Pray For Me

Destroyed

- six weeks later-

"Good morning, my lovely little one," Jude smiles, tickling Octavia's belly. She smiles toothlessly up at her mother, waving her arms around.

"Jude, coffee is ready," Timothy calls up the stairs.

"We'll be right down," Jude calls back, taking Octavia into the nursery to change her diaper.

Timothy was going back to work today, and he was terribly worried about Jude being home by herself with the baby.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I can still call in and let them know you're coming."

"Timothy, why are you so worried? We're going to be perfectly fine, right, Tavvy?"

Octavia coos and eats her hands, looking up at her father.

"See?"

Timothy wasn't worried about Jude with the baby. He hadn't been able to get the incident with Casey out of his mind since it happened. He felt like he was always looking over his shoulder for him.

Timothy pushes his concerns down, knowing that Jude and Octavia would have a wonderful day together. Jude had mentioned something about popping into the office for a while.

"Okay. I love you, Tav. Be good for mommy today, okay?" Timothy asks, taking the baby from Jude and showering her in kisses. Jude smiles, feeling her heart swell at the sight. The baby smiles and attempts a laugh. Timothy chuckles and kisses her once more before pulling Jude into a hug.

"I'll see you soon, rare bird. Be safe, okay? I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Monsignor," Jude jokes, leaning up to kiss him. She wraps one arm around his neck and the other around his waist. She leans up on her top toes and smiles against his lips. Timothy laughs and kisses Jude back, handing her the baby after breaking apart.

"Okay, say 'Bye Dada! We love you!'" Jude says, making Octavia wave her little hand. Timothy smiles and looks over his shoulder once more before leaving the house.

Jude takes Octavia into the living room to feed her. Jude watches the news as she feeds her daughter, not really taking it in. Octavia falls asleep promptly after eating, leaving Jude some free time. She decides to tidy the house a little and get a couple loads of laundry done. She also gets herself ready for the day, because when Octavia wakes up, she's taking her in to see Lana at work.

Two hours later, Octavia wakes up, babbling to herself. Jude takes her upstairs and gets her ready for the outing. As soon as she has her buckled into the car, she turns on the radio. Jude sings, making Octavia happy while they drive.

Jude parks and walks around the side of the car to get Octavia out of the seat.

"Auntie Lana," Jude calls lightly, knocking on Lana's office door.

She looks up from her documents and smiles.

"Hello! Oh, Tav you're so big now! How are you, Jude?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Oh, Lord," Lana sighs, taking the baby from Jude.

"Well, we all know that the expose didn't air, so I've put it aside. Now, the network is reaching out to me and asking if we can air it next week!"

"Do it!" Jude nearly yells, nodding eagerly. Lana looks at her and raises an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? It's most definitely going to make you and Timothy look terrible."

"I don't care. I just want that shit hole shut down so nobody else has to go through what we did."

Lana nods and points to her desk.

"There's an extra copy if you want to look through it. I can take out the stuff about you and Timothy specifically. I'm sorry I never got it to you," She chuckles, kissing Octavia's head.

"It's okay. We were all busy with things. I'm just so happy that peanut is here now and I'm not confined to that bed anymore," Jude laughs, sitting on the edge of Lana's desk and picking up the thick pile of papers that is the rough draft for the exposé. Jude skims through it, nodding to herself.

"This is amazing. The state will surely shut it down now. I say leave it all in. Timothy is a completely different man now, anyone can see that. I take full responsibility for what I did, and I'm not proud of it."

Lana nods. She still plans on making the incriminating parts a little more vague. She doesn't blame Jude for anything she did. She was young and under so much pressure to do what was seen as right by the church.

Jude looks over to the radio as an emergency broadcast comes over the music.

"At 1:43 pm, an intruder breeched the Saint Vincent Catholic Elementary School and openly fired a gun during bible study. The official details haven't yet been released, but sources close to us report that several teachers are wounded and in critical condition."

Jude stiffens.

"Jude," Lana says, standing up quickly.

"That's Timothy's school," Jude says, looking towards Lana frantically. Octavia picks up on her mother's anxiety, and begins to fuss.

"That's Timothy's school," Jude screams, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, God! I have to get to the hospital and see if he's alright! I'm sorry, Lana," Jude says, tears falling down her cheeks. Octavia whines as Jude takes her, practically sprinting out to the car. Lana helps Jude pack the stroller into the trunk, throwing the diaper bag in the back seat next to the baby.

"Okay, call me later when you hear something?" Lana asks, hugging Jude.

She nods, wiping her tears.

"It's going to be okay."

Jude nods again and looks over to Octavia, who is looking at her mother through the car window.

Lana watches Jude as she pulls away and sighs.

"She'll be devastated if he gets hurt. Please, God, if you care at all, look out for him," Lana says, looking up at the sky.

She sighs and turns back to the building.

At the hospital, Jude pushes past groups of people in the waiting room. Octavia, feeling her mother's anxiety, is still crying quite a bit.

"Hello? Can you help me? I'm looking for my... husband" Jude says. They have yet to get engaged since the whole file fiasco.

"Sure, Ma'am. What's his name?" A young nurse asks, grabbing a clipboard and smiling down at Octavia.

"Timothy Howard."

The nurse looks down to her clip board, and her face drops, along with Jude's heart. She was sobbing before the words even left the nurses mouth.