Even though Caleb tried to think on the positive side of things like Dean was trying to do, it was nearly impossible, not when he was harshly reminded of the penalty he was facing if an unsympathetic judge decided to slam him with the maximum of life in the state prison. Dawn doubted it would happen, especially when combined with the fact that it was a first time felony offense, and the mitigating circumstances that she would hammer into the judge's brain before he handed down his decision, but it was still a terrifying situation to be in.
They were coming down to the last twenty-four hours before he had to appear in the courtroom again for his hearing, and even though he tried to block the next day from his mind as much as possible, it wasn't entirely doable. Especially when he stopped to rest for a moment, and his mind took that as its cue to start assaulting his brain with the worst possible kinds of images. As he ventured downstairs and started pounding the punching bag, a wonderful stress-reliever and one that he and the boys regularly sought out when the cruelty of the world just got to be a little too much, he tried to prepare himself for what happen the next morning, and the sequence of events that would have to play out in either scenario.
If a judge decided to be lenient with him and give him a long probationary term as opposed to an impossibly cruel (and long) prison stint, they would have more freedom to let the boys enjoy the same sort of obscurity and peace than they would with the other alternative.
If the judge honestly believed the worst in him, that he was honestly cruel enough to kidnap the boys against their will and hide them from CPS, and imposed the maximum sentence of life, he would either have to accept the completely unacceptable and stay there until his appeal had gone through, or he and Bobby would hatch an escape plan that would carry him out of the state with the boys.
Either option was undesirable, either option was completely terrifying.
As his fist connected with the rough leather of the punching bag, he tried to take some satisfaction from the physical movement, as he finished off the routine with a roundhouse kick, before dropping his gloves and collapsing onto the sofa in the living room.
The meeting he and Bobby had with the boys had helped clear some of Caleb's worries, at least where their heads were concerned. Dean, not to his surprise, was completely on the side of running, most likely because he remembered that brief period of time when he and John had done that. Sam had voiced, basically, the same argument Dean had. They needed to be together, they needed to stay strong as a family, even if the alternative was completely foreign to his innocent mind's eye.
Running wasn't bad, not in the grand scheme of things, it was the danger that they would be put in if they went that route. The demon would have more opportunities to find them, and they would never be completely safe, not with the FBI on their tails if they staged a prison break, and not if the demon would seek out fresh chances to hurt them.
As thick sweat beads poured down his face , he sighed deeply and tried to reclaim the breath he had lost during the intense workout. It had been exhilarating, and it had been something that he had needed, even if he hadn't been consciously aware of that fact. It didn't ease the pressing fears he had over his upcoming sentencing, but it went a long way in preparing him mentally for it, and it went a long way in focusing his mind on something other than what was supposed to happen.
Dawn was gunning for him to get probation, and he hoped a sympathetic judge would agree with her, and sentence him to a long probation term instead of an impossibly long prison stint.
"Hey," Bobby said, as he came into the room. "Good workout?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Yeah," Caleb gasped, as he reached for his water bottle to take a long and satisfying pull from it, needing the nourishment that the liquid could give him.
"Good. The boys are upstairs."
"How are they?" he asked, making room for Bobby to sit down on the sofa next to him.
When they had had their discussion with them, both of the kids had been steadfast in their belief that running was the only option. if only they had any inkling as to what that would entail, and the emotional turmoil they would both suffer through from being uprooted from the only place they had ever really known.
"They're good. Dean's nervous about the sentencing tomorrow."
"We all are," Caleb said with a wry smile.
So much was riding on tomorrow, and it was making him slightly dizzy with all of the wealth of information that Dawn had bestowed upon him.
"Are you doing okay?"
"Define okay."
If things went south in the morning, they would have to put their plan in motion, and Caleb was at a loss as to how he would expect all of them to do that. He understood, and agreed with the argument that they couldn't be apart anymore. Not with YED still out there, but it was still incredibly difficult to imagine depending on illegal gambling and hustling to make ends meet, and constantly be on the move from the cops and the demons that would inevitably come seeking them at the drop of a hat.
In Minnesota they had security, safety.
On the road, there was none of that.
"What is Dawn saying?"
"To expect the worst, but to also expect the judge to be sympathetic, especially with the mitigating circumstances that are play here."
It was his only real hope of getting out of the ordeal with nothing more than a probationary term. If the judge agreed that the circumstances that had defined the alleged crime were not severe enough, there was a chance that he would allow him to not have any time spent at all.
Obviously that was something he would pay gold to have happen, but he also wasn't holding his breath. Too much had happened within the legal system for him to have full trust in their judgment anymore.
"What time do you have to be at the courthouse?"
Bobby fully intended on being there to offer his support for his friend that morning.
"Around noon-ish."
"Plenty of time to be prepared," Bobby offered gently.
"I guess."
Even though he was convinced there would be no real "preparing" for it. No matter how much time he was allowed to prepare. His time spent in the county jail had been bad enough, especially when he factored in the enforced separation from the kids.
"Dean said that you guys were going to go out and do some stuff tonight."
"Yeah," Caleb said, with a small smile.
In an effort to spend as much quality time with the boys as possible, Caleb had arranged for them to go out and do something fun before the horrors of tomorrow reached their already fractured souls.
"That should be good."
"I know."
And it was.
Even though the pressing fear of being sent back to jail, was always in the back of their minds, Caleb tried not to let that rule the evening, as they ventured to an arcade that the boys favored. It was fun, for once, as the boys took turns playing different arcade-style games, and even got Caleb in on the fun.
The highlight of the evening was the pizza, their favorite food, as they indulged in breadsticks and other sugary drinks to top off the evening. It was nice, fun, something that they enjoyed immensely, although Caleb could see in the quiet way that they, especially Dean, conducted themselves afterword, that the hearing was back on their minds.
"Hey," Caleb said, as they drove through their town limits back to the house. "You doing okay?"
Dean nodded, raising his head briefly to acknowledge his pressing gaze. "Yeah, I'm good. Just tired."
"You feel good about the talk we had earlier?" Caleb asked, as he turned his head briefly to glance in the backseat, where Sam had fully fallen asleep, after waging an epic battle of wills against he and the rain maker.
"Yeah, it's nice to know what will happen if the worst happens."
"I know," Caleb said, as he scrubbed an exhausted hand over his face. "This is all tentative, but if I get sent back, and it's for a really long time and my appeal somehow doesn't go through, we'll do it."
"Okay."
"It will be okay, kiddo."
"I know, at least you have Dawn pulling you through this."
She had gotten him that far, and Dean couldn't see why she wouldn't be able to pull off another miracle and get the ridiculous charge dropped, and spare someone he loved from a nightmarish prison stint.
"I'm lucky."
"Yeah," Dean said quietly, as he took another shot at glancing out the window at the darkening sky.
"You ready to go home?"
"Yeah."
