A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! Here's the next chapter for you.

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Chapter 16: A Family Broken

The dark mood that had settled over Escala over the next few days couldn't seem to go away, no matter what Ana and Christian did to try to distract themselves from it. The place just felt so empty without Lucia around anymore - the sound of her laughter as she goofed around with her toys, the pounding of her little feet as she ran from room to room, and even the discordant notes that sounded throughout the penthouse when she played on the piano. All those sounds were missing from Escala, and Ana and Christian couldn't help but feel their lives were emptier because of it.

Even though most hours of the day they spent trying to prepare for their trial against Ramkoff, when Ana and Christian weren't working on the case, they were doing other forms of work. Understandably, Christian had decided to throw himself into the world of mergers & acquisitions in an effort to distract himself from the gaping emptiness he felt, and Ana ended up following suit by having manuscripts sent over from Grey Publishing for her review. Ana had actually ended up moving her office temporarily into Christian's study so she could have a little company while they worked the days away, and Christian seemed at least moderately happier because of it.

Christian and Ana had managed to find out through Colleen that Lucia was currently living at the same Catholic children's home she had stayed at briefly after she was discharged from the hospital. Aside from that, however, there was very little information they could obtain regarding her care - they had no idea if she was happy or being cared for. Legally, Christian and Ana weren't allowed to be in any sort of contact with her - even though Christian could probably bribe someone from social services to make an exception for him and Ana, he didn't want to test the system when it was a legal issue that had ended up putting them in this situation in the first place.

Therefore, Christian and Ana had to remain in purgatory of not knowing how Lucia was for the foreseeable future.

Possibly the only positive thing that had come out of Lucia being taken away to a children's home was the fact that Ana and Christian had become much closer because of it. The afternoon that Lucia had left with Colleen and Merton was easily the most exposed and vulnerable Christian and Ana had ever felt with one another - they had spent pretty much that entire evening just holding each other and crying, seeking the love and comfort they could only find with one another after the heartbreak they had just experienced. They had made love that night, and every night since then - it wasn't necessarily for the physical release, but for the closeness they craved to feel with each other. It was their catharsis, and it helped them forget, if only briefly, the pain they were currently experiencing with the loss of their child.

Carrick started coming over pretty much everyday now to help them work on their case against Ramkoff. He was furious when he heard about what had happened with Lucia being taken away, but from a legal standpoint he knew there was little they could do to change it. Just like his son and daughter-in-law, he decided to double down on working on the trial coming up and ensuring Ramkoff would never get custody of Lucia.

As hopeless as this entire case seemed to Christian and Ana, Carrick seemed a bit more confident - he had assured them several times that they had a rather good chance of getting custody of Lucia. He had already filed to change their status from foster parents to prospective adoptive parents, which legally gave them more of a right to fight Ramkoff in court for Lucia's custody. It also helped that Christian and Ana were a young, financially-stable married couple who had already had Lucia under their care for more than three months, and also that Ramkoff was less financially stable with a known police record.

"There still isn't any concrete proof Ramkoff is her biological father anyway," Carrick constantly pointed out. "Until that's proven, we may not even have to go to trial."

There was meant to be a deposition with a judge a few days before they were supposed to go to court - Carrick said that this was a very good thing, because if it was discovered that Ramkoff wasn't actually Lucia's father at the deposition, then there would be no court proceedings regarding her custody, and Christian and Ana could take her home. Christian and Ana tried to feel optimistic about the deposition, but with everything that had happened to them so far, it was difficult to feel hopeful about anything at all.

All they wanted was Lucia, and if that meant going through the court system that had screwed them over in the first place, then so be it.

In addition to all of this going on, Christian had been having his guy Welch run background checks on both Elena and Belinda Meekaslav, Lucia's deceased biological mother. The latter in particular was fairly difficult to find information on, since she apparently had no family or job while she was alive. However, Welch was able to glean some information on her based on the origin of her last name - apparently, Belinda Meekaslav was originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, and had no family back in her home country. She ended up prostituting herself throughout most of her teenage years, and when she turned 18, she sold herself to an American man as a mail order bride. Whether the man who had bought her was Ramkoff or not, it was impossible to tell since this was all done off the books, but apparently Belinda continued prostituting herself on the streets of Seattle even after she was technically married in America.

Her cause of death was unknown, though many reports from various homeless shelters indicated Belinda suffered from several mental disorders, which probably aided in her death.

Christian felt sick to his stomach when he read Welch's report in its entirety - not only was it heartbreaking to hear about the struggles this woman obviously had to deal with her whole life, but her poor daughter had been left all alone because of her tragic life. It all felt too horrible to comprehend.

Elena was much easier to get information on, thankfully. She was still alive and going to bars every evening - within a day, Welch had managed to find security footage of her initial meeting with Ramkoff at a hotel bar and him buying her several drinks. Based on the security footage of the two of them, they seemed to be pretty cozy, and neither of them had moved from the bar until last call, which was hours later.

"So he did go and talk to her," Ana said once Christian had showed her the security footage. The anger on her face was extremely evident. "That horrible, evil bitch-troll…!"

"Welch is trying to obtain the audio of what they were saying, but it really does look suspicious that they're having a conversation here," Christian said, crossing his arms and staring down at the footage with a frown on his face. "Hopefully, though, this'll be enough evidence to nail Elena to the wall for her breach of NDA."

"When is that going to be, though?" Ana asked, glancing back up at Christian. "I mean, with the whole custody battle coming up…"

She clearly didn't want to elaborate any further, and Christian understood. "We would deal with Elena after all that shit is over and done with," he explained. "We'll be able to sue her for being in violation of her NDA, and if more evidence turns up of Ramkoff taking our CCTV footage, we can charge him with theft and home invasion."

Ana frowned, looking distressed. "Ramkoff's going to be even more pissed at us than he already is if we do that."

"So what?" Christian asked forcefully, and Ana looked up at him. "Ramkoff has already demonstrated he's willing to play dirty. Now, he's about to learn that messing with the Grey's will be the biggest mistake of his life. I'm not about to back down from this."

"But what if…" Ana began, and then stopped, not knowing how to continue. Questions about all this had been eating away at her for weeks now - what if Ramkoff gets custody of Lucia? What if the judge orders her and Christian from never contacting Lucia again? What if they lose this entire case?

Christian seemed to understand Ana's concern, and he walked up to her before protectively wrapping his arms about her waist. "Hey," he said quietly, and her worried eyes met his. "He's not going to win."

Ana gave him a skeptical look. "We don't know that, Christian. I mean, if he's her biological father…"

"If," Christian repeated firmly. "Ramkoff still doesn't have any definitive evidence that he is actually her father. Belinda Meekaslav worked as a prostitute, so the likelihood is pretty high that Lucia's biological father is some random guy we've never met before. We can win this, I'm sure we can."

His earnest voice didn't seem to convince Ana much, because after a moment she let out a small sigh before giving him a grimace that seemed a bit tentative and strained. "I guess so… although we won't know for sure until the trial."

Christian didn't know what to say to that, and Ana simply leaned up and pecked Christian on the cheek before turning and walking out of his study, not looking back.

Christian watched her leave. He wanted to be her rock, her confidence during these hard times… but this whole fucked-up situation seemed to have made her lose all faith in this turning out in their favor.

He wished she could feel confident they were going to get Lucia back… and deep down inside, he wished he could be too.

The day of the deposition had finally arrived. Christian almost couldn't believe it - he, Ana and his father had spent the past few weeks going over everything in such fine detail that it felt so strange that the day was finally upon them where all their preparation would be put to the test.

It was now or never.

Christian had dressed up this morning in his usual gray Armani suit, though he had taken extra care to comb his hair back so it looked a bit more tamed than its usual 'just-fucked' appearance. Ana had opted for a burgundy knee-length dress with three-quarter sleeves and a collar, making her seem like a sexy sophisticated business-woman. She put on her closed-toe nude pumps and pulled her chestnut hair back into a conservative ponytail, making Christian unable to resist staring at her as she stepped out of their walk-in closet in her gorgeous ensemble.

"You look beautiful today, baby," Christian said sincerely, and Ana offered him a smile in gratitude.

"Thank you," she said quietly, walking over to him and reaching up toward his lapels, tugging at them gently. "And you look very handsome."

"How are you feeling?" Christian asked, wrapping his arms around her waist as he gazed at her in concern.

"Like crap," Ana said without hesitation. The expression on her beautiful face was utterly miserable. "I miss Lucia."

Christian's heart broke for his wife, and he immediately pulled her closer to him and held her tightly, pressing his lips to the side of her brunette head. Ana hugged him back, burying her face in his chest, and neither of them spoke for several seconds.

"If this trial goes our way, we'll never have to miss her again," Christian said quietly, rubbing his hand along her back. Ana didn't respond other than to let out a small sigh and pulling away from him after a few seconds.

"Yeah," she muttered, brushing some nonexistent lint off the sleeve of her dress. "We should probably get going soon. We're going to be late."

With that, she turned toward the door and walked out of the bedroom, her heels clicking on the hardwood floors. Christian let out a sigh before following her, his heart full of an emotion he wasn't too familiar with.

It's time to get our daughter back.

The ride to the courthouse took much longer than usual since it was rush hour - for everyone else in Seattle, it was just a regular work day. For Christian and Ana, however, this day would likely affect the rest of their lives, for better or for worse.

Were they really ready for this?

Taylor managed to park on the street outside the King County Courthouse, and Christian and Ana both stepped out. Christian held Ana's hand as they walked up the stone steps toward the large front doors, and she gripped his hand tightly back.

"Hey you two," Carrick was waiting for them in the foyer of the courthouse the moment they entered. He looked as dapper as Christian in a navy blue suit and black tie, dressed as the savvy lawyer he was. "How are you guys doing today?"

"We've been better," Christian spoke for the both of them, and Ana moved her other hand to Christian's forearm, squeezing it gently.

"That's understandable," Carrick said sympathetically. "We've got a good case here though, and I'm sure the judge will see it our way."

"Is the judge waiting for us right now?" Ana asked, her sweet voice sounding tinged with nervousness.

"She should be here shortly, so we ought to head on up," Carrick explained, checking his watch. "Yeah, we should probably go… Family Court will be up on the fifth floor. Come on."

Christian and Ana followed Carrick toward the elevators on the other side of the spacious foyer, none of them saying a word. Christian continued to hold Ana's hand as they stepped onto an elevator, which slowly shut the doors before raising them up toward the fifth floor. Ana continued to grip onto his hand, as if afraid he was going to let go.

The doors opened once again, and before them appeared a slightly smaller foyer breaking off into several wide corridors. The whole area was filled with people - lawyers bustling with briefcases or BlackBerrys in their hands, and parents with young children waiting on benches outside their respective courtrooms. Carrick led them out into the foyer.

"We're going to be in conference room D, down that way," he pointed down a narrower hallway to their right. "I don't know how experienced you two are in court proceedings, but depositions are done in a less formal setting. It's basically just a meeting where we all discuss the evidence being presented - and like I told you before, if the judge doesn't think the evidence is sufficient, this case might not even make it to court."

"Okay," Ana nodded, sounding a bit relieved by that explanation. She turned to look up at Christian to see what he thought, but he was staring at something ahead of him in the distance, his expression hard.

"Christian?" Ana asked, frowning up at him. She followed his gaze to where he was looking, and her face paled.

About twenty yards ahead of them stood two nun who seemed to be in their late fifties. They weren't who had caught Christian's eyes, however - clutching the hand of one of the nuns was Lucia herself, looking rather subdued in an oversized pink t-shirt dress and her long hair pulled back in a low ponytail.

Ana's heart seemed to stop in her chest as both happiness and sadness competed for dominance her chest, making her unable to breathe. She wanted to run over to Lucia and hold her tightly, never to let go again. Christian obviously had the same thoughts as her, since both of them took a simultaneous step toward their little girl, eager to be close to her again.

"Guys, no," Carrick said firmly from behind them, and he grabbed both of their arms so they couldn't move. "You can't have any contact whatsoever with Lucia until the judge gives her verdict."

"But she's here," Christian said, his voice breaking slightly with emotion. "Why did they bring her here if they knew we would be here too?"

"Ramkoff was supposed to take a paternity test the other day, and Lucia's probably just here to provide a sample of her own DNA for comparison," Carrick explained.

"Will she stay for the deposition though?" Ana asked, aware of how desperate her voice sounded as she said it.

"She can't come into the meeting room with us," Carrick said, looking apologetic. "Her caretakers might let her stick around the courthouse for a bit, though - it's up to them."

Ana and Christian could do nothing but stare at Lucia from across the foyer. They silently willed her to turn and look their way - quietly praying that she'd run up to them and jump into their waiting arms, giggling happily like she always did - but she didn't. The woman that was holding her hand eventually began to walk down the hallway in the opposite direction of Ana and Christian, and pretty soon the two of them were out of sight.

Ana felt disappointment and sadness fill her chest, though a small part of her couldn't help but rejoice at getting to see Lucia again after all these weeks of her absence.

"Come on, you two," Carrick said quietly to them once Lucia was gone. "Let's go get your daughter back."

Feeling a strong determination in her heart, Ana took Christian's hand in her own once again, and the two of them followed Carrick toward the conference room that awaited them.

A/N: I realize the last chapter I wrote for this story ended on a rather dark note, and a lot of you readers left me reviews and PMs telling me your own personal dealings with negligent parents or the unfair nature of the foster system. While I'm very thankful I grew up with two very loving parents, I realize not everyone is that fortunate - I do try to make all my stories as realistic and relatable as possible, and it was very touching to hear all of your personal accounts dealing with the child welfare system. Just know that my heart goes out to all of you who have dealt with anything relating to this subject matter :(

Anyway, next chapter is the deposition! If you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review! And don't forget to follow my Pinterest board for this story at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/this-life-of-ours/