“You don’t?” I asked.
“No, I want to talk about the baby. What did the doctor say?” he asked. I had another appointment today with a new doctor. The best one money could buy, Janson claimed.
“Everything looks great. I’m four weeks along, and they even checked. There is a heartbeat, Janson. A heartbeat.” I smiled.
“Will you let me go now?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m sorry, I was just so scared. I didn’t want it to be false and then have to see your face like that. I wanted to be able to have time to deal with it then tell you.”
“I understand.”
“We’re going to have a baby,” I said as I looked into his eyes. Nothing could be more perfect.
“We are,” he said as he looked me over. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“Oh, I know. Joanna has informed me.”
“How is she doing?” he asked.
“Well! She’s been writing like a mad woman. I’m glad she’s gotten back into the field. Writing textbooks seems like it is exactly what she needed. Greyson offered to provide care if she wanted to go back to school, but that isn’t what she wants. She wants to stay home with Jessica and work on affordable textbooks for college kids.”
“Sounds noble.”
“I think she is going to be all right,” I confirmed. “I think we are all going to be all right.”
“We are going to be just fine.” Janson stood and then got down on one knee. I knew what was coming, but I couldn’t help but gasp.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“We are going to be more than fine,” he amended as he pulled a small box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a ring. It was gorgeous. Princess cut with sapphires to accent. Exactly what I’d always dreamed about.
“Janson,” I started, but he interrupted.
“Kat I’ve loved you from the first time I kissed you, I was just too stubborn to admit it. But I know now that I’ll always want you. I’ll always be there for you. But I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?” he asked.
“I will,” I said. I held out my ring finger and bit my lip. I wanted this for us. For our family.
He would always be the one to me. No matter what. I was sure that with him next to me, everything was going to be all right.
“Great, now your brother can take the price tag off my head,” he joked as he stood. “I love you, Kat.”
“I love you, too.” And I always would.
Epilogue
Kathryn
I stared at Janson as he walked through the door, a straight face his mask against the world, but not with me. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was smiling.
“What happened?” I asked as I sat on the couch and looked up at him. I was just beginning to show, four months had flown by, and I looked up at him.
“It’s not good for our fathers, I’m afraid. DNA evidence was found on two of the thirteen and they linked it to them. The other bodies were without, but the execution style and the markings they left all match up with the two confirmed cases.”
“How did they find these bodies?” I asked, curious. It was me, but I wanted to know what the federal prosecutors were saying.
“Anonymous tip. I think they think it was Michael, but that man was never actually privy to that sort of information. He never rose that high. Still, my dad is convinced that he was snooping around.”
“He was,” I said as I looked at him. We were relishing this. It was sick, but it was so f*ck
ing deserved. They always said revenge was best served cold. Cold hard prison was pretty damn just.
“He was,” he confirmed. “But it doesn’t look good for them.”
“What does Greyson think?” I asked.
“He’s got a similar story for our father. Who is so angry that they’ve had to put him in solitary twice. Apparently your mother has refused to visit him.”
I kept down a twisted smile, trying not to show just how satisfied I was with that claim.
“Do they suspect anyone for turning them in?” I asked.
“They have ideas, but nothing that I am aware of.” We were being cautious. We promised never to admit the truth. Not even to ourselves. It was too easy for someone, anyone, to overhear. “So far, it’s Michael and possibly Henry. They blame the Butcher for this.”
“What happens next?” I asked.
“More of the same. Evidence gathering, waiting for trial, if it goes that far. They might get a plea deal, but it won’t be good. Probably twenty to life with no death sentence,” he explained. It sounded like a fair deal to me, more than they actually deserved. We wanted them behind bars, we wanted them away from us, but even in prison, they could run the family.