Lowest on the Totem Pole

Chapter 44

As the jury filed back into the courtroom, Anna quickly made her way back to her seat. She squeezed back in between Kristoff and Teresa, gripping both of their hands tightly. She found it difficult to sit still, wanting nothing more than to run up to the jury, shake each of them in turn, and find out what their decision was because they weren't getting to it nearly fast enough.

Once all nine jurors were in the room, eight of them sat while the last remained standing, a piece of paper in her hand. She crumpled the edges paper nervously, clearing her throat and shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Th-the, uh, the jury has c-come to a unanimous decision," the juror said quietly, barely loud enough for the judge to hear.

"Speak up please," the judge said. "Everyone in the room needs to hear. Nothing to be nervous about."

As the juror glanced around the room, Agdar's eyes said otherwise, and she squeaked, bringing the paper up in front of her face. "Uh-" she started, significantly louder. "Unanimous decision. We have found Agdar Winters at fault for all presented cases of personal injury against Elsa Winters. We recommend that he be fined the maximum amount, and a restraining order be placed. We also recommend considering the replacement of his younger child into a less dangerous environment. Th-that is all."

With that, the juror quickly sat down and looked at her lap, avoiding meeting Agdar's eyes again.

Elsa heaved a sigh of relief and slouched against the back of her chair, eyes closed and tears brimming. She reached across the table and gently grabbed Jake's hand, squeezing lightly. As she fought back the nausea, the judge began to speak.

"I will accept all recommendations. Mr. Winters, you will be required to pay Ms. Winters a total of one hundred thousand dollars, either upfront or through installments. A restraining order will be placed, preventing any sort of contact aside from payments between yourself and Ms. Winters. Child Protective Services will be contacted, and we will find a safer place for you son. We will be considering relatives first, before anyone else."

"You can't just - You're taking my son from me?" Agdar near-shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Winters," the judge said. "He needs to be placed in a safer environment, one where we are certain that he will not be abused."

"Your honor," Elsa said softly, standing up to get the judge's attention. "I would like to request that I be the first considered as a guardian for Jack."

The judge pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose and regarded Elsa. "Taking care of a child is no easy task, Ms. Winters. Are you sure you're up for it by yourself?"

Elsa shook her head. "I'm not by myself," she said. "I have a family. A family who loves me and will love Jack all the same."

"Damn right!" Anna shouted from her seat. With a look from the judge, though, she shrunk back until she was hidden by the person in front of her.

"I will have you put at the top of the list," the judge said to Elsa. "But the requirements are strict, and I cannot do anything for you beyond this."

"That's all I can ask," Elsa said, sitting back down. "Thank you very much, your honor."

"With that," the judge said, raising her gavel, "this hearing is adjourned!"


"You realize how much work needs to be done before CPS comes out to evaluate you, right?"

Elsa nodded, looking over at Jake, who was driving them back to the Summers house. "I know. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision. Sorry for saying something before asking you."

"Don't be sorry," Jake said, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel. "I think it's the best thing for you and Jack. We just - we just have some work to do. You need to talk with Teresa. The two of you are thinking of moving in, you and Kristoff, yeah?"

Nodding again, Elsa sighed. "Yeah, but there's a lot to do before we can do that. Kris can't sleep in the living room forever. I'll stay in Anna's room, but he'll need a room of his own. Jack will too, eventually. And - and we'll have to stagger schedules so someone can be home with Jack all the time. And-"

"Yeah," Jake said, interrupting Elsa. "It'll be a lot of work. But it'll be worth it. People always say that kids are worth the effort. You'll be fine, just be ready to present clear plans to CPS. It doesn't all need to be done right away, just in the near future."

"Thanks, Dad," Elsa said quietly. "For everything. I'm glad you're here for me."

Jake smiled, reaching to his side and ruffling Elsa's bangs. "Anything for you, Baby Elsa."


Back at the Summers house, Anna had already cleared off the dining table and covered it in paper, taping edges together until several letter size pages turned into a single, table-sized page. On the paper, she drew a rough sketch of the house and garage (as in, a rectangle with a square next to it) and the outlines of the rooms. When Elsa and Jake walked in the door, she was pencilling in ideas for where to put Kristoff's room.

"Kris, do you want your own kitchen?" Anna called out, not knowing exactly where Kristoff was, but trusting that he would hear her. "We could do a detached Mother-in-law apartment up near the tree line."

"No need for anything that excessive," Kristoff replied from the kitchen. "I mean, it'll probably bump the resale value up, but you guys won't be looking to sell the place for a long time, right? Besides, I don't want to have to put pants on to come visit!"

Anna hummed in thought before nodding in agreement, crossing out a square she had drawn some distance from the main house. "I guess that just leaves the question of whether you want to be on the other side of the garage, or on the other side of the kitchen. On one hand, easy access to midnight snacks, on the other, privacy just in case you ever get a girlfriend."

Elsa heard Kristoff suck in a breath and giggled, knowing that he actually thought of it as a difficult decision.

"I hear that laugh, Elsa!" Kristoff called out, poking his head out of the kitchen to look at her. "I'm just as capable of getting a girlfriend as you are!"

Elsa flushed, bringing her hands up in a show of defense. "Th-that's not why I was laughing!" she said. "I have complete faith in your ability to get a girl. It's just - you were seriously debating whether midnight snacks or privacy were more important."

Kristoff frowned, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Elsa. "Both of those things are very important to me, Elsa. I can't maintain this figure on three meals alone."

"I'm putting you on the other side of the garage," Anna piped up. "For your own good!"

"Aw," Kristoff whined, jutting out his bottom lip and pulling the puppy-dog eyes with startling effect. "Is this an intervention?"

"More of a prevention," Anna said with a shrug. "I don't want to end up having to roll you out of the house."

Kristoff rolled his eyes, disappearing back into the kitchen. "That's fine. Sven and I will enjoy our isolation."

Elsa leaned over the table, looking at the plan Anna was drawing up. "Where will Jack stay?" she asked.

"Mama said he can stay in her room for now," Anna said. "We'll eventually need a room for him, too, but not for a couple years. At that point, we can build on the back of the garage."

"Why are -" Elsa bit her lip, her vision misting over as she looked at Anna's messy handwriting. "I didn't even ask, so why-?"

"Jack's your brother," Anna said. "That means he's part of our family, too. And remember - ohana means family, and that means-"

"No one gets left behind," Elsa murmured, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms. "I love you, Anna."

"I know," Anna said, grinning as she drew a heart around their names written in the block representing their bedroom. "I love you, too."

"Everyone in this house loves you, Elsa."

Elsa and Anna looked up to see Teresa and Jake standing in the hallway, each leaning against one wall. It was clear that they had been there for a while, and both of the girls flushed bright red.

"Well, I suppose I can't speak for Kristoff," Teresa corrected herself.

"Yeah, I dunno," Kristoff called from the kitchen. "That sounds way too much like mushy emotion, and that's all sorts of unmanly!"

"There you have it," Teresa said, shrugging. "But all of us want you to be happy, Elsa. And if having another kid running around the house will make you happy, then we're on it. I've already called a contractor, we'll get someone out here to survey and start planning within the week."

"Within the week?" Elsa repeated. "Oh! But - I won't get money from Father for some time yet, will we have to pay up front? I don't know if -"

"Elsa, calm down," Anna said, reaching across the table to grab Elsa's shoulder. "It's fine. We're not poor, you know. Now that - that Mom's not in the hospital, we've got some money to spare. We've got my college fund to dip into, as well. Don't panic."

"Your college fund? But you'll need that!"

Anna shook her head, smiling. "No," she said. "I'm not going to college."


A/N: Still Thursday, I'm safe! I hope everyone's having a good week! Will the Summers family ever stop growing? It's certainly questionable!

Don't really have much to say about this chapter. Pretty self-explanatory, I think? We're getting pretty close to the end - I don't see this getting past chapter 60 (I hope. I said that for 20 and 40...).

Thanks for reading, as always, and I look forward to your reviews. You guys have no idea how much I love feedback!

Love always,

~Matt