It was pouring rain in the morning. The wind blew the rain so that it was pelting against the window. I had pulled Hunter's crib out of the living room and into the kitchen so that I would not be alone. I had a bowl in my arm and I was whisking the pancake mix.

I did not get any sleep last night, so I decided to get up early to make breakfast. I was worried about Tommy's plans all night.

The sweet aroma filled my nose as I poured the batter into the pan. The sizzling of the batter was barely audible over the sound of the rain. After I finished the pancakes, I put them in the oven to keep them warm.

"Wow, it smells good, Juliet."

I spun around on my heels to see Charles at the bottom of the steps. He rolled up his sleeves as he walked into the kitchen. He leaned over Hunter's crib and picked him up. Charles sat down in his chair while he was cradling Hunter.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled the dishes out of the cupboard.

I placed the plates and cutlery on the table. A smile overtook my face every time I looked at Charles and Hunter. I could tell that he was looking forward to having grandsons.

"By tonight it will be a full house," Charles said.

"For sure," I said, ignoring the knot in my stomach.

The stairs creaked and I looked over my shoulder to see Tommy walking into the kitchen.

"Smells good down here," he said.

"Thanks," I said.

Tommy walked over to Charles and ran his finger along Hunter's cheek. He looked over his shoulder at me and smirked. I bit down on my lip. I did not want to know what was going through his mind.

"Tell your brother to get down here so that we can eat," Charles told Tommy.

Tommy ran up the stairs and I pulled out the pancakes.

"Dad says get downstairs," he yelled through the door.

I placed the pancakes on the table and Charles handed Hunter over to me. I sat down and watched Tommy and Charles fill their plates. Jimmy was soon downstairs and joined us at the table.

"Aren't you eating?" Jimmy asked me.

"I'm not hungry," I said.

"Eat one."

"I'm really not hungry."

Tommy's plans had made me nauseous and the thought of eating made me feel even sicker.

"Julie, you need to eat," Jimmy told me. "You're not leaving the table until you eat one."

I nodded and slid one onto my plate. I used one hand to cut it with the side of my fork. I chewed it slowly and forced myself to swallow it.

"Jim, I need that case with the syringes," Charles said.

"You got more of the tranquilizer?" Jimmy asked.

"What?"

"I told you that we were running out when I had to sedate Emme."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"James, I would have remembered that. You never told me that we ran out."

"He actually did, Dad," Tommy said.

Charles let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. I looked down to see that I managed to eat half of the pancake.

"My memory is getting worse," he said. "Boys, I need you to cover all the chores after breakfast. I'm going to have to head out early. I knew that the rain was going to slow me down, but this just made it a lot worse."

"You're going to get her without the tranquilizer?" Tommy asked.

"Yes," he said. "Let's hope she is not a fighter like Juliet was."

Jimmy looked at me and the heat rushed up to my cheeks. It seemed like forever since I was waiting for the taxi in front of the club. I was terrified at the time, but I had no idea how they were going to save me.

"She'll love it here," I said.

"Of course she will love it here," Jimmy said. "You need to help her see that, sweetheart."

Charles wiped his mouth and pushed his plate away from him. I shoved the last piece of pancake into my mouth.

"I should get going," Charles said as he got up out of his chair.

I got up and placed Hunter in his crib. I cleared the table as they finished eating. Charles pulled his arm through the sleeves of his jacket and we all said our goodbyes. I washed the dishes and Jimmy and Tommy went outside to do their chores.

They were soon back in the house, changed out of their wet clothes, and sat at the dining room table to play cards. They made a few jokes but did not say much. I cleaned the house and cooked dinner, but neither of them said a word to me.

Charles was not home for dinner. I was not sure when he would be home, so I served dinner and saved him a plate. I was washing the dishes when I heard a girl screaming.

The headlights of Charles' truck shone through the windows.

"Tommy, go upstairs," Jimmy said.

Tommy didn't argue and ran up the stairs. I remembered meeting Charles and Tommy before I met Jimmy. This must be part of their tradition.

The girl's screaming continued. I stood at the sink and stared through the bars of the window. Jimmy grabbed my hips and turned me around. He ran his hands up my neck and cupped the side of my face. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"You know I love you, right?" he said.

"Of course." I smiled. "I love you too."

"I trust you," he said. "What you're about to see may be hard, but I know that you can handle it."

Jimmy kissed me before stepping away and opening the front door. Charles walked in with the girl over his shoulder. She had a pillowcase over her head. Her wrists were bound together and so were her legs. Her screams were muffled as she tried to punch and kick Charles.

Jimmy pulled out a dining room chair and Charles set her down on it. Jimmy kneeled down in front of her and undid one of her arms before securing it down onto the chair with the rope. He then undid her feet and tied them to the chair. She tried to fight him off, but Jimmy easily overpowered her.

Charles raised his arms over his head and stretched out his muscles. He must have carried her for a long time.

He reached out and pulled the pillowcase off of her head. Her long blonde hair was stuck to her wet face. Her skin was heavily splattered with freckles. A piece of cloth was wrapped around her head, which was gagging her. Her piercing blue eyes were red and swollen. She continued to try and pull herself free, but she was not going anywhere.

"What's her name?" Jimmy asked.

"Carrie," Charles said.

Carrie started to scream even louder. She contorted her back as she tried to push herself off the chair. Charles reached forward to move a piece of hair off of her face. Carrie leaned out of the way so that he could not touch her. She kept screaming, and it made me think of the girl that was screaming at Noah's house. Tommy stabbed her in the thigh to make her shut up. I wondered what he was going to do to her.

"Carrie, honey," Charles said. "You have two choices: either you keep screaming and get gagged all night, or you be quiet and I'll take it off."

Her knuckles were turning white as she was gripping the chair. She took deep breaths through her nose to try and control her tears.

"Are you going to scream?" Charles asked.

She shook her head. He pulled the cloth down around her neck. She took in deep ragged breaths. She opened her mouth to speak, but she started to cry even harder.

"What do you want from me?" she sobbed.

Charles pulled out another chair and set it down in front of her. He sat down as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

"Honey," Charles said. His lips curled into a smile. "We are just bringing you home."

"What?" She winced as she continued to fight against the restraints. "No. Let me go."

"We aren't going to do that."

"Please."

Carrie's whines caused her to sob even more. Her face was bright red and the tears were streaming down her cheeks. Jimmy slid his arms around my waist. He lowered his chin so that it was resting on my shoulder.

"We can't let you go, Carrie," Charles said. "We have a tradition in this family that on our son's twentieth birthday, the father goes out and finds his son a wife. You Carrie, you are my son Tommy's wife."

"You're sick!" she screamed.

Charles raised his hand and slapped her across the face. Carrie let out a sharp yelp. I could hear Hunter crying from the living room. I curled my fingers around Jimmy's and tried to pry his hands off of me.

"No," he whispered into my ear. "I'll go get him."

He kissed my cheek before letting go of me. I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched Jimmy walk out of the kitchen. I did not know if I should be watching Charles and Carrie or going upstairs.

"Be quiet," Charles said. "Show some respect. You woke my grandson up. I know you may not like it now, but you will soon see that this is where you belong. We are protecting you from the outside world."

Charles raised his arm and gestured back to me. Carrie looked up at me and her eyes grew wide. I guessed that she had not seen me standing there before. Jimmy came back into the kitchen with a screaming Hunter in his arms. He shoved our baby into my arms.

"I couldn't get him to stop crying," Jimmy said.

"It's okay," I said. I cooed at Hunter and rocked him in my arms.

"Look at Juliet," Charles said. "She came here two years ago. She was just as scared as you and take a look at her now."

Hunter was calming down in my arms. He stopped crying and his face was no longer red. I glanced over at Carrie before looking back down at Hunter. I could not stand to see the fear that was on her face. I knew that it would only get worse once she met Tommy.

"This isn't real," Carrie said. "This can't be real. It can't be."

"I'm exhausted," Charles said as he got up from the chair. "Go get Tommy. It's his job to sort her out."

Charles looked over his shoulder at Carrie and smirked. She was crumpled up in the chair.

"I'm going to take a shower," Jimmy said. He kissed me and took Hunter out of my arms. He leaned in toward me and whispered in my ear. "Make Carrie feel comfortable with you."

He followed Charles up the stairs. I walked up to Carrie. I treated her like I was walking up to a timid deer in the forest. I had no clue why. It was not like she could run away from me. I could hear her whispering to herself.

I got on my knees in front of her. Her wrists were raw. The rope had torn through her soft flesh and blood was trickling down her hands. I moved a piece of hair out of her face and over her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut and a few more tears rolled down her cheek. She turned her head to face me. Her cheek was resting against her knee.

"How could you?" she asked. Her voice was hoarse from all of her crying.

"It's going to be okay," I said.

"They're going to kill me."

"No, they'd never hurt you."

I knew that it was partially a lie. Tommy would probably take any excuse to punish her.

"I promise it is going to be okay," I said.

The stairs creaked as Tommy came downstairs. Carrie sat up straight in the chair. I tucked her hair behind her ears. Carrie sniffled, but I saw another tear escape her eyes.

"Please, untie me," she whispered.

I shook my head. Tommy walked into the kitchen, and I got up off my knees. Tommy glared at me. I sucked in a deep breath. He crossed his arms over his chest as I walked up to him.

"Tommy," I said.

"What do you want, Jules?" he asked.

"Please, be nice to her," I said. "She's really scared."

"Jules, I am going to do what needs to be done," he said. "We'll be out of here soon. Now, I suggest you get upstairs to Jimmy."

I bit down on my lip and nodded. I ran upstairs and I could hear Carrie's sobs from the room. Jimmy was sitting on the bed without a shirt. He was running a towel over his wet hair. He dropped the towel on the floor and grabbed my wrists. He pulled me down onto his lap.

"I love you so much," he said.

"I love you too," I said.

I leaned in and kissed him. Carrie let out a high-pitched scream and my nails dug into his back.

"Was I this bad?" I asked.

"No," he said. "You were a handful but I loved you so much that it did not bother me."

Carrie continued to scream. It woke Hunter and he was screaming too. I picked him up and cradled him in my arms. Jimmy had moved on the bed so that he was leaning against the headboard. I sat down on the bed and leaned against Jimmy. He wrapped his arm around me as I tried to soothe Hunter.

"It's going to be a long night," Jimmy warned me.