She quickly slipped her earrings into the two sets of holes she had in each ear, the upper hole only getting tiny studs. She took a slow breath before walking into the kitchen and kissing Garret's cheek softly, before brushing past him.

Garret tried to smile at her touch, but his face fell flat. His stomach had wound itself into knots of nervousness and he was hopeless to untie them. He glanced at the clock for what felt like the millionth time that morning. They had little over an hour before they were due in court.

"Are you hungry?" Garret asked turning to where Renee sat at the table.

She shook her head as she took a sip of her coffee.

He sighed and sat down at the table across from her, "When's Cynthia going to be here?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. He was anxious to get to the courthouse, to get the whole thing over with.

"She's off today, Garret. You know that," she sighed.

"Right," Garret said quietly, his fingers tapping out a random rhythm on the table. Not feeling like he could sit still for any longer, he rose from the table, his chair screeching against the floor. "I'll go get Amanda ready then," he announced.

"Okay," she said quietly.

Garret wandered into the living room and plucked Amanda from her playpen. He gave her a diaper a quick check and then changed her out of her pajamas. As he worked he was overcome by just how much he loved her. It didn't matter that she wasn't his daughter by blood, to Garret; Amanda was as much his daughter as Abby was. When she was dressed he lifted her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you kiddo," he whispered. He collected her diaper bag and slung it over his shoulder and headed back to Renee in the kitchen.

"Hey there baby girl..." she said softly, taking her daughter from Garret. Renee held her close, thinking that this could be the last time she had the chance.

Garret sighed, watching mother and daughter. He said a silent prayer to whoever was listening; he asked for them to stay together and offered everything he had. He swallowed hard and placed a hand on Renee's arm, "you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," she stood and walked to the front door, pulling on her jacket, then Amanda's.

Garret led them out to his car in silence. He wanted to say something, but nothing seemed right. His fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel as he drove. Although he kept in accordance with every speed limit, it felt like forever before they finally got there.

They were in the courtroom, waiting for the judge, and she was holding Amanda close, praying to every deity that she could think of so that she wouldn't have her daughter taken away. When the judge came in she turned and handed the baby to Garret over the partition.

The judge sat with a somber smile. She cut right to the chase, turning to Eddie and inviting him to make his statement. Eddie stood and angled himself so he was half facing the judge and half facing Renee. Just as Garret suspected, he started with Renee's attack. He claimed his daughter wasn't safe as long as her mother was a district attorney who made enemies out of dangerous offenders everyday. He of course brought up the child who had died under Renee's care. He threw in the same tired accusations of alcoholism and gambling addiction that Garret knew were based on half truths. When he'd finally finished, Garret sighed. If they had been in another venue at another time, he would have had no problem giving Eddie the beating he deserved. But of course, he was in court of law with a sleeping baby in his arms, so he held his anger inside.

The judge turned to Renee, "Miss Walcott," she said with a nod, "Go ahead."

"Your honor, I have nothing to say. If there's nothing I've said thus far to convince you that I love my daughter more than life itself, will keep her safe, will give her all she deserves, then I don't see how I can change your mind now. I'm not willing to sling baseless accusations to get what I want. So I'm not going to." She swallowed hard. "I love my daughter, and I don't want to lose her, but that decision is up to you."

Garret sighed as Renee took her seat. He had expected her to say more, but her speech didn't surprise him in the least. The judge looked down from her seat and addressed the court. "Alright," she announced, "this court will reconvene in two hours. I will deliver my decision at that time." she rapped her gavel and stood.

Renee stood up and walked over to Garret, taking her sleeping daughter into her arms. "You wanna go get coffee while we wait?"

Garret shrugged. "Sure," he said. Like he did every time they left the courtroom, he fit his hand into the small of her back and ushered her through the doors.

She nearly ran into Eddie as they were leaving. He had practically run out the door and she stopped short. "Eddie."

"Renee."

Garret's jaw tightened as again he was forced to repress the hatred he had for this man.

She shifted the baby slightly and looked at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't trust you with my daughter."

Garret shook his head and laughed to himself at the ridiculousness of Eddie's statement. He'd heard it a million times before, but made no more sense now than it did the first time he'd heard it.

"Fine," she said curtly as she stepped around him.

Garret stepped in to Eddie as he walked by. "Stay the hell away from us," he said in a voice only loud enough for the other man to hear.

"Renee, why won't you just give up?" Eddie called. She turned around and shook her head.

"You know I'm not a bad mother. You know I'm not." One of her eyebrows twitched. "You witnessed it."

Garret's face fell in confusion; he looked from Renee to Eddie and from Eddie back to Renee. The pair just stood with their jaws tight and their gazes fixed on one another. In the back of his mind, Garret thought that had this been a cartoon, steam would have been whistling from their ears.

She sighed softly. "Garret, there's...something I haven't told you." She pushed her hair back with one hand. "Eddie and I had a son. He died when he was six weeks old from SIDS." She swallowed hard. "I got pregnant again, and I had a miscarriage. So when I told you Eddie left me because I couldn't make him a father, it was only half true."

Garret's jaw dropped open and his eyes widened. He stared at Renee for a moment before shifting his gaze to Eddie. He raised an eyebrow at the other man; silently asking him if what Renee said was true. When Eddie nodded his head Garret found his voice, "and you just forgot to tell me?" he said flatly.

"I didn't know how to tell you." She took a deep breath to calm down. "It's so hard for me to even think about. Please don't hate me."

Eddie turned to walk away. "You're not a good person to be raising a child Renee." He said, before leaving.

"It's me Renee," Garret said in a hurried whisper once Eddie had gone, "for chrissakes I'm your husband now aren't I? You'd think you would have let me in on your little secret. I thought we finally had it all sorted out, you and me, but you've been lying to be the entire time."

"Garret..." She let out a sighing sob. "I don't want to talk about this. Not now."

"Seems to me that you were just fine to never talk about it. What else don't I know Renee, huh? You've probably got a whole closet full of skeletons waiting to jump out at me," he snapped.

"God! Garret, in two hours I'm going to find out if I'm going to lose my daughter. Can we PLEASE talk about this after?" She worked hard to keep her composure.

"Yeah sure," Garret said with shocking finality, "I'll talk to you later, Renee." With his head spinning, he turned and walked out of the courthouse.

"Thank you so much Eddie," Renee muttered under her breath, glad they took both cars that morning as she headed to a coffee shop not far from the courthouse.

Garret headed out to his car. When he got there he decided he didn't trust himself enough to drive just yet. His hands were shaking in his pockets and he felt as if he might be sick. He instead decided to walk and clear his head. For an hour he wondered up the closest street and then turned around and headed straight back to his car. He stood with his fingers on the door handle for what felt like an hour, but in reality was closer to a minute. Finally he slipped his keys back into his pocket and walked towards the courthouse. He found the familiar room and snuck inside without a sound. Renee was in her seat at the front Amanda planted in her lap. Garret slid into the bench furthest from her as the judge entered the courtroom.

Renee could feel him enter the room, and let out a tiny sigh, holding Mandy close.

The judge cleared her throat and asked Eddie and Renee to stand. When they had, she read her decision. Garret didn't hear much of what the judge said, only the one line that mattered.

"Amanda Walcott will remain in the custody of her mother."

As soon as the verdict was announced, Garret slipped out the door as quickly and as quietly as he had come in.

Renee breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to share a smile with Garret, feeling her heart nearly break when he walked out the door. She quickly grabbed Amanda's diaper bag and half ran out the door, trying to catch up with him

He could hear high heels click on the pavement behind him and he knew instantly who was wearing them. He didn't bother to turn around.

"Garret."

He didn't look back until he'd reached his car. He found her standing a few feet short of the front bumper, Amanda getting restless in her arms. "What?" he asked angrily.

The tone in his voice set Amanda off completely and she started to wail. "Never mind," she snapped as she turned and walked away.

"Fine," Garret hollered at her back. He threw open the door of his car, sunk into the seat and slammed the door shut again. He gripped the steering wheel tight in his hands until his knuckles were white.

She flinched slightly as she walked back to her car, lightly bouncing Amanda in an attempt to calm her down.

Garret turned the keys in the ignition and headed out of the parking lot, making a point of diverting his gaze when he passed Renee on his way.

She calmed Amanda down, driving home and putting her in her crib after changing her into her pajamas.

Garret found his way back to his empty apartment, a place he hadn't seen in days. He scoured the kitchen for something to eat and when he could find nothing that hadn't passed its expiry date, he turned to his liquor cabinet. He pulled out the first bottle he touched, not caring what was inside and unscrewed the lid. He found himself a glass of questionable cleanliness and poured three fingers of alcohol into it. He drank it down in one long gulp and poured another. He kicked off his shoes and wandered into his bedroom. His answering machine flashed 'nine' from the bedside table, but he ignored it. He sucked back another drink and sprawled himself on his bed.

Renee curled up on the couch, trying to figure out how to fix things

Garret had almost fallen into a booze soaked sleep when the phone echoed through his bedroom. He sat up quickly and snatched the phone from the bedside table before it could ring again. "Macy," he said gruffly.

"I'm sorry. Baby, I'm so so sorry. I was going to tell you." She spoke quickly.

"When?" Garret barked, "On our golden anniversary?"

"I spent the last five weeks trying to figure out how to tell you," she sighed, "I didn't feel comfortable telling you before."

"But you felt comfortable enough to marry me with all those lies hanging around your neck?"

She didn't say anything; instead her response was to slam down the phone.

When the dial tone rang in his ear he hurled the phone at the wall. He thought perhaps it would help him release some anger, but it had only left him with a phone he'd have to replace.

Renee curled up again, closing her eyes and trying to think of anything else.

Garret picked up his bottle and moved to pour himself another shot. He stared at it for a moment and then sat it back down; realizing he could drink everything he had and it wouldn't change a thing. He wanted to talk to her and since his phone was in five hundred pieces on the floor, he decided the best thing to do was go to her apartment. At least that way she couldn't hang up on him he thought. Five minutes later he was in his car, and on his way to Renee's. He knew he shouldn't be driving in his state, but he didn't care, he needed to see her.

A few minutes later she got up and went to make coffee.

Garret drove faster than he needed to, but to take his time didn't seem to make much sense. He let his anger and passion get the better of him until he swung his car onto Renee's street.

She was sitting in her chair in the living room, reading the newspaper while snuggling with Amanda who had woken from her nap a few minutes earlier, when she heard a knock on the door. She sighed, set down the paper and sighed, going to answer the door.