AN: Yes, Lindsey Dole is back ;) I stole her again :D
"You have a good chance of winning this."
Catherine arched an eyebrow. "I don't want a good chance. I want to know we're going to win this. I will not lose Matthew to her!"
"Catherine…" Lindsey Dole, their attorney tried to soothe her. "You have a good chance. It would be unethical of me to say anything different. Sometimes things happen…"
"Things can't happen."
Lindsey looked at Grissom for help.
"Cath," Gil said, putting his hand on her arm. "We have to be realistic. We don't know what Sara is up to."
"Of course we know what she is up to!" Catherine cried. "She's trying to take Matthew away from us! From his family!"
"We need to be as prepared as possible," Lindsey said, trying to move on. "This is going to go to court."
Gil widened his eyes. "Court? Why can't we just settle it outside court."
"Because Sara's a bitch," Catherine growled.
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Gil glanced at Catherine, who was still pacing the room. "Cath…""They're due home from school any minute, Lindsey's not here and I still don't know what to say."
"Fifteen minutes to be precise, our beautiful daughter will be home from college any minute, and I don't think there's a prescribed way to do this."
Catherine stared out the window. "I'm not going to cry."
Gil stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "I know." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "But nobody would think any less of you if you did."
Catherine turned around in his arms. "He's my son, Gil. I know I didn't carry him inside me for nine months, but he's still my son."
"I know. And we'll fight for him, Cath." Gil kissed her gently. "We will."
Catherine turned in his arms again so she looked out the window. "It's going to be hard to tell Jamie and Max. Especially Max."
"We'll help them deal with it." He held her tight. "It's all going to be okay, Cath. I promise."
"I love you," she murmured, leaning back against him.
He smiled and kissed her cheek. "I love you too, Cath. Very, very much."
"Here's the hurricane," Catherine said, pointing out that Max was racing up the drive.
"I'm HOME!!!" came Max's cry, as he barreled into the house. He let his bag fall on the floor where he stood and toed off his school shoes as he raced into the kitchen in his socks. "I'm STARVING!"
Gil grinned at Catherine. "He's so precious."
Catherine rolled her eyes. "Max! Bag, shoes!"
"But mom! I'm starving!" Max pretended to stagger into the room. "I'm gonna die of starvation!"
"Max," Gil warned.
Max rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine."
"I'll get you something to eat while you put them away, alright?" Catherine said, her hand on his shoulder.
"Okay!" Max said. He was about to go get his things when Catherine swept him into an embrace. "Mom! Need to breathe."
"I love you," Catherine said, holding him tight. "Don't ever forget that."
"Sheesh, mom, I know that," Max replied. "Can I have food now?"
Catherine kissed him on the cheek. "Go put your stuff away and I'll get it." When the little boy had gone upstairs, she saw Gil's amused grin. "What?"
"Nothing. Are you going to do that for all our children as they come home?"
Catherine bit her lip and went into the kitchen. "Please don't tease me," she said, opening the fridge.
"Cath," Gil said, walking behind her and running his hands up her arms. He berated himself for not realizing how upset she was. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you.""It's okay," Catherine replied, pulling out some things and setting them on the kitchen island. "I'm a little weird at the moment."
"You're not weird," Gil said, taking her arm and bringing her to him. "You're emotional, which is perfectly understandable."
"I hate being like this," Catherine growled. "And I hate Sara for doing this to us."
"Cath…" Gil said, cupping her face, "we've gotten through Sara before. And we'll do it again."
"Love you, bugman," Catherine smiled.
"Love you back," Gil replied, pressing his lips against hers.
Catherine moaned slightly, deepening the kiss and pulling him to her.
"EWWW! Guys! Not around food!" was Max's disgusted cry, as he returned to the kitchen.
Catherine and Gil pulled apart, but Gil kept Catherine's hand in his.
"How was school?" Catherine asked, keeping her hand in Gil's.
"It was okay. Lunch was great! These kids got into a big fight!"
"It wasn't you was it?"Max rolled his eyes. "No, mom."
"Don't roll your eyes at your mother," Gil replied, sitting down on a stool. He took Catherine in his arms. "Did you see your brothers or sister on the way home?"
Max shook his head. "Nope."
"Home!" came Jamie's voice. "Just gotta go down to the museum."
"Halt!" Catherine said, walking into the hallway. "Why?"
"No reason," Jamie replied, holding his backpack behind his back.
"James…"
Jamie let out a groan. "There's a frog in there, okay?"
Catherine arched an eyebrow. "Where did you get this frog?"
"I found it."
"Found it where?"
"A place."
"A place where?"
"An educational place?"
"James…"
"It got let out after school so I went to get it."
Catherine sighed. "Gil…"
"I heard. Come on Jamie, let's go talk about this frog."
Catherine shuddered, watching the two boys go down to the bug museum.
"Hey, mom," Lindsey said, walking in.
Catherine smiled and hugged her daughter tight. "Lindsey. It's so good to see you."
"It's good to see you too." Lindsey Willows hugged her mother tightly. "Are you okay?"
Catherine cupped her daughter's cheek. "You've got a built in empathy tracker now you're a med student, huh?"
"Mother," Lindsey groaned.
Catherine chuckled. "Same old Lindsey."
"I'm not that far away you know."
"I know. But you'll always be my little girl."
Lindsey rolled her eyes.
"LINDSEY!" Lizzie cried, racing in and throwing her arms around the girl. "Another woman!"
Catherine arched an eyebrow. "I'm a woman."
"Yeah, but you're my mom," Lizzie replied, as if that were obvious.
"Of course," Catherine replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Sorry I'm late," Matt said, walking into the house. He grinned and hugged Lindsey. "Hey."
"Hey there, little guy.""Who are you calling little!" Matt protested.
Catherine looked at Matt for a minute. "Any problems?"
Matt shook his head.
Lizzie looked confused. "What kind of problems?"
"LINDSEY!" Max cried, racing downstairs. He missed a step and was about to fall when Matt caught him.
"Are you alright?" Catherine asked, her eyes wide as she lifted Max into her arms.
"I'm fine, mom," Max said, squirming.
"You gotta be more careful," Matt smiled, ruffling his younger brother's hair.
"We're back," Gil said, coming upstairs with Jamie. He smiled when he saw Lindsey and hugged her. "Welcome home."
Lindsey hugged him back. "Dad, I'm just at college. It's not like I've been gone for years."
"It feels like it sometimes," Gil told her.
"So, what caused the red alert?" Lindsey asked.
Catherine looked alarmed. "What red alert? What do you mean?"
"Mom, it's the middle of a school week. You've never called me in the middle of a school week to come straight home…except when Max had his appendix out."
Catherine smiled slightly and stroked her daughter's hair. "You know me too well."
Gil took Catherine's hand and led her into the living room. When she went to sit on another chair, he tugged her firmly into his lap.
"Do you remember the lady that came to the house a while ago?" Grissom asked. "The one with the brown hair that used to work with your mom and I?"
Max nodded. "Yeah. You didn't like her."
Gil sighed. "Max."
"Well you didn't!"
"You remember how I told you that I wasn't Matt's biological mom?" Catherine said, her heart aching as she said it.
"But he's still our brother," Jamie said firmly.
Gil nodded. "Yes he is. And Catherine is still his mother."
Lindsey looked at her parents. "Sara's back?"
Catherine looked down at her hands, ignoring the pain slicing through her.
"She wants Matt to go and live with her," Gil finally said.
"He can't," Max said, confused. "Matt lives with us. He's my brother!"
"Sometimes mommies and daddies fight over where their kids live," Catherine tried to explain.
"You don't," Max answered matter-of-factly. "We all live here."
Catherine reached out and touched his face. "It's not that simple, Max."
"Sara's suing for custody?" Lindsey murmured.
"She's taking us to court, yes," Gil nodded.
"Well, I'm not going!" Matt said, standing up. "She can't make me! And neither can some stupid judge who doesn't know anything."
"Matt," Catherine said, standing up. "We're going to fight for you. You're our son and we'll do everything we can."
"This isn't fair!" Max cried. "She can't have him! He's my brother!" Max disappeared from the room, running as far as his little legs could take him.
Jamie gave his parents a sad look, and followed Max out.
Matt just glared at them and went upstairs. They heard the door of his room slam a few minutes later.
Lizzie sat there for a moment, her eyes wide in shock. Eventually she stood up and went upstairs to her own room.
"I'll go check on them," Lindsey suggested. "You guys need some time alone."
Gil nodded gratefully as she went out of the room. He turned to his wife, who stood in the middle of the floor. He'd never seen her looking so pale and small.
"Cath," he murmured, going over to her.
"That went well, didn't it?" she smiled grimly, turning away from him. "Our family is going to fall apart."
"Everything's going to be okay, Cath."
"Don't be so naïve. The cracks are starting now. She's doing it all over again."
"She didn't win last time."
"That just makes her more determined."
Gil ran his hands up her arms and placed them on her shoulders. He kneaded the tense muscles for a few moments then turned her to face him. "She's not going to win, Cath. I won't let her."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
Gil tilted her face so she looked him in the eye. "I haven't yet." He kissed her gently. "Trust me."
Catherine smiled at him. "Always."