This is it...the moment we've been waiting for...

Chapter 20: Full Custody

As the next few days dragged on, the adoption case needed to be finalized and to settle that is in court. Jojo, Ned, Sally, Jonah, Sam, Hawk, Cyrus and Travis went on one side of the court and they became exceedingly nervous, mainly Travis. He was trembling a little bit and asked Ned, "Why are we in court?"

"Well, we've signed the adoption forms and we're just waiting until they give us approval." Ned answered.

Travis was still nervous already and even that answer almost helped him, but it didn't sink in. He sighed heavily and laid back on the seat, looking terrified. A couple of minutes later, the bailiff comes up and said, "All rise!"

Everyone stood up and the bailiff presented, "May we now present Judge A. Conroy."

The judge comes in the judge seat and pounded his gavel as he took a seat and everyone else sat down. The judge said, "The case?"

"Mosley v. McDodd." the bailiff said.

The judge could recognize that last name and when he looked at Ned, he said, "Seriously?"

"Yes, your honor."

"All right, what's this about?"

"The case about five boys being mistreated by their stepfather and the McDodd's want to take them in."

"Is McDodd the stepfather?"

"No, that's not McDodd."

"Oh, good. Well, we will let this case go as follows."

Then, two police officers came by and brung in Paul. The judge groaned in disgust and said, "I should've known. Paul Roscoe Stewart."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's me. What do ya want from me, judge?" Paul scowled.

"I've already heard of you a million times. Haven't you got your parole officer on tow?"

"I just came out of jail for this court date."

"So, I'm assuming this is the stepfather, young man?"

He looked at Jonah and said, "Yes, sir."

"Okay, then. This should be easy. Paul Stewart-it seems as though you've got several famous records. Busted by drug use, selling drugs, first-degree assualt, second-degree assault, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, third-degree assault, gunshot wound to the shoulder, conspiracy to commit murder, first degree homicide and now there's a new charge that's been added most recently-child abuse. Isn't that a big surprise?"

"What does that prove anything? They're just stupid mistakes." Paul said.

"But this one, out of one Ned McDodd, is not a mistake. It may be stupid, but it's not a mistake. May we get Mr. Ned McDodd on the stand, please?"

Ned got up and went to the seat near the judgment seat and asked, "Now how did you became aware of this person abusing these kids?"

"It was when me and my son, Jojo took them home after having dinner in our house. As soon as we left, we heard loud noises coming from there. We wanted to see what's happening there and before I could even notice, he comes in and screams at these boys and then it grew worse. He starts beating, lunging and throwing these kids in the house. I could look in their eyes and see that they're definitely afraid of him."

"And what made you want to get involved with them?"

"It was all my wife's idea. She wanted to take them in with us after seeing Jonah almost losing air, because his stepfather lunged at him and grabbed his neck hard."

"I see. Thank you, Mr. McDodd."

Ned went back and sat back down with the others and Paul stood up and say, "Can I just say one thing, your honor? The only reason I choked him was because he took music class over physical education. I wanted him in sports, because it makes him tough, but Jonah-this brat couldn't even beat out the opposing team. When he took that stupid music class, I wanted to kill him so bad."

"Now that I believe." the judge said.

"I would've, though. He just blantantly disrespected me for taking music class."

"I did not disrespect you. I just like music better than sports."

"You are a lying little snot-nosed, backstabbing snake!"

The entire audience booed him in the entire courtroom and Paul shouted, "Why don't ya put a sock in it?"

The judge banged the gavel three times and shouted, "Order! Order in the court!"

The room grew silence and the judge sighed heavily as he takes a drink of water. After that, he said, "Have you brung in your first witness?'

Ned stood up and said, "My son, Jojo."

Jojo stood up and the judge said, "Please address the court."

Jojo cleared his throat and said, "Well, when I first met them, I figured they'd be cool and whatnot, but when I saw their scars for the first time, I kinda figured something must be wrong there, like bruises, beatings and stuff. I was aware that they were victims of abuse and when I actually saw it unfold, I knew from there that this was possible that their stepfather had been attempting to harm them."

"So, what made you want to help them out?"

"Cause they're my best friends, soon to be brothers, and when I see them at their lowest moments, I just come in and give them a little light out of this dark hole they're in. I think Jonah is one great example of being an awesome friend and the same with his brothers, because they have each other and I was the only one to help them out of their situation."

"Spoken like a true friend."

Paul stands up and said, "They mean everything to me, too!"

In the background, Cody and Mike started to boo first as well as the spectators, because they didn't believe in that story. They knew that he was a cold-hearted child harmer. He turned to the audience and screamed, "OH, DO SHUT UP!"

The judge pounded the gavel 10 times and ordered silence. The judge said, "All right. Enough out of you, Stewart!"

"You're not the boss of me!"

"I am the judge and if I plan to put you in jail, then so be it."

Then, Cody, Mike, Marcus, Caitlyn and Misty stood up in different seats of the courtroom and went over to the McDodd's side. The judge asked, "Who are they?"

"That's the young McDodd's friends, your honor." the bailiff replied.

"Well, that's fine. Give me your full names, one at a time, please."

"Cody Austin McKinney."

"Mike Russell McKinney."

"Misty Janice Kirkpatrick."

"Caitlyn Hailey Fanning."

"All righty. How would you find the boys' stepfather?"

"Guilty as charged! Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty! How does he live with himself, beating down these poor boys? He should be in jail for life! What kind of a stepfather are you?" asked Misty.

"Is she always like this?" asked the judge.

"Nah, she's usually crazy." Mike said.

"What does that mean?"

"That's how you are!"

"Can I call all the five of the brothers to stand before me, please?"

The boys stood up and walked in front of the judge and he said, "Give me your full names, please."

"Jonah Patrick Mosley."

"Jacob Cyrus Mosley."

"Samuel Curtis Mosley."

"Daniel Hawk Mosley."

Travis started trembling a little bit and the judge looked at him and asked, "A little shy, aren't we?"

"Kinda."

"It's okay. Just give us your name."

Travis gulped silently and said, "Okay. Travis Ryan Mosley."

"Who's the oldest?"

"I am." Jonah said.

Jonah walked in the bench and the judge asked, "So, what has your stepfather do to you?"

"Makes my life miserable, say that I'm a no-good, beatdown loser, throws furniture at me, beats me down constantly, punches me, shoves me, throws me across the room, shoves me up against the wall, tries to choke me. He's the real reason why I wake up every morning, looking afraid."

"At one point does he make you afraid?"

"I don't really know. I don't know how he's like this at all."

"I do." Ned said.

"Go ahead, Mr. Mayor."

Ned cleared his throat and said, "Just found out yesterday that the reason why Paul is like this is because his stepfather did the same thing to him as he did to his stepsons. He killed his father with a gun when he was 12, because he wanted the abuse to stop. And he told me and my wife that whenever he looks at them, he sees his stepfather. And he's been doing the same thing to them like his own stepfather."

All the boys felt completely shocked and appalled about this. Jonah said, "You never told us that story."

"Cause I wanted to make your lives as miserable as possible, just as my stepfather did to me!"

"Now I get why you're so ticked. You hate your stepkids."

Paul was looking livid and said, "Yeah, so what! I should've ended their stupid lives a long time ago, just like I did to their mother! Those kids were the most miserable kids that I've ever raised and I'm glad their mother died, otherwise I would've killed them if I had the chance."

"Listen to yourself, dude! You're letting this happen again and you're blaming it all on your sons? Are you freakin' serious?" asked Marcus.

"You are a sick, sick dude!" Misty said.

"Want me to kill you, you little pest?"

"That's enough! We're about to ask you this question anyway, because you've been convicted of aggravated assault and conspiracy to murder a minor. Do you find yourself guilty or not guilty?"

"NOT GUILTY!"

"Liar! He should be guilty!" Caitlyn said.

"You shut your mouth!"

"Both of you shut your mouths. Now Jonah, tell me, if you made one wish, what would it be?"

"Live with the McDodds." Jonah answered.

"Bad choice!" Paul shouted.

"And why?"

"Cause they're nice people and their son is an awesome friend."

"I see. Can you bring Travis up here, please?"

As Jonah went back down, Travis was nervous as well and Jonah said, "It's gonna be okay. He's just gonna ask you questions, all right?"

Travis was nervous to even sit next to the judge and the judge said, "Don't be afraid."

He slowly sat down on the seat and asked, "How often does your stepfather take it out on you?"

"He-he doesn't take it out on me much, but somedays he does. I see him taking it out on Jonah a lot and it scares me more than anything. I was afraid that he was gonna die and that I would lose my brother. He's like the closest thing to a brother and father that I've ever had."

"And how does it make you feel when you or Jonah gets beaten by your stepfather?"

"It makes me feel sad, lonely, scared, hurt, hopeless, helpless and depressed all at the same time, because it feels like my heart is ripping out of my chest and I couldn't live to see another day. I'm scared for my brother and the others, because I was so scared to know if there's a repeat of that scenario again, just like Paul killed our mom."

The judge looked at Jonah and asked, "Can you tell me how your brother became so scared?"

"Well, it started when our mom met Paul and he looked into his eyes, and sensed that he was a mean dude. I think, one night, while he was sleeping, he heard arguments, fights, screaming in the living room back in Whereville and he saw that he beats down mom and over the next few visits, he would take his anger out on us for no reason or for little things. When they got married, his fears increased and he was scared that he was gonna die and he saw our mom being killed by him. It was traumatizing for him and he was only eight or nine. He's pretty much sensitive about everything and he has some trust issues, like making new friends, because he's lonely. It's not an act he's playing on, this is how he is. He would often get nightmares every night about what if Paul kills him or something. He's pretty much of Paul as we are, but he's also afraid for us, because we're the only ones he ever had." Jonah explained.

The judge looked at Travis and said, "Is that true?"

Travis slowly held his head down and nodded as a 'yes'. The judge touched his chin and lifted up his face and there's tears rolling down there. He then said, "I'm pretty sure you have a big heart."

"I care for my brothers a lot." Travis said, tearfully.

"And they care about you too."

Travis nodded his head again and he said, "Can I go now?"

"Sure."

As Travis went back down to his seat, he looked at Paul and said, "How could you be such a heartless person to these kids?"

"What do you care, anyway? Those little punks are nothing but good-for-nothing stupid pieces of crap!"

"You do realize that you're gonna be confined in comtempt of court?"

"You do realize that you're fat, ugly and stupid?"

The audience gasped in exclamation and Cody said, "Oh, no he did-n't."

"He just went there." Marcus said.

The judge pounded his gavel a million times and said, "You're off the case. And I'm gonna say you'll have zero custody of the kids."

"WHAT? You can't do that to me!"

"Yes, I can!"

He looked at Jojo and said, "This...is all your fault!"

He picks up the gun from his pocket and fires at him, but he missed. The guards stopped it for once, but then, he slammed them down and comes running after Jojo in the courtroom and fledged into a full-beatdown. He started punching him, shoving him, smacking him and everything. Jonah tried to stop it, but he pushed him out of the way and he lunged at his throat and then, before he could squeeze it, Mike steps in and pulls Jojo out of there and the guards stopped him. Mike looks at Jojo and said, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Thank you for saving him, Mike." Ned said.

"You're welcome."

The judge pounded his gavel and said, "In all my years in the courtrooms, I have never seen something like this! Now, has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We, the jury, in the above entitled case find the defendent-Paul Roscoe Stewart-guilty of abusing a child, attempting to murder a minor, assaulting teenagers and also to killing the mother of the five children several years ago."

"You will be spending life in prison without parole and all custody of your stepkids goes to Ned and Sally McDodd. Case closed."

The gavel pounds and Paul wasn't happy about it. He tried to break free of them, but the guards took him away.

"You can't do this! Those kids are mine! I was having fun making them miserable! I would've killed them if I wanted to! I will come back for you!"

"As a matter of fact, forget prison. I sentence him to death by electric chair."

"WHAT?"

The gavel pounds again and asked, "The electric chair? You can't do this to me! I've only got one life to live!"

"Take him to the chair!" Mike shouted.

"Get out of here!"

The judge sighed heavily and said, "Well, boys. You've got your new family now."

Jonah, Sam, Cyrus, Hawk and Travis looked at Ned and Sally and brought them with open arms and hugged them tightly. Ned told them, "Welcome to the family, boys."

"Better, welcome home." Jojo said.

"I'm so happy for you guys." Marcus said.

"So are we." Mike said.

"You know, I never actually thought this could happen. We've been moving here the past week and already we're out of this situation that we've been in for a long time. Now that we've got a new family, it's like everything's gonna be okay." Jonah said.

Travis was smiling for the first time and told Jojo, "It's gonna be the best time of my life being your brother. I've never felt so happy before."

"Neither have I."

Jojo hugged Travis and Jonah, Hawk, Cyrus and Sam came in with the hug as well. Travis whispered, "We are so going home."

"Our new home."

You knew that they might be living with the McDodd's, right? Well, I knew it too. And here's the awesome ending for this story!