in this store, let alone trying on lacy bras and skimpy underwear. Then Cookie remembered that she had no home to go to, and she sank down in the stall and cried softly.

"Cook?" Lucious called from the other side of the stall after 20 minutes had passed. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cookie wiped her tears quickly and grabbed her new lingerie. She never wanted to cry in front of Lucious because she didn't want to seem ungrateful. "You're with me now," he assured her as Cookie sobbed in his arms inside their hotel room on Friday night, right after her father had thrown her out of the house. "I got us. Okay?"

Lucious had been true to his word. Cookie's expertly manicured hands were heavy with bags of new clothes and cosmetics. Her stomach was full of the finest restaurant food. Her safety on the streets of south Philly was secured for life, for Lucious made it clear to everybody he introduced Cookie to that she was his girl. But if Cookie could have just one thing for her birthday, it would've been her father's forgiveness, not a bag full of beautiful lingerie or expensive shoes, or even the money Cookie didn't know Lucious had placed in the purselet of her new Coach bag.

After Lucious dropped Cookie off at their hotel – he needed to see this guy about this thing - Cookie ran a much-needed hot bath to soothe her aching muscles. Her thighs and hips were sore after hours of holding her legs apart while Lucious made love to her from the top. Two years of running track hadn't prepared Cookie for such intense physical activity as losing her virginity.

"Thank you for making me a woman," Cookie whispered shyly in Lucious's ear last night. But Cookie didn't feel like a woman, not at all. Sitting in the hot, soapy water, Cookie couldn't stop staring at her perfectly pedicured toes. How long would they stay pretty after hours and hours of sprinting, even in brand new cleats? Scratch that - did Cookie even have a spot on the team anymore? Cookie had already been put on probation for skipping class one too many times; if she lost her spot on the track team, she would lose her scholarship at the Franciscans. Daddy's gonna kill me, Cookie thought glumly. Then she remembered that her father had thrown her out the house, and the tears came all over again.

Once Cookie composed herself, she drained and cleaned the bathtub, wrapped herself in a towel and went into the front room. Holding her breath as she dialed her home number, Cookie's heart was filled with joy when Carol's voice came on the other end. "Cookie!" Carol said anxiously. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cookie assured her. "I'm with Lucious...we're together. Everything is okay." No matter how bad things were, everything was always okay when she was with Lucious.

"Lucious...oh. Ok." Carol liked Lucious just fine, but it seemed like Cookie didn't spend very much time with Carol ever since Lucious came around. Now Cookie had run off to be with Lucious, and there was no telling when she would be coming home. When would Carol see her big sister again?

"I bought you some art stuff," Cookie told Carol, hoping that would cheer her up. "Paints and paper and stuff. Even a new sketch book."

"Really?" Carol asked excitedly.

"Yeah. I'll come over and drop it off. I don't know when I'm able to get over there, but..."

"You're not coming home?" Carol asked, and Cookie didn't answer. "Cookie, what happened? Daddy won't tell us anything."

So Daddy hadn't told her sisters that he'd thrown her out of the house. Maybe there was a chance that he was going to let Cookie come home after all. "Me and Daddy had a fight," Cookie said vaguely. "That's all, Carol. Everything's going to be okay."

"I miss you," Carol said sadly.

They'd only been separated for two days. For Carol and Cookie, it might as well have been a year. "I miss you, too," Cookie admitted. "Carol, it's okay," she soothed when she heard Carol sniffling on the other end of the line. "Everything is going to be okay when I get back home, I promise."

"Hang on." Cookie held her breath as Carol put her on hold. Was her father home? What would he do if he knew Carol was on the phone with Cookie. "Candace! It's Cookie!" she yelled.

Uh-oh. There was a time when Cookie and Candace had been just as tight as Cookie and Carol. Ever since Cookie started dating Lucious, their relationship had cooled considerably. "What?" Candace said, and nothing more. Not a where-are-you or are-you-doing-okay. Not even a go-to-hell.

"Hey, Candace," Cookie said timidly. Um, I got you some stuff for your jewelry..." Cookie's voice trailed when Candace said nothing further.

"Keep it." Candace's voice was as cold as a Philadelphia winter. "I don't want anything bought with drug money. What do you want, Loretha?"

Something in Candace's voice pissed Cookie off to no end. "I just wanted to talk to you, that's all. I wanted to talk to my sisters. Is that okay with you, Bossy?"

"Why don't you go talk to Lucious, huh?" Candace fired back. "You're with him, right?" Candace lowered her voice to a whisper. "I know Daddy kicked you out of the house. So why are you calling here?"

"Why do you care?" Cookie snapped into the phone. "It's not like Daddy threw you out, Candace! This is my problem, not yours."

"Not my problem? Not my problem?" Candace asked incredulously. "Loretha, are you kidding? Do you have any idea how pissed off Daddy is right now? He had to take two of his heart pills because of what you did. Then he spent all of last night grilling me and Carol about what we know, what we didn't know, what we've seen. He went through all our stuff to make sure we weren't hiding anything for Lucious like you were. He found Carol's makeup. He has my diary! If he reads it, he's going to know what I've been doing with Chris!"

Oh, shit. "Loretha, we've spent all this time covering for you." Cookie could hear Candace's tears through the other end. "Lying to Daddy about where you've been and what you've been doing. We've always had your back, and this how do you pay me and Carol back - bringing drugs and guns into our home? You didn't even tell us about it, you stupid, selfish bitch! Me and Carol are on punishment because of you, and you're not even here! You get to go around busting it wide open for Lucious while we're over here suffering because of you!

"And one more thing," Candace added furiously as Cookie reeled from her older sister's attack. "You know Lucious stopped me on the streets earlier today, in front of all my friends, calling himself wanting to talk to me? Maybe you like being seen with your being around Lucious, but I don't. So you tell your thug boyfriend to stay away from me – and Carol, too. I don't have anything to say to him or you! Leave us the hell alone, Cookie!"

Click.

When dropping Cookie off at home, Lucious always parked on the other side of the street to make sure Cookie got into the house without her father seeing his car. He could barely believe that John was barreling down the stairs with a suitcase and bag full of Cookie's stuff, telling her that she had to leave his house. Lucious was torn between having words with Cookie's father – which would almost certainly come to blows - or just taking her with him. He'd chosen the latter, but now Lucious was starting to regret it.

It had nothing to do with Cookie herself. The past couple of days had been the best days of his life. He wished their first time could've been under much better circumstances, but it was what it was. It just seemed that Cookie was sacrificing so much just to be his girl. And what was Cookie getting in return, other than a bunch of clothes and sex in a hotel room?

For the past two days, Lucious had been beating himself up over Cookie getting caught with his package. He never should've given his gun and his money for Cookie to hide, never. He should've been a man and just taken his chances when the cops came around looking for Lucious and his crew. But Cookie insisted on taking it, walking right past the police in her track uniform and Lucious's stuff in her sports bag. "Good afternoon, officers," she greeted, strolling right past the police without batting an eyelash.

On the other hand, if Lucious was such a bad guy, why was her so-called daddy throwing Cookie out of the house to stay with Lucious? A real father would've taken Cookie to her aunt or a cousin, or even the police. John Holloway put Cookie out to live with the very man that he didn't want her to be with in the first place. What kind of sense did that make? Hearing Cookie crying for her family when she didn't think he was paying attention filled Lucious with so much hatred that it gave him a headache from time to time. Hit me, call the cops on me, kill me, but how could you do this to your own daughter?

So that meant that Cookie was Lucious's responsibility now, not her wack-ass pops. And the first thing Lucious was going to make sure of was that his girl ate well. "Cookie?" Lucious shook Cookie's shoulder gently. "Food's here." Cookie was really out of it; Lucious had to shake her two more times before she stirred. Dried tears stained her cheeks, and her pillow was wet with tears. He hated to wake Cookie up, but their steak and lobster dinners were still hot.

Cookie sat up and rubbed her eyes, and Lucious had to smile. He'd dropped nearly $400 on some lingerie that he couldn't wait to see Cookie in, and Cookie had opted to sleep in Lucious's old sweats. "What happened to your clothes?" Lucious teased. "Those are my lucky boxers, you know. If the Eagles lose this week, I'm blaming you."

Cookie smirked. "You can have your lucky boxers," she offered, "or you can get lucky with me in your boxers." She pulled the waistline down low enough to show Lucious that she'd been trying on her new lingerie after all. The lacy thong peeked underneath the tacky green-and-white NFL boxers. "I-I got a shirt, too..." Lucious stammered.

Cookie let out a boisterous laugh. "Where's my food, boy?" she asked, throwing her arms around his neck and giving that sexy smile that Lucious loved so much, the smile that let Lucious know that maybe - maybe - things might turn out okay between them after all.

"Candace said you tried to talk to her earlier today." Cookie hated to bring up the topic during dinner. She was in a much better mood, sitting in Lucious's lap and feeding him bits of steak and potatoes. Still, the issue had to be addressed before they could move on.

"I wasn't tryna to hit on her or anything," Lucious said quickly. "I was just trying to see if she would tell me anything about your dad and how he was taking things."

"Did she say?" Cookie asked, her heart beating quickly.

Lucious gave Cookie a thin smile. "No. But she said a lot of stuff I won't repeat." He laughed and tried to take a bite of steak, only for Cookie to swerve the fork and put the meat in her own mouth. "You know, I always thought that Candace treated me like shit because she liked me. But that girl hates my ass, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she does," Cookie laughed. "Hell, nobody wants you but me, Lucious."

"Girl, if you don't stop telling those lies...!" Lucious exclaimed. Cookie stayed catching shit for being Lucious Lyon's girl, especially since she was the goody-goody Catholic school girl who loved track and reading almost as much as she loved Lucious. "What about that girl you cracked over the head with a bottle a couple of weeks ago?"

"What about her?" Cookie asked casually, dipping some lobster in butter for Lucious to eat.

"Did you really think I got with that girl when you went and fought her?" Lucious never admitted it, but he was hurt that Cookie thought he would cheat on her. The thought of being with another girl never even crossed Lucious's mind, not even during all those times when Cookie was on punishment.

"I 'on know," Cookie admitted, smiling sheepishly. "What I do know is that if I eat any more of this food, I'm gonna break your lap. Lemme up."

"Wait a minute." Lucious shifted so that Cookie could stand. "If you didn't know if she was telling the truth or not, why did you pop her?"

Cookie shrugged. "It was was the principle of the thing. Fuck her."

The principle of the thing? Cookie - who was universally hated by nearly all the girls in Lucious's neighborhood - nearly caused a disaster at a house party over principle? My baby is crazy, Lucious thought. No, not crazy. Ride or die. But ride-or-die or not, Lucious couldn't approve of such a dangerous action. Highly amused by the whole situation, Lucious grabbed Cookie by her waistband, yanked his shorts down past her butt, and slapped Cookie's ass so hard that he was sure that her father felt it.

"Aaaaaggh!" Cookie screamed, diving halfway across the room and flopping on their queen-sized bed. "Are you out of your fucking mind, Lucious?!"

"Yeah, that's right. I did it." Lucious leaned back in his chair. "And if you keep talking to me like that, I'ma give you some more." He tried his best to keep a straight face, but the look on Cookie's face made Lucious's lips twitch. Soon, Lucious and Cookie were both laughing so hard that they could hardly breathe. "I'ma get you for that, Lucious!" Cookie warned. "You gotta sleep sometime. And when you do, I'ma cut your dick off. Swear to God."

"Girl, please." If any part of Lucious was safe as of that Saturday evening, it was his dick. Boldly, Lucious rose to his feet and unzipped his jeans. "Uh-uh," Cookie said, her eyes growing wide. "Don't even, Lucious. I just ate," she added, crinkling her nose. "You're gonna make me throw up."

"How?" Lucious taunted. "It's not like I'ma put it in your mouth...yet."

Cookie's jaw dropped, then clamped over her mouth as she rethought Lucious's words. But there was no masking that happy, joyful laughter slipping through her fingers. Lucious bounced on the bed next to Cookie. "Kiss me," he ordered, and Cookie did exactly that. Lucious noticed that Cookie winced as she straddled his lap. "You still sore?" he asked gently, and Cookie nodded. "Okay, I got a few things from the store today that I think you'll like. Let me run you a hot bath, okay?"

"Mmm-hmm." Cookie dozed off for a few minutes, then woke up to see Lucious standing over her wearing nothing but a white towel. "You ready?" he asked. "'Cause I want my clothes back."

Cookie stood and stretched. "Come get them." With a knowing smirk on her face, she raised Lucious's shirt up past her navel, over her breasts and shoulders, and finally over her head. "Catch." Lucious barely managed to catch his shirt before Cookie's new lilac-colored bra followed behind, leaving her naked from the waist up. Still looking Lucious in the eye, Cookie lazily bent down, sliding Lucious's beloved shorts off her body and giving him a magnificent view of her ass if he looked in the mirror. "I think that's all, right?" Cookie asked as she kicked Lucious's boxers back in his direction and laid back on the bed on her back wearing nothing except a matching lilac t-back.

"Wow." Until now, Lucious had seen Cookie in various stages of undress; the dim light and Cookie's shyness always obscured one part of her body or another. Now Cookie was stretched out in front of him in all of her barely clothed glory, confident and wanting. It was a far cry from the girl Lucious made love to the night before. That was when Cookie was a scared girl. Tonight, she was a self-assured woman. "You are...you're so beautiful," Lucious commented. "You're so...beautiful."

It was a weak, trite expression, and Lucious cursed himself for saying it. Still, Cookie's eyes lowered. "Thank you," she said so quietly that Lucious barely heard her. With one knee by her side, Lucious climbed on top of the bed over Cookie and took her chin in his hand, making Cookie look up. That intense love in his eyes and in his kiss emboldened Cookie to raise her hips, allowing Lucious to peel Cookie's underwear off her body and toss them to the side, right next to that matching bra. "Now you," Cookie ordered.

Lucious stood and removed his towel. Like Lucious, Cookie hadn't gotten the opportunity to see Lucious completely naked in the light. No wonder I'm so sore. The man was blessed - there was no other way to say it. Cookie held out her hand demurely, and Lucious took it, helping her to her feet and turning around as he led her to the bathtub-

WHACK.

"Oww!" Cookie howled with laughter as Lucious tripped and fell over a chair, landing right on his bare ass and nearly taking Cookie with him to the floor. "Now we're even!" she declared as darted away from Lucious, who was scrambled to his feet. "I'ma get you, Cookie!" he yelled, but he was too late - Cookie had already locked him out of the bathroom. "That's your ass, Cookie! It's on now!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Cookie opened the door to let Lucious in. "You're smiling now," he taunted, "but by the end of the night, I'ma fuck the smirk off your face."

"Is that right?" Cookie asked coolly, pulling Lucious's naked body to her naked body and walking him towards the bathtub. "I'd like to see you try." Boy, was that no lie.

Story title and summary quote ("Tell...bride?") is from the song of the same name by Nazz.

Part One title (When the Morning Comes) is "The Morning After" by Alexander O'Neal