AJ was sat on the chair his legs swinging back and forth while his newly adopted Uncle Jack was checking the voicemail on his cell. They were waiting in a room at the Yacht Club only the meeting hadn't started yet; JR's lawyers were late.

Just then there was a ping from the nearby elevator and the stomp of shoes on the carpeted hallway.

"Jackson Montgomery I presume." said the lady who walked in. She had black hair and wore a vivid red suit. She put her briefcase down on a nearby table and reached out to shake hands.

It wasn't who Jackson was expecting, but he rallied quickly.

"Carol Robinson in person. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

JR's lawyer gave him a lipstick thin smile.

"When I heard that a former District Attorney was acting as legal counsel, I felt this required a more personal touch."

"I am just here to guarantee the boy's legal rights, as a friend of the family."

"Of course." said Carol, her painted smile unchanging.

She turned her attention to AJ.

"And young man, how are you finding life without your daddy?"

AJ looked up, his eyes briefly flicking to Jackson before he answered.

"It's good. I have sisters and a house and two mommies who love me. I'm very happy!"

…

Carol hid her displeasure with a cough and then took a seat opposite AJ. She didn't really expect the child to be much of an asset at the trial except in the publicity department, but he had to at least sound like he was on their side!

Like the boy, she too looked to Jackson, although her gaze was more of a glare, before turning her attention to the problem at hand.

"You know that sounded awfully rehearsed." said Carol, her painted smile returning to her lips.

"I only practiced it a little…" said AJ

Carol leant forward in a motherly gesture.

"The trouble is that when you rehearse like that, even if what you say is true it sounds like a lie. So for the trial I don't want you to rehearse your exact words, just give an honest answer."

"I did." said AJ, defensively.

"Well let's try again shall we?" said Carol, sitting back to open her briefcase and pulling out a file, there wasn't anything of relevance on it, but it didn't hurt to put on a show. "I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to reply honestly and succinctly."

"Sissilly?" asked AJ with a frown of confusion.

Jackson put a hand on AJ's shoulder.

"Succinctly means to make you answers as short as you can."

Still frowning AJ nodded his head,

"Like with the police?"

Jackson smiled,

"Exactly like you did with the police!"

Happy he understood AJ turned back to Carol Robinson.

"I'm ready now."

Carol cleared her throat and checked through her imaginary list, trying to hide the flicker of interest at the mention of police… before remembering the family had been caught up in the hospital hostage crisis a few months back and that had nothing to do with the case.

"I know it's a long time to think back to but how did you feel about your daddy just before the shooting; before your mommy was hurt?"

"I hated him." said AJ, "He was mean and scary."

"How was he mean?" Carol asked.

"Um…" said AJ, trying to think of a good example, "He called mom names and told me that my mommy didn't love me anymore, when she did!"

"Do you think that might have had something to do with his illness? You know your daddy was ill?"

"H-he was ill when he hurt Binks. He's been in hospital, I know that." said AJ nodding his head in understanding, "But he was mean to mom before he was ill."

"Do you think that some of the words he said were because he was upset about Marissa leaving him to be with Bianca?"

"But Mommy was happier with Binks! She was always happy when Binks was around. Daddy couldn't make her be happy like that. After the holiday when she and daddy got back together she wasn't really in love with him; it was only because she was afraid. She wasn't sure she could be in love with a lady because she never had before; but she was."

"Is that what she told you?"

"Yeah." said AJ, "But she didn't have to tell me I could always see she liked Bianca more. When it was just us she used to give me a big smile but when she looked at daddy she looked sad."

"But you can understand why your daddy was upset that she lied to him?"

"But mommy felt bad that she lied. She said sorry, and she meant it! I heard her say sorry even when daddy was being drunk and scary. She wanted to help him get better, she wanted him to be my daddy again like before, but it just made him mad"

"You said the word scary again, what made your daddy scary."

"He got drunk a lot when mom left. It was scary when he drove me places in the car because he would swerve and shout rude things at people if they got in his way…"

Jackson put a hand on AJ's back.

"JR drove you when he was drunk?"

AJ nodded.

"To Tad's or to school…"

"And the driving was what was scary?" asked Carol, not wanting to lose her thread.

"The drinking was scary. He would say mean things about my mom and Bianca… he fell over the chair one time, right over like a somersault, but he wouldn't let mommy help him up… He tried to drag me away from Mommy and Binks when we were having lunch at Nana Krystal's and then he stole Binks car and crashed it into a tree!" AJ shrank in his chair, clearly still upset by the memory, "That is what made him scary… And then he shot mom!"

"We are still not clear if that was accidental or not." said Carol quickly.

Jackson coughed to hide his disgust.

"I think he did shoot her." said AJ his voice going very quiet. "He hated her and he wanted me to live with him again but I was scared to. I did try and pretend that everything was okay, when he came to see me; that he was just my daddy and nothing was wrong… I thought if I pretended to be his son again he would stop being so mean to mom, but he wouldn't. He didn't like seeing her being with Bianca."

"Do you think your daddy was in love with Marissa, before she left him to be with Bianca?"

AJ frowned at that.

"I don't think so." He said slowly and then he looked up at Carol with wide blue eyes. "If you love someone you wouldn't hurt them so much."

Carol gave AJ a half smile.

"Are you telling me that you never pulled the pigtails of the girls you like at school?"

AJ's cheeks turned pink.

"No!" he exclaimed.

"Okay," said Carol, suddenly realising how out of date her analogy was. She tried a different tack. "Before all this happened you loved your daddy, right?"

"Yeah." said AJ.

"But your feelings changed when he started acting differently. Do you love your daddy now?"

AJ shook his head.

"Well maybe that is what happened to your daddy. He loved Marissa but he was really upset when it turned out that she didn't really love him back… and in fact all this time had been in love with someone else."

"No," said AJ, "Because if daddy was sorry and was nice to mom again I would have forgiven him, but when mommy said sorry… he didn't forgive her. He was just got angrier and he wouldn't stop being mean. So… so… it wasn't the same!" finished AJ stumbling over his end statement.

Carol looked down at her notes; this interview was indeed to prove that AJ wouldn't be much of an asset at the trial except for the PR coup against Marissa.

"AJ," said Carol struggling to come up with a new angle. "Before Marissa moved back into the mansion, you were on holiday with Bianca and her daughters. Now your mom left you with Bianca and came back to celebrate your daddy's birthday. Can you tell me more about the holiday?"

"Sure," said AJ, leaning forward trustingly. "We went to the lakes. Mommy and me had a room next to Bink's, only there room was way better than ours. Binks had a meeting so mom took us all to this cool soft play area and then we went and played by the pool…"

"So your mom and Bianca had separate rooms?"

"Yeah," said AJ. "I did ask if we could share and the mommy's went together but mom said no." AJ smiled then. "But when mommy went home I got to share with Miranda anyway… Before our mommies got together we thought it would be cool if they would fall in love so we could be real twins! But I wanted mommy to be in love with daddy too back them. It would have been so cool if we could all be a family together, but we couldn't."

"So you wanted your mom to be with Bianca and your Daddy?"

"Yeah." said AJ. "But that was when I had a nice daddy, not a mean one! I like mom with Binks now!"

Carol nodded, but she scrawled a little note in the margins of her notes.

"So you said before that you know you mommy liked Bianca more than your daddy. Do you think they could have been having a secret relationship before Marissa went back for your daddy's birthday?"

"…With kissing and stuff?" AJ asked.

"…With kissing and stuff," Carol echoed, "Is it possible?"

"I don't know." said AJ a genuine frown of confusion on his face. "I don't think so. They hugged lots but not kissing."

"Were they ever in the room alone together?"

"We had a nap… and mom watched the TV in Bink's room and when mommy woke us up she acting a bit funny and Bianca looked sad…"

"Do you think they had a fight?"

Jackson leant forward.

"You don't have to answer that AJ." said Jackson cutting off the conversation. "And Miss Robinson if you are going to try and make it look like Marissa and Bianca were having an affair with the suggestion that Marissa was only using JR to make Bianca jealous… because I can see where you're going with this." he growled at Carol's look of indignation. "… Then it is a matter of court record in fact that this was not the case and it is as AJ has already stated, that Marissa moved in with JR because she was scared to accept her lesbian attraction to her best friend. The holiday was the pivotal point because that is the moment that Bianca admitted her attraction. Find another question!"

"I think that's all for now." said Carol.

She glared at Jackson and shuffled the papers on her lap before turning to give AJ another thin smile. This kid was not going to be any help at all in the court room… unless they can managed a pre-recorded statement maybe… something where he couldn't be cross examined! It could also be a media coup, 'expressing concern over the child's welfare in the stressful courtroom'; that was the way to manage this!

Carol smiled inwardly, that was the solution!

"Young man you have been wonderful and have given me much to think about. Thank you. I shall be in touch again before the trial."

"We will be happy to attend any additional briefs." said Jackson, giving her a false a smile in return.

…

When Carol had departed, AJ turned to Jackson.

"Did I do okay?"

Jackson gave AJ a wide smile and patted him on the back.

"AJ, you were a champ! After that honest performance I don't think you will be appearing for the defence!"

…