Keeping Katie Ch 25

The notification came early the next morning. The judge wanted a hearing set for tomorrow morning at 10:00 for the custody of Katie between the Jones and Karen. All parties were to be present, including Katie. Don was about to leave for work when the call came. He had to go, there was no way around it, but it was hard. He'd made love to Karen early that morning and it had started out to be a pretty good day. Her face was white as a sheet and she met his eyes fearfully, but it was masked quickly. She dropped her gaze and he knew she was hiding it from the kids and would until such time as she would not scare them with it. Don strode back over to her and folded her into his arms. "I love you. It'll be okay. I'll be home as soon as I can. Call me if you need me."

"I'll always need you." she whispered clutching him for a minute then turned him loose. "Go to work, Captain. Your squad needs you."

Don was not late to the squad but he was in no mood to take any guff either. "Munch, my office, now! Listen up, people, We're getting everything done today we need to do at 4:30, no exceptions, no excuses. Get busy."

Don marched to his office with John right behind him. "Close the door." he told him.

"What's up?" John asked.

"We just heard from the attorney. The hearing for the Katies custody is tomorrow. I need you to come out and be with us for Charlene and Karens sake. We're going to need support for what's to come. I have a feeling this is going to go badly for us. I need you to help me keep the family together."

"I'll be there." John said firmly. "You really think that it's that bad?"

"Why else would they call it together this quickly? Something has made the judge alarmed. I have no idea what. It's hard to say. Did you find out anything else about them?"

"Mr. Jones is squeaky clean. Too squeaky. I still have feelers out for him. I haven't given up. I'll call them in today."

"Good idea. Make sure you're prepared for what is going to happen."

"I don't know if I'm ever going to be that prepared. I'll go keep at the computer."

"Let's see what else that comes up with. Good job, John. Keep me up to date."

"I'll be out to your place at 6:00." John walked back out of the office.

Don expected to hear from Karen all day but he didn't. He considered calling her, but he didn't want to make her more worried. The lawyers who hoped to gain his cooperation today were mightily disappointed. He was not inclined to be generous to anyone outside of his own house and when the Chief of D's called with complaints at 4:15 he was short and professional, but cool. The Chief asked about his home life and that tipped him off that something was up.

"Have you heard something, sir?"

"There have been inquiries about your work and any problems in your file."

"By whom?"

"It's come through legal channels."

"I appreciate the information."

"I don't know how this is playing out, but keep on your toes. We don't want the department to get a black eye over it."

"I appreciate your support, Chief." Don said sharply.

"I do support you, Captain Cragen, or I wouldn't have called. Keep me informed." The Chief tried to sound supportive yet reprimanding.

"Yes, sir." Don responded. He hung up and swore angrily. He closed out his office and walked out the door. "I'm going home. Don't call unless it's an emergency. A real emergency."

"We're here if you need us, Captain." Elliott said.

"Yeah, all you have to do is call." Fin said.

"Do you want me to do anything for you?" Olivia asked.

Don paused. "Thank you all, but whatever we have now is what we have. It's up to the judge. Have a good evening."

He was impatient with the traffic and swore loud and long at the slow moving pattern. Eventually he was free and then he pushed the speed limit to get home. There was no loud talking, no tv blaring, no kids fighting, he went inside and it was like a hospital. It was quiet. The kids were doing homework at the table, but it wasn't with any enthusiasm nor with any arguing. It felt like everyone was afraid to talk for fear of breaking the peace in the house. Charlene was cooking dinner and looked over at Don with round, anxious eyes. Katie came over to him immediately and wanted to be picked up.

Don did so. "Hey, Katie Bug." he said with a smile. She began to sign. He followed some of it. "Yes, sweetie, I'm still your dad. And I will love you no matter where you live." more signing by Katie. "No, I don't want you to go live with the Jones's and we're going to do everything we can so you don't have to, but it's up to the judge."

"Katie, you have to finish your homework." Karen said coming out of her office. "Hey, handsome." she greeted Don. She was trying to appear normal, to be cheerful, but the kids were not following her lead.

"There are too many gloomy faces here." Charlene said.

"I know. We know what's going on. We've been through this too many times." Karen said factually. "We know what could happen, but it won't make us stop loving Katie no matter what. You will always be part of our family whether you live here or somewhere else. Life goes on. Now, Missy, let Dad rest after his busy day and you finish your schoolwork. Don't be ridiculous. I do love you and I want you to be here, but we have to show the judge that you are going to do the work no matter what is going on. It will help him see that we're good together."

Karen pulled Katie off Don and gave her a big hug. Katie hugged her tightly back and both of them had tears in their eyes when Karen put her in her chair at the table. "Do you want something to drink? I got some of that juice you like in the fridge."

"No, I'm fine. Let's talk in the office."

Karen walked ahead of him into the office. "What did you find out?" she asked without preamble.

"Thank you for the delivery. That was very thoughtful. Casey came by and said she'd gotten inquiries about my conduct and record from Dettrich."

"What did she tell her?"

"What she could. She didn't lie and I don't want her to, but she was careful about what she said. And before I left, I got a call from the Chief of D's. He asked what was going on and said he'd received a similar call. He said he supports me and asked that he be kept informed."

"No doubt to save his precious department from the bad press."

"Something like that." Don admitted dryly. "I figured it was going to be a long evening so I invited John over to be here for Charlene. I could call him and ask him not to come if you'd rather not have him here."

"No, having John here is a good idea. I just didn't think of it. Did Casey say anything else?"

"No. I also invited her to the wedding Saturday."

"Good. She didn't think it was strange?"

"Why would she? She saw us at the picnic. She has to know how we feel about each other."

"I'm just worried over everything."

Don put his arms around her and held her close. "I know. So am I. Let's go back and help the kids with their schoolwork and we'll have a nice family evening tonight. We'll let tomorrow worry about itself."

"Okay."

John had arrived when they were in the office and he was dressed in a blue shirt with his usual black pants and his jacket. He nodded to Don and smiled at Karen. "I couldn't resist the invitation." He said.

Charlene was looking at him like he was a tall cold drink of water and she was dying of thirst. Karen went over to her and helped her finish dinner. "Let's just enjoy the evening and let the dishes set until tomorrow. We'll come up with something to do that's fun and maybe we won't think about it so much."

"I can do the dishes." Charlene protested.

"I think it's more important that we have a good time together as a family."

"Alright, but isn't it going to seem strange that I don't do the dishes?"

"I'll help you with them." John offered.

"Okay, if that's what you want." Karen shrugged. "Any ideas for activities?"

"Don't sing?" Charlene suggested with a smile.

"Oh, very funny. I won't sing if you don't tell jokes." Karen wrinkled her nose back at her.

"How soon is dinner going to be ready? I'm starved." BB asked.

"Yeah, me too." Laslo piped in.

"Same here." Don chimed in.

"The natives are restless. Okay, let's get the table ready. Dinner is waiting on you." Karen said.