"Why don't you take the kids out for lunch before the hearing" Bosco suggested in the morning. Faith looked up from the piles of paper in front of her. Points for the hearing no doubt. "You know, take a break from all of this, have a good time, it's almost Christmas" he finished.

"That sounds.. like a good idea" Faith mumbled, more to herself.

"Great, I'll tell the kids"

"Why so soon?" Faith asked, "It's only ten thirty"

"But by the time you get ready and I drive you over there it'll be eleven"

"That's still early Boz, is there something you're not telling me?" she lookd at him, putting the pen on the paper.

He smiled, and walked over to her, "Nope, just wanna run around my apartment naked before work is all" he joked.

She nodded her head, studying him. Damn, he had a good poker face. A good face in general though. She shook her head, "Alright, I'll tell the kids" she replied, getting up from the table as the phone rang. She reached for the cordless, but Bosco grabbed it from her hands.

"Boz" she exlcaimed.

"Sorry, I'm.. expecting a call from Sully"

Faith got an uneasy feeling in her stomach, like he really was hiding something important. Something to do with his mother maybe? Or Mikey. She left the kitchen and went in to the kids' room, where they were both sleeping on Emily's bed.

She smiled, stroking Charlie's thick hair from his forehead. "Time to get up guys" she shook them awake gently.

"How come?" Emily protested.

"We're gonna go for lunch before we go to the hearing" Faith replied.

"Can we go to McDonalds?" Charlie asked, eyes wide.

She laughed, but Emily groaned, "No more McDonalds!" she groaned, rolling over.

"How about we go to that little pasta place just down the road from the courthouse, that way we don't have to bother Bosco for another ride there" Faith suggested.

"Now that's what I'm talking about" Emily immediatly perked, pushing herself out of the covers.

"Can I order spaghetti?" Charlie asked.

"After I cover you with ten napkins, sure" Faith teased, rubbing his hair, "But you have to hurry, Bosco has to be at work in a couple hours"



"Why are we doing this again?" Ty asked, leaving his mom's place.

"Because they're our friends" Sully replied, getting in to the car.

"But it's ten thirty, on a week end"

"And what time were you gonna sleep till?" Sully asked.

Ty gave him a look, "I wasn't planning on getting out of bed at all until yesterday" he rubbed his eyes, yawning.

"Poor baby" Sully mocked, starting the car.

"So where is this place any ways?"

"Over on Crestview and Arthur"

"Close to the station" Ty commented.

"Nice neighbourhood" Sully remarked.

"So does she know?"

"Not as of the last time I talked to Bosco"

"When was that?"


"Bout twenty minutes ago"

"She's in the dark" Ty grinned.

"Yep"

"Nice surprise though, just in time for Christmas" Ty said, staring out the window, "So where's Tatiana?"

"Waiting there to unpack"

"You think we're gonna be able to move everything in just a few hours?" Ty doubted.

"With all the people we have, we could probably watch a game when we're done and have a coupla beers before Bosco got back with her"

"Sounds good to me!"



Davis and Sully arrived not five minutes after Bosco'd gotten back from dropping them off. He'd found Gusler, Kim and Bobby already there, an Alex had caught up to him on the elevator.

Bosco smiled. They'd have this place packed and moved in no time.

"You got the truck?" Bosco asked Bobby, who nodded and tossed him the keys.

"You owe me thirty plus mileage buddy" he replied.

"No problem, I think with that Uhaul we could make it in a couple trips."

They all got to work.



As Bosco worked, sweat beads forming on his forehead, he consistantly thought of Faith. He should probably be there. For her, just.. in case things didn't go the way they were expected too.

If Fred got the kids... he felt the anger rise. Fred wouldn't get the kids, but if he did, by fluke... Something shattered and he looked up, everyone was looking at him. He looked at his feet and saw a plate smashed against the floor. That was him, he'd smashed it without realizing it.

"Boz, you okay?" Ty asked, being the closest.

Bosco looked down at the china covering the floor, and at the packing job he'd done so far. Nothing much. He'd been shuffling things around, struggling to pack just this box. He swallowed.

"Maybe we should do this another day" He finally said, sitting himself on the couch.

"Another day? We're all here Boscorelli" Alex told him, "We're doing it today, no way in hell am I getting up early again"

"No, no maybe I'll just tell Faith what's going on, let her and the kids know... I mean, if the kids come home with her"

"Bosco, the kids will come home with her, no judge in their right mind would give Fred custody, nevertheless consider it."

"Faith was talking to her lawyer, Fred's got a strong case against her, including her job"

"Her job?" Kim asked dumbly.

"High risk, she isn't here for the kids when they get home from school, nevertheless she could be shot and killed on any shift" Bosco replied.

"We're careful out there, we'd never let anything like that go down" Sully remarked, sitting next to him.

"We couldn't stop it before" he said quietly.

"We weren't there before, it's that asshole Thomas' fault" Davis steamed.

"I just.. I don't know whether I should be here, I should be with Faith, this is probably hard as hell on her, I want to be there."

"So go" Alex said after a long moment of silence.

Everyone looked at her. "What, I mean, we can handle this, Tatiana's at the other place, we've got people here to move everything, one person won't make a huge difference, plus, I think there should be some dishes left by the time we move everything" she smiled.

Sully nodded, "yeah, you take off, we'll be okay here"

Bosco stared at everyone. "But I.. this is my thing, I asked you here and promised you all pizza and beer tonight-"

"Oh, we're still getting that pizza and beer" Alex interupted. "We'll be waiting for you at the new place when you're done with the hearing, just.. stall a bit. Go to the mall or something"

Sully began to chuckle, and then began to laugh.

"What?" Alex asked.

"Bo.. Bosco at a mall?!" Sully phrased. Everyone began to smile, and laugh.

"Bosco sat there then stood up, "i'll see you guys later then" he said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door. He had ten minutes to get there.



A/N: I have no idea how a custody hearing is held, nevertheless a real trial so...gimme a break, please?



"Next case presented is a custody hearing between mother and father, recently divorced, will the guardians please step to the front of the room." a man announced, proceeding with their names.

Faith nervously looked at her lawyer, then gave the kids a kiss on the forehead and moved to the front of the room with Ryerson. She looked across the room at Fred, who was there with Graham. She knew the lawyer from a couple of evidence testimonies she'd had to present before. He was good. Really good.

Nausea rose, but she pushed it back down, and holding a pen in her hand she could see it shaking back and forth no matter how hard she tried to stop it. She put down the pen.

"Fred Yokas versus Faith Yokas for custody" the man continued, watching them each take their seat.

Ryerson gave her a pat on the knee and the door to the court room opened. Faith looked behind her, and smiled tightly when she saw Bosco enter and take a seat with the kids, Fred glared daggers.

"We'll hear Fred Yokas' statement and defense first" the judge announced.

Faith sat in apprehension as Fred stood.

"I am here because I am sincerely worried about my childrens' future with my ex-wife" Fred began.



"Don't worry about it Faith, he said everything we expected him to say. We have a defense for each argument he's given." Ryerson consulted her during their five minute break between statements. Neither parent was able to converse with Emily or Charlie at this point.

"He gave a good argument" Faith said.

"Don't start doubting yourself now Faith, the judge will see that, it could serious ruin your case. You have to be positive, strong and consistent to beat this thing. We talked about this, remember?"

She numbly nodded her head, but the thought that Emily and Charlie could be going home with Fred tonight instead of her and Bosco killed her inside. It put an unexisting hold in her heart just thinking about it.

"Five minutes are up, we should get back inside" he told her. She followed him back in to the stuffy court room, stale air meeting her nose.

It was then she saw Bosco sitting with the kids. She could picture him and their father. And a good one at that. She could picture marrying this man here. She could picture Emily and Charlie at the wedding, holding bouquets and wearing a gown and small tux. Ringbearer and a flowergirl, she smiled and strengthened her stride, straightening her back.

They weren't going home with Fred. Not now, not ever.



Faith sat down confidently, but still worried, when she finished her statement and defense. She gave a financial support, proving that she could support the kids, and stated that she did have an honest and caring babysitter.

She sat in the wooden chair, beside her lawyer, who was nodding his head and smiling at her. "You did great" he whispered.

Faith had brought up previous problems in their relationship, and trust issues, as well aa his two known offences of drinking and driving, one resulting in injuries of their kids and himself. She hadn't been able to look Fred in the eye during that time, but she could now.

He was shooting angry glances at her, as well as Bosco, who was sitting quietly with the children.



"I intend to rule after the following announcements are made. This ruling is final for a minimum of one month unless good reason is given. All appeals must be based on material not covered in today's session. Now, I have come to a decision and-"

"Wait!" a voice yelled from the back.

"Em!" Bosco tried to hold her back, but she ran to the front of the room, Charlie following.

The judge looked down at them, and couldn't help but smile. "What's on your mind little one?" he asked, pleasantly.

"We don't wanna live with our dad" Charlie said quickly, "He's mean sometimes, even to mom, he hit her this one time when he was mad, and he hurt my arm and crashed the car and.. and-" he faltered.

The judge looked between both Faith and Fred, "If these allegations are true, I suggest you take them up with the police department" he smiled at Faith, "But I would like to rule now-"

"You can't listen to what the kids said just now!" Fred burst out.

"Excuse me Mr. Yokas?" the judge addressed him. The room was dead silent. But Faith was grinning as she pulled the kids over to her. Fred had just lost control of his anger, he'd lost his own case just now. There was no way the judge would rule in his favour.

"That's what I thought" he said when Fred sat silently.

"I rule in the favor of Faith Yokas, and Fred" he paused, "I don't think you should appeal this" he gave Fred a glare.

Faith couldn't help but laugh. And cry. At the same time.

"mommy, why are you crying?" Charlie asked.

"Because I'm happy" Faith said, holding him and Emily tightly.

"You're silly, people only cry when they're happy!" Charlie laughed.

"We'll see about that" Faith smiled, beginning to tickle him. He began to laugh hard, rolling all over until his eyes were tearing too.