Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody you recognize. Only the OC's are mine.

Love Lives On

Chapter One

Clarissa rolled over and subconsciously reached across her bed. The other side was ice cold. Opening her eyes, she quickly glanced around her room before she slowly stood up. Maybe he was off getting ready for work. After all, he was a cop, so he had crazy work hours.

Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed the full coffee pot and two coffee mugs and placed them on the counter. She began to pour the hot liquid into each mug when it suddenly hit her. He wasn't off getting ready for work like her brain had conjured up upon waking up. No. She was in her silent kitchen because she was all alone. Well, at least for the moment. He should be there with her, listening to her rant and rave about whatever came to her mind as they each drank their cups of coffee and ate their breakfast, but instead she stood all alone in the cold, silent kitchen.

"God Cay, how have I managed to get through the last three years," she questioned out loud. "I still feel like it just happened yesterday. I miss you so much," she confessed. "You should be standing here telling me I'm ranting about nothing, and informing me about how your shift went last night, or telling me how you can't wait for Cristy and Kay-Kay to get up so you can help them get ready for school," Clarissa spoke to the empty room. To any 'normal' person, this would be weird, to Clarissa, this was an ordinary morning before she woke her two daughters up to get her ready for school and day care.

She quickly drank the rest of her coffee as she quickly dumped the extra mug she had poured for Cay as she heard feet running toward the kitchen. "Mama, I'm hungry," her youngest daughter exclaimed as she entered the kitchen, her older sister not far behind her.

"What would you like to eat, princess," she asked, a smile now gracing her features.

"Waffles, mama." Clarissa chuckled as she pulled a sippy cup and a small glass down to fill them up. Waffles had been Caelan's favorite breakfast, too.

"Alright, here's your juice, go watch some cartoons while mommy makes your waffles," Clarissa instructed her daughter, as she made sure the lid to the cup was on tightly before handing it to her daughter.

As she made the waffles, she turned her attention to her older daughter as her youngest daughter giggled at the television. "Are you ready for you big test today," she questioned as she pressed the waffle iron down against the waffles. Cristiana shrugged her shoulder and made a face that reminded Clarissa of her father. She couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance both her daughters held to her father. Not only did they both look like him, they had a lot of his attitude, too. It was like God knew Clarissa would never survive without Caelan, so he made sure she had the female versions of him, and helped Clarissa decide to name her youngest daughter after her father, to honor him. The night he had been shot and killed in the line of duty had been the day Clarissa had found out she was pregnant with Kaylin. She never did have a chance to tell him before he had left for work that night, so he never knew he was going to be a father for the second time.

After the doctors informed her there was nothing more they could do and that Caelan was gone, she had been forced to make the most bitter sweet call she had ever had to make. She called his parents to inform them their son had been shot and killed in the line of duty, but she had also informed them they were going to have another grandchild. She wished she could have told them in person, but she and Caelan lived in Las Vegas where he worked for the Las Vegas police department, and his parents still lived in Florida; where he had been born and raised, and had met Clarissa when she had been transferred there for work. They dated for two years before they got engaged and subsequently married a year later. Right after they were married, Caelan was transferred out to Vegas where Clarissa still lived with Cristiana and Kaylin today.

"Kay-Kay, come get your waffles so mommy can get you ready to go to day care, while I go to work." The little blue eyed, blonde haired girl came running into the kitchen, her cup in one hand and her favorite stuffed animal monkey in the other. Clarissa lifted her into her booster seat and put her plate and fork in front of her. "Eat up so we can get you to school," Clarissa instructed. "Do you want anything," she questioned her eldest daughter. Cristiana shook her head.

"No, I'm not hungry."

"You really should eat, sweetie. Especially because you have your test today," she tried to coax her daughter into eating something, but Cristiana wouldn't budge.

"I said I'm not hungry, why can't you just leave it at that," she asked before storming out of the kitchen.

Ever since Caelan had died, Cristiana was a different girl. She had taken her father's death hard and despite the fact it had been three years, she still wasn't over it; no matter how many times she said she was. Clarissa didn't know what to do to fix it anymore either. She had her in therapy, it didn't seem to work; she had her school counselor talk to her, that didn't seem to work. It broke her heart to see her daughter like this, but she was complete out of ideas.

After Kaylin and Cristiana were safely at school, Clarissa headed to her office. She was a lawyer. A very successful lawyer. Being a single mother and a full time successful lawyer was no easy task; especially in a city like Vegas, but she loved her daughters and she loved her job, so in the end, it was all worth it. Today's task wasn't an easy one. She had exactly eight hours to figure out how she was going to defend her latest client. He was a public figure that lived in Vegas and had somehow gotten himself into trouble with the law while out gambling with a group of friends one night. Opening the file she had lying on her desk, she began to riffle through the paperwork trying to figure out why this guy was listed as a 'public figure' and why his case was so much heavier than her previous cases.

Name: Jonathan Good

DOB: December 7, 1985 (29)

Home Town: Cincinnati, Ohio

Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada

Profession: WWE Superstar

Ring Name: Dean Ambrose

Bingo! So he was a professional wrestler. That's why this case was considered 'high profile' and so different from her other cases. Now she had to figure out what the hell he had done to get himself into trouble, so she continued to skim through the paperwork until she came across the police report from the night of the supposed incident, she stopped skimming and began to read through it.

On July 15, 2015 Subject B (Mr. Good) and some friends were enjoying a night out on the town when subject A(Mr. Stevens) and some buddies bumped into them. Subject A stated that he and his friends were fans of Subject B, and they politely requested a couple autographs. Subject B told them no and proceeded to walk away when Subject A told him how rude he was being. Subject B continued to ignore Subject A until Subject A threw a drink on one of Subject B's girl companions. That's when Subject B says Subject A punched him in the face and threw him on the ground before verbally assaulting him and leaving the scene with his friends.

So it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Just another assault case, but because Mr. Good is a public figure, it makes the case 'high profile'. Felicity rolled her eyes. While Mr. Good should technically be guilty, he was provoked, and he was only defending his friend. Now if she could just find a way to prove that, she could help him win this case. Picking up her phone, she found his number on the paperwork and dialed it. She had to get him into her office to get his side of the story and figure out exactly how to approach this mess.

"Hello," a deep, gruff voice answered.

"Mr. Good," Clarissa questioned.

"Yes, may I ask who is calling please?"

"I am Clarissa Goodwin, I'm an attorney with the highest court in Vegas. I was handed your case file this morning and was hoping to meet with you to get your side of the story and figure out how we're going to fight this case," Clarissa informed him.

"Oh okay, cool. Just give me a time to be at your office and I'll be there. I'm off work and in town today and tomorrow," he informed her.

"How does one PM today sound," she asked.

"I'll definitely be there," he informed her before they hung up.

Setting the meeting for one o'clock gave Clarissa four full hours to read through the rest of his case file and eat a fairly quick lunch before he showed up.