Hey everyone sorry for the delay, as I mentioned before I'm dealing with a ton of stuff right now, currently I'm getting ready for a colonoscopy I'm getting tomorrow morning. Not what I was expecting to go through at twenty one but shit happens in my case quite literally... Anyways I'm not the only one that has shit to deal with Nora has her own things to deal with. It's getting closer and closer to the due date. Its your last chance to vote for whether you want Nora to have a boy or a girl or hell even both. So here it is... Let me know what you think. Enjoy :)
Two Weeks Later- The Day of the Baby Shower
The day was finally here. Every since Pepper heard I was pregnant she had started planning an elaborate baby. She had even picked out my dress so all I had to do was show up. I didn't really think anyone would show up considering the events of the past couple of weeks but Natasha and Wanda assured me that they all needed to celebrate something. It also helped that there was going to be an open bar.
I woke up that morning to breakfast in bed courtesy of Aiden and Connor. He was now an honorary Uncle. Then I got dressed and dad sent Natasha and Wanda in a limo to take me to a spa. A few hours of mani pedis and deep tissue massages and I was the most relaxed I had been in years.
We got back to the tower and I got dressed in my white lace dress and a pair of white strappy sandals.
I got to the party and I don't know if it was the hormones or the fact that Pepper and Dad managed to pull together a gender-neutral sci-fi themed babyshower. The event room was divided into different sections with different themes. There was a star wars table, a doctor who table which was where the guest of honor was sitting. They even had a sash made with number one time lord written on it. There was equal distribution of boy themed things as there were girl themed things.
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"You managed to get all my favorite things and put them together into one gender neutral party." I said tearing up.
"Are you crying?" Dad said.
"I blame the hormones." I said.
"Will a bunch of sci-fi themed cake pops help?" Dad offered.
"Uhuh." I said.
The party was a blast. I met a bunch of people who brought expensive gifts. The food was great and I don't remember when the last time I laughed this much was. Then it was time for the cake.
.
"Okay I know the cake is a little plain and I know you didn't want to know until the birth…" dad started.
"It's a gender reveal cake?" I said.
"It's in the frosting." Dad said.
I sighed "I guess I can't leave everyone without cake." I said.
"Yay." Dad said handing me a knife. I cut into the cake and took the slice out.
"What's chocolate supposed to be?" I asked.
"Oh crap," dad said.
"Got the wrong cake?" I said.
"Apparently, I can still tell you?" dad offered.
"No, this is a sign I'm waiting." I said making everyone laugh.
"Aww… At least I know." dad said.
"And I broke into the nursery so I also know." Natasha said.
"I saw through the vents." Clint said.
"Not a word." I said.
One Week Later- Third Person's POV
Sharon Carter had been discharged from the hospital over a week ago and after days of being stuck in bed she had finally had enough and went out on her own. She walked into a grocery store to buy a soda when she saw it. A gossip magazine that had the headline, Stark heir pregnant the legacy continues. There were a few pictures of the baby shower that were released by the Stark Foundation. All the money was given to charity according to the magazine. Sharon couldn't help it and flipped through the magazine.
What she saw made her blood boil. Nora was smiling with her hands on her stomach. The avengers except for Steve were shown to be in attendance and they were all cheerful. She was angry they never showed her any consideration like they did Nora. She was angry why did she get to be happy while her life fell apart? She wanted revenge.
September 23rd, 2015- Twenty Four Weeks
There was no point in hiding my baby bump any more so I embraced it. I put on some jeans that actually fit, a tight red and white striped top and topped it all of with an olive utility jacket.
.
Dad was here like always and we were in the waiting room. "So Helen's going back to Seoul for a few weeks, she wants to check on her lab and everything and we need someone to cover her for a week. I know you have vacation time coming up and you can say no…"
"Actually Helen asked me to cover last week. It's less hours than at the hospital and the Chief's been nagging me to cut down a few hours a week. You know I'm a workaholic." I said.
"Yeah I know." He said with a smile.
"Doctor Stark we're ready for you." One of the nurses said. We got up and went through the normal routine.
I laid back and waited for the image to come up.
"There's our little cluster." Claire said. "and just the right size."
"The heartbeats strange." I said.
"Its probably gas you are a bit bloated." She said.
"Burritos." Dad and I said at the same time.
"May want to go easy on the beans next time." Claire said.
"I will." I promised.
After our normal after scan lunch I went home and Dad went back to the tower. I walked in to Aiden holding someone hostage at gunpoint.
"This is not as bad as it looks." Aiden said.
"Worse than you holding someone at gunpoint in the living room?" I asked.
"Yeah that's pretty bad." He said.
I lifted my arm out and let out an energy blast that sent him flying to the wall and knocked him out.
"Explain now." I said.
"I got spotted while out with a lady friend of mine and he followed." Aiden said.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
"We do nothing you go pack a bag and spend the night at Sam's place or even better the tower you father likes to brag is more secure than Fort Knox while I stay here and deal with him." He said.
"What do you mean deal with?" I asked.
"I'm a trained assassin what do you think it means?" Aiden said.
"Dude you're not going to kill him." I said.
"Of course I won't do it here, I have a place for these sort of things." He said.
"I meant killing him period." I said.
"Nora he's Snow's lead tracker, his right hand man, he isn't brainwashed like the rest of us he's loyal to him. There is no reasoning with him. I let him go they will come back and they won't be as forgiving as you." He said.
"What if he didn't remember?" I said.
"What?" Aiden said.
"I can make him forget all about us give me an hour, that's all I need." I said.
"Nora…"
"We both have enough blood on our hands as is we don't need more. If this is our fresh starts then we have to change." I said.
He closed his eyes and sighed. "One hour to wipe his mind then I drop him off in New Jersey."
"One hour and I'll drop him off in the Sahara." I said.
"Go, I'll keep watch." He said.
I went to the kitchen and got started. I started keeping all the necessary herbs and ingredients in case a past version of me ever showed up again and it was needed. I broke my own record and had it all ready in fifty minutes.
"Done." I said handing him the vial. Aiden grabbed it forced it down the unconscious man's throat.
"Are we good?" He asked.
"Yeah." I put a hand on his shoulder and sent him away.
"That's new." He said.
"Aya's been teaching me a few things especially after what happened." I said.
"Right, you know you're not going anywhere on your own until after the birth right?" He asked.
"I know, Natasha made it very clear and Dad actually hacked Friday so anytime I consider going anywhere he'll be here." I said.
"Did Aya every tell you what was causing the dreams?" Aiden said.
"Yeah apparently to help deal with the strain of carrying a kid she's trying to keep her energy separate from me and junior here but it's hard with me still being able to use my powers. She explained it to me as keeping herself separate from us behind a brick wall. Every time one of us has to use our abilities the wall cracks and her ability to see what's to come seeps through the cracks. Those dreams are some of the possible outcomes Aya sees it just so happened that that possibility came true." I said.
"What else has she shown you?" Aiden asked.
"What could have been." I said "let's just say we're living the dream."
"I'll take your word for it. Sam called, he's ordering Pizza and wants us to come over." Aiden said.
"Sounds good." I said.
October 21st, 2015- Twenty Eight Weeks
I walked in with Dad and we got another look at mini me. Everything was going good. After that we grabbed lunch and drove to the compound. He had some new tech upgrade to install in Rhodey's suit and Helen was going to give me the rundown of my responsibilities or anything she had left I would have to deal with.
I walked into the compound and went straight to her office.
"Nora." She greeted.
"Hey Helen, ready for that vacation?" I asked.
"Almost, how are you, how's the baby?" She asked.
"Twenty eight weeks and perfectly healthy." I said showing her the ultrasound.
"He really is, probably takes after his mom." She said.
"Or his dad." I said.
"Well I should probably give you the rundown. You have to obviously be on standby for any missions that may come up. I already had a room set up for you."
"That's actually not going to be needed, I had Friday set up an alert if anyone comes in needing urgent care I can just teleport back from the house, It's just easier for me." I said
"If you think that's best, the room will still be there if you need it. All the open cases are these and I believe you're familiar with this one." She said handing me Sharon's file.
"Yeah, I was the attending on her case. I'm sure she isn't going to want me giving her follow ups." I said.
"I figured, I already told Jenny to take over her case while I'm gone. Other than that any other information you'll need is in the server which I'm sure you can handle." She said.
"Sounds good." I said.
"Now I can go on vacation." She said relieved.
"Admit it you're looking forward to some time away from this place." I said.
"I really am, I love working here it's just…" She started.
"The cradle's your baby, and you work best in your own lab back home?" I said.
"Exactly." She said.
"I get it, now go relax, you deserve your break." I said.
"Thanks again." She said.
"Don't mention it you're doing me a favor, I would have gone crazy just being home." I said.
"Knock knock" Sam said before coming in.
"Sammy, didn't think I'd see you here." I said.
"I spend one day a week here, help with all the legal messes." Sam said.
"Well what legal mess do we have today?" I asked.
"I need you to sign these. Clearances and confidentiality agreements." He said.
"Right." I said. I skimmed over them and initialed and signed.
"And we're done, you know have clearance and authority over all of Helen's responsibilities." Sam said. "Your badge and Parking pass which I'm sure you'll never use."
"Thank you." I said. "We still on for dinner? Aiden's making barbeque."
"Wouldn't miss it," He said walking out.
"Doctor Cho I… Nora?" Steve said walking in.
"Yeah, I'll take those." I said taking a few papers out of his hands and reading them over before signing them.
"What are you doing here?" He said. "No I mean I just…"
"I'm covering for Helen while she's on vacation. Just temporary now if you don't need anything else, I have paperwork to read through." I said.
"Uh, you look good." He said.
"I am good, now is there anything else I can help you with Captain?" I asked.
"Nora…"
"It's Doctor Stark to you and I have patients to get to if you excuse me." I said giving him a look. His shoulders were slumped and he left.
"I've never been the one not getting that voice." Dad said walking in.
"Doctor voice, people don't tend to argue with that." I said with a smirk.
"It felt good didn't it?" He said.
"So good." I said with a smile. "Just need to set up the alert and we can go. How'd Clint like his new arrows?"
"He said the weight was off, how can half an ounce make a difference?" Dad said annoyed.
"The string tension needed to make it go the same distance as a lighter arrow would be bigger, not to mention air resistance…" I started.
"It was a rhetorical question." Dad said.
"I know I just like hearing myself talk, it makes mini me kick." I said with a smile.
"Can I please just tell you?" Dad whined.
"No." I said grabbing my coat.
"Fine, but if you change your mind…"
"I won't."
"But if you do…"
"You're on speed dial." I said.
The Next Day-
"I can't believe you're working through your vacation days." Aiden said.
"What's so hard to believe?" I said. "After the baby's born I'm not going to be able to pull all nighters like before. I'm going to be working less days a week and I'm going to miss all the grueling surgeries. This is my last hurrah."
"I think What Aiden means Nora is that you're working with your ex." Sam said.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to let Steve ruin working in a high tech lab with all the toys I could ever want." I said. "Plus, I can use this time to make sure they're all ready when past me starts showing up."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Sam said.
"Guy's I'll be fine, besides if I get annoyed and need to get out of there I can be anywhere in the planet in the blink of an eye. I'll be fine." I said.
"If you say so." They said at the same time giving each other a look. Why did they every have to become friends? Oh who am I kidding, I liked that those two look out for me.
"I'm off to work which for me just means signing stuff for an hour and spending the rest of it watching TV." I said.
"Start researching Baby names." Sam said.
"I already did." I said before teleporting to the office. I quickly got to work on the pile of paperwork. All of it was signed and filed in under an hour. I had Friday forward all calls to my phone. I went to the common room to have a bowl of cereal before starting off on rewatching the best moments of Game of Thrones which ended up being me introducing Pietro and Wanda to the series. We managed to get through the entire first season.
"They can't do that to Ned Stark he's supposed to be the hero!" Pietro cried out.
"When you play the Game of Thrones you either win or you die, there is no middle ground." I quoted.
"Cersei is so evil but Lena Headey is so good." Wanda admitted.
"She is." I said. "Well I have to go."
"Aww." The twins complained.
"Don't you guys have to prep for a mission?" I asked.
"We were asked to sit it out." Pietro said.
"It was simple recon." Wanda said.
"If they asked you to sit it out it was for a reason, besides you should be grateful for the downtime, there's going to be a die when you're never going to get time off." I said.
"Still, we're bored and the season's over." Pietro whined.
"Then go read a book or train some more." I said. "Come on, you have everything you could ever need to entertain yourself at your disposal you just have to think of something. And look at it this way you don't have to go deal with more paperwork."
"Da." He relented. I gave them a smile before teleporting to the office.
I got back to work and then I heard a pile of papers fall.
"What are you doing here?!" Sharon screeched.
"Paperwork, can I help you?" I asked.
"You've done enough don't you think!?" She yelled.
"I'm filling in for Helen for two weeks while she's away, if you're here for your follow up Jenny's in the med bay she's taking your case for now." I said not even bothering to look up at her.
"Why couldn't you stay dead?" She said.
"Been there done that." I said as the alarm started ringing. "Well that's my cue, if you need me tell Friday." I teleported home and slipped my shoes off.
Third Person's POV-
The team minus the twins had just gotten back from a simple recon mission after receiving a lead as to Rumlow's possible whereabouts but it all turned out to be nothing. As they got off the ramp Steve saw Sharon standing there with her arms crossed not looking happy.
"What now?" Steve groaned.
"Did you know?" She demanded.
"Know what?" Steve said not knowing what she was talking about.
"She's working here now? She murdered our son Steve! She butchered me!" Sharon said tearing up.
"Sharon, Nora didn't cause the explosion, she saved your life. You heard the doctors you were lucky to be able to walk again." Steve repeated what he had told her almost everyday.
"You didn't love him, our son, our baby boy is dead and you don't even care!" Sharon shouted.
"Of course I care! Where do you think I've been! I'm looking for the monster that took him from us that almost killed you! Don't ever think I don't care!" Steve said before storming off.
Everyone just stood there surprised at his outburst. Suddenly there was a flash and Nora was standing next to them.
"Hey guys, just came to check you were all okay." Nora said. "Any one hurt?"
"We're all fine, it was just a simple recon mission that turned out to be nothing." Natasha said.
"Okay, I'm heading home if anyone needs me just give Friday a shout and I'll come back." She said.
"Thanks Nora." They all said and she was gone.
A Few Days Later- Nora's POV
I was in the kitchen heating up some soup when Steve walked in.
"Uh sorry." He said.
"It's fine, it's your home." I said. "I'm just finishing up."
"How's the patient?" he asked.
"Besides being the biggest baby I've ever met, he'll live." I said. "It's just a cold. That tends to happen when you run around in the rain without a jacket."
"Technically he was flying." Steve said.
"Still a big baby," I said. "Let's just hope Sam remembers this next time." I put the soup on a tray and sent it to Sam's room.
"That's new." Steve said.
"It's not actually." I said. "I'll be in my office."
"Nora." Steve called out.
"Yeah?" I said.
He hesitated for a second before saying, "Can I have the rest?"
"Sure." I said before teleporting to the office. I got back to work on the remaining paperwork when Natasha popped in.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." I said.
"I need a favor." She asked.
"Uh sure what's up?" I said.
"We were training with knives and Clint may have gotten a hit in that I didn't let him notice." She said.
"Would said hit actually be a cut that requires stitches?" I said looking at how she was clutching her arm.
"Maybe." She said.
"Take a seat." I said closing the door and locking it. I took out the first aid kit and got to work. "That is going to need a few stitches. So I wanted to ask, Wren used to bring take out from all over the place and he once brought me these things I don't remember what they were called."
"I'm going to need a better description if you want me to help." Natasha said looking away from the wound.
"They looked like buns but they were stuffed with meats and like mashed potatoes or something. There were even some that had fruit. I don't know what they were called but I've been craving them like crazy lately." I said.
"You're talking about Pirozhki." Natasha said. "They're baked stuffed buns you can find them ay any Russian restaurant."
"Any recommendations?" I said.
"There's a place in midtown, I'll forward you the address. How can you talk about food when you're stitching someone up." Natasha asked.
"Because I finished your stitches like thirty seconds ago and you didn't even notice." I said with a smirk.
"Oh." She said.
"Yeah, sometimes it's better if you don't see it coming." I said.
"Remember that when Clint comes and sees you."
"Why would Clint be… oh, I'm guessing he's in the med bay annoying the staff?" I asked.
"Yup and he has a low pain threshold." She said. "Thanks Nora."
"That's what I'm here for." I said putting everything back and going to save the staff from Clint's pranks.
After saving one of the interns from spitballs I stitched Clint up and sent him on his way but not before I got a mandatory invitation to dinner.
I sent Aiden and Sam a text saying I was staying late using a group chat. They both sent me the same concerned face emoji.
I walked into the kitchen where everyone was gathered.
"Homemade pizza." Clint called out.
"Smells great." I said. There was a flash of silver and half of the first pizza was gone.
"Very good." Pietro said with his mouth full.
"Pietro!" Wanda chastised.
"That's why I made more than one." Clint said pulling out another one from the oven.
We all dug in and halfway through the pizza Steve and Sharon came in.
"Hey everyone." He said. Everyone muttered their hellos while eating. Sharon was glaring daggers at me.
"It's rude to stare." Natasha told her giving her a look that made her leave.
"Nat really?" Steve said.
"If she doesn't want to be here she doesn't have to be. I already told you what I thought." Natasha said.
"Well I got to get going, I promised Connor I'd stop by for a story before bed. Thanks for dinner." I said.
"Night Nora." They all said before I teleported to Sam's house. I was going to start reading Harry Potter to Connor and I wasn't going to miss it for anything.
A Few Days Later-
My vacation was over and it was my last day working at the compound. I was having my last group lunch.
"Are you sure you want to go back? There's plenty of injuries to go around." Rhodey joked.
I had to laugh at that, "As great as its been working here I'm used to a lot more serious injuries and seeing a lot more trauma not stitching self inflicted boo boos. I am going to miss working with you all, You're all awesome."
"But you're bored?" Rhodey said.
"Not because you're boring more like I think I can do more good at the hospital than I can here." I said.
"Well if you ever change your mind we can figure something out." Natasha said.
"Thanks." I said. "I am going to miss lunch though."
"You're a teleporter just zap in during lunch." Clint said. "If you don't stop by at least twice a week were hunting you down."
"And girl's night." Wanda said.
"I will be here." I said.
At that Steve and Sharon walked in.
"What's going on here?" Steve asked.
"It's Nora's last day of work." Sam said. "She said we're not exciting enough for her."
"Not what I said." I stated. "I just meant I could use more hours in the OR and less time patching up your papercuts."
"Those hurt." Pietro complained.
"I know they do." I said.
"Well thank you again for covering for Helen we wouldn't have been cleared for any missions without you." Steve said.
"I should be thanking you, I would have gone crazy if I got stuck at home. Aiden and Sam are setting up the nursery and you'd be surprised how hard it is for a lawyer and an assassin to put a crib together." I said.
"That I have to see." Natasha said.
"Well I have to get going, I'm helping Connor with a science project." I said.
"Isn't he in kindergarten?" Sam said.
"Yeah but the kid likes science and in his words Styrofoam solar system models are boring." I said.
"I'm sure you had nothing to do with that." Steve said.
"I did teach him how to build a rocket." I said with a shrug. "Bye guys." With that I teleported away.
November 8th, 2015- Nora's POV
I woke up the morning of my twenty-third birthday feeling strange. If someone had told me five years ago that this would be my life I would have told them they were insane. With my pregnancy progressing the way it was Doctor Gellman recommended I start my maternity leave early. I was going to argue but after I dropped a pen and took almost ten minutes to pick it up I had to admit she was right and accepted the offer.
So here I was one week into my leave and I was going crazy.
On the plus side I had a lot more time to spend with Connor and Ellie. Aiden was still around and I found out what he did all day while I was at work. Turns out he's a stock broker and he works from home that's where his money came from. I always thought he got money from any hits he took. When I told him he laughed.
The roommate situation was going pretty well. We took turns cooking and he made sure I wasn't a couch potato all day. That morning when I went downstairs there was a full spread of breakfast items and someone I didn't recognize cooking in my kitchen.
"Uh Hi?" I said.
"Ah miss stark would you like me to make you an omelet?" He said.
"Uh… Aiden?" I called out.
"Yeah?" Aiden called out.
"Since when do we have a personal chef?" I asked.
"That's actually on me." Dad said.
"Dad?" I asked.
"Happy Birthday kiddo!" He said.
"You remembered?" I said.
"Course I did," He said pulling me into a hug. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. I know we've both been a bit busy but you and Tony the second are my priority."
"Aww dad, I'm not naming the kid tony or Antonia." I said.
"Oh come on, Antonia's unique." Dad offered.
"Dude no." I said taking a plate.
The rest of the day we went out shopping and then to the tower to work on an upgrade for Sam's wings. That turned into us watching inception and an hour debate over the ending. After that he drove us to the house. Aiden was making dinner for all of us. I don't know what he was up to but since he offered I wasn't going to argue. I totally think he missed his calling and should have been a chef.
As we got out I noticed that all the lights were off.
'Something's wrong' I thought.
I went up to the door and slowly unlocked it. I focused all my energy into the palms of my hand and slowly pushed the door open.
The lights flicked on and I let out a smaller blast that knocked everyone down.
"Uh!" They all groaned.
"Guys?" I said confused.
"Surprise!" They all said awkwardly.
"Oops." I said.
"I told you she doesn't do well with surprises." Aiden said.
"Sorry." I said embarrassed.
"That was my fault." Dad said. "I should have given you a not so subtle heads up. But surprise!"
"You planned a surprise party?" I said. "You're all the best." I heard a scoff and turned to see Sharon standing behind Steve looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but here. I went around and greeted everyone then we started eating and chatting.
There was a knock at the door which dad answered. A messenger came in and dad looked confused.
He walked straight to me. "Nora Stark?" He asked.
"Yes?" I said confused.
"You've been served." He said handing me an envelope before walking out.
I opened the envelope and read through it.
"You're suing me for Medical Malpractice!?" I said looking at Sharon.
"That's the only reason I came." She said getting up. "You killed my son and left me barren, you're going to pay for that."
"For fucks sake I didn't plant the bomb, I saved your life and repaired your spinal fracture, that's the only reason you can walk. I did nothing wrong." I said.
"If you hadn't come back from the dead I wouldn't have been alive and my baby would be alive, I'll see you in court." She said walking out.
"Good thing you're lawyer's here." Sam said stepping up and taking the papers from my hand.
"Sam's your lawyer? I thought he worked for Stark Industries?" Clint said.
"I've had him on retainer since he passed the bar." I said.
"We got over a month until depositions, dinner at the house tomorrow?" Sam said.
"I'll bring the takeout." I said.
"Nora, I'm…" Steve started.
Sam quickly whispered into my ear before I said anything.
"I have been advised by my attorney that contact with you would be a conflict of interest and possibly viewed as an admission of guilt I'm going to have to ask you to please leave." I said
"Nora I didn't…" Steve started out.
"Spangles out." Dad said.
"I'm sorry." he said before leaving.
"Well that put a damper on this party." I said. "If you guys want to go it's okay I understand."
"You didn't you know…" Pietro started and Wanda slapped him behind the head.
"No Pietro I didn't murder an innocent child, I didn't even know I operated on Sharon until after the surgery when Steve asked about her. You guys ever wonder why I never read the first page of any patient's file? It's so stuff like this doesn't happen." I said. "I need chocolate."
"Cake pop." Connor said handing me one.
"Thanks sweetie." I said before taking a bite.
"So cake?" Clint said trying to lighten up the mood.
We finished up and ate our cake before everyone decided to call it an early night.
"How are you holding up?" Dad asked.
"It's not my first time getting sued dad. I am kind of annoyed though, my insurance premium is going to go through the roof." I said. "But I'm kind of rich so not that bad."
"I think he meant personally." Aiden said.
"Oh, I just mostly annoyed but I have faith in my lawyer." I said making Sam smile.
"Isn't that against your contract?" Aiden asked Sam.
"Normally it would be but Nora negotiated my contract for me and she included a clause saying that in the event I have to represent clients that had me on retainer since before I started working for Stark Industries I had the right to continue to do so and you can't fire me because of it. If you want to send me on leave you can but you have to pay my salary." Sam said with a smile. "And who's had me on retainer since I passed the BAR?
"I know, I'm an awesome negotiator." I said with a smile.
"Either way, I have a firm on retainer as well I'll give them a call just in case." Dad insisted.
"Dad it's not our first lawsuit not to mention this one has no real argument. I'm going to be fine. I just need to call my boss and let them know in the rare case things go bad." I said.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive." I said
December 17th 2015- Deposition Day
At Doctor Gellman's request and that of the hospital board we were going to try to settle out of court. The hospital was insured for these types of things and they would be willing to pay. The only thing not would be to see if Peggy's insane niece was willing to compromise. After her outburst at my surprise birthday party I was pretty sure she was just in it to make my life hell.
I got dressed into some uncomfortable business clothes to so to the deposition. I even wore heels. I wasn't going to let her see me beat.
.
I showed up to the conference room in the justice building where this was going to take place. The judge asked for us to meet him.
"We are here for civil suit case number 1004758 Carter versus Stark. Are both parties present?" The judge asked.
"Yes your honor." Both parties replied.
"Are both parties sure there is no way to resolve this dispute out of court?" The judge asked.
"Your honor we have offered a settlement deal which was presented in the briefing packet. Miss Carter has elected to decline said offer and is insisting we go to trial." Sam said. "I move to have the case dismissed as there is insufficient evidence to suggest my client did anything wrong."
"Objection your honor." The opposing side said.
"Counselor I am afraid I will have to side with the defendant your evidence is based on Miss Carter's claim there is no actual evidence." The judge said.
"Doctor Stark has been sued for malpractice before." The opposition said.
"Objection your honor my client was found innocent in that trial and on grounds of double jeopardy that argument is invalid." Sam said. This is why I keep him on retainer. My brother is a teddy bear with his kids and friends but a grizzly in the courtroom.
"Your honor there are many legal precedents that would support my clients claim into believing there is a case of malpractice here. As such we believe if we were to have until a trial date such evidence could be found." The opposition said.
"Is that really your closing argument?" the judge said.
"Yes your honor." The opposition said.
"The defendant?" The judge asked.
"Your honor Miss Carter has gone through something very traumatic and suffered a great loss. It is possible that she in not in full use of her mental faculties and as a result has blamed my client for all of her misfortunes. If we were to go to trial we would like Miss Carter to be evaluated by a clinical psychologist to ensure that no party involved wastes their time." Sam said.
"That is a valid argument." The judge said.
"I am not crazy, it's her fault my baby is dead!" Sharon shouted.
"Silence or I will hold you in contempt of court. I have decided that we will reconvene at a later date after I have had time to look through all the evidence provided. We shall reconvene here on the first available court date after the holidays which shall be Monday January first of next year. You're dismissed." The judge said.
"Dude you are awesome." I told Sam.
"Those thousands of dollars spent on tuition were worth it." Sam said.
"I'll say. So now we just wait right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I know I don't have to tell you but I'll remind you anyway, stay away from Sharon and Steve." He said.
"That's a done deal." I said. "We still on for Christmas at the house?"
"You going to finally tone it down this year?" Sam retorted.
"I don't think I'm the one you have to worry about this year." I said.
And sure enough we got to the house and Aiden and the kids were building a gingerbread house and the living room looked like Santa threw up everywhere.