Taking a deep breath, Dara took one last look at her clients. She knew they were both nervous, but she had to hand it to them; they both hid it well. Lucky looked confident and secure, which she knew he wasn't. Elizabeth held his hand and looked for all the world as a centered, loving influence. Only she knew of the mess they were just a few hours ago when she picked them up at their house. It was a complete mystery to her how they managed to pull it together so quickly in the relatively short car ride over, but she was glad they had.
Stepping out towards the center of the courtroom, she coughed discretely before starting the speech she had memorized weeks before. No hesitation. That was the key she felt. Hesitation would spell doubt to the judge and if there was one thing she didn't want was Judge Henrietta Hicks to have doubts.
"Your honor. This case is about a small boy, a four year old boy, who is obviously loved by both sides of his family. Cameron Lucas Spencer has never lacked for attention, love or encouragement a day in his life. In addition to the family we have present here in this courtroom, there are cousins, uncles, aunts and friends all who take part in making sure he has a happy, safe and secure life. There have been unfortunate events in the past year that have thwarted the best intentions of his father. Events that no one could have predicted or prevented. Events that were in no way brought on by the actions of Lucky Spencer."
"The only reason we are here today is fear. An understandable, but completely unfounded fear. Cameron is not exposed to additional dangers by continuing to live with his father, as he has his entire life, than he is living anywhere else. My colleague, Ms. Miller, wants to talk about instability and irresponsibility, but she will be hard pressed to prove these claims without relying on the relentless lies of a tabloid media. She wants to promote a stable, loving family structure for Cameron. Well Your Honor, my clients can and have provided that for him. By all accounts this child is happy, healthy, and remarkably well-adjusted. The only way to undue this, Your Honor, will be to permanently remove him from the only home he has ever known. His home with his father."
Diane Miller slowly got to her feet despite the tingling sensation running through her, something she recognized as irritation. With a proud smile, she made eye contact with the judge and spoke calmly and rationally. "Your Honor, I have no intention of arguing Mr. Spencer's love for his son. However, I must point out that, while the media is painting a horrid picture of his home life with Cameron, it is not entirely unfounded. He had to have known that this was a possibility when he entered the music industry and, though it might not have occurred to him before now, all of this could have been prevented if he had simply told the press that he had a son. Ms. Jensen wants to wow you with the emotional support this child has been given throughout his entire life, but she fails to mention one thing: the masked man who climbed through the window in pursuit of young Cameron was in fact his cousin, Logan Drake."
"If Cameron is returned to his father's home, what reassurance can Mr. Spencer give us that his cousin won't try again? He has yet to be apprehended and the same can be said of the remaining culprits. In the past month, Cameron has been able to live a care-free, normal life without being harassed by reporters or vengeful relatives. Returning him now would only confuse and scare him. It is my believe, and I do believe we have this agenda in mind Your Honor, that he remain where he is with his grandparents."
Nodding, Henrietta Hicks made a few quick notes on her yellow legal pad. All custody cases were messy, but she had a feeling this one would be murkier than most. Sighing, she lifted her eye from her desk area and caught Diane Miller's eyes. "Very well. Ms. Miller, you may call your first witness."
*****
Steven collapsed on his grandmother's couch, thankful for once that she wasn't home to see him in this condition. She had convinced both him and Elizabeth that she was well enough to go to the church for her weekly Bingo. It was funny thinking of her playing Bingo because he had never pictured her as old, but then he realized she was probably the one pulling the lever and shouting out the answers. He knew she felt little more than useless no matter how many times he and Elizabeth tried to convince her otherwise. He had driven there and promised to pick her up because he had seen her fragile for the first time in his entire life and it still frightened him.
No, his exhaustion had little to do with quick trips to the grocery store and pharmacy and more to do with the emotional anguish returning home had put him through. He had a wife he had barely spent more than ten hours with at a time and a sister who was trying to be both mother to her twins and hero to her boyfriend while painting a thin veneer over her own emotions should anyone worry about how she might be handling it all. He participated in the Uncle contest because he knew it was a good distraction for her; he already knew he was the better man anyway.
How much longer? He asked himself. How much longer did they have to lie, to sneak around, to pretend that they weren't madly in love? How many more times was he expected to practically ignore her when they were in public? When they were in the room together around other people, and even that was rare, he had strongest impulse to grab her and kiss her. That would send some heads flying, wouldn't it? He wanted to wear his wedding ring and he wanted to see Georgie wear hers. It wasn't until coming to Port Charles this last time that he had started to question the promises Georgie had made to him. She wasn't proud to be his wife or she would have spilled the news to her family before now. Alexis didn't count because nothing had come from that particular confession.
"Hello?" Georgie called into the still air. She knew Steven would leave the door open for her and with Audrey gone there was no reason to knock. There was a chance he would be baby-sitting the twins while the trial was going on, but surely he would have mentioned something like that to her. No they were sure to be alone at least for the next few hours. A luxury they hadn't had in a few days.
"Here." Steven announced closing his eyes.
"Hey." Walking further into the house, it was impossible to miss the haggard look her husband wore. Or the exhaustion that radiated off of his normally strong shoulders. Sitting down next to him, she took his hand and began massaging his palm. "You look tired baby."
"Lying is exhausting. Who knew?" Steven barely managed to keep the anger out of his voice. The bitterness lay beneath the surface and he bet she heard it.
Biting her lip, Georgie looked down at her sneakers, curled up on the couch. "I know you're tired of this but..."
"But what?" Steven demanded, pulling his hand back.
"We've been through this."
"Explain it again because no matter how many different ways I try to tell myself that it's the best thing, it still feels wrong."
"I'm just asking for time. That's all. Just time."
"How much time?" He opened one eye and caught her gaze. "How much longer are we going to have to go through this hell?"
"What do you want me to do?" Feeling the tears start to gather in her eyes, she brushed at them with a furious hand. She knew he was tired of hiding from everyone, god she was tired of it too. But it didn't make announcing this any easier. It just didn't.
"Tell your father." Steven told her simply. "Tell him and let's stop hiding from everyone. The plan was for us to move here so that I could get to know them. It's not right lying to them like this. And I'm not ashamed."
"Ashamed? I'm not ashamed."
"You wouldn't know it from where I'm sitting." Steven shut his eyes again.
"I'm not ashamed. Not of you or our marriage." Georgie reached out to take his chin and force his face towards her own. "I'm so sorry if I ever made you doubt the fact that I love you and I am anything but thrilled to be your wife."
Steven touched his lips to the tears on her face. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I just love you so much."
"I love you so much. So, so much. And I hate this. I really do."
"We've got to tell them. I don't know much more of this I can stand." Steven admitted burying his face into her hair.
Greedily she grasped his hands with her own, melding their fingers together. "We'll tell my dad. We'll tell him together. I'll have Alexis set up a dinner and I'll invite you and we'll tell him."
"You mean I get an invitation?" Steven chuckled.
"A very personal invitation." Georgie sniffed.
*****
"Your Honor, I call Elizabeth Webber to the stand." Diane announced confidently.
Even though she knew going in she was going to be called to the stand, it still didn't take the fear out of the words as she made her way to the witness stand. Smoothing her hand over her skirt, Elizabeth took a deep breath and reminded herself to calm down. It was all going to work out. This was all going to work. Raising her hand to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, her eyes sought Lucky's for some reassurance. God if the worst happened she did not want to be the reason Lucky lost Cameron.
"Miss Webber, I assume you know the penalty for lying under oath?" Diane met Elizabeth's eyes with a fierce gaze.
"I do." Elizabeth fought to keep from rolling her eyes at the question. What did Diane Miller take her for? A ridiculous soap heroine trying to save her bad boy lover who didn't care about her?
"Just so long as you know." Diane nodded solemnly though the smile was clear in her eyes. "Miss Webber, how long have you been associated with Mr. Spencer?"
"A year."
"If you could describe your boyfriend in one word, what would it be?"
"Wonderful." On the surface there was nothing wrong with her question, no real way for Elizabeth to damage anything but she couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her stomach that this was leading somewhere she didn't want to go.
"And his biggest weakness?" Diane prodded carefully.
"He doesn't accept help very easily."
"Is that why he didn't mention to anyone, not even you, the woman he appears to love, that, at a time when his young, vulnerable cousins were disappearing from sight that he, himself, had had a similar experience?"
"Lucky's a caretaker. He was busy trying to take care of everyone else." Elizabeth defended.
"Or maybe he thought that you couldn't handle it." Diane suggested
"Your Honor. That was not in the form of a question. Can we please stick to—?" Dara stood up.
"Sustained. Rephrase Ms. Miller."
"Forgive me Your Honor. Miss Webber, is it plausible that, with your own troubled background, he wondered if you could handle something that would make him totally vulnerable to you?"
"My own troubled what?"
"Isn't that why your own parents are on the opposing side?"
"My parents have not been involved actively in my life ever since I told them I had no plans to be the nursing assistant they thought matched my skills perfectly."
"Why did you return to Port Charles after such a long absence, Miss Webber?"
"My grandmother injured herself and I moved to help her."
"That wasn't the only reason, was it Elizabeth?"
"If you are referring to the break up of my previous relationship, then yes that did play a role in my decision."
"What did Mr. Giambetti do for a living?"
"He was an assistant in a law office."
"Not just any law office. Some of the country's worst criminals passed through those doors. He was used to seeing criminals get off with a slap on the wrist and it's just human to acquire such skills, is it not?"
"I don't see what you are getting at Ms. Miller. Max and haven't spoken in a year and a half. I wouldn't know where to find him even if I wanted to talk with him. What he does or doesn't do in his professional life has nothing to do with me. It never did."
"It was those particular skills that allowed him to walk right through the restraining order you brought against him. Or am I mistaken?" Diane paused only long enough to tilt her head. "The bruises around your neck have healed quite nicely I see."
Elizabeth bit her lip and glared at Diane. How the hell had she found out about, scratch that she reminded herself. Sarah. It had to come from Sarah. The first and only time she had trusted her sister with any information. If she had just stuck with her first instinct and called Steven, but no she had to worry about him getting himself arrested on murder charges. "I can't control what laws other people choose to break Ms. Miller."
"It is not my intention to lay any blame on you, Miss Webber. Let me assure you of that right now. I only bring up Maxwell Giambetti's tendencies because, when the kidnapping attempt on young Cameron was made, did it not occur to you that it might have been his way of punishing you? And, if you did, why didn't you bring it up when the police questioned you? Were you trying to hide something?"
"It didn't occur to me because I haven't thought of Max Giambetti in almost a year. Because he had already moved on to someone else when I left town. If you did as through research as you're implying, you would have found that little fact out."
"I would have thought Cameron would be Mr. Spencer's biggest weakness." Diane countered, returning to one of her original questions. "And when his very safety was threatened...Why do you suppose he didn't think to tell my clients about it, Cameron's own grandparents?"
"A lot happened that night."
"And the nights following it?"
"Your Honor...relevance?" Dara chimed in.
"I have a point. I promise." Diane argued.
"Then get to it."
"Yes, Your Honor. Miss Webber, you are aware that the Grimes suffered a great loss when Cameron was only a baby, is that correct?"
"Yes I am aware their daughter died in a car accident."
"It's strange that you label it as an accident when the original report pointed toward foul play."
"There's no evidence of that." Elizabeth tried to keep her voice calm.
"Is that what your boyfriend told you?"
"Your Honor!" Dara stood up slamming her hands against the table. "This is not a criminal trial and Ms. Webber wasn't even in the state at the time of Ms. Grime's accident. How does Ms. Miller expect her to answer any questions regarding this?"
"I'm only trying to determine how much she knows from what she's been told? If she is to be a character witness for Mr. Spencer, the court needs to be able to differentiate between fact and opinion."
"I'll thank you to not do my job for me, Miss Miller." Judge Hicks reprimanded. "However, I don't find the questioning irrelevant. Please answer the question Miss Webber."
"It's badgering the witness Your Honor."
"Miss Jensen, you've been overruled. Sit down."
"Told." Elizabeth said reluctantly. "Robin Scorpio told me that."
"The same Robin Scorpio who was not, how shall I say, in the picture? I understand she and Miss Grimes did not get along. That would make her biased...not to mention the fact that she spent the better part of her life in his home."
"And taking the word of her parents isn't just as biased?" Elizabeth wondered.
"Miss Grimes is not on trial."
"You brought her up Ms. Miller. And you wanted to know what my opinion was of the situation."
"Well now I have it. Thank you for your time. I have no further questions Your Honor."
*****
The phone was only halfway to Patrick's ear when he answered the phone, "Hey, look. I'm on my way out. Can I call you back?"
"Patrick?" Morgan's voice was so soft, he barely heard it.
"Morgan?" Patrick closed the door and leaned against it. "Hey buddy. What's going on?"
"Grandpa Robert and I went to Disney Land." Morgan told him.
"Really?" Patrick asked eagerly. "Did you have a lot of fun?"
"Yeah! We rode all of the roller coasters and ate lots of sugar and pretzels—oh don't tell Robin, okay?" Morgan suddenly realized his slip-up.
"No worries Morgan." Patrick promised. "No worries. Where is Robin?"
"She's asleep again." Morgan explained. "Do you want me to wake her up?"
"No." Patrick shook his head. "No, let her rest. I'm sure she's exhausted."
"Patrick?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we ever going to get to come home?"
"What?"
"Come home." Morgan stressed out. "When am I going to get to come home?"
Patrick had the wildest sensation to scream, "Now! You can come home now." But that's not what he said. "I thought you were having fun with your grandpa?"
"I am." Morgan answered slowly. "I am. I just..."
"Just what? Morgan, it's not much longer and then you can come home." Patrick insisted.
"But I want to come home now." Morgan whined.
"Your mother needs this time with your grandpa—"
"Don't lie to me."
"What? Morgan, I'm not—"
"You're lying! You and Robin are fighting: that's why we're here. You won't say sorry."
"No, Morgan, that's not—"
"Just say you're sorry and then we can come home now." Morgan pleaded.
"It's not that simple. Morgan, we're not fighting."
"Then why is Robin always crying?" Morgan challenged furiously.
Patrick shut his eyes and blew out a tortured breath. The question shot him right through the heart. Robin was crying...and all the time? He couldn't just blame that on hormones. They kept missing each other, but that was going to have to end now. He was going to have to call her every hour until she answered—a beep-beep-beep interrupted his train of thought. "Morgan, I'll see you in three weeks, okay? You're coming home in three weeks, both of you."
"Bye Patrick. Love you."
Previews:
How hard would it be to overpower the Grimes and go through with the plan to take Cameron? Logan and Courtney and the mystery partner were still at large. Why, it wouldn't be any work at all.