EPOV
The trial continues…
It was only Emmett with me this time, as Jasper stayed behind to be with his family. We sat in the front row of the courtroom again with Leah and Jacob just next to us. Jake had been very supportive of Leah over the past few weeks, helping her get through the pregnancy and prepping her for the testimony.
Mr. Jenks had the paternity test results that said, unequivocally, James is the father of Leah's baby. And, further more, he had e-mails that James had sent throughout their relationship that showed how he lured her in, asked her to steal information for him and subsequently dumped her without a second thought.
The e-mail he sent after Leah told him she was pregnant was classic Volchok—just a simple "sucks to be you."
Leah was the last witness for the prosecution on the day. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze before she stood up to take the stand. The bailiff had to help her up into the chair as her belly has ballooned to about the size of a watermelon.
She didn't waste anytime playing coy, she openly glared at James from the get-go; you could practically feel the hatred. Mr. Jenks began his questioning—pulling out the evidence as he went. First was the e-mails, detailing the plot to stalk my wife and children; and then he talked about their relationship.
Leah admitted she wanted to hurt us at first, she talked about how she was still upset at the time about Charlie marrying Sue and how she wanted to only scare Bella a little bit.
She said she knew nothing about the idea of James threatening Bella into meeting for sex in order to save our children for harm. Had she known, she said, she would never have gone along with James' demands.
Then came the big whammy—the pregnancy. I looked to the jury as Leah tearfully explained how callous and cruel James was when he heard the news. One of the ladies in the jury let a tear drop and turned to glare at James with pure, unadulterated hatred in her eyes.
This was going well.
Then it was time for the cross examination. James' scumbag attorney stood up and spoke to Leah so condescendingly, I wanted to rip his throat out. He scoffed at the idea that Leah was truly repentant about how she wanted to hurt my family. He claimed she was only looking for some kind of immunity now that she could be considered an accessory to the plot.
Leah didn't even flinch, she simply looked at the attorney and said, "Sir, I am very sorry for ever wanting to hurt Bella and Edward's family. If I do end up in jail because of it, I know I deserve it."
The attorney chuckled scornfully, "That's a very nice act, Miss Clearwater, but do you expect this courtroom to believe you just woke up one day and were remorseful about what you did?"
"No," she responded simply, "Because it wasn't born over night. I began to regret everything as soon as I handed those photos over to James."
"Oh, you mean it wasn't just because my client lost interest in you?"
"At first, maybe," she admitted. "But, I've come to terms with the fact that he used me...that he never did love me, like he said he did."
The attorney scoffed again, which caused the judge to clear his throat, "Mr. Murphy, unless you have something relevant to say, please move on."
The attorney took a sip of water before continuing. "Miss Clearwater, when did you realize you were pregnant?"
"When I was about two months along," she replied.
"And, were you still in a relationship with Mr. Volchok at the time?"
"Yes…sort of," she replied.
"What do you mean by 'sort of?'"
"Well, we had been seeing less of each other."
"I see," the attorney replied. "So, when you felt that my client was pulling away from you, how did that make you feel?"
"Bad," she replied with a sardonic chuckle, "How would you feel?"
Mr. Murphy ignored her quip, "So, when did you decide you would try to trap him by getting pregnant?"
"Objection, your honor!" Mr. Jenks said, standing up. "Mr. Murphy is making assumptions about Miss Clearwaters mental state and motivations."
"Sustained," the judge said. "Mr. Murphy, if you have no further question for Miss Clearwater pertaining to this case, and not her pregnancy, then I will ask the witness to step down."
"Your honor," Mr. Murphy replied. "Why is it that the prosecution gets to use Miss Clearwater's pregnancy to paint my client as a cad, and I can't suggest that this might not be the case?"
"That doesn't have anything to do with this case," Judge Nelson said. "So, if you please, either change your line of questioning or allow me to excuse the witness."
Mr. Murphy seemed to be grinding his teeth as he stared up at the judge reprovingly. "I have no further questions, your honor."
After Leah stepped down, the prosecutor said he had no further witnesses. It was time for the summations – Mr. Jenks gave a very stirring speech about the evidence and how James targeted us for years. Mr. Murphy didn't deviate from his previous line of reasoning, that all of the evidence and testimonies were just part of some kind of conspiracy against his client.
It made me feel confident that the jury didn't seem to buy any of the defenses' bullshit. They were sent back to deliberate, while Emmett, Jacob and I took Leah out for a quick bite to eat. We had just paid the tab when Mr. Jenks called and told us the jury was getting ready to come back to the courtroom to deliver the verdict.
We ran back from across the street and made it just in time to see the jury filing back into their stand. We took our previous positions and waited anxiously to hear the verdict. We rose for Judge Nelson briefly before he asked us to be seated and asked for the jury foreman to hand him the verdict. He read it and handed it back, seemingly satisfied with what he saw, and that made my heart beat faster.
"Mr. Foreman, on the charge of trespassing, how does the jury find?"
"We find the defendant guilty, your honor."
"On the charge of blackmail, how does the jury find?"
"We find the defendant guilty, your honor."
The judge looked in James' direction, "And, on the final count of assault, how does the jury find?"
"We find the defendant guilty, your honor."
The four of us broke out in celebration as the few people present in support of the defense cried out in anguish. The judge banged the gavel to silence us and we sat back down.
"James Volchok, I sentence you to fifteen years in prison, with a possibility of parole after seven years," Judge Nelson said.
Mr. Murphy jumped to his feet, "Your honor, that is a bit excessive, don't you think?"
"Considering not only the extent of the crimes, but also the lengths at which Mr. Volchok seemed willing to go to in order to get out of taking any responsibility for his actions, I'd say seven years is the least he could do, Mr. Murphy," the judge replied.
"Well, I'd just like to let your honor know that the defense plans to appeal this decision," Murphy said.
Judge Nelson scoffed, "Well, good luck with that Mr. Murphy. As for now, the bailiff will take Mr. Volchok back to jail."
The judge dismissed the courtroom and as soon as I stepped outside I pulled out my phone.
"Hello?" Bella replied after she picked up the phone.
"Hey Angel, the trial's over…the jury found James guilty on all charges and the judge sentenced him to fifteen years," I said.
She was silent on the other end for what seemed like forever. And then, I heard her utter a choked sob.
"Really?" She asked, her voice shaking with her sobs.
"Yes, my love, it's over," I replied. "I'll be home soon."
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you more."
BPOV
I set the phone down and let the hysterics overtake me. The kids were all taking a nap, so I knew I wouldn't risk them seeing me like this. But, I was just so overjoyed – my nightmare was over. A burden had been lifted off of me, and I felt as though I could finally breathe again.
We were all going over to Alice and Jasper's after the trial was over to see the new baby. It was interesting to see how the kids were with the addition to our family – the twins loved little Jacee, they wanted to hold her, but I was worried that they wouldn't be strong enough yet.
As soon as the baby was a little bit bigger and less fragile, I would let them sit with Jacee in their laps. I think it would be good for them to learn how to handle a baby.
Edward walked in just as the kids were waking up, and I ran into his arms and kissed him all over. I still couldn't believe James finally got what he deserved. Edward sat us down on the floor near the steps as he returned my kisses just as fervently. We both needed a serious release.
"I love you so much, Angel," he breathed as we finally pulled apart.
"I love you, too," I replied as my voice broke with emotion for the second time today.
Suddenly, I heard little footsteps coming down the hall upstairs. Aina and Keely rounded the corner and their eyes lit up when they saw their daddy. They ran down to him and he swung them both around in circles. While they caught his attention, I went upstairs to get the younger kids out of bed.
Owen met me in the hallway in front of the nursery, he was holding his arms out for me to pick him up. I set him on my hip as I walked in to find Alys slowly coming to. She rubbed her sweet little eyes and looked up at me.
"Mommy," she said as she yawned.
"Ready to get up, Babygirl?"
I set Owen down so I could get Alys out of the crib. "We're going to have to get you a big girl bed soon, huh?"
She just looked at me, "OK."
I smiled and led the two of them downstairs. Edward was sitting on the couch with the twins and he looked up as we walked in, "Alice just called your cell, she's wondering when we're going over."
"As soon as possible," I replied. "Do a couple of little girls need to get ready?"
The twins gasped in unison before jumping off their dad's lap and running back up the stairs. I gave Alys to Edward just as my phone began ringing again.
"Geez, Alice is particularly impatient today," I said as I took my phone.
But the number wasn't Alice's. It said 'Unknown,' and I've learned from experience not to answer it when it said that – it was either a solicitor or…well, someone I didn't want to talk to. I decided to let it go to voicemail as Edward stared at me in confusion.
"Who is it?"
"An unknown number," I replied. "So, I'll just let them leave a message."
He chuckled as he bounced Alys on his knee. She giggled along with him while I stood back and watched the two of them, letting that wonderful, contented feeling settle into my chest. Owen tugged on my pant leg and I lifted him up as the twins ran back downstairs.
"We're ready!" They yelled.
"OK, let's go see the baby," I said as Edward and I ushered the kids to the car.
As Edward drove to Alice and Jasper's house, I noticed a 'for sale' sign in someone's yard and was hit with a sudden thought.
"Edward, were you serious when you said we should get a bigger house?"
"Yes," he replied simply. "I've already been looking."
"Without me?"
"Nothing serious," he said gently. "I've just been trying to get a sense of what the market is like right now. You know, it's not the best time to buy or sell a home – what with the credit crunch and all."
"But, we could use more room," I said absentmindedly. "What if we just remodel?"
"You mean add on to our house?"
"Why now?" I asked. "We've got the yard space to expand – we could build off of the living room. Or, we could remodel the basement! That would be great, we could take that storage space and turn it into a room for the twins."
He was quiet for a moment, "That could work. That would be enough room for the two of them for a long time."
"Yes, and then the boys could share a room and Alys could have her own room."
"That'll be a problem when Owen gets older and wants his own room."
"Well, we deal with that problem when it happens," I replied. "If worse comes to worse, we remodel the attic, too."
"Our house is going to be nothing but bedrooms," he laughed.
"Sweetie, there's going to be seven of us, it comes with the territory!"
"We'll probably need to install more bathrooms too, then," he mused. "We'll definitely need to put one downstairs if that's where the girls are going to be – a big one, too, if they have to share it."
I smiled and took his hand, "We'll figure it out. We can talk to a contractor soon and get an estimate."
"I could probably pull a few strings at work," he said with a smile. "See if anyone can recommend a patient who works in construction."
I laughed and turned to see Alys had drifted off to sleep again, it doesn't take much for her to doze off during car rides. When we got to Alice's, Edward took the other three kids out while I gently lifted Alys out of her seat. I was trying not to wake her, but she stirred when I shut the car door and looked up at me with that sleepy look again.
"Mommy," she said, it sounded like a question.
"Yes, baby," I replied.
She looked down towards my belly and patted it with her left hand, "Baby?"
I smiled, "Yes, there's a baby in there."
Her little, angelic face gazed back up at me with searching eyes. After a moment, she broke out into a smile identical to mine. It was amazing how much she looked like me – even more so than either one of the twins, if that was possible. Although, it was only fair; I mean, Owen is the spitting image of his father, so why can't I have a Mini Me?
I took my little girl inside and was greeted at the door by Alice and her new little bundle of joy. Alys reached out to pat the baby gently on the head.
"Baby," she said again.
"Yep, that's my baby, Al," Alice said. "That's your cousin, Jacee."
"Jay-Cee," Alys repeated, still stroking her cousin's head.
We walked into the living room to find Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme there. I sighed inwardly as I looked at my family sitting around me – I wouldn't have been able to handle this whole James ordeal without them. And, despite some of this unnecessary unpleasantness, I couldn't believe how amazing my life has turned out – I'm doing what I love, I get to live close to my family and friends, I'm a mother to the four (soon to be five) most beautiful children in the world, and I'm married to Edward.
And to think, if I had never gone out to Pullman, none of this would have been possible. I thought about my mom just then, and wished she could be here to experience this with me. I've never been one for religion, but a part of me did believe she was somewhere watching all of this happen.
Edward caught my wistful expression and walked to sit next to me. He put an arm around my shoulders and kissed me gently on my left temple while his hand rested gently on my little belly bump.
"You were thinking about Renee, weren't you?"
"How did you know?" I asked, startled.
"You've been talking to her in your sleep," he said. "And, I just guess from that longing look in your eyes that you'd like her to still be a part of your life."
I nodded, "I miss her every day."
"Who, Momma?" Aina asked as she crawled into Edward's lap.
"I'll tell you later, sweetie."