I had managed to keep a straight face when I left the house but a silly grin kept slipping onto my face as I drove with Eric to the office. The lingering snow at the edges of the highway would blow across the cool surface; warm and then freeze into icy patches. I really hated driving in the snow so since the snow had started to fly in the middle of October Eric began to drive me to work, as a courtesy. Eric's old Barney was ugly as sin but did handle very well in the winter months; therefore we were sitting in the gas guzzler rather than the more fuel efficient Toyota Prius I purchased in late August.

"What are you smiling for?" Eric had a mirror image on his face, a super silly grin.

"I found your surprise sitting on the bed." I smiled so wide it was beginning to hurt my face.

"And?" He prompted without his eyes leaving the road.

"I have it with me." I wanted to blurt out I had peed on the stick and it had immediately changed to a plus sign but he was driving and it was fun to watch him squirm a little.

"Was it a plus or minus?" He paused and gave me a quick glance. "It would be okay if it was a minus, which would mean we would just have to practice more."

"You were supposed to be in charge of birth control. I don't like the pills." I was feigning anger but it was a little like de ja vu.

"I have been really careful but giving the amount of times we have been together in the last five months it is inevitable. Plus we had that malfunction on the day of my father's funeral." His smile had vanished and was replaced with a scowl.

"I'm not going to tell you one way or the other until we arrive at my work. So deal with it." I was irritable which was unlike me but totally the norm for when I was pregnant last.

I felt my phone vibrate in my purse and I pulled it out. It was awful early in the morning to be receiving any calls. I glanced at the screen and it was a restricted number. It was either Isabel or Andy. The trail had been over for more than two months now; late August to be exact. I was a little nervous to hear from them. The trial was stressful; Madden's lawyer tried twisting everything either Eric or I had testified about into a conspiracy concerning his client.

"Who is it?" Eric kept his eyes on the road but his hearing was acute enough to hear my phone even when it was on vibrate.

"Restricted." My voice was monotone.

"Tell the feds I say hi but we are not going back to court for any reason." There was a rise of color at the base of his neck and fierce indication he was going to pop soon.

Sighing I flipped open the phone. Briskly I greeted the person on the end of the cell, "Hello this is Sookie Stackhouse, and I do not wish to discuss the trial of Dr. Victor Madden nor the subsequent death of John Quinn."

There was a brief pause from the other end of the line, "Excuse me is this Dr. Sookie Stackhouse Compton mother to Copley Compton?"

The voice was familiar, a male voice and slightly gravely, an older male but I was having a hard time placing who it was. "Yes but I have legally changed our last names back just to Stackhouse. Who is this?"

"This is Judge Niall, I have a curious question for you."

I instantly relaxed this was the man who made Copley a part of my family he was no threat and no danger to us. "What can I do for you Judge?"

"Lorena is dead."

"Oh, my." I sat up a little too quickly and my stomach rebelled for a minute. "How?" I was think furiously about; if and when I should tell Copley his birth mother had passed.

"She committed suicide October 23. There is another twist to this though; she had another child a little girl in late September. No one knows who the father is and currently the baby is in the care of the state of Louisiana. They were looking for any relatives of the child and have come up empty handed."

"Oh, my." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Eric had turned off the highway and was climbing the side of the 'hill' to get me to work.

"Copley seems to be her only living relative. The case worker is a nephew of mine who thought I could give you a call."

"What could I do for the little girl? I don't know any of Lorena's relatives; you saw how adamant she was about not keeping Copley. I asked for medical records of her family so we would have a good medical history for him later but she was uncooperative once she had the titles to the Louisiana property." I kept glancing to Eric out of the corner of my eye, he was concentrating on the road which had become slick and unpredictable. I highly doubted he was listening to what I was saying to the Judge.

"The foster care system will fail this child. She is a ward of the state, any property that was Lorena's will be help in probate until the child is 18, and then the taxes will be so high she will lose the property back to the state. It is a miserable system. She will be lost." The Judge let out a sigh, he sounded like he really did care what happened to this little girl.

"Again, what are you asking me? I don't understand." I felt my stomach flop around, not the baby moving it was way too early for that but we had just turned a particularly slick corner and even the studded snow tires were having a difficult time gripping the road. I grabbed the door's arm rest so I wouldn't fall over.

"Would you be will to adopt another of Lorena's children?" The phone went dead silent.

Without thinking I responded, "Yes, the more the merrier. Send me the information and I will get in contact with you. Please use my personal email as I am now living in Wyoming. That won't be a problem will it?"

"Hell no," He coughed slightly, "I mean to say no, the court system in this instance will overlook where you live in geographical location to the child's current residency. Let me make sure I have the correct information."

I spoke with the Judge for a minute or two longer, while Eric parked the car and let it idle for the remainder of my conversation.

"So who was that and what little girl are you going to help?" Eric was puzzled by the whole conversation.

"It was Judge Niall, he was the person who approved my adoption of Copley. His mother is dead."

"Why would Judge Niall call you to tell you his mother is dead?" Eric's eye brows creased together above his nose. I extended my finger and smoothed the skin out.

"Copley's birth mother Lorena committed suicide." I gently stated, I wasn't sure how everything was going to work out and I quickly looked at Eric with shock on my face. "You did say you wanted a large family right?"

"So you are pregnant!" Eric's lips swooped down on me so quickly I didn't have time to confirm his predication.

"Yes but there is more." I mumbled against his lips. He sat back a little with a curious look on his face. "Prior to Lorena committing suicide she had another child, a little girl who is about 6 or 7 weeks old. The state of Louisiana has her in foster care. Copley is her only living relative." I braced myself for what I was about to tell him. "I am going to adopt her so she and Copley can know one another."

He didn't say anything but I could see how his mind was working in furious overdrive.

"Eric we really need to finish this conversation, I need to speak with you by lunch; no texting this one out." I tried to catching his eyes which seemed like they had traveled to another planet. "I am not going to allow this little girl to slip through the cracks, she deserves better. She deserves this family. I understand this is a lot to take in right now. We will talk at lunch. I love you." Giving him a quick kiss on the lips, I grabbed my briefcase from the back seat and swung my purse over my shoulder as I exiting the car.

When I looked out the window of my office twenty minutes later Barney still sat in the parking lot with Eric inside, he had a far away look on his face.

August 2011, the Trail of Dr. Victor Madden- Denver, Colorado Federal Courthouse

I sat at the back of the courtroom, Eric was testifying about his work relationship with Victor. I couldn't believe Victor was the one who gave Quinn the drugs for his murders but I would find out later more damning information about him.

"How long has Dr. Madden worked for you?" The little portly man asked from behind the podium. I had been in a real courtroom before with the adoption of Copley and the trial for my friend Tray. So it wasn't surprising to me the attorney didn't have free roam of the front of the courtroom like you see in the courtroom drama's on TV.

"A little less than two years, he was hired by my mother in December 2009." Eric's voice was strong and clear. He was sitting in the witness booth. The court stenographer was typing lazily as the Judge watched the facial expressions of Eric.

"What is his position at Northman Medical Research Firm?" The lawyer's moustache twitched as the words formed, even though his appearance was off putting; Isabel had informed me this attorney was a shark. He went for the kill every time. The four of us went over our testimony so many times in pretrial it was hard to believe the attorney would be able to trip up any of us but the possibility was always there.

"He is the team leader for a promising new pharmaceutical."

"The same pharmaceutical that was found in all 19 victims?"

"Yes, for 17 of the victims. Two of the other women had pharmaceuticals similar to the one Dr. Madden has been working with."

"What is your position at the same company?" The attorney was leading Eric somewhere but I couldn't follow the path of his questioning.

"I am Chief Operating Officer."

"You are the COO? Aren't you a little young for the position?"

"Yes and No."

The questions just became more and more personal about Eric until the prosecuting attorney finally stopped texted someone under the table and objected. After two hours on the stand, Eric was excused and I was called for my part of the testimony. After I was sworn in, the preliminary questions were asked.

"What was your first contact with my client?" His eyes weren't just a dark brown but a black, I couldn't tell were the pupil began or ended. I felt like I was looking into a soulless window.

"My wedding to my deceased husband Bill Compton, we were introduced prior to my wedding." It had taken me back by his first real question. I still had a hard time believing Madden was so cruel with everything Eric had described but he did give me the creeps the first time I met him in Vegas.

"Can you describe the meeting to the court?"

"Bill and I had just exited the terminal of the airport. There was a driver with a sign 'Compton' standing in front of a red stretch limo."

"You remember the limo red why?" His eyes crinkled at the corners, almost in humor to his own question.

"It was ostentatious. I thought it would have been terrible to keep the dust off." Just like our attorney, Mr. Catilades, had instructed us to do; I stopped answering the first question when a second question was asked. We had retained his help, with typical trail's in's and out's of cross examinations. He had drilled into our heads; when the attorney stops you in the middle of your answer with another question, do not continue answering the first question. The attorney can re-ask a question but don't over answer questions.

"Why were you in Las Vegas?" He shifted from one foot to the other.

"I didn't know at the time, I was under the impression we were there for a weekend of fun."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes."

"Where did you stay at while in Las Vegas?"

"We stayed with Dr. Victor Madden, at his home."

"Did you enjoy meeting him?" The question through me for a loop; I looked at the prosecuting attorney who was texting again. Damnit that was a trick question I shouldn't have had to answer but the attorney was not going to object to a question she didn't hear. "Miss Stackhouse, did you enjoy meeting Dr. Victor Madden?"

"He was polite and courteous to both Bill and I." I was evading the question. I didn't enjoy Madden he was a sick bastard who was too touchy feely with me while I stayed at his hovel, I mean home.

"Do you think his behavior was typical while you stayed at his home?"

"I need clarification, I don't understand what you mean by typical?"

"Did he do anything unusual, like say slip you drugs in you drinks while you were staying in his home."

"He offered recreational drugs to both Bill and I. Bill accepted; I declined." I had almost forgotten the pot he tried to push on me.

"In your deposition you didn't say anything about drugs." His moustache twanged down in displeasure and it seemed he said it more to himself than the courtroom. He shuffled a few papers, flipping them over and over again, looking for something. I wasn't quite sure what he was looking for and I wasn't going to offer anything that would help Victor get off on any of the charges.

"I was not quested about drugs being offered in the deposition." I stated flatly. There were things I didn't offer up in the deposition, like our attorney Mr. Catilades had instructed us. The questions followed one after another until present day when I was informed Victor was working for Eric. At first I thought it was just a small world, and then I began to put the pieces together. Bill knew Victor from shady dealings prior to us meeting, I knew Quinn from childhood, Quinn knew Victor because his father was connected to the MMA, and Bill and I knew one another from graduate school. It was hard to follow and I chalked it up to the seven degrees of separation shrinking in the modern world.

"Do you find it odd that Dr. Madden ended up working with your current boyfriend?"

"No, Eric and I chose similar fields of study. The industry is not overtly large and I know many colleagues from all over the country and they know one another." Again my answer through a monkey wrench in his questioning and I had to offer up a silent thanks to Mr. Catalades for his coaching. I was cross examined and then re-crossed, by the time we left the courtroom I felt like I had run a marathon and it was only lunch time.

Our testimony was finished and we wouldn't be brought back to the stand for any further questioning. That brought startling revelations about Victor's character and his profile by Dr. Isabella Fochi, which was really spot on, even though she had never spoke to the man one syllable. The following day the prosecution continued with their case. I found out later why the attorney was texting during the trial. The final DNA tests were complete and it was 100% match to Victor's DNA.

The remainder of the trail was a twisted and sick roller coaster. Six bodies of victims were exhumed for DNA testing, but they would get their day in court another time. During the investigation Madden's home was thoroughly searched and braids of hair were found in some odd places. The analyses of the hair lead to a separate investigation being opened for the Native American's. The large population near Madden's home in Las Vegas, had not reported to the federal authorities six women were murdered in mid-2009. The mysterious murders left the tribal police pissed off but they didn't have any leads. The analyses indicated the braided hair belonged to six individuals with close familial ties of Paiute origins. In the three months since the connection to Madden's was established, the victim's toll rose to 25 all with the tell-tale drug signature in their tissue. Even death didn't hide his link with all 25 women.

Victor was on trial for the distribution of pharmaceuticals without license to prescribe medication: 19 counts, constructive manslaughter: 19 counts. He was found guilty on all charges. The remaining six counts from Paiute nation would be prosecuted if Madden's was granted an appeal. The feds had no interest in ever letting Victor walk the America a free man any time soon.

Eric and I breathed a sigh of relief as they cuffed Victor and escorted him to his future home. Our hands were intertwined as we walked out of the courtroom. I had texted Pam, who was not needed at Victor's trial because she had no connection to him, the verdict of guilt and let her know when the sentencing date was. I recieved a text back asking me when I would be home to get the kids. There was a plane with our name on it waiting at the airport and it would only be a few hours until I had my babies, safe a warm wrapped in my arms. I was smiling as we walked down the hall of the courthouse, Eric was rubbing the ridges of my knuckles and was talking to Andy as we were escorted out of the courthouse. The afternoon was bright outside in the comparison to the courtroom. Blinded by the heat and afternoon sun, I placed my free hand against my forehead casting a shadow. In an instances the mob in front of me flashed; there were reporters, by standers, and camera's waiting on the step's to the courthouse. One woman caught my eye for a second more than anyone else. I thought I saw Lorena at the edge of the crowd, partially hidden behind a news crew but as soon as I recognized her. My focus shifted to the questions which were coming at me from every direction by the time I was able to look back to where she was stand it was like she was never there. She must have melted into the mass of people crowded around the courthouse. I hadn't given her a second thought until Judge Niall called me.