"We, the jury, find the defendant, Jeanine Elaine Prior-Matthews, guilty on all counts."
Tris sat between Natalie and Tobias as the jury foreman read the verdict. Her back was straight and her head held high. At the revelation of the verdict, she felt tension leave Tobias' body. She knew her husband felt vindicated, and satisfied with the result of the trial.
Natalie squeezed her daughter's hand. Jeanine had taken so much from their family. She'd drugged and corrupted Natalie's son, nearly caused her daughter's death, and damaged their family relationships. Even now the effects lingered. Natalie knew that Tobias struggled to be in the same room with Caleb. And her own marriage with Andrew was strained by her husband's refusal to completely walk away from the sister who'd nearly ruined their kids.
How can he still feel attachment to that bitch? Natalie thought bitterly to herself as Andrew's shoulders slumped at the verdict. She killed someone, and she nearly killed our children, yet he's disappointed that she's being held accountable. What kind of father doesn't want his children's attacker to pay for her sins?
On Natalie's other side, Andrew wasn't thinking about the Jeanine who nearly destroyed his family. He was remembering the Jeanine who wore her golden hair in two curly ponytails that bounced as she ran on chubby toddler legs. He remembered Jeanine in the yellow prom dress their mother had tried to talk her out of, and in the simple wedding dress she'd worn when Andrew performed her wedding ceremony. Chester Matthews had been way too old for Jeanine, but she'd been happy with him. He'd financed her education, taken them on grand trips, bought them a big house in Erudite, then left her a childless widow at thirty.
When Caleb was born a few months after Chet's death, Andrew had seen the brief look of longing pass over his sister's face before she'd covered her feelings with the mask of clinical indifference that eventually became her regular expression.
His sister was a sick and broken woman who'd felt rejected by their parents and disappointed by life. Andrew knew that in some ways his life had been salt in his sister's wounds. Jeanine did horrible things and deserved to be punished, but Andrew couldn't help but feel guilty as the bailiff hauled her away.
After the verdict was read, Tris, Tobias, and Natalie expressed their condolences to the family of the research participant who'd died in Jeanine's scheme. Tobias texted the verdict to their PR people, who, in turn, released a prepared statement about the despicable nature of Jeanine's many crimes.
In part, the statement reiterated what Tris had said when she was ambushed on live television before the art show. "People shouldn't be lied to or killed in a clinical trial. Jeanine Prior-Matthews is being held accountable for her actions, as it should be. Scientific research is supposed to save lives, not take them, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of her victim, and everyone who was affected by this deplorable situation." The couple declined to make any statement to the reporters waiting outside the courtroom. They let their PR team handle it, and instead hurried out to the large SUV Amar had waiting for them.
Andrew and Natalie had flown to Erudite for the end of Jeanine's trial, and Tris, Tobias, and Amar joined them just in time to be there for the verdict. With the trial settled, they were heading to Chicago together for Christmas week.
Tobias climbed to the third row, and Tris followed, leaving the closer seats for her parents. When Andrew got in, Natalie went around to sit up front with Amar. Tobias raised an eyebrow at his wife, who only shrugged.
"Is Rebekah waiting at the airport?" Natalie asked in a forced bright voice.
"No," Tris said from the back of the vehicle. "She stayed at home. Other than the end of the trial, we're just in the states for a simple family Christmas, a few meetings, and the shipping tycoons dinner in New York. I don't need an assistant, so I gave her the option to come with and visit friends or stay behind. She opted to stay behind. I'm sure Jorik will keep her busy while we're gone…"
"Tris!" Natalie exclaimed. "Do you think there's something going on there? They seemed friendly when we were traveling with them, but I didn't see anything obvious."
"They haven't said anything to me," Tris explained, "but I see the looks he gives her, and the little shy blush she gets when he's around. They're cute, but they're awfully shy about it. I've taken to asking him to drive us places, then leaving them alone together as much as I can manage. When she chose to stay home rather than fly to the States with us, I asked him to personally look out for her and drive her if she needs to go anywhere."
Amar chuckled. "I have to confess; I did the same."
Everyone laughed.
.
Natalie continued to be cool and aloof toward her husband on the flight from Erudite to Chicago. She ignored him in favor of catching up with Tris and asking Tobias and Amar about their business endeavors. She also avoided talking about Jeanine, and the others didn't bring her up either.
Back in Chicago, another large SUV waited at the airport. Amar loaded their luggage into the back while the Eatons and Priors claimed the same seats they'd sat in leaving the courthouse. As Tobias watched Andrew and Natalie, he realized that something was truly wrong between them. Natalie radiated an anger she tried to keep hidden, while Andrew's posture and expression screamed sorrow and grief. They didn't speak to each other unless absolutely necessary, and their exchanges were as quick and concise as possible.
As they neared the Priors' home, Tobias' concern about his in-laws was surpassed by his growing anxiety about seeing Caleb. When the SUV stopped in the driveway, Amar quickly opened the doors for Natalie and the backseat passengers. Tobias didn't move. His breathing became shallow as he stared at the front door of the house. As Tris moved to follow her dad out of the vehicle, Tobias let out a strangled breath and squeezed her hand.
"Tobias?" she asked in alarm.
Andrew stopped in the doorway and looked at the young couple.
"It's okay, Dad," Tris said. "We just need a minute."
Andrew nodded and left, and Tris sat back down beside her husband. "T'keqen?" she said gently. "What's wrong, Tobias?"
"I can't do this," he whispered, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Tris was shocked. All the way from Albania to Erudite, he seemed perfectly normal. At the trial and on the flight back, he'd been fine. Then suddenly, bam! some kind of panic attack in her parents' driveway.
"Look at me," Tris ordered in a firm but gentle voice. When Tobias' unsteady gaze met hers, she smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Hi," she said.
Tobias swallowed hard.
"What's wrong?" Tris asked. "Are you sick?"
Tobias shook his head. He reached a shaking hand under Tris' warm coat and pushed his thumb under the neckline of her shirt, running it over the scar where Caleb stabbed her. His gesture said what his words couldn't, and Tris nodded in understanding.
"You're worried about Caleb?" she asked.
"N… No. Not exactly," Tobias said, still shaky. "I'm not worried that he'll hurt you. I know I can take him if it comes to that. It's just… being here again and knowing I'm about to see him, it… it brings it all back. I keep seeing you… bleeding, in the hospital, getting in the helicopter without me. I thought I was over this. We sleep in that bed every night. We had him in our home one day. But here I am falling apart and suddenly overwhelmed all over again."
Tris snuggled into her husband's side. She knew there was nothing she could say that would take away the painful memories of that night. What Tobias needed most was to hold her close and feel her, safe and warm, in his arms. As she leaned into him, he put his arms around her tightly and sighed.
The door to the vehicle opened again, and Amar stuck his head inside. "Are you two coming in?" he asked with a smile.
"In a minute," Tobias said, pulling Tris tighter to his chest. "We're not ready to see Tris' brother quite yet."
Amar gave Tris a sad smile, thinking that she was the one struggling. He closed the door and waited dutifully outside the vehicle.
Eventually, Tobias loosened his grip, and Tris pulled away enough to look into his conflicted blue eyes. "I love you," she said, stroking his cheek. "I'm right here with you. You saved me, and saved my family. I won't ever let you go. Do you remember when we met? Two years ago you knocked on that very door, right there, looking for a little old lady who'd been nice to you."
Tobias chuckled. "I was looking for an older lady, yes, but she wasn't just nice. She saved my life. You saved my life."
"And you saved mine," Tris replied, nuzzling his neck and planting hot, open-mouth kisses on the underside of his jaw, "more than once."
"Fine," Tobias gave in as he leaned down to kiss Tris' lips. "We've saved each other. Over and over. And better than that, we've built a good life - a life worth living. Now let's go inside for a bit and get this out of the way so I can take you back to the hotel and have my way with you, Mrs. Eaton."
Tris giggled. "I look forward to it, Mr. Eaton."
.
Initially, the greetings went better than Tobias expected. For one thing, Tris and Caleb had spoken to each other a lot since he left Albania, so they were somewhat comfortable and had plenty to talk about. Another difference was Myra. Caleb's "friend" was there when the family arrived, and Tris and Tobias liked her immediately.
Myra was taller than Tris, though not by much. She was thin, and had shoulder-length dishwater-blonde hair and glasses with blue-green frames that matched her eyes and made them stand out. She'd been quiet at first, undoubtedly a bit overwhelmed meeting the sister Caleb had almost killed, her European millionaire husband, and a member of the household staff who flew in on a private jet.
"Kënaqësi që të takoj," (Nice to meet you,) she said carefully and timidly to Tobias and Amar, who broke into broad smiles at her thoughtful attempt to greet them in Albanian.
"It's nice to meet you, too," Tobias said, reaching out to shake her hand.
"A handshake?" Tris teased. "The first time I spoke to you in Albanian you picked me up and whirled me in circles. We nearly took out the crowd in Times Square. You've aged in the last two years."
"What can I say?" Tobias replied with a shrug. "There isn't room for that here in your parents' house. Plus, I got married and settled down, so I'm lazy now. And, Myra seems lovely, but you're the only girl I've ever wanted to spin around in circles. Also, I really don't want to get into a fistfight with your brother… again."
For a split second everyone was stunned silent. Then Tris giggled, and everyone began nervously laughing. The ice was broken. The elephant in the room was called out. The horror in their past was acknowledged, and its power stripped away.
"That didn't end so well for me," Caleb said.
"I don't know," Tris countered. "Your life seems to be going pretty well lately."
"You know," Caleb pretended to muse, "that's true. My brother-in-law didn't kill me, the Albanian mental hospital found me a book on water purification systems that set me on the path toward civil engineering, my sister didn't press charges, and I met Myra. Maybe Tobias and I should duke it out again."
"Just don't try to kill me this time," Tris warned teasingly. "I mean, I could have taken you, but you jumped me in my sleep, and you had some kind of crazy person strength going on."
"Can we not joke about this?" Andrew snapped.
"Sorry, Dad," Tris said contritely.
"Yeah," Caleb agreed, putting his arm around his sister's shoulders, "I guess we got kinda dark there. Sorry."
"No," Natalie snapped back. "You're not going to tell the kids how to deal with what they've been through. Dark humor and sarcasm are perfectly valid ways of bringing up hard topics and processing what that bitch put them through. You do not get to tell her victims how to process their pain."
"She's my sister, Natalie!" Andrew yelled.
Caleb drew Myra to his side and Tobias stepped to Tris' other side as their parents faced off and began to yell.
"Your sister tried to tear this family apart!" Natalie countered. "She tried to kill your children, yet you defend her?!"
"I what?!" Andrew roared in the loudest voice Tris had ever heard him use. She whimpered and pressed her face into Tobias' chest, and Caleb let go of her so Tobias could draw her closer. "I do not defend Jeanine! What she did is indefensible! I'm grieving Natalie! I lost my sister! Imagine if Tobias had killed Caleb that night. We would have understood, right? We hated what Caleb did, right? But if he had died that night, we would have mourned him because he's our son, and we love him. Jeanine -"
"Has never been a good person," Natalie interrupted. "She's cold, hard, calloused, cruel, selfish, and always has been! Yet you choose her! You're not supposed to mourn when monsters get locked up!"
"She hasn't always been like this!" Andrew screamed.
Tris sobbed into Tobias' chest, and he had enough. "Stop!" he roared.
Natalie and Andrew turned to face their family. Tris had her face pressed to Tobias chest and was sobbing as he held her with both arms. Beside him, Caleb stood with tears rolling down his own cheeks as he tried to be stoic and strong while one arm pressed Myra to his back. Amar stood to the side, his face a professional mask but his sorrowful eyes never leaving Tris and Tobias.
For several long moments they all stood there, Tris' sobs the only sound in the room. Natalie tried to move toward her crying daughter, but Tobias shook his head.
"Sit down," he said firmly but quietly. Caleb led Myra to the love seat, while Andrew and Natalie took armchairs. Natalie sat tensely on the edge of hers while Andrew fell heavily into his seat. Amar stayed quietly to the side as he had been, and Tobias stayed where he was with Tris against his chest. When everyone was settled, he spoke again.
"I don't think anyone in this room hates Jeanine more than I do," Tobias said to Natalie, who nodded in acknowledgment. "But something Andrew said reminded me of a conversation Tris and I had about Caleb. When we first met, I believed - I still believe - that Caleb was verbally abusive to his sister. But Tris couldn't see it. She couldn't see her childhood playmate, her 'nerdy but harmless' brother - her words - and think of him in the same context as my physically abusive monster of a father. It sounds like Andrew is having the same problem. We know Jeanine the horrible adult, but he still remembers her as a child. Just as Tris and Caleb have the right to process their feelings through dark humor if that's what works for them, Andrew has the right to grieve for his childhood companion."
Natalie was quiet, chastened by her son-in-law's words. Tris was quiet, too, her sobs calmed to soft sniffles. Tobias took a step backward, then seated himself on the couch, and pulled Tris onto his lap.
"He's right," Andrew said, his voice scratchy and weak. "Jeanine wasn't always like that. She was a sunny little toddler with curly hair. Then she was a bright student, and a leader among her friends. She was genius-level smart, even as a child, which made her circle of friends small, but she wasn't a bad person.
"My parents always preferred me. They were older, and in their day there was a preference for sons. Boys inherited the family business and carried the family name. Girls were groomed to be homemakers. Jeanine never wanted to be a homemaker. She didn't like babysitting, decorating, or clothes. She loved science, and our parents never understood that. They criticized her constantly - especially our mother. They were proud of my decision to become a minister, but ashamed of Jeanine's drive to become a chemist. They helped me pay for seminary, but wouldn't do the same for her degree.
"Soon after I graduated and took my first church, Jeanine announced that she was marrying one of our father's friends. It was scandalous, and drove yet another wedge between her and our parents. Chet Matthews was a good guy, but he'd been married before, then lived as a bachelor for a long time after his divorce. He was old enough and well set financially to retire early, and she was in her early twenties and had been accepted to the best university in the country. So he retired, and they moved to Erudite where he bought them that big house. He supported Jeanine's thirst for knowledge, and I believe the two of them really cared for one another. He had a heart attack and died when Natalie was pregnant with Caleb. As far as I know, Jeanine never dated anyone else.
"She also never spoke to our parents again, didn't care for Natalie, and never took any interest in Caleb and Beatrice. We kept up the barest relationship after that. When my parents died, they didn't have much left, but they gave it all to me.
"What Jeanine did was unthinkably horrible - what she did to others and what she did to our family. There is no excuse for it, and I want to see her pay for what she did - especially what she did to my children. I'm not defending her. I don't want to defend her. But I can't help but feel guilty about what happened. My parents preferred me. The way they treated Jeanine was wrong, but I never defended her. They left me their entire estate, and I didn't share it with my sister. I… I feel… responsible. I should have done something; I should have said something! And when Jeanine took an interest in Caleb when he was in college, I shouldn't have encouraged it. I thought I would get my sister back, but I nearly lost my son instead!
"My family suffered horribly. Another family lost their daughter. My sister is going to rot in jail for the rest of her life. This is… It's all my fault!"
Andrew began weeping, and Natalie rushed to his side, throwing her arms around her husband. Amar and the young couples watched as Andrew and Natalie wept together and clung to one another.
"You did it," Tris whispered to Tobias. "You saved my family again."
"Our family," Tobias corrected, earning a broad grin from his wife even as another tear made its way down her cheek.