Taya called Cole a while earlier telling him she wanted to talk, and that she had made up her mind about what was going to happen. She had to explain to him why she wasn't giving up their baby and what was going on. She wasn't letting her little one go through what she went through, and she needed to explain that to him. After talking with Dom and Letty about it, she knew it was right. Now she had to convince Cole it was right, which wouldn't be easy. She understood where he was coming from, but HE had to understand this time, and they both had to come to terms and deal with their mistakes. Listening to Dom and Letty the other night made her think that they weren't alone on this, and that if they needed help, they had a bigger family to help than what they thought. She felt safer with Letty back, to be honest. She walked up to the door and knocked softly, waiting for him to open the door.

Cole's otherwise quiet day had been completely upheavaled by Taya's call. He knew she had been going back and forth deciding with what she wants to do, so in one way he thought maybe this was just a phase she was going through...hopefully. All he knew was that there was no way in hell he was ready for a kid, he was practically a kid himself.

He spent the few minutes before Taya's arrival drinking somewhat heavily. That was how he dealt with stuff now, drinking. It had always been a comfort pad for him, but now it was becoming excessive. He knew it to, he just couldn't think of any alternative, he definitely wasn't turning to drugs.

He was still in the middle of arranging things in his new house that he had to move into thanks to the police visit to his other place. It had a very steep monthly payment on it, but he had the money now, so why not. Not to mention the 8+ car garage was nice, he spent most of his time in there anyway. The living room was mostly intact though, and he hung out there, waiting for the knock.

"Come in." He stepped aside as he opened the door to reveal the girl of the hour. Door handle was in one hand, bottle of Jack in the other. "So explain to me this nonsense." He shut the door and rubbed his forehead as he walked to the living room, he was already getting a headache.

Taya sighed and walked in the house and looked around before she looked back at him."I didn't think you would resort to that." She said softly and sat down on the couch, seeing the bottle in his hand. She ran her hand through her hair before looking up into his eyes. "I talked to the others....they told me it was what I wanted to do." She started to explain and sat back. "And I wanna keep it." She stated, watching him carefully. "But before you get upset, I want to tell you exactly why. I never told you this for this very reason, because I was afraid you'd make me give it up...but I can't." She said softly. "Please just sit down and I'll explain..."

"Yeah well desperate times call for desperate measures." Cole let out a sigh and sat across the couch, taking another swig. Maybe his brain was a little clouded, but Cole really didn't know who the "others" were, that was unimportant. Bottom line was, she got third party advice...oh boy. He kept quiet and let her speak, for now. "Go on."

Taya took a deep breath before she spoke. "Letty didn't know she had a sister because I was adopted out. They didn't think it was a good place to have a baby, but it was better than where I ended up. I was adopted out to a pair of druggy parents who only adopted kids for wellfair and social security checks. They didn't care about what happened to us unless it tattered their image. Social services came and everything seemed fine, house was clean, we acted how they told us. Once they left we each got hit for every thing we did wrong, the house went back to a cluttered mess and...us girls....had time with 'daddy'." She explained....tears threatening to fall.

"I had a sister that I was closest to. She wanted to get us out of there, run away. We almost made it....until they caught us and beat us practically to death, me anyway. Abby....they DID beat her to death. Once it hit midnight on my eithteenth birthday I took off and came here. One thing that fucker did do right was have me work on cars...." She said softly and looked up at him. "I met other kids who had families just like that...it's not all sunshine and rainbows. I'm not having my baby go to that,Cole. "

Cole looked down towards the floor as she delivered a horror story of her past. That would explain her hesitation towards adoption, but Cole wondered if she actually knew how adoptions worked these days. Not to mention, just about any future besides one with under the gun street racers was an improvement.

He sank back into the couch and finally set the jack bottle down. "You do realize that you are in complete control as to who you want to receive the child. It's not an orphanage."

"No I don't...Because they can come off as perfect and happy when I meet them when they could be completely the opposite as soon as they get the baby." She said looking up at him. "And I don't....I don't want it to find out that we gave it away....make it feel like we didn't want it...You have no idea how that feels Cole." She said looking back down at her hands in her lap. I found out when I was nine, they always threw it in my face that mom and dad didn't want me and I was tossed off because they had Letty and she was better than me. They told me no one wanted me and that's how they got STUCK with me." She said tears falling as she remembered everything and shook her head. "I tried everything....running away....calling the police...suicide...I felt exactly that...unwanted and tossed off like I was a burden on everyone.I can't do it...I'm sorry and I understand what you mean I do....but...I can't..."

"That's what background checks are for." He stated blankly. "I'm sorry that your real parents did such a terrible job with that, but that doesn't mean we have to make the same mistake." He shrugged. "I'm shocked child protective services weren't called for you."

He was beginning to realize that she was completely serious about this, and her mind was set. Why she wanted the burden of a kid he had no idea, all he knew was that it was something he wanted nothing to do with. It was probably selfish, but he had a hard enough time looking out just for himself these days. Raising a child would turn his whole perspective upside down, along with his daily routine. To hell with that. How did he manage to get himself in this situation again? Oh right, stupidity.

"Listen Taya." He started off with a little louder tone. "I don't have the authority to tell you what you can and cannot do, but I'm not raising a kid. I'm not a father figure, probably never will be. I'm a 19 year old alcoholic who lives very recklessly, is mixed in with a very dangerous group of people, and there's a chance I won't even be alive tomorrow. You want me to be the father of your child?" He chuckled. "You'd have to be kidding me."

Really, it was as much of a freedom thing was much as anything. Cole automatically associated a child with a loss of freedom, and that was something he was never ready to surrender.

Taya frowned and looked up at him. "I didn't say I wanted you to be." She said darkly. "I'm just telling you what I'm doing. And all you have to do is stay away from me." She said looking into his eyes. "You need to get your shit straight first, which I highly doubt you'd ever be able to do." She sighed and shook her head. "We jumped into things way too fast, and I'm not making you stay and do anything. Maybe...Maybe we should just stay friends for right now okay?" She hated to do it, but it seemed like the best option for right now. Cole was into some deep shit right now and she wasn't going to trouble him with it. "All you have to do right now, if you even want to, is come see him once and a while...." She said softly and looked back up at him.

Cole's stare turned to the floor. So she was giving him the option to walk, he didn't expect that. His conscious fought with him though. He didn't feel right leaving Taya off to be a single mother, she couldn't pay the bills as is. "I don't think you know what you're getting into." He said with a head shake. "But, suit yourself." He got up from the couch and made a quick trek into the kitchen, serving himself a bourbon on the rocks. "Want anything?"

"So here's the deal Taya, I'll write you a check for a hundred grand right now, and we'll call that my child support. I'm going to walk away, partially for the child's safety. I'll come into his life when I see fit. You have your kid, I have my freedom."

Taya nodded and watched him. "That's why I'm not making you stay, Cole. It's not safe right now to ask you to stay." She said softly and stood up and walked over."I don't have freedom enough as it is, why ruin someone else's." She smiled up at him. "Thank you though, a soda's fine." she said setting down at the counter and watched him. "So how've you been?"

"You'll be killing the rest of the freedom you have with a baby." Cole tried one last time to make his argument. Regardless if it involved him or not, he didn't see this as a good option for her, not now. He grabbed a pepsi out of the fridge out tossed it in her direction.

He almost smirked a bit at her question. "Well, from the outside looking in, I guess pretty good." He said looking over the luxury house. "All this wealth though, and I still feel like I'm somehow spinning my wheels in life." He never really expected that much would change in his life with money, besides the fact that now he could buy all the cars he ever dreamed of as a kid. It was nice that money was no longer an issue for once, but he found that if he identified himself with it, it didn't make him happy at all. What was it really good for then? "What about you?"

"I didn't have a freedom before I met you so there's nothing to lose." She said softly and looked up at him. "Someone's broke into the shop, but Dom's helped me get some camera's up and a better security around the place. I'm okay with rent now since I finished up several cars before I got too big to fit under any." She smiled faintly."I'm gonna hire someone to help me. They get the loft to stay in as long as they work for me, seems like a good exchange to start, I'll pay them a little now that I've got a little bit to back on plus what you'll give me." She said softly and looked up at him. "Thank you for that offer by the way."

Cole nodded in approval. "Good, now keep it that way. Of all things you need, its security." He took another shot from his bourbon and then pulled out a checkbook out of the cover. He scribbled the amount of one hundred thousand and wrote it to Taya's name. Turning to her with the check in hand, he extended it towards her. "Promise me this will go to good use." He said earnestly.

Taya nodded and took the check from him. "I promise." She said softly and sat back. "It'll help more than you know." She said looking up at him. "How did you get all this anyway?"

"You probably don't want to know." He started with a chuckle. Yeah, there probably weren't many more dangerous -or stupid- ways to become a millionaire than the way he did it. Up to this point though, he had gotten away with it. He only hoped that the hierarchy of the gang would completely forget about it, as they had more pressing issues at hand. Damn though, what a risk that was.

"I was called to run in a very high stakes race for Dieseli. It was a 3 million dollar entry per car, and the winnings ended up to be 18 million to the winner. Normally the majority of that would go back to Dieseli even if I won, but the police showed up where they were stationed and took them down. I barely won the race, and guess who was there to collect all 18 million afterwards?" He explained with a hint of a smirk. He left out the part that he actually led the FBI right to them, no point in that word getting out in the streets.

Taya smiled back watching. "You sneaky son of a bitch. I never thought someone could outsmart him."