*Author's Note*

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McCoy's Mistress Takes The Stand

Nova POV:

The small diner was packed full of people due to the court's lunchbreak. The jury tho was sequestered in their courthouse quarters with lunch bein' delivered to them. Cap and Johnse were sitting at a booth with their parents in the far back of the diner while Moses was sitting at a table in the middle of the diner with Robert E., Mariah, and Betty, who had called out of school in order to be at the trial of her uncle's murders. I didn't see Uncle Perry anywhere so I assumed he went home to see Roseanna since she never showed up to the trial. I spotted Jim Vance, Cotton, Skunk Hair, and Vera at a table not far from my brother's. Randall and Sally weren't in the diner tho, I think they opted to get their food to go and went to the nearby park to eat or something. I also noticed that Nancy, Bad Frank, Ransom, Jefferson, and Sarah were eating at a table not that far from my own. Sarah was nastily staring at her sister, Mariah, since they were with men on opposite sides. Parris and Squirrel were at the coutner, sittin' at stools and eating. Parris' girlfriend was with them too while Squirrel looked like he was hittin' on his waitress, who couldn't even be out of high school yet. Meanwhile, I was sittin' in a booth near the front with Tolbert, Pharmer, and Billy. Billy kept narrowin' his eyes nastily at my brother's table, clearly pissed that Moses was with Betty and jealous of Robert E.'s relationship with Mariah since he had a thing for her. It was just my rotten luck that I was stuck with Tweddle Dumb, Tweedle Dee, and the Mad Hatter for my lunch companions.

Dear lord, the settin' in this diner alone could be the opener for a crime show like Law and Order since everyone, or just about, was crammed into one place with high tensions in the air.

"Keep lookin' like that an' yer face'll frreze up that way." Tolbert chastised his little brother in a gruff fatherly tone before takin' a bite out of his steak melt sandwich.

"Shut up, Tolbert." Billy sneered, angrily dippin' a fry into some ketchup 'fore ploppin' it into his mouth. "Can't believe Moses is over there with that girl stealin' Hatfield and some blonde bimbo Hatfield bitch."

"Billy, stop it. Those are my in-laws you're talkin' 'bout and I won't think twice 'bout smacking you upside the head for bein' disrespectful."

"Oh, yea, I forgot, you had a lapse in judgment and married the ADA shotgun style. Hope that's helpin' with the case…" Billy bitterly sneered at me, his eyes narrowed into angry slits. Great, he's mad at everyone tied to a Hatfield along with the Hatfields cause Mariah picked Robert E. over his moody ass.

"Billy, if ya don't shut yer trap I'll shut it for ya." Tolbert seethed, his gruff velvet timbre low and deadly.

Billy rolled his eyes, but didn't say another word. Instead he opted to eat his French fries. Tolbert continued to glare at his brother while taking a bite out of his sandwich, daring his brother to make another remark.

Pharmer paused in eating his soup of the day to tell his older brother, "Tolbert, don't get riled up. Won't do us no good after lunch when we be back in court."

Suddenly, my phone started to buzz around in its wallet case on the table. Picking it up, with the two McCoy redheads watching me, I looked at the caller id only to see that it was Doc Rutherford's Kentucky office calling. "It's my doctor, I need'a take this." I told the guys before accepting the call with a simple, "Hello."

"Nova Hatfield, it's Doc. I'm callin' to tell ya somethin' that needs t'be done at your appointment this week."

"Okay." I nodded while everyone around me just ate while watching me on the phone.

"I want to do a bloodtest to do an early scan of the baby's DNA to determine gender and any abnormalities, such as autism." Doc told me, causing my head to spin. Oh my god, I never even thought about the fact that my baby might be like Cotton. Upon my silent reaction he informed me, "Johnse's women have all gotten the test done for their babies. It's real simple, just some blood drawn and sent to the lab for scannin'. Since you're carryin' the child, it's dna can be gathered from your blood."

"I understand, Doc. It's fine, we'll do it."

"Very well, have a good day, Mrs. Hatfield." Doc told me right before hanging up, no doubt having other patients he needed to call.

"What's goin' on?" Tolbert asked, eyeing me up a bit curiously.

"Nothin', just remindin' me about my appointment in a couple of days." I lied thru my teeth. My appetite had suddenly disappeared as the reality of the test I was getting done in a couple of days hit me hard in the head, like a 2x4.

Pointing at me plate, Pharmer asked, "Are ya gonna finish that? If not, can I have those last few chicken fingers?"

"Here ya go, Pharmer." I passed my plate over to him. "Et up." I told him as he dumped my unwanted chicken fingers onto his plate, placin' mine under his. Feeling as if I was going to suffocate in the crowded room I stood up and told the men at my table as I pulled some cash out of my phone case waller, "I'm gonna head back to the courthouse." Placing the money on the table I said, "This should cover my part of the check."

I didn't wait for them to say a word, I just walked away from the table and over to the door. I was halfway down the street whenever I heard bootsteps slappin' on the pavement behind me accompanied by Tolbert's gruff velvet timbre callin' out, "Wait up, Ella." I didn't want to deal with him right now, but he was my client. I let out a sigh and stopped so that he could catch up to me. It only took a few strides before Tolbert was by my side. "Is somethin' wrong? Ya didn't finish yer chicken fingers, that's yer fav'rite, an' ya just left lunch early." Tolbert asked, seemin' concerned.

"I'm fine, Tolbert." I assured him before resuming my path down the sidewalk.

"Y'sure don't seem like it. If ya wanna talk, I'll listen." He pried, his gruff toned voice going an active softer then it normally was, as he walked besides me.

"Thanks, but what's botherin' me's personal. It's something I can only talk to my husband about, not you." I honestly told him, my cornflower blues trained straight ahead of me, as I picked up my pace.

"Oh…" Tolbert sighed, sounding a bit uneasy, as he faltered in his steps.

No doubt the fact that I could talk to Cap about anything and seek comfort from him, but not Tolbert must've been like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped on his head. Tolbert always felt that we were a pair that could tell each other anything, be there for each other too, but now he knows that's not the case. I had Cap and he was the opposite side of my coin. He was the one that was my match, my lover, my comfort. That fact, I knew, burned Tolbert alive inside.

Once court resumed Misty, Tolbert's ex-mistress and baby mama, was called up onto the stand and sworn in. She, in my professional opinion, didn't look appropriate for court, but instead looked like she was ready to go to the club in her low-cut tight tank dress. Hell, no wonder Tolbert cheated on Mary with her, Misty was a very pretty blonde with an hourglass figure. I bet Tolbert still tapped that, just saying…

As I sat between my brother and my client watching Cap ask Misty her name for the record, I couldn't help, but wonder how many of us women Tolbert screwed over. How many are just floatin' by unseen and unheard of, but are secretly in the shadows with a bad story to tell.

My thoughts were broken tho and I was returned to reality as I heard my husband's deep wave-like voice ask his character witness, "You met Tolbert when he was still married to Mary, correct?"

"Yes." Misty nodded with a smile.

"And how did you meet?" Cap asked with a schooled look on his cold-featured face.

"At a bar I used to sling drinks at. He came in a lot with his cousins." Of course, he did. The bar's practically their second home considering they all have a drinking problem. They deny the problem, but it's there never the less.

"Who approached who?" Cap asked before quickly adding in with a head tilt, "Be honest now."

"He approached me." Of course he did. Hell, even if he didn't, she was gonna say that he did. Of course Misty couldn't leave it at that. The blonde took a tiny breath before admitting, "At first, I was hesitant cause he had a weddin' ring on, but he insisted it weren't a love match. Said he was only married to the bitch cause he was dumb 'nough to knock her up."

Oh no, that wasn't good at all for Tolbert. Shit, I have a feeling anything else that comes out of Misty the whore's mouth is gonna be damning for my ginger client.

Tolbert's head snapped and he looked at my with anger and disbelief coursing thru his stormy eyes while gruffy snapping, "Goddamn, she actually 'membered what I said like 3 years 'go, but can't member t'pay her fuckin' rent or bills on time."

My brow rose up, a bit intrigued by what I just heard. "What?"

"Ya heard me, if I didn't pay 'em her an' the kid would be out on the street. I support 'em, why I work so much shinin'." Tolbert told me, causing my to instantly thing gold digger.

"I can work with that." I told Tolbert, givin' him a slight smirk.

"So, Tolbert got you pregnant while he had a heavily pregnant wife at home? One who he didn't even seem to want, correct?" Cap asked for a dramatic effect. He was making sure that the jury saw Tolbert in a bad light instead of as the family man we were trying to portray him as.

"Yes." Misty nodded, causing the jury to have all kinds of shocked, pitiful, and other typed of expressions cross their faces.

"And after you got pregnant was it his idea or yours to move you into a new apartment over in Mate Creek, West Virginia?"

"It was his idea." Once again, of course it was. Can't shit and eat in the same place now. I just leaned an elbow on the table as I listened to Misty expand her answer with, "I was happy at my old place, but he insisted that I needed to move 'cross the Tug cause he couldn't have anybody find out 'bout me and our son."

"Oh, so he kept you his dirty little secret then?" Is it bad that the song, Dirt Little Secret, by the All-American Rejects just popped into my head? I saw out of the corner of my eye that Moses was suppressing a grin by biting his lip and I just knew that the song popped into his head too.

"Yes."

"Cause you and his bastard would taint the good church goin' family-oriented image he tries to convey? Ain't that right, Misty?"

"Yes, I s'pose it is."

"And how long have you been his dirty little secret? A year, or maybe two, or even three perhaps?" Cap asked, more or try goading her into an answer.

I shot up out of my seat while shouting, "Objection, your honor, he's baitin' her."

Uncle Wall just gave me a pointed look while sayin', "Noted, but I'll allow it." Looking at Misty he ordered, "Answer the ADA, lil lady."

"We broke up officially after I got pregnant, but we've continued to hook up over the last three or so years." Oh hell, that ain't a good answer. I looked over at Tolbert and cut my eyes at him, which just caused the ginger to shrug at me.

"By hooking up you mean ya'll have been having sex?" Cap asked since he wanted Misty to come out and say the word that would damn my client. Mark him as a hot-headed cheat with an unpredictable streak.

"Yes. We see each other when he comes over to visit our son."

"Such a great family man he is. Tolbert has one child he raises in public and another he sees once and a while in private, only when he wants to scratch an itch too." Cap said, his voice full of sarcasm, as he paced the front of the courtroom. Stopping in front of his witness, he asked, "And what's the reason he gives you for keepin' the relationship hidden and at arm's length?"

"Objection. He's prying into something personal that's most likely going to be paraphrased."

"Ya got a point, boy?"

"Yes, if you'd let her answer, I'll be able to prove it."

Noddin', Wall sighed heavily, "Go head, I'll allow the question."

"Damnit, he don't deny nothin'." Tolbert spat under his breath, giving Jusge Wall a nasty stare.

"Shh, I wanna hear her answer." Pharmer hissed at Tolbert, causin' him to just roll his eyes and angrily fold his arms over his chest.

"Tolbert says that he ain't gonna let no whore be his lil girl's mama or a whore's baby be her brother neither." Misty said, causing some of the jury to gasp while others just nodded their heads.

"And he tells you often?"

"Yes."

"In a way is his shamin' of you messin' with your head, doesn't it?"

"Yes, sometimes it does." Of course, it does. Being called a whore's bad for a woman's self-esteem. What I wanna know is if he's so nasty why does she still spread her legs for him? I mean he ain't that good that he's worth tearin' apart self-esteem and self-worth.

"That many of times would be considered verbal or mental abuse." Cap boldly stated, looking right at the jury with his head up high.

"Objection, the ADA's making a solid statement to the witness instead of questioning her." I objected, standing to my feet and pointing to my cunning husband. Dear lord was he a hell of a prosecutor. No wonder he never lost a case back in Baltimore.

"Withdrawn and I rest." Cap simply told his uncle before going over to his table and taking a seat.

"I'm questioning the witness." I quickly told Wall, before he could even open his mouth, as I got up from my seat. Walking over to the witness stand I gave Misty a polite look before asking her, "Does Tolbert pay any child support for your child?"

"We don't got it set up in the courts." She told me as a way to get around the question.

"Then do you have an arrangement where he pays outside of court?" I asked, knowing that she'd have to say yes since she was under oath.

"Um, yes, he gives me money not ordered by the court." Misty revealed, her light and airy voice sounding a bit hesitant.

"Money that's used for your son's welfare?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"But what about your bills? How do you pay them and your rent when you're unemployed?" I asked, causing my husband to let out a sigh and slump down in his chair with a hand running thru his shaggy hair. Aha, Cap knew that I was doing, knew that I'd get the result I wanted too.

"Tolbert helps out." Misty answered and she avoided having any eye contact with my client, her cash cow named Tolbert McCoy.

"Helps out or supports you, Misty?" I asked, causing my husband to hang his head in defeat as he let out a disgruntled huff.

"He pays my rent and bills, but that's so our son can live in a good neighborhood. I can't afford it on my own." Misty answered, her voice going up in pitch by time she finished talking.

"You can't afford it cause you don't work. You haven't worked since you've been pregnant, isn't that right?"

"I took time off to have my baby." She said as a way to avoid giving me a solid answer, one that's make her look bad too.

"Misty, answer the question I asked with a simple yes or no please." I curtly told the blonde, trying to give her a nice look even tho I was aggravated with her. How hard was it for Misty to say yes? Apparently, very hard when it came to admitting she depended on Tolbert for her survival.

Misty's confidence wavered a slight bit as she sighed, "Yes, I haven't worked in years."

"Then, since you refuse to work, wouldn't you havin' my client bankrollin' you make you a gold digger? Perhaps a shrewd one that's upset that he won't enter a serious relationship and is only throwing him under the bus cause of that?"

"Uncle Wall, I object. Tolbert's the one on trial, not my witness." Cap stood up, cocking his head to the side as he leaned his hands on his table.

"I with drawl, Uncle Wall. Also, the defense rests." I told the judge before going back to the defense table and taking my seat next to the ginger I was defending with everything I had.

After Judge Wall called the trial to a recess until tomorrow morning, me and Moses went over to our uncle's office to regroup. That's why I was currently sitting in the conference room with Uncle Perry, Moses, Tolbert, and Pharmer. My uncle was just about to start a speech about what Pharmer might need to expect tomorrow whenever the door to the room swung open with a loud crash followed by, to my surprise, Senator Billing's voice roaring out, "Who the fuck do ya think you are Perry?!"

Shit was about to go down and it was gonna be ugly. For Senator Billings to drive all the way here to Pikeville from Frankfurt, instead of just calling Uncle Perry up on the phone, he was pissed and wanted a face to face confrontation. My uncle was never good at confrontations, he always backs down from a fight that's not in the courtroom.

Uncle Perry rolled his eyes at his old law school buddie. Cocking his head slightly and waving his hand a bit dismissively, his slick voice took on a passive aggressive tone as he asked, "Billings, shouldn't you be in the state capital running a campaign, not barging into my conference room when I'm having a discussion with my team and clients?"

"I was, until the live news coverage of the McCoy boys' trial showed you opening up Pandora's box, throwing both me and Nova under the goddamn bus." Senator Billings spat, his jaw clenched and his sharp nose scrunched up in anger.

"It's nothing against you or my niece, it's just that the information about ya'll was strong enough to discredit the testimony Novella made against Tolbert." My uncle said so flippantly, as if he was discussing the menu options at the damn Sizzler.

"Are you that obsessed with winning that you'd destroy both your niece's reputation and career along with mine?" The senator asked, whether rhetorically or seriously I couldn't really tell. "You cold-blooded snake." Senator Billings coarsely spat with an angry stare that could rival the Wolverine's.

And if things couldn't get any worse, my hot-shot ADA husband stormed into the conference room with a hard-set look on his scruffy face. "You got some nerve, Uncle Perry." The Uncle Perry part of his sentence rolling of his tongue with biting and sneering sarcasm. Cap's jaw twitched as he continued his tirade with, "Tryin' to paint my wife out as some whore or lovesick twit to discredit her word. You piece of shit, how dare you do that t'your own blood?"

"Oh, so you got the ADA husband pissed off too?" Senator Billings rhetorically asked, hitching a thumb at my livid husband. With a chuckle he sarcastically clapped, "Good job, Perry, good job."

Tolbert and Pharmer were silently watching everything go down, their eyes darting between Uncle Perry, Senator Billings, and Cap. Pharmer just looked a bit lost and confused while Tolbert looked to be biting his tongue. It seemed like the hot-headed ginger was trying to stay calm, most likely for my sake since he sensed that my nerves were shot all damn day. Moses was on his phone playing Charm King, ignoring all of the drama unfolding around him. Only my brother could tune shit out by playing games.

"Both of you have no reason to be in this room." Uncle Perry told the men standing in the room, his slick tone cold and still. Giving Cap a cutting stare he spat, "Especially you, ADA Hatfield."

"I've got every right to be here." Cap declared, causing my uncle to just roll his eyes. My husband's jaw twitched, causin' his mustache and goatee to shift, before his deep rolling timbre snapped angrily with, "My wife's in this goddamn room and after the shit you pulled on her, I'm here to take her home 'fore any stress harm her pregnancy."

"We're working a case, go home, young Hatfield." My uncle shooed my husband with the flick of his wrist, acting as if he was a peasant.

"Congrats on the baby." Senator Billings told me with a smirk.

"Thanks." I simply nodded.

Senator Billing's facial features went riggid and hard as he asked my uncle in a firm drawlin' tone, "Perry, how could you open Pandora's box when Nova's pregnant? Are you tryin' to cause stress related harm to her and the baby?"

"Hell, Perry Cline don't care 'bout nothin' but himself and Roseanna. Oh, and what the McCoys think of him." Cap seethed, his voice deep and deadly as he gave my uncle a bone-chilling look with his icy eye and its milky twin. "Ain't that right?" Cap asked my uncle sarcastically with a sour look on his hard lined face.

"Stop all this bitchin'." I demanded, standing up from my chair. All eyes were on me as I let out a flowing sigh of, "I've had a long day and I don't wanna listen to all this bullshit." Walking over to my husband, I told him, "Cap, let's just go home."

"Aight, baby, we'll go home." Cap assured me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and ushering me out the room.

Moses POV:

After watching Cap and Nova walk out of the conference room, I put my phone into my pocket while looking at my Uncle Perry and asking, "Since sissy left, can I go to?"

"Why, Moses? We can still brief the McCoy boys once Senator Billings leaves after his temper tantrum's over." Uncle Perry remarked as he shifted ever so slightly in his seat.

Senator Billings just rolled his eyes at my uncle. Clearly, he didn't like Uncle Perry's remark. I had the feeling that guy wasn't going away so easily, not until he used every curse word in the book on my uncle that is.

Before I could answer my uncle, the senator spat, "I'm not having a goddamn temper tantrum, Perry. I'm pissed that you ruined my career, not to mention hurt your own niece." Shaking his head, Senator Billings continued his rant with, "Damnit, my reelection's dead in the water now. With all this me too and women's rights goin' on now-a-days I'll never be able to work in politics again, not with the scandal you've smeared all over me. Not to mention my days as a law professor for fall term's over too." He narrowed his eyes at my uncle and warned, "Watch your back, Perry, cause I know 'bout everything you've got your hands in that ain't clean." Before storming out of the room he sneered, "I'll laugh if you lose, you case obsessed proper piece of shit."

A moment or so after the senator left, I scratched the back of my neck while telling my uncle, "I'm meeting Betty, Robert E. and Mariah later for dinner and to go see Bohemian Rhapsody. Thought I'd go home to shower and change first."

Uncle Perry leaned back in his chair while sighing, "Dear lord, you're double dating with that Hatfield girl's brother and the girl he stole from Billy."

"Ya gonna be in Pikeville or Mate Creek?" Tolbert asked, looking right at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

"The cineplex here's the only one showin' the movie tonight." I answered before raising a brow and adding in a quick, "Why?"

"No reason." Tolbert shrugged, shakin' his head slightly.

"You may go." Uncle Perry sighed with disappointment heavy in his slick tinted words.

I just nodded my head and walked out of the room. God, after today's shitshow I'm gonna need dinner and a movie to unwind with.

Nova POV:

We were halfway home and the only sound in the truck was the country song coming from the radioThe silence between me and my husband wasn't eery or tense, it was just there. I knew that Cap was madder then a wet hornet over what my uncle did, but was just keeping it together for my sake. I let out a small, silent sigh before I looking at my husband and telling him, "Doc Rutherford called me at lunch."

"What for?" Cap asked, giving me a curious look, as he drove us down the highway.

Here it is, the moment of truth. Looking straight ahead out of the windshield I honestly revealed in a tone that I tried to keep leveled, "To tell me that he needs to do a blood test to scan for any abnormalities in the baby, like autism."

"Oh…." Fell off of my husband's lips, lingering in the air longer then the smoke from his cigarette does.

"Yea…" I trailed off in response to his floating one word.

"And you've been workin' while having your mind worryin' bout this test." Cap stated, not asked, as the Tug Fork Bridge came into view. Shaking his head, a bit incredulously, he sighed, "Damnit, babe, you need to quit this case."

"I know, but I can't." I told him for the umpteenth time. I've lost count of how many times I've told him that.

"What happened today is the main reason why I want you to quit; why you need to quit too. I can't have you, my pregnant wife, under so much stress and being caught in the crossfire of me and your snake of an uncle." Cap told me, well more or less lectured me, as we crossed the bridge over into West Virginia.

"I know that, Will, but I gave my word. I need to see this case thru."

"At what cost, huh? What, our unborn child or your emotional wellbein'?" Cap asked, seriousness heavy in his deep timbre. Giving me a slight side-eye, he stated, "It's only gonna get worse in that courtroom, Nova."

"I know. I'll think bout quitting, okay?" I offered as a truce as we got closer to downtown Mate Creek.

"You always say that, but ya never think 'bout it." My husband's deep-toned words rang true. He was right, I always said I'd think on it, but never did. Does this mean this time I really have to sit back and think hard about my role in this case and whether or not it's worth the stress on my pregnant body? Changing the mood in the truck, Cap looked at me and asked, "How 'bout we swing by Bob Evan's for dinner? After how bad today was, I doubt you're up to cookin'."

Nodding my head, I smiled, "Bob Evan's sounds good."

Cap just nodded, giving me a soft smile, and patted my hand. With Keith Urban blaring on the radio, we made our way to Bob Evan's for dinner. Hopefully a good country cooked meal would lift our spirits and lighten out mood.

AN:

Hope you guys liked this chapter. Something big happens in the next chapter concerning Moses. Nova's going to be upset with Tolbert too.