Relief

Chapter Twelve

KATELYN'S POV

Drew and I were sat with Daniel in the court room, waiting for the judge to give out Randy's sentence. I had slept like a baby the night before, knowing that the whole nightmare was finally over. Drew squeezed my hand under the table, I looked over and smiled weakly.
'Don't let him see any sign of weakness baby girl,' Austin whispered to me from behind. Judge Shepperton entered from his chambers and the bailiff asked everyone in the court to stand.
'You may be seated,' Judge Shepperton said as he sat at his bench. He shuffled some papers around and began to speak. 'Mr Orton, yesterday afternoon you changed your plea to guilty and confessed to each of the crimes you are on trial for. I have deliberated with both your attorney and Mrs Galloway's and we have all come to the same conclusion. You are to be sentenced to life imprisonment at at maximum security prison, where you will have to serve a minimum of 30 years before being eligible for parole. Bailiff, please take him away.' I watched as the bailiff cuffed Randy and led him through a side door. 'Mrs Galloway, I'm so sorry that you and your family have had to endure this trial and all the bad press that has been said against you. I think you are an incredibly strong young woman and you can now live your life in peace, knowing that the man who tried to rape you and murdered your sister is behind bars. Thank you all for your time.' The judge stood up again and exited the court room. I leapt up and hugged Daniel.
'Thank you for everything,' Drew said to him as he shook his hand.
'I'm just glad we got the right result,' he replied. 'And you don't need to worry about the bill, it's already been taken care of.' Daniel picked up his suitcase and we all filed out of the court room. 'Now, shall we face the press one last time?' I held back.
'You guys go ahead, I'm not sure I can face any more questions,' I said.
'Don't worry, I'll stay with her,' Joe said, coming up at the side of me, flanked by Austin and Heath. Drew gave me a quick kiss and walked through the main doors with Daniel. 'How're you feeling, mama?' I sank down onto the nearest bench.
'I dunno. I should feel relieved, but something doesn't add up. Why would he confess to everything after 3 days?'
'You don't need to worry about any of that now,' Heath said, taking a seat next to me. 'All you have to worry about is getting home to AJ and living your life with no fear.'
'It doesn't make any sense. What changed? He went weeks denying everything and then boom, outta nowhere he just decides to change his mind and tell the truth.'
'Maybe he had a visit from his conscience,' Joe chuckled.
'Not likely,' Hunter said, standing in front of me. 'Maybe a certain Mr Vincent Kennedy McMahon threatened that if he didn't tell the truth, all his career would have been for naught and he would've been erased from the history books. How about we all go for lunch to celebrate?' The guys cheered and I offered a smile.

Hunter had picked out a fancy Italian restaurant, the same one that Drew and I went to when we celebrated our second engagement. When I walked through the door, I was astonished at the sight before me. They had shut down the restaurant for us and all of my work friends were sat around a huge table.
'SURPRISE!' they all yelled. Drew held my hand and led me to the table, getting hugs and congratulations from everyone. Once we were all seated, I lookee around the table. Everyone who cared about me was here, Austin, Bobby, Kyle, Roddy, Finn, Becky, Seth, Renee, Dean, Joe, Adam, Dolph, Elias, Alexa, Nia, the Uso twins, Kofi, Xavier and E., even Cary and AJ were here.
The waiter came with a tray of sodas. Hunter stood up again.
'Now, there is a reason I have gathered all of your closest friends here for this lunch. This isn't just a celebration for the court case. Katelyn, I've already spoken to Drew and he is in agreement that you being with WWE is what's best for business. We want you back with the company. What do you say?' I stood up and flyng my arms around him.
'Of course I'll come back. The last few months have been horrible without all my favourite people.'
'SPEECH!' yelled Xavier. Hunter gestured to the table.
'The floor is yours,' he said and he sat back down.
'Guys, I'm truly overwhelmed by the love and support from you all since November. It's been a crazy road, but as always, I made it through and it's all because of you guys. Andrew, I love you and I'm sorry for being the biggest pain in the ass in history. I haven't been the best wife or mother to AJ, but now that it is all over, I can work on being the best I can be.'
'You don't need to apologise baby,' he leaned up and kissed me, causing Jimmy to shout, 'keep it PG guys.' We broke apart, laughing, and I carried on talking.
'Joe, you have been my rock throughout this entire ordeal. Without you, I would've crumbled and not fought it. You have your own battle going on, but you made sure that I was okay before yourself. I honestly don't know what I would've done without you. Bex, Nay Nay, Alexa, Nia, you have kept me sane, sending me weird random shit to keep me amused. I love you girls so much. Austin, Adam, Heath, guys I can't thank you enough for all those late night phone calls of me whining and crying.'
'You don't need to thank us Kate,' came the gruff reply from Adam. 'Without sounding cliché, we're a family and family sticks together.'
'I second that,' Hunter said, raising his glass. 'Let's make a toast, to family.' Everyone raised their glass and said 'to family.' Normal conversation picked up, friends chatting with each other, I turned to Hunter.
'So, Hunter, we will need to have a meeting about my coming back. I want new terms, my own terms. We keep this a secret until the Royal Rumble and I come out as a surprise entrant in the womens rumble match.' Hunter chuckled.
'Whatever you want. Vince and I are in agreement, you are one of the top talents in our company and you arent even an in ring performer. Last month you were the most searched on the website and you sold the most merchandise. The fans still love you.'