This is just a little short update to keep you all going, hope to get some more done this week if I have time

Diane's phone rang dead on 9pm as expected; she hurriedly answered it knowing it would be Zoey on the other end. She was in her office at work, only Will was with her, he had come back after dinner with the family and his conversation with Zach. Will had filled Diane in on what had happened, and she was a little shocked to find Sophia was involved. She wasn't much older that Zoey, and suddenly Diane was more nervous than ever. She really hoped that she could do a good job with her soon to be foster daughter.

"Hi Zoey" Diane said over the phone

"Hi" The young girl responded nervously.

"How was school today?" Diane asked

"Fine" Zoey responded. Diane knew from talking to the Gardner kids that non direct questions were the best way to not get one word answers when talking to teenagers.

"What did you do today?"

"We didn't really do much" she responded

"Is everything OK Darling?" Diane asked, Zoey didn't sound happy, she sounded sad, deflated and tired.

"I'm fine" she responded, but she wasn't fine, she was on the verge of tears, her voice was shaky, Diane decided a change of tactic for this call, she was going to stop pressuring for answers, and just talk about what was happening in her life"

"Well Justice misses you, he was sleeping in your bed last night" Diane said giggling

"I missed him too, I missed you as well"

"Just 3 more sleeps sweetie, do you think you can manage that"

"Yes" she said with a gulp trying to keep the tears at bay.

"Zoey, please tell me what's wrong?"

"No one here likes me anymore, my friends they tried to steal my things, even my Mums locket"

"Oh Sweetie, they are jealous"

"I wish I was in my bed at your house"

"I do too, and it's our house"

"How is Grace?"

"You only saw her yesterday, she is fine, had her first exam today, Zach got into a lot of trouble, Will had to go pick him up from school after he got caught smoking"

"Did he get into trouble?"

"Of course he did, a lot of trouble"

"Lots of kids smoke" Zoey said

"Do you?" Diane asked, when she didn't get a response she presumed it was a yes "I won't be angry honey"

"I don't smoke, people always ask me to try it, but I say no"

"That's good; it's not easy to say no, is it"

"Not really, people call you a chicken"

"Well those people aren't really worth it are they, it's getting late sweetie" Diane said after glancing at her watch, "Remember our deal about bedtime, will you go off to bed now"

"Yes, Good night Diane"

"Good night Darling and I can't wait to hear from you tomorrow"

Diane kept the phone line opened until she heard Zoey hang up. It absolutely broke her heart what she was going through, she just wanted her home where she belonged. Diane looked through her phone and found Kirsten's number, she knew it was late, but maybe, just maybe she could sort something out.

"Diane is everything OK?" Kirsten asked

"Not really, I'm just off the phone with Zoey, she is on the verge of tears, is there anyway we could do this before Thursday, I know she might miss school, but if she is unhappy I'd rather she miss a couple of days"

"The paperwork is ready, if you come tomorrow you can take her home as soon as you have signed, do you want me to call the home and get her kept off school tomorrow"

"Yes, Ill make my way to St Louis first thing in the morning" Diane said. Once the call had ended, she stood up and walked through to Wills office.

"Are you not going home tonight?" Diane asked Will

"I could say the same thing to you" she responded with a smile

"I have a favour to ask, can you take my trial tomorrow"

"I don't know anything about it?" Will said

"Cary does, he is first chair anyway, I just want a partner there for name only, it's a big case"

"Is everything OK?" It wasn't like Diane to bale on them for a big case, especially not the night before, Will poured a glass of scotch for himself and Diane.

"It's Zoey, she's not doing too good at the home, the other kids are picking on her, she was so upset on the phone, I have managed to bring the foster arrangement on quicker and can get her tomorrow" Diane said as she took the glass of scotch that Will handed her.

"Then yes, I will take your case, give me your case notes tonight, I'll read over them, I'm just about finished up here anyway" Will said as they both sipped their scotch. "When the kids were born we would always have a drink to wet their head, so too Zoey" Will said as he clinked his glass with Diane's.

"Too Zoey" she said as her smile got bigger, this truly was the biggest thing she had ever.

….

Will got home late, he had Diane's case file in his hand as he stood out of his cab, after drinking the Scotch he and Diane shared a cab home, he had already dropped Diane home, he gave the cab driver his fare plus a tip, and opened the door to his house, it was late and he was surprised to see the twins still up.

"Should you two not be in bed, you need a good nights sleep before your exams tomorrow"

"Just going Dad, we are watching a TV show" Rachel said. They had been watching Orange is the New Black; the entire show was on Netflix. Suddenly they wished their father wasn't in the room, when it turned to a sex scene.

"I hardly think that is appropriate, turn it off and go to bed"

"Dad, everyone watches it" Rachel said

"Yeah, and I have already read the book" Lucy interjected

"OK, let's watch it then" Will said, he sat on the couch between his daughters and placed his feet on the coffee table. "Put it back on Rachel" he added

"Emm, with you there" Rachel said

"Yeah, why not, we can talk about it as we go, discuss what's taking place"

"I don't think you would like it Dad" Lucy said

"Well, I'll never know unless I watch it will I, or we could get Mum and Uncle Owen down, and all watch it together" Will added.

"No Thanks, I think I will just go to bed" Lucy said

"Good, just remember girls if you are too embarrassed to watch it with your parents, you probably aren't mature enough to watch it" Will said as they got up, said goodnight to Will and went upstairs just as Alicia came down.

"What are they still doing up, they went to bed a few hours ago" Alicia said glancing at the clock, it was after midnight now. Will had the remote control in his hand fiddling with the buttons.

"They were watching TV, how do I work the parental controls on this thing?"

"Zach knows how to do it" Alicia said

"What's the point in that, I don't want the kids to know the password, the girls were in here watching Orange is the New Black"

Alicia kissed Will as she opened her robe, she was wearing a thin silk nightdress with lace at the breasts, it didn't leave much to the imagination

"God you're beautiful" Will muttered between kisses before pushing Alicia down onto the couch and pulling the straps of her night dress down along with the top to expose her breasts. Their kiss continued feverishly as Alicia unbuttoned Wills shirt when suddenly the door opened and the light turned on.

"Oh God" Owen shouted as he covered his eyes with this hand. Alicia quickly pulled her nightdress up and pulled her robe on.

"I'm sorry, next time put a sock on the door" Owen said, he was embarrassed, God Alicia was embarrassed, the last thing she wanted was her brother to see her like that.

"It's OK Owen, we should have went to our room" Alicia said

"I want burn that memory from my head, jeez Alicia, I haven't seen you naked since you were about 5"

"OK, can we please stop talking about my wife's nakedness" Will said as he placed his hand on the small of Alicia's back. "I need to talk to you about work" Will said

"Is that code" Owen joked

"No, not code, I really do need to talk about work, I need to take Diane's case tomorrow, so will be in court"

"Why can't Diane take her own case" Alicia asked, its wasn't that she begrudged helping Diane, she was more just curious.

"There's been trouble with Zoey, she's been getting bullied since Diane dropped her back, so they are brining the foster arrangement forward to tomorrow" Will explained

"She will be so happy, I'm so glad she doesn't have to spend anymore time in that care home. Grace was telling me all about it, Zoey had told her. I can't bear to think of any child in a place like that"

"Well as of tomorrow she will be in a much better place" Will said. Owen had left them to go get a drink and watch some TV. He came back into the living room just as Will and Alicia were about to leave.

"Owen, if you can work that parental control on that TV can you let us know, I'd like to set it up" Will said before saying goodnight and following his wife to bed hoping to continue where they had left off before Owen disturbed them.