*Author's Note*

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Only One Approval

Novella POV:

"Novella, I wrote down a rough draft for the opening argument." My Uncle Perry told me as soon as he opened my door and walked into my office. Walking over to my desk and placing a piece of paper down on it he said, "I'd like you to read it over, edit it, and add in anything else you think it needs."

Grabbing it I simply told him, "Okay."

Standing in front of my desk, giving me a tilted look, Uncle Perry told me, "I hope you've talked to Tolbert."

"Yes, I've talked to him." I affirmed, my eyes roaming and skimming through the long written opening argument, trying to get a feel of what I'd be dissecting and editing once my uncle left my office.

"Good." My uncle nodded, a tight look on his face. Instead of just leaving it at that he opened his mouth and out came his slick tinted voice lecturing me with, "I still think it's a shame you felt the need to decompress instead of the need to console him last weekend. You weren't the only one that had the rug pulled out from under their feet." Crossing his arms over his waistcoat covered chest my uncle sighed before telling me, "I hope you got your head on straight now. You'll need every ounce of courage and strength you can muster to go up gainst Cap Hatfield." Uncle Perry slightly shook his head while admitting, "I underestimated the young man, had no idea he'd be so hostile and cunning."

"He gives you a run for your money, don't he?" I asked, a slight knowing smirk crossing my face.

"That he does." He revealed before going on to ask, "You hear anything back in Baltimore bout him from other lawyers and such?"

"No, just that he never loses and is stone cold in court." Actually, I heard that from Cap himself since the man's my boyfriend, but I can't tell Uncle Perry that.

"Well, then I suppose you need to pull on your feelings for Tolbert in order to beat the case and get the McCoy boys freed."

"I know."

"Tolbert needs you so much right now, his little girl does too. You can't be getting Ole Rand'l riled up anymore or making mistakes in court anymore." Uncle Perry scolded me in a tone that made me feel like I was a little girl and not a woman.

"I didn't make a mistake, I made a judgment call. The indictment decision was made before court was even in session. It's Hatfield favored, us objecting to everything would've made us look like the village idiots." I explained in length to him, defending my actions since I felt like I was being belittle for my view and interpretation of the law.

"Your view on this highly differs from mine, my dear. I sure do hope that you're able to bend the law to our means instead of letting it be a ramrod against us." Uncle Perry told me, his slick voice snipping and low, before he left my office.

The rest of my morning was uneventful. The edits and revisions I did on my uncle's opening argument was not received well at all. Uncle Perry was mad that I wanted him to drop his lengthy speech about the law being like a muscle. I felt it sounded a bit infomercial-like, but he felt that it was a great philosophy. Of course, he didn't like anything I did with his speech either. He tossed my revised copy into the trash and then tasked Moses to doing edits and spellchecks on another original copy that he just happened to print out.

Lunch though was a different story. Moses decided that we needed to go out and grab some cheap-ass greasy burgers from some walk-up stand. Turns out the burger joint wasn't that far from the Pike County Justice Building and it also turns out that Cap has a thing for greasy burgers too.

"Hey, Cap Hatfield, right? I'm Moses Quincey, Novella's baby brother." Moses introduced himself to Cap, who was standing in line for food, as soon as we walked up to the food stand. "I was just tellin' my sister this mornin', after she rudely woke me up from the nap I was takin' in her office while hidin' from our uncle, that I wanted to meet you."

Cap quirked a brow as a lopsided grin appeared on his face. "Really? Well, I was just tellin' Nova last night how she needs to tell everyone in this shithole we're together."

"Next!" The person running the burger stand shouted, making the line move.

"So, are we gonna eat at one of the tables like a big happy family or not?" My brother asked before looking at me and adding in, "If so maybe you can snag one, sissy, and we'll just order the food."

"That sounds like a good idea." Cap nodded before looking at me and tilting his head in the direction of the tables and saying, "Nova, go get a table for us."

"What? No, we're not staying and eating together. What if somebody sees all of us." It was a stupid idea. If word got back to Uncle Perry we'd be screwed.

"Hell, Novella, you're living with him 4 outta 7 days, but you're worried somebody's gonna see us eatin' burgers at a picnic table." Moses chuckled loudly and sarcastically.

"I'll go find an open table." I told them before walking off to find an empty table at the small eating area near the burger stand.

Cap POV:

Nova's brother didn't look like her at all, except that they both had blue eyes. Moses was tall and built like a brick, was a brunette too. When I say tall I mean the man was maybe an inch shorter then me and I was a tree. He was just quietly looking at me, studying me. When he did open his mouth it was to say, "Never thought a hot-shot ADA like you'd like burgers from this place."

"I was a boy from the other side of the tug 'fore I became a lawyer. I do enjoy a good greasy burger." I told Moses, remindin' him that I wasn't always a high rankin' lawyer and a pillar of the Tug River Valley.

He nodded his head at my answer, seeming to accept it. Just goin' for the gusto he said, "My sister says you got a house over in Logan."

Nova tellin' her brother 'bout the house's good. Means she's considerin' my offer of moving in. At least I hope she is. "Yea, it's a remodeled farm house."

"You're stickin' 'round then?" He asked as he eyed up the menu that was printed above the ordering window of the food stand.

"Yep." I simply answered, noddin' my head.

"I know you gave Novella a key." She told him that too. That's good, now he knows she's got a place to stay at that's not their slimy uncle's house. "What're your intentions with my sister?" Of course, Moses asked that, it's the one question all brothers want to know. Hell, I know when my little sisters get serious with somebody I'll be bustin' that prick's balls too.

I looked him right in the eyes as I answered in a deep and serious tone, "I wanna life with her."

"That ain't gonna be easy." He told me, implying that since the McCoys and Hatfields hate each other my relationship with Nova was gonna be an uphill battle.

"Next!" The cashier shouted, indicatin' that it was our turn to order.

We walked up to the booth and placed our order of burgers, fries, and cokes. I was nice and paid for the food. As we waited on our lunch we talked a bit. Turns out Moses is a pretty carefree guy, but very observant. He was also gamer guy that liked NASCAR and rooted for Ohio sports teams.

Novella POV:

Moses and Cap were talking and looking like they were getting along as they made their way over to where I was sitting, foam cups and grease stained paper bags in their hands. They seemed to be getting along, which I guess should make me happy, but instead worried me a bit. I reckon I was worried cause I didn't want to drag my brother down the rabbit hole with me.

"You gotta good man here, sissy. Paid for our food, mine included. Like, damn, soulless ginger tool would've made me buy my own." Moses rambled as he and Cap took their seats at the table, placing the food and drinks down on it too.

"Mo, really?" I groaned, shooting him one of those 'I can't believe you' type looks as Cap slid a foam cup of pop over to me.

"What? It's the truth. Guy's so tight with money he'd make Abraham Lincoln cry." Moses defended himself as he pulled his food out of his bag.

"Cap, you didn't have to pay for Moses' food." I told my boyfriend as he handed me my burger and fries. As I watched him take his own lunch out of our bag I went on to offer, "I can repay you since he won't."

"Nah, I didn't mind." He shook his head. Pointing between me and Moses he remarked, "He's your brother and Hatfields always take care of friends and kin."

"Hear that, I'm like practically kin now since ya'll are serious and stuff." Moses told me with a sassy smirk on his face before taking a large bite out of his greasy double-decker cheeseburger. "Oh, did ya catch that pre-season ball game on tv last night?"

"Yea." Cap nodded. Unwrapping his cheeseburger, he chuckled, "But both teams sucked."

"They both sucked, but you still watched it til midnight." I told Cap between taking a bite out of my own greasy burger that was oozing with cheese and all the fixings.

"It's football, babe." Cap simply told me 'round a mouthful of burger. After swallowing his food, he grabbed some fries while continuing his sports fan logic with, "Of course, I'm gonna watch even if the team ain't mine."

Moses nodded his head in agreement while blurting out, "Hell yea. Gotta watch football no matter what when it's on."

"But it's only pre-season. The games don't even count." I told them, trying to hold back a smirk at their antics.

And for the rest of lunch we ate and talked, gettin' along just fine.

"I like him, sissy. You found a nice guy even tho he's a cold mofo in court." Moses told me as he pulled his jacked-up truck out of the food stand's parking lot and onto the road.

"What? Moses, you really approve of Cap?" I asked, a bit stunned, as my brother grabbed his can of chew from the small storage slot below the radio.

"Yea, he seemed cool to me." Moses screwed open his can of Copenhagen. Placing a large chunk of tobacco in his mouth he told me, "Plus, he bought my food." He placed the top back on the can and put it back into the storage slot while rambling, "Tolbert don't do that, he's a cheap bastard. Y'know I jack his shine every now an' then cause his prices are crazy ridiculous."

My eyes widened as I squeaked out, "What? You steal shine from Tolbert?"

"Yep. He doesn't know so don't tell him." Moses told me as he flipped his blinker on. Getting ready to make a turn down the road he explained with a long sigh-like chuckle, "His wrath bout havin' his likker takin' without payin's worse than that of a woman scorned."

There had to be another reason other than free food. If not my brother's dumber than I thought. "Other than Cap payin' for lunch why do you approve of him?"

"He answered my bro questions right."

"Ah, I see."

"Uncle Perry won't approve tho." Moses stated as we drove down the road in downtown Pikeville lunch traffic. Which was desolate and calm compared to the downtown Baltimore lunch traffic I was driving in just a month or so ago.

"I know." I sighed, drifting my focus to looking out the window at all the businesses we were passing by.

"I'll figure out how to keep him off you and Cap's trail. Oh, and I give you my blessin' to move in with him."

"Thanks, but I'm not movin' in with him."

Moses looked between me and the road as he simply told me, "You should."

One of my thin auburn brows rose as I looked at the side of my brother's face. "Why?"

"Cause after I saw ya'll together I know for a fact that he's the one for you. No matter how much everyone pushes Tolbert on you Cap's always goin' to be the one. I mean the love ya'll radiate just by shootin' smirks and sexy eyes at each other is epic. The way you look at Cap is so different then the way you look at Tolbert, which is like a soft crushy type look by the way."

Poor Tolbert. He didn't deserve this. He loved me so much and here I was getting my brother's approval on the man deemed his enemy. "Oh…"

The rest of my work day after lunch consisted of typing up memos and transcripts along with looking over some files for my uncle. After work I went home and got changed into something comfortable, just some yoga pants and a thin hoodie, and read a bit on my kindle. After finishing my book, I decided to go downstairs and see if Roseanna needed any help with dinner.

As I walked by the kitchen table I spotted Sarah Elizabeth doing her homework, which consisted of a get to know you type survey. I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw her name printed on the right side upper corner of her paper. Sarah Elizabeth McCoy-Hatfield. Holy shit! Her legal name was Hatfield, that meant Johnse had to be on the birth certificate. Did the Hatfields even know this girl legally had their name? Even tho my action was going to betray not just Roseanna, but Uncle Perry too I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and quickly snapped a picture of the paper with the girl's name on it.

Quickly I pulled up my messaging app and sent the pic to Cap along with the text of: Does Johnse know Roseanna gave Sarah Elizabeth the Hatfield name? Saw this walking by her doing homework.

Shutting my phone off and pocketing it I told Roseanna, "Dinner smells good, do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fine." Roseanna politely turned down my offer of help. Come to think of it she always turned down my offer to help in the kitchen. What's with the McCoy omen barring me from kitchen duty? "Tolbert called earlier, he's bringin' Sally Elle over for dinner cause she wants to see you."

"Oh, that's good." Not really. My feelings for him were all over the place. My brother just met my boyfriend, who is considered the enemy of my family and friends and approves of him. Seeing Tolbert is going to send me into an emotional tailspin. Oh, and Sally Elle, that sweet little girl is to cute for her own good.

"Mama, I'm done with my homework." Sarah Elizabeth announced, turning around in her chair to look at her mother. "Can I go watch cartoons now?" She asked, a hopeful look on her face.

"Yes, you can go." Roseanna told her daughter in a soft motherly voice that held a smile in it. The little blonde girl stuffed her paper in her folder and stuffed that in her backpack before taking off towards the living room. Once the girl was gone Roseanna looked at me from her spot by the stove and asked, "How was your weekend?"

"Good." I answered while leaning against the counter near the stove, where Roseanna was at.

"You plan on having a lot of weekends over there?" She asked even though I think she already knows the answer.

I could lie and say no or just tell the truth. Hmm, truth it is. "Yea."

Roseanna's sweet heart shaped face fell. She shook her head a bit frantically as she muttered out, "Oh…oh my…" She took a deep breath to compose herself before looking at me and saying, "I was afraid of that. It's not going to end well."

"Roseanna, don't worry. Everything'll be fine." I assured her with a half-smile.

"Does my brother have a chance?" The sweet blonde bluntly asked me as she stirred a pot on the stove.

"I don't know, but it's serious with me and…" I answered her, trailing off at the end of the word and to imply Cap's name without having to actually say it.

"Do you still love Tolbert" She asked me, her bright blue eyes boring into me inquiringly. With an insightful look she told me, "He's always been in love with you and now his daughter loves you too."

I let out a deep sigh before looking at my friend and confessing, "In a way, but it's confusing. It's not as deep and unconditional as it should be. I can't love him wholeheartedly like he wants me too."

"But you can love Sally Elle like your own, right?" She prodded as she grabbed a jar of spices from the ledge on the back of the stove.

While watching her put some dashes of seasoning into the cook pot I simply said, "Yea, why?"

"Then that's all that matters. Love Sally Elle like a mother and just work on deepenin' your love for Tolbert. In time it'll work, ya'll get that love a partnership raisin' a child needs."

"And if I told you I was toyin' with the idea of movin' out with somebody would you still be trying to push for me and your brother to be together?"

"Yes, cause I know that the somebody you're leaning towards is no good. You'd be giving up your family to be with him, but with Tolbert you'd be gainin' the family you always wanted." Before I could even respond to Roseanna my phone binged, indicating that I had a text. "That my brother or…?" Roseanna asked, watching me open up my phone and look at my notification.

"Your brother doesn't text." I told Roseanna before opening up the text.

"I think this is awful how you're bein', 'specially since you know what happened to me, but I'll continue to act like I don't know nothin' for my brother's sake cause his knowin' would make him get into a fight an' land him in more trouble." Roseanna softly sighed at me while my eyes roamed over Cap's text.

His text was like a punch in the gut. It read: Johnse doesn't know. Fuck he's never even seen the kid, got kicked out of the hospital outside of the room by Aunt Betty. Least that's what I heard. Nobody in the family knows that girl got the Hatfield name. Fuck, Roseanna's got lupus too?! Ah shit, she croaks CPS tosses that kid over to Johnse since he's the legal father. I gotta talk with my brother. We'll talk bout this when you come over later.

I was brought back to reality by Roseanna's bell-like voice saying, "I care for you an' don't want you to get hurt. You're gonna get hurt takin' up with him."

"We're still friends tho, right?" I asked a bit fearfully. I didn't want to lose her as a friend. Roseanna was my friend way before our boyfriends entered our lives. I'd hate to lose her friendship over a guy, but sadly I couldn't let go of that said guy.

"Yes, nothin' can change that." Thank god we're still friends. Friends who don't agree on something, but still friends never the less. "Now go wait for Tolbert and Sally Elle in the living room with Moses and Sarah Elizabeth. I can only imagine the kind of cartoons he's streamin' for her." Knowing my brother probably old X-Men, Batman, or Robot Chicken episodes.

"Okay." I simply said before leaving the room.

AN:

So, Moses met Cap and approves. Oh, what a bombshell about Sarah Elizabeth's last name huh. Roseanna is still team Tolbert. Poor Novella's got a secret boyfriend nobody but her brother likes and an ex turned client and friend that everyone likes. Nova's boarding the emotional roller-coaster…Drama, drama, drama's in the air!