Cole walks back to his seat and the judge then turns to Clark. "Mr. Clark, do you have any questions you'd like to ask the child?"
Clark, pushing his chair out from under him, stands up and replies, "Yes Your Honor, just a few."
Serena glances at the girls worriedly. Piper motions her hands and mouths the words, "RELAX!" Serena glances back at Clark as he approaches.
"Serena, do you have fun with the Halliwels?"
A smile forms on her face. "Oh yes, lots!"
"They take you places, buy you nice stuff?"
"Yeah! One time they took me to the zoo, and we played in the park, and then they bought me this kitty cat -- it's supposed to be Kit, the cat they have. That way, when I'm not with them, I can hug Kit and she'll send a hug back to them for me. And look, I even wrote down their address on Kit's collar -- that way I'll always remember where they live!"
"Your Honor, this is ridiculous. Bribery is the most popular form to win a kid's heart," rationalized Clark.
Before the judge could respond, Serena spoke up. "I wouldn't care if they didn't take me anywhere. I wouldn't even care if they didn't get me Kit. I'd wanna live with them anyways."
Stumped on what to say next, Clark just glared at Serena.
Trying to be brave, Serena started up again. "You know…umm…I know you probably think I don't know a lotta stuff, 'cause I'm only 7 and a half. But when I was in trouble…I mean when I was sick, they took better care of me than any of those other foster families would. And since they got pow --" realizing what she was about to say Serena stopped dead in her tracks. The girl's stare intently at her hoping that she was smart enough to correct herself. After a second or two went by, Serena cleared up her sentence. "What I mean is, since they got the power to love me like my mom hoped my new family would, I need to stay with them."
The girls let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"This is all very touching Serena," Clark approaches the witness stand so that he is face to face with her. "But now, tell me, you do realize that an evil thing happened in their house don't you?"
Serena stared intently at Clark, and for a split second, she thought saw his eyes glow red. Blinking a few times, Serena tried to regain clarity to make sense of what she just saw, but now his eyes were normal so she just shook it off. But her fear elevates as Clark begins to pound out questions as his voice crescendos.
"You do realize, that their dear sister Prue was MURDERED in their own home?" asked Clark.
"OBJECTION!!! COUNCIL IS BADGERING THE WITNESS!" yelled Cole.
"Sustained. Council -"
Ignoring the judge and Cole's statements, Clark goes at it again. "Evil things happen there Serena, are you SURE you want to live with them?"
Serena literally is trembling with fear, almost ready to cry.
"YOUR HONOR, STOP THIS, SHE'S JUST A KID! LEAVE HER ALONE!" yelled Piper, Phoebe and Paige all at once.
"BAD EVIL THINGS SERENA!" added Clark.
"MR. CLARK!!!" yelled the judge as he slammed his mallet. "ORDER, ORDER ORDER! STOP YOUR SHENANIGANS! THIS HAS GONE ON FAR ENOUGH!"
Coming back to reality, Clark adjusts his tie. He takes a deep breath. "I apologize Your Honor. I just wanted to make it clear to the child that it may not be safe to -"
"INEXCUSABLE MR. CLARK! YOU ARE THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES," reprimanded the judge. "I am fining you five hundred dollars and am holding you in contempt. You propose more of a danger to her right now than I suspect those girls ever did!" The judge takes a breath. With agitation, Judge Barker says, "Take your seat, District Attorney." He then turns to Serena, who is trying to recover from what she just went through.
Paige glares and shakes her head at Clark as she watches him sit down. "She's just a kid for God's sakes!" she says in a low whisper. The girls and Cole look on with concern, and just want to grab Serena off of that witness chair, hug her and take her home. They wait for the judge's next words.
Judge Barker turns to Serena. "Are you ok Serena?"
Taking a deep breath, she quivers. "Uh huh…I think so."
Judge Barker nods a little and then says, "Now I know this has been rough on you, so I just want to ask you one more question and this will be all over, ok?"
Serena nods and replies softly, "Ok."
The judge smiles in reassurance. "I want you to tell me, in your own words, without having to answer any questions, about how you feel. Don't worry about Mr. Clark, or Mr. Turner, or anyone. You don't have any direct questions to answer; it's just whatever you want to tell me before you can go sit down."
Serena thinks for a moment. Feeling a little bit more comfortable, she asks, "You mean I can speak from here, and I don't have to worry 'bout the questions?" She points to her heart.
The judge chuckles. "Yes, that is exactly what I mean."
Serena turns to the girls and takes a breath. Her eyes move from left to right, noticing Paige and Piper resting their arms on the table with folded hands. They both give half smiles. Phoebe and Cole are wrapped together arm-in-arm and look on lovingly. All are in anticipation.
Serena then turns to the judge. "When I'm not with them…it's like…I feel like I have a tummy-ache. I have a hole there…and the hole started when my mommy died, e'cept, now the hole keeps getting bigger and bigger, because no one will let me stay with the Halliwels. I don't understand!" Serena's voice starts to quiver as she shakes her head. She then starts again, "When my mommy left me, I was all alone…for a long long long time! And I don't wanna be alone. I don't want them to go away like mommy did!" Serena bows her head down a little.
Piper places her hand to her heart. She looks over at Phoebe and then at Paige, who have the same awed empathetic reaction.
Serena takes a breath, and then looks back at the judge. "Please Mr. Judge…I really really need them. And I PROMISE I'll never run away again, EVER!!" Serena sighs and then adds, "I just want them to be my family." She pauses for a moment and as the tears begin to welt in her eyes she looks real hard into the judge's and adds quietly, "Please…?"
Judge Barker looks down at his files as he presses his lips together. Serena turns in her seat to see the girls. Piper looks on and naturally smiles, through her glassy eyed expression, with pride and love. Serena wipes her eyes and half smiles back. The judge clears his throat.
"You're done now, sweetheart, you can step down now. And I'd like to ask you to go outside for a moment with Mrs. Robinson while we finish up in here, ok." Serena nods in agreement. The judge then adds, "And I want to thank you for being such a brave little girl!"
Serena looks back at the judge and shyly replies, "You're welcome. And thank you for letting me talk to you."
With a swoop of his head, the judge says, "You're very welcome." He then turns to the courtroom and glances for Mrs. Robinson. "Mrs. Robinson, if you wouldn't mind," he adds, gesturing to take Serena out of the courtroom for the final judgement.
Mrs. Robinson nods and waits for Serena to step down.
As she passes the girls, she waves cutely and smiles. Phoebe grins ecstatically and gives a thumbs-up. Piper and Paige wave back to her as they look on smiling.
Serena walks to Mrs. Robinson, takes her hand, and the bailiff escorts them out of the courtroom. The doors close, and the scene turns back to Judge Barker.