Getting to The Truth
Chapter 70 - The Epilogue
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I want to thank everyone who has supported me in my endeavor to write this fanfic. You're words of praise, your begging for more, and the now defunct "HollyJo Worshipers" made the writing of the story all the more fun. I'm finding it extremely difficult to say goodbye to some of the characters that were created by me, such as Mel, Libby, Bethany, Jeff, Jerry (at least my version of Jerry) etc. But the time has come to do it. The story has outstayed it's welcome :). So again...thank you for all your support, it was appreciated more than I could ever say.
This chapter is an epilogue, dated a few years down the line...and since I'm a sucker for a happy ending, you can probably guess how it will end :)!
This chapter is dedicated to all those that gave me encouragement, support, ideas, information and help. Thank you. HollyJo
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"I still say that the doctor did his own wife in," Libby stated as she tied the elaborate red bow on the Christmas present she was wrapping.
Mel rolled her eyes, "The doctor was out of town when the murder occurred, he has witnesses."
"Yeah...that's what O.J. said a few years back too...but everyone knows he did it," Libby said, stepping over Jerry to place the present under the tree.
Jax grinned at his wife across the room, "She's got you there, Sweetie."
Mel stuck out her tongue, "Please don't encourage her."
"Well, the children are all fast asleep," Jane announced as she came into the room, Hazel by her side. "I have a feeling that they will be up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa has brought them." She sighed with exhaustion as she sat down.
"I bet Jerry beats them down here," Libby said sarcastically. "The man is more excited about Christmas than Linc and Josie are. I swear he only wanted kids so that he could play with the toys without people giving him strange looks."
"Ahhhh, after 6 years of marriage, the woman has finally figured me out," Jerry said without looking up from the train set he was trying to put together. "And you had better quit being so sassy Woman...or Santa won't leave you anything under the tree."
Libby wrinkled her nose at him, then turned back to Mel, "So you aren't going to investigate the doctor any further?"
Jax laughed at Libby's persistence, "My wife didn't become the youngest Police Commissioner by being stupid, Libs."
Libby's eyes lit up, "So you are still investigating him!"
"Let's just say, that until we get some solid evidence about who really did it, we aren't marking anyone off the list," Mel finally consented.
Jerry laughed, "You had better watch out, Luv...otherwise my favorite sister-in-law is going to put you on the list of suspects just because you won't leave her alone. She might think you are trying to point the finger at someone else just to avert suspicion from yourself."
Everyone laughed, except Mel, who, with a twinkle in her eye, said, "Come to think of it Libby...You were spotted coming out of the doctors office the day of the murder."
Libby laughed, "That's right...I confess...the man told me I was pregnant again, and instead of taking it out on the man responsible, I killed the doctor's wife out of hormonal outrage."
"You know...I remember a case similar to this in Oklahoma," Hazel piped in, "except of course, the doctor's wife killed the doctor because she was pregnant. Seems he had replaced her birth control pills with placebos, and she was mad because she had just gotten her figure back from having their 5th child."
"Sounds like justified homicide to me," Libby piped in.
"Ahhh Luv, are you ever going to quit being mad at me because I got you pregnant again?" Jerry asked.
"Who said you got me pregnant?" she popped off.
Jerry pulled his wife down in his lap gently and kissed her nose, "I do....no one else would have you."
She punched his shoulder lightly, "You....."
He kissed her into silence as the room erupted with laughter. He raised his head, "Besides, it would never have happened if you weren't the sexiest woman alive."
"I take issue with that," Jax piped up, going over to his wife and wrapping her in his arms, "Melanie is by far the sexiest woman alive."
"So nice to know that at least a couple of husbands still think their wives are sexy," Bethany said as she came into the room.
Jeff rolled his eyes, as he entered the room behind her, his arms loaded with presents, "I tell you all the time that you are sexy."
"Excuse me? I believe only this morning you said I waddled when I walked. That doesn't mean sexy!"
"I said you were cute when you waddled...same thing as sexy." Jeff put the presents down and glared at his very pregnant wife.
Bethany snorted her disagreement, then held out her hand for Jeff to help her sit down. "I don't know why I'm sitting down, I'll just have to get up in 2 minutes to go to the bathroom again."
"You look like you are about to pop," Hazel said, placing her hand on the very round belly.
"I feel like I'm about to pop. Whoever said being pregnant is a wondrous thing, obviously never went through it," she complained.
A flash of sadness passed across Mel's eyes before she turned back to wrapping the present before her. Jax leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. Smiled at her, then went back to the corner of the room, where he was putting together a bike.
"Son, I don't think a bike is supposed to look like this," John said, staring at Jax's project. "When I took your mother biking in the mountains a few months ago, I could have sworn that the handle bars were in the front of the bike. Weren't they Mother?"
"That is the front of the bike Dad," Jax argued.
"Only if you are looking at it bass ackwards," John said. He picked up the instructions and read for a moment. "Here's your problem...this thingy here needs to go this way..."
"Dad...." Jax growled.
Mel laughed and shook her head. Libby's eyes twinkled as she helped Mel, "Do you think they will be through putting everything together before the kids get up?"
"Depends....are you talking about this Christmas or next?"
"Hey Honey...look at this," Jeff yelled in excitement as he sat down on the floor next to Jerry to admire the train set. "You think Junior would like something like this for Christmas next year?"
Bethany sighed, "Would you please quit calling this poor child Junior? And no...she'll be too young to enjoy a train set at that age."
"I think HE'LL love it," Jeff said, turning his back on his wife and whispering to Jerry, "Hormones...it's just her hormones talking."
Jerry laughed, "I understand completely...I've gone through it before and I'm currently going through it again with Libby."
"I heard that!" Libby said from across the room.
"See what I mean? Even their hearing gets better during pregnancy."
"It's a sad lot in life we husbands have to incur," Jeff shook his head sadly.
Four pillows came flying across the room as Jerry and Jeff ducked, "Hey watch it...you'll knock the tree down!" Jerry said.
"Not to mention, mess up my beautiful hairdo that I spent hours fixing just right," Jeff said, primping his hair.
Bethany laughed in spite of herself, then groaned, "Oh damn....JEFF!"
"Uh Oh!" Jeff said, getting to his feet, "That's an, I've gotta go to the bathroom again, whine." His sarcasm was a front, as could be told by the loving expression he placed on his wife as he tenderly helped her from the couch, and walked her out of the room.
A few minutes later, Jeff poked his head in the room, "Jax? Your son is wanting you."
Jax got up off the floor where he was about to finish the bike he was putting together for his eldest son. He motioned to Mel that he would take care of it, and he left the room and bounded up the stairs, to meet a very anxious looking 7 year-old. "What's the matter Kolton?"
"Jax...I...I mean...Dad...Krista is crying and I can't get her to quit. She wants you and Mel...I mean Mom."
Jax ruffled his head, and guided him back to the guest room that his 3 children were sleeping in. He walked into the room and found his 3 year-old crying in her bed, her face buried in her pillow. 5 year-old Cody, was standing in the corner, "I didn't say anything to her Dad...honest I didn't." Jax cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at his mischievous son, and sat down on Krista's bed. He pulled her in his arms, and cradled her gently as great sobs shook her body. "Hey sweetie, what's wrong?"
"Bad girl!" Krista hiccuped.
"Who's a bad girl?"
"Me!" she pointed to herself as she burst into tears again.
"Who said you were a bad girl?"
Krista hid her face in Jax's chest, and pointed at Cody. Cody backed up further into the corner, "I didn't say that Krista. You're lying! Dad, she's lying!"
"Uh huh!" Jax said disbelieving. He pulled his daughter's head away from his chest and wiped her tears, "Okay...will someone please tell me what is going on?"
"Krista got out of bed and I told her that if she did Santa wouldn't come," Cody explained. "That's all I said."
"Is not!" Krista bellowed.
"Is to!"
"Is not!"
"Is to!"
"Alright! That's enough!" Jax cut into the argument. He turned his gaze upon Kolton, who was standing patiently by his bed, and raised his eyebrows.
Kolton, wise beyond his years, filled in the blanks, "Krista thought she heard Santa on the roof and was sneaking to the window. Cody told her she was being a bad girl and that she wasn't going to get any presents from Santa because he would know she wasn't in bed. Krista said that Santa would give her presents and Cody said that if he did, you would take away her presents and give them to him because she was a bad girl. Then Krista started crying. I tried to get her to stop, but she only wanted you and Mom."
"Everything alright in here?" Mel popped her head into the door. Cody ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back and then led him back to bed. "I thought you guys were supposed to be asleep?"
Krista pointed a royal finger at Cody, "Cody is bad boy!"
Jax's eyes twinkled at Mel, "A small case of the "Santa won't come because your bad" blues!"
Mel laughed softly, "Oh! I see! So...is the crisis over?"
"Not quite!" Jax said, holding his laughter in. He swung Krista back into her bed and pulled the covers up, "Okay!! Listen up!! Santa will still make an appearance tonight...okay??? But that means that you have to get back to bed and close those beautiful brown eyes, okay?"
Kolton sighed tiredly and gladly climbed back into bed. Cody, however, had lost all thought of sleep and begged a story. Jax volunteered to tell the Christmas story and Mel kissed her children, softly brushing the hair off of Kolton's already sleeping head and tucked him in. Waved at Jax and left the room.
"Everything alright?" Jane looked up at Mel as she stepped back into the room. Mel nodded, "Just anxious kids wanting Santa to hurry up and get here so they can quit being good."
"Melanie, your kids are a delight. And they are very lucky to have you and Jax for parents," Hazel said.
Mel smiled softly, "Thanks...it's scary, suddenly having 3 kids...but at the same time...nothing ever felt so right."
"I know what you mean," Libby said, "If you had asked me a few years ago if I could see myself as a mother, it would have been a resounding NO...but now...well..." her voice faded off, then she smiled and hugged her friend, "I'm so glad that the adoption went through with no problems. Now that it's all over and they are officially yours, I have to admit, I was scared to death that some distant relative would pop up and screw up the whole works."
"I was scared about that too. But Jax...well Jax was Jax. He knew those kids would be ours the minute I brought them home."
"Jax took one look at those big brown eyes those kids have, and knew that they were the answer to your prayers," Jerry said solemnly. "He told me once, that as soon as he saw Kolton's eyes, it was like looking into yours. And he knew at that moment, they were sent straight from heaven."
Mel nodded, remembering the day she had found the 3 kids. She had been investigating the death of a prostitute and when she had checked out the hotel room where she had been known to stay, she had found the children. They were in shabby clothes, but they were clean, and in surprisingly good health. The prostitute had obviously loved them deeply, but simply couldn't provide for them a good home. And then she had the misfortune to meet up with the wrong customer. Kolton was very much the caretaker of his younger siblings. A big role for someone so young. And even though the adoption had been final for several months, he was still having trouble calling Jax and herself, Dad and Mom. Mel loved all the children with all her heart, but she had to admit, Kolton was the one that had captured her heart first. And she was determined that he would once again enjoy the childhood that he had so far missed out on. Cody was the mischievous one...always in trouble...always keeping them on their toes. His intelligence and ingenuity had his Uncle Jerry and Grandfather John always in stitches, egging him on. His bright smile was contagious, and everyone tended to laugh, even when they were exasperated with him. And then there was little Krista, Jax's angel, that was just as mischievous as Cody, but had a real sweetness about her. She was going to be a heartbreaker one day...she certainly already had all the menfolk in the Jacks family wrapped around her little finger...and the little...ummm...angel...knew it.
Yes, her children were sent straight from heaven. After finding out that she was unable to have children, she had been devastated and had even separated temporarily from Jax, knowing how much he wanted kids. But Jax had convinced her that they belonged together, no matter what. They had proceeded to fill out all the adoption paperwork. 2 years later, Mel had found the children that they would call their own.
Mel sighed and shook herself from her thoughts. Right now...if she didn't get busy and finish wrapping the gifts, the little angels would become devils come Christmas morning.
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"I'm exhausted," Jerry said, as he slid into bed next to his wife.
"Exhausted huh? From what? All you did all evening was play with the train set you bought Linc." Libby said, sliding into his arms.
Jerry grinned at her, "He's going to love the train, isn't he?"
She laughed softly, "Not as much as his father does."
He laughed and hugged her close, "And I suppose you didn't play at all with that doll you bought Josie."
"Not at all," Libby scoffed, "I was just fixing her hair so it would be perfect for Josie."
"Ummmhmmm," he said disbelieving, nuzzling her hair. "It's after midnight...Merry Christmas Luv!" He raised her face and kissed her softly.
"Merry Christmas," she whispered.
"Can I get my present now?" he asked with a wolfish grin.
She laughed, "You still consider that a present?"
He stroked her face softly and leaned in to kiss her deeply, then whispered against her mouth, "You will always be the most precious gift to me..."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she smiled at him, and just before his lips took hers again, she whispered, "then I forgive you for getting me pregnant again."
Laughter filled the room as he wrapped her in his arms and accepted his most valued gift.
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"Do you think you might get that finished before the kids wake up?" Mel teased Jax. They were alone in the living room, everyone else having gone to bed.
"It might have helped if these instructions weren't written in Japanese," he grumbled.
"Ummmm...maybe these would help," she said as she handed him the English instructions.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "You had these all the time?"
She smiled at him over her shoulder as she turned on some romantic Christmas music. "Umhmmm"
"And I suppose you had a good reason for making me spend hours trying to put together 2 bikes for our sons without these instructions?"
She smiled at him again, as she lit a few candles, "Ummhmmm", she murmured as she stoked up the fire. He watched as she kicked off her shoes on the way to the wall and turned out the lights. The room glowing with the soft candlelight and the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. She made her way slowly to him, pulling sweater over her head as she did so.
"Why do I get the feeling that these bikes aren't going to get finished?" Jax said, slipping out of his sweater, waiting for her to get closer.
"Well.." she said, "If you would prefer to put together the bikes instead of making love to me...I'll turn the lights back on..." she smiled seductively at him as she stood over him.
He groaned and pulled her down onto his lap, "The bikes can wait!" He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, meaning for it to only be a small kiss, but like always, it deepened into something that was fast growing out of control.
He leaned back suddenly and looked at her, "This is becoming a tradition with us."
"Yeah...that's why I withheld the instructions...I wanted to be sure you were the last one to get his job done...that way we could make love under the Christmas tree...we wouldn't want to break tradition."
He couldn't resist her neck as he bent slightly to nibble his way down her body. The Christmas lights danced and twinkled as they continued their Christmas tradition.
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The living room was filled with laughter and squeals of delight the next morning as carefully wrapped presents were ripped apart. The children were having a ball and the adults were having a just as good a time. Jerry was sprawled on the floor, Linc by his side, enjoying the train set. Josie had set up house with her dolls in the dollhouse she had gotten. Kolton and Cody were riding around the room on their new bikes, despite the cries of their mother. And Krista was hugging the puppy that she had gotten. The room was in total chaos, but no one seemed to care.
"How long was Jax up last night?"
Mel choked on the eggnog she was sipping at Jane's question, "Excuse me?"
"It was late before I heard the two of you coming to bed...you must have only gotten a couple hours of sleep. I told John to go down and help Jax out, but John said that he didn't think Jax needed help. Strange considering how much John was complaining about what a bad job Jax was doing putting the bikes together."
Mel looked at John, who winked at her, letting her know that he knew exactly why it had taken Jax so long. She blushed furiously.
"I heard Mel helping him out," Jeff said, a twinkle in his eye, "She kept saying, put it there...that's the way...obviously he finally put whatever she was talking about in the right place because she finally groaned and said, "Oh yeah...right there...that's the wayyyyy..." he laughed as he ducked a flying pillow.
"You rotten...no good..."
"Ohhhhhhh...." Bethany moaned.
"Yeah...I heard a lot of that too," Jeff said, ducking from another pillow.
"Ohhhhhhh..." Bethany moaned again. Jeff quit his joking as he realized his wife wasn't teasing Mel, but was in fact holding her belly, a panicked look on her face.
"Honey?"
She looked at him, "I thought it was gas pains...but I guess they were labor pains."
"You're just getting me back for the waddling comment yesterday...right?" he asked hopefully.
"Jeff...do I look like I'm just pulling an elaborate joke...oh no..." She looked down at her feet, "Oh no...all over that beautiful rug..."
"Oh forget about the rug," Libby said, holding on to Bethany's arm, "I think we need to get you to the hospital. How long have you been having labor pains?"
"Since about 3 this morning...you would think, being a doctor, I would know the difference between gas pains and labor pains....Ohhhhhh!"
Jeff stood there looking at his wife in panic. Jerry got up off the floor and headed out the room, "I'll go warm the car up and bring it around front. Jeff? JEFF!!!"
Jeff slid slowly to the floor in a dead faint.
"Oh for crying out loud!!" Bethany yelled, "A great help he's going to be..." then laughed in spite of her irritation. "On second thought...maybe he has the right idea..."
"Don't even think about it Beth!" Mel said, on her way out the door to grab coats, "We need you conscious for this..."
The room became an uproar again as Bethany was bundled up and headed for the hospital. 5 hours later, Jeff, who had managed to stay conscious during the delivery, came out grinning from ear to ear and looked at the room full of family and friends. The room got quiet waiting for the news. Jeff grinned at them and finally relented, "It's a girl...we named her Noel. Bethany was great...only yelled at me a couple of times...well a few times...but she did great!!"
A sigh of relief and then laughter erupted in the room. Hugs were passed out to everyone and John passed out some of his horded cigars in celebration.
John held his wife in his arms and looked around the overflowing room. He squeezed her tight, tears in his eyes, "Well Lady Jane...what do you have to say about our family?"
Jane looked at her husband, "Well Pa...I'd have to say...our family is pretty damn wonderful and we are pretty damn lucky!"
John stuck a cigar in his mouth and his chest swelled with pride, "I couldn't have said it any better!"
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End of Getting to The Truth
HollyJo
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