When my eyes rolled open out of sleep I noted that Ben was watching me sleep; he was currently running his fingers through my hair and when his eyes met mine a warm smile spread across my face. I began to question why me and Ben weren't snuggled together like we were when we fell asleep after making love; but I quickly told myself that I knew the answer. Ben had obviously gone to the toilet in the middle of the night and upon his return he must have been able to cuddle back into me - so he settled for lying close to me on my left hand side.
We then snuggled back together and chatted aimlessly about anything that came to our minds before we had to get ready for our day. I could tell that both me and Ben were apprehensive about today; as today was the day when me and Ben were going to give our own testimony. I knew that it was going to be hard for the pair of us, especially Ben. He was going to have to explain everything that had happened to him and then the accused lawyers were going to question us both. I think this is where the problems were going to start; and to be honest I was concerned how it was going to affect Ben. Yes it was going to upset me but I was concerned that it might make his nightmares get worse and they had only started to reduce slightly. I could only hope that with my love and support that this wasn't going to affect him too much, as it broke my heart to see my husband upset. I hated Bobby and the rest of the accused party; and I couldn't wait for enough time to have passed so me and Ben could leave this whole sorry mess behind us.
After getting ready for our day, me and Ben then walked through Auradon Castle and to his parent's suite so we could have breakfast together. I was actually looking forward to sharing some time with my family this morning with the four of us being allowed some solace in what was such a horrible mess.
All the way through breakfast we concentrated on things that we were looking forward to like the renewal of mine and Ben's vows, the birth of our baby and their coronation. I couldn't wait for each and every one of them. I loved Ben, our baby and our family and every moment that I got to share with them I cherished and held them close to my heart.
However just like all good things they had to end and we had to go and get our things together so we could leave and return to the trial. As I left the dining room in Adam and Belle's suite I couldn't help but take a deep breath; there was a part of me that didn't want to go back but I knew that I needed to. It was the only way that me and Ben were going to be able to put this situation behind us both – something of which I really couldn't wait to be over.
"Ben-" I started after we all entered mine and Ben's room in the courthouse, after Adam closed the door behind us all.
"Aha?" he replied as he looked down at me.
"If things get too much we will just leave" I offered.
"Mal we need to stay" he sighed.
"Benny" I sighed back as I stood in front of him. "Between your sanity and happiness and watching this trial" I added as I nodded towards the door. "I am going to choose your sanity and happiness," I told him. "So suck it up" I teased as I rested both of my hands against his chest.
"Ok wife" he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my waist and we cuddled together. The room then filled into silence for a few seconds before we heard a knock on the door, which made us all look over to the door. "Come in!" Ben called; and we all watched as the door opened and Gareth appeared.
"Hello Your Majesty" he smiled as he closed the door behind him. "Mrs Adams" he winked at me. "Everyone" he offered as he looked over at Adam, Belle, Evie, Jay and Carlos.
"Hello Gareth" we all chorused as he walked into the middle of the room.
"I am just going to outline what is going to happen today-" he explained. "Also to see how you both are doing after yesterday" he stated.
"Thank you," Ben answered. "Take a seat" he offered and I watched as Gareth sat down as we all also took our seats in the room. I felt my stomach start to flutter with nerves at the fact that it was getting closer and closer to mine and Ben's testimonies, which only made me want today to go quick and hopefully time would be on my side.
Gareth quickly reviewed how he thought yesterday went; before then explaining how today was going to happen. He then told us all that he believed that the morning was going to be filled with both the prosecution and defence cross examination for Samuel, Paul and Stephen. He then said that he knew that after this cross examination Chief Justice Williams would call for the lunch recess. Gareth then stated that this afternoon was going to be filled with witness testimony - mine, Ben's, Carlos and the Police's IT team. Admittedly I felt a little bit better knowing how today was going to pan out; but it didn't take away all of my anguish. I knew how hard it was going to be for everyone involved; and I just couldn't stop hoping that it would go quick - Lucifer please let today go quick!
He then asked how we thought yesterday went and we both said that we thought that it went as well as it could. We did admit that we couldn't believe Bobby's exchange with his lawyer, which caused Gareth to chuckle. He told us that he had heard in the grapevine that this wasn't the first disagreement that Bobby and his lawyer have had, so when she tried to intercede during his questioning Gareth stated that he expected something like that to happen.
Gareth then questioned if me and Ben were still sticking by our initial decision to do our testimony over camera feed. Ben then answered for the pair of us and confirmed that this was still the case. Neither of us wanted to go into the room where the accused party were; which was what our family and Gareth understood completely. Ben did then say that we may go in for sentencing but me and Ben hadn't discussed this yet. In all honesty I didn't know how I felt about going into the courtroom for sentencing. I just assumed that me and Ben would stay in this room for the whole trial; I decided to not think about this until closer to the time. It wasn't going to do me any good focusing on the end of the trial - my mind had to be in the game for this afternoon. So with this being said Gareth explained that after lunch staff would come in to fit the room with a camera and us with mics; he then quickly excused himself from the room as he needed to go and get ready for the day.
As I watched the door closed behind him I then watched as our family then all started to stand up with nervous looks on their faces and I knew what was about to happen. They also had to go and find their seats for the trial; which only made my currently fluttering stomach even worse! This was it! The start of day two of the trial; and there was no turning back now.
