*Author's Note*

Thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing.

You Got Served

Novella POV:

Turns out watchin' the sick Sally Elle wasn't that hard since all she did was sleep. I did have to forge in the breakroom fridge to find something to eat for lunch since I was stuck in the building, watching Tolbert's kid. I ended up heatin' up a Weight Watchers tv-dinner that I found in the freezer. Most likely it was Betty's, oh well. So, I ate a tv-dinner and had a bottle of water in my office for lunch. After I tossed my empty container into the trash can under my desk I went back to work.

Sally Elle was dozed off in the chair across from my desk, as I was typing up a will that my uncle emailed me the details on for one Mr. Elridge, whenever my office door opened followed by my brother walking in, Wendy's cup in his hand. Leaning against the door, after closing it, he pointed at the little sick girl with his cup while asking, "What's this?"

"She's sick, Tolbert asked me to watch her til he finishes up his shine runs." I told my brother, never breaking my concentration in typing up the will I was working on.

My brother's brow furrowed. "But why are you watching her? He's got a mama to do it, siblings too."

"He's in a bind and needed a favor. Roseanna's not feeling well, so I didn't have much of a choice."

Moses shook his head, leaning one of his boots on the door. "No, sissy, you had a choice. You could've said no and sent him on his merry way to Sally's, but instead ya let him wear you down until he got his way."

"That's not what hap-" I began to protest, only for my brother to cut me off wit a shout of, "Yes it is. Tolbert's tryin' to weasel his way back in by usin' his kid and the soft spot ya got for her."

Saving the document on my desktop I sighed, "I'm a married woman, he knows nothing'll happen 'tween us."

"Does he tho?" Mo asked, taking a sip of his drink. Pointing the Wendy's cup at me, he asked, "Does he really know that or is he holdin' onto some misguided fucked up hope that one day you'll walk out on Cap for him?"

"If he's holding onto that hope then it's for nothing. I'm with Cap, thick and thin, forever." I meant it too, I had no intentions of ever leaving my husband. No matter what, I was going to stand by him. I also knew that he'd stand by me too. Our marriage might've been rushed, but we loved each other. The McCoys might not think so, especially Tolbert, but…

"Look, you're my sister and I don't want to see ya get hurt." Mo told me, concern in his cerulean blue eyes. Shakin' his head, his messy bun flopping, he let out a deep sigh. "I think you, well me too, need'a get off this case and just let Uncle Perry handle it."

"Are you saying that cause we're both involved with Hatfields?" I bluntly countered, knowing that he was striking up a romance with my sister-in-law Betty, who was younger then him and a senior at Logan County High.

"Honestly, yea that's why I'm sayin' it."

"I gave my word to our uncle. I can't just bail, 'specially now that I got a deal for Bud."

My brother's eyes widened to the size of half-dollars. His mouth slightly dropped open as he asked in disbelief, "Wait a hot damn minute, ya dealed for Bud with your hubby?"

"Yep." I popped my tongue, reaching for the travel mug of tea that was on the corner of my desk.

"Shit…Uncle Perry and Rand'licious are gonna be so pissed…" Moses whistled out, slightly shakin' his head as he leaned 'gainst my door. His nickname for Randall was something else. How he came up with it, I didn't know.

"I know, but what else was I to do? Me and Cap found out from witness statements that Bud was involved in the fist fight, but not the stabbing. I had to make a deal or else I'd be letting an innocent man go to jail."

"And let me guess, this deal involves Bud gettin' off clean as a whistle, but he as to testify against Tolbert and Pharmer in favor of the prosecution?"

"Yea, that's the deal." I confirmed, sipping on my mint tea.

"Smart. Can't save 'em all, then save one." Moses shrugged before turning around and walking out of my office door.

It was time for me to leave and Tolbert still wasn't back yet. Since my husband was waiting in the parking lot for me, I asked my brother to watch the sick girl napping in my office, which he agreed to do without any snide remarks. As soon as I made it to the back parkin' lot I spotted Cap's truck in its usual spot, but I also saw Tolbert's beat-up piece of crap pull in like a bat outta hell. Aw shit…this isn't going to go over too well. I avoided looking at Tolbert's truck as I walked down the cement sidewalk and onto the blacktop of the parking lot.

I heard the slam of a truck door shuttin' accompanied by heavy-booted steps rushing across the lot. The velvety-gruff snap of, "Why in the hell are ya leavin' for, Ella? Yer s'posed t'be watchin' Sally Elle?", made me lift my head up and look at the ginger hot-head stormin' towards me.

"It's time for me to go home and my husband's here to pick me up; that's why I'm leavin', but Moses is in my office with Sally Elle."

"Oh, no, no, no that ain't good 'nough 'xcuse for me. Yer the one I left in charge of her, not yer jackass brother."

"Don't call my brother a jackass. He's got more brains then you do."

Suddenly I heard the sound of a door slamming and I knew that my husband was going to get in on whatever was going on with me and Tolbert. Great…just great… Thud, thud, thud echoed out on the pavement mingled with Cap's cold and deep seethe of, "Tolbert, stop pesterin' my wife." Oh no, shit's gonna hit the fan now.

Tolbert quickly spun on his heel, staring down my husband with anger shinning in his stormy eyes. "Ella shouldn't even be your wife an' I ain't pesterin' her. I'm talkin' wit' her 'bout my kid."

"That kid's your problem, not Nova's, so don't go tryin' to pawn it off on her. She ain't playin' mommy to the kid." But Cap couldn't just leave it at that. No, he had to add in a smug tone, "Have your side piece over in Mate Creek do that."

"Cap, let's go." I told my husband, grabbing his hand in mine. I know his words had pissed off Tolbert by the way the redhead's jaw was twitchin' and his nostrils was flaring. Tolbert was ready to blow and I didn't want my husband to get into a fight with him; definitely not here in the parking lot of my uncle's office either. Cap had a cold look in his mismatched eyes as he pointed at Tolbert, ordering in a deep tone, "You leave my wife the hell alone." Tolbert just held his chin up, silently tellin' my husband that he wasn't going to obey that order. "If it weren't for that goddamn case of yours, she wouldn't even be talkin' to ya."

"Cap…" I reprimanded him from under my breath, cutting him a warning look with my cornflower blues.

"Ya know that baby ain't yers, it's mine. Ya gonna be playin' poppy to a McCoy by bein' married t'her." Tolbert taunted, trying to gauge a negative reaction out of Cap. Oh my god, I knew Tolbert had a temper, but I never knew he could be this nasty. Shit, maybe Moses is right about how Tolbert's been thinking lately.

I tightly squeezed my husband's hand while shooting him a look with my eyes that silently read 'leave him be'. Cap's jaw clenched, lockin' up tight, as he squeezed my hand back in an assurance that we were goin' to our truck and he'd leave Tolbert alone. My husband quickly drug us to our truck while Tolbert heckled us with insults from his spot standing in the middle of the parking lot.

Once we were inside with our seatbelts on, Cap put the black Ram in gear and quickly tore out of the parking lot. He fiddled with the radio, harshly pressing the tuning and volume buttons, before shaking his shaggy blonde head and darkly spatting, "That fucker needs to leave you alone. He's got his nerve, talkin' shit to me."

I let out a deep, long sigh, and looked out the window. Watching the trees by the highway I told me husband, "Cap, he wouldn't have started talking shit if you would've stayed in the truck and let me handle things. He was upset cause I was leaving his daughter with my brother when I agreed to watch her in my office til he got back from shine runs." Turnin' my head away from the window, I looked at Cap and said, "He got riled up cause you butted it."

Cap looked at me with a raised brow. "So now it's my fault the crazy McCoy went off?"

I shook my head. "No, but you didn't help matters out either."

"Sounds an awfully lot like you're defending him to me." Cap's hands tightened around the steering wheel. With his mismatched eyes flittering between me and the road he stated, "I hope that's not what you're tryin' to do."

"No, I'm not defending him. It's just that Tolbert's a hot-head and you're one of his triggers." Well, I just figured out that Cap's one of Tolbert's triggers by what I witnessed in the parking lot. That's going to make my job defending the ginger even harder than it already is.

"Hell, bet a good snow fall's also one of his triggers." Cap scoffed, flipping on his blinker so that he could change lanes on the highway. "Babe, you need to drop this case. You got a deal for Bud, did the best that you could for the other two, but it's time to call it quits and throw in the towel."

"I can't do that. My uncle's depending on my help."

"Your uncle doesn't need your help. He doesn't give a shit about you now that we're hitched, so he doesn't deserve your kind-hearted loyalty."

"I know that, but he's family."

"And what the hell am I, chopped liver?" Cap asked, an offended tone in his deep rolling timbre.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." I quickly told him, causing Cap to just nod. "It's just that he took me and Mo in, raised us and put his life on hold for a while when he didn't have to."

"Damn it, you feel an obligation to see this case thru cause of that."

"Reckon so."

"I don't want you involved with the case anymore cause of the stress. God forbid somethin' happened and ya miscarried cause of Tolbert and all the McCoys bullshit." So, my husband was worried about the welfare of our baby. He made sense, high stress could cause miscarriages and scares. "Just think about quitting, okay?" Cap sighed, looking at me with worry in his mismatched eyes.

"Okay, I'll think about it." I agreed only to get my husband off my back. I felt that I could handle the heat from the case, he should trust my judgement. I was tired, didn't want to agree about my job anymore.

"Good." He simply nodded. Turning down the road that led to the Tug Bridge, he told me, "Uncle Wall's commercial shoot for his judge run's set for tomorrow. It's after the mediation so you'll have to come to the courthouse with me."

"Why?"

"Cause it's a family focused commercial. The entire family's gonna be there."

"Okay, so I guess I'm not working tomorrow."

"Most likely no, you're not." Cap firmly said, speeding up as the bridge got into view.

Great… "Okay, but I'll wait outside in the lobby while you're in the mediation room with Johnse, Roseanna, and my uncle."

Cap POV:

Last night was a total shit show. Tolbert thought he had the right to harass my wife, to talk shit to me too, just cause Perry was his lawyer. If it wasn't for Nova holding my hand I would've hauled off and popped that red-headed prick right in the mouth. Of course, after leaving the parking lot me and my wife got into a heated conversation, which was watered down pretty quickly. We never seemed to be snappy with each other for long.

Once we got home Nova made dinner and then I told her about what I was going to be putting on the table as an offer in mediation this morning. Well, mostly everything since I left one thing out. She approved of the notion, but pointed out that Perry and Roseanna weren't gonna be so accepting of it. I knew Nova was right, but I was sure that Johnse's puppy dog eyes could wear down Roseanna's resolve along with making the mediator try her best to get my notion signed off by Judge Wall.

This morning after dressing Nova toasted some poptarts for us and made us our drinks, putting them in travel mugs, so that we could eat on the go. We were used to eating on the run since we made the commute to Pikeville from Mate Creek every day, but it'd be nice one day to be able to have a real breakfast. I doubt that day'll be anytime soon tho.

After arriving in Pikeville, I drove over to the courthouse and found a place to park. As we walked side by side in the parking lot, I noticed that Perry Cline's hatchback was parked meaning that he and Roseanna were already in with the Mediator. Johnse's old truck was also in the lot, so my brother was also in the mediation room. Hmm, hopefully they're not trying to kill each other in there.

"This shouldn't take long, babe." I told my wife as we walked up the steps towards the double paned-glass doors of the large courthouse.

"I know." Nova sighed, sounding like she was full of anxiousness and dread. "I'll be in the lobby, just do what you gotta do for your brother." She told me before breaking away from my side and heading over to the large seatin' area as soon as we entered the building.

I just steeled myself and walked off down the hall. After a couple of minutes, I reached the mediation room. Whenever I opened the door and walked inside, I was meet with tense silence. The mediator was sitting in the middle of the large table while Johnse was to the right of her. To her left was Perry and Roseanna, the latter being a bit puffy eyed and depressed looking. I just nodded at the mediator before going over to take a seat next to my brother.

"I'm Mrs. Sheer and I'll be the mediator today. Since we're all here let's start." The middle-aged blonde with a shoulder length bob told us with a forced smile.

Not wanting to give Perry a chance to work his snake charm on the mediator I quickly opened my briefcase and took out the printed-up visitation and custody chart forms; placing them onto the table by the mediator while announcing, "This is the proposition that I've come up with for the time split between Roseanna McCoy and Johnse Hatfield when it comes to their child Sarah Elizabeth McCoy-Hatfield."

"What? You came with a printed-out form?" Perry Cline asked, his eyes narrowed on me as Roseanna subtly looked at Johnse.

"Yes, of course I did. You didn't think that he was going to settle on being only a weekend dad, did you?"

"This seems like a reasonable request." The mediator said, handing the papers over to Perry for inspection.

Perry Cline flipped thru the papers, Roseanna looking at them too from over his shoulder. When he was done, he gave them back to the mediator while scoffing, "Two weeks with him and then two weeks with us and split holidays. I don't like that setup."

"And the motion to transfer her to Mate Creek Elementary." I grinned smugly, slapping the motion paper right on the table infront of the mediator.

"What?" Perry asked in a loud snap.

Roseanna had a confused look on her face as she softly spoke up with, "But she's been in Pikeville Elementary for four years now."

"If you'd read these school printouts, you'll see that the test scores are higher for Mate Creek Elementary then for Pikeville Elementary." I told everyone, handing out printouts for both of the schools. Johnse just sat by me like a bump on a log, letting me do all of the talking. I imagine he was too busy checkin' out his ex then to actually think. I cleared my throat, for dramatics, before pointin' at the printouts and saying, "STEM is a very important thing nowadays and you'll see that the Math and Science scores are higher than the West Virginian state average in Mate Creek Elementary. Pikeville Elementary's scores are a few bars lower then Kentucky's state average tho."

"I must concur that it seems the change in school would be beneficial to the child's education." The mediator remarked, causing a scowl to form over Perry Cline's face. The mediator looked over at Roseanna and Perry while asking, "Do ya'll agree to the terms set by Mr. Hatfield, or do you contest?"

Perry went to open his mouth only to be shut down by Roseanna quickly squeakin' out, "I don't like it, but as her mama I accept cause I want the best for her. The new school'll give her more opportunities."

"What?" Perry asked in a slight huff, givin' his fiancé a wide-eyed look. "But now we'll be halfin' our time with our daughter."

"Excuse me, Mr. Cline, but she ain't your daughter. She's mine." Johnse told the snake sitting across from him.

"Perry, I think right now you're more of a legal representative then a pa so…" I smirked at him, letting him know that he had no legal say so over Roseanna and Johnse's kid.

Mrs. Shearer looked at all of us while advising, "Let's not get hostile, gentlemen."

Perry Cline's mustache arched up in a crooked line as his face trembled with anger. "I know for a fact that Johnse Hatfield lives in a dump of a trailer."

"I knew you'd bring that up, Uncle Perry, so I have pictures of my brother's trailer with me." I said, a bit passive aggressively, as I pulled pictures of my brother's remodeled home, thanks to ma and pa, out of my briefcase for the mediator to see. Placing the stack of pictures in front of Mrs. Shearer I explained, "It's gotten new windows and siding installed, along with new appliances."

The mediator picked up the pictures and looked at them. Nodding, she set them down and said, "The trailer seems in code 'nough for me, Mr. Cline."

"I'll sign the papers for split custody and school changes." Roseanna told the mediator, scooting her chair closer to the desk.

"These custody papers will be in effect the first of the month. I expect the child's records to be transferred to the new school by then too." Mrs. Shearer remarked, sliding the papers and a pen over to Roseanna.

Perry's face skewed up as he spat, "But that's next Monday."

"Yes, and if it's not done then Miss McCoy will be in breach of custody agreements and placed into contempt of court." The mediator said as she took the signed papers from Roseanna. "I'll have Judge Wall sign these and then I'll be back with your copies." The mediator told us with a polite smile before taking off to find my uncle.

Novella POV:

My Uncle Perry was draggin' Roseanna down the hall and into the lobby by the crook of her elbow. Roseanna looked sad and defeated while Uncle Perry just had a hateful look in his eyes. I couldn't look Roseanna in the eyes, I was too afraid of how she'd react to me. I heard the shuffles and clinks of their loafers and heels hitting the marble floor getting closer to my seat in the lobby. Before I knew it my uncle and my childhood best friend were standin' right in front of me.

Roseanna was holdin' back tears while Uncle Perry looked at me with disgust. "I need to talk to you in my office, it's important."

Looking up at my uncle from my spot sitting down I told him, "I'm not coming into work today; Uncle Wall's got his judge campaign commercial shoot."

Uncle Perry tilte his head at me while sarcastically saying, "Oh, so now Judge Hatfield's Uncle Wall to you."

"Yes, he is, considerin' I'm married to his nephew." I reminded my uncle, a tense flatness in my usually flowing voice.

"Well, you're not the only one not showin' up for work. Moses has called in, worse he went out last night and never came home." Oh no, my brother's going full speed ahead with Betty and they've only been together a week maybe. Hell, Mo must've stayed at the King's Motel last night or something.

"I'm sure he'll be home soon." I lied thru my teeth, not wantin' to give up what my brother was really doing. Moses had my back and I had his, no matter what.

"Just stop by the office when the commercial is over. I got a very nasty call from Ole Rand'l that we need to talk about." Oh no, he knows about the deal I made for Bud.

"I'll try, see what I can do."

Roseanna's bottom lip shook before she blurted out in a wounded tone, "Why did y'do it, tell 'bout Sarah Elizabeth? I thought we were friends, but you really hurt me."

"I thought we were friends too, but you ratted me out to Nancy." Roseanna's mouth began to open, but I held my hand in the air and told her, "Don't deny it. I know it had to be you cause you knew 'bout me and Cap." My eyes hardened slightly as I spat, "Nancy and Bad Frank had my car blown up. Thankfully it was just me and my husband's cars that burnt up and not our house, but cause of you we were in danger." Also, I'm pregnant so a lot of things could've happened that night.

Roseanna shook her head frantically, blonde curls flinging over her shoulders, as she trembled, "I didn't tell. I swear, I didn't."

"We're going, but what you did to the McCoy family and to me's unspeakable. You've got a lot to atone for." Uncle Perry told me with a hardness in his slick voice before storming off with Roseanna towards the doors.

I sighed let out a sigh and leaned back in my chair. The sooner my husband showed up the better. I wanted to get out of this damn courthouse.

"Hi, Nova." Johnse greeted me with a cheerful smile as he walked over with Cap by his side.

"Hi, Johnse. How'd it go?" I asked, standing to my feet.

"I got joint custody." My brother-in-law announced as Cap came up to my side, a briefcase dangling in his left hand.

"We even got her to get transferred to Mate Creek Elementary." Cap told me, wrapping an arm 'round my shoulder.

Huh? I had no idea why they'd do that tho. She was just fine at Pikeville Elementary.

"The school's better." Johnse blurted out from behind us, before I could even ask why the school transfer was needed, as we started to head over to the door.

The commercial for Wall's judge campaign was shot in a park that was by the courthouse. As I suspected, Moses was there with Betty. The commercial was focused on how Wall was a family man that wanted to make Pike County a better place for all families. After the commercial tho, I told Moses how Uncle Perry wanted to see me and how he knew about the deal I made for Bud. Moses ended up talking to Cap and told him that he'd take me home cause we needed to see Uncle Perry about some things. So, that's why I'm currently entering my uncle's office with my brother following right behind me.

"So, I see you managed to find your brother and bring him to work." Uncle Perry said as I made my way to a chair while Moses shut the door behind him.

As I took my seat Moses walked over to the desk while saying. "I'm not here to work, Uncle Perry." Taking a seat next to me he confessed, "I'm here to tell you that I want my money for my last two years of college cause I want to get my own place and maybe take a few classes somewhere that ain't Louisville."

Our uncle's eyes popped out of his head, reminding me of a cartoon character. "What? Moses, don't be foolish."

Moses shook his head, clearly insulted by Uncle Perry's remark. Sitting up straight in his chair he told our uncle, "I'm not, I just want the money that I'm entitled too so I can buy a place and do school somewhere other than in Louisville."

"Does this sudden urge to move involve a girl or is it just a hair brain idea?" Uncle Perry asked, leaning back slightly in his chair.

"I've started seein' somebody. She's nice and I'd like to live closer to her, see where things go." I knew it, he's head over heels for Betty even tho they just started up. All I can say is once you get with a Hatfield it's all downhill from there, no turning back.

"And pray tell, where is it you'll be takin' off to."

With a shit eating grin, Moses simply said, "Mate Creek."

"What?" Perry asked in a shout. Narrowing his eyes at me he seethed, "This is all your fault!"

"How is it my fault?" I asked before pointing at Mo and adding in, "I have no say so over who he sees; where he goes."

"Moses, I'll give you your money, but only after this case is over."

Moses shook his head, his messy bun quickly swaying, as he chuckled, "Of course, hogtie me into continuing to work for you."

Uncle Perry just rolled his eyes at my brother before setting his sights on me. "Novella, Randall called me very upset this morning. Says Bud told him that yesterday you and Cap gave him a deal."

"Yes." I nodded. "Bud walks with all charges cleared, but he's a witness for the prosecution." I honestly told my uncle the details of the deal, figuring it'd be best that he finds out from me then in the courtroom.

Before Uncle Perry could make a remark the door to his office opened. Betty didn't enter the room tho, instead some middle-aged man in a polo did. Looking at me the man asked, "Mrs. Nova Hatfield?"

"Yes, that's me." I nodded, half-turned in my chair.

"You've been served." He told me, handing me an envelope with the ADA's mark on it.

As the man left the room, I felt my family's eyes on me while I opened up the letter. After reading it I sunk in my seat, revealin', "Cap's having me testify as his first character witness on the first day of the trial. Right after opening statements."

"But why?" Uncle Perry asked while Moses looked up at a bookshelf while leanin' back in his chair, ploppin' his dirty boots onto our uncle's desk.

"I dated Tolbert in high school, that's why." Now I knew exactly what angle my husband was playing at. He was going to bring up the bad things in the relationship to paint Tolbert as a man that's always been nasty and prone to violence. Even tho Tolbert only stuck me once, we did get into a lot of screamin' matches. That right there'll make my client look bad, but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be the only ex Cap was putting up on the stand.

AN:

Next up will be Novella's high school reunion and maybe the jury selection. The trial's getting closer and closer.