Recovering Bethany was even easier than Betty anticipated.
New York's FBI department organised the retrieval, and wasted no time in surrounding Hotel Carter and locating Mrs Carter's cash-funded room. They found Bethany in perfect health, though visibly distressed by all the agents pointing guns and shouting at her temporary 'babysitter', then grabbing the little girl and rushing her away from the room. The FBI arrested Mrs Carter for her part in the kidnapping, and several news sites posted live streams of the FBI shoving her into the back of a van.
The New York Times posted the same article across their online platforms within five minutes of the rescue: Bethany Jones Found: daughter of FPJ3 retrieved by FBI at Hotel Carter. Later, when Jughead got around to reading past the headline, he'd have to admit even he was impressed by how fast the newspaper managed to release the report.
Social workers, escorted by the NYC FBI, started the drive towards Riverdale with Bethany safe in the backseat of their car. But being completely unable to wait for their arrival, Betty grabbed her car keys, left Jordan with Emma in the care of Alice, and drove with FP to meet the social workers on the road.
It took over an hour of driving, but when Betty spotted the social workers' car, she turned on her sirens, made a sharp U-turn on the highway, then sped to catch up with the car and pulled it over. She could hear Bethany's cries before she even wrenched open the door, and only took a few seconds to flash her FBI badge at the social workers before she was ripping Bethany out of the baby seat and clutching her tightly to her chest.
No amount of therapeutic meditation would ever compare to the overwhelming joy and relief Betty felt as she hugged her baby as close as humanly possible. She rested her cheek against her curly hair; it still smelled like her watermelon no-tears shampoo. Her body fit precisely in Betty's embrace, exactly where she was meant to exist.
Cora had called Bethany a 'quiet' little thing - well, Betty could confirm that her daughter's lungs were very much working as she cried against Betty's chest. But even though her daughter's high pitched cries struck her deep into her core, they were the most beautiful sound she'd heard come from Bethany's lips, even better than the day she was born.
Betty lifted her higher on her shoulder with one arm, and used her free hand to stroke Bethany's hair. It was damp - with tears or sweat, Betty couldn't tell - but her eyes stared up at her mother as she continued with her gasping, weeping breaths.
"It's okay, baby." Betty said gently as she stroked her hair. "I'm here, you're safe."
"Mmmm." Bethany mumbled. "Mamma…" she said, her cries drifting off into sniffling breaths.
Betty's guts twisted and her chest almost collapsed. "Yes, Bethy, Mommy's here." She said, and planted a kiss on her cheek. She watched Bethany reaching behind her neck, and smiled wide as she felt her daughter's hand wrapping around the strands of her ponytail.
The other FBI vehicle had stopped behind them and the occupants got out and spoke to FP. They then approached Betty slowly to discuss commencing their official handover of Bethany.
(The New York FBI would later release their dashcam footage of Betty pulling Bethany out of the social workers' car. Thousands of people were overjoyed at seeing Special Agent Elizabeth Jones planting kisses on her baby's cheeks and smiling at her through her tears. A deserved happy ending for the woman who took down TBK, some news outlets declared. Betty found that the media coverage didn't bother her at all.)
Betty buckled Bethany into her own car seat in the Mustang, and settled in beside her. FP took the driver's seat, then looked back to check on Betty and Bethany, a warm smile on his face as he turned back to take the wheel as they made the long drive back to Riverdale.
Once Bethany was calmer, her red-rimmed eyes sleepy as she gripped Betty's thumb in her tiny fingers, Betty pulled out her phone and opened FaceTime. She wished with all her energy that the person she was contacting would have his MacBook with him and answer her video call.
Jughead picked up on the third ring. " Betty, what's going on?" He asked quickly. She could make out the blue paint of the walls of Riverdale General Hospital behind him, and was relieved to see Jughead looking to be in good health.
Betty smiled, feeling her eyes welling up with tears again as warmth bubbled up inside her. "Someone wants to say hi to Daddy."
She turned the screen to face Bethany. The little girl perked up and let go of her mother's hand as she reached out to touch the screen. "Da Da Da." She said quietly, but clearly, a smile forming on her lips.
"Bethy, I'm so happy to see you!" Jughead gasped, his voice thick and croaky with emotion. "I missed you so much baby girl." He coughed, and Betty noted his expression was one of overwhelming relief, though moisture was building in his eyes. "How is she, Betty, is she okay?"
"She's great Jug." Betty said, her throat constricting. "She was upset at first but she's settled down a lot."
"I can't wait to see you both." Jughead said, the tears flowing freely down his face. "And have you back in my arms."
"Oh, God. Stop with the tears, Jug. Please. You're turning me into a hot mess." Another voice came through the speaker. Jughead huffed and his eyes and pointed the MacBook's camera to his left. Jellybean sat in a chair beside him, her own eyes bloodshot and thick streaks of mascara running down her cheeks as she took in the screen. "Bethany! Hi there… How was your stay in New York?"
Bethany let out a little giggle and smacked the screen with her hand, and Betty watched as Jellybean wiped her eyes.
"Not cool, kid. You really scared all of us."
Jughead sounded marginally amused as he asked with a shaky voice: "Awww, JB are you crying?"
"Shut up, or I swear I'll leave you here alone to stew on your thoughts."
"No you won't."
"I said shut it, turd."
Betty wiped a stray tear from her eyes. "She's okay, JB. Not a hair out of place."
Jellybean let out a laugh that only slightly resembled a sob. "Well, this one's fine too, B. But he's being so annoying, gatekeeping all his pain meds. Won't even share with his sister."
"I know I didn't just hear that, JB." FP piped up from the driver's seat.
"These are stressful times, Dad! I think we could all do with a hit of Valium."
After Jughead was satisfied that Bethany was safe, and Betty was satisfied that Jughead was safe ("I'm good as new, Betts. All patched up." He said, tilting the screen down to his arm to show Betty his bandage), Betty made one other FaceTime call.
It was to Alice. "I need to lay eyes on my grandchild right now, Elizabeth." She said immediately, and waited anxiously for Betty to place the phone in front of Bethany. Alice nodded curtly and called out to Jordan and Emma. Both kids were relieved and excited to see their sister's face on their grandmother's phone screen.
"Beth - you're okay!" Jordan said, his eyes wide in wonder, even as Emma took the phone from Alice's hands and stated: "I wanna look at her!" and the screen tilted up from beneath the children's faces at an odd angle.
"She's completely fine, guys." Betty placed her head next to Bethany's and smiled at Jordan and Emma's surprised little faces. "We're going to be back home in an hour, okay? Then we can all go see Dad."
Emma's head bobbled as though she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, but Jordan's face abruptly crumpled. He used his fist to rub his left eye, and the right began to trickle droplets of water.
"Jordy, it's alright Buddy." Betty said, trying to use a soothing voice despite the lump in her throat. "We're all okay, all of us are going to be back together now."
"Promise?" Jordan asked, his voice wobbling as he stared into the camera.
Betty held up the little finger on her free hand. "I pinky swear."
It was one of the most emotional days of Betty's life, and one that would be burned in her memory forever.
…
There was some benefit, Jughead discovered, to being shot in the arm by your wife.
For one, said wife was so filled with guilt that she spent sixty percent of her time bringing him snacks and waiting on him hand and foot, and another twenty percent telling him how much she loved him and how sorry she was.
"You don't need to keep apologising, Betts." Jughead reassured her, lifting his uninjured arm to wipe the stray tear away from her cheek with his thumb. "You did what you had to do to keep our child from harm."
And though being shot definitely sucked, when it came down to it, Betty had done it because she'd chosen Jordan over him. Jughead didn't need to ask her if that meant she loved their kids more than she loved him, because maybe that action alone had proven that her answer wouldn't matter. Whatever their feelings for each other, their kids came first.
It was something that had been missing from Jughead's first marriage. Something that Cora would never understand, because her life revolved around her, and had never shifted to prioritise her son.
But Betty understood. And Jughead felt the same way.
"And I'm sorry." Jughead said, his words coming out thick as he gazed into her eyes. "You haven't ever let me down, I was just… angry, and I shouldn't have spewed that kind of hate at you."
Betty shook her head furiously. "No, you had every right to be angry with me. I didn't even consult you. I just assumed you'd go along with whatever crazy scheme I cooked up." She placed her hand on his cheek.
Jughead gave her a wry smile. "Well, you were right about that." Betty laughed softly, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "And your scheming worked." Jughead pointed out. "Bethany and Jordan both came out unscathed. It was a good idea in the end."
"No, it wasn't." Betty snickered. "You still got shot. By me. Which was… unhinged." Her eyes gleamed as she used his earlier words.
"Oh, God." Jughead groaned.
Betty leaned her forehead against his. "And infinitely reckless."
"Yeah, well," Jughead said, placing his hand on top of hers, holding it against his cheek, "I like you reckless."
The remaining twenty percent of Betty's time was spent making sure all three of their kids were safe, and happy, and healthy.
Neither parent argued when Jordan wanted to keep sleeping in their bed for the first three nights after Jughead came home from the hospital. Betty let Emma and Bethany join them, and the family of five stayed squished together beneath the covers. Jordan's head stayed tucked underneath Jughead's arm, and Betty kept Bethany cuddled up to her chest as she ran her fingers through Emma's silky black hair. She looked up and smiled as Jughead reached his arm across the sleeping children to rest it on Betty's hip.
Perhaps it was overkill, because both Cora and her mother were behind bars, and all three of Cora's brothers were so horrified by her actions that they'd co-operated with the FBI's follow up investigations without even a hint of refusal… but Betty and Jughead needed to see their kids nestled safely between them both just as much as their kids needed to be there.
…
Two months later, Bethany was back to her usual bubbly self, and Betty was in awe of the resilience of her little girl.
She learned to walk, properly, and then she was toddling after her brother and sister. Soon after that she could call out their names as she chased them around the house (or they chased her).
Laughter, joy, and the distinct sound of children's giggles filled the Jones house again. The cloud of doom and depression all but dissolved with the rays of happiness that now spread throughout the family.
Betty was in a moderate amount of legal trouble with the FBI for how she handled the situation with Cora (and in a lot of trouble for shooting Jughead and tampering with the Sheriff's station's jail cells), but if she had to go back in time, she'd do everything in the exact same way. It was the only thing she felt she could have done at the time, and both she and Jughead were glad that neither of their kids had been injured in the process.
In any case, Betty's trouble with the higher ups of the FBI didn't matter, because a week after her daughter was located, Betty handed in her badge and gun and officially resigned from her position.
"You don't have to do this." Director Lincoln told her solemnly. "You're one of our best agents, Betty. I'm positive this will all blow over. Suspending you is just a formality. The FBI aren't going to press charges against you or dismiss you, this is just for appearances sake."
But Betty just sighed as she straightened up. "I know… but honestly, this isn't what I want from life anymore." She smiled, then continued on to say: "My kids are more important to me than my position with the FBI. And if the last two weeks have shown me anything, it's that I need to focus on my family right now. Time with them is never going to be guaranteed. I don't want to waste any more of the time I do have."
Lincoln was still visibly unconvinced, but he nodded and accepted her resignation without arguing any further. "It's been… a pleasure to work with you, Agent Jones."
Betty's smile turned into a smirk. "Don't get all formal on me now, Lincoln." And was still smiling as she walked out of the FBI Headquarters for the last time…
….
After spending several months being a stay-at-home mother, and working on the Riverdale Register, Betty applied for a Master's Degree in Journalism through the same online college program Jughead had used to get his teaching degree. The family celebrated with banana splits from Pop's when she received her email of acceptance.
It wouldn't be the last time Betty pursued tertiary education, but writing a dissertation had to wait until Bethany started kindergarten. Jughead bought Betty a silver heart shaped locket filled with photos of their kids to congratulate her the day the family all drove to New York City to watch the ceremony when Betty received her PhD.
Her dissertation took three years to complete, and was entitled: The effectiveness of sex therapy in patients who present with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after experiencing extended periods of Serial Killer-Inflicted sexual violence.
She only researched and monitored the progress of people who willingly applied to be a part of her study, and all of them were given pseudonyms, as was their attacker. Because escaping a serial killer was rare, her pool of participants wasn't a particularly large group. But the results of her research had practical implications for sexual assault victims with a variety of backgrounds.
Jughead published The Expatriates, and promptly wrote another Young Adult novel. This one was called 'Inside Me', and focused on a boy in his junior year of high school who, after a lot of hilarious social hiccups and gut-wrenching heartbreaks, figured out that he wasn't weird for only ever experiencing sexual feelings for, and having crushes on, his close friends - he was demisexual. Netflix picked it up for a three-season series, and Jughead couldn't believe they'd managed to adapt his single book into such a drawn-out teen romcom tv show.
He would go on to write at least one book per year for the rest of his life. Sometimes Young Adult, sometimes Murder Mystery, sometimes Erotica, and very occasionally True Crime with the permission of the victim's families. But always with a compelling storyline that had believable and relatable characters…
Jordan still had nightmares almost every day for the first three months after the incident with his birth mother, and subsequently had them periodically for another year. But with the help of the child psychologist Jenna Dawson, his anxiety all but disappeared, and anything that remained was completely manageable.
When Cora got convicted for kidnapping and endangerment (of Bethany), and unlawful imprisonment (of Jughead and Jordan) - for thirty three years with no parole - Jordan's lingering stress was resolved.
Mrs Carter was put on house arrest for three years, but the Jones family never had a problem with her again (Fifteen years later, they would catch a glimpse of her at Chandler's wedding to Kelly Carter. Her invited presence had almost broken the happy couple up, but Mrs Carter kept her distance, and Jordan pretended she didn't exist as he stood up to be Chandler's Best Man).
The times when Jordan asked one of his parents to lay next to him as he fell asleep became an infrequent occurrence, and the psychologist suggested they start refocusing his therapy to get him past his fear of swimming.
He didn't quite make it in to a pool by the end of the Summer that his birth mother was imprisoned for three decades, but Jordan was content to at least dangle his feet over the edge of the water and watch his sisters and cousins swim around. Jughead was more than happy to stay beside him from the safety of the pool's edge.
On the first day of school for the year, Betty and Jughead both stood at the gates as they made sure Jordan had everything he'd need in his backpack.
"Do you know where your classroom is this year?" Jughead asked, and Jordan nodded in confirmation. "What about your new teacher, have you met her before?"
"Yes, Dad." Jordan said, and rolled his eyes. "I'm in the third grade now. I know everything about my school."
Betty chuckled and brushed some of the hair out of Jordan's eyes. "You're right. You're practically a grown up now."
Jordan shook his head. "I'm not that old, Mom."
"My apologies." Betty grinned.
"Okay, are you all ready?" Jughead asked, and as Jordan nodded he reached out and pulled him into a hug. "Have fun today. Learn lots of new things." He squeezed Jordan tightly then said: "I love you, Bud."
"Love you too." Jordan grumbled into Jughead's shoulder. He pulled away and reached up to hug Betty. "Love you, Mom." He said as Betty's arms wrapped around him.
"And I love you." Betty said into his hair. She kissed the top of Jordan's head and added: "I'll never stop loving you."
Jordan pulled away and gave her a look. "I know." He said, and turned around to walk through the school gates.
Betty leaned her head on Jughead's shoulder. "Think he's going to be okay today?" She asked him, watching as Jordan caught sight of River and waved his hand to greet her.
Jughead wrapped his arm around Betty's waist. "I know he will be."
She smiled up at him. "And are you going to be okay?"
Jughead grinned. "I have Juniper in AP English this year, and she's already expressed the strong opinion that I didn't set the class enough feminist research for The Scarlet Letter over the Summer… so who knows."
Betty laughed, and smiled as she watched Jordan step into his new, less rigidly supervised, and significantly freer life.
…
When Bethany was in the second grade, she fell off the jungle gym in Picken's Park and broke her arm.
She cried initially, but in the end it was her reassuring her parents that she was okay. They didn't need to worry, because the doctors were going to fix her, and Jughead's heart swelled with affection for the little girl. Her cast was a bubble-gum pink color, and she dutifully allowed her school friends to draw and write along the sides, showing the resulting mess off to her siblings in the car ride home.
Emma was diagnosed with ADHD during her second month of attending Kindergarten. Betty and Jughead held off on medicating her until she was in the fourth grade, and only did so when it became apparent that she might need to repeat the grade because, despite her above average IQ, her teacher let them know that she had a "total inability to concentrate" and "displayed consistently disruptive behaviour" while in class.
Years of warning signs flashed through Betty's mind, like Emma's hyper fixation on things like fruit, her lack of fear when climbing up onto high places, how she couldn't be trusted alone in the kitchen because she always seemed to risk burning herself on the stove just so she could look inside the pots and pans because she needed to know what was in them. The way she would pester her siblings and just didn't seem to know when to stop. How she was constantly being reminded by her parents to behave herself, and the fact that out of all the kids her age in their family she was by far the most energetic. Additionally, her parents were very aware that she wasn't naughty but always seemed to be getting corrected at school and at home because she was nearly always doing something she shouldn't be.
Betty felt guilty putting her on a low dose of Adderall… until Emma's temperament in the classroom improved, she stopped getting in trouble all the time, and her grades finally reflected her high intelligence. She made friends more easily, but was still the over-excited, sweet child with a vast enthusiasm for life that she'd always been.
Those were the most dramatic things that happened to the Jones family over the next ten years.
Almost everything was… normal. Everything else was great.
Their extended family still had dramas occasionally - but every family does. And there were no more serial killers, no more birth parents trying to kidnap children in revenge, and no more Hiram Lodges to destroy their hometown.
Betty and Jughead's children were growing up. For them, it was as though they blinked, and suddenly Jordan was on the cusp of turning eighteen, pacing nervously in the kitchen as he waited for his mother to return home from picking his sisters up from their 'hangout' day with Linda and Fred Andrews.
"Finally." Jordan breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the car pulling into the driveway, and shot his father a look of disapproval when he heard the man snickering.
Jughead grinned. "You need to calm down, Bud." He said gently. "I'm sure you—"
"Shhh! You're gonna jinx it!" He said frantically, and then looked towards the front door as it opened up.
Two enthusiastic middle school girls walked through the door before their mother. "Linda got a pet turtle!" Emma announced, her eyes wide as she hurried over to the kitchen. "Mom has a picture on her phone! Mom, you need to show Jordan! Come on ."
Bethany floated in with far less of an erratic energy, and sat down at the kitchen table next to her father. Betty was shaking her head as she pulled her phone out of her handbag. "The turtle will still be on my phone if I take another minute getting in the door, Em." She huffed. But she smiled affectionately as she opened up the photo and handed the phone to Emma.
Emma practically teleported back and forth from the kitchen to retrieve the phone and held it up to Jordan's line of sight. "It's name is Michaelangelo! That's a painter and a ninja turtle!"
"Wow," Jordan gave her a tight smil, "that's pretty cool, Em."
She nodded and hurried to give the phone back to Betty. "I'll be back! I have to tell Azalea! Linda said it was okay if I did." She said in a rush, then practically disappeared in a burst of energy as she ran to her bedroom - no doubt to talk to her cousin on her iPad.
Jughead smirked at Betty as she made her way to join them at the table. "No meds today, I see."
Betty grimaced. "I forgot to remind Veronica. I'll let her be for now… it's the weekend. She'll be fine without them for one day." Betty had come to terms with Emma's need for medication, but she'd never make her child see her ADHD as a burden that needed to be stamped out. She wouldn't make Emma feel like she needed to be perfect. Just being who she was was enough.
Jughead nodded. Jordan gave him a pointed look, so Jughead cleared his throat, turned to Bethany and said: "Hey, Caitlin sent me her new book. It's on my desk if you want to read it."
Bethany's eyes lit up. "Really?! I thought it wasn't supposed to come out until November!"
Jughead nodded. "It isn't. She sent me the final draft so you could review it for her before it gets published."
Bethany had almost as much enthusiasm as was radiating from her sister as she hurried into the office to get her hands on the latest edition of Caitlin Sherman's kid's mystery books. Jordan sighed with relief as he slumped into an empty chair.
"You okay?" Betty asked Jordan, curious concern in her eyes.
Jordan shrugged. "That all depends on the contents of that." He pointed at the tabletop, and Betty realised that an A4 sized envelope, stamped with the insignia of New York University, was sitting ominously in the center of the table.
Betty straightened up. "It came! You didn't open it yet?"
Jordan shook his head. "I wanted to wait until you got back…" He swallowed, and a forlorn expression settled on his face. "What if I didn't get in…?"
Jughead leaned forward. "Hey, there's always your safety schools." He said encouragingly. "You have options, Jordan. I'm sure you're going to get into at least one college."
Jordan covered his face with his hands. "I'm too stressed to look… can you guys just read it for me?"
Jughead pushed the envelope closer to him. "Come on, whatever happens, the Sun is still going to come up tomorrow."
Jordan stared mournfully down at the envelope for another moment before he huffed and grabbed it. "I can always reapply next year…" He muttered to himself.
"That's the spirit." Betty said, and felt Jughead reaching for her hand beneath the table. She squeezed back and kept her eyes on Jordan's face.
Jordan read through the paper. "To Dear Mr Jones… ha, that sounds so formal. We are pleased to inform you…" He paused, and his eyes widened as he looked up at his parents. "I got in."
Jughead stood up. "I knew you would!" He exclaimed, and almost tripped over his own feet as he hurried to draw Jordan into a hug. "Buddy, I'm so proud of you."
Jordan's face filled with relief and joy as Betty joined them on the other side of the table. "Me too! This is great news." She took the paper out of Jordan's hands and read over it. "Bachelor of Game Design. You got your first choice!"
"I can't believe I actually got in." Jordan said, sounding completely stunned.
Jughead laughed. "Well, I'm certainly glad we won't have to send you off to study in California now. You'll still be… kind of close to home."
"Ha! Aunt JB's going to be so cut. She was hoping I'd get into CalTech." Jordan said, a grin making its way onto his face.
"You still might, you know." Betty pointed out.
But Jordan shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I want to go to NYU. This is literally my dream school."
Jughead nudged him affectionately. "And I'm sure this big dream of studying in New York has nothing to do with the fact that River wants to go to Highsmith."
Jordan blushed, but still rolled his eyes at Jughead. "I'm not going to choose a school just because of a girl, Dad." He smirked, a cheeky look in his eyes when he added: "I'm not like the libido-driven teenagers you write about."
"Ouch." Jughead laughed. "You know I named you after one of those teenagers, right?"
"A fact that definitely isn't embarrassing or cringey at all." Jordan joked, then paused as he raised from the table. "Don't overthink this, but I'm gonna go call River to let her know." He said, and was still blushing as he made his way down the hallway. But he hadn't closed his door quick enough for his parents not to overhear when he said: "Hey beautiful, guess what?"
Betty smiled as she took a seat next to Jughead. "Well, that's one down…"
Jughead wiggled his eyebrows. "Only two left before we can officially instate the clothing optional rule."
Betty snorted. "I had no idea what a closet nudist you were when I married you."
"Well, I had to keep some mystery alive in our relationship." He grinned and leaned over to kiss Betty on the lips.
When they pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes, there was no fear or lingering anxiety about the future. Only happiness.