Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


Blake's POV

The married life didn't suit us, not really. Things didn't change, per say, but Paul was still in his grumpy mood. I didn't know how to get him out of it before the court hearing so I just left him be. A knock on the door surprised me. We had just finished unpacking our suitcases. Charlie stood, waiting to take me to court. "I'm going with Charlie, Paul."

"Whatever," he said as he walked towards his closet. He was currently in only underwear and the jacket of the suit. My eyes followed him for a second until he disappeared. The side affect of our marriage? No sex. Paul was still pissed at me for throwing it around like that. I threated to actually propose if he wouldn't go back to normal, but I knew that would make him madder. In the movies, couples like us have hate sex. We didn't. Nope. We had sex a total of once together and during the time that should have been our honeymoon it was spent in the courtroom.

It took an hour to get to the court. To say the ride was awkward would be the biggest understatement of the century. I looked at the greenery outside for most of it. After a couple failed attempts of conversation, Charlie settled to playing old folk music. It was after seeing so much green whip by my face that I realized something. This would be the place I lived in for the rest of my life. I'd see the green flash across the windows of my car every day as I went to work.

Work. What would I do for work? How much income did Paul make? What was even his job? I should probably have found out by that time, especially since we were married. I leaned my head over to look at Charlie. "What does Paul do for a living?"

"Mrs. Lahote," Charlie made his form of a joke. I didn't know he was addressing for a good ten seconds. He chuckled awkwardly while I stared at him. "Paul is a mechanic. He and Jake own a shop." That made sense. Our cars never once broke down.

"If you saw me at random, what would you pick me for?" I didn't know why I asked these questions to Charlie. It only made him more uncomfortable. He was the ordinary guy on the corner, though, and his opinion would be the least biased.

"A cop. A good cop, one that works for an older chief of police. Maybe even in charge of her own little town, say LaPush for example." It was funny until he outright said LaPush. He told me from the beginning that he wanted me on his team. It seemed awfully boring, but it had to have been better than nothing. I'd never get a job like I had again, but I hadn't been in an intense field for a while, and honestly it didn't bother me at all.

"Charlie, you know I won't be allowed," I shook my head with laughter. "I'd take it in a heartbeat if I could."

"We are driving an hour to court in Seattle to see exactly what your punishment is." Charlie summed up our trip. I smirked. It was true, but I doubted they'd trust me to police a high school, let alone an entire town on my own.

We arrived a couple hours earlier than my actual trial. Mom met with me to go over the questions and answers. By the time the trial was called up, I could barely breathe. They couldn't force the answer out of me, but my punishment could still be severe. Paul claimed that they could still put me in jail, but all I had to do was answer the questions properly. That and we got a certain pastor to lie for us at the courthouse, who may or may not have been under the impression that we were going to tell about is secret gambling obsession.

Mom and I walked together out to the desk. My ex-boyfriend (AKA Ryan) and his attorney walked to the other bench.

A/N: Letting you all know that this may not be accurate. I don't know law, sorry!

He stared me down the entire time. We rose for the judge. "Andromeda Blake Lahote. Charged with disloyalty to the job and disruption of an ongoing investigation." As it began, I looked around. Behind me sat Paul, Leah, and Rachel. The rest of the pack filled up the other benches. Behind Ryan sat another three attorneys. At least I had some real supporters…that would do me good.

The first person to question was Paul. The other side was still off about our new marriage. He walked up with a plain face and said the oath and sat. Mr. Grimm was the opposing attorney. He stared off with the basics and it went up quickly. "How long have you known Ms. Raine?"

"Objection! She is Mrs. Lahote."

Mr. Grimm apologized with fake sincerity. Paul then answered the question. "Over seven months, probably more, I'm not sure."

"In that time, how much of it was spent in a relationship with her?"

"A good four fifths of it," he answered smoothly. There was no way for them to even find out that correct answer.

"What caused you to marry Mrs. Lahote? It couldn't have been the upcoming trail against you, correct?" Mr. Grimm had already taken Paul and I both back to question as soon as he heard of our marriage. We had our story down flat.

"I love her and she loves me. Why wait? We are both getting older as it is and it was time." Paul said.

"So, you befriended her, knowing fully of her job, and then proceeded to fall in love with her?"

"That is correct," Paul said.

"Was this in any way to sway her decision? Remember, young man, you are under oath," Mr. Grimm pointed out. It was odd; I had never considered that as an option before. Paul never had either because he looked thoroughly surprised.

"Sir, I wouldn't think of misleading her in any way no matter what was at stake. I love her too much," Paul spat with distaste.

"But how should we know the marriage and love is legitimate? Does it not seem odd that they married days before the trial, the trial that depended on her free will to speak?" Mr. Grimm walked back and forth. He questioned Paul more but nothing came out of it. I went up next. "Hello, Mrs. Lahote." I nodded curtly and took the oath. "Why did you go to LaPush?"

"My job had me investigate the civilians there."

"And what is your job?"

"I worked for the FBI to investigate odd occurrences, most of which had to do with drugs or gangs, that's why there was no reason for me to travel to-," I tried to get out as much as I can. I knew my mom would question me as well, but I couldn't stand giving him the answered straight out.

"Only answer the question, Mrs. Lahote," he cut me off, using my new last name as a taunt. "Do you remember you charges? I'll list them anyway." I rolled my eyes. "Blake Lahote is charged with failure to do her job, hiding evidence from an ongoing investigation, and lying to the police."

"Check, check, and check," I agreed. "I did them all." The lawyer sighed. He had never had such a compliant witness, I'm sure.

"We are willing to drop all charges against you, like discussed before, if you tell the FBI what they want to know," the lawyer reminded me.

"And I have the legal right not to say anything against my husband," I pointed out.

"Yes," he muttered, walking to his desk to check his list. He then faced the judge and jury. "Why did you decide not to tell?"

"I have the legal right," I said.

"Yes, but you were supposed to tell this to your director as soon as you found out," he said. "Why did you not?"

"It is a secret that belongs to the tribe and only them. They do nothing illegal or harmful in any way or anyone. I saw no reason," I said.

"You believe what you did was ethically correct?"

"Ethically, no, but-,"

"Then what swayed you, Mrs. Lahote?" I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off. "Could it be the foster son you failed to mention from the start or the personal relationship you held with Paul Lahote?"

"I don't see how this has any relevance, your honor!" Mom stood from her desk. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It doesn't," the judge said. "Mr. Grimm."

"What do you have to say about the Cullen family? They were under investigation." Mr. Grimm said with a smug smile, like he won the case. I told him exactly what I told the investigators.

"That family is unlike any family I ever met. To me, they were a different species. They had morals, cared for one another, and were all around nicer people than the regular person you pass on the street. They were't hostile or different other than their kindness." I said.

"Renesmee Cullen was the exception to this?" He asked.

"Yes," I said with a warm smile. "She was even kinder than the rest and her age seems endless. She was the prettiest, most innocent teenager I've ever seen." He questioned further but go nowhere around my evasions.

Mr. Grimm announced he was finished with me. I sat back down beside my mom. We listened as Mr. Grimm made his final statement. "She knew it was ethically wrong, yet she did it anyways. How can we let a person like that have power over any one of us again? Justice needs to be served for her crime." He went on and on long enough to make me want to fall asleep. Then, it was Mom's turn.

She took me to the stand first. "Mrs. Lahote," she began, using the only proper name allowed. "Why did you decide to keep things from the police?"

"The FBI has a tendency to give punishment even where it's not needed. I knew they didn't need punishment so I didn't tell my director," I explained.

"Yes," she said. "But why? Aside from that fact, there had to be another reason. Most agents would have simply done their job, right or wrong. Why did you care?"

I told the truth. "I fostered a child who I grew to love very much. Even if I hadn't of fostered him, I would have loved him like my own. I hid the knowledge of his life for that reason, because I was afraid of what could be done to him. Secondly, I grew very close to Paul Lahote while investigating him. I admit my emotions got in the way of things." Mom smiled and said that was all she needed from me and then made her final statement.

"Andromeda Lahote didn't do this to spite anyone. She was scared. Has anyone been scared by the police before? Say when you get pulled over, are you not scared then? She loved a man and a child. If you are mother, or father, you know what love for a child is like, even if it is not yours, you can't help but feel the need to protect him. Lastly, she loved. She fell in love with a man whom she was investigating. I'm sure most everyone has experienced love once or twice. If you truly love somebody, you can't stand by and watch them being taken away for something that was not of harm. Remember that when you decide, decide if she is a danger to the people, or really just a danger to her family, something you can't change."

Waiting for the jury to choose was the worst thing I ever did. The only thing that we counted on was our marriage restricting me from explaining the secret, but in turn, it also kept me from contempt in court. It didn't exactly help me if they still decided to put me in jail for treason. Finally, the people filed back out.

"We find her guilt for both crimes," they announced. My heart dropped. My head whipped around to find the entire pack behind me. Paul's face was a mirror image of mine. His hands began to shake. I wished I could have comforted him, but there was no way. They found me guilty. "Considering this investigating was not dangerous or truly worth her time, we feel that the disruption deserves community service for the rest of her life, once a week, and loss of current job or any possibility as such a high rating job."

"Are you kidding me?" I heard somebody yell from the back room. But it didn't matter. I watched in awe as the mallet pounded onto the wooden block, the people filled out, and the judge asked for the next case. My mother tugged my arm, telling me we had to go get the papers for community service. I stood and somebody grabbed me from behind the bench. Warm hands passed me around in a hug to just about everyone from the pack. I was too shocked to even hug back. Finally, I was set to my feet in front of Paul.

Even though he was still pouting, I could see his happiness, feel it in his hug and kiss. I fell limp against his chest as he led me out of the courtroom. When we stood on the steps, I whispered. "I'm really done with all this, aren't I?"

"You are, Blake. We made it through," Paul kissed the top of my head, rubbing my arm. I felt silent tears fall down my eyes and turned my body against Paul's to hug. Standing on the steps of the courthouse, I was surprised to hear the flash of cameras. My mom was at my side, pulling me toward the car with papers in her hand. "What is that, Catherine?" He tried to cover my face, but I didn't care. I was a free woman.

"The press," she informed us. "It's a huge story, and boy you all making out didn't help." My laughter sounded more like coughing.

"Wait…" I stopped walking, pulling Paul to a halt. "Can I talk to them?"

"I'm sure they'd love it, which is why, as your lawyer, I won't let you," she tugged on us. I stood firm, but our car was up in seconds. "One question."

I heard tons of questions, but one stood out. At least somebody was trying to make this a light topic of love. "Blake, Paul, tell us something to prove your love to us! What did you do the night after your wedding?"

"Sex, sex, sex, and lots of it." I lied through my teeth. "We thought it could be our last time with each other for years."

"Paul, how could you love a person trying to turn you in?"

I noticed a fine line between the two rows of flashing cameras. There were the news' field reporters on one side and scandalous paparazzi on the other side, looking for juicy love scandals. "Love choses you. I just had to push through it." I grinned. Answering their questions gave me some breathing room. Mom yelled for us, but I had to get one more question in, but it came from the other side.

"Do you blame the FBI for the death of your son?" "How did you grieve him?" "What exactly happened in your imprisonment?" "Were you raped?"

Those questions brought up guilt and horrific memories that I just wanted to shove away in a box and cast it out to sea. Paul glared toward the cameramen and physically lifted me up, carrying me only a few feet to the car. I couldn't blink, let alone breathe.

I was free. We won. Everything somehow worked out…yet they didn't. We beat them, but at what price?


Paul's POV

"What do you mean Theo is nonexistent?" Johanna shouted. Her confusion annoyed me. I had far more important things to do than explain our next problems to the clueless girlfriend. "He's right here."

"No," I reminded her. "In the police's minds, he's not alive, and he's not dead. He's just missing."

"Just missing?" Johanna shouted. "You are telling me we have to keep him away from society for the rest of his life?"

Blake sighed. "That's our problem, Johanna. Do we risk saying he survived, or do we move and create a whole new identities?"

Johanna's eyes flickered down to Theo. He was sleeping after doing Carlisle's latest treatment. She growled. "I'm going with you all. Don't think about leaving me behind."

I met eyes with Blake. "We went through a huge risk in court with Blake to stay here in hopes we could find a solution."

"It's up to you," Blake announced. "You and Theo. We don't want to force you two into anything. If you decide to stay, then we'll risk it."

Johanna looked shocked, glancing between our heads to make sure she heard us correctly. "You are trusting my opinion here?" Blake nodded. "Why?"

I looked down at Blake. We had planned this conversation our hours ago. She just had trouble expressing emotions. "You. Are. Part. Of. Our. Family." I elbowed Blake. She cleared her throat and scowled. "We value your opinion and care for you as much as Theo does."

"Theo does?" Johanna seemed shocked all around today. I loved Theo, but man he chose the incomprehensive ones.

"No shit," I muttered.

"When do we need to decide?" Johanna asked. We told her the end of today would work. "I don't want to risk it, but it's Theo's decision really."

We left the house slowly with no hurry to have alone time. The ride to my house – our house – was silent and awkward. I shut off the engine and leaned back against the wheel for some air. Blake finally spoke after staring at me for five minutes like I'd turn all wolf on her again. "We shouldn't have done that."

"We owe Theo that much for not letting him explain," I said without the fight in my voice. Again it grew silent, but neither of us wanted to carry this silence into the house. "Blake-,"

"Please, Paul, don't tell me again how wrong our marriage is," Blake groaned. "I don't like us being so cold to each other." I nodded, leaning on the tire with my head in my hands, trying to find a way to fix it all. As the days passed, I realized that without the marriage, we'd all be in jail. She wasn't even being selfish this time, which is why I needed to move on. It still got under my nails that she was the one to propose. I wanted it to be me. I wanted it to be special. I supposed there was another thing that I could do to make up for the special part.

"Technically, some religions wouldn't accept us as husband and wife," I pointed out, finally leaning back to the seat. I turned my head to look at her with her raised eyebrows and smirking lips. I could tell she was about to get offended. "Most couples would have already had mountains of sex to authenticate the marriage."

Blake smiled weakly. "I'm sure they will be able to prove that, won't they?"

My hand scooted next to hers. "Yes, because you are obviously a full blown virgin." She giggled and fell into my arm. Puns were my specialty.

"Would you like to test it out, Mr. Lahote?" I could hear the tiredness in her voice, like she knew I was still angry and her flirting wouldn't help.

"I would certainly," my hand slid around her waist. She gasped in shock, not expecting me to hold true to my word. Honestly, it had been months since our first time together and even longer before then. I needed sex with her. I craved to know and master every inch or her beautiful body. Forgiveness was the key.

I slid as close to her as I could get and turned Blake's little body toward mine. She had no strength to resist, so it only took a few seconds for her to kiss me back. I kicked back the seat and rested my hands under her ass.

"Does this mean…I'm forgiven?" she panted between my kisses.

"As close as you'll ever get," I moaned. "Let's not talk about that. I just want you here and now. I need you."

"I'll always be free for you, Paul." Blake chastised with an excited grin. "Are you sure you aren't mad?"

"I forgive you, Blake, but it's going to disappear if you don't fuck me," I growled under my breath. The biggest smile lit up her face. It brought so much joy to me. She was free. We'd be just fine. Now, I decided, we could work on our relationship, though it didn't need much help from her end. It was all on me. She rolled over my body, placing her knees into her seat to straddle me. A small roar rumbled from my throat.

I grabbed her ass and pulled Blake as close to me as I could get. For the first time in days, we actually kissed. It wasn't fake or forced; it was a real, desperate kiss. Her puffy lips never felt so soft before. It was slow and focused on our undying love for the other. We rolled to my left so I was still on the bottom. My hands worked their way up her shirt, under her bra. Blake moaned as I caressed her. I tried to spin us around, but that granted a bite on my shoulder. "Let me ride you." Damn, those words had some effect.


The little huffs turned into a small rhythm. I gazed down on my chest to the sleeping beauty of my life. Her scowl only truly disappeared when she was sleeping. You could still see the lines on her forehead from it, which made me laugh. Blake never had gone into detail about the prison time, but overall most of her injuries were healing. I worried about her emotional status more. We lost a baby. It hurt me more than I ever expected it would and I wasn't even carrying the baby. I sighed, feeling sad once again for our little baby. Blake shifted from under me. The rain pelted the window or I would have brought her inside.

The dark rims under her eyes worried me. Sometimes I'd come in from a late patrol and find her sitting under the shower, not doing anything. It probably didn't help that I didn't touch her. A loud lightening strike rumbled through the sky. She jumped awake, hitting her head on the door handle. I chuckled and gazed fully at her naked body. "Ever had sex in a car before?" My voice came out in a rough whisper. Blake shook her head, looking again at the surroundings. It was still midday and I could tell she was worried for any onlookers seeing us. "Want to go inside? I promise nobody is in miles of our house."

Blake sighed deeply and scooted off my torso. "I pity anyone who has to ride with you," she giggled. "It has your butt juices all over the seats."

"Butt juices?" I gasped, feigning to be offended. I swung open the door and yanked her out, naked and free. "I assure you, sweetheart, I don't have butt juices." I threw her over my shoulder, spinning in circles.

"Cut it out!" Blake squealed. "Paul Matthew Lahote, put me do-own now!"

"I get such an amazing view of your butt juices," I pointed out. She pounded on my back.

"I'll have you know, I shower every night, jerk! I'm a clean person," she protested. I stopped, putting her down. She glared at me.

"You obviously need some help in there then," I cocked my head toward the house. A grin crept up her lips.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Again?"

"Once you admit I don't have 'butt juices,'" I crinkled my nose and pulled her against my chest. Blake finally gave up.

"I'm paying you back," she said as we walked inside the house. "That's the second time you wouldn't let me do oral on you." I smiled wide, hugging her from behind. That was my girl, my girl who got made over not doing oral sex. I went into the bathroom and turned on the water while Blake brushed through her hair. "It's too bad we aren't married." I could hear the dramatic effect in her tone. "I'd easily let my husband do anal with me." I froze. Anal was the one thing every fucking girl denied from me. And here Blake just threw it over her shoulder like it was some privilege worth her time of giving.

I came back to the room ravenous and picked her up into my arms. "We'll just have to fix that, won't we?"


A/N: Again, I apologize for any mishaps concerning the court hearing. I'm not a lawyer of have ever been to see a case.

Guys! We have hit A HUNDRED REVIEWS! Woooooh! Thank you all so much this was exactly what I hoped for from this story! I have one more chapter after this and then an epilogue but...

Would you all like about two or three chapters on the finishing story of Theo and Johanna? It wouldn't take more than three chapters if that, and then I could put an epilogue after that. What do you all think? Please please tell me your choices because if not I'll start working on the epilogue. :)