Kaylene handed Stella the monitor portion of the little handheld fetal doppler she kept on hand for client gifts. She had a whole box of them in the trunk of her car because she knew sometimes her clients needed peace of mind without having to call on her to come help when they were panicking in the middle of the night. Holding the probe in her hand, Kaylene squirted a small amount of ultrasound gel on Stella’s tiny baby bump before gently pressing the tip of the probe to it. Guiding it around the swell of Stella’s stomach slowly, Kaylene located to spot where the baby’s heartbeat was strongest and smiled up at Stella.

“Oh my God, that’s the heartbeat? That’s my baby’s heartbeat?” Stella asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

Kaylene knew how special this was for her and for Brady. To go from having been told that Stella would never be able to have children, to the unexpected surprise of being pregnant, each and every moment was a blessing. Stella even refused to complained about the morning sickness and dizzy spells. She was soaking up every last moment of this pregnancy and it made Kaylene’s heart feathers fluff up with pride.

“Yes, it is. Do you want to hold the probe?” Kaylene asked, tipping the top of the probe in her direction.

Stella nodded, “Yes, please.”

“I’ll give you a minute,” Kaylene said, handing the probe off to Stella and then slipping out onto the porch from the office Stella had helped Kaylene set up in the extra cabin for their appointments.

Brady came jogging up the path towards Kaylene and Kaylene greeted him, “Coming to hear the heartbeat? I just taught Stella how to use the handheld fetal doppler.”

Brady’s eyes flickered to the cabin and moved towards the door then stopped, shaking his head to focus his thoughts, “Your parents are here.”

Kaylene had spent all afternoon emotionally preparing herself for the meeting with her parents, but she still felt all of the blood drain from her face. “Okay, thank you, Brady. Go inside with Stella. Don’t tell her what’s going on because I don’t want her stressing. It’s hard on both her and the baby. Just be with her and enjoy listening to your little one’s heartbeat and hold each other, okay?”

Brady nodded, “Go get them, Kaylene. Fight for what you deserve.”

Kaylene jogged over to her cabin and grabbed the thumb drive with everything on it that Karina had given her in the files. Checking to make sure the other thumb drive was in the room safe Kaylene and Brady had installed that morning, Kaylene quickly made her way over to the lodge where Landon was waiting outside for her.

“Are you ready for this?” Landon asked nervously.

Kaylene nodded firmly, “Let’s get this over with.”

Taking Landon’s hand in hers, they walked together inside where Mama Ally was sitting behind the check in counter staring down Kaylene’s parents and their lawyer who were seated on the bigger of the leather couches. Kaylene took in their appearance as they strode towards her parents.

Her mother’s face was pinched up in disgust as she stared at Kaylene and Landon’s joined hands. She was dressed in a bright pink sweater and khaki shorts with sandals, clutching one of her prized name brand purses to her chest. Her mother’s hair was even swept up into a sporty looking ponytail, which was odd to Kaylene because she usually wore it down in curls. Turning her attention to her father, he had a passive and tired look on his face. He was dressed in his usual business professional attire and matched the lawyer next to him. Quite frankly, her father looked bored and very over the fact that they were even sitting here.

“Karey, Alan,” Kaylene nodded to them as she sat down on the couch and pulled the thumb drive out of her pocket to hold on to.

“Kaylene, really is this necessary? We are your parents, not some strangers you pass on the block to town,” Karey said.

Kaylene felt her face harden as she said cooly, “You lost every right to those titles the minute you set Landon up to be arrested. As far as I’m concerned, you are complete strangers to me, and I never thought that you would stoop as low as that. Then you did when you had me shot out of the sky.”

“It was for your own good,” Karey said without so much as blinking at Kaylene’s remark.

“Wow, my own good, Karey, or your own? Because let’s face it, that’s what it’s always been about for you. Power, money, and image. You have no regard for anyone else except yourself. Do you realize if I had been much higher up when he shot me that I’d be dead from the fall?” Kaylene asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“At least then you wouldn’t be with this… Trash,” Karey hissed.

Kaylene moved to stand and Landon anchored her back down to the couch before turning his attention to Alan, “Let’s move this along, shall we?”

Alan nodded, “Yes, let us get to the point.”

“You’re here because we were able to obtain all of the recordings, files, money transactions, and everything that proves that the three of you conspired to have me locked away, plotted murder against myself and Kaylene, and paid someone to carry out your dirty work. Now as my mate as kindly pointed out, there are three things you and your wife care about most in this life, Mr. Simmons. Money, image, and power. Imagine for a moment if you will, if we were to release this information to every media station and to the Charleston police department, as well to Kaylene’s previous clients over at the Snake River Prison Camp. I can imagine your life would become very… Uncomfortable,” Landon explained, keeping a curt and professional tone.

Kaylene was slightly impressed that Landon was holding it together better than she was but was grateful for it. He was handling this incredibly well, and she could see the nerves buzzing around all of them. Landon clearly was terrifying them and getting what he wanted.

“It sounds as though you’ve got something in mind other than turning that evidence over to these entities, Mr. St. James, so please feel free to elaborate,” Alan urged him forward, ignoring the bewildered look on his wife’s face.

“I propose that we give you this thumb drive that has everything on it proving you are guilty. In exchange, you will sign a contract that agrees to leave Kaylene and myself alone. We get to be mated, and she will give up any claims to the Simmons name and inheritance. Any children we have will not be exposed to your toxic ways. We will simply disappear, and Kaylene and I will be nothing but a memory to the three of you. Just know that if you go back on any part of our agreement, I have a spare copy of everything and will not hesitate to release it to protect my family,” Landon said matter of factly.

“How do we know you won’t break your silence and spread the extra copy around?” Karey sneered at him.

Landon turned to face her and deadpanned, “Because I have honor, and because we are going to sign the agreement too.”

“It’s really too bad that it’s come to this, Mr. St. James. Maybe if we had made a better pass at getting to know you, I could have brought you into the business. You’re ruthless when you know what you want, and I have to say I’m impressed,” Alan remarked, clearly impressed at Landon’s negotiating skills. “We will take your deal and make some slight modifications. We will deposit one percent of our profits into a savings account with yours and Kaylene’s name on it. I don’t want my grandchildren to go without for any reason, and while I know now you will do what it takes to provide for them, you and Kaylene can think of this as a college fund for them if you so choose to use it that way. In lieu of birthdays and holidays, I will send gifts from myself and my daughter, Karina. You are free to label them from yourselves, but I hope that you will allow for any grandchildren I have to know that their grandfather loves them. This all has been a terrible mistake and I never should have gone along with it. Thank the Fates that my daughter has that fire and fury inside of her that leads her to fight for what she wants.”

Karey turned to face Alan, confusion and concern splashed across her face, “What the hell are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we’ve deprived our daughter of her happiness for long enough, Karey. She was miserable. For Pete’s sake, you even got me on board with making her lock herself inside to shift. This has gone too far. Just look at her, Karey. Her face is still yellow from the fall she took because you convinced me to send a hunter out to get her. It’s time we put her needs first, and what she needs is this young man. Hasn’t he proved himself enough to you? I know he’s done more than enough to show me he’s capable of taking care of our daughter, owl or no owl,” Alan gestured at Landon as he spoke. “Sure, his hair may be a little long, and he might be a musician instead of a doctor or lawyer, but I can honestly say I have no doubt in my mind his capability to take care of Kaylene far exceeds our own.”

Folding her arms and pouting like a petulant child, Karey said, “Fine, I’ll sign the agreement.”

Kaylene was overwhelmed from watching the exchange between Landon and her parents. He had handled it with ease and they were actually going to sign the agreement. They could grow old together. They could have children together. They could settle down somewhere together just like they had planned before everything got thrown into a blender.

“Thank you,” Kaylene murmured to Alan, genuinely feeling grateful for the ease of the exchange.

“Just promise me you’ll at least send pictures, okay?” Alan pleaded genuinely.

“I think I can agree to that, if Landon is ok,” Kaylene said, looking to the side.

“Well then, that’s that. Y’all be on your way out and you can fax the papers here for these kids to sign,” Mama Ally piped up from behind the counter.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Karey said, popping up off of the couch and making a beeline for the door.

“Take care of my little girl,” Alan said as he stood and stretched out his hand to shake Landon’s.

Landon nodded and took Alan’s offered hand, “I will, Mr. Simmons. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry about all of this Kaylene, really I am. I hope someday you’ll be able to forgive me,” Alan said genuinely before following the lawyer out the door to the black SUV that was parked out back.