By The Power Vested In Me

Seated together, they clutched each other's hands tightly. It seemed like forever since one of them inhaled. Tension rang through them. Looking up at the bench, they listened as the Judge spoke.

"This hearing is concerning the matter of In Re Molly Walker – Petition for Adoption filed jointly by Mohinder Suresh and Matthew Parkman. All parties are in attendance. Will the Court Clerk please state the minutes of the last hearing."

"This is the second hearing in this matter. On February 25, 2008, a preliminary hearing was held. At that time, the court issued a directive to the Office of Children and Family for an investigation to be commenced in this case. The court continued this matter for ninety days to give OCF the time to conclude their investigation and a new hearing was scheduled for today, May 15, 2008."

The Judge shuffled some papers around as he asked, "Does the Office of Children and Family have a representative here today?"

"Yes, your Honor."

To their right, Ms. Lawson, the social worker assigned to their case, stood, smoothing her skirt as she did. She never looked in their direction. Instead, she pointed her severe expression directly at the Court.

"Have you concluded your investigation?"

"Yes, your Honor."

"And, what is your recommendation?"

All at once, Matthew swallowed, Molly squirmed and Mohinder prayed to a God he barely believed in.

"It is the official recommendation of the Office of Children and Family Services that the minor, Molly Walker, be placed in the permanent custody of the petitioners, Mohinder Suresh and Matthew Parkman. Further, it is the recommendation of this office that Mr. Suresh and Mr. Parkman be named as the minor child's permanent guardians."

Together, they inhaled.

"Thank you. You may be seated."

With a hand slipped down her thigh, she held her skirt as she sat down again. Still, she didn't look in their direction. Instead, she glanced covertly at her watch and clutched her purse against her side.

"Will the minor child, Molly Walker, please stand."

Glancing at Matt and Mohinder, Molly stood when they nodded and gently prodded. Blatantly nervous, she let go of their hands and proceeded to fidget mindlessly by tugging at her long sleeves.

"Miss Walker, do you understand what is happening here today?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand that this Court has the authority to place you in the permanent custody of Mr. Parkman and Mr. Suresh?"

"Yes."

"Because of your age, this Court is prepared to take your opinion into account, but you must understand that it will be only one consideration of many before this Court. What say you, Ms. Walker?"

"I just want to go home with my Dads."

For the first time that day, the Judge smiled.

"Thank you, Ms. Walker. You may be seated."

Sitting down, Molly reached for Mohinder's hand as she felt Matt's arm wrap around her shoulders. Again, they clutched at each other. Again, they could barely breathe.

"As a Judge, I am often asked to oversee hearings of various kinds. In my humble opinion, the adoption process provides a Judge with their finest moment. There is no duty I hold higher and no privilege I hold dearer than my ability to make a new family official. As such, it is by the power vested in me by the State of New York that I pronounce the petitioners, Mohinder Suresh and Matthew Parkman, to be the official guardians of the minor child, Molly Walker, with all the rights, duties, privileges and obligations of any parent under the law."

Instantly, Molly screamed with joy. Throwing her arms around Mohinder's neck, the tears streamed down her face as his arms wrapped around her. Matt's solid strength soon followed, enveloping them. Squirming in her seat, Molly managed to turn around while tightly pressed between them so she could hug Matt tightly. With a hand on the back of her head, Matt pulled her against him. With his other hand, he grabbed Mohinder's arm. Happy beyond words, they smiled widely at each other.

This finally got a reaction out of Ms. Lawson. With an arched brow, she watched them as the court was called to order with a rap of the gavel.

"Order in the Court," bellowed the bailiff.

With their arms wrapped around each other, they barely contained their joy.

"To comply with the requirements of state law, I am issuing a stay of execution on this order for sixty days. At such time, if no objection is filed and no cause found to do otherwise, this order shall become permanent."

A wrinkle formed in Molly's forehead. Looking up at Matt, she asked, "Are you my Dads or not?"

"We're your Dads. There's just a bit of a waiting game. It's a normal practice – just a formality," Matt assured as he hugged her close. "You're ours now. No one's taking you away."

Meeting Mohinder's eyes, Matt said, "Let's go home."

"Yes, let's go home," replied Mohinder.

Each taking one of Molly's hands, they walked out of the courtroom. Out in the hallway, Molly excused herself to go to the bathroom. Left behind, Matt and Mohinder talked animatedly.

"Can you believe it, Mohinder?"

"I almost can't."

"She's ours. She's our daughter now."

"I think this may be the happiest day of my life."

"You can say that again."

Grabbing Mohinder by the shoulders, Matt pulled him into a bear hug. Laughing out loud, he could not be stopped. Mohinder squirmed a bit at the public setting, but was too overcome with delight to put up much of a fight. Instead, he brought his hands up, pressing them firmly against Matt's back.

"Matt?"

Puling away, Matt looked down the hall. Finding a familiar face, he called back, "Hey, Oscar! What are you doing here?"

"One of my collars went to trial."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, so what's goin' on?"

Matt followed Oscar's eyes to Mohinder. A moment later, in slipped a thought. 'Damn! I guess the rumors are true. He is a faggot. Man, I though he was a tough guy.'

Shrugging off the comments, Matt answered, "I'm here on a civil matter. The adoption of my daughter finally went through."

"Adoption? They let you adopt a kid?"

"Yeah, can you believe it? With a cop's salary and everything."

'Man, look at the other guy. You don't have to be a faggot to want to fuck something that pretty. Maybe, that's it. Maybe, all he is is a fuckbuddy.'

"Umm…That's cool. Well, I gotta go."

They watched him walk away. Still bristling from the thoughts he overheard, Matt growled when he heard Mohinder speak. "We have to be careful of the public displays, Matthew. People will talk."

"People already talk. You're just too clueless to realize it."

"What?"

"You don't know what was going through that guy's mind, right now?"

"No, I don't and neither should you."

Molly chose that moment to return. Her wide smile started to falter as she saw their angry faces. Mohinder noticed this and looked directly in Matt's eyes. In an act that had become customary over the past few weeks, Matt accepted the invitation and listened to Mohinder's mind. 'Can't we discuss this later? This is such a happy day for everyone, especially Molly."

Nodding, Matt turned to Molly and smiled. Mohinder did the same. Together, they left the courthouse.

Later that night, Molly went to bed at the regular time – It was still a school night after all. Mohinder did the dishes while Matt straightened up the living room. Finishing first, Matt joined Mohinder in the kitchen. Walking up to him from behind, Matt wrapped his arms around Mohinder's slim waist. Resting his cheek on Mohinder's shoulder, Matt kissed the back of his neck.

Leaning back, Mohinder sighed. As kisses moved from his neck to his shoulder, he moaned. Pulling his soapy wet hands from the dishwater, he interlaced his fingers with Matt's before shifting just enough for his lips to meet with Matt's. Slowly, he turned around completely, placing his weight against the counter as he brought his hands up to cup Matt's face.

Smiling against Mohinder's compliant lips, Matt laughed at the slimy brush of fingers against his skin. Drawing him closer, he kicked Mohinder's feet apart. Ever bold, he fell between parted thighs. Running his hands down Mohinder's body, he cupped a pair of firm buttocks. With a flex of his biceps, he lifted Mohinder up, depositing him on the counter.

Though the thighs remained parted, the hands that once beckoned him now pushed him away. Quickly, Mohinder lowered himself to the floor. As their lips parted, their eyes met.

"Molly could come out any minute."

"Molly's asleep."

"You can't know that."

"Actually, Mohinder, I can."

"You may have that ability, but I don't. I need to proceed cautiously."

Shaking his head, Matt stepped away. At the archway, he placed his hand against the wall. Turned away, he asked, "What is this? I understand that I can't touch you in public, but now, I can't touch you in the privacy of our own home either?"

"Matthew, we've discussed this."

"No, we haven't. You set down some rules and I agreed to follow them. There's a difference."

"I need you to understand, Matthew."

"Understand what? That you're scared. I know that already."

"I am not scared."

"Then what do you call it?"

"Being careful. Quite frankly, one of us has to think about the consequences of all this."

Walking into the living room, Matt punched twice at the air. Looking over at Mohinder, he growled, "I'm so tired of this!"

Walking quickly up to Matt, Mohinder hissed, "Keep your voice down. You'll wake Molly."

"Always hiding. You're always hiding."

"You can't tell me that seeing your fellow officer today didn't worry you. I saw how uncomfortable you became."

Looking directly at Mohinder, Matt started to laugh. Shaking his head, he laughed louder. Even after Mohinder started to shush him, he continued to laugh though albeit at a much lower volume. Finally, he came up for air. Composing himself, he looked into Mohinder's eyes and explained, "I was not embarrassed by being caught with you. Really, I wasn't, but I was uncomfortable. Rumors fly around about us at my precinct all the time. I can handle that. You know what really made me uncomfortable? I had to lie to him. He asked why we were there and I had to come up with some half-assed attempt to cover up what is so obvious that everyone sees it anyway.

"I desperately wanted to grab your hand and just say we adopted our daughter today. I wanted to be the proud father and I couldn't be. I wanted to introduce you to him as my partner, but I didn't. I made promises to you and I try to keep my promises, but this is killing me. I just can't abide by all the crawling and groveling anymore. It just isn't me."

"Matthew…"

"No, Mohinder, you need to know something about me. When my Father left, I was thirteen years old. Suddenly, people turned on my Mother and me. The kids would make snide comments about my Mom not being woman enough to keep my Dad around. For a solid year, I came home almost every day with cuts and bruises. My Mom would clean me up and ask me why I did it. I always told her the same thing and now I'm going to tell it to you."

"Family is everything, Mohinder. It seems to me that when families are at their most vulnerable, that's when people just like to talk crap. I didn't care when the kids at school called me names and I don't care when the guys at the precinct call me a faggot. What I do care about is when they go after my family. Those kids at school talked shit about my family and I'd make them bleed because no one does that."

"Mohinder, the family we have may be young, but it's a family nonetheless. You and Molly are everything I look forward to each morning. You're what I come home to every night. Our family is a sanctuary, a safe harbor. It's sacred to me and if that's not worth fighting for, then I don't know what is."

For a second, they stood in silence. The second afterwards found Mohinder aggressively kissing Matt. Cupping his cheeks, he held Matt in place as his tongue lashed out, brushing across soft lips. After what felt like forever, he pulled a breath away.

"I think that was quite possibly the most incredible thing I've ever heard."

"Well, I hope you were recording it," replied Matt with a hint of laughter. "Because I don't know if I can do it again."

Looking into his eyes, Mohinder sighed. Lightly, he kissed him on the lips.

"I love you, Matthew."

Suddenly shy, Matt blushed. Pulling Mohinder's hands off his cheeks, he folded their hands together. Gently, he pressed kisses to their knuckles.

"I love you, too."

"I love you guys, too!"

Looking down, they watched Molly open her doors and come running out. She wrapped her arms around their waists as she repeated, "I love you guys so much."

"Molly!"

"What?"

"I heard you guys arguing and I eavesdropped. I'm sorry."

"It's rude to eavesdrop. You know that, right?" asked Matt, trying to look stern.

"Yes," answered Molly as she put her head down.

"I'm not happy about what you've done, Molly, but there is an upside to this situation. At least, we don't have to worry about how you're going to take this information anymore," said Mohinder as he picked her up.

"You never needed to worry about me."

"I suppose you're right, Molly," Mohinder agreed. Looking at Matt, he admitted, "Maybe, I've been wrong about a lot of things."

Gently, Matt placed a hand on Mohinder's shoulder. Slowly, he looked from Mohinder to Molly and back again. Placing a hand on the back of Molly's head, he kissed her lightly on the forehead. As he pulled away, he sighed, "You guys are everything to me."

Meeting Mohinder's gaze, he repeated, "Everything."

"I know," replied Mohinder. "I know that now."

"I'm sorry I got mad earlier," said Matt, his voice thick with contrition. "I know that you're just concerned about what people might think, what they might do."

"I don't think we have to worry about what anyone is going to think anymore," said Mohinder. "I'm proud of this family and I'm proud of you. If that's not worth fighting for, then what is?"

With a wide smile, Matt pulled his family into a bear hug. The embrace grew tighter until they groaned and only then did he pull back. He kissed Molly on the cheek before leaning in to kiss Mohinder square on the lips. Chaste and respectful of the audience, the kiss ended with both men staring into each other's eyes.

This time, the spell was broken by an eruption of giggles. Glancing at each other, they conspired. Together, they wrestled her down onto the sofa where they tickled her until her stomach hurt and a knock from the downstairs neighbor reminded them that it was way too late for this behavior.

They carried Molly into her room and insisted that she try to go back to sleep. With a final kiss goodnight to her forehead, Matt made her promise not to eavesdrop anymore tonight. He stood in her doorway and waited until he saw her nod her head before he left, closing the door behind him.

Outside her room, they stood facing each other. All at once, shy like they were meeting for the first time. Taking a step forward, Matt grabbed Mohinder around the waist. Leaning in, Matt stole one kiss and then another, and then another. Backing them up, Matt pressed them against Mohinder's bedroom door. Fiddling with the doorknob, Matt answered the question in Mohinder's eyes.

"The walls in your room are thicker."