diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index a964a9c..c93f8a0 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -66,15 +66,24 @@ function status () {
 
 // closes all children and the process
 function close (code) {
-    var i, len;
+    var i, len, closed = 0, opened = 0;
+
     for (i = 0, len = children.length; i < len; i++) {
         if (!children[i].exitCode) {
+            opened++;
             children[i].removeAllListeners('close');
-            children[i].kill('SIGINT');
+            children[i].kill("SIGINT");
             if (verbose) console.log('`' + children[i].cmd + '` will now be closed');
+            children[i].on('close', function() {
+                closed++;
+                if (opened == closed) {
+                    process.exit(code);
+                }
+            });
         }
     }
-    process.exit(code);
+    if (opened == closed) {process.exit(code);}
+
 }
 
 // cross platform compatibility
@@ -89,6 +98,9 @@ if (process.platform === 'win32') {
 // start the children
 children = [];
 cmds.forEach(function (cmd) {
+    if (process.platform != 'win32') {
+      cmd = "exec "+cmd;
+    }
     var child = spawn(sh,[shFlag,cmd], {
         cwd: process.cwd,
         env: process.env,
diff --git a/test/index.coffee b/test/index.coffee
index 2f740fc..02aebba 100644
--- a/test/index.coffee
+++ b/test/index.coffee
@@ -1,20 +1,21 @@
 chai = require "chai"
 should = chai.should()
-spawn = require("child_process").spawn;
+spawn = require("child_process").spawn
 Promise = require("bluebird")
 
+verbose = 0
+
 # cross platform compatibility
 if process.platform == "win32"
-  sh = "cmd";
-  shFlag = "/c";
+  sh = "cmd"
+  shArg = "/c"
 else
-  sh = "sh";
-  shFlag = "-c";
-
+  sh = "sh"
+  shArg = "-c"
 
 # children
-waitingProcess = "\\\"node -e 'setTimeout(function(){},10000);'\\\""
-failingProcess = "\\\"node -e 'throw new Error(\"someError\");'\\\""
+waitingProcess = "\"node -e 'setTimeout(function(){},10000);'\""
+failingProcess = "\"node -e 'throw new Error();'\""
 
 usageInfo = """
 -h, --help         output usage information
@@ -22,14 +23,34 @@ usageInfo = """
 -w, --wait         will not close sibling processes on error
 """.split("\n")
 
+cmdWrapper = (cmd) ->
+  if process.platform != "win32"
+    cmd = "exec "+cmd
+  if verbose
+    console.log "Calling: "+cmd
+  return cmd
+
 spawnParallelshell = (cmd) ->
-	return spawn sh, [shFlag, "node './index.js' " + cmd], {
-      cwd: process.cwd
-    }
+  return spawn sh, [shArg, cmdWrapper("node ./index.js "+cmd )], {
+    cwd: process.cwd
+  }
+
+killPs = (ps) ->
+  ps.kill "SIGINT"
+
+spyOnPs = (ps, verbosity=1) ->
+  if verbose >= verbosity
+    ps.stdout.setEncoding("utf8")
+    ps.stdout.on "data", (data) ->
+      console.log data
+    ps.stderr.setEncoding("utf8")
+    ps.stderr.on "data", (data) ->
+      console.log "err: "+data
 
 testOutput = (cmd, expectedOutput) ->
   return new Promise (resolve) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(cmd)
+    spyOnPs ps, 3
     ps.stdout.setEncoding("utf8")
     output = []
     ps.stdout.on "data", (data) ->
@@ -37,48 +58,62 @@ testOutput = (cmd, expectedOutput) ->
       lines.pop() if lines[lines.length-1] == ""
       output = output.concat(lines)
     ps.stdout.on "end", () ->
-      for line,i in output
-        line.should.equal expectedOutput[i]
+      for line,i in expectedOutput
+        line.should.equal output[i]
       resolve()
 
 describe "parallelshell", ->
   it "should print on -h and --help", (done) ->
-    Promise.all([testOutput("-h", usageInfo), testOutput("-help", usageInfo)])
-    .finally done
+    Promise.all([testOutput("-h", usageInfo), testOutput("--help", usageInfo)])
+    .then -> done()
+    .catch done
 
-  it "should close with exitCode 2 on child error", (done) ->
+  it "should close with exitCode 1 on child error", (done) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(failingProcess)
+    spyOnPs ps, 2
     ps.on "close", () ->
-      ps.exitCode.should.equal 2
+      ps.exitCode.should.equal 1
       done()
 
   it "should run with a normal child", (done) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(waitingProcess)
+    spyOnPs ps, 1
+    ps.on "close", () ->
+      ps.signalCode.should.equal "SIGINT"
+      done()
+
     setTimeout (() ->
       should.not.exist(ps.signalCode)
-      ps.kill()
-      done()
-    ),100
+      killPs(ps)
+    ),50
+
 
   it "should close sibling processes on child error", (done) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell([waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    spyOnPs ps,2
     ps.on "close", () ->
-      ps.exitCode.should.equal 2
+      ps.exitCode.should.equal 1
       done()
 
   it "should wait for sibling processes on child error when called with -w or --wait", (done) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
     ps2 = spawnParallelshell(["--wait",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    spyOnPs ps,2
+    spyOnPs ps2,2
     setTimeout (() ->
       should.not.exist(ps.signalCode)
       should.not.exist(ps2.signalCode)
-      ps.kill()
-      ps2.kill()
-      done()
-    ),100
+      killPs(ps)
+      killPs(ps2)
+    ),50
+    Promise.all [new Promise((resolve) -> ps.on("close",resolve)),
+      new Promise (resolve) -> ps2.on("close",resolve)]
+    .then -> done()
+    .catch done
   it "should close on CTRL+C / SIGINT", (done) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    spyOnPs ps,2
     ps.on "close", () ->
       ps.signalCode.should.equal "SIGINT"
       done()
-    ps.kill("SIGINT")
+    killPs(ps)