Seven long days had passed.
Dolores' entrance had, of course, stopped the adoption in its tracks. The judge had met with John's lawyer, Gil, John, Ronnie, Dolores, and Dolores' lawyer in his chambers. The judge had very reluctantly admitted that he had to consider Dolores' appeal. She had been deemed medically, emotionally, and mentally safe, and no longer a danger to herself or others. The doctor required weekly check-ins, and if she missed a single appointment, she was subject to being involuntarily committed again.
The night before they went back to court, John couldn't help but notice how quiet Ronnie was. She hadn't said a word in hours, and hadn't said much for the previous few days. She seemed to be in a state of shock, and John couldn't blame her.
He'd passed the time that week doing research into Ronnie's life before her mother had passed. Ronnie had told him that her mother worked nights and that her grandmother would watch her while her mother worked. When John dug a little deeper, the information he found was both surprising and not at the same time.
Lily Wells had been a straight A student throughout high school. She'd been a varsity basketball player, one of the only freshmen to ever be bestowed the honor. In her junior year of high school, she'd even gotten a tentative full scholarship from the University of South Dakota's women's basketball team. Lily Wells was on top of the world.
Until the following year, what should have been her senior year, when she'd disappeared.
John filled in the gaps of the next nine months easily enough. On Lily Wells' eighteenth birthday, she'd been admitted to the local hospital in labor with a baby girl. Ronnie had been born healthy, at six pounds fifteen ounces and eighteen inches long.
The question that had plagued John came on his third day of research. There was a deed, in Lily's name, for a small, two bedroom, one bath, eighty five thousand dollar house. Lily owned the house free and clear. How exactly had she been able to afford it?
The answer came, buried in a box of arrest records. Lily had bene arrested, twice in five years, for prostitution and solicitation.
John finally had the last puzzle piece. In Ronnie's first year of life, Lily had worked one full time job and worked on the streets as a prostitute in order to afford a home for her and Ronnie. Once she'd purchased the home, Lily had quit her full time job and only had to 'work' two to three nights a week in order to afford groceries, utilities, and other things needed for herself and for Ronnie. At some point, Dolores had lost her house, and Lily had allowed her to move in with her. A year and a half later, Lily was dead and Ronnie had begun her long and complicated relationship with foster care.
While he strongly disapproved of Lily's choice of a job, he couldn't judge her too harshly. She'd worked harder than most other eighteen year old kids could ever imagine in order to provide a home for her daughter, then continued to do what she could to both be there for her daughter and provide her with a home and food on her plate. Lily deserved the highest respect, and John just wished she was alive then so he could tell her how he felt.
As John looked over at Ronnie's still full dinner plate, he didn't have the heart to try and prod her into finishing. He had no appetite either. He took a seat next to her and waited for her to talk. When she didn't, he gave it a shot.
"Hey. What are you thinking?"
"That this might be my last night here."
John sighed. "Honey, you can't think that way. You don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow."
"You heard Pete." Ronnie said, referring to John's lawyer that Gil had asked to represent them. "The chances that the judge is gonna let you adopt me when I have a biological relative willing to take me is next to nothing."
"Next to nothing. That means we still have a chance."
Ronnie scoffed. "Things have never worked in my favor before. Why should they now?"
"Hey. Listen. I can promise you this. Even if things don't go our way tomorrow, I will do everything I can to keep you in my life. If you want, I'll even try and fight for custody again if I can."
Ronnie smiled. "I still can't get used to that."
"Used to what?"
"People wanting to stand up for me. Do stuff for me. Fight for me."
"I will. I will fight for you as long as you want me too. As long as you need me."
Ronnie nodded. "I believe you."
"How are you feeling about seeing your grandmother again?"
"How is she even free? She killed my mom. She killed her own kid, and she's just allowed to walk around?"
"I know. I don't understand it either." John agreed. "Can I give you your first little bit of dad advice?"
"Could I stop you if I wanted to?"
John chuckled. "Nope. I wish I could tell you things would start to make more sense as you grow up. But I'm afraid they won't."
"Gee, that really makes me feel better."
"But, you will have one thing as you get older you didn't have before."
"What?"
"Me and Dean to help you figure it all out."
Ronnie smiled and blushed from the attention. "No chick flick moments."
John let out a rare full belly laugh at that. "You're definitely Dean's sister."
"I'm going to bed." Ronnie said. "Good night."
"Good night, honey."
Ronnie suddenly did something that surprised John so much it took his breath away. She jumped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him so tightly that if John hadn't been able to reposition her, she might have suffocated him.
"I don't want to leave you, Daddy."
A sharp pain made its way through John's heart. The research he'd done into Ronnie's background that week had served a sufficient distraction to keep his fear of losing her in check. But her fearful plea, especially with the daddy tacked at the end, only served to make it all come flooding back.
The fact that the last time he'd been called Daddy had been twenty-five years ago, when Sam was ten years old, didn't help either.
He couldn't fail Ronnie the way that he'd failed Sam. He couldn't do it. If he lost in court the next day, he decided, he'd run with her. Settle down somewhere far away and make it impossible for anyone to find them. His hunter contacts were considerably thinner now than they had been years earlier, but he still had plenty of friends who could hide them. His plan in place, John wrapped both arms around Ronnie and rocked her gently.
"No matter what happens tomorrow, everything will be okay. I'll make it okay, honey. Don't worry. Daddy's here for you."
The courtroom that had been used for their case before had been shut down, so the group found themselves back in the judge's chambers. Much to everyone's surprise, Dolores' lawyer wasn't with her and despite the judges' warning, she represented herself. Each side made a brief presentation as to why they deserved to have Ronnie. Ronnie stated her preference very clearly when asked.
"My grandmother took away her privilege of being my family when she killed my mother. John's my father, Dean's my brother. I want to go home."
"Your honor, I was sick…" Dolores said, for what felt like the tenth time that
"Ms. Wells, we are not retrying your daughter's case. That is not going to happen here."
"Yes, your honor." Dolores answered politely enough, her face a very reflection of someone who swallowed sour milk.
The judge took a deep breath and checked the clock. "I need a little time to think about this. It's 12:30, I'm dismissing for lunch until 2:30. Everyone eat a good meal, and be back here then. Understood?" Everyone agreed, and the room was dismissed. When Dolores started walking towards Ronnie, the judge quashed whatever plans she had. "Ms. Wells, stay away from them until after the ruling. I mean it. If I find out you've been harassing your granddaughter or any member of the Winchester family over this lunch break, I will throw your case out automatically."
Over the long lunch, Lisa and Dean, who had accompanied John and Ronnie to the hearing, tried to keep the atmosphere cheerful. Lisa left to pick up Ben from school, and Ronnie followed the two of them back to the judges' chambers in a daze. Dolores walked back in, two minutes later, looking very smug.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Ms. Wells." The judge said dryly. He shuffled a couple of papers in front of him and crossed his arms in front of him. "I have to say that this is both the easiest and the hardest custody case I've dealt with in twenty years on the bench. Even though it's not always the easiest thing for me to determine, there's one guiding principle I have to follow. It's called the best interests of the child. Ms. Wells, I understand why you want to be back in your granddaughter's life. I do get it. But I'm sorry. I am not about to award full custody of a minor child to someone who has only just been released from a psychiatric institution."
"Your honor, I…"
"Ms. Wells, I strongly advise you to allow me to finish my ruling. I am not a very patient person with interruptions."
Dolores slouched back in her seat. Ronnie, sitting opposite Dolores with John next to her, had released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"However, I do think that completely blocking Ms. Wells from her granddaughter altogether is not a wise idea either. Therefore, I've worked out a system. Mr. Winchester, I'm allowing your adoption of Ms. Wells to go through. After I've finished here, we'll finish finalizing the adoption before you leave. Ms. Wells, you will be allowed three supervised visits with your granddaughter each week, to be determined at a time that Mr. Winchester sees fit. Any questions so far?"
"No, your honor." Everyone except Ronnie answered.
The judge didn't fail to notice that Ronnie was silent. "Miss Wells? I know you're afraid to see your grandmother. I understand. She is going to have a lot of rules to follow in order to be able to see you. If she doesn't keep them exactly as I spell out here, I will revoke her visitation privileges. And under no circumstances will she ever be allowed to see you without your father or your brother in the room with you. Okay?"
Ronnie nodded. "Okay."
"Just give it a chance. I'm going to review the situation every couple of months, and if you're uncomfortable with it, we'll talk about it. I'm just asking you to try here. Okay? Can you do that?"
"I'll try." Ronnie promised quietly.
"That's it. Okay, back to you, Ms. Wells. As I said, I will review this situation every sixty days for a year. Before the end of those first sixty days, I'm expecting you to have a job or have a damn good reason why you don't have a job. After finding that job, if you want to keep seeing your granddaughter, I expect you to be paying Mr. Winchester a minimum of ten dollars a week in child support."
"Your honor? Can I say something?" John asked, raising his hand in the air.
"Make it quick."
"I really don't need the money. I have more than enough to take care of Ronnie myself."
"I believe that, Mr. Winchester. The support is more of a way for Ms. Wells to demonstrate her continued interest in being a part of her granddaughter's life. Use the money for something. Even if it's getting a pizza at the end of the week, just use it for anything related to Ronnie's care."
"Yes, your honor." John said.
"Ms. Wells, you have one more condition. This paperwork you've given to the court states that you have to check in with your doctors at the hospital on the phone three days a week and go there for three days a week. I'm adding the condition that your doctors call my office and tell me verbally that you've attended every appointment and called for every phone check-in. You miss one appointment, you're done. Do you have any questions?"
"Yes. Your honor, I'm on disability. I can't hold a job and collect…"
"As long as you pay the child support, follow all the other rules I laid down, and the income you collect is legal, I don't care where the money comes from. Any other questions?"
"No questions, but I strongly object to this ruling." Dolores answered. "She's my granddaughter, I should be able to raise her. The doctors have ruled me safe and competent."
"Your granddaughter is terrified of you. I will not subject her to having to live with someone she's terrified of except under circumstances very different from these. Now, if you want, you may file an appeal." The judge remarked. "And make sure to have your lawyer do that for you if you so choose. But you're going to have to earn the privilege of seeing your granddaughter, Ms. Wells. If you'd prefer me to just drop your petition and issue a permanent restraining order against you, I'd be more than happy to do that too. Take your pick."
Dolores chose to follow the judges' ruling, and the family went home that night to celebrate. Though she was distracted at the thought of having to spend any time with her grandmother, she felt better that John or Dean had to be there when it happened. All thoughts of her grandmother, though, were chased from Ronnie's mind when Lisa showed up at the house with a large birthday cake. The message on the front of the cake said it all.
Happy birthday Veronica Anne Winchester.
Twenty-four hours later, as John ate a piece of the leftover cake from the night before while Ronnie was at school, all seemed to be behind them. Ronnie was now officially his daughter, and though Dolores had to step foot in his house, he was willing to deal with it for an hour a night if it meant that Ronnie would be with him for good. The phone rang, and when John picked up, he nearly collapsed.
Although Ronnie had left for school at the usual time that morning, she'd never made it there.