Present -Thayer

Max cried until she had nothing left inside her. Luc who loved me, who made me laugh and think, who I could…Who was such a good guy. His heart, he was so excited to be a dad, he would have been a great dad. My Lucas.

"Max," Jill said softly. "Let me bring you home."

She shook her head. "No."

"You need to take care of your baby. Lucas' baby."

"I can't do this."

The pain in her voice broke Jill's heart. "I'm staying with you tonight."

Present – Sheriff's Station

Kenny sat cuffed in the interrogation room as reality rushed over him. Lucas Cooper died…the beating I gave him…his brain was bleeding slowly and… Max. I killed him and she…Max.

"I don't have to tell you the trouble you're in."

"He raped my wife."

Max sobbing, Jimmy thought, not wanting to let go of his body at the hotel. How she looked at him in that last moment, squeezed his still warm hand and kissed his cheek. Whispered something in is ear…she was devastated. "When did she start having an affair?"

"Max wasn't having an affair."

"She is pregnant with his baby."

"He raped her. She couldn't consent. You saw the phone videos, she was out of her mind. Where is Max?"

Hysterically crying. "Jill took her home…She watched him die, Kenny."

"She blames me."

"You're being charged with murder."

Present – The Lacos House

"I made you breakfast."

Max looked at Jill silently. "I'm not hungry."

She's so pale, Jill thought, in flannel pants, a t-shirt clinging to her expanding stomach and a messy ponytail. Red eyed and hurting. "Oh, Honey, sit down. You don't have to eat. You're shaking."

Lucas is gone, dead and Kenny in jail. I ruined both of their lives. For sex. For fun and sport in bed…I ruined my marriage and drove my husband to beat up my lover. And this baby…what kind of mom am I going to be?'

"You cared about Lucas a lot."

She nodded. That sweet boy in the hallway…how we dissected frogs in biology, he held my hand in the hallway, those first kisses that lead to…I loved him. Sex, oh it was so quick and bad in the beginning, but it didn't matter. How we learned to love each other in bed. Our baby. The abortion. Cancer. How he always told me I deserved more. "I did."

"He cared about you too."

"He did."

"Max, I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have slept with him. If I didn't…it destroyed the three of us."

"You're pregnant because you slept with him."

"I can't stay here."

"Your whole life is here."

She shook her head at that. "No. Kenny is going to prison. Luc is dead. I need to do what is best for my baby. I have a trust fund, I never touched it. I can for this baby. I can give her a wonderful life…this doesn't have to touch her. I can be better than this."

"You're going to walk away. Your husband…Max, there is going to be a trial. You need to talk to him."

"He killed Luc. My baby will never know their dad. Kenny, he…he gets so hurt. I hurt him so much and…why did I do this?"

Present – Sheriff's Station

"He was defending his wife."

I don't think she was raped, Jimmy thought, she was broken over Lucas Cooper. "Doug, I don't think that's the statement she'll give."

"I saw the video of her drunk. Maxine was raped whether she admits to it or not. Someone that drunk couldn't consent. Kenny was defending his violated wife."

That's going to be his defense, Jimmy thought, even if she fights against it. Once she gets past her pain…she's not going along with this. Her baby. "I wouldn't ask her now."

"She's his wife. Spousal privilege."

Max really screwed up this time, Jimmy thought, I almost want to believe that Lucas raped her. that she didn't willingly have an affair and start this. Kenny lost his mind over this…I know how affairs happen. I never thought… "She's going to be a hostile witness, Doug."

Four- months ago – Max & Lucas

"Say cheese, Darlin," Lucas teased, as he angled his phone above them tangled in his sheets. "Preserving the moment."

She kissed his cheek, as he took their picture. Snuggling in close to him, as he took another picture. "You feel good."

"And you are still the most beautiful thing I ever seen."

"Oh, you flatter me," she smiled, as they took some more pictures as he kissed her. "Lucas?"

"Are you going to get deep on me?"

"I can't think when you look at me like that."

"Good. I can hear you think sometimes. That big brain of yours."

She rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat. "I don't want to go home."

"Ah, yes you do. You got a guy waiting there for you who misses you."

I can never tell him, he thought, he won't ever forgive me. He wouldn't ever understand about this… "I know he does."

Lucas squeezed her tightly for a long moment. "He's a lucky guy."

She snuggled in closer. "I'm the lucky one."

Present – The Lacos House

I can't think, Max thought, everything hurts. Lucas…his big heart. He would have been an amazing father, why couldn't I stay away from him? He asked me to marry him…he'll never…

"Max."

She looked up at Jimmy and the district attorney. I'll never say it was rape. "It was a party. Obviously, I was drunk then."

"This is time stamped at 9:22PM."

Max nodded. "I didn't go to bed with him until after the bar closed…that was 2:00AM. I stay and cleaned with him, we talked. I wasn't…not like in that video. I could have said no, but I didn't want to."

Jimmy looked at her. "We have the security footage, on top of the cellphone footage. It's was 3:24AM when you kissed him."

Max nodded. They saw that… "We talked for a long time."

Cleaning, they were both flirting, laughing, she didn't pull away from him. She kissed him…them laughing, her wrapping herself up in him as he picked her up. "You were sober."

"Luc," she said softly, choking on her tears. "He would never hurt me. He was gentle and kind and…he loved this baby."

And you, Jimmy thought, that's what Jill thought. It's all over her face. I think she loved them both. "That's what you're saying in court."

"I'll be the town whore over this…but Lucas didn't rape me. Kenny doesn't get to fabricate it as an excuse for his violence."

Two Months Later

Prison – Max & Kenny

I can't, Max thought, looking at her burgeoning stomach. This little girl will never know her father…and Lucas would have doted on her. He would have loved her so much. I wasn't ready to run off with him…but…he shouldn't have died. I shouldn't have cheated…but it gave me this baby. A piece of Luc with me.

"You came."

Max looked up, unsure of what she was feeling as she looked at he husband in the orange jumpsuit. A murder charge, no bail…the video of him beating Lucas gone viral. The white cop beating the black man to death…. Thinner, unshaven, she thought and still looking at me… "Jimmy and Wambaugh were riding me about it."

"Look at you," he said, looking at her swollen stomach. "You are really showing. You can't hide it."

"I don't want to hide it," she said looking at her 10 pound and six-month pregnant stomach. The belly that causes whispers, the rumors…about my cheating whore self and who the father is. She's going to be beautiful and I love her already. "It's like having a piece of Lucas with me."

"Wambaugh said you're not cooperating. That he is going to have to call you as a hostile witness."

"You killed him."

"Accidentally."

"You were drunk, you went over there to beat him up and he died because of it. What else is there to say?"

"I was pissed because he raped you."

"I'll never say that. You can show all the drunken video you want, but I'll never say it."

"You want me to go to prison then? He's dead, Max."

"And he still has a family and a daughter in three months. She's going to know what a wonderful man her father was. That he wasn't a rapist."

"You're having a girl?"

"Yes."

"You thought you were. You got it confirmed."

"I filed for divorce. I'm moving after the trial. The house is on the market."

"We're not getting divorced."

"Oh, we are. You murdered someone. I thought I deserved how you were treating me for sleeping with him…but you're just a violent ass who was having a temper tantrum. I'm leaving you. Just sign the papers and let me go."

"Where are you moving to?"

"Away from you."

Wambaugh said she quit her job. The trust fund she never touched…she will for this thing inside her. "Yeah, Max, just run away."

She glared at him. "I wanted to make us work but you kept pushing me away. I know cheating… you didn't have to do this. I wasn't going to leave you."

"He raped you."

Max sat back at that, her temper boiling. Luc's gentle touch, our fiery and wild weekend…the weekend that I shouldn't have…I know that, but I never regretted it. I regret hurting Kenny…not my time with Luc or this baby. "You really think I only slept with him once?"

"What?"

"I spent all weekend in bed with him. Because I wanted to. No one forced me."

He stared at her for a long time with that. "You really are a whore."

"No. You want me on a pedestal as a wife. I'm not perfect, and you know that."

"He died because you fucked him."

"He died because you beat him up and caused his brain to bleed. My daughter will never know her father because of you. And I'm so glad Lucas is the father because he wasn't an abusive violent jackass."

"Just a pill dealer. He had a rap sheet."

One arrest she thought, that made him stop. "And?"

"You really think that's going to help the DA prosecute? No one wants me in prison for this. You, my hostile witness whore wife, are the one that is going to be run out of town."

"I made my mistakes. I'm already leaving. I'm not raising my daughter here. They do have the phone footage of me drunk earlier that night. They also have the bar security footage of me and Luc, me much soberer, my very willingness to be with him. We talked for an hour before we went upstairs…it shows me making the first move on him. They have months of our texts and the pictures we took in bed together. It wasn't rape. I can be the town whore if it gets justice for Lucas. I want my daughter to know her father was a good man. Take the plea, Kenny."

"Max!" he yelled, as she stood up and walked away. "Come back!"

She blinked back her tears at her breaking heart. Never again. I thought we'd be together forever but instead…How did it come to this?

The Lacos House

A fresh start, Max thought, rubbing her stomach looking at the boxes. The house we were so proud to buy six months into our marriage. How we christened every room in this house, over and over again. How we made it a home together…a home I thought we'd fill with our family. Make memories together…I wanted that so much with Kenny. The minute it gets too hard…this isn't fair. I'm going to be a single mom and the two men I loved…No, me and my daughter and we will be okay. Jumping a bit, she opened the door.

"Hi."

Jimmy looked at her for a long moment. Six-months along, he thought, glowing despite her wary expression. Handing in her resignation…this town full of gossip about her and Lucas Cooper. "You're packing."

"I have an offer on the house."

"You went to see him."

She nodded as she let him in. "I did. It didn't go well. We're not working it out. I ruined my marriage by…I'm a hostile witness."

"He took the plea, Max. Involuntary manslaughter. Minimum of three years and no more than 10."

"Good for him."

"You don't have to go."

She looked at him for a long time. "Yeah, I do. I'm not having my kid raised here. This town…my biracial baby who I conceived during my affair? Not in this town."

"Where are you going?"

First time I'm glad for my trust fund, she thought, it allows me to do this. "West. Oregon."

"Why there?"

"It's pretty. I can start over. Raise my daughter."

"You're having a girl?"

She nodded, smiling a bit. "Yeah. A little girl in here."

"Lucas Cooper's daughter."

She looked away for a moment. "I didn't plan on this. Kenny was the last person I wanted to hurt and…I can't stay here."

"I know how affairs happen, Max. You and Lucas Cooper?"

"We dated in high school, we stayed friends with benefits, I wanted to marry him when I was younger. We talked about running off and…I could tell him anything. I loved him in that reckless and teenage way, I think part of me still did. I had this irresistible pull toward him, and I could never say no to him. Jimmy…we went through a lot. I had an abortion when I was 16, it was his, and we…it was the hardest thing I ever did. We kind of clung to each other after, more than before…we never told our parents, friends, anyone. It connected us in a way…I loved him. Our time, six months ago, it seemed like a different world than I normally lived in. I never wanted Kenny to know and if I didn't end up pregnant…he wouldn't have. I wouldn't have told him, and I probably would have slept with Luc again."

"Max."

"Kenny keeps calling me a whore…He wouldn't have…I have to live with this and I can't do it here."

Prison – Kenny

He stared at the divorce papers, covered in Max's signature. She didn't hesitate with these. She hates me…she made me a killer. While she gets to flit around, be a mom and live her life. She'll probably ruin other men, just like me…and even her dead lover. Living off her trust fund. No more than 10 years in here…sign these. Let her think I let her go. We'll see each other again, Sweetheart.

Baby Born – Max

Max stared at her daughter, stroking her tiny limbs in wonder. I grew this in me, she thought, this beautiful baby girl. Looking into her startling blue eyes, her white skin and dark hair and she's Kenny's…how is she Kenny's daughter? We never did a second test, we just assumed…Oh, God. All this time...this beautiful girl…is Kenny's daughter.

The End

Next Up: A few ideas floating around…we shall see where it ends up.