Chapter 26
Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I just make them do stupid unrealistic shit. If you are a lawyer please forgive my looseness with the judgey type talk. It is fiction.
~~OtA~~
The six of them worked all day Sunday on the proposal to the judge in Edward's case.
Emmet managed to remain relatively level headed, mostly because he had the swearing bet with Rose and he was damned if she was going to win.
Alice thought it was all very romantic. Jasper agreed with Alice.
Rose was stoic in the face of adversity.
Edward was nauseated, more concerned over Bella's reputation being tarnished than facing any jail time.
Monday morning, Bella threw up 3 times after breakfast. A dull ache remained in her stomach as they waited for the judge's rooms to open at 8.30.
Judge Laurent was surprised to find them waiting outside his chambers.
" We apologize Judge Laurent, we have an urgent matter that may affect the way in which we continue to carry out our court appointed duties." Bella was trying to be professional, which was very difficult as her knees felt weak and she was certain she was going to vomit again.
"Very well, I have 15 minutes I can spare before I have to follow up on some other paperwork to a different case. This is all very inappropriate and will be duly noted." He gruffly walked past the reception area, where his secretary had not quite made an appearance yet.
They filed into his office, Bella and Rose taking seats in front of his desk, while the others sat on the two couches in his well appointed office.
"Your honor, there has been an unfortunate occurrence in Las Vegas, that we have only just gotten the details on, and we believe that we need to withdraw from our duties monitoring Mr. Cullen, um DJ EC."
"Is that so? And would these details have anything to do with the fact that you, Miss Swan, or should I say Mrs. Cullen, are now married to the gentleman that the court appointed you to monitor?"
Bella's usually pale skin became a ghastly white; Rose's mouth was opening and shutting like a goldfish. They had the best private investigator in the country on the matter, how did the Judge manage to know before they did that there was any impropriety?
"Young lady, I have a very factual marriage certificate in my hands. I believe in hearing both sides of the story before making judgment, but let me tell you, before you speak, that you may want to have your own attorney present and Mr. Cullen, you may want to acquire one as well. Now, are you aware of the penalties for such behavior?"
Bella cleared her choked up throat. This wasn't bad. She could handle this. The fact the judge knew before them was now almost a gift.
"Your Honor, the night in question, well the morning, er after so to speak, Mr. Cullen and I found ourselves in a hotel room, in separate rooms, with little to no memory of the evening in question. I attended a doctor shortly after, and we discovered that no inappropriate behavior had occurred, so we decided to investigate further into the events of the evening."
"I will need to see evidence of this from your doctor please, Miss Swan."
"Yes sir. We set about investigating the evening and the evidence has indicated it was most likely that both parties were Roofied."
"It is poor judgment on your behalf not to come forward with this Miss Swan."
"Yes, your honor. Hindsight is an amazing thing. After further investigation, we discovered this weekend that Mr. Cullen's ex has a partner with a history of violence and that she was the perpetrator of the drugging, and may have been fundamental in suggesting that the pair get married. We have some research here to suggest that the effects of the drug can make the recipient highly suggestible, and that appears to be the case here. As the drug wore off, we both had no recollection of the evening. Due to the fact that he had been violently attacked during his taping that day, we were even more aware of the likelihood that there may be attempts to commit further violence towards him, which is why we had one of us with him at all times until we returned to Seattle."
Judge Laurent leaned back on his chair, appearing to take into consideration the information bought to him.
"I was made aware this morning that Mr. Cullen managed to avert a violent situation that occurred in the women's shelter. Is that correct, Mr. Cullen?"
Edward sat forward, wanting to give the judge the respect he was due.
"Yes, Your Honor, the man in question was an ex-partner of one of the residents."
"I am also now aware, Mr, Cullen, that you already did volunteer work at this center?"
"Yes sir. Jasper wasn't aware of this, sir; it is something I have done for a while. He wasn't aware when he was organizing it, and I failed to bring it to Miss Swan's attention.
To be perfectly honest I attempted to tell her, but she thought I was trying to back out of doing the volunteer work there, so I just sort of let it go. Zaff, I mean Zaffrina, who is the manager of the center, had some romantic ideation about Miss Swan and me, so she did not report it to Miss Swan or the court. Please don't go too hard on Miss Swan or Zaffrina, they both had good intentions."
The judge let out a small laugh. The tension broke in the room instantly.
"Zaffy introduced my wife to me. She is a force to be reckoned with, that woman. I learned about 2 weeks ago that you were already volunteering there Mr. Cullen. In particular, Zaffrina was very hopeful that 2 solid weeks of working with a certain young child in the center might help him to be more verbal and to help overcome his PTSD. Due to Zaffrina, I have started to look upon you more favorably Mr. Cullen."
Bella was aware that she was starting to hold her breath.
"What would you deem to be appropriate to occur now, Your Honor?"
"Well, as this case was a breach of federal laws in regards to the conduct of Mr. Cullen, I will have to look very closely at the precedents involved. Given that you, Miss Swan, are an officer of the court, it would ordinarily not be looked upon lightly that you deceived the court. I will take into account that you were both unaware of the event of the evening in Las Vegas, as I have presided over many cases and have a fairly solid understanding of the effects of the drug rohypnol. Mr. Cullen has redeemed himself somewhat in the rehabilitation of the young lad at the center, and with the courage that he demonstrated during the domestic issue has made me view him in a far more favorable way than I would have several months ago."
"If it's any consolation Your Honor, I'm planning on leaving the radio station. The time I've spent with Miss Swan combined with the time spent under the court ordered direction has made me realize there is more to life than being a jerk, so I would like to devote more time to the center or working with other kids."
The judge put his fingers together and tapped his index fingers against his mouth.
"I guess the purpose of the sentence has been achieved. It appears you are rehabilitated. It would also appear that Miss Swan and her associates have been a good influence. Perhaps in light of recent events we can look at deeming your service completed, rendering your wife no longer required to supervise you. I'm assuming the doctor will confirm that that Miss Swan acted with propriety and that both of you were victims in this case. I will also assume that you will be proceeding with charges against the perpetrator."
Bella was trying to hold in the feelings of exhilaration she was feeling.
"In addition, I assume that you have some annulment papers that you would like to enter into the court."
Bella looked at Edward.
Rose butted in.
"Yes, Your Honor, they are going to be submitted this afternoon." She glared at Bella and Edward, daring them to disagree.
"Very well. Send the appropriate annulment paperwork in, the doctor's statement and if they are as you say, then I will deem this ended. One more thing Mr. Cullen,"
"Er, yes sir, Your Honor I mean."
"Zaffrina is a force to be reckoned with, but she is normally right. If she manages to influence you into dating Miss Swan, then please do so discretely. And the annulment is an exceptional idea. It will keep Miss Swan's reputation as a lawyer clear. Just make sure I get a wedding invitation to the next one in say, at least 18 months or so, and then we can say that we let bygones be bygones. As long as it isn't in Vegas. Agreed?"
"Yes Your Honor!" Edward reached forward and shook the judge's hand.
She wanted to grab Edwards hand as they walked out but she settled for a smile.
At least until she got him into bed with her that night.
OtA
Thanks for sticking with me. Not long to go now. Do these two deserve a happy ending, or should I just keep cockblocking Edward and ruin Bella's Vagenda?
*Yes I said Vagenda. If you watch Fringe you would understand.*