Sam nervously sat at the mahogany table at the law office of Theodore Breslin. She didn't know what to expect; all she knew was that Theodore was apparently very busy, and could only meet with her during the middle of the workday.
Sam supposed that was one of the good things about her being pregnant; it was a lot easier to work around a schedule of desk duty than chasing down criminals.
"Okay, good afternoon Ms.…Puckett, was it?" a large man in his mid-forties said, coming into the room.
"Yeah, that's me," Sam said.
"Teddy Breslin," the man smiled pleasantly, extending his hand to her. "Pleased to meet you."
"You too," Sam said. "So on the phone you said my case looked pretty good, right?"
"Well I've seen some pretty complicated custody cases in my time," Teddy nodded. "But yours looks pretty clean cut. Unfortunately, I do know your ex's defender, Joseph Motonson, is one of the best in the business. He'll put up on tough fight."
"But the law's the law, isn't it?" Sam frowned. "Marshall was in jail, he lost his rights to the girls. That should be all there is to it!"
"In a perfect world, yes," Teddy sighed. "We, however, live in a world far from perfect. See, what the defense will likely point out is the fact Mr. Pewter never actually harmed his daughters. There's no proof that he ever did anything to them."
"So what?" Sam exclaimed. "That means nothing!"
"Did he ever hurt them?" Teddy asked.
"Well…no, not them," Sam admitted. "He came close to it sometimes, though. But whenever he got into one of his rages, I got them out of there."
"So you took the brunt of your ex's rage?"
"Yeah, I guess," Sam shrugged. "He was in jail for that."
"So no charges were ever filed against him in terms of hurting the girls?"
"No!" Sam said. "But he did stab me. Shouldn't that be enough? He's obviously dangerous."
"It's only been proven that he's been dangerous towards you, Ms. Puckett," Teddy explained.
Sam crossed her arms. "What happened to this being an easy case?"
"I never said easy," Teddy replied. "And I'm just trying to show you that this is exactly what the defense is going to do. You do have the advantage over your ex because of his past. It's likely that any judge will wind up siding with you. But it would be stupid to simply assume that. Do you see what I'm saying?"
Sam sighed. "Yeah."
"Good," Teddy said, leaning back in his chair. "So explain to me exactly what was Mr. Pewter's relationship with the girls."
"It was either nonexistent or just plain bad, depending on the day," Sam told him. "When I told him I was pregnant, he wanted me to go out and have an abortion. He never wanted kids. He never went to any of the doctor appointments or helped get ready for the twins. When I gave birth, he wasn't even there. He was passed out in some bar. He came to the hospital almost two days later to finally see them, and he had to be escorted out because he reeked of alcohol and cigarettes."
"I see," Teddy nodded. "Go on."
"He didn't spend a lot of time at home when they were young," Sam continued. "He hated the crying. When one of the twins would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, he'd lose it. I'd never let him go into their nursery when he was like that…I didn't know what he'd do. I practically raised them myself for those three years before he got arrested. The good days were the days he pretty much ignored them."
"So he never was the fathering type?"
"I never even met my dad," Sam said. "But that guy was probably a better father than Marshall ever was. The night he stabbed me…I had just gotten back from taking Leah to the hospital because she was starting to have kidney failure. Not once did he ever try to contact me while he was in prison to ask if she was okay. He only agreed to be tested to see if his kidney was a match for her because he was offered a shortened sentence! Leah could've been dead, for all he knew! He doesn't care about the girls. He never has, and he never will. The only reason he's filing for his rights to them back is because he wants to get back at me!"
"Which is why I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that he doesn't do that," Teddy told her calmly. "Now, the defense is going to try look into you past and see if there's anything they can pull up that can possibly be used against you in court. You don't have any past offenses, correct?"
"Right," Sam said. Thank God they can't pull up my Juvie records anymore, Sam thought to herself.
"Good, good," Teddy said, jotting this down. "Meanwhile, our best hope is that Mr. Pewter will somehow break the law within the next month before your court date with him. That will violate the terms of his release and make this practically a clear shot for us."
"Great," Sam said. "And if he doesn't get arrested again?"
"Well then as I told you, you do have the courts on your side, but someone like Joe Motonson can spin any story," Teddy sighed. "It will come down to the case as a whole."
Sam nodded, not sure of what to say next.
"I wish I could do more, but I have another meeting I need to be at in ten minutes," Teddy said, getting to his feet. "I'll be in touch soon. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything."
"Wait!" Sam suddenly as Teddy was about to leave the room. "Listen, um, is there anyway you can tell me where exactly Marshall is right now? Just so I can try and avoid having the girls anywhere near there."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Puckett, but I cannot disclose that information," Teddy told her. "Even if I knew it."
"Right," Sam said. "Yeah, thanks."
…..
"You sure we shouldn't pick up your sister from the airport?" Freddie asked as Sam.
"Nah, she's having a town car pick her up," Sam said.
"A town car?" Freddie frowned.
"Yeah, you'll learn quick that Melanie's prissy attitude didn't die down from when we were younger," Sam said. "Especially since she married a doctor. They're loaded. They do give good Christmas presents though."
"When was the last time you even saw her in person?"
"A few years ago when we had to drive down to Kentucky to bail my mom out of prison," Sam said simply.
"Ah," Freddie nodded. "It seems like you guys get along better now than you did back in high school, though, from what I can tell during your web chats."
"Yeah, she's not so bad," Sam smiled. "I mean, she helped me out a lot when the twins were younger. She used to live only about an hour away before she moved to Georgia for work. Still, though, she's handful."
"Is Aunt Melanie here yet?" Leah asked, coming into the room.
"No, probably in another ten minutes though," Sam replied. "Where's Kira?"
"In our room," Leah replied. "She's been talking with someone from the basketball team all day. It's getting really annoying."
"Hey, at least she's finally starting to talk to people at school," Sam shrugged. "That's good for her."
"Not for my ears," Leah mumbled.
"Here, come help me set up the sofa bed," Sam told her. "You and Kira cleaned out your room for Bradley?"
"Uh-huh," Leah nodded. "Do you know how much of Kira's stuff I found on my side of the room?"
"Yeah, well, when we start looking for new places, we'll look into getting you two your own rooms," Sam said, tossing the cushions off the sofa.
"Here, let me do that," Freddie said. "You're not supposed to be lifting."
"Yeah, those cushions really took it out of me," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"When are we going to move, anyway?" Leah asked.
"Well the baby's due in July, so we really should be settled into any place before then" Freddie said.
"Let's just add that to the giant list of junk we have to do," Sam sighed.
"We can start looking after the wedding," Freddie smiled. "It will be fun; it can be our first official outing as husband and wife."
"How romantic."
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"They're here!" Leah exclaimed, running to the door. She unlocked it and opened it up, revealing none other than Sam's own twin sister and her husband and son. "Hi, Aunt Melanie!"
"Hi, Leah!" Melanie beamed, hugging her niece. "Wow, look how big you've gotten. I forgot you're a teenager now."
"Kira! Get out here!" Sam yelled.
"Sam!" Melanie squealed, rushing over to her sister. "Oh my God, it's been so long since we've seen each other in person!"
"We're identical twins, Mel," Sam smirked as Melanie threw her arms around her. "Look in the mirror and you can see me."
"You know what I mean!" Melanie said. "I can't believe you're getting married in just one week, you must be so happy! And you're pregnant too! Wow, things are really falling into place for you, huh?"
If only, Sam thought bitterly.
"Freddie!" Melanie cried, releasing Sam and starting towards her fiancé. "I haven't seen you in ages, and now we're going to practically be related!"
"Hey, Melanie," Freddie smiled. "Good to see you again. I'm glad you could stay with us."
"Well it was just so sweet of you to offer, how could we refuse?" Melanie said. "Oh! You haven't officially met my husband and son. Freddie, this is Ben our son, Bradley."
"Hi," the tall man standing by Melanie said, extending his hand to Freddie. "Good to meet you."
"You too," Freddie said politely.
"Hey, Bradley," Sam smiled at the young boy by her sister.
"Hi, Aunt Sam!" the boy grinned.
"Guess what?" Sam said, kneeling down to whisper to the boy. "I stocked up on some real food for you to eat while you're here, since I know your parents stuff you up with weird organic junk. There's some candy in the kitchen with your name on it."
"Yay! Thanks Aunt Sam!" the eight-year old cheered running off.
"We all have so much catching up to do," Melanie said. "Plus a whole lot of wedding talk to get to. Ben and I were thinking we would take all you guys out for dinner tonight so we could talk. I mean it's the least we can do for you letting us stay with you."
"You don't have to do-" Sam started.
"No, no, we insist," Ben said.
"Now where's Kira?" Melanie asked.
"I'm here, I'm here," Kira said, hurrying into the room. "Hi, Aunt Melanie. Hi, Uncle Ben."
"Hi, sweetheart," Melanie said, hugging her. "Wow, you're even taller than your sister!"
"I know," Kira said proudly as Leah stuck her tongue out at her.
"Okay, let's go get that dinner, and then afterwards, Sam, you and I can start making the final decisions about your hair for the wedding," Melanie said.
"Yay," Sam said dryly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Wow, between her, Carly and Leah, you're not going to have a second of rest until this wedding," Freddie chuckled to Sam as Leah began showing Melanie her shoes for the wedding.
"Watch it, nub," Sam said, hitting his shoulder lightly. "Or I'll let it slip to them that you need to buy cuff links or something and they'll be your problem."