Belle placed one hand over Nick's, the other going to his side to wrap around his waist. She leaned in and curled herself into his side, allowing him to wrap his arms around her protectively. That was as close a comfort as could be afforded in the court room. Nick was glad, at least, for two things: One, that Belle was there with him, and still wanting to be all over him. Secondly, that they'd been given permission to leave Bae at Ashley Boyd's house. The last thing that boy needed was to see his biological mother verbally attack his adopted mother. Speaking of adoption, he thought that he should see if Belle wanted to adopt him legally. That would be pleasant, for Belle to have as much claim on his son as he did.
Regina Mills, their lawyer, shot them a look to tell them to get off each other, which they reluctantly did. Belle kept her hand clutching his, however, and she tightened her grip on him as Milah and her lawyer, Keith Hall entered the room. Perhaps she was afraid that they were going to lose their son, perhaps she was afraid he was going to show some sort of interest towards Milah, or perhaps she was simply wanting to hold on to him, and that was as best as she could do, under Ms. Mills' watchful eye. "Milah." Nick nodded a greeting towards her, which Belle copied woodenly, not really giving a crap.
"Nick, Isabelle." Milah greeted. "Actually," Belle cut her off. "It's just Belle."
Raising an eyebrow, Milah shrugged. "Forgive my idiocy," she snarked.
"Consider it forgiven," Belle smiled prettily, looking over at Nick to keep her calm. He shot her a reassuring smile, reserved only for her. She returned it with a sweet smile of her own, then looked up over at the judge, Judge Hannah Storm, as she entered the conference room and took a seat at the head of the table.
"This meeting over the matter of the custody of Baden Neal Gold will now come to order," Judge Storm said. Belle gripped Nick's hand tighter, as if she was attempting not to bolt from the room and grab Baden herself and run off with him. "Mr. Gold, you currently have custody of your son - is this correct?" she asked.
Nick nodded. "Yes, Your Honour." he confirmed verbally.
"Milah Hässlich," the good judge began. "What grounds do you have to claim that Mr. Gold and his girlfriend are unfit parents for your child?" she asked.
"I've not seen my son in over a year," Milah began. "And when I do hear from him, he has started calling Nic- Mr Gold's girlfriend 'Mama'." Milah continued. As if that was against the law, to have a mother. A real mother, unlike the mothering Milah had given her son.
"And what is wrong with giving a name to an important person in his life?" Ms. Mills asked tightly on Belle's behalf.
"Objection."
"Overruled," the judge intoned wearily.
"It's not right, to give the name my son has for me to her " Milah said, before Mr. Hall could stop her.
Judge Storm leveled Ms. Mills with a piercing look, urging her to continue with the questioning. "Mr. Gold, can you walk me through what went on in your son's life to make him call Ms. French 'Mama'?" she asked.
"Certainly," Nick said agreeably, sitting up straighter as he spoke, "My son, Baden, has not seen his biological mother for..." he paused to think. "Two years, until Belle, err, Ms. French came along." he stated.
"And how does your relationship with Ms. French impact on Baden's visitation rights with his mother?" Ms. Mills asked.
"Well," Nick said. "I'd think that Milah - Ms. Hässlich - hasn't used her visitation rights since the first month after we divorced. And now that I'm seeing someone, I think she was jealous of the attention Ms. French was getting from my son. It's much the same attention he lavished on her, the few times he saw her." he stated.
"And now, Ms. French, what relations do you have with Mr. Gold?" Regina asked Belle.
"He's my boyfriend," Belle said, looking at Nick through the corner of her eye to see him smiling over at her.
"And how long have you two been dating?" Ms. Mills asked.
"About three months," Belle guessed.
Judge Storm nodded as Regina turned the questioning over to Milah's attorney. "Thank you," she stated and began to look through her leaflet of papers.
"Well that was easy.." Belle whispered to Nick, a surprised, yet happy look on her face.
"Ms. French," Ms. Mills began. "That you've been sleeping over at the Gold residence?"
"Yes," Belle answered shortly, unsure what was going to be said.
"And during these visits, do you sleep in Mr. Gold's room, or do you have your own room?" Mr. Hall asked primly.
"I, uh," Belle began.
"Objection." Ms. Mills said.
"Overruled. Answer the question," Judge Storm said.
"I sleep with Nick - Ah, Mr. Gold. In his room, I mean," Belle clarified.
"And during this, do you do anything besides sleep?" Belle tried to hide her outrage at the form of question this was going to.
"We sometimes cuddle." She said shortly.
Nodding, Mr. Hall finally said, "No further questions."
Ms. Mills then stood up and began to question Milah. "Ms. Hässlich," she began. "What income do you bring in on a weekly basis?" she asked.
"Um," Milah started, struggling to remain calm. "I have an art job, I don't really bring in weekly. It's more of monthly pay rates," she stated.
Nodding, Regina began to question again: "Let's say you did gain custody of Baden Neal," Ms. Mills said. "Would you be able to provide the same sort of stability Mr. Gold does?" she asked.
"Well, I would certainly hope to do better than my ex-husband tends to do." Milah answered snarkily.
Raising an eyebrow, Regina stopped. "And what miscare are you talking about, pray tell?" she asked stiffly.
"He flaunts his girlfriend over his son!" Milah shouted. "What could be more upsetting than that?" she asked.
"OBJECTION!" Regina roared.
"Sustained." Judge Storm said.
"From what I can tell, Ms. Hässlich, the time you did have your son, he got to school late, and has once appeared with a bruise on his cheek." Regina continued, as she produced both medical and school records from her file. Belle tightened her grip on Nick's arm to keep from jumping across the table and slapping Milah silly for injuring her son. "And while with Mr. Gold, he's never once been harmed, nor has he gotten to school late." Gold's attorney continued.
"Are there any further questions?" Regina finished, looking at Mr. Hall.
"No," Mr. Hall said, without looking at Milah.
"I will have a short recess," Judge Storm began. "To review the case." She then got off of the pedestal and left the room.
A tense silence followed as Milah glared down at Belle.
Belle didn't say anything, but she cuddled over to Nick, and sat in his lap for a good portion of the time the judge spent away.

"In light of the testimony given here today, as well as the documentation, I feel that Baeden is in a stable home with two loving parents who put his welfare above their own." Judge Storm glanced pointedly at Gold. "I would feel better if his parents were legally married, but at this time I find it has no bearing on the case. Therefore, I hereby award continued full custody of Baden Neal Gold to Mr. Gold. I will also allow Ms. Hässlich visitation rights two weekends a month to be worked out between her and Mr. Gold as they are to be supervised. Court is adjourned."
Nick was ecstatic, but he had one thing to ask of two very important people. "Belle," he hissed. Belle looked up in surprise.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Would you like to adopt Baden?" he whispered.
"I would love to," Belle threw her arms around Nick's neck, smiling widely.
"Regina." Nick called before she reached the door of the conference room on her way out.
"Yes?" his attorney asked in surprise, hoping that Nick wasn't going to back out of raising Baden.
"I would like to have Belle adopt Baden," he said. "Is there any way we could possibly begin proceedings to make this happen?"
Ms. Mills nodded. "Certainly," she said with a smile. "I can have the papers drawn up by the end of the week."