The judge banged his gavel to quiet the crowd and looked at Arthur.

"You may continue."

Arthur nodded.

"Thank you." He cleared his throat. "Less than a year later, I found myself expecting Francis's and my first son, Steven. About seven months after he was born, I was taken away without my consent along with five others and Antonio's son. Most of us were treated horribly and our families tried desperately to find us. Eventually they figured out where we were and attacked it to get us back. Shortly after we got home I found out I was pregnant again but the baby wasn't Francis's. He wasn't mad though. I was so grateful for that. He was upset with the fact that I had been raped. We had the father come over to talk but couldn't make a decision about what to do. A few days later Francis and I had a fight and I walked out on him, taking all four of our children with me. I moved in with the father and we started to become friends again. He helped me realize how foolish I had been and I went back to Francis. He was kind enough to take us back and I promised my next child would be his. It was; our daughter Chelle was born ten months after Leon on June 29th. On December 27th the following year, the two of us came home to find a newborn baby on our doorstep, covered in snow. We quickly brought her in and discovered that this child was the child of my wife. She was still alive and happy with her boyfriend but had had another baby that she didn't want so she had left the baby to us. We kept her and named her 'Ange'. Five months later a young woman named Margaret came to our home with her five year old daughter Emily. She told me that I was the father of her baby. Asking her to explain, she told us that she was going to die and desperately needed someone to take her daughter in before that. Since we were still not convinced, she told us that the real father was my brother Iain. She had gone to him when she was pregnant but he had refused to do a thing about it so she had been forced to raise Emily all by herself. We ended up taking her in as well and three days later Margaret died. Things passed without incident for five years until an old woman in a public park decided she had something against my oldest son being gay and with Francis and I dating and raising eight children. What in that is fair?" He took a deep breath and tried to control himself. "That's my story! It's all true whether you believe it or not!"

The lawyer nodded, deep in thought.

"We saw that you had several illegal animals at your home. None of those are safe around children." He looked at a sheet. "There was a polar bear-"

"He's only a cub!"

"And a koala."

"That's Steven's best friend!"

"And a very endangered panda cub."

"That was a birthday gift to Leon from his father!"

"And there was also a very large fish."

"Chelle loves it!"

"And there was even an alien."

"Tony is family!"

"I think that the government should be alerted to the presence of it."

Arthur shifted and looked down.

"They already know about him…and they keep a close tab on him…"

The lawyer raised his eyebrow at the obviously uncomfortable man.

"No more questions."

"Very well. Mr. Kirkland, you may step down."

A guard silently escorted Arthur back to the table.

"Do you have anyone else to question?" the judge asked the lawyer.

"Yes. I call Peter Kirkland to the stand."

Gasps and whispers broke out amongst the crowd. No one had expected that the poor boy would be put on show like that and the other man hadn't even been questioned.

Slowly Peter stood up, set Ange in Steven's lap, and walked up to the box; once he was situated the lawyer approached him.

"Good afternoon Peter. I just have a couple of questions for you then you may return to your seat. Does that sound fair?" Peter nodded. "That's the spirit. Now, how old were you during the first part of Mr. Kirkland's story? The part that he talked about before the break?"

"I was three."

"Do you remember your mother?"

"Yes."

"What do you remember?"

"She's average height with shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, and a horrible temper."

"Mr. Kirkland said in his story that you were shot. Is this true?" Peter nodded again. "How can you prove it?"

The boy pulled the collar of his shirt down and pointed to a stretched mark.

"That's where the quack doctor shot me. If Uncle Lovino hadn't been there I might not be here."

"And what did this 'quack doctor' look like?"

"He was tall with dirty, brown hair, a goatee, and big ears. He also wore glasses and at the time they were crooked and smudged. He was dressed like a doctor in a white lab coat with slacks and a nice shirt underneath it."

"You seem to remember him quite well."

Peter's hands fidgeted in his lap.

"I have nightmares about him shooting me sometimes," Peter admitted in a whisper.

"And where were Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Bonnefoy at this time? Shouldn't they have been watching you?"

"Dad and Papa were at the hospital with Matt."

"Why was Matthew in the hospital?"

"Matt had fallen when we were playing and hit his head."

"Why don't you have a pet or 'friend' like some of your siblings?"

"I didn't want one," the boy said honestly.

The lawyer nodded.

"That should be all."

"You may return to your seat," the judge said kindly.

Peter stood up and walked back to sit next to Emily, taking Ange back from Steven.

AN: I'm baaaack! Who missed me? Anyone? *mumbles 'probably not because this story only has four reviews'*

But I'm sorry I was gone so long. My computer was being annoying again and refusing to charge so I had to take it to a couple different places and finally got it back a few days ago and have been busy with homework and typing up what I wrote for you so more chapters coming soon! Up to like 12 or 13! What will happen to them? The end of the trial is in sight but don't think for a minute that that's the end! I have so much more in store for the few of you who care!

See ya soon!