Broken (a Niall Horan love story)

Chapter 76~ The End

***Navaeh's P.O.V.***

A year had passed by the time that I was answering the door with a small baby bump and a gold band on my finger. Things had been crazy obviously; Harry and Elizabeth had gotten married and seeing them so happy pushed me to take that ever important step into intimacy with Niall. It was a few months after that that Niall and I found out that I was pregnant and we'd rushed to get married during a trip to Mullingar. It was a quick little arrangement, but we were happy with it and that was all that mattered.

I'd visited the jail where James was at about a week before we had that particular knock on the door in the middle of December. I really shouldn't have gone, but he had been so damn insistent about it and I just got tired of the calls from the jail that constantly went to voicemail. He had said some pretty... disturbing things when he had seen my baby bump (and I had tried really hard to hide it, but twins didn't make it easy). I had returned home as quickly as I could and I was incredibly paranoid. Every little thing made me jump and Niall noticed right away. It was really silly to try and hide things from him. So, I told him about what had happened and he was more than upset about it all.

And that's what had led up to the knock on the door. Oliver Linwood stood on the other side; his hair was a bit longer than I had remembered it from the last time I had seen him. He was still in his police uniform and he bore a serious look. When I first saw him I let my mind run wild with what he could possibly have to say to me.

"Navaeh, it's great to see you looking so well," he greeted as he offered a kind smile for a short moment. His welcoming persona helped me to relax a little bit, but not enough to make me feel incredibly comfortable. So, with a shy smile and a hand travelling to my bump, I replied.

"It's great to see you too," it was just pleasantries compared to what was to come, I'm sure, but I would feel rude if I just urged him to jump to why he was standing on my doorstep. So, I pushed invisible dirt around with the tip of my toe as I silently wished that Niall would come out from the kitchen and join me at the door. He probably would eventually; I had no doubt that he'd get worried about my extended absence and come to see who was waiting at the door.

"I know you're probably wondering why I'm here," he started with a sigh and a dip at the corner of his lips. I nodded ever so slightly, tapping at my stomach with slight impatience. "And I won't keep you waiting long; I just came to deliver some news."

"News?" I wondered with an arch of my brow.

"Yes, I heard that you visited James about a week ago so I assume that you've been keeping contact with him." Oliver was fiddling a little while he talked to me; he was obviously concerned about something and that little fact had me even more on edge.

"I guess," I shrugged, "he was being really insistent on seeing me and I got tired of it." I had regretted going as soon as I stepped into the place, but I couldn't go back and undo that decision. I would have been happy to never speak to him again; after the threats he had made on my babies, I was hoping that I would never see his face again.

Oliver nodded curtly, moving on to his main point, "Um, I was called by the jail earlier today; James was killed by an inmate that recognized him as an ex-officer."

The news made my whole body freeze. My fingers clutched at the soft fabric of my shirt as I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that wasn't from the twins. Maybe it was just because Niall and I had been watching some cop drama the night before or maybe it was some instinct. I just had all these doubts running through my mind and I decided to voice them, "are you sure he's dead?" My tone was so deathly serious that it was almost impossible.

He nodded, "I was there to verify that it was him and I watched him get lowered into the ground." And there was a huge wave of relief that washed over me when I heard the words. I covered my mouth with my hands as a small sob pushed its way out. I was so... happy to hear the news and I didn't know if that was understandable or just plain twisted. Honestly, I had wished death upon James about a thousand times.