Sorry for the wait on this one, been hitting a brick wall, but please enjoy the next chapter.

Iruma, Eiko, Clara, Ameri, Kerori and Elizabetta, with a sleeping Stella in Iruma's arms, walked down the street in silence. Coming to the corner, Iruma stopped and sighed as the five looked at him in confusion, "I…want to thank you five," he looked up with narrowed eyes, "All week you've been helping me with Stella and I've been a total…um…what's the word I'm looking for?'

"A jerk," Kerori crossed her arms.

"An ass?" Ameri chimed in.

"An idiot?" Clara frowned.

"Yeah…all of those and more," Iruma sighed, "But you understand why I have trust issues, especially when it comes to my daughter. The only people I trust watching her outside of me are grandpa and Opera," the five frowned as Iruma continued, "The day I found Haruno yelling at Stella like that while she was sick…and then the incident with the knives…I question who I can and can't trust and you five hearing my conversation with my lawyer…even though he said it won't reach the judge's desk…I didn't want anyone knowing about that,"

"Maybe it was good that we overheard you and your lawyer," Elizabetta commented and Iruma looked at her in confusion, "Now you have more people on your side in case something goes wrong," Iruma moaned and narrowed his eyes, "Not saying anything could go wrong, but if her mother is suing you for damages, you'd never know what can happen,"

"Right…I'm going to put Stella down for a nap…I guess we'll talk later,"

He began walking away when Eiko sighed, "We'll…stop by later, if that's okay," Iruma stopped and looked back in confusion, "I mean if you want us to…Stella is sleeping and we wouldn't want to wake her,"

Iruma took a deep breath and shook his head, "Stop by in about an hour and a half," the five nodded as Iruma turned and walked away.

XXX

Iruma carried Stella into her room and set her on the bed before pulling the covers over her. Standing up, he turned and to walk out of the room, "Daddy?" he stopped and looked down with a slight smile as Stella looked up and yawned, "Where everyone at?"

"They went home, Stella, but they'll be back later," he reached down and patted the top of her head, "They'll be here when you wake up, okay sweetie?" Stella slightly smiled as she nodded before laying back down and closing her eyes and Iruma walked out of the room, leaving the door open a small crack behind him.

Walking into the living room, he sighed as he walked over to the couch and sat down, "Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse…Haruno…suing me? She's got some nerve," hearing a knock at the door, Iruma sighed and stood up before walking towards it.

Opening the door, he saw the five families standing on the front step. Looking at Clara, Ameri, Elizabetta, Kerori and Eiko, he arched a brow and shook his head, "I thought I told you to come back in an hour and a half after Stella wakes up from her nap an-"

"We're not here for that, Iruma…we're here to talk to you about this case," Ameri's father spoke and Iruma glared at Ameri, "They told us a few moments ago and my wife and I work at a law firm, and we believe we can help you,"

"And I told you that-"

"To call your lawyer, if we had known Kalego was your lawyer, we wouldn't have bothered," Rika shook her head and Iruma arched a brow, "My husband and I went to school with Naberius and he's given us clearance to talk about the case and not to worry about it reaching prying ears…so…are you going to invite us in?" Iruma stepped aside and allowed the five families into his home before closing the door.

XXX

Everyone sat in the living room, Clara's young siblings and Kerori's younger sister watching TV while everyone looked at Iruma before Rika sighed, "So…Iruma, why exactly is Stella in your care and not with her mother?"

Iruma sighed and shook her head, "Haruno…wasn't really there for Stella…after giving birth to her, Haruno distanced herself. She'd never hold Stella, she wouldn't do anything with her…I was the one who gave up sleep to hold Stella when she had a nightmare, or to change her, feed her or whatever…one day, I went to go visit grandpa and our butler Opera…a short time later, I got a call from one of my friends saying Haruno was yelling at Stella, so I left and rushed home.

I found Stella on the floor, red-faced and coughing with Haruno yelling at her…I yelled at her, calling her irresponsible for letting Stella get like that before taking her to the hospital. A short time after that, we agreed on joint custody, and…I realized that that was a bad idea because when I went to go pick Stella up one day, she was reaching for knives while Haruno was getting ready for a date with our schoolmate, Alice Asmodeus…I yelled at her and she said that Stella always plays with knives, the stove and the heater whenever she's with her…I lost it, took her, filed for full custody and moved her, and now Haruno can't see Stella unless she's with me, grandpa or Opera,"

The room fell silent as Clara, Ameri, Kerori, Elizabetta and Eiko frowned and hung their heads, "That's what happened. Call me a monster for taking my daughter away from a dangerous environment, I don't give a damn, because I know I was in the right an-"

"Why would she do that?" Alyssa asked, "Why would she put her own daughter in danger like that? Didn't she care about her?"

"If I had to guess…no…and that's because of me…when Haruno and I started dating, her grades were bad and she thought I'd talk to grandpa, who was the principal at the time, into giving her better grades, and she thought her plan would work faster if we had a kid together…I didn't do it, she despised me for it and she took it out on Stella,"

The room fell silent before Luna spoke, "I didn't think people like that existed,"

"They do, and the messed-up part about is people don't usually know until it's too late…I'm just glad I got Stella away when I did,"

"Okay kid…hypothetical question," Jack sighed and Iruma looked at him, "Say you didn't make it in time and something did happen to your daughter, she got hurt or worse? What then? Her mother could've said it was your fault an-"

"She wouldn't even get to the chance to say boo because I'd send her straight through the wall," everyone stared at him in disbelief, "I warned her, if there is a single scratch on Stella while she was watching her, I'd take her sorry ass to court and see to it that she'll lose all rights," Iruma sighed as he stood up and began pacing the room, "I have mountains of evidence to help me win, and Haruno and her parents are aware of this, but that doesn't mean they're not going to try and stop me,"

"Her parents?" Takashi arched a brow, "This is the first time you've mentioned her parents. Do they know what's going on?"

"They were the ones who pushed the relationship…they're fighting me every which way possible too. They're not much of a threat though," Iruma took a deep breath and stopped pacing, "At first, they weren't happy with the idea of me dating their daughter, they were even less happy when she got pregnant, but they thought I was going to help her with her grades and…everything just went straight to hell after Stella was born,"

"What happened? What did her parents do?" Kari questioned in an emotionless tone.

"They were going to take me to court for damages, saying I was the reason their daughter was failing school because she got pregnant, but they eventually saw the potential of backfire because the courts would've received a copy of her transcript and the judge would've laughed them out of the courtroom," inhaling slowly he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms, "And because of Haruno's actions, they're not allowed to see Stella without any type of supervision as well,"

Hearing a door squeak open, everyone looked up and Iruma's eyes widened as they saw Stella walking into the living room, rubbing her eyes, "Daddy, thirsty," she looked up and her eyes widened at the number of people before running to Iruma and hugged his leg.

Iruma smiled as he patted the top of Stella's head, "It's okay, sweetie. They're our neighbors, remember?" Stella looked up and slowly nodded, "Okay, how about I get you something to drink?" Stella smiled and nodded as she followed her father into the kitchen.

Okay…so…a few things came out…enjoy.