Well, the Wilson loving didn't come in this chapter after all but it should in the next one. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for the reviews, whether they're good, bad or indifferent. I love writing and I just hope y'all enjoy what I write. KimVaughan.

Soul Mates

Chapter 16

After they took a short recess for lunch, Mrs. Parker ended her questions and it became Will and Sonny's lawyer turn.

"I call Jackson Horton-Kiriakis to the stand." Sonny stood up and walked up to the stand.

"Place your right hand on the bible." Sonny followed the bailiff's instructions. "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes." Sonny sat down after the bailiff walked away and Mr. Graham joined him.

"Please state your full name for the record please."

"My name is Jackson Steven Horton-Kiriakis." Will knew Sonny was nervous because he was turning his wedding band around on his finger.

"Mr. Horton-Kiriakis, how do you know the Fallon's?"

"Gabrielle Fallon is my step-daughter's mother and Nickolas Fallon is my step-daughter's other step-father."

"So you are not related to either one of them like your husband is?"

"No, sir, I'm not."

"How long have you and William Horton-Kiriakis been married?"

"Almost two months."

"And why did you get married, Mr. Horton-Kiriakis?"

"Because we love each other and we want to spend the rest of our lives together. Plus we both knew that Marley needed her daddies to be married and not just living together."

"Whose idea was it to share custody of Marlena Grace?" Sonny looked over at Will.

"It was my husband's idea. He felt like Marley needed to be with her mom some too. He never wanted to take her away from Gabi."

"But weren't you and he worried about leaving her with her mother and step-father?"

"Yes, we were."

"Why is that Mr. Horton-Kiriakis?"

"Because Nick has had problems with me and Will since the moment he learned that we were gay and together."

"Can you tell this court what occurred on March 22nd of this year?" Sonny remembered that day like it had just happened and he didn't really want to repeat it but he knew why he had to.

"I was at my place of business, Common Grounds, when Nick stormed in looking for Will. I told him that I didn't know where he was at but even if I did know, I didn't have to tell him because it was none of his business. He got angrier the longer he was there. he told me that Will had better not be talking to Gabi, telling her about some of the things that he had been doing to Will and I. he started to leave and I tried to stop him because I was afraid he was going to go hurt Will. I grabbed his arm and he turned on me and told me to get my hands off of him." Sonny knew that he had left out the main part but he didn't want to say that awful word again.

"Mr. Horton-Kiriakis, did Mr. Fallon call you anything as you grabbed his arm?"

"Yes, he did."

"Please tell the court what Mr. Fallon called you that day." Sonny felt the tears start forming but he held them at bay while he was testifying.

"He called me a faggot."

"And what did you do or say when he called this derogatory name?"

"I punched him in the face."

"What did he do?"

"He jumped on me and we fought, knocking each other all over the place."

"What happened next?"

"He jumped away from me and told me that Will and I weren't going to get him sent back to prison. He said that he had had to learn how to defend himself in prison and he wouldn't let us take him down."

"What did you do then?"

"I called paranoid and he left the coffee house. I went looking for Will so I could make sure that he was okay."

"And was he okay?"

"Yes, he was. Matter of fact, he and Gabi had talked and agreed that Will would be a part of their child's life, regardless."

"So there was a plan talked about by your husband, William Horton-Kiriakis, and Gabrielle Hernandez Fallon that day?"

"That's what he told me and she confirmed it later on. We had no reason to think otherwise."

"What happened?"

"Gabi started having problems with early contractions like before and Nick blamed my mother-in-law, Samantha Brady."

"Did Mrs. Fallon know that her husband had forced yours into signing away his parental rights?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"So, as far as you know, he did this all on his own without her knowledge or consent?" Sonny looked at Will and he could see that the proceedings were taking their toll on him.

"I honestly do not believe she knew anything about what Nick was doing. I really don't think she would have gone along with it if she had known."

"Why do you think that Mr. Horton-Kiriakis?"

"Because no matter what, Gabi still cares for Will. She always will love him, I think. In my opinion, I think that all of the blackmailing happened because Nick was jealous. I do believe he loves Gabi but he didn't like that Will had been with her first."

"So you think it was because he didn't like the fact that the woman he was in love with had been with a gay man before him. Is that what you are trying to say?"

"Yes."

"And how do you feel about the fact that your husband was with a woman before you and had a child with her?"

"I love my husband more than my own life. I think of his beautiful little girl as if she were mine. I don't harbor any hard feelings towards Gabi because she was with Will first because I'm going to be with him last."

"Thank you Mr. Horton-Kiriakis." Mr. Graham sat down and Mrs. Parker walked up to ask Sonny some questions.

"Mr. Horton-Kiriakis, do you think that the Fallon's shouldn't have custody of Marlena Grace Horton because Mr. Fallon has been in jail?" she asked in her hateful tone of voice.

"Nick serving time has nothing to do with it."

"Then what is your problem with him and his wife having custody of her?"

"I didn't know Nick before he went to prison. I just know Nick after he got out of prison. My concern is not based on what he did before; it's what he's done since. Believe it or not, Mrs. Parker, but I don't like being called a faggot in my place of business and having someone call the man I love names constantly. I don't like watching him cry himself to sleep at night because he's afraid that he'll lose his child because he's in love with me. Nick did that to Will. He hurt him in ways that I'll never understand. I will never know how Will feels because I wasn't being threatened like he was. Nick not only threatened to take my husband's daughter away but he threatened to take not only his freedom away but he said he would tell on Will's family members that knew the truth and they would go to jail too. So that's my problem with Nick raising anybody's child, especially my stepdaughter. I love her and I don't ever want to see her shed tears like her father did because Nick said something he shouldn't have."

"Thank you Mr. Horton-Kiriakis. That's all."