Not even two months later, Julian, Ivy, Jonah, my mom, Theo, Andrea, Nina, Colton, Matthias, and I were walking out of the courtroom after Nora's trial ended. She was tried in adult court due to the severity of her crimes and she was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a weapon. They were also going to charge her with harassment since she did threaten to expose business documents that weren't hers, but I decided to drop those charges. She would already be in prison until she was over 18, so I didn't want to give her even more time when she was already facing enough.

After everything happened at Charlotte's – Julian's mom – house, we went to the hospital because the bullet that Nora shot did hit Julian's calf. He had to have a small procedure, but he was okay now. It's been two months since the incident and life has been really hectic. The day after everything happened with Nora, we were on the front page of every single magazine in the country saying Adopted Sister Gone Crazy! Or some shit like that. It was really weird and we could barely even leave the house because of it.

We were old news within two weeks, but then we were thrown into a lot of other things. Julian was doing physical therapy and dealing with PRES since he had gotten behind with all the hospital visits and police interviews we were forced to do. I was thrown into Home Our Community since all the kids were so terrified as soon as they heard the news and I had to make sure they were okay. Within the past month, I've made sure to visit all 16 homes to see each kid individually and make sure this wasn't affecting them mentally.

We were also preparing for Nora and Mr. Caldwell's trial since we both were testifying against them. Ezekiel Caldwell has his trial two weeks ago and was charged with three counts of battery against a police officer, harassment, and four counts of assault. Apparently, we weren't the only people that held grudges against him. Two of our neighbors had been struck by him when he showed up to our house and decided to pick a fight with everyone. So not only were Julian and I charging him but so were two of our neighbors and we definitely felt guilty that they had to deal with that, but they assured us that it wasn't our fault.

All I knew about Mr. Caldwell was that he would be in prison for a long time, longer than his adopted daughter even. He even got his computer privileges taken away once everyone heard about how he was threatening to expose me with the information Nora had sent him through email. But I wasn't worried about him since he had dug his own grave at that point. He took advantage of a teenage girl and I was glad that he would be going away for a while.

While all the trial stuff had been happening, we were forced to be close to Mrs. Caldwell since she was also testifying since they wanted her account on what happened the night Nora pulled the gun on us. But we barely had any tension with Charlotte, Julian's mom, anymore. The only thing that Julian and I didn't like was that she was still married to Mr. Caldwell, but that wasn't our place to pry. We were grateful that she had decided that she wouldn't visit Nora while she was in prison and she promised not to give a home to her once she gets out after she turns 18.

She was still Nora's legal guardian, but she was figuring everything out without talking to the girl. She chose Julian. I said that if she was given the opportunity to choose between Julian and Nora, she would choose Julian in a heartbeat – and she did. She was on our side and every time she saw us, she apologized for not warning us sooner and for getting us pulled into this mess. She was a very sweet woman with a huge heart and I could tell that she loved Julian with her whole heart. Julian was even slowly starting to love his mother again and I was glad. He deserved to have his mom in his life.

Yeah, she made mistakes, but she was making up for them. She was gaining our trust again and was letting Julian set the pace with their relationship. She didn't talk about things that he didn't want to discuss and she didn't force to him to see her all the time. She let him have the reigns and I was grateful for that. Julian hasn't had a mother for the past eight years, so it was difficult that she was just back in his life. He was doing good though.

Julian had started going to therapy, not at Well Sessions since that might be a bit weird, and was working through the trauma that his father put him through. He also talked about everything that happened with Nora and had moved on. He was doing well with his mental health and I was proud of how far he has come. Not only two years ago, he was so hurt at just hearing the word 'mom' and now he was communicating with his. He couldn't even have a picture of his family displayed, but now, he has multiple frames filled with pictures of him and Charlotte from when he was younger all throughout the house.

And me? Well, I was doing good. I dealt with my trauma. Sure, in the first few days after the incident happened, I couldn't leave Julian's side, but I had some pretty amazing people by my side. Mom had shown up at the hospital and after she heard everything that happened to Ivy and me, she helped us immediately. She always knew what to say in stressful situations and she definitely helped then. Andrea had even had a little mini therapy session with me in the waiting room at the hospital and that had also helped. And Nina? Well, she just held me and let me cry, which is definitely something I needed.

Julian and I had amazing people in our lives, but don't even get me started on how amazing my fiance was. No matter what he was dealing with or what time it was or where we were, he always put me first. Whenever he noticed that I was having some trouble or having a bad mental health day, he was the first person to make me feel warm and move past what I was thinking about. I also made sure he felt loved and helped him with the nightmares he had been suffering from. We both silently had made a pact to always be there and make sure each other were okay before going on with our days.

We were currently walking through the courthouse with our friends and family and we were all in a good mood. Today was sentencing day and it felt good to finally hear what was going to happen to Nora because Jonah, Ivy, Julian, and I were all worried that she would just get to walk free because the people had pity for her. But that didn't happen and we were happy about that. We were going to lunch to celebrate at one of the most expensive restaurants in the city with Julian paying, obviously, but we were stopped by a voice calling our names.

"Julian! Miles!" The female voice said and we all turned to see Charlotte Caldwell rushing towards us. She looks absolutely gorgeous in her gray suit and she really looks like her son, who wore a black suit today. She keeps rushing forward until she stood in front of us, giving us a bright smile. "Do you mind if I talk to you both?"

I glance at my fiance to let him make the decision. This wasn't my mother, so I had no right to make the decision on whether the two of us would stay and talk with her. That was a deal I made with myself – letting Julian make his own decisions when I know that something deadly won't come from it. Julian nods his head with a happy smile. "Yeah, we can talk."

I turn towards our friends and family with a smile, nodding my head. "We'll meet you all at the restaurant. Be careful of the press outside and, please, don't stop to talk with them."

They all nod their heads with the same happy smiles that Julian and I held. Nina pats the top of my head before taking her husband's hand, winking at me. "'No comment', got it."

Everyone chuckles before they move towards the exit that definitely held tons of reporters that were dying to get a statement from any one of us, but we wouldn't do that. We had more class than to exploit this situation for views or publicity. I turn back towards Charlotte and Julian, taking his hand in mine to give him some silent support. Charlotte motions for us to follow her and we move towards a bench before sitting down with Julian between the two of us.

"Uh, so," Charlotte starts, looking extremely happy as she looks between the two of us. "I didn't want to say anything until I talked with my lawyers, but I'm officially going to try to divorce Ezekiel."

Julian's face brightens up immediately at hearing the news and he pulls his mother into a tight hug. I could see the tears in Charlotte's eyes at one of the first hugs she had gotten from her boy in eight years. I just sit there, watching as my fiance whispers stuff to his mother, who nods her head with what he was saying. When they pull away, I reach out and take Charlotte's hand in mine, making her give me a shocked, but happy expression. "That's so amazing, you deserve to be free from the hold he has on you."

She nods her head at me, tightening her grip on my hand. "I would've never gotten the courage to do it without you two. But over the past two months, I have been happier than I've ever been in such a long time. I know it makes me sound like a horrible person, but not having my husband and my daughter in the house has been a relief."

Julian shakes his head, giving her a genuine smile. "It doesn't make you sound like a horrible person. Both of them were using you and making your life a living hell. It's good that you finally have that time to reflect on the years and have come to the conclusion that you weren't happy with either of them. That just means that you get a fresh start and Miles and I will be here to see it."

Charlotte looks over at me to see my reaction to his statement and I nod my head. If Julian wanted to continue being in her life, so did I. She's a good person and I know that she's working on herself right now to be an even better her, so I wanted to stay and see how she turns out to be. I know that she would end up being Julian's biggest supporter, after me of course, and I was glad that he was finally getting that love and appreciation from a parent.

"I just..." Charlotte says, looking down at her hands that held ours before glancing at her son. I smile when I see that Julian looks genuinely happy to be where he's at because this is what he truly deserves. "I'm so sorry, Julian. I wish I could take everything back. I wish that when you came out to us, I would've left Ezekiel right then and gone with you instead. I wish I was stronger back then and I'm so sorry that I wasn't."

Julian's smile drops a bit before he glances at me and I nod my head, urging him to speak his mind. He clears his throat before looking up at his mother with a confused expression. "I wish all of that happened too, but we can't take any of that back. I'm not going to lie, it fucking hurt, Mom. You did hurt me, but you're here now. You're here right now and you're putting yourself and me first and that's all I've ever wanted. You're being my mother and even though we have a bad history, we can push that away. You're confronting your wrongs and that's all I could ever ask for."

Charlotte nods her head before pulling him into another hug. A few tears leak out of her eyes as she nuzzles her face against her son's shoulder. We all just sit there for a few minutes, lawyers and other people walking past us while we sit on the bench. I wanted to give them this time. The time that they haven't had for the past eight years. A mother and son were making up from a lifetime of wrongs and they deserved this time to just talk and forgive.

After a few minutes, they pull away and they hastily wipe at their eyes. Julian pulls me closer to him by wrapping his arm around my waist and I give him the most supportive smile I could come up with. I reach up and wipe under his eyes using the pads of my thumbs, knowing how embarrassed he got whenever he cried. He looks down at me, giving me a look that I couldn't quite decipher, but he just turns his head to look at his mom again.

"Um, well," Julian starts, looking a bit nervous. "Miles and I are getting married in a little under a month and... I would love it if you could be there."

I was shocked, to say the least. Sure, they made up and are working through things, but I didn't think Julian would find the courage to ask her to come to our wedding. I'm happy though because he deserves to have his mother at our wedding, just like I'll have my mom. After so much planning for this wedding and trying to figure out who would walk him down the aisle, we might've just found the person. I reach out, grabbing Julian's hand to tell him that I agreed with what he just asked.

Charlotte was absolutely speechless. She had brought her hand up to cover her chest while her other covers her mouth, more tears coming to her eyes. She nods her head as she tries her best to not start sobbing in the courthouse. Julian pulls all three of us into a group hug, making my heart feel full and content. After two years of helping Julian move on from the pain that his parents had caused, I think he finally has and he's doing it with his mother right by his side.