"Oh, Julie," Jimmy said. He put his one hand on my neck and slid it back into my hair. I grabbed his wrist. "You don't believe that, do you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No, of course not. I love you so much Jimmy. I don't want to leave this house."

"Are you sure? Maybe Emme put some ideas in your head."

"No. I promise that she didn't. You're my family. I never want to leave."

"Okay." Jimmy got up from his crouched position. He pulled his hands off me. "I better take a quick shower before they start wondering where we are. You should probably get cleaned up a bit too."

I nodded and I watched as we went into the bathroom. I know that Emme is going to be punished, but I hoped that there was not a punishment waiting for me. I was the one that made her shut up. I did not want to listen to her bad-mouthing the family.

I stepped into the bathroom while Jimmy was in the shower. I brushed the tangles out of my hair. I tied half of it back so that it was not so hot and heavy. I wanted to change out of this ugly dress, but Jimmy did not lay out anything else for me to wear.

I was back in the bedroom when Jimmy came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. He put on a pair of jeans before digging through the bottom drawer. He pulled out a red dress shirt.

He was not saying a word to me, and I was worried that he was upset with me. He gets quiet when he's mad.

I walked to him and buttoned up his shirt. His eyes were locked on me as I did up each button until I got to his neck. I looked up at him to see that he was smiling. I got up on my toes and gave him a quick kiss.

"You're a good girl for not listening to Emme," he said. "When Tommy's girl comes she is going to say a lot of bad things about this family. I'm glad to know that you won't believe her."

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too," he said. "Now, we better get downstairs."

I nodded and he laced his fingers through mine. We walked down the stairs to see that we were the first ones in the kitchen. Jimmy helped me put dinner on the table as we waited. Taylor was the next to come down.

I looked over my shoulder to see that he had on a white buttoned up shirt and was running his fingers through his short hair. My heart was pounding as Jimmy whispered something into Taylor's ear. I was positive that he was telling him everything I said. Taylor walked over to the bottom of the staircase.

"Emmie, hurry up!" he shouted.

Emme was soon running down the stairs. Her short curly hair was pinned back and he had on a striped dress. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Taylor opened his arms and embraced her in a hug. Emme let out a faint laugh as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was not going to punish her.

He kissed her on the cheek and she came over and helped me finish putting dinner on the table.

Charles came down the stairs next. He had on a blue buttoned up shirt, and he had combed his thin greying hair. He smiled at the boys before sitting down at the head of the table.

Tommy was the last to come down. We were already sitting around the table and the food was ready to be served. He had on a pair of black jeans and a black shirt. His usual smirk was on his lips when he saw us.

"Always have to be the last one to arrive, Thomas?" Charles asked as Tommy pulled out his chair.

"It just took me a bit longer to get ready than the rest of you apparently," Tommy said. He had already reached out for the mashed potatoes and was piling them onto his plate.

"You look like you're going to a funeral," Jimmy said.

We all laughed, but Tommy glared at Jimmy.

Food was passed around the table. The boys shared stories as we ate and we all laughed. It wasn't until the end of the meal that Taylor leaned back in his chair, He put his arm around
Emme's shoulders and her body tensed.

"You love us, don't you, Emmie?" Taylor asked.

She nodded before taking a sip of water. Taylor bit down on his lip before looking across the table at me. At that moment, I thought I was about to throw up my entire dinner.

"Does she, Julie?" Taylor asked me.

"Of course she does," I said.

Jimmy put his hand on my knee under the table. He curled his fingers into my flesh. It was a silent warning that I better start telling the truth. Emme's eyes were bugging out of her head and her pale skin was going even whiter.

"This isn't a time to start lying," Taylor said. "Now, what does Emme think about this family?"

"She's just upset," I said. "She didn't really mean what she said."

"Upset about what?" he asked.

"Her daughter."

"I lost a child too. Don't you think I am upset? I wanted to have a son."

"Taylor-" Emme started.

"Shut up," he cut her off. "After every single thing that I have done to protect you, this is how you decide to treat me? Nothing but disrespect?"

"I didn't say anything bad," she said.

"You told Julie that you two were kidnapped," he said. "We both know that is a lie."

Emme let out a deep breath. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around her glass. Her nose did its odd little twitch.

"It's true," she said.

"Noah and Charles saved you two," he said. "You would have continued to fry your brain with drugs if it was not for me."

"I was happy."

Taylor grabbed a fistful of Emme's hair and yanked her head back. She gritted her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands grabbed Taylor's wrist.

"Are you saying you're not happy now?" he asked.

"Why'd you have to kill her?"

Emme's voice cracked. A tear rolled down her cheek. She let go of Taylor with one hand and wiped the tear away. Taylor rolled his eyes.

"We've been over this a thousand times," he said. "Obviously, what I am doing is not working. I'll have to think of something new to fix your attitude."

"Taylor, please don't," she said.

"That's it," he said. "We're going home."

Taylor stood with Emme's hair still in his grasp. She let out a hiss of pain as he pulled her out of the kitchen.

"Jimmy and Tommy," Taylor said, "I'm going to need your help."

Jimmy took his hand off of my knee as he stood. Tommy rushed out of the kitchen and over to Taylor. He said something to Tommy that I could not make out. Emme let out a scream, and Tommy snickered. Taylor dragged Emme out the front door.

I stayed sitting until Charles got up and went outside. I did not want to know what was happening, but I was compelled to know Emme's fate.

Charles left the front door open, so I assumed it was alright to stand in the doorway. Taylor was dragging Emme over to the truck. She was kicking and screaming despite Taylor having his hand over her mouth.

She kicked Taylor in the shin. He yelped and let go of her for a second. She wiggled out of his grip, but he grabbed her wrists. Jimmy swooped down and grabbed her ankles. He lifted her up off of the ground.

Tommy came into view with two bundles of rope. He uncoiled the one thing of rope and began to wrap it around Emme's legs. Jimmy struggled to keep her still as she fought back.

"You were once a fighter like this," Charles said.

I looked to the side to see Charles was sitting on a chair on the porch. He glanced up from the scene in front of us to me. The corner of his lips lifted into a smile.

"You've changed for the better, Juliet," Charles said. "Don't forget that."

Tommy secured the rope around Emme's legs. They lifted her higher into the air and tossed her into the cab of the truck. I could not see her any longer, but I watched as they reached down and tied the other coil of rope around Emme. Taylor's hand was no longer over her mouth, so Emme's screams rang throughout the night air.

I watched as Taylor said something to Jimmy, who nodded his head and ran toward me. He put his hand on the small of my back as he rushed by me. When he came back, he had a dish towel in his hands.

"You probably shouldn't be watching this," Jimmy said.

"You said she would not get in trouble," I said.

"I told you that I would not promise anything."

He stepped past me and walked over to the truck. He handed Taylor the dish towel and Taylor tied it around Emme's mouth. Her screams were muffled, but I could still hear her. Charles stood and leaned forward on the railing of the porch.

"Boys!" he shouted. "You're going to have to drug her. You can't have her making that noise the whole ride home."

"Don't you think she'll tire herself out?" Taylor asked.

"You can't risk it," Charles said.

Jimmy hurried back over to me. He went into the house for a minute and came back with the black case in his hands. He unzipped the case and pulled out a needle and a vial.

"We're running low, Dad," Jimmy said.

"We'll have to get more," he said. "I wasn't expecting you to have to use so much on Julie."

Jimmy filled the syringe full of the liquid and walked over to the truck. Emme's screams got louder when she must have seen the needle. Jimmy reached in and injected her.

Taylor gave Jimmy and Tommy a quick hug before climbing into the truck. I rubbed my belly as I watched him pull out of the driveway. Jimmy came up to me and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you for telling the truth, Julie," Jimmy said.