I know what you're thinking!! Holy hell! 3rd chapter ina week! What kind of
drug is she on? And its no drugs... just lots of Easter Candy! Viva La
Cadbury Eggs! LOL Enjoy this chapter! Ya'll did sucha fabulous job of
reviewing the last two, I felt the love!! So show me more love and review!
Hugs to you all! ~ audacious
I sat nervously as Brock took the stand. He was the last character witness for my case. He winked at me reassuringly. I gave him a weak smile, feeling somewhat nauseas.
"He'll be fine," Sarah whispered to me as she got up and started her questioning. "Mr. Lesnar, When did you first meet my client?"
Brock shifted back and got comfortable, "My sophomore year, her freshmen. She was a friend of a friend of a friend. We didn't become best friends till maybe a year later. She had a lot of extra credits from high school and for most of my classes she was the tutor. So we hung out a lot."
"So there was nothing romantic?"
"No I was dating this girl, Nicole, Maggie was dating a guy named Eric. We didn't start dating till May, about 3 months ago."
Sarah kept asking questions until, "Thank you Brock, I'm done."
Johnny Catonni jumped from his chair eager to start the examination, "So Brock, Do you think of your self as a father figure to the child in question?"
Brock bristled, "The 'child in question' is named Grayson, and yeah I do consider myself to be his father figure."
"But you aren't his REAL father are you?"
"Blood has nuthin' to do with it." was his reply and it made me want to cheer. I could hear Rick make a small giggle behind me.
"And you love his aunt?"
"Yes I love his MOTHER." he said with emphasis.
Rick gave another small giggle and quickly smothered it as Judge Friday gave him a look.
"So lets discuss your 'attributes' as a father for the child. Have you broken the law?"
"No, unless you include occasional speedin' and parkin' tickets."
Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"
"No" came Brock's firm reply
Johnny walked to his desk, shuffled some papers before he went in for the kill, I knew what he was doing as he pulled out a sheet of paper, "Have you ever been arrested Mr. Lesnar?"
Brock squirmed noticeably in his chair.
"Mr. Lesnar?"
Judge Friday peered down at him, "You have to answer the question Mr. Lesnar."
"Yes." came Brock's defiant answer.
I closed my eyes. Now that Johnny had brought this out what was I supposed to do?" As far as I was concerned, the questioning was all over. I could hear my "fan section" start to get restless.
"You Honor, Mr. Lesnar was arrested for steroid use in Louisville. Steroids make a person irritable, and some times violent, now what kind of environment would we be putting Grayson in? An unstable environment Now I -- "
Brock started to open his mouth and let Johnny have it but was silenced quick by a sharp look from Sarah as she said coldly, "You Honor I was not aware that we were starting closing arguments, perhaps if Mr. Catonni would let my witness off the chair he could."
"I agree, either ask a question or sit down Mr. Catonni."
"What are we going to do?" I whispered grabbing Sarah's arm as she sat down.
"Don't worry about it, we'll get it cleared up."
"OK Mr. Lesnar, lets go back to your relationship with the defendant. You love her correct?"
"Yes I do." He shot a glance at the wrestlers behind me, "I'd marry her."
My eyes flew wide open as my stomach leaped into my throat. I quickly clamped a hand on my mouth just in case I threw up. Now what can of worms just got opened?
Catonni whirled around in fake surprise, "You would?"
"Yeah."
"Would you marry even though there are all these problems?"
"YEAH."
"Would you marry because of these problems?"
"In an instant." came his damming reply.
"So you would marry her to get Grayson back?"
"That's not what I meant."
"But that is what you implied. You certainly are vindictive sir, must be the steroids. Your honor I'm done here."
I sat in my chair absolutely stunned. What the hell just happened here? Was I proposed to? Now does the judge think I'll stoop to anything just to win? Along with being shocked, I started becoming incredible angry at Brock. How could he just do this? Just throw everything out there like this with out talking to me about it?
Sarah noticed the expression on my face, "Take a deep breath girlie."
I gulped for air.
"Re-direct your honor?"
"Be my guest."
"Now Brock, lets start at the end of that embarrassing thing my opposition calls a "questioning". Did you mean that you wanted to marry my client, Maggie, just to help her get her son back?" Sarah shot a look at Johnny and Jimmy the Ass.
"No of course not. I was just saying that I love her enough to marry."
"Are you proposing now?" She said asking the question I was asking myself.
"If she'll have me I am." He looked at me not sure of how to read my expression as I looked away. My stomach was in a knot and I swore there was an ulcer.
Hearing Rick giggle and give a small clap and whispering something about "his little girl all grown up" wasn't helping either.
"Ok thank you for clearing that up. Now lets move onto the steroid accusation. Have you ever been on steroids?"
"Absolutely not." he said firmly.
"But you were arrested under suspicion of 'receiving and trafficking a controlled substance'?" she asked reading off the police report Johnny had laid down in front of her only moments before.
"Yeah. The reports came back as negative for steroids."
"What was the substance?"
"A protein vitamin powder I used to help bulk up."
"Completely safe?"
"Safe and steroid free." he shot a look at Johnny.
"Thank you Brock, you may step down. You honor, those are all my witnesses. I rest."
Judge Friday looked relieved, "Very well, we will adjourn until tomorrow morning at 9am." Her gavel came down with a sharp bang.
Sarah and I stayed seated at the table; she gathered up her stuff while I sat staring at an ink stain in the wood. A small hand reached for my arm and I quickly pulled Grayson onto my lap for a big hug.
"Hey sugar how are you?" I asked giving a kiss to his forehead.
"I'm otay," he said giving a grin, "Connor and I are gonna make mud pies when we get home."
I smiled back, "My that sounds like fun. I thought you boys had that look about you. How are you Connor?"
"Good." Came his quiet reply, he was staring intently at Mark's tattoos.
"Connor, these are my friends Mark and Kurt. They're wrestlers."
"Hey Kid good to meet ya." Came Marks gruff reply. To my amazement Connor didn't hide like I thought he would. He waved and gave a shy smile instead. Kurt was too busy talking with Brock to pay any attention.
"Momma?" Grayson pulled on my sleeve and I bent my ear down to him as he whispered hopefully, "Are you gonna marry Uncle Brock? Is he gonna be my daddy?"
I groaned inwardly, "I don't know kiddo. We'll talk about that another time ok?"
Dorothy came to my rescue and said, "Come along boys we need to get a late lunch before you can start your mud pies. How does McDonalds sound?"
Both boys cheered and Grayson gave me a hug and a kiss before sliding off my lap and chasing Connor down the aisle to the big double doors.
The courtroom grew quiet as everyone filed out I could hear Anna promising to make some stew for the boys if they wanted to come home with us, their voices soon faded.
Brock stood in front of the table, trying to catch my eye.
"You ready to go?" he finally asked.
"Listen, um," I started out quietly not really sure what I was going to say, "I really don't want to talk right now."
"Ah, ok." If I had the nerve to look him in the eye I would have seen confusion in there as well distress. "We'll talk later then."
"No what I mean is," A tear formed in the corner of my eye threatening to follow the laws of gravity; shit I was just going to go for it. "What I mean is, I don't want to talk to you right now." I got up quickly as he took a step back. "I'll call you later tonight Sarah."
I made eye contact with her and she shot me a warning glance. Leaving quickly I made it half way down the aisle until Brock shouted after me,
"Maggie! Where the hell are you going?"
"I'm going home. Please just leave me alone right now ok?" The tear had finally started making its way down my cheek and another one started down behind it.
Brock had closed the distance by the time I made it to the courtroom doors, "Mags would you calm down a damn minute?!" His hand circled around my upper arm holding me back, "We need to talk about this."
"Oh I think you've said enough for today." I pulled free form his grasp and ran out the door.
Sarah stopped Brock from following me but not long enough. He caught up with me at the elevators. "'Maggie would you get back here and fill me in on what's goin' on inside that head of yours? Cuz honestly I sure as hell can't figure it out." His loud voice caught a few curious stares.
I stared up at the numbers slowly climbing down to my floor.
"Dammit quit ignoring me."
The elevator doors slid open smoothly and I escaped inside only to have him follow me. Another man was on board but he left as soon as Brock said, "I recommend you find a different elevator." And then pointed at the door.
Tears now flowed freely down my face, "Would you just leave me alone?" I begged.
"Not until I figure out what has gotten you so upset." He punched the emergency stop button and the elevator jerked to a halt in between floors, "So I figure you got two options, A you tell me now or B we sit here for along time. Now what's it gonna be?"
He cornered me and braced his arms on the wall, one arm on either side of me. I felt enclosed in a Brock envelope and started feeling a tad bit claustrophobic. That and its awfully tough to ignore someone when they are just inches from your face breathing down your neck. I closed my eyes; the power I felt from him was an alarming turn-on.
"Well?"
"Its what you said on the stand." I said quietly, breaking down into quiet sobs, "You just went ahead and blurted everything out and I didn't have any say in it. Catonni had you right were he wanted you, now the judge thinks I'm just out there to win no matter what the cost, that I want my son so bad that I'll so anything, nobody will take us seriously now, Gray heard it now he's all confused." The reasons all blurred together into one giant long explanation and I ended with a quiet "It was all I had left."
My teary eyes finally met his as he pulled away. I closed my eyes again as his hands came to my cheeks and brushed the tears away gently. "What did you mean it was the only thing you had left?" he asked quietly.
I gave a shaky uncomfortable laugh, "I ah."
"C'mon. Out with it."
I sighed, "Nothing in my life has gone to the way I planned it out. I wanted to see the world; I got Grayson. I wanted a great job traveling; I ended up at a dinky travel agency behind a desk. I wanted so much." I watched Brock's face go through a range of emotions and I wasn't sure of exactly what emotions they were. "Every little girl plans out what they want to be when they grown up, where they want to be in the world, a handsome prince who proposes on one knee, a huge fancy wedding. All I had left of my dreams was --"
Brock interrupted, "All you had left was the hope of a proposal that would leave all your friends jealous, and I ruined that for you by doing it from the stand."
I looked down and nodded. I felt so ashamed.
His head dipped as he reached and pulled the stop button. The elevator whirled back to life and the doors opened on the next floor. "I'll just talk to you later," he spoke softly and then he melted into the crowd.
I sat nervously as Brock took the stand. He was the last character witness for my case. He winked at me reassuringly. I gave him a weak smile, feeling somewhat nauseas.
"He'll be fine," Sarah whispered to me as she got up and started her questioning. "Mr. Lesnar, When did you first meet my client?"
Brock shifted back and got comfortable, "My sophomore year, her freshmen. She was a friend of a friend of a friend. We didn't become best friends till maybe a year later. She had a lot of extra credits from high school and for most of my classes she was the tutor. So we hung out a lot."
"So there was nothing romantic?"
"No I was dating this girl, Nicole, Maggie was dating a guy named Eric. We didn't start dating till May, about 3 months ago."
Sarah kept asking questions until, "Thank you Brock, I'm done."
Johnny Catonni jumped from his chair eager to start the examination, "So Brock, Do you think of your self as a father figure to the child in question?"
Brock bristled, "The 'child in question' is named Grayson, and yeah I do consider myself to be his father figure."
"But you aren't his REAL father are you?"
"Blood has nuthin' to do with it." was his reply and it made me want to cheer. I could hear Rick make a small giggle behind me.
"And you love his aunt?"
"Yes I love his MOTHER." he said with emphasis.
Rick gave another small giggle and quickly smothered it as Judge Friday gave him a look.
"So lets discuss your 'attributes' as a father for the child. Have you broken the law?"
"No, unless you include occasional speedin' and parkin' tickets."
Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"
"No" came Brock's firm reply
Johnny walked to his desk, shuffled some papers before he went in for the kill, I knew what he was doing as he pulled out a sheet of paper, "Have you ever been arrested Mr. Lesnar?"
Brock squirmed noticeably in his chair.
"Mr. Lesnar?"
Judge Friday peered down at him, "You have to answer the question Mr. Lesnar."
"Yes." came Brock's defiant answer.
I closed my eyes. Now that Johnny had brought this out what was I supposed to do?" As far as I was concerned, the questioning was all over. I could hear my "fan section" start to get restless.
"You Honor, Mr. Lesnar was arrested for steroid use in Louisville. Steroids make a person irritable, and some times violent, now what kind of environment would we be putting Grayson in? An unstable environment Now I -- "
Brock started to open his mouth and let Johnny have it but was silenced quick by a sharp look from Sarah as she said coldly, "You Honor I was not aware that we were starting closing arguments, perhaps if Mr. Catonni would let my witness off the chair he could."
"I agree, either ask a question or sit down Mr. Catonni."
"What are we going to do?" I whispered grabbing Sarah's arm as she sat down.
"Don't worry about it, we'll get it cleared up."
"OK Mr. Lesnar, lets go back to your relationship with the defendant. You love her correct?"
"Yes I do." He shot a glance at the wrestlers behind me, "I'd marry her."
My eyes flew wide open as my stomach leaped into my throat. I quickly clamped a hand on my mouth just in case I threw up. Now what can of worms just got opened?
Catonni whirled around in fake surprise, "You would?"
"Yeah."
"Would you marry even though there are all these problems?"
"YEAH."
"Would you marry because of these problems?"
"In an instant." came his damming reply.
"So you would marry her to get Grayson back?"
"That's not what I meant."
"But that is what you implied. You certainly are vindictive sir, must be the steroids. Your honor I'm done here."
I sat in my chair absolutely stunned. What the hell just happened here? Was I proposed to? Now does the judge think I'll stoop to anything just to win? Along with being shocked, I started becoming incredible angry at Brock. How could he just do this? Just throw everything out there like this with out talking to me about it?
Sarah noticed the expression on my face, "Take a deep breath girlie."
I gulped for air.
"Re-direct your honor?"
"Be my guest."
"Now Brock, lets start at the end of that embarrassing thing my opposition calls a "questioning". Did you mean that you wanted to marry my client, Maggie, just to help her get her son back?" Sarah shot a look at Johnny and Jimmy the Ass.
"No of course not. I was just saying that I love her enough to marry."
"Are you proposing now?" She said asking the question I was asking myself.
"If she'll have me I am." He looked at me not sure of how to read my expression as I looked away. My stomach was in a knot and I swore there was an ulcer.
Hearing Rick giggle and give a small clap and whispering something about "his little girl all grown up" wasn't helping either.
"Ok thank you for clearing that up. Now lets move onto the steroid accusation. Have you ever been on steroids?"
"Absolutely not." he said firmly.
"But you were arrested under suspicion of 'receiving and trafficking a controlled substance'?" she asked reading off the police report Johnny had laid down in front of her only moments before.
"Yeah. The reports came back as negative for steroids."
"What was the substance?"
"A protein vitamin powder I used to help bulk up."
"Completely safe?"
"Safe and steroid free." he shot a look at Johnny.
"Thank you Brock, you may step down. You honor, those are all my witnesses. I rest."
Judge Friday looked relieved, "Very well, we will adjourn until tomorrow morning at 9am." Her gavel came down with a sharp bang.
Sarah and I stayed seated at the table; she gathered up her stuff while I sat staring at an ink stain in the wood. A small hand reached for my arm and I quickly pulled Grayson onto my lap for a big hug.
"Hey sugar how are you?" I asked giving a kiss to his forehead.
"I'm otay," he said giving a grin, "Connor and I are gonna make mud pies when we get home."
I smiled back, "My that sounds like fun. I thought you boys had that look about you. How are you Connor?"
"Good." Came his quiet reply, he was staring intently at Mark's tattoos.
"Connor, these are my friends Mark and Kurt. They're wrestlers."
"Hey Kid good to meet ya." Came Marks gruff reply. To my amazement Connor didn't hide like I thought he would. He waved and gave a shy smile instead. Kurt was too busy talking with Brock to pay any attention.
"Momma?" Grayson pulled on my sleeve and I bent my ear down to him as he whispered hopefully, "Are you gonna marry Uncle Brock? Is he gonna be my daddy?"
I groaned inwardly, "I don't know kiddo. We'll talk about that another time ok?"
Dorothy came to my rescue and said, "Come along boys we need to get a late lunch before you can start your mud pies. How does McDonalds sound?"
Both boys cheered and Grayson gave me a hug and a kiss before sliding off my lap and chasing Connor down the aisle to the big double doors.
The courtroom grew quiet as everyone filed out I could hear Anna promising to make some stew for the boys if they wanted to come home with us, their voices soon faded.
Brock stood in front of the table, trying to catch my eye.
"You ready to go?" he finally asked.
"Listen, um," I started out quietly not really sure what I was going to say, "I really don't want to talk right now."
"Ah, ok." If I had the nerve to look him in the eye I would have seen confusion in there as well distress. "We'll talk later then."
"No what I mean is," A tear formed in the corner of my eye threatening to follow the laws of gravity; shit I was just going to go for it. "What I mean is, I don't want to talk to you right now." I got up quickly as he took a step back. "I'll call you later tonight Sarah."
I made eye contact with her and she shot me a warning glance. Leaving quickly I made it half way down the aisle until Brock shouted after me,
"Maggie! Where the hell are you going?"
"I'm going home. Please just leave me alone right now ok?" The tear had finally started making its way down my cheek and another one started down behind it.
Brock had closed the distance by the time I made it to the courtroom doors, "Mags would you calm down a damn minute?!" His hand circled around my upper arm holding me back, "We need to talk about this."
"Oh I think you've said enough for today." I pulled free form his grasp and ran out the door.
Sarah stopped Brock from following me but not long enough. He caught up with me at the elevators. "'Maggie would you get back here and fill me in on what's goin' on inside that head of yours? Cuz honestly I sure as hell can't figure it out." His loud voice caught a few curious stares.
I stared up at the numbers slowly climbing down to my floor.
"Dammit quit ignoring me."
The elevator doors slid open smoothly and I escaped inside only to have him follow me. Another man was on board but he left as soon as Brock said, "I recommend you find a different elevator." And then pointed at the door.
Tears now flowed freely down my face, "Would you just leave me alone?" I begged.
"Not until I figure out what has gotten you so upset." He punched the emergency stop button and the elevator jerked to a halt in between floors, "So I figure you got two options, A you tell me now or B we sit here for along time. Now what's it gonna be?"
He cornered me and braced his arms on the wall, one arm on either side of me. I felt enclosed in a Brock envelope and started feeling a tad bit claustrophobic. That and its awfully tough to ignore someone when they are just inches from your face breathing down your neck. I closed my eyes; the power I felt from him was an alarming turn-on.
"Well?"
"Its what you said on the stand." I said quietly, breaking down into quiet sobs, "You just went ahead and blurted everything out and I didn't have any say in it. Catonni had you right were he wanted you, now the judge thinks I'm just out there to win no matter what the cost, that I want my son so bad that I'll so anything, nobody will take us seriously now, Gray heard it now he's all confused." The reasons all blurred together into one giant long explanation and I ended with a quiet "It was all I had left."
My teary eyes finally met his as he pulled away. I closed my eyes again as his hands came to my cheeks and brushed the tears away gently. "What did you mean it was the only thing you had left?" he asked quietly.
I gave a shaky uncomfortable laugh, "I ah."
"C'mon. Out with it."
I sighed, "Nothing in my life has gone to the way I planned it out. I wanted to see the world; I got Grayson. I wanted a great job traveling; I ended up at a dinky travel agency behind a desk. I wanted so much." I watched Brock's face go through a range of emotions and I wasn't sure of exactly what emotions they were. "Every little girl plans out what they want to be when they grown up, where they want to be in the world, a handsome prince who proposes on one knee, a huge fancy wedding. All I had left of my dreams was --"
Brock interrupted, "All you had left was the hope of a proposal that would leave all your friends jealous, and I ruined that for you by doing it from the stand."
I looked down and nodded. I felt so ashamed.
His head dipped as he reached and pulled the stop button. The elevator whirled back to life and the doors opened on the next floor. "I'll just talk to you later," he spoke softly and then he melted into the crowd.