Along with the theme of forbidden love, another prominent matter throughout the novel is the idea of having a child with someone related to you (in Rachel and Dillon’s case, first cousins). From the first chapter of this book, this idea is discussed and highly retorted. The subject is initially brought up when Rachel and Dillon are small children – “Dillon is your first cousin. You want to have babies that aren’t right? … I mean simple in the head. Deformed,” Flora Honaker abruptly states. This is something brought up many times throughout the first book. Rachel often explains her dilemma to her nursing school roommate and friend, Tommie. “… I miss him so bad. But he’s my cousin, so we’ve got no future,” Rachel explains, fighting back the urges of her forbidden love for Dillon. When Rachel and Dillon sleep together for the second time, Rachel immediately questions Dillon regarding their potential child together – “Do you think it would be all right? It wouldn’t be deformed?” Shortly thereafter, Rachel found out she was pregnant and later gave birth to her daughter, Jackie. Even though the father of Jackie was always in question throughout the novel, the subject of whether or not Dillon was the father and the issues that would come along with this was often brought up.