^“Drew Lukason, you are sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Kaiden Mitchells,” the judge says and then starts listing the other charges as I meet Drew’s cold eyes across the courtroom. He smirks at me, and I glare back, standing up straighter. I won’t let him see how much he still frightens me. I hear crying and turn to see Liz, being held by her father as she cries out for Drew. She still hasn’t learnt anything. Liz is heavily pregnant and must be close to giving birth any day now. Some small part of me feels sorry for her, but then I remember what she did. I can’t be the one there for her. Liz’s father looks at me and mouths the word ‘sorry’. I simply nod, in some ways wishing his daughter didn’t make the choices she did.

“Let’s leave,” Andre says to me softly, and I nod, letting him and Kaiden lead me out of the courtroom with Todd and Dom following. I don’t look back, and I don’t want to. Everything has changed in the last few months and most of it was good. The club was completely destroyed, and the insurance wouldn’t pay to have it fixed. We all sat down and spoke, deciding to sell the land to a contractor for a fortune, and the guys decided they didn’t want to strip anymore. They are all smart enough to find other work, and they all have. Dominic has started publishing books he has written, and I’ve read them, they are amazing. Todd is planning to set up a business remodelling cars, with the help of Kaiden who will find the cars online and set up the advertising. I know that they will work well together. Andre started advertising the toys he made Caitlyn online, and some people started asking to buy them. He is slowly making a business out of his woodwork, and the amount of orders is crazy.

“I’m proud of you, Ellie,” Dominic says as we stop in the corridor. The trial has been going on all week, and we all had to stand up in there and be honest about everything. Drew’s lawyer tried to twist things to make it seem like the guys stole me away and that Caitlyn was his. They tried to make me out to be an awful person, and my guys were close to losing it several times. In the end, it didn’t matter what Drew told his lawyer to say. There was too much evidence and too many witnesses. Watching him being put away for life is like a big weight being lifted from my chest.

“I only told the truth,” I say, and he smiles at me. Kaiden pulls me to his side, and Andre takes my hand as we walk out, following Dom and Todd who walk in front of us. I look over to see Drew’s parents, watching me closely and they give me a look of disgust. I don’t bother looking at them for a second longer, I never liked them anyway.

“I should call my parents and see how Caitlyn is doing,” I say, and they all chuckle.

“No, this is our day, and we are celebrating. Caitlyn is likely sleeping, and your parents are great with her,” Dominic says, and I nod, knowing he’s right. I still feel like I should call to check in, but I did about an hour ago, and my parents would call if there was a problem. I pull my phone out to check for any messages, only seeing one from Jude with a picture of the twins in their Halloween costumes. They are cute. My phone background is of Caitlyn sitting up and smiling. She is so lovely and looks more like Andre every day. Caitlyn is six months old, now, and the time has gone so quickly. Every moment, from her drinking from the bottle for the first time or the time she threw up all over Todd when he was dancing with her, flashes through my mind. I remember all the nights where she didn’t sleep, and the guys took turns staying up, making me go back to sleep. I’ve hardly left her side, but neither have my guys. Holy ducks, they are protective of us both since the fire at the club and everything that happened. It’s sweet. I hope today’s verdict means we can move on from this part of our life and enjoy our future. It’s been a lot of secrets, love, and tears to get to where we are now, but it’s so worth it.

“Where are we going, then?” I ask them as we walk to the car. The guys bought a new Land Rover that is a six-seater and massive, but it fits us all in it. I smile when I see the sun protectors on the windows, they are pink, princess ones and Todd got them for Caitlyn. For four guys who didn’t let girls in their house until me, they sure have gotten used to all the pink, baby toys and pink clothes around the house now.

“Home, and we are going to have a movie night, just all of us, and then your parents are dropping Caitlyn back at home at eight,” Dominic tells me as he opens the door and leans against it, waiting for me.

“We haven’t done movie night in a while,” I say with a smile as I missed it. Caitlyn takes over most of the time, and with the court case, Kaiden’s recovery, and adjusting to having a new baby, it’s not been easy to get time alone together. Andre kisses me lightly and then moves away.

“We all think we should have a night like this every week, your parents have offered to babysit, and when Caitlyn is older, she can stay overnight at theirs once a week,” Andre tells me.

“I would love that, I love you all, and thank you for doing this,” I say gently, aware of all their eyes on me, but I know they’re looking at me with love. I don’t need to glance at them to know that.

“We love you, Ellie,” Dominic says, and they all watch me as I look at each of them, hoping they understand how I feel. This is all I could have ever wanted.