"Wait, you're not seriously saying that he could win this, are you?" Renee stared at her lawyer.
"Possibly. He has a good job, he has good hours."
"So do I!"
Garret had been silent for the entire meeting, not knowing quite where his place was. He had no real stake in the custody battle and had come only because Renee had wanted him to. As her voice rose, Garret placed a hand on her forearm to bring her back down to a reasonable decibel and keep her from tearing her attorney's head off.
"Renee, it's well known that DA's don't have the best hours, and often have to work late." She said calmly.
Renee rolled her eyes. "I'm home by 5:30 almost every day. I have made every effort to be as much a part of my daughter's life as I can. I am there for her every time she needs me. He's come around four times. And the last time was to tell me that he's fighting me for custody. I will not let him take my daughter from me."
With Renee still fuming, beside him, Garret turned to her attorney, "is there anything that we can do?" Garret asked, "You know, to help the situation, better her chances when it comes time to go to court?"
"Not really. The major issues are your work hours, and the fact that you're not married and he is." She directed her comments to Renee.
"Has anyone found out if his wife knows yet?" Garret asked, "It seems to me that she's the biggest playing chip we have here. I mean if she doesn't know already, ask her how she would feel if he was trying to take her kids away. If we can squeeze some sympathy out of her, she might be able to talk him out of it." Garret was getting anxious now, he cracked the knuckles of one hand into the palm of the other.
"I refuse to play dirty. If his wife doesn't know, I'm not going to be the reason she finds out."
Renee's lawyer sighed. "Alright, you have pretty good chances, and considering that your first court date is today. I don't think that there's too much else we can talk about now."
Garret nodded in understanding, "alright," he said.
Reneestood with a sharp nod, before smiling slightly. "I'll see you this afternoon."
He grabbed hold of her arm as they left the office. "Now what?" he asked, leading her through the lobby.
She waited until they were outside and turned to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I can't lose her Garret." She whispered.
Garret pressed a kiss to her ear and whispered back, "you're not going to lose her, okay. No judge would take her away." he said, even though he was starting to feel like perhaps that wasn't true. He held her as close to him as he could, running his hands over her back, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry," he said, realizing too late that it was a stupid thing to say. He'd seen worry written all over her face for days. No matter how many times he told her not to, it seemed that worry was all she could do.
Pulling back slightly to look at him, Renee raised an eyebrow, "You're kidding, right?"
He smiled a sad smile, "sorry," he said quietly. He sighed and looked at his watch, "how long until we're due in court?"
"Three hours." She sighed. "You don't have to come if you don't want."
"I'll be there," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You want to go get lunch or something in the meantime?"
"Yeah, sure." She tried to smile. "I have to pick Amanda up first though. It's the nanny's day off, and she was just watching her as a favor for a while."
"Okay," Garret nodded, "I need to go back to my office, so why don't I meet you two at that place on Third and Park?"
"Sounds good."
"Okay," Garret agreed and walked Renee to her car. He waited until she was ready to leave and then followed her out of the parking lot.
She drove back to her apartment to get her daughter and the stroller before heading to the restaurant.
When Garret got to his office, Jordan was already waiting for him. Yesterday afternoon he had finally filled her in on everything that had been going on between himself and Renee and now, her ex-husband. He still maintained, of course, that it was none of her business, but felt like he needed someone with an outside perspective to talk to about the entire situation.
"How'd it go?" Jordan asked.
"I don't know," he admitted. "We're going to court in three hours and I've got a bad feeling about the whole thing. But I'm telling you Jordan, if this ends in his favor, I think I might kill him."
Jordan listened to her friend and told him things she figured he'd want to hear, that everything would okay and not to worry. He smiled and thanked her, both of them knowing that her comments were of little help. He took care of a few files and forms and talked to a few of his employees to make sure things were in order and then headed off to the restaurant.
She smiled when she saw him walk in, and waved him over, having grabbed a seat while there still were some, seeing as the place was filling fast.
Garret sat down beside her, but turned his attention to Amanda. He smiled down at her and for a moment, all he could see was her.
She smiled softly as she watched him with Mandy.
His trance was broken when the waiter asked if he could take their orders. Garret hadn't even looked at the menu yet. He picked it up and ordered the first thing he saw. He knew whatever it was; he probably wouldn't eat it anyway. His stomach was doing far too many somersaults over today's court appearance.
She ordered a chicken salad and just kept watching the two of them.
Garret's cell phone rang in his pocket and scared his heart into his throat. "Macy," he barked after the third ring, "I'm not coming in...until tomorrow... find Dr. Cavanaugh, and ask her to deal with it... okay, fine... I'll see you tomorrow." He flipped the phone shut and smiled. "I'm gone five minutes, and the place falls apart."
She laughed quietly, "I know what you mean."
As he watched her smile for the first time, all day, Garret was suddenly struck with and idea. "I was thinking about what you're lawyer said earlier," he said as the waiter placed two drinks on the table between them.
"Which part?" She asked, slightly distracted by all the other thoughts flying through her brain.
"The part about you not being married but he is," Garret explained a little uneasily, "I mean, I'd marry you, you know, if," he stammered, "if it would help you keep Amanda."
"Wow. Romantic." She said dryly. "Garret..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"Well, I mean, I love you and everything, you know, it's not all about Amanda and this whole mess," Garret said stumbling over all his words now. He stopped for a moment and remembered to breathe. He pressed his lips into a hard line and breathed a laugh through his nose. "This isn't how I'd planned this," he assured her.
"Garret...I..." She sighed. "I have no want to get married again. At least, not now." She bit her lip, not sure how he would take it.
Garret laughed nervously, "I know," he said, "I was just thinking old loud, forget I mentioned it." Their food arrived moments later and Garret was thankful for the distraction.
She looked down with an almost silent sigh, and refused to meet his gaze.
When Garret started in on his meal he found that he could in fact eat despite his nerves. His plate provided a welcome distraction from the fool he'd just made of himself. By the time they'd finished, all they had time left to do was head to the courthouse.
Reneeleft the money for the check on the table as they walked out of the restaurant silently. "Garret…I'm sorry."
"I thought we were going to forget about it," Garret said spinning around to face her.
"You said it, I never agreed." She smirked.
"Well, I voted and you lost; we're forgetting it, okay?" he said trying to make light of the situation as he put Amanda into the back of her car.
"Fine." She said curtly.
"Good," Garret said, shutting the back door of the car. He turned to Renee and was instantly serious as the gravity of what was coming next began to sink back in. "I'll see you over there," he said with a sad smile. He walked to his car and droveto the courthouse as butterflies tap-danced in the pit of his stomach.
She was waiting for him in front of the courthouse when he showed up. "Here we go."
He took her hand in his as they walked into the courtroom. Garret had no idea what to expect but braced himself for the worst. He slid into the first pew of the gallery with Amanda in her carrier beside him while Renee took her seat at the table in front of him. As they waited for the judge he thought how odd it was to see her on the opposite side of the courtroom, sitting at a table where defendants in her trials sat.
"Your honor, my client, Eddie Mitchell has filed to have his daughter Amanda Walcott removed from her mother, Renee Walcott's, custody and placed in his care."
The judge looked over at Renee "Ms Walcott, nice to see you again,"
"Good afternoon Your Honor."
"On what grounds, councilor, is you client seeking custody?"
"Mr. Mitchell is seeking custody on the grounds that his ex wife is an unfit mother and a danger to the child."
Renee could feel her jaw tick, but didn't say anything, knowing it could get ugly if she did.
"My client has been her daughter's sole guardian since she was born. She's been an exemplary mother thus far, and there's no reason to believe that anything will happen to the child if left in her care."
"You mean she won't let her fall down the stairs?" Eddie's lawyer sniped, making Renee's face fall.
"Your honor the incident to which Mr. Anders is referring happened when Ms. Walcott was sixteen and should have noeffect on these proceedings."
Garret sat quietly biting his tongue in the gallery while Eddie's lawyer attacked Renee's character. He looked down at Amanda and silently hoped, for her sake, that this mess could be resolved as quickly as possible. He scanned the courtroom. There weren't many people there. He figured those present were just waiting for their turn before the judge. There were a few women on Eddie's side of the gallery, but he was hopeless to determine which, if any, was his wife. The entire thing lasted a little over an hour, each side simply presenting the general points of the arguments they would bring before the court at the hearing. When it was all said and done, Garret breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he'd be in court for this same case many more times before the matter was settled but he was glad at least that the first hurdle had been cleared.
When they left the courtroom, Garret told Renee he would follow her home, and he had. When they got there he'd made dinner and started on the dishes. He stood now, with his back to her, his hands submerged in the soapy water as he scrapped spaghetti sauce off his plate.
She walked quietly up behind him, and slid her arms around him. "Thanks for dinner." She said quietly as she kissed the back of his neck
Garret turned in her arms to face her. He leaned down and kissed her gently, his arms stretched out to the sides so he wouldn't cover her in soapsuds. "Well, spaghetti is about as fancy, as I get, so get any gourmet ideas," he laughed.
She laughed softly, lightly sliding her arms around his neck, kissing him again.
As he deepened the kiss, he lost himself just a little in the feel of her lips on his and let his hands run through her hair, soapsuds and all.
She let her hands slide down his front, her nails lightly scraping him over his shirt.
Garret pulled away from her for a moment and looked hard into her pale blue eyes. He shook his head and smiled, wondering how he'd ever gotten lucky enough to be loved by a woman like Renee.
She leaned against his body and just rested her head against his shoulder. She laughed softly when a thought hit her. "Hey Garret? What would you have done if I'd said yes?"
Garret groaned dramatically and tilted his head to the ceiling. "So much for leaving it alone, huh?"
"You know me, I never do that." She kissed at his throat.
"Honestly," Garret said, his tone turning serious now, "if you had said yes, I would have skipped out on lunch and taken you down to city hall and married you right then." He blushed and focused his gaze on his shoes.
"Hey..." She lightly cupped his chin and lifted his head. "I would have said yes..."
He raised his eyebrows ever so slightly and searched for her meaning in her eyes. When he could find none, he found his voice and verbalized his confusion, "would have?" he asked quietly.
"If it wouldn't look like there was only one reason we were doing it," she said softly.
Garret smiled, "but you know, there was more to the question then that right? And I'm not trying to get you to change your mind or anything," Garret assured her, "I'm just telling you I didn't ask just for Amanda's sake, so that you could keep her. I asked because I love you too."
"Is your offer still going to be there when this is all over?" She raised an eyebrow slightly.
"It'll be there until you accept it," he smiled.
"Good to know." She flashed him a bright smile before kissing him again
Garret smiled against her lips, "I'm glad we decided to forget about this," he whispered.
