"Prompto, I have some news for you," Ignis said one day.
Prompto was currently laying on the floor in front of Scarlet. He had been watching her roll over from side to side, cheering her every moment of the way.
"Oh yeah? What's up Iggy?"
"It's about the hearing for custody rights for Scarlet. We have located the parents and settled on a date to hold this hearing."
Prompto pushed himself up to his feet, eyes filled with surprise. "Wait really? You found the parents?"
"It took us some time, but with the research I did I was able to locate where they were in the city. The hearing will be this Friday," Ignis stated.
Breathing in deeply, Prompto tried his best to not feel the anger that burnt in his chest. By the end of the week he was going to have to face Scarlet's biological parents. He would have to face them and do everything in his power to never let him be near her again. They had given her up and Prompto wanted to do everything he could to keep her close.
She was his little girl now, and he didn't want that to change. He loved her too much already to part with her. But he didn't have too much fear that the hearing would go wrong. He had Ignis on his side helping out. With the support of him and others like King Regis himself, he knew that he would be in good hands with this.
"Right. That sounds like a good plan," Prompto said as he scooped up Scarlet. "But Scarlet won't have to come, right? She doesn't need to be there in person?"
"No, she may remain here. I've already informed the nannies for you. All we need to do is prepare for this Friday. I already have all of the papers and information gathered, showing that you will be a responsible and qualified person to take full custody of Scarlet."
Pressing a kiss to Scarlet's head, Prompto grinned. "Good. That's what I was hoping for. Scarlet is going to stick with me no matter what!"
"That is what I hope for as well. You have done quite well looking after her since you first brought her into your home."
"I do what I can to be the most loving parent you'll ever see. And now it's time for another fun photoshoot!" Prompto cheered as he held up Scarlet. "Today's theme is beach! You wanna help out, Iggy? Scarlet is an adorable model, but she always wants to keep crawling off. Could you help?"
Laughing, Ignis nodded. "I'll do what I can."
A few moments later, Prompto had dressed Scarlet in a cute little blue swimsuit with little watermelons on it and placed her in front of a canvas with a beach background. Carefully, he placed little sunglasses on her face as well as a pink, floppy sun hat.
"Aww so perfect! Now try to stay still Scarlet as I get the camera set."
As Prompto started to adjust his camera settings, he could see that Scarlet was trying to crawl over to him. Thankfully Ignis came in to pick her up and place her back in the correct spot. Scarlet started to giggle and she crawled again, only to have Ignis repeat his actions.
"Uh oh, looks like she thinks it's a game. You could be trapped here all day!" Prompto laughed.
"Well Miss Scarlet, that wouldn't be very fair," Ignis said as he turned Scarlet to face him. "I have a lot of work to get done today. I only am taking a little time to help out with the photos. So please let's not play these silly games."
Scarlet just grinned and started to giggle, seeming like she found this all very amusing. She pretty much would giggle, gurgle, and laugh at just about everything nowadays. All of these simple reactions which made Prompto very happy. He could simply make a silly face, talk in a silly voice or just play with a toy in front of her and it brought great amusement.
He knew that Scarlet was going to grow up into a happy child. He could see it in her eyes. It was already so much different than he imagined his own baby years being. He didn't even have photo albums from his parents of that time.
Even if Prompto didn't actually have a passion for photography, he would be taking photos anyway. He wanted to remember every single moment he had with Scarlet.
The drive down to the courthouse was more strenuous than Prompto would have liked. He knew that there was no avoiding this day, but now that it was here, he couldn't help thinking of everything. All the possible ways the day could end up made him worry for the future. Either he was going to get custody of Scarlet or not.
Ignis had reassured him a hundred times over, but it still couldn't settle the fear in his mind and heart. All he wanted was for things to go as smoothly as possible, and then he could go home and never have to think about this again.
"Now remember what we went over," Ignis said as he pulled into a parking spot. "All of it will go smoothly."
"You keep saying that, but anything could happen. What if the parents start arguing? Trying to accuse me of something?"
"If they were to try such a tactic, I assure you that we will try to keep them from making too large of a scene. Remember Gladio is meeting us here to help supervise and watch over the hearing."
It did ease Prompto to know that two of his friends would be there for him. He would have also liked it if Noctis could have come, but since he didn't have any direct involvement within the critical levels, he wasn't able to attend. But he knew Noctis send him the best regards, wishing for the best.
"Okay yeah, it'll all be okay. I'll try to keep that in mind during all of this."
Prompto rubbed the sweat off his hands on the sides of his pants before exiting the car. Mere moments from now he would have to face the parents of Scarlet. Part of him never wanted to see them. He never wanted to see the faces of the people who biologically Scarlet's parents. The other part of him wanted to see them, so he could go right up to them and tell them off for being the worst.
The battle inside of him was struggling, he didn't want to act out over something that could be done calmly, but he wanted to say what was on his mind. Mind tearing side to side, he tried to hold himself together as he walked through the doors of the building.
Upon entering into a hall, he let Ignis lead him down to the room where the hearing would take place. As they neared, he could see Gladio already standing there, and just near him were two others.
Right away his eyes locked onto them, looking at their features as he got closer. He could see the red shade in the father's hair, and the mother had fair skin as Scarlet did. These definitely were her parents, and from how distant their gaze was, they looked like they didn't even want to be there.
Instant rage fueled inside of Prompto as he found himself marching over towards them without a second thought.
"How could you leave her!?" he shouted before even thinking. "You just left her without a second thought!"
The parents seemed to stare at him, bewildered and confused. They said nothing though, remaining quiet and neutral as they had been.
"I can't even think what would go through your heads to do-"
Before Prompto could continue his march over to them, he was stopped by Gladio.
"Cool it, Blondie. You need to make a good impression today, remember? Lashing out at them isn't going to help you at all."
"But I… they're…"
"I know, but that doesn't mean you can rail on them. Keep yourself presentable, okay?"
Breathing in deeply, Prompto knew he was right. As much as he wished to unleash all of the anger he had within him, he knew what was best. He was doing this for Scarlet, and he would have to endure whatever he could to get through this so they could be together from now on. His original goal hadn't wavered, never once doubting his decision. He only could hope the judges would trust and believe in him as much as he did in himself.
I had this half written for a while, about time I finished it!
