January 5
I'd remember this day like it was yesterday. I'd replay it over and over to remind myself of the freedom we all achieved, especially for Dominic, despite his inner feelings being in pain of betrayal.
The day started with just Dominic and I house hunting near the suburbs, he wanted to for the sake of the bub slowly growing in my belly, and the bump became visible already, well, possibly because I haven't shopped for work maternity clothing yet, so the clothes I wore had wrapped well around my figure. I really thought we'd be fine and happy, but then, halfway through one of the viewing of a house I really favored, my phone rang.
"Get to the court house soon, I'll meet you there," My Father instructed.
"Why?"
"I'll explain there, Marianne."
"Okay, okay," I muttered and waited for Dominic by the kitchen. I watched him from the window as he was outside with the real estate agent, having a serious discussion about the property and they were both gesturing and pointing at fixtures. As I stared out of that window, I caressed my baby bump, smiling subconsciously at the thought of our child running around with Dominic as I'd watch from the very spot.
I imagined it like it already happened.
"Annie, you okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "This house is really nice, and it's at the end of the cul-de-sac, so it's very private."
"And the neighbours are amazing," The agent added. "Two houses on the left are owned by a growing family as well, the one to the right of this is a retired couple."
"I like it too," Dominic agreed. "I don't even think I'd need to convince my soon-to-be wife about this."
"No, you don't," I chuckled.
"Well, just in case, I'll give you two a minute," The agent grinned. He knew he was already guaranteed a commission, but I supposed it was part of his job to make sure the potential buyers are certain to take it.
I waited for the man to leave before I fully faced Dominic, losing my bright smile as I said, "My Dad called, we have to go to the court house."
His smile faded just as quick. "What for?" He asked in an uneasy tone.
"I don't know. He just said to meet him there as soon as possible. I'm just relaying the message, Dom."
Dominic looked around the house one more time, a sigh escaping him as his pretty hazel eyes met back with mine. We both weakly smiled, mine was from knowing this wasn't going to be our home, but I'm guessing that it was the same for him. I wandered closer to him, wrapping my arms around his torso and poked my tongue out at him to tease the seriousness of his face, and he only tapped at my nose in response and asked, "Do you want this house?"
I nodded. "It seems so perfect."
"Then, before we go-" He let me go and told me he'd be back, leaving me alone once more. I don't know what he was up to, but he came back with a smug grin, holding a brochure of the property and a business card of the agent. He didn't say more, and he didn't need to, because I think he did something to secure a spot for this house. I felt a bit happier as he took me by the hand and we walked out feeling slightly better.
But that actually didn't stop the nerves on what was happening at the court house.
We got there half an hour later, and patiently waiting by the entrance was Hamish, he looked freshly shaved and clean cut. He was still in town for another week to settle things at the office before he went back to Chicago, something to do with proper transferring paper work or whatever, but everyone else knew he just wanted more time to say goodbye. And beside him was my Father, he looked very bothered and uncomfortable being out in public since he called it quits, becoming a full time Father to his young twins as well as Marcus and I. I was surprised he even made it all the way out here without looking as exhausted as he usually was.
"What's going on?" Dominic asked first, his face just as uneasy as the rest of them.
I wouldn't say I wasn't feeling the discomfort either, and it made the back of my throat taste like I was about to let out what I ate earlier that day.
"You know, it's that time," My Father mumbled under his breathe, his focus shifted towards me as he caressed his chin with his thumb, a weak smile curved just a bit at the corner of his lips as he said, "It's a little protective of me, and despite having you be put in this situation, sweetheart, I didn't want my pregnant daughter to come here."
"I am just as involved in this as anyone else, and for me to be pushed aside again would make me more annoyed than before. I deserve to know the outcome," I replied to him, trying not to furrow my brows in annoyance. It was hard convincing them to even let me hear their conversation throughout the past few days that built up to this moment, and especially Dominic, who became too protective of me due to my pregnancy with our first child. He knew about the risks of miscarriage in the early stages, and he greatly disapproved of me being around the stressful environment, but I constantly reminded him that from the very beginning, I was stressed and the possibility of getting pregnant while under all that pressure was slim - and there I was, carrying a baby.
"Okay," My Father sighed. "But be warned, Nathaniel hasn't been himself since he was taken into custody, so the sight of you may trigger an unstable attempt to lash out."
Hamish nodded and handed me a piece of paper, clearly photocopied, and explained, "That's the summarized mental analysis of Nathaniel during his time in custody, they ran that test under the request of your Father and Dominic, and judging from that, Nathaniel's pretty much a sociopath."
Sociopath. Is that the best they could come up with?
"You're not kidding are you?" I sighed.
"Unfortunately not," Hamish shrugged.
I skimmed through the words printed on the paper. There were the symptoms listed down followed by comments that Nathaniel demonstrated during their analysis. So to begin, they wrote that he was incapable of love and remorse about his loss of Janina and their first child, and from there, they wandered off to his dominance with his employees during his run as one of the top bosses of Lawler & Walsh. Their analysis had quite a bit of explanation too, like most sociopaths, for example, become angry or aggressive when their integrity is questioned, whereas a sane person would simply be happy to help clear up any misinformation or misunderstanding.
"I suppose we should get inside," Dominic spoke up, adjusting the collar and placing his hand calmly on my waist to keep me close and protected. "Let's get this over and done with."
"Yes we should," My Father nodded and led the way, he wandered ahead of us.
The walk in the court house was definitely eerie, the goosebumps shivering all over my body and the eyes of everyone made everything a lot worse, especially since a majority of them actually knew why we were there. I've wandered in here quite a few times, but the visits were not as bad as this. We met with Julia, she had a smile on her face, paper work in wrapped by her arms and her body back into that slim shape I last saw her. She greeted us, but there wasn't much time for chit chat as she opened the door to the small courtroom, it was a reasonable size and private. These were one of the rooms used for a private hearing.
Five people.
Yep, only five.
The judge, the bailiff, an FBI agents, Nathaniel and his lawyer. They were waiting, sitting there and watching us enter one by one. I tried not to look to the man's face, and as hard as I tried, he managed to make eye contact with me and his cold hazel eyes sent shivers down my spine. Dominic covered me as soon as he noticed, his brows frowned as he led me to the furthest chair we could find. My Father sat himself next to Julia, as did Hamish, at the very front.
This was the hearing that we all counted down to. There were no jury, no media, no outside party. Just us. And him.
The Judge was introduced and the opening statement started with Julia, playing her role as the District Attorney as perfectly as she played the wife-to-be to the man in the pedestal. She seemed eager to face him, the way she stood and strutted just a few steps towards his direction as though she purposely did so to taunt him, and she didn't flinch each time the man hissed. Neither of them stopped their stare down, they both stayed strong and confident and stood their ground, possibly why they managed to attract each other and seemed so perfect for each other to fool everyone.
Julia scoffed as she said, "There's a possibility that Mr Walsh may not have been there, but there are evidence that proved that he was. The evidence weren't tampered with, however, they were hidden and kept from the investigation during the time the case was open, which is obstructing with the case itself."
"How could I possibly hide such materials? I may have met with her, but the evidence could prove that anyone could have withheld such information from everyone else," Nathaniel snapped back, his brows frowning as he added, "And let me ask this, if it had been me in that scenario that everyone's talking about, who could take the photograph of me doing so? There has to be another person in the mix, am I correct?"
I cleared my throat and leaned to Dominic, his grip tightened at my arm as he whispered, "There's no way that he knew about the photograph, right?"
"Of course he would," I sighed. "He knows a lot of things, but who knows what is a lie and what is the truth."
"Yes, but what makes us believe that the material of his belt found at the scene and an old business card belonging to Janina with traces of his bloody fingerprints all over the card could have been tampered with?"
"Are you defending him?"
"No," He grunted. "I am not, but-"
I patted his chest. "Listen, he's your Uncle and he practically raised you, so I understand if you are subconsciously defending him without you realizing him."
"Annie, I need to-"
"That bitch-" We were both interrupted by the echo of Nathaniel's voice, followed by the banging of the gavel. We were silenced, the Judge calling for order as the bailiff held onto my Father as the FBI agent held onto his ex-partner in crime.
There must've been some words exchanged that I missed out on.
"W-What-?" I stammered as Hamish stood up, standing in a defensive manner in front of me as all gazes across the court room fell onto me. They all focused on me as though I'd been on trial - and according to Hamish's recollection - my Father abruptly interrupted Julia and Nathaniel's casual exchange of questions by accusing the accused of being inappropriate with me and the other female employees of Lawler & Walsh, however, Nathaniel blamed me for his down fall - full stop.
Unfortunately - in his words - since he met me, he changed. He accused me of being the one that ruined him as soon as I stepped through the silver elevator doors of Lawler & Walsh, and he added, "If that fucking brat didn't looked so much like Janina, I wouldn't have remembered my nightmare of her death. I wouldn't remember my soaking hands and watching her fall to the ground covered in blood and calling for my name to save her!"
"Save her?" Julia repeated. "What are you saying, that someone else murdered the victim that night?"
My Father slammed his palm against the desk in front of him, his face flustered as he said, "Insisting there would be a third party in this situation would contradict any accounts by witnesses."
"Yes, but how are you to know that there was another person involved? Weren't you once suspected and accused as my accomplice, Adrian?" Nathaniel scoffed.
"Even so, I was relieved of charges."
"-Order! Mr Lawler, need I remind you that you no longer hold a license to practice law, and in speaking up in my courtroom would get you charged," The Judge growled. "Now, Mr Walsh, though Mr Lawler spoke out of context, it is still true that there are witness reports. What is your response?"
"And please do take into account that everything you say and do will be recorded," Julia patronized him.
Nathaniel paused, his nostrils flaring as he breathed heavily, his focus shifted from me then to Dominic as he softened his gaze. It showed how much he cared and loved his nephew, giving the way he softened up his expression - and eventually - calmed himself as his stare lingered on, he obviously had a weak spot for Dominic no matter what. It made sense, given that they've spent a much longer time together.
A sigh escaped him, closing his eyes as he appeared more defeated than ever.
His cold hazel eyes shifted to my Father, they were both powerful men that knew how to work the odds against them, and though their friendship had fallen, their years of being just that managed to help them communicate through a silent conversation. They both kept silent, both nodded at the same time as Nathaniel faced Julia then towards the Judge. The wrinkles on his face crease as he opened his parched lips and said the words that everyone wanted to hear.
"There was no one else at the scene of the crime as I killed Janina Miller."
After so many years, the man confessed, but there must've been something more. It felt too easy, like someone else played the game with him.
"The photograph was not taken by anyone involved, it was possibly taken by a third party. A tourist perhaps. But I do not know who or where the photograph came from-"
"-Mr Walsh, your confession has provided a different insight to a situation like this, and how you managed to hide from the public due," The Judge continued to scold.
Nathaniel had already given up. His head slightly dropped, shoulders slumped and he seemed far less concerned about anything anymore. "Then your honour, as a final statement, may I say this," He spoke as he took one last breathe and stood up. He didn't look at anyone but the Judge, his face pale and uncertain, but he managed to say, "Any incriminating acts done by me is done on my own. Any suspects are therefore discharged of the accusations. I take full responsibility of this crime."
It sounded so scripted. Like someone had planned for him to say exactly that for when the day came to his defeat. And despite Nathaniel's confession, it seemed far less convincing me for. The way he defeatedly said so, in a tone that sounded forced and held so much more. I wanted to stand and speak up, ask him questions to learn more, but of course, I wasn't able to and I watched him get taken away.
I don't think we won that.
It just didn't feel right at all.
I pondered about it until the early hours of the morning. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about how easy it fell through. I couldn't stop seeing Nathaniel's expression as he was forced to fall from his throne. My gut instinct told me that he had more to say, but he couldn't. As I sat there on the couch, my fingers curled around the warm cup of tea, I began to worry, like... What if the series of events and the sudden confession had anything to do with Dominic?
"Why aren't you asleep?"
I slightly turned and looked over my shoulder, I caught glimpse of his silhoutte standing by the hallway, the dim light faintly detailing the tired expression on his face, his half-closed eyelids blocked the sight of his pretty hazel eyes.
"I- Well, I can't," I sighed.
"Why?" He mumbled, yawning along the way to the spot next to me, his arm wrapped around me as he pulled me close. Despite being wrapped up to protect me from the cold, being in his arms - in that embrace - felt a lot warmer. I leaned my head against his shoulder, my eyes closing as I asked, "Do you think it's over?"
"Of course..." Dominic croaked, though his voice faintly faded near the end.
"You don't sound too convincing."
"Because..." He faintly spoke. He fell quiet for just a moment before he cupped my chin and tilted my head up gently so I could stare into his eyes. They were visibly sad.
I don't blame him.
His Uncle practically raised him, and then one day, everything fell to the ground. For Dominic, it must've been like his world crashed before his eyes and he didn't know how else to deal with it at all.
Poor Dominic.
I reached my hand over to caress the side of his face, a smile weakly curved at my lips as I asked, "Will you be okay with me protecting you?"
"You've been protecting me way more than I've been protecting you," He slightly chuckled, though dry, it barely passed the margin to being a legitimate one. "But I promise, no matter what happens from here on out, I will protect you and our children."
"Children?" I choked. "I'm not having twins-"
"-We're having more than one, no questions or debates about it."
"Wow, so I don't get a say in this?"
The mood quickly lightened up. The man knew what to say and do to cheer up such a gloomy situation.
"Oh come on," He teased as he leaned closer and bit on my lower lip. "You know it'll be fun making one."
"Sure, but you don't get to experience the birth part of it."
"Baby, I'll be there to hold your hand and encourage you, so having you gripping my hands would help-"
I grabbed his hand away from my face and lightly bit one of his fingers. "-Just shut up."
"Shut up?"
"Yeah," I nodded and hurried to put my half-empty cup onto the table, my arms then tossed around his neck as I pressed my lips against his. Dominic merely grinned and pulled me closer, his hands felt every inch of me before we made love on the couch.
I'm glad that everything went back on track, back to how it used to be, back to normal.
Is it really?