4.23 Over

The following events take place the day of Alex's sentancing....
(One month after chapter 4.22)

 Two fifty-three AM. I hope he gets what he deserves, there's no way I can carry on surviving on so little sleep.

Josh is awake. Does he somehow know, or can he tell that I'm stressed? Maybe he's hungry. Shaena rose from the bed and went quietly to her son.

"Mammie"
"Hello baby, what you doing awake in the middle of the night?" She cooed as she pulled her son from his crib. She snuggled him to her, before climbing back into bed, and holding him close as she tried to sleep until morning.

When morning finally arrived, Kaity headed off to the court while the twins caught the bus to school. Shaena was alone with the toddlers once again.

She couldn't stop worrying that Alex would get away with it. She couldn't help but wonder what he'd do if he walked free. What would she do? If he came to the house, and begged her to come back to him, would she? Would she do it just so her son had the family life she'd wanted herself?

Autumn was lucky, she couldn't help but wish Josh at least had the opportunity Autumn did, even though Winter was there for all the children in this odd household, it would never be the same for Josh.

Autumn never failed to make Shaena smile, though. He'd somehow inherited his mothers gift of flight, even though he didn't have the wings. Nobody was sure how or why he could fly, because Winter had confirmed he was a genie, yet genies couldn't fly...

Today was especially hard to be in Elise's room. Kaity had stuck several pictures of their best friend on the walls, so Elise would maybe feel closer to her. Everyone was sure that Elise wouldn't remember her mother, but they wanted her to know everything about her.

She was just putting the kids down for an afternoon nap when Kaity rang.
"He's gone, Shae. You'll never have to see him again!" She shouted down the phone before Shaena even had a chance to speak. "He'll probably send you visitation orders, but I'm going to ask the prison to stop him from writing to you."
"Wow, Kaity..." She was sure she should be happy, she should be dancing around and screaming that her best friends murder was being punished, but she couldn't help thinking of all the good times.
"Shae, if you dare start feeling sorry for him I swear to plumbob..."
"Sorry, it's just... I don't know what to say!"
"Say 'I'm so glad I never have to see that ugly llama's face again'"
"I guess."
"Jakes throwing a party, just a small one. Luis and your mum are going, I'm going to call Winter, and then pick him up and I'll swing by and pick you up too. Can you call a babysitter or do you want me to?"
"Kaity, I'm not sure I feel like a party."
"Well, tough. You're going. I'll call the sitter, see you in about an hour. Oh, and put something nice on, we've all got suits and that on, you don't want to look left out. Love ya!" And with that she hung up.

Shaena returned to her room to change, and Alex was sitting awake in his crib. She scooped him up and gave him a kiss.
"It's over, Joshie. It's really over." Josh giggled and gurgled, and Shaena felt a lot better about the whole thing. She was sure Josh had no idea what was going on, but he seemed to know what to do to cheer her up.

Kaity arrived right on time, and hurried Shaena into the back seat of the police cruiser. Winter was already in the front, Kaity having picked him up from work.

The paparazzi were there. Clearly having overheard the family making celebration plans. Kaity managed to distract them with a simple "Oh my God! Is that Matthew Hamming?!" before grabbing both Winter and Shaena and running into the house.

Kaity started by introducing Winter to her aunt. Unfortunately, Taylor was working, and with Rose due any day now, she and Myles weren't attending, but Winter had already met them both in passing.
"Aunt Madi, this is Winter. He's... Uhm... He's Autumns dad." She wasn't sure what to introduce him as.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Winter." Madison smiled, shaking his hand. "You must be mad to be with our Kaity." She added, grinning.
"Madi!" Kaity screeched, making both Madison and Winter laugh. Her aunt and... Autumns dad... started up talking, so she wandered off to find her brother.

She found him in the bathroom, and wasn't afraid to stroll casually in without knocking. She'd seen it all before.
"Jake! Thank you so much for doing this."
"It's ok. I'm really proud of you, by the way."
"For what?" Kaity asked, confused.
"For standing up in court in place of your two best friends. You know Shae couldn't have faced him, and I can't imagine how greatful she is."

"I don't know that she's that greatful, she didn't sound too excited on the phone." Jake pulled her into a tight hug.
"She will be. Let it sink in, and don't forget that he was the father of her baby. No matter what he did to her, or Bonnie, there will always be a part of her that wonders 'what if?'"
"I guess you're right." Kaity pulled back. "How long you in town for, then?"

Meanwhile, Shaena was introducing Winter and Luis.
"Lou, this is Winter, Kaity's boyfriend. Winter, this is my brother, Luis."
"Hi, Winter." Luis started, shaking Winters hand. "I don't even need to check that you're Autumns father, that hair gives it away."
"Lou-ee! You already know he is, because Kaity told you!"
"That's true. Kaity phones me all the time. I'm basically her father, because I was a teenager when she was born and helped mum and aunt Taylor look after the triplets. I'll be the one you have to ask for her hand in marriage, just so you know..." He winked, and he and Winter shared a laugh. Shaena didn't see the wink as she was standing behind her brother.
"LOU! You're such an idiot! Ignore him, Winter, he thinks he's hilarious, but you don't have to laugh at his bad jokes. We don't."

Kaity soon returned from the bathroom, and stole Winter for a moment, leaving Shaena and Luis to do what siblings do best; argue.
"Lou, really? Kaity has never had a boyfriend before, please don't scare him away!"
"'Ayna, you're an idiot. I was joking, and he knew that."
"I don't care, what if he didn't? And don't call me 'Ayna', it's stupid. That's why I've always been Shae."
"I'll call you what I want, no matter how old and wrinkly you are, you're still my baby sister and I'm your boss." Shaena punched him in the arm, and they continued squabbling quietly. They were both happy under the surface, Alex was gone and they could relax.





Yeah, this is a little short, sorry! Next chapter is loooong, and was originally part of this one, but it was waaaaaaaay too long, so I split it.
Also, I didn't realise that GBH wasn't the name of the charge worldwide, so here's the wiki article about it for anyone confused on that one. 
(For the really lazy, like me, here's a summary: "The offence under section 18 is variously referred to as "wounding with intent" or "causing grievous bodily harm with intent"^. The words "with intent" refer to the specific intent required for this offence.
The offence under section 20 is variously referred to as "unlawful wounding", "malicious wounding" or "inflicting grievous bodily harm"" Yes, I copy/pasted from wikipedia...) 
Fun fact: My initials when you include my abandoned middle name, are GBH :p