Jem did end up having lunch with us after all. Jem said Atticus knew where he was told him to go ahead and stay until two because he figured Scout would whip him up something anyway and the meeting wasn't that important in regards to Jem. As chowed down on our egg salads and/or egg and olives and chugged our sweet iced teas, Jem filled me in on the parts that I had missed. He told me the trial involved one of Miss Lula's great-grandson's raping an underage white girl in Abbott County. A trial that seemed to me eerily similar to Tom's.

"Who's Miss Lula, again?" I asked.

"Remember that one time Cal took us to church?" Scout piped up. "I believe I told you about that one big lady who was rude to us..."

"Oh," I said. Scout's explanation wasn't helping me much. "I guess I really don't remember."

"Let it go," Jem sighed and took a swig of his sweet tea. "She's a nasty woman and so isn't her great-grandson. That's the difference between this trial and Tom's trial is that my guy actually did it."

"So you're defending a guy who's clear he's done what he's done?" Scout asked, appalled.

"Between his scummy attitude and the color of his skin, there's no way we're winning anything except a bad name."

"So why is there even going to be a trial?"

"No man left behind, Scout. They press charges, we have to go to court. We already know there's nothing I can do except give him a shorter jail sentence which knowing how backwards things are down here with our colored people isn't going to happen."

"Was he indited for anything before?"

"Burglary."

"Burglary and rape? Those are both class A felonies! How many years did they want to put him behind for?"

"Life."

"How many are you shooting for?"

"50. I told him that was the best we could aim for."

"This is a bad situation, Jem," Scout said as she put her face in her hands. I began to rub her arm as I nodded at Jem. I couldn't help but agree with her.

"No shit," he said as he looked at his watch. "I better go. It's ten of two."

"Come here," Scout said as she got up from the table to hug Jem goodbye. "You take of yourself. Don't be stupid."

"You don't be stupid," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "You're carrying around my nephew or niece inside you."

"Please keep this a secret until Sunday okay?" She said as she kissed his cheek. "I don't need Atticus or Uncle Jack all riled up now. Atticus is probably upset enough as it is."

"He'll get over it," he said as he then walked over to me and patted me on the back. "Congratulations, man."

"Thanks."

"Do that to my sister again and I'll kill ya."

"Jem!" Scout exclaimed.

"At least you have a brother that cares, Scout," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you remember that, Dill," he said without a look back as he walked out the door. It was all okay; I knew he was kidding. I looked back at my wife who began to yawn.

"Ready for a nap?" I asked as I pulled her arm to get her to come closer to me.

"I'm exhausted."

"Let's go upstairs," I said as I got up and grabbed her other hand. "We'll have a nice afternoon nap together."

"But our dishes," she began. Ugh, her and her dishes!

"They'll be here when we wake up," I said as I began to jerk her out of the dining room. "Come on."

"If you say so," she said as she began to run up the stairs. If she thought she could beat me, she had another think coming. I jumped up the top step and then grabbed her and twirled her around. It wasn't until we were in our bedroom that I realized what I had done.

"I'm sorry," I said, breathlessly. "I shouldn't have done that. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied with a laugh as I let her beat me to the bed. I climbed in not far behind her, though and I kissed her before we both drifted off to sleep. Too many different emotions at once made me tired.

"I love you," I said to her.

"I love you, too."

"I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

"I believe you," she said as she rolled over on the other side away from me. I rolled over to my own side and let the silence in the room creep in until I slowly drifted off to sleep.

"This court's now in session. Everybody rise," a man's voice boomed out of nowhere. I popped my eyes open to find myself in the town courtroom. How I wish I didn't have to find myself here.

By the time it registered to me where I was, the people began to sit back down. I was up in the colored balcony again which was crowded again. I looked over the railing to find not Atticus in the defense lawyer's seat but Jem. Holy shit, was I predicting this trial? I sigh and slump back into my seat. I then couldn't help but smile at the fact that my wife was by my side. By this time, her pregnancy was beginning to show and I swelled with pride at the fact that my wife's belly was housing our baby. It just finally clicked what it was all about. I put my hand on Scout's knee and then I gasped out loud to find out it was not Scout, but her mother.

"Is that what a gentleman does to his mother-in-law?" She asked, cold as ice. A sharp contrast to the grateful, happy woman I met at the Landing.

"No, ma'am," I replied as I squirmed back in my seat.

"My baby's heart's going to give out," she said out of the blue. What was her obsession with Scout's heart.

"I promised you I was going to take care of it," I retorted.

Gasps from the audience shook me out of Scout's mother's grip and I looked down to see Jem before the jury clutching at his chest. He had turned to my side of the courtroom and his skin was beginning to turn gray before our very eyes.

"No, not again!" I heard Scout scream in my ear.

I turned and looked to see that Jean had turned into Jean Louise. My mother-in-law managed to morph into my wife. She then looked at me with a look of horror I never want to see again.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" She asked me.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"Stay here," she said as I could only watch in horror as she leapt up on the railing. That was when I really noticed her dress: it was white with red roses and a big blood stain right in the middle of her butt. Oh my God, she miscarried again.

"Wait," I said trying to pull her back. "Our baby!"

Scout nudged me wake before I could watch her fall to her death to help her brother. I jolted up and shrieked as I looked at her smiling face. Her smile didn't last long as she found out she had woken me up from a bad dream. She cupped my chin with her hand and kissed my sweaty cheek.

"I'm sorry I scared you, honey," she said.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I said as I began to breathe again. "Why did you wake me up?"

"Five o'clock," she said. She didn't have to say anymore.

"Time to go meet Atticus," I said as we both got up to go greet the old man coming home from work just like we would do when we were kids and we didn't have a care in the world. Except for Boo Radley...