Detective Lee nodded as if expecting that. “They’ve both plead guilty already. They’ll be behind bars for a long time.”
James exhaled slowly. I hadn’t realized how much stress he was still holding onto. “Thank you,” James said and stuck out his hand to Detective Lee.
“Just doing my job, sir.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Jon,” he said, turning to my father in law, “you said there was one more thing you’d like to discuss?”
“Yes, actually, I was hoping it would come up in the briefing. But since Officer Daugherty was the only one I ever told, I feared it might not. I had talked to him the other day, and I wasn’t sure why nothing was being done about what we discussed,” he said. “I thought it was the proof that we needed. And if I had known he was dirty… if I had talked to someone else… maybe none of this would have happened.” He shook his head. “Penny, that’s why Susan and I were fighting the other day in James’ room. I was confronting her about something. And she stormed off. I had to go after her. I had to confirm my suspicions. And I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I left him alone.” He shook his head again and looked back down at his hands.
“And what exactly did you tell Officer Daugherty?” Detective Lee asked.
I grabbed James’ hand. I knew this was going to be bad. I knew this was going to hurt him.
“About all the texts between Susan and Isabella.”
Shit. James’ mother helped her?
“He didn’t divulge that information during his questioning,” Detective Lee said. “What texts?”
Jon looked at James for a second and then looked back at the detective. “There are texts on Susan’s phone encouraging Isabella to do whatever it took to stop the wedding from happening. They never mentioned violence, and I’d like to think she didn’t know what was going to happen. But even after James was shot… she kept Isabella informed on what was happening in the hospital. She fed her delusions. She encouraged her. She was a part of all this.”
Detective Lee looked up from his notes. “Do you want to press charges against your wife?”
I noticed Jon glance at my stomach.
“Yes,” Jon said. “I want to press charges.”
“Dad?” James said. “You don’t have…”
“She encouraged Isabella even after she stole from you. Even after she hurt you. I know that Susan didn’t believe Isabella was behind that. In part because Officer Daugherty insisted that Isabella wasn’t. But, James, she knew. Or she at least should have been concerned. She put us all in danger.” He glanced at my stomach again.
“We’ll go talk to her now. If you’re sure,” Detective Lee said.
“I’m positive,” Jon said.
The detective nodded. “I’ll go tell her she needs to come in for questioning.”
“And I’ll get out of your way,” Jon said and started to follow Detective Lee out.
“Dad.” James got up and walked over to him. “Thank you.” This time James hugged him.
Watching their exchange brought tear to my eyes. I could feel that this was the start of something better. Maybe Jon would start being a good father right before James became one. I put my hand on my stomach. Be okay. Please be okay.
It looked like they said something else to each other, but I couldn’t make it out. James sat back down next to me with a smile on his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He put his hand on my thigh. “I’d like to say I was surprised by what my mom did. But I’m not. I’m okay, though. My dad was trying to protect me. I’m just going to focus on that instead.”
“What did he whisper to you?”
“He told me to try to be better than him. For you. For the baby.”
“I don’t think you have to try.”
“Maybe.” He put his hand on my stomach. “When do you think you’ll start showing?”
“I have no idea. I don’t even know how far along I am.”
“Who else knows already?”
“I told my mom, so my dad probably knows too. And you already know I told Rob who told Daphne. That’s it.”
James smiled. “I’m excited to tell people.” He spread his fingers out, covering my whole stomach with his hand.
I put my hand on top of his. “You’re really excited about this?”
“I think maybe this baby is everything I didn’t know I wanted. I can’t stop smiling. I promise that I’m excited.” He kissed my cheek as the doctor walked in.
“You ready to get out of here now that all the excitement has calmed down?” she said.
“Yes.” He said it more to me than to her. “I’m ready.”
I hadn’t expected James to be so accepting of this situation. But after everything that happened the past few weeks, maybe he was just counting his blessings too. He was embracing our future because we were lucky enough to have one together.
“You already know you have to come back in a few weeks to get your stitches removed and get a few more vaccines,” she said as she looked up from her chart. “And more important than that, you need to get your stress under control. I can’t emphasize that enough.”
“I will.” James rubbed his thumb against my stomach. It reminded me of when he’d do that to my palm. It was equally soothing. I had the feeling that he was doing it for the baby. To show him that he was there for him. Him. I wanted a little James running around. Apparently Rob’s thoughts were rubbing off on me.
“So, now for the baby?”
“Yes.” James stood up and grabbed my hand. He helped me onto the bed and squeezed my hand when I lay down.
His excitement was contagious. But I was still a little apprehensive. What if it wasn’t okay?
“Normally we don’t do ultrasounds until a few months in,” the doctor said. “But this will give us an idea of how far along you are. If you could just lift your shirt for me?”
I pulled my tank top up so that my stomach was bare.
She put some weird jelly looking stuff on my stomach and ran the wand over my stomach. “And don’t be alarmed if I can’t find anything. It just means you’re not that far along.”
I nodded. But as the seconds passed, I started getting concerned.
“Wait,” she said as her hand stopped. “There it is.” She pointed to the monitor. “That tiny little oval.”
It was the smallest little dot on the screen.
James squeezed my hand again. “It’s so small.” His voice was full of awe. I turned away from the monitor to look at him. His eyes were glistening. He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. “Can you tell how far along she is?”
“Based on the size, she’s probably just about four weeks. Which would put her due date in mid February. Probably right around Valentine’s Day.”
I found that completely fitting. I squeezed James’ hand.
“Can you tell what sex it is?” James asked.
“I don’t want to know,” I quickly said.
“What? Why?” He was smiling down at me.
“I want it to be a surprise.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“It’s too soon to tell either way,” the doctor said. “We can verify that closer to halfway through the pregnancy. If you change your minds and want to know, that is. But everything looks good. You should make an appointment with your gynecologist in a month or so. They’ll be able to give you a more precise due date and make sure everything is progressing normally. Did you want a print out of this?”
“Yes,” James said immediately.
She smiled and pressed a button on the keyboard.
“We’re going to be parents,” James whispered to me. He pressed his forehead against mine.
I put my fingers in his hair. “You’re going to be a great dad.”
He laughed and placed a soft kiss against my lips. “God I hope so.”