Chapter Twenty One: Never Let You Go

Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter than some of the other ones but I'll make it up with the next few chapters. As always, I don't own The Night Shift or any of its characters. The chapter title comes from I Will Be by Avril Lavigne.

"Are you sure you're okay with watching Erin for a few hours?" Jordan asked her mom one day while she was still on maternity leave.

"Jordan, I raised two daughters and I have three granddaughters. I will be okay watching this little one. I just don't understand why you have to go through trial prep for your own case. Don't you know all the tricks by now?" Cecelia asked, picking Erin up from her crib when she started getting fussy.

"I know the tricks when I'm being questioned for my job. I don't know what to do when I'm the victim of stalking," Jordan said, tying her hair back into a messy bun. "Besides, the new Assistant District Attorney is in charge of the case and I've never worked with her before. She could have a whole different style of questioning than I'm used to." She sighed and looked at her mom holding Erin. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have to testify at all. Or at least go through witness prep today. I wanted to spend time with you since it's your last day here."

"I can always stay longer if you need me to. Ohio's too dreary in the winter for me anyway."

"I would love that," Jordan said, looking around the room to make sure everything was in place so her mom could find something for Erin if she needed to. "I just don't know what TC would have to say about that."

"I guess you're right. Besides, the two of you should get to experience parenthood without your mother around all the time." Cecelia looked down at Erin and sighed. "I'm just going to miss waking up to this beautiful face all the time."

"I'm going to miss having you around. It's made this last month go a little smoother than I thought it would." Jordan heard the alarm she set on her phone start to go off and she sighed. "I guess I should head down to the courthouse now. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Bye, honey. I'm sure everything will go fine," Cecelia said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

"Bye my baby girl," Jordan whispered, kissing Erin on the top of her head. "Thanks again, Mom."

"Go before you're late."

-X-

"You must be Jordan Alexander," a new voice said as Jordan was waiting outside one of the courtrooms, twisting her engagement ring absentmindedly. "I'm Carol Vox, the new ADA. Are you ready for practice questioning?"

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with. I just want to get back home to be with my daughter."

"I heard you just had a baby. What's her name?"

"Erin," Jordan said, digging through her bag to pull out her phone. "She'll be a month old on Wednesday," she said, showing Carol a picture of Erin.

"She's adorable," Carol said. "So, do you have any questions for me before we get started?"

"Not really. I'd like to think I know what I'm doing since I've done it for so many cases. It can't be that different, can it?"

"Luckily, no. This is going to be an easy prep session for the both of us today. As long as you tell me the truth and let me know of anything the defense can use against you, I don't see any reason why this won't be a speedy trial."

"That's always good to know. Do you want me to head to the witness stand?"

"No, since you already know what it's like to be on the stand, I won't do prep from there. Let's sit here and we'll go over the points I have written down and some of the questions you can expect from the defense."

The doors to the courtroom opened and one of the other ADAs came into the courtroom. "Carol," he said. "There's an emergency hearing on the Prince case. Can I borrow you for a minute?"

Carol turned towards Jordan apologetically. "I'll be right back, I promise."

"You're fine. It'll give me time to gather my thoughts." She smiled at Carol and watched her walk out of the courtroom.

Once she was alone, Jordan took a deep breath and looked around the courtroom. Even when she was testifying on a case, she hated being in the courtroom. And now that it was her own case, she really didn't like being in the courtroom.

She heard one of the side doors open and turned to see who was coming in, feeling her heart stop when she laid eyes on Dave Marshall. "We meet again," he said, a smile creeping across his face.

"What…what are you doing here?" Jordan asked, trying to control the emotion in her voice.

"Sorry about that," Carol said, coming back into the courtroom. She stopped when she saw Dave and his lawyer in the courtroom. "You have to get out of here. I'm prepping my witness for trial next week."

"We must have gotten our wires crossed," the lawyer said, coming over to where Jordan and Carol were standing. "I'm Jason Palmer, attorney for Mr. Marshall. You must be Jordan. It's so nice to finally meet you."

"I wish I could say the same about you," Jordan said, crossing her arms. "Is there another place we could do this?" Jordan asked, turning her attention to Carol.

"We can go to my office upstairs," she replied, her eyes narrowing.

-X-

"Mom?" Jordan called out when she got back to the house, setting her keys down on the table.

"How was trial prep?" Cecelia asked, coming out of the kitchen. "You weren't gone for as long as I thought you'd be."

"It was fine. He showed up in the middle of it," Jordan said. "It through me for a loop. I haven't seen him face-to-face since he was arrested. When I found out he wasn't James."

"Do you want me stay down here when the trial starts? So I can give you some form of moral support?"

Jordan shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. I have TC and the team. And Gwen's here too." Jordan heard Erin start crying and she sighed. "And I have my baby girl to come home to when the day is over." She walked up the stairs and opened her door slowly. She picked Erin up from her crib and held her close, rubbing small circles on her back. "It's going to be okay," Jordan whispered, kissing the top of Erin's head. "It's going to be okay," she repeated. She moved Erin so she was resting on her right hip and started walking back downstairs. "Let's see what Grandma's doing in the kitchen," Jordan said, rounding the corner from the stairs to the kitchen.

"I think this one's going to be my little helper in the kitchen," Cecelia said, turning around from the stove. "Just like you were when you were younger."

"That's because I helped Grandma in the kitchen when we'd go visit her in the summer. Some of my earliest memories are me in the kitchen."

Cecelia smiled at Jordan. "I remember one Thanksgiving you were so excited because my mom asked if you wanted to make the turkey with her the next morning."

"And then I was sick that night and had to go to the hospital the next morning. Good times," Jordan said, putting Erin in her high chair. "What do you say, kid? Are you gonna be a helper in the kitchen?" Erin started gurgling. "I'll take that as a yes," Jordan said.

"When is TC getting home tonight?"

Jordan opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the front door opening. "Now," she said.

"Hey babe," TC said, coming into the kitchen, giving Jordan a kiss on the cheek. "I heard about what happened at the courthouse."

"Yeah, not exactly how I wanted witness prep to go. Do you wanna give Erin her bottle? I'm a little tired; I think I should go lay down for a little bit."

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Witness prep takes a lot out of you when you're the one that the case hinges on. Come get me when dinner's ready." She walked into the living room and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and curled up and tried to close her eyes for a few minutes, hoping that she wouldn't have a nightmare about seeing Marshall face-to-face.