AN: Here's the epilogue to this little min-fic to celebrate Snowing and Valentines Day. This is a little modern AU I came up with a while ago, so I hope you enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.
Responses to individual reviews:
Number Ten: Yep, it's not quite over yet, but I think this one has a very satisfying little ending. :)
Grace5231973: Glad you like it so much! No, he just wants his son back that Cora helped Milah steal. I think you'll enjoy the epilogue. :)
AnonSnowing: Glad you like the twists with Neal. You'll like the conclusion too. :)
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, the deal is not so bad. David will find Neal and bring him home. Glad you like the inclusion of Milah here too. Yep, Mary is innocent and Cora is about to go down hard. I know, a story where Ruth gets to meet Emma is rare so I wanted to do one here. Yep, Emma is the perfect mix of her parents. Glad you are enjoying it. :)
Sweeter Than Fiction
Epilogue
He had gone home that night and explained everything to Mary and then to Graham the next day. By the next day, he was on a plane to Portland in search of Mr. Gold's son.
Meanwhile, Cora's trial began and they were all there to see the spectacle. She had pleaded not guilty, despite the overwhelming evidence that had been unearthed recently in the Mills family vault within the cemetery.
"On the night in question, Ms. Mills, can you tell the jury what you found when you entered your step-daughter's bedroom, a little over ten years ago?" her defense attorney, Albert Spencer, asked his client, who had taken the stand in her own defense.
"Yes...I found my husband dead and my step-daughter standing over his body with a bloodied knife in her hand. Her nightgown was covered in her own father's blood," Cora said.
"How traumatizing, though we must talk about the recent evidence unearthed from your family vault that has cleared your step-daughter of any murder charges. Can you speak about what was found there?" he asked.
"To be honest...I don't know how any of that awful stuff got there. I don't visit my family vault very often...it's quite painful and if I had to guess, I would say that someone else put those incriminating items there," Cora said.
"Objection...that's pure speculation," Mitchell Herman, the district attorney, interjected.
"Sustained...the jury will disregard Ms. Mills inference," the Judge ordered.
"Ms. Mills...your step-daughter has been on the run for a very long time. Do you think she could have planted the evidence?" Spencer questioned.
"Objection, Your Honor! This line of questioning is pure nonsense," Mitchell protested.
"Withdrawn, no further questions," Albert said, as he sat down.
"Ms. Mills…" Mitchell Herman stated, as he rose from his seat to cross examine the witness.
"Can you describe the nature of the evidence that was found in your vault?" Mitchell questioned. Cora looked reluctant to do so.
"It was quite gruesome. Surely the jury doesn't want to hear such things," she said. He smirked.
"The jury is made up of adults. I'm sure they can handle it. Please tell us what we're seeing on the screen," he said, as he motioned to the photo of evidence on the flat screen now.
"It's a box," Cora stated.
"Clearly...but what is this inside the box?" he asked, as the next slide was shown and it was rather gruesome to look at.
"A heart," Cora answered stiffly. He winced.
"And according to the crime lab...the heart belongs to your long deceased husband. Yet the heart is perfectly preserved...like a trophy," he stated.
"Objection...where is he going with this pointless line of questioning?" Albert interjected.
"Oh, I have a point, Your Honor," Mitchell assured.
"Overruled...get to your point, quickly, Counselor," the judge urged.
"Ms. Mills...why do you have a box with your dead husband's heart in your vault?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Cora questioned, as she looked at the jury.
"That little monster put it there!" she accused, as she pointed at Mary.
"Ms. Mills...are you really expecting the jury to buy that? To buy that sweet, little Mary Blanchard cut out her own father's heart, kept it all these years, perfectly preserved it, and then returned to plant it in your vault?" he asked with disdain.
"Yes...she's a little monster! She was holding the knife that night!" Cora accused.
"She was...but also found in your vault was a glass. Do you recognize this glass?" he asked, as he held up the evidence bag.
"It's just a stupid glass," Cora answered.
"But a glass that once belonged to the set in your house. An expensive set that had been custom ordered by your late husband. A glass that had the residue from a sleeping drug and your step-daughter's DNA on it," Mitchell stated.
"Objection...this is all conjecture. It proves nothing," Albert protested.
"On the contrary, Your Honor. Forensic evidence does not lie. Mary Blanchard drank from this glass on the night of her father's murder and would have ingested this sleeping drug. It would have rendered her dead to the world for hours. I have a forensic analyst ready to testify that someone that ingested such a drug would have been easily moved or positioned in any place without awareness," he said.
"This analyst will testify that it would have been easy to frame Mary Blanchard for murder if she was under the effects of this sleeping drug," Mitchell added.
"Objection! None of this can be proven!" Spencer shouted. Mitchell smirked. He didn't need to prove it.
"Withdrawn...no further questions," he said. Regina smiled over at her sister.
"The jury is eating out of his hand...this is over," she said assuredly. Mary sighed.
"I hope so," she said.
After closing arguments, they went to Granny's and Mary left her husband a message, hoping she'd hear back from him soon.
"Ugh...the waiting is going to be worse than the trial…" Mary complained, as Emma colored next to her and their hot cocoa and lunch was delivered.
"Mommy...when is Daddy going to be home?" Emma asked, as she sipped at her hot cocoa and picked up her grilled cheese.
"Oh...he'll be home soon, baby. He's helping a friend find someone," Mary assured. Emma nodded and understood that. Her daddy was really good at finding people. In Canada, he worked for a private investigator and mommy had told her that was what a private investigator did.
"Mary...my mother is going to jail. You need to relax," Regina assured, as she took a bite of her apple pancakes.
"Are you sure? She always finds a way out," Mary lamented.
"Not this time. Her penchant for keeping trophies is finally going to get her," Regina assured. Mary wrinkled her nose.
"I can't believe she did that," she mentioned.
"What? You mean cut his heart out, preserves it, put it in a keepsake box, and keep it like a trophy? I do...my mother is that bitch," Regina replied, just as the diner door opened, revealing David walking in with a young boy.
"You're back!" she called, as she practically tackled her husband to the floor. He chuckled and kissed her passionately.
"I missed you too, my darling," he said fondly.
"Is this…" she started to say. He nodded.
"This is Neal Cassidy, though I am sure he'll be changing his name to Neal Gold soon," David said.
"Neal...this is my wife Mary and our daughter Emma," he introduced, as the boy, who was about thirteen now slid into the booth.
"Hi...do you want some fries?" she asked. He smiled.
"Sure," he agreed, as he started to eat and watched her color.
"Did you call Mr. Gold?" Mary asked. He nodded.
"He's probably breaking the speed limit to get here right about now. How did the trial go?" he asked.
"Regina thinks we have it in the bag...but I don't know," she lamented.
"We do. Orange is not my mother's color and I can't wait to see her in a tacky jumpsuit," Regina said, just as Gold stormed into the diner.
"Papa!" Neal cried, as he ran to his father. Mr. Gold had tears in his eyes, as he hugged his boy.
"My boy…" he said tearfully and Belle looked on fondly.
"Thank you…" she said. David smiled.
"No need to thank me. No parent should be separated from their child and from what I saw, Milah had no business raising him," David replied, as he and Gold shared a handshake, just as Mitchell Herman walked into the diner.
"The jury came back already. Guilty on all counts. Cora is going away for the rest of her life," he announced, as they and the entire diner cheered. David picked Mary up and spun her around, before kissing her passionately.
"I told you...good always wins," he said and she smiled at him. It had been a long road, but justice had finally been served and now they were free to live the rest of their lives among the people they loved and raise their daughter in the town they had always known as home. Love and good had won out over evil and this was a happy beginning to the rest of their lives...