Prince found himself sitting in complete darkness. He felt like he was in a place that he's never seen before even though he couldn't see. He couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or closed all he knew was that everything was ungodly black. The fear he kept locked away deep inside was becoming exposed for whoever could see it. He wasn't sure if he was alone or with others. His breathing became rapid as well as his heart rate. His arms were stretched out in front of him so he could feel his way through the dark. Suddenly he could hear footsteps approaching that weren't his own.

  "Hello?" The artist called out in fear.

Prince was never afraid of anything until now. There were so many thoughts running through his mind the closer and louder the footsteps became.

  "Please! Help me! I don't know where I am!" The artist pleaded.

His heart was pounding so hard against his chest that he was certain it was  going to give out. The footsteps came closer and closer and there was nowhere for Prince to go.

  "Please! I don't want any trouble! I just want to get outta here!" Prince begged.

Just as he began to pray for mercy from whatever was about to show itself he heard the footsteps stop in front of him and he heard the voice of a small child.

  "Hi daddy! Why are you crying?" The little voice asked with sadness.

Prince opened his eyes to a brightly lit figure standing in front of him. He was looking at the feet of a little boy. He raised his head to find himself looking into little eyes that matched his.

  "It's ok daddy! I won't hurt you!" The little boy said to Prince with a smile.

  "Who.....who are you?" Prince asked in confusion.

  "Don't be silly daddy! It's me! Ahmir!"

Prince was so overwhelmed with shock that he could barely speak. He stood to his feet as he looked the little boy over. He was a splitting image of Prince but much smaller in size. He had piercing hazel eyes and soft and curly black  hair. He had a caramel tanned skin color like Prince and a smile like Mayte. Prince was afraid to touch him thinking that he would fade away and he'd be all alone again.

  "You can touch me daddy it won't hurt." Ahmir said to the man.

  "Can.....can I hug you?" Prince asked him nearly in tears.

Ahmir rushed into his father's arms knocking him to the ground. Prince was never so overjoyed to see his son happy and not in pain or suffering.

  "My little boy! Oh my little boy! I love you so much! There isn't a day that goes by that I do t think about you. I miss you more and more everyday." The man weeped as he held his first born tightly.

Ahmir squirmed trying to break free as he giggled in his father's arms.

  "Daddy! Not so tight!" He laughed.

  "Oh! Sorry! Did I hurt you?" The artist asked him as he checked him over.

  "It's not me that's hurting daddy it's you." Ahmir said waving his finger at him.

Prince was trying to understand what he meant but he just took it as a little kid being just that.

  "Now what do you mean I'm hurting little man?"

  "You love someone but you don't really love them the way you want to because you love someone else."

Prince gave the little boy side eye and Ahmir did it right back. It made Prince's heart skip a beat as he saw how alike the two were to one another.

  "And what do you know about love?" Prince asked him.

  "Well.....when you love someone you'll listen to them even if what they say isn't want you want to hear. It's kinda like how that nice lady you like so much was trying to tell you something that the other lady did. I don't like her daddy. She's not nice at all." Ahmir said with a scowl on his face.

Prince was becoming confused as to which two ladies he was referring to.

  "Who's the mean lady son?" Prince asked even though he had a feeling of who he was talking about.

  "The lady that's wearing the shiny ring! Daddy? Please don't marry her. Please?"

For the first time since he met Tori he had never felt more confused. He loved Tori with everything in him but he didn't get why now his first born child was warning him not to marry her. First it was his daughter, then Regan and now his eldest son Ahmir. There were so many things that he wanted to ask him but he had to be mindful that his son is still a little boy.

  "What don't you like about Tori Ahmir?" Prince asked as he held his son on his lap after crouching down to look into his eyes.

  "She's not nice daddy. She says things. Mean things. Mean things about you."

  "What are those mean things?"

  "She likes your money daddy."

  "Who wouldn't? I like my money!" Prince joked.

Unfortunately the boy wasn't laughing.

  "You should listen to my sister and the other lady. The one with all the crazy curls. I like her! She's nice! She reminds me of mommy kinda. Only mommy is a little off."

Prince let a deep laugh from his chest escape his lips as he hugged Ahmir one more time.

  "Like father like son huh son?" Prince asked him as he kept laughing.

  "Not if you marry her daddy. Hey! Can you do me a favor?" Ahmir asked as he raised his eyebrows.

  "Sure little man! Anything you want!"

  "Can you give my little brother Joey a hug five for me? And can you tell Carly that I love her?"

Prince's eyes began to well up with tears as be realized that this was Ahmir's way of saying it was time for him to go.

  "You bet kid!" The man replied in a broken voice.

Ahmir reached up and wiped his father's tears away and kissed him on his nose.

  "I love you daddy." He said and he hugged the man around his neck.

  "I love you too son!" Prince began to weep once more.

As Ahmir began to let go Prince heard a voice in the distance calling to him.

  "Daddy?" The faint voice called.

Ahmir faded away as he waved goodbye to his father and the voice grew louder behind him.

  "Daddy? Daddy wake up! Daddy!"

  "Wait son! Don't go!" Prince said as he reached out to touch Ahmir's tiny fingers but he had faded into the darkness just as a hand touched his shoulder and jolted him out of his sleep.

  "Daddy! Wake up! Are you alright? I could hear you down the hall." Carlyn asked him concerned.

Prince was out of breath and was trying his best to get himself.

  "Where.....where am I?" The artist asked.

  "Daddy it's alright! Your in the studio. You must have fallen asleep. Did you have cucumber salad with balsamic vinegar before bed again? You know how it gives you weird dreams I told you before to eat that earlier in the day."

  "Carlyn?" He asked as he still was trying to come back to the real world.

  "Yes daddy I'm Carlyn. You want some water?" She asked as she wiped the sweat from his face while holding her growing belly.

Prince was slowly calming down as his eyes looked the room over.

  "Carlyn.....I'm sorry....I didn't mean to scare you." He said to her as he touched her stomach.

She looked into her father's eyes and could see the worry as he looked at her belly.

  "Oh! Don't worry daddy the baby's ok. Just be glad you didn't scare me into early labor." Carlyn joked with a smile.

Prince smiled back at his daughter and stood to his feet from his chair.

  "What time is it?" He asked as he stretched his arms in the air.

  "It's a little after 9am. Why? Ready for breakfast?" She giggled.

  "I am a little hungry. Is Regan around?"

  "Yeah she's somewhere around here. Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen making cookies for Joey and his friends for when they come over."

Prince smiled and hugged his daughter before rushing to find Regan to talk to her about his dream. Hopefully after their little spat she'd be willing to listen.