Kiani Annabelle Winters was born on May 1st, 1989 to proud parents George and Lauren Winters. They'd done this before, of course, only four years earlier, so by the time the little girl was born, they had a good idea of what to expect. They knew how to calm a crying baby at ungodly morning hours, and they had the knowledge of what it would take to soothe an aching gumline when she began teething. When it came to diaper rash, they had experience on what brands seemed to work best, and when it came to the other typical baby supplies - like diapers and wipes and baby powder - they had very particular brands that they chose to use over anything else because that's what they'd used the first time around. But when it came to other things - things like knowing how to handle sibling rivalries or what to do when teachers sent notes home telling them that Kiani would not stop talking in class - well, they were still very much in the learning phase of parenting.

For the most part, though, Kiani was a good girl. She didn't get into much trouble, aside from the talking in class and, occasionally, stealing clothes from her big sisters closet without permission, and for that both George and Lauren were grateful. It was a daily reminder that, somehow, they'd raised their girls as best they could. And, really, they had. Their youngest was smart, kept her grades up, and made sure that she completed all the work expected of her. When she was in primary school, it was because she'd fallen in love with the attention and accolades her straight A's and college reading level got her. By the time she was about to finish middle school, her reasons for focusing on keeping her grades up had shifted to bigger things. Things like college, and getting into the best ones on her own merit, and with a full ride academic scholarship. Things like her future, and being able to provide herself with the kind of a life that some only ever dreamed of.

The very last thing Kiani expected was to meet someone that would turn her entire world upside down. More than that, she didn't expect that she would meet this person online. She'd heard all the warnings and potential horror stories, and knew that it was probably a very bad idea to engage in anything more than surface conversation with him, but from the very first message he'd sent her, she was absolutely taken. He was sweet, charming, and if she'd been older and wiser, she probably would have written him off as someone trying to run some sort of a scam on her. But, at seventeen years older, all she could see was someone who seemed to be genuinely interested in her; someone who genuinely cared about her. More than that, though, she saw someone that she wanted to get to know better, and spend time with. In person. So they made plans for him to come and visit her in Boston. The kind of plans that no one but the two of them were at all privy to.

It was unexpected for either of them that they would fall in love when they met face to face for the first time. It was unexpected to either of them that Kiani would make the decision to go on a trip with him to Las Vegas after she graduated. It was unexpected to both of them that they would decide, while on this trip, to tie the knot without telling either of their families. And, it was unexpected to everyone who knew Kiani (herself included) that all the careful plans she'd made about a future beyond high school were tossed aside for the man that she was lucky enough to call her husband. Ivy league dreams were replaced with an Army wife reality when she left Boston - the only place she had ever called home - for life on post in whatever city and state that Matthew Harper was sent to. And it wasn't easy. Adjusting to something different than what she had always expected was rough on Kiani at first. But she loved Matthew, and she was willing to make it work for him.

There were times where it wasn't easy, for either of them, especially when Matthew was deployed. There were times where they were both frustrated and at their wits end and only feet away from having one foot out the door. But, they were able to work through the issues that they had and prove that love was more than enough to keep a couple together. It was more than enough for two people to want to make things work. It was more than enough for them to know that they were meant to be together. No amount of being separated, and the distance that kept them apart, would tear them apart forever. That just wasn't who they were, and despite the fact that they'd made their vows in a chapel on a whim while visiting Las Vegas, with some drunk homeless guy and a panhandler they'd paid as their witness, their vows meant something to the two of them. For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer. Through sickness and in health. 'Til death do us part.

It was just under six years after the two were married that Kiani learned she was pregnant. Both she and Matthew were over the moon excited about this, and looking forward to what their baby would bring to their lives. Not even the morning sickness that lasted well beyond the end of her first trimester, the backaches, or the way she felt like she would have been better off sleeping in the bathtub for how much she was having to pee could temper the excitement. This was exactly what they'd wanted, and what they'd talked about during the late night phone calls when they were apart, and the early morning snuggles when they were together. It was finally happening for them. Neither of them could have imagined that tragedy would strike before their little boy wase born, and Kiani certainly never expected that only ten weeks before her due date, she would have a casualty notification officer standing at her front door, telling her that her husband had been killed in action.

The next ten weeks of Kiani's life was a whirlwind of visitors, planning, memorial services for her late husband, and doctor's visits. It was as if all of that was happening in a completely separate reality from the one that she lived in, though. Nothing could permeate the bubble she'd stepped into from the moment her world had shattered around her. The well-meaning advice from family and friends was filed away to be picked apart at a time when she was much more willing and able to hear what it was they were saying. The offers of condolensces and understanding from those who had been through the same experiences before that felt more like platitudes were received with the attempts of a smile, a thank you, before being promptly forgotten. Because, for the first time in her life, she was faced with something that she didn't know how to handle, that she wasn't equipped to work through, and it was all too big. Too much. More than she could deal with at that time.

On December 6th, at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Kiani welcomed their son into the world with her mother holding her hand and her sister wiping the tears from her face. They talked her through every breakdown, reminded her that she was strong enough to do this, and made sure she knew that Matthew would have wanted her to keep on living - if not for herself, then for their son who would need a mother that hadn't completely checked out on him. It wasn't until she was holding the little boy in her arms, swaddled in the receiving blanket and nuzzling against her chest, that she realized they were right. She needed to do this, for her little boy. Someone needed to tell him about his father - about all that he'd given to the country they'd called home, and how he'd made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms they were lucky enough to have. Someone needed to make sure Cade knew that Matthew was a hero, and that someone had to be her.

With a new reason for being, Kiani turned her focus to being the best mother that she could be while remaining in Texas. She wasn't ready to go back to Boston just yet; she needed to prove to herself that she could do it alone. That her existence hadn't been tied to the man whose last name she'd taken at eighteen years old. And she did. She made it, day by day. She took care of her little boy while remaining at Fort Hood and working on post to provide for herself and her son and continue saving money. She looked into opportunities for furthering her education, something that she'd all but given up on when she'd chosen to become a wife instead of pursuing a post-high school education. She found someone that could be independent; that could raise a child on her own without extensive help from anyone else, and she held onto that as tightly as she could for the times when it all felt like she would be crushed beneath the weight of responsibilities she hadn't been prepared for.

Then, when her one year was up and she felt a little more secure in her role as a widowed mother, she packed up her house - giving away the furniture that she would no longer need and boxing up the things that were most important to her - and with the money from the death gratuity, SGLI and what she'd saved, she moved back to the place she hadn't called home in so many years that it just didn't feel right. She was a woman out of place in her childhood home, in the city she grew up in. Despite that, there was also a certain level of comfort to it as well. It was nice to be back in the bedroom that she had called hers for the first eighteen years of her life, and to have the doting grandparents and aunt on hand to help with Cade. It was nice to walk out the front door and not be faced with the life that had been the cause of everything she had lost. And, more importantly, it was really nice to be able to curl up with her mom on the couch during her weaker moments.

Since returning to Boston, Kiani has found a little more stability in her life. She and Cade have made Boston their home, and it has helped to have family and friend close by. She's since began taking online classes, courtesy of Survivors' and Dependents' Education Assistance, she's moved into an apartment in Mission Hill that is perfect for her and Cade, and she's found a job that pays enough for her to be able to provide for her little family at Boston Harbor Hotel. There are still moments of weakness, and times when it feels far too difficult to make it through the day, but all it takes is one look at her son to be reminded of what she still has, and why she needs to keep pushing forward regardless of how she feels. Because, just like both Lauren and Brionne reminded her when she was in labor, Matthew would have wanted her to keep living. For herself, for their son, and for the future that she could have if she was open to it. And so that's what she's doing, every single day.

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