"No," I say instantly, taking a stance behind the bench.
"Excuse me Ms. Lindsay?" Judge Wright says, obviously off put by my sudden outburst.
"She's not testifying," I tell him firmly as Jay stands up behind me in defense, a protective hand lying on my shoulder.
"Why not, might I ask?"
"She's four years old, she's been thrown through the ringer and the last thing she needs is to be questioned by a couple of lawyers in suits that she doesn't know. She's already had more than her share of trauma."
"Well that's not your call to make," Haley snaps from across the room. Her attitude has certainly changed since this morning.
"It's not yours either!" I yell back as I lean forward to get a clean view of her.
"Ladies, calm down or I will have you both detained!" This shuts both of us up. I slink back into my seat and wait for what the hell they're going to say, Jay's hand resting silently on my leg.
"Continue Mr. Carlton," Judge Wright says as defuses the situation.
"We can have witness after witness attest to the character of both parties, but the only real way to find out where she's supposed to be is to ask her. Plain and simple."
"I'll allow it," I sulk in defeat, "I'm awarding an hour long recess, Mr. Carlton get your witness here or I'm going ahead with my ruling," And with a bang of the gavel, it's done.
Jay POV
We walk out of the courtroom silently, Erin clinging onto me in fear and anxiety. Alex is following us, but she keeps a respectful distance. Our friends had been released from the witness room and they were all huddled anxiously awaiting the verdict. They spot us and Kim scurries over, the rest of them not far behind.
"So?" Kim asks, curiosity written over all of their faces.
"Um we're not done yet," Erin responds softly, I know she's trying to keep it together.
"What?" Sylvie asks, "why not, they already went through all of us,"
"Haley's guy decided to call someone else," I explain.
"Wait who?" Will asks, tag teaming off of Kim and Sylvie.
"Um, they're calling Lucy," Erin answers quietly.
"WHAT?" Hanks nearly yells, setting off a chain reaction of exclamations of protest from the rest of them. It's not helping, anger won't help this. I notice tears start to trickle down Erin's cheeks and that's when I know that I have to stop it.
"Guys please!" I shout over the noise. They silence almost instantly, Kim being the first to notice the salty beads rolling down Erin's porcelain cheeks and pulls her into a tight hug.
"It's going to be okay," She whispers quietly as Erin buries her face in her shoulder.
"We can't do anything about it, we can't fight this. So we just have to keep the faith guys okay?" I tell them.
"Keep the faith," Antonio repeats quietly.
"I'm sorry to break this up guys," Alex says as she apporaches us, "but I really need to discuss a game plan with Erin and Jay,"
"It's all going to be okay," Kim calls after us and we slink away from them. We follow Alex up a set of carved stairs and through a series of hallways before she guides us into an empty conference room.
"Can they even do this?" Erin shouts almost as soon as that door closes.
"Unfortunately they can," Alex says slowly, trying to keep the two of us as calm as possible.
"How the hell did this happen?" Erin says she starts pacing the length of the room.
"Haley is panicking, she feels trapped and she knows that putting Lucy on the stand is either going to make her look really good or really bad, she knows she in a bad place and she's willing to take the gamble. That's a good thing."
"How the hell is this a good thing!?" I exclaim at her, "our four year old is being put on the stand, how the hell is that a good thing?"
"Babe," Erin says as she comes over to place her hands on my shoulders, "she means that we are in a good place, we have a good chance of winning. If that means that she has to be questioned for a couple minutes and that means we get to be her parents, it's going to be worth it," She reasons.
"But what if it doesn't our way?" I ask, staring hard into those bright hazel eyes.
"Baby we can't think like that," She says. I can tell that Alex's little speech had an effect on her, she's being the voice of reason now, that shining beacon of hope. "The only thought we can have right now is that she'll be coming home with us tonight,"
"Okay," I say slowly as I take her hands in mine.
"Okay, now we're going to sit down and listen to what Alex has to say and then we're going to walk back into that courtroom and walk out with our daughter okay?" I nod down at her and take a seat across the table from our lawyer.
"Okay, so what's the plan?"
Erin POV
We walk into that courtroom together, hands clasped between us, a strong unit. Haley was sitting in the same spot as she had been for the past two days, hands folded sharply in her lap and her lips pointed. In the past I didn't agree with Haley, but I always respected her. After her little snap the last time we were in the courtroom, that's gone.
We take our seats behind that same bench and begin the final leg of this long and unforgiving course and then just be done with it and leave it behind us.
"We're taking her to Disneyland," Jay whisper in my ear, "after we get out of here, we're going to take Lucy to Disneyland,"
"That's sounds good," I say as I smile back up at him.
"All rise for the Honorable Judge Wright," the bailiff announced as Judge Wright emerges from his chambers.
"Court is back in session," He announces as he bangs his gavel. "Case number 165006734 in the case of the custody of Lucy Claire McGovern, Erin Amelia Lindsay and Jay Elliott Halstead versus Haley Elizabeth Mason, we are on to our very last witness Lucy McGovern, let's begin,"
The bailiff leaves the room to go retrieve Lucy and my heart starts to beat faster and faster, since the day we got her, this is the longest we've ever been away from her. I have no idea why, but I feel nervous to see her again.
I suck in a deep breath and feel Jay grab my hand as we hear the doors open again. I turn around and feel the tears starting as I see my baby girl for the first time in almost three days, it doesn't seem like a lot of time, but they felt like the longest three days of my entire life.
I see the light flick on in her eyes when she sees me.
"Mama!" She yells as she sees me. The bailiff is holding on to her little hand, but if he wasn't, I don't doubt that she would have fun towards us at full speed. She looks absolutely adorable, clad in a short navy blue dress with some white cuffs near her elbows and a Peter Pan collar sitting on her neck. Her long red curls are falling freely around her shoulders, being kept out of her eyes with a matching navy headband and corresponding ballet flats.
"Hi baby," I say back to her tearfully, knowing in the back of my mind that this reunion could be extremely short lived. Jay gives my hand a silent squeeze, knowing to keep his mouth shut in front of the judge.
She settles herself on the witness stand, not fully absorbing the stakes that lie on her testimony, not that I want her to.
"Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" The bailiff asks, his demeanor not changing due to her age.
"Yes," She answers simply.
"Hey sweetie, can you tell us your name?" Judge Wright asks, adjusting his language to her.
"My name is Lucy Claire McGovern." She answers simply.
"Alright Mr. Carlton, you may begin your questioning, be gentle or I will stop you," He warns. I suspect the the judge has children, he seems to have a real soft spot for Luce.
"Understood, thank you," He says as he begins his approach towards Lucy. It makes me want to jump in front of her, I don't trust this man and I don't want him anywhere near her. But I control myself and let things play out.
"Hi Lucy, my name is John," He says, revealing his first name for the first time.
"Hi John," She replies, her social personality coming out in her words.
"Do you know why you're here sweetheart?" He asks. He's trying to earn her trust.
"My mama and my daddy want me to live with them and my aunt wants me to live with her, so they had to talk to a man who would decide who I got to live with," She explains.
"Yeah that's right," He says with a smile, "are you scared at all?"
"No I'm not scared," She replies. That's my girl.
"That's good, there's not reason for you to be scared," He tells her. "Do you recognize this lady?" He asks as he points at Haley.
"No, but her name is Haley," She responds.
"How do you know that?" He asks.
"My mama told me," She responds.
"Your mom tells you a lot of things doesn't she?" He says.
"Yeah she does," She responds, "she's a really good mommy," She says as she looks up at me. I smile back at her, my heart swelling at her words and my hand receiving a squeeze from Jay.
"Did she tell you that you used to live with your aunt?"
"What?" She responds, her eyes widening. Crap, they're digging her into a hole and she doesn't even know it.
"Yeah, when you were a little baby, your Aunt Haley lived with you and your parents, she loved you so much, she still does," He says.
"Why did she leave me?" She asks, there we go.
"She had to, she didn't want to, I promise," He tells her.
"Okay," She says slowly, trying to process the information being told to her. For an adult, this wouldn't be a big deal. But she's four and this is overloading her brain.
"Alright thanks for talking to me Lucy, that's all my questions okay?"
"You're welcome," She says back with a smile, always the polite child.
"Ms. Drayton, please begin your questions," Judge Wright adds in.
"Thank you your honor," She says as she makes her way over to Lucy. I suck in a breath. This is our last chance.
"Hi Lucy," She says as she approaches the bench.
"Hi, what's your name?" She asks.
"I'm Alex," She says as she places her hands over the bench. "I just have one question for you okay?"
"Okay what is it?" She asks.
"Where are you parents sitting?"
"Right over there," She says as she points her tiny little finger right towards us. "That's my mommy and that's my daddy," she says with a smile.
"Thank you, that's all I needed to hear," She says with a wide smile. "I'm finished," She says as she looks up at Judge Wright.
"Alright Lucy can you go with my friend Hal for a little bit," He says as he points to the bailiff, "I have to talk to the adults for a little while okay?"
"Alright," She says as she climbs down from the chair and back down to the floor. She gives us a little bit of a wave as she leaves the courtroom, hand in hand with Hal and for the first time it really hits me that this could be the last time that I ever see her. But I stuff it down, show no fear.
"Okay, this concludes the case of the custody of Lucy Claire McGovern, please wait outside while I make my ruling and you will be called back in when I am ready to deliver, court is adjourned,"
I listen to the shuffle of chairs and feet as I Jay and I wordlessly walk out of the courtroom, making our way towards to the incredible group of friends that came to support us today. I very honestly have no idea how this is going to go. If you look at straight facts, Haley is the obvious choice. But if you go past that, I think she'll be placed with us, I hope at least.
"How'd she do?" Kim asks breathlessly as she runs up to us. I know that the entire unit had bonded with her over the past couple months, but she and Kim had something really really special. While the rest of them we're simply referred to by their first names, Kim was Auntie Kim. She was special.
"She did great," Jay tells her. "Better than we could have hoped,"
"Good good, that's good," She says quietly. "Have you gotten a ruling yet?"
"No, he just dismissed us, we're waiting now," I respond.
"Alright then we wait with you,"
"Erin, Jay they're ready for you," Alex says as she pokes her head out from the courtroom doors.
I take a deep breath and Jay pulls me to my feet as a chorus of 'good lucks' among other things filled the void.
"You ready?" I ask as we walk through the doors.
"No, but let's do this," He replies. I don't pay attention to what Haley is doing, it doesn't matter to me anymore.
"Alright let's get this over with," Judge Wright says as everyone settles themselves, "I award sole legal and physical custody of Lucy Claire McGovern to.."
So another cliffhanger for you guys! Hope you liked Chapter 21 and please review! I will try to get the next chapter up as fast as I possibly can. And if I haven't said lately, thank you for all of the kind reviews, they really do make my day.
-Addison