Thanks for the feedback everyone! I know it's unrealistic that Grace can practice law away from home but we can suspend imagination for Grace and Luke, right?
Title: No objection to you
Category: GL eventually
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Luke is embroiled in a bitter custody battle with his ex. Grace is his lawyer, appointed in a special case.
AN: I do not own or know the characters. Rosalia is the product of my imagination. I also must thank Sam for all her help in getting this started!
Joan walked into the courtroom and took in her surroundings. She went over to the table where her name was written in capital letters on a piece of paper, which was taped to a chair. Grace had requested Christina, Adam, Joan, and Luke come to the courthouse in order to practice their testimony even though it was still a few weeks away. Grace and Luke would be themselves while Joan was going to act like Lydia's attorney. Christina and Adam were going to take turns acting as "Lydia". Joan sat in her seat and turned seeing Christina and Adam walk in.
"Hey, are they here yet?" Adam asked.
"Not yet. Luke is meeting Grace at her temporary office." Joan said.
Adam nodded and sat down to wait for his friends. Five minutes later, Grace and Luke arrived.
"Okay people! Let's get everyone ready. Geek, take your seat right here." Grace said indicating the table on the right. "Um…Rove, sit in the front behind Male Girardi. You'll be the witness first and then Christina will be Lydia."
Christina made a face and sat down. "So can I make myself sound like a bitch?"
"Sure but refrain yourself from calling yourself a no good lousy excuse for a mother." Grace said.
Christina scoffed and looked at Joan. "She ruined my plan!"
Adam and Luke chuckled and Joan shook her head. Grace just smirked.
"Okay…so we will begin with our opening arguments for why our side deserves to win. It's pretty much like a murder trial…except we're dealing with a custody hearing. Got it?"
"Uh…sure." Joan said.
"Didn't mock trial teach you anything?" Grace asked.
"That the truth always comes out?" Joan said.
Adam winced visibly and Christina quickly cleared her throat. "So who's going to be called first?"
"Um…friends, family members, anyone who spoke to Rosalia. And you guys will all be called of course. Luke and Lydia…and possibly Rose, if the judge allows it."
"Wait, Rose has to testify?" Luke asked.
Grace nodded. "Yeah, I mean, she knows who she wants to be with."
Luke nodded. "I just…I don't want to put her through that."
"I know. But this whole deal is for her. She deserves to be heard."
Luke sighed. "You're right. I can't just make decisions for her. That's not fair."
Joan smiled and Grace nodded.
"Okay…so I will call my first witness. Adam Rove." Grace nodded to Adam.
Adam got up and went up to the witness box. He sat down and smiled slightly.
"Okay."
Grace went up to him. "Okay so we'll just practice for a bit. Mr. Rove, what is your relationship with the child in question?"
"I am her Uncle…well honorary Uncle."
"Okay. When you see Rosalia after a weekend with her mother, how is she?"
"Sometimes she's withdrawn. She clings to us if we just go to the store even though someone else is with her. The moment she sees Luke, she brightens up."
"What do you think is best for Rosalia in regards to whom she should stay with?"
"Her father."
Grace nodded and turned to face Joan. "Okay. Now Girardi's turn."
Grace sat down and Joan got up. "Okay…Mr. Rove, has there ever been a time when my client, Lydia, was a good mother to Rosalia?"
"Yeah but-"
"So really she hasn't done anything wrong. She hasn't damaged Rosalia."
"Only recently." Adam said.
Joan nodded and looked at Grace. "Have you ever witnessed Lydia purposefully neglect Rose?"
"Um…well…" Adam winced. "No."
"Nothing further." Joan sat down.
"Okay, that was good." Grace got up. "Those will be the types of questions we'll ask. Any questions?"
"Yeah. Can I say yes to that question if asked?" Adam asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Christina said with a smile as Grace shook her head.
"Step down Rove." Once Adam was seated, Christina went up to the stand and sat down.
"Okay so…when Lydia gets up, I could expect to hear a lot from her." Grace turned to Christina. "Lydia, what type of things do you do with your daughter?"
"Um…we play games, go to the park, and see a movie and we just have fun together."
"Uh huh. Okay. Why do you leave her at all hours of the night?"
Christina, not sure what to say, just shrugged. "I'm a self serving bitch?"
Everyone giggled and Grace had to keep her composure.
"Okay. Thank you." Grace sat down. Joan got up and pretended to question Christina a bit, who found it hard to get in Lydia's head. Finally, she was able to step down. After a few minutes, Christina got to go up to herself and was able to practice better.
Grace sighed as she asked her final question, "Christina, being a mother yourself, could you see yourself leaving your child alone at night to fend for herself?"
"No way. Not until she's at least 16." Christina said.
"Thank you." Grace sat down. Luke got to get up and practice and Joan was sure not to be too hard on him but she made him want to yell just so he knew where his boundaries were. Grace noted that when the possibility of Rose getting hurt or worse came up, Luke got riled up. Grace got up and walked over to Luke to begin her practice run with him.
"Hey, Geek." She whispered, "you got to keep it together, okay? For Rose."
Luke looked into her eyes and nodded. Grace sighed.
"Mr. Girardi, what is your current occupation?"
"I'm a pediatrician."
Grace nodded. "Okay, what are your usual hours?"
"9:00 AM to 4:00 PM."
"Okay…so you can take Rose to school in the mornings. Where would she go after school?"
Luke shifted a bit in his seat and looked at Grace. "Well, my friend Christina's daughter goes to school with Rose. Christina can pick her up and an hour later, I'll come to get her."
Grace nodded and turned to face the group. "Those are the types of questions that will be asked. Are you all prepared?" she looked at each of her friends and they all nodded. "Good."
Joan glanced at her watch and her eyes widened. "Oh man! Luke, mom, dad, and Kevin will be here in an hour!"
Luke groaned. "I totally lost track of the time. We better get them."
Joan got up and turned to Adam, Christina, and Grace. "Hey, we're all having dinner at my condo. You guys want to come?"
"Sure!" Christina smiled and Adam nodded.
"Of course!"
Grace nodded. "Well I'm already raiding your fridge so I'll be there."
Joan laughed and they all got their things and headed out of the courtroom.
Helen, Will and Kevin arrived at Joan's place via Luke's truck and everyone said their hellos before Helen went to the kitchen to help Joan and Christina with dinner. Grace was in the living room with Liz, no doubt telling her the dangers of elementary school food in the cafeteria. Will, Kevin, Luke, and Adam sat in the den talking about their respective employments and how work was going.
"How are you doing son?" Will asked Luke.
Luke sighed and looked out the window where the sun was setting. The sky was the perfect shade of purple as the orange glow of the sun made its way to red as it dipped beneath the earth.
"It's just so hard. I can't stand to be putting Rose through this. Why does it have to be difficult?"
Kevin shrugged. "Who knows?"
Luke looked at Adam. "You lucked out, dude. Liz is so unbelievably happy with you and Chris."
"We try." Adam said with a smile. "Doesn't mean we don't want to hurt each other once in a while."
Luke chuckled and Kevin nodded. Will just shook his head.
Once dinner was ready, everyone sat around the table to eat. They didn't talk much about the custody hearing since Liz was in the room but Grace did mention to Kevin, Helen, and Will that they would need to be deposed. In the middle of dinner, the doorbell rang so Joan got up.
"I'll get it." Joan got up and went to the door. She jumped slightly seeing a woman holding the hand of…her niece! "Rose? Baby, how did you get here?" Joan immediately gathered the child into her arms and looked at the woman warily.
"Are you Joan?"
"Yes." Joan stroked Rose's hair. "Who are you exactly?"
"I'm Mrs. Middleton, Lydia's neighbor. Rose came to my house asking if I could make her something to eat but I was having a barbecue so I asked her if she had someone to stay with and she gave me your address."
Joan looked at Rose. "Sweetie, where's your mother?"
"On a date." Rose said.
"When did she go on her date?" Joan asked.
"Um…before I took a nap."
Joan sighed. Rose's naps were at 3:00. "Luke! Get over here!"
Luke walked over and his eyes widened seeing Rose. "Honey…" Rose reached for him and Luke took her, placing a kiss on her head. "Are you okay?"
"I'm hungry, daddy."
"Okay, I'll get you something." Luke took her into the kitchen.
Joan looked at Mrs. Middleton. "Thank you for bringing her."
"No trouble."
Grace walked over. "Um excuse me? Hi, I'm Grace Polk. I'm Rose' father's lawyer. Could I speak to you for a moment?"
"Sure!" Mrs. Middleton looked slightly confused as she waited for Grace.
Grace nodded and looked at Joan.
"I'm just…going to go and get Rose some juice." Joan walked away.
Joan went into the kitchen and stood beside Luke, who was dishing up some food for Rose. She glanced over at the kitchen table to see Rose sitting in Helen's lap and talking excitedly to her. Helen had that tight smile on her face, which meant while she was keeping up a brave and happy face, she was seething on the inside.
"We have to call Lydia. Just so she knows Rose is with us." Joan said.
Luke sighed. "I can't talk to her now."
Joan smiled weakly. "Want me to call?"
"Knock yourself out."
Joan picked up the phone and dialed Lydia's cell phone.
"Hello?" Lydia answered on the second ring.
"Lydia! Hi! How are you doing?" Joan asked with a grin.
"Uh…hi. Joan I'm um…kind of in the middle of something."
"Doing what?" Joan asked.
"Um…making Rose some dinner." Lydia sounded nervous.
Joan laughed. "Oh? How is that possible when she's sitting in my house."
"What! How did she get there?"
"A neighbor brought her over. Rose went to her house asking for food." Joan said as she leaned against the counter.
Lydia didn't say anything.
"Okay look…we're going to feed Rose and she's going to spend time with her grandparents. Then you can call us and let us know when you're home so we can bring her home. Okay?"
Lydia gulped. "Um…well…"
"You know…I could just call your lawyer right now. She'd be so upset that you were jeopardizing your chance of winning."
Lydia sighed. "I'll call you after the movie."
"All right." Joan hung up on her. She looked at Luke and smiled.
Luke nodded slowly. "It's always better coming from you, isn't it?"
Joan chuckled. "Go give Rose some food. I'll get her drink."
Luke smiled gratefully and went over to his seat. He set Rose's plate down next to his and took her from Helen and settled her into his lap. Joan brought Rose her juice and sat down. Grace came over and took her seat.
Helen looked at her daughter. "Did anyone call Lydia?"
"I just did. She'll call when her date's over and we can take Rose home."
Christina rolled her eyes. "So she'll call at 6:30 in the morning?"
Everyone chuckled and Luke put his head on top of Rose's to keep from laughing.