Not long after Luke celebrated the birth of his new son was the first court date of the Smiths trying to win custody of Kristen. "How you doing?" Christine asked Luke as she walked into the bedroom carrying Lukas.
Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what I'm going to do. What if she wins?"
"She won't Luke. Me and Bo are both going to tell the judge just how great of a father you are."
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"He had no intention on marrying my daughter," Mrs. Smith told the judge. "The two were just gonna live together. And you know what? Not long after Jennie was in the accident, I found out he had gotten someone else pregnant!"
"Is that true?" the judge asked Luke.
"Well yes but it's not like she's making it out to be."
"Do you have a baby from someone else?"
"Well yes but that other person happens to be my wife. I married her two years after I lost Jennie. I wasn't even going to date again until my cousin introduced me to my now wife."
"But how long before you lost Jennie did you start dating her?!" Mrs. Smith said.
"Six months, but…."
"Six months! That doesn't seem to be a long time to wait you know!" Mrs. Smith said.
"Is is so wrong for me to fall in love? I loved my daughter so much and I wanted to find someone I loved to help raise her. And Kristen loves her as her mother. She's been calling her mommy for the last year."
"Mr. Duke, you left my granddaughter alone with a babysitter while you worked."
"It was my cousin who babysat for me! I needed to make money for us."
"And after that you hired her to be the babysitter! And some babysitter you ended up sleeping with her. And I assume my granddaughter was in the house while you were doing this!"
"We were responsible and both of us made sure that she came first in our lives."
"I'm sure you did. Were you guys even married when she got pregnant?"
"Well no. But I proposed to her before I even knew she was pregnant."
"Some way of being responsible," Mrs. Smith said.
"Look, I love my daughter and she is my world. And I loved her mother and still do. And yes I have moved on but no matter what, my daughter will always come first!"
"I'll review all that I've heard and listen to what your cousin and wife have told me and decide on that. Until then, you can still have your daughter living with you."
"Thank you," Luke said and he walked out of the courtroom and over to where Bo and Christine were.