Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Brielle.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Het, Mpreg, Stripping, Exotic Dancing, Violence, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, etc.

"Okay, sweetheart. Can you tell me if your Daddy is in the courtroom?" Jay asked softly. Brielle was silent for a moment, but Jay didn't repeat the question. Finally, she turned her head and locked eyes with Wade.

"He's my Daddy." She answered clearly into the microphone. An uncomfortable silence fell over the courtroom. Chris' eyes slowly started to widen. He was about to lurch out of his chair, when Ryback's hand closed around his shoulder and shoved him back down.

"Do you have any relation by blood to Mr. Jericho over there?" Jay pointed to Chris, who was seething like a rabid animal in his chair. Brielle was silent again. She turned her pale face to Chris, and then back to Jay.

"I don't think so. I only met him when he came to my hospital room two weeks ago. He was really mean to me." Tears brewed in Brielle's eyes and Jay hurriedly handed her Mr. Fluffykins. Instantly, she calmed down.

"Would you like to tell us about what he said, or did, to you?" Jay asked. She stroked the stuffed animal's short hair.

"He came to my hospital room and said that my Mommy didn't love me anymore. He said that he was the only one I could trust."

"Is it true that you had just undergone a major heart operation, Brielle?" The lawyer asked.

She nodded stiffly. "When he hit me, my chest really hurt. There was a lot of blood and I was really scared. I wanted my Mommy."

"But, by that time, he had convinced you that your Mommy didn't love you, or want you, anymore. Right?" Jay asked.

She sniffled and nodded, her blonde hair falling in front of her face. "Yeah. Each time that he hit me, he said that Mommy didn't care 'bout me. He said that Mommy didn't want me no more." The tears fell freely now. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

Jay tilted her little head back and looked into her teary eyes. "I want to tell you something, sweetheart. Nothing you could ever do or say could make Adam stop loving you, okay? Adam has, and always will, love you. This doesn't change that."

"You sure?" Brielle asked, a little more hopeful this time.

"I'm positive, baby." Jay turned to the jury. "Let it be known that the defendant, Mr. Jericho, convinced the child that he was her biological father, when he wasn't, and physically harmed her." And then, back to Brielle, "No further questions."

This was the part that Adam had feared the most. David rose out of his chair and fixed his tie, a suave look on his face as he slowly rolled his chair under the table. He thought he was so smart, about to milk a child for some easy answers. But David didn't know the first thing about children. Brielle could read him like a book and she knew an ambulance chaser when she saw one. This, after all, was not the family's first encounter with the man known as David Otunga.

He had represented Chris once before, when Brielle couldn't have been more than two or three. It was amazing that she even remembered that far back, but his face roused some rather uncomfortable memories for her. He had been the lawyer that had defended Chris after Adam had supposedly throttled him in the parking lot of the club. Jay had also been the lawyer who had defended Adam, but it was unlikely that Adam remembered that. That was why Jay had been so generous this time around: he had seen Chris' effect on the small family.

David walked over to the stand and slammed his hands down in front of the little girl, leaning down so that they were at eye-level with one another. Remarkably, Brielle didn't back down. She continued to stoke the hair on her stuffed animal, narrowing her eyes at the taller man. Realizing that it was foolish to attempt to intimidate a child, he chose a different approach. Pacing back and forth, he thought of the first question he could ask her. And then, a devious smile came over his face.

"Are you aware of your 'mother's' profession, sweetheart?" He asked, his voice low. More tense silence filled the courtroom.

"He's a dancer." Brielle answered.

"Oh, I suppose that that's one way to put it." David said. "I would rather consider him a professional slut, however." The tears returned to Brielle's eyes. "Did you know that getting on his back like some sort of whore for my client is how you were conceived?"

"Objection!" Jay called out. "She's only six, your honor! He's badgering the witness."

"Sustained." Glen slammed the gavel down. "Do you have a point, Mr. Otunga."

"I do, your honor. My point is that Adam whored himself out to just about everyone, including my client Mr. Jericho, for money. And if he happened to get pregnant, that is nobody's fault but his own. But to put that child in jeopardy is unacceptable."

Brielle narrowed her eyes at David. "Don't talk about my Mommy like that! He never put his hands on me. He never hurt me. That meanie did! I almost died and I was so scared and I didn't have my Mommy because of him."

David sighed. He turned to the judge, exasperated. "The witness is clearly emotional, your honor."

"You heard her, Mr. Otunga. Don't talk about her Mommy like that. And if you don't have any further questions, your claims are dismissed. The court is in recess for deliberation."

Brielle got down off of the stand and ran into Adam's arms, where he cradled her comfortingly. She sobbed into his chest, bunching the material of his suit in her tiny little hands. It was awful and unfair that she had to endure such trauma, but if it meant that Chris would be behind bars forever and could never hurt her again, he would hold her and comfort her for as long as she needed him to. Thankfully, the jury was only in deliberation for half an hour. The verdict: guilty on all counts.

Glen was quick to sentence him. It was obvious that he wanted this case over with. So many names had been dragged through the mud and now an innocent little girl had had to sit on the stand and endure the scathing words of David Otunga. For the rape, he was sentenced to twenty-five years to life. For the kidnapping, fifteen years. For assault on a minor, two years. And for a post-case slander against the family, David Otunga was to be held in contempt for thirty days.

"You did it, baby." Adam told her softly. Her cradled her in his arms and rocked her back and forth, listening for a break in her sniffles. "Chris can never hurt you again. I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

"I'm so tired. Can we go back home, Mommy?" Brielle asked, burying her face in his chest. It was somewhat difficult to understand what she was saying, but he did nonetheless.

Adam looked to Randy and locked eyes with him. "Yeah, baby. It's time to go home."