Right Side Up

Two

Standing on an interior set of steps, holding onto the railing for fear that if I let go I might fall over, I see Tyler approaching slowly while the rest of my family hangs back towards the entrance to give us our space.

"What's wrong, Ave? Other than the obvious." He asks, snaking his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him. His warmth pulls me even closer.

"He's a psychopath." I say simply, thinking my thoughts out loud. "I didn't want to admit it to myself but now it is impossible not to see it."

"That's the obvious part I was talking about babe." He kisses my cheek, joking to lighten my mood.

I laugh and wipe my tears, turning around to face him.

"I just don't know if I am ready to hear those vile people slam my mother's reputation in there. If my father is really pleading not guilty, his lawyers are going to do their best to paint my mother as a suicidal maniac who killed herself and made him look like he's to blame." I explain my thought process to him.

He nods.

"And all of this press is here to watch? What a nightmare. This story blew up because of how crazy he acted and now the whole world is watching all of our every moves. Those men are going to tell the whole world lies about my mother and there is absolutely nothing that I, or any of us, can do to stop them."

Tyler stares at me for a moment. His eyes dart back and forth to examine my pained expression. He is looking for a way to fix me.

But he can't. I'm already too broken.

"I'm going to have to go out there and talk to the press, pretending like I still have faith that the prosecutors can do their jobs." I fight back tears so that the cameras won't see.

"They can say whatever they want in there. But there is proof that your mom didn't kill her self. She was dead before her car even drove off that bridge. Because he killed her. Your dad did that. There is proof of that, remember?" He asks me. "The lawyers on our side will do their jobs and send him to prison for all of those women he killed, including your mom."

I nod. He is right. I know the truth and I trust our lawyers to share that truth with everyone else.

"All we can do now is wait. We stick together and this will all be over soon." Tyler assures me. I grab his face and kiss his lips softly. "That's better." He laughs out of our kiss. "Now can they come over here? They're all standing over there staring at us."

I smile and glance over at them. They wave nervously.

"Not yet." I sigh. "I still have something to tell you. That I don't want anyone else hearing yet."

"What is it? You can tell me anything, Ave." He grabs my hands and squeezes them.

I nod. I know. I've never felt more comfortable with someone in my whole life. I am going to marry him. There isn't anyone I would rather have by my side.

"Please don't freak out."

"You stalling is making me freak out. Just tell me what is wrong, please." He begs me, squeezing my hands tighter.

I take a deep breath. There's no turning back now. He needs to know and I need to be the one to tell him.

"I'm pregnant."

Author's note: how do you think Tyler will take the news that Avery is pregnant with his baby?

And what are your predictions for the trial of the century?