Title: Blood Doesn't Make You Family (formerly I Forgot to Remember to Forget)
Chapter 14
Disclaimer: see chapter 1 and 9
Authors note: not an attorney and my only experience with the court system has been family court and someone else's dependency case in said family court. So I tried lol. I'm sure I am way off base, but hey it's fanfic.
Wednesday night Sam and Eddie's
Eddie was attempting to get Sam's mind off of her hearing, but it wasn't working. It had been 48 hours since they had their impromptu meeting with Angela Truman, and with fewer than 24 hours to go they were still uncertain about the exact details of the hearing. So in an attempt to distract her Eddie was painting the nursery while she perused consumer safety websites and parenting blogs on her iPad trying to find the safest cribs and car seats.
"How are there so many choices? This car seat is good until their four, but this one fits in a stroller, and this one fits in this cool double stroller I found and really like. Don't even get me started on cribs. I'm tempted to get a bassinet and wing it." Sam complained.
"Well let's take it one step at a time. We have to have car seats to bring them home. So that's a priority and find some that work with the stroller you like. Why don't we get one of those beside the bed safe bassinet things. We can always get cribs later." Eddie replied.
"Have you been browsing the baby aisles without me? How do you even know about those?" Sam asked.
"Zeus dragged me to the store when his eldest was a baby. They had a crib and the baby didn't even sleep in it for months, but his wife loved the bassinet thing that attached to the bed. Said it saved her sanity cause she wasn't constantly running to the nursery to feed her or change her. With two it might be worth considering." Eddie answered.
"Ahhhhh. We can definitely order that now. What else did Zeus say we needed?" Sam replied in a teasing tone.
"Swings. He said the swing saved his sanity, so we need two of those. He also said twice as many pacifiers and bibs as we think we need." Eddie said.
Before Sam could respond her phone alerted her of a video call request. Turning the screen on she saw it was from Christine. "Hey Christine, what's going on?"
"I heard from the judges clerk. Judge Payne will be conducting the hearing remotely. So you have the option of where you want to do it from. I would suggest your house or your office. Berto should be able to set it up, but you need to make a decision before 10 a.m. tomorrow." Christine replied.
"I think we should do it here. What do you think Eddie?" Sam asked turning the camera to face Eddie and the half painted wall. "If you can get the wall done."
"I see, you guys are getting the nursery started. When's the baby shower?" Christine said.
"Well considering that only about a dozen people know of their existence, I don't know that there will be one." Sam replied.
"You have to have a shower. Even if it's just a small gathering at your place. The babies should be celebrated. Anyways, are you certain you want to conduct the hearing from your place? If you are I can tell the clerk now and you can have Berto get in touch with her in the morning to get the system setup." Christine asked.
"If Eddie can get the wall painted and we can get some furniture in here I think it's the best place. You told the judge that we would reveal the reason for the hearing change. What better way than to show that I've changed than to show a window into my new life?" Sam replied. "By the way, thanks for tracking down Agent Truman."
"No problem. I told you, the F.B.I. shouldn't get a free pass on consequences just because they are the F.B.I. Anyway, I will let the clerk know. Good luck tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything." Christine disconnected the call.
"So where do we get furniture for a nursery at ten o'clock at night?" Sam wondered aloud.
"Call Zeus. See if he has anything we can borrow from when his girls were babies. I'll keep painting the wall." Eddie said throwing his phone to her.
The next morning
The nursery was painted and now had a crib, changing table, glider rocking chair with matching stool, and bassinet in it courtesy of Zeus. He even helped Eddie finish the first coat of paint which gave the room the feeling of something new and happy. Sam and Monica ventured to a local store in the middle of the night to find something to put on the walls and came home with stencils, paint, and wall appliqués of Superheroes. The door to the nursery now had the babies names printed in block letters in primary colors, and the walls were adorned with the vinyl decor.
Eddie found Sam asleep in the rocking chair with her hands resting on her abdomen, dark hair loose and framing her face, and with the natural light coming in through the window he thought she had never looked more beautiful. He pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo before moving into the room to wake her up. "Morning. Are you up for going to the office? Or do you want to stay here today?" Eddie asked.
"I should go in, we have that new client meeting at one, but I really want to go to bed." Sam answered.
"Then why don't you go to bed, and come in at lunch time?" Eddie suggested.
"That might be the best idea. How did I ever stay out at clubs all night?" Sam replied with a yawn.
"Fairly certain the mainlining caffeine and other substances played a part. Get some sleep. Want me to call you at eleven?" Eddie asked.
"Sounds good. Order food too, I'll pick it up on the way in." Sam replied.
Eddie dropped a quick kiss on her lips and said goodbye to the babies and left for work.
Sam fell into a restless sleep, by ten thirty she gave up trying to sleep, got up, showered, and texted Eddie she was on her way in.
They met with the new client, and Sam supervised Monica hanging the new blinds in the offices and the conference room. However her heart wasn't in it and her brain was a million miles away. At 4 p.m. Eddie sent Sam and Berto home to meet with Sam's attorney, set up the cameras and computers for the hearing promising to be there before the hearing.
Sam and Eddie's house
"Wow, you guys really got serious about the nursery. Is this what they call 'nesting'?" Berto asked upon seeing the babies room.
"Well we started it because they will be here before we know it, but we were just planning on starting the painting and ordering some furniture. Then when we got word we could do the hearing here it got kicked into high gear. The furniture is temporary though, we borrowed it from Zeus. I think the superhero motif will probably stay. Eddie seems to like it and it's something that isn't too girly or too masculine." Sam replied. "So I figured we can set up the camera over there and I can sit in the rocking chair..."
They got everything connected and ready to go by the time Eddie and Monica arrived with dinner. Sam's attorney arrived about 15 minutes before the time they were told the hearing would start. To say he was surprised to hear the changes in Sam's life was an understatement, but agreed that since she had met all the requirements the judge imposed six months earlier that the hearing should be just a formality, and the judge should close her case.
At the appointed time Berto booted up the program the court ordered them to use and Sam took her place in the rocking chair. "Show time." Sam muttered under her breath.
Sam's attorney greeted the judge and the judge asked for an explanation for why the chief of police and an F.B.I. Agent got involved in a local probation matter. The attorney asked the judge to clear the courtroom for the moment and go off the record. She acquiesced and Melvin allowed Sam to speak.
"The reason for the remote hearing is because I'm pregnant with twins and we are trying to protect our daughter and son from the paparazzi. They aren't harassing me the way they used to, I guess I'm boring now that I'm sober so they don't follow me everywhere anymore. However our fear was that the paparazzi would be waiting for us at the hearing. Find out I was pregnant and then it would reignite their interest and it wouldn't be safe for our twins. Honestly I am so careful about who I trust these days that only about a dozen people even know about my son and daughter." Sam answered.
"Congratulations. I'm going to go back on the record in a moment and bring my court reporter back in so this can be official." Judge Payne replied. "Give me a moment."
Sam looked at Eddie and he gave her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath and situated herself in the chair and faced the camera.
"Ok, we are back on the record. Would you like to make a statement about what you've learned from this experience?" Judge Payne asked.
"I have learned a lot about life and myself from this experience. I have followed the rules of probation. I attend AA, I meet with my sponsor regularly, I found gainful employment outside the public eye, I still am working at Valetik Investigations, and I will continue to work there as long as Eddie will have me. I don't know if I will ever return to acting, but I think I'm a pretty good P.I. I'm 283 days sober, I have the support of some amazing friends, and my sister. I like to think I have taken the tools I learned in Rehab and have effectively applied them to my life. I know I have to take it one day at a time, but my life is far better now that I am sober and I intend to work every day of my life to keep it that way." Sam answered.
After Sam made her statement Judge Payne asked her a few questions, looked over paperwork submitted in the last six months by Eddie and her attorney. Before she knew it the judge informed her that as far as she could tell the terms of her probation had been met, cautioned her that she had better not see Sam in her courtroom again as a defendant again, and declared the case closed. As Berto turned off the camera, Sam reached for Eddie and enveloped him in a hug. "Thank you for believing in me and keeping me out of jail." She said.
"It was the second best decision I ever made." Eddie replied his voice thick with emotion.
"I can't believe it's over." Sam admitted.
"I'm very happy for you Samantha. I will see myself out." Melvin replied.
"I'm gonna head to Monica's, Congratulations Sam." Berto said as he gathered the rest of his equipment.
"Ready to go order car seats now?" Eddie asked with a grin.
TBC - as I said my only experience with the courts has been with family court and how they handled someone else's drug cases(it's a joke imho) so I just kinda went with it.