*Author's Note*

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A Healthy Baby Boy

Nova POV:

Dressed casual in a flannel shirt and jeans, I was in the kitchen making a pot of Jim Dandy grits whenever Tolbert walked into the kitchen. Coming up to a stop right behind me, he said, "I'll finish these up, ya go wake Sally Ella an' help her get ready for school."

"Okay." I nodded, dropping my wooden spoon into the pot of grits so that Tolbert could just get right to stirring once I left.

Before I could leave, Tolbert placed a hand on my hip and told me, "Ya look good in flannel. Brings out the backhills girl in ya."

"Thanks." I replied, causing him to removed his hand from my hip. "By the way, you look good in denim button downs." I cheekily responded to Tolbert before leaving the kitchen.

I imagine that he's prolly grinning from ear to ear as a result of my compliment as he finishes up those grits. Hell, that little moment between us just now in the kitchen felt so normal even tho it shouldn't considering… I just shook my head, clearing it, as I made my way down the hall and to Sally Elle's room.

Once I reached her room, I walked inside and flipped on the light switch. Sally Elle let out a tiny groan, rolled over, and pulled the covers high over her head. Oh my god, she was just like Tolbert when it came to waking up. Hell, he could've warned me she was gonna be a rough one to get up. "Sally Elle, it's time to get up."

"No, me sleepy." She protested in a mumbled slur.

Going over to the bed and pulling the covers off of her head, I softly told her, "Honey, you have to get up and get ready for school."

"I don't wanna, mama." Sally Elle groggily whined, rolling onto her stomach and pressing her head into her pillow.

Hearing her call me mama once again did something to me. Made my heart melt. This little girl was staking her claim to me, letting me know that she wanted me as her mother, and I was (surprisingly) okay with it. "Baby, you have to get up whether you wanna or not." I firmly, but sympathetically, told her while picking her up out of bed.

"No…" She trailed off as I set her on the ground.

"Now, let's pick out an outfit. Okay?" I suggested in a level, but sweet, tone as I held her hand and gestured to her closet.

"Okay…" Sally Elle relented, nodding her tired head full of wild copper curls.

I led the little girl over to her closet, which had a fushia door, and slid it open. Oh my god, this lil girl had a lot of clothes. Hell, she had everything from dresses to short sets to legging sets to t-shirts and plain jeans. I had no idea how to help her pick out something that wouldn't take all morning doing so. I guess I was a bit overwhelmed since I've never done this before. "Um, what do you wanna wear?" I asked as I began to thumb thru her warmer looking clothes.

"Poppy picks two an' lets me pick one outta 'em." Sally Elle informed me while letting go go my hand.

Oh, okay, well that makes sense. So, I grabbed two legging outfits out of the closet and held them up to Sally Elle. "Kitties or Frozen?" I asked, gesturing between the pink outfit and the teal outfit with a swift nod of my head.

"Frozen!" The girl exclaimed happily. Yea, Tolbert was right when he said she loved it.

"Let me get you some socks and undies; then you can change." I told the girl, handing her the utfit before going over to her dresser.

"Okay, but ya gotta do my hair."

"I will, after you get dressed."

About 5 Minutes Later…

"Poppy, poppy, mama did my hair!" Sally Elle loudly announced, grinning from ear to ear, as she ran into the kitchen.

Turning around from scooping up breakfast, Tolbert looked at his daughter and by extension me since I was entering the kitchen right behind her. "Oh, I see. She did a good job."

"She braids hair better then ya do, poppy." She announced while taking her seat at the table while I went over to the counter by the stove to grab a bowl and get myself some grits.

"Well, yea, she's a girl." Tolbert chuckled, bringing over a breakfast plate to his daughter. "Or'nge juice or apple?"

"Apple." Sally Elle answered while I made my way over to the table with my plate of grits.

"Ella, I thought that we'd take Sally Elle to school, then swing by Doc's for yer appointment, then go to the law office t'work on the case." Tolbert told me while grabbing the juice bottle from the fridge, placing it onto a nearby counter, and grabbing a plastic kiddie-cup from a cabinet.

I felt a bit leery with his suggestion. Arching a brow at him as he poured his daughter a cup of juice, I asked, "Are you sure you wanna do that in one truck? I mean C-A-P's gonna be meetin' me at Doc's."

"I'm sure; I'll just wait in the truck while ya go in for the test." Tolbert assured me while bringing his daughter her cup. "Want some juice, milk, tea?" He asked me after settin' the juice in front of Sally Elle.

"The apple juice you already have out's fine." I answered, causing him to nod and go over to grab me a cup.

Well, looks like I'm having a normal family breakfast with Tolbert and Sally Elle. Who would've thought…

"Don't worry, sweetheart, everythin'll be fine." Tolbert assured me as he turned my truck into the parkin' lot of Doc Rutherford's clinic. "Looks like yer husband's 'ere." He remarked, pointing to Cap's truck, as he parked in an open spot close to the patio of the clinic.

"Just stay in the truck; he won't know what happened." I advised while grabbing my door handle.

"Wasn't plannin' on gettin' out, Ella." Tolbert told me as I opened my door and stepped out of the truck. "See ya in a lil bit." He told me, pullin' his phone out of his pocket, as I placed my hand onto the door.

"Bye." I simply told him before shutting the truck door and walking up to the clinic. I took a steady breath to calm myself before opening up the door and walking into Doc's office. As soon as I stepped foot into the building, I noticed that Cap was sitting in a corner chair, a hard pressed look on his face, as he thumbed thru a parenting magazine. I didn't pay him any mind, just went over to the front desk and signed in.

After signing in is when I acknowledged my husband. I took a seat next to him and simply greeted him with, "Hi, Cap."

"Hi, Nova." He parroted. Closing his magazine and handing it over to me, he informed me, "Jim's draggin' your brother out of our guestroom as we speak. He's takin' him home for a bough of tough love."

"Oh. So, Jim's gonna be hard on him til he snaps out of his funk then?" I asked while opening up the magazine that had a happy smiling baby on the cover.

"Yep." Popped my husband.

"How was Mo last night?" I asked while flipping thru the magazine, looking for some article to catch my eye.

"Pretty bad. So bad that I sent my sister home to ma and pa's cause she doesn't need to be enabling him and his sulking."

"Betty's just trying to be supportive, Cap." I told my husband, trying to get him to see that his sister's not doing anything wrong by being by my brother's side in his hard time of need.

"By wallowing with him and starvin' herself in a locked room?" Cap rhetorically asked, a thick scoff in his throat. Cocking his head, he went on to say, "No, that's not helping, babe, but instead it's enabling."

Knowing I wasn't going to be able t peacefully look at the magazine, I closed it with a sigh and placed it down on the open seat next to me. Turning to my husband, I tried to explain things with, "Moses lost his best friend in a tragic accident; he blames himself and just doesn't know how to deal with his emotions right now. If Betty wants to support him and be by his side then she can. Hell, she was with him when the accident happened so…"

"Well, me and pa agree that it's for the best that she claims she wasn't there." Of course…

"Oh, I see. So, you think my brother'll be indicted then?" I asked, feeling that my brother was goin' to be gettin' swindled into a court date due to the DA wanting to win come election time.

"Maybe." My husband shrugged. "Seems that way since Randall's cryin' out for his blood."

"You know if he gets charged, they'll call her on the stand to testify against him."

"Not if they're married, they won't. Spousal privilege." Cap smirked, lookin' like the cat that caught the canary.

Oh my god, my husband and in-laws are scheming to marry off my brother to Betty as a way to beat a potential case. What the hell?...

Before I even had the chance to utter a word the door to the examining hall opened and out popped a nurse. "Nova Hatfield?" She called out with a slight smile.

"That's me." I announced as I stood up. Hitching a thumb at my husband as he stood next to me, I introduced him quickly with, "He's my husband, Cap."

"The ADA, Cap Hatfield?" The nurse asked a bit stunned while me and my husband walked over to her and the open door leading to the hallway.

"That'd be me." Cap replied, his voice a bit rough and dry. Placing his hand on the small of my back, he told the nurse, "I'm happily married to this redhead here and we're havin' a baby, if ya couldn't tell."

"Well, follow me and we'll get you weighed and set up in examine room 2." The nurse tightly smiled before leading us over to the scale.

After weighing me the nurse took me to my examining room and asked me a few simple questions. After she filled out my chart she left, but not before assuring me that Doc would be in soon. So, here I was alone in a room with Cap and I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't really have a good read on his attitude since he was holding himself with a hard and cold rigidness. Yea, it's safe to say that my nerves are shot to hell right now.

"So, are you gonna be stayin' in that hotel of yours for another night, or the remainder of the trial, or what have it, Nova?" My husband asked with a slicing way to his deep timbre as his mismatched eyes roamed the examining room.

"I dunno." I shrugged. "I packed some clothes for a few days; I was just playing it by ear." I honestly told him my overall spontaneous and half-baked plan.

"You stormed out on me cause you're too invested in this winless case. You need to just wash your hands of it and come back home, after advising your client to find another guardian for his kid that is." My husband told me in a very heavy and cold tone that sent a chill shooting up my spine.

"I can't do that, Cap." I sighed.

Narrowing his eyes at me into tiny slits, he asked, "Can't or won't?"

"I can't. That little girl needs me and I'm the best bet she's got at keepin' her dad with her."

"I don't approve, babe. You know that." He coldly told me, almost as if he was scolding a naughty child. Shaking his head, he sighed incredulously, "Do whatever you must, but once this trial's over I expect you back home where your ass belongs."

Dear god, he was every bit his father's son. Cap was as hard and imposing as Devil Anse. It was like he was a lil devil in trainin'. How could he be so cold, demanding, and indifferent to me and the situation I was in? It was like the only thing that mattered was him and what he had going on. Dear lord, did I rashly marry too soon? Did I let my feelings blind me to the man Cap really is? Oh my god, how did I get myself into this mess? This hopeless, dicey mess of a life.

I didn't reply to him, just nodded. Hell, I couldn't reply cause anything that came out of my mouth was sure to start an argument.

All of the tension in the room was cut whenever the door opened and in walked Doc saying, "Good mornin', how're ya doin' today?"

"I'm doin' good, Doc." I answered with a bit of a forced smile.

"Good, that's good." Doc nodded as sat down on his stool. "Well, other than giving you the bloodwork results we'll also be doin' an ultrasound today so you wn't have to come in for a while, but just focus on that trial you're in."

"Okay." I nodded, a bit nervous to hear the results of the blood test I had done the last time I was here.

Handing me a sheet of paper, Doc smiled, "Well, all the tests came back clear. Your baby's perfectly healthy; it's a boy too."

Staring at the papers in hand, I whispered, "Oh my god, I'm havin' a healthy baby boy.", as a lone tear rolled down my cheek. A happy and relieved tear, might I add.

"A boy to carry on the Hatfield name." Cap smirked; pride evident in his deep rollin' timbre.

Scooting over to grab the ultrasound gel off the nearby counter, Doc announced, "Now, let's get that ultrasound done so ya'll can carry on with your day." Neither me nor my husband said a word, we just nodded while watching Doc roll back over to me with the gel in his hand. As was protocol, Doc lifted up my shirt, squirted the gel on my belly, and put it back before turning off the lights and powering on the ultrasound machine. Quickly, he ran the wand over my belly, causing the image of my tiny baby boy to appear on the screen. "Well, seems like baby boy Hatfield's growin' good." Doc remarked before asking, "Do you want some print outs, Nova?"

"Yes, thank you." I nodded with a smile.

Doc hit a button, causing copies of the different angles he captured to print off of a printer in the back on the room. He grabbed some tissues from the box by the monitor and handed them to me before going over to turn the lights back on. Once I was cleaned off and had my shirt pulled back down, Doc ame over and handed me the prints. "Make an appointment for a few weeks from now. Have a nice day, Nova, Cap." Doc told us before walking out of the room; leaving us by ourselves.

"Ya ready to make that next appointment and leave?" Cap asked while standing up from his chair.

"Yea." I nodded while climbing down from the examining chair.

Quietly, we exited the room and went out front to make our next appointment with the receptionist.

"What's he doin' in your truck for, Nova?" Cap asked me as soon as we walked out of the clinic and had a clear view of my truck and the ginger sitting in the driver's seat, playin' a game on his cellphone.

"We need to work on the case so I had to pick him up. He agreed to wait in the parking lot while I had my appointment." I told Cap, hoping that he would buy my half-lie since I truly couldn't tell him that I spent that night with and also slept with my ex-sweetheart turned client.

"That better be it, Nova." My husband told me in a low, hard tone to his deep rollin' timbre.

"What does that mean, Cap?" I asked, playing stupid even tho I know what it meant. He didn't want me screwing Tolbert, but too late for that request since it already happened…

"Oh, don't play coy with me. You know exactly what that means." He snarled, his icy eye and its milky twin shining nastily at me. "I'll see ya in court tomorrow, Mrs. Hatfield." He clipped before brushing by me and over to his truck that was parked a few spaces away from Tolbert.

I felt a sense of guilt wash over me as I rushed over to my truck. Oh god…what the hell was I doing?... I chewed on the inside of my cheek before letting out a breath and exhaling all of my fears and doubts. I opened up the truck door and climbed inside only to have Tolbert take his eyes off of his phone and looked at me. "How'd it go, sweetheart?" He asked as I sat in the truck, closing the door.

"Good. He's healthy." I smiled, placing my bag down by my feet on the floorboard.

"He, so it's a boy?" Tolbert asked, a small smile on his face, as I clicked on my seatbelt.

"Yea." I nodded. "Oh, here's some ultrasound pics you can look at." I told him, handing him the pics before stuffing the paperwork with the blood scan results on it into my bag.

"Wow, so that's the lil peanut." Tolbert let out in an awed tone, looking at the pictures after taking them from me.

"Yep, that's my lil boy. He's 8-weeks and 3-days." I proudly smiled, earning me a nod from the redhead next to me. Pointing to a spot on the printout, I told my client turned lover, "See, Doc has how far 'long I am printed on the picture."

"Can I keep one?" He asked, taking me aback.

Blinking away my shock, I nodded. "Yea, if you want."

"Course I want one, Ella. You know he might be mine an' if not I'll still like to think of him as so, 'specially if I'm locked up in a jail cell for an undetermined 'mount o'time." He told me, taking an ultrasound picture and placing it inside of his visor before handing me the stack back.

"I'm doin' my best to keep you out of jail, Tolbert." I assured him as he put the truck in gear and backed out of the parking spot.

Shifting gear, he pulled out of the lot while telling me, "I know ya are, darlin', but that don't me it's gonna work. Yer husband's out for blood; he ain't gonna stop til he gets it no matter the facts o'how the fight started or went down."

"Do you know on the top of your head who witnessed the fight that's not on the official report; people that'll be a help to you?" I asked, hoping that I'd have time to call up Judge Wall to order subpoenas if I need to call up people as witnesses.

"Half of Pikeville." Tolbert deadpanned.

"Haha, very funny." I sarcastically snipped. Tilting my head at him, I sternly told him, "I'm serious, Tolbert."

"I already told your uncle one o'the days you were out dealin' wit' yer grievin' brother that all my cousins, brothers, Bad Frank, Ransom, and some church ladies saw me, Pharmer, and Bud fight wit' Ellison. Saw how Ellison got in between a verbal argument I was havin' wit' Lias over owed money; pushin' me back too." He explained while turning the dial up on the radio's volume control as the intro to Stone by Whiskey Myers sounded out in the truck's cab.

"What? Why wasn't I told 'bout this?" I asked, my thin auburn brows furrowed curiously, as Whiskey Myers crooned over my truck's speakers with their acoustic and soul haunting song. One that I must admit is one of my favorites.

"Cause ya didn't ask or were too busy wit' Mo, I dunno?" Tolbert shrugged as he drove down Main Street towards my uncle's firm. "Don't worry, Perry Cline sent out subpoenas to 'em as witnesses; to my folks' too."

"Oh, okay." I simply nodded as he turned down the alleyway that gave way to the parking lot behind my uncle's office buildin'.

"Don't worry, I'm sure ya an' Perry'll be able t'figure out some kinda questionin' that'll make me an' Pharmer look good to the jury." Tolbert told me, tryin' to ease my nerves, as he pulled into a parking spot and cut the truck's engine.

"Yea…" I sighed, removing my seatbelt and picking up my purse.

Before I could open my door, Tolbert stopped me by grabbing my hand and asking, "Can we just carry on like a family for the remainder o'my trial? Ya, me, an' Sally Elle. Y'know, be happy t'gether til my fate's read by Judge Wall."

I could look into his pitiful stormy blue eyes and deny him his one request at creating a few more happy memories before being separated from his daughter. We both knew that he'd most likely would be going to jail, how long or on what exact charge was unknown to us, but we were as sure as day that he'd be servin' time. Noddin', I softly said, "Yea, Tolbert, we can do that."

Moses POV:

"Can't ya just leave me the hell alone Jim? Goddamnit, it's not like I'm gonna go all emmo on you and slit my wrist while playing My Chemical Romance on loop." I snapped at my roommate as he barged into my room (bastard would change the doorknob to one without a lock, fuckin' bastard) with a plate of food in one hand and a bottle of shine in the other.

"Nev'r said ya were 'gonna go all emmo' on me, boy." The crochety large man scoffed while placin' the plate heapin' full of greasy breakfast foods onto the bedside table along with the large bottle of homemade hooch, which was most likely Johnse's home brew. I didn't make a move to sit up, I just laid in bed while starin' into space. Jim let out a huff before grabbing a wooden chair from the corner and draggin' it over to my bedside. Takin' a seat, makin' the chair creek under his weight, and told me in a knowing tone, "You need a good meal an' a good drink to get yourself out of your own head."

"Ain't very hungry Jim, but thanks anyways." I told him, kindly declining the meal since I just wanted to be left alone to grieve on my own.

Foldin' his arms ov'r his chest, he sternly told me, "Boy, it ain't healthy that you're beatin' yourself up ov'r a tragic accident. Ya need t'move on; live your life cause nev'r know when it's gonna be your turn t'meet your maker."

"Jim…just leave me be." I groaned out in annoyance, fightin' the urge to roll my eyes at him.

"I ain't leavin' ya be, son. Not when 'em McCoys are gunnin' for that accident t'be charged as a vehicular homicide and the only way to beat it's to marry ya and my niece off. Hell, I ain't gonna let my niece be saddled wit' some bumblin', snivelin' cry baby wuss."

"I ain't no 'bumblin', snivelin', cry baby wuss' Jim. Just upset's all."

"Boy, ya better get your shit t'gether or else ya ain't gonna survive this life very long." Jim told me with no sympathy what-so-ever in his crochety gruff tone. "Now, I'm gonna go take Mr. Howles for a walk; when I get back, I expect ya t'have et yer food, boy." He told me before risin' from his chair and walking out of my room only to leave me alone with the greasy scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns he fried up for me. Eh, they looked a bit burnt too so if I didn't die from grief, I'd die from food poisonin'. Well, at least he left me booze to drown my sorrows in. Lord knows I need some to numb myself with.

AN:

Oh snap, the plot thickens and so does the drama! Muhahaha…