Author's Note: I know in the 60s that women weren't really prosecuted for rape, but for the purposes of my story, the crime is so severe and widespread, they are. Anyway, this is a double dose cause I'm done with classes for a few weeks till summer classes start.
Chapter 60: Start of a New Beginning
Micky sat in a courthouse with his friends in southern California. They'd been back here for about about 6 months now, but today was the first day of the trial. Micky thought back over the past six months and smiled. When Mike and Micky had met back up with Peter, Davy and the girls before boarding their plane to go home, Micky told them what they found out. Dr. Brendan thought it was very interesting and wanted to test their blood to confirm they really were brothers. Davy was astonished and almost had no words. Sarah and Rose smiled at each other as if a small part of them had always known and Peter had the best reaction. He had merely shrugged his shoulders and said "ok". Davy had looked at him flabbergasted as though it were insane for Peter to be so nonchalant. Peter's response still made Micky smile.
"What difference does it make?" Peter had said. "Haven't we already proven that blood doesn't mean anything? Look at the people Mike and Micky are blood related to...nothing like them. And we've already said we're all like brothers anyway. So what does it really matter if they're blood brothers or not? They've been brothers for years already."
"Peter's absolutely right," Mike had answered. None of them had said anything more about it over the next several months except Dr. Brendan telling them some scientific test that Micky barely listened to that had told them they were related. It didn't matter to any of them.
They'd arrived at Jack's house only a few hours after the plane had left the small town they'd called home for about a year and were given a tour. The house indeed was huge and Jack had made plenty of preparations for them. Micky, Sarah, and Serenity shared a room upstairs down the hall from a room set aside for Mike, Rose, and Emmett. Peter, Davy, and Willow each had a room downstairs, but almost immediately after dinner Peter and Willow had both excused themselves to Peter's room.
Now, six months later, they were impatiently and nervously waiting for the trial to start. After they'd waited a while, Agent Booth came to check on them. Grandpa Jones was waiting in the courtroom already in the audience to support each of them. The boys and girls wouldn't be able to watch any of the testimony until after they had testified for fear of tainting their own testimony. Booth asked how they were doing and if they were all ready, to which they all agreed they were. Micky was expecting to have his name called any minute as he would be the first of them to testify when he saw Heather approaching them from a hallway.
"Where's Emmett?" Heather asked when she pulled away from her attorney and walked over to them.
"None of your damn business," Mike answered.
"Walk away, Heather," Booth said. "You shouldn't be here."
"I have a right to know where my son is," Heather sneered. "He IS my son."
"He will never be your son," Mike said.
"Legally, he will always be my son," Heather answered. "Which means I have a right to know where he is."
"Walk away," Booth said shooting a look at the attorney who pulled her away fearfully.
"She's nutters," Davy mumbled. "She can't possibly think she has any right over Emmett."
"Technically, she does," Booth said heavily. "She's legally his mother. She has every right to know where he is, what school he goes to, and even what medical treatment he receives. She can drag you through the courts fighting you tooth and nail on anything and everything that pertains to him until he turns 18."
"That's not fair!" Peter exclaimed.
"She doesn't lose that right when she gets convicted?" Mike asked. Micky admitted he'd been worried about this, but hoped they didn't have to deal with it. Emmett and Serenity were both at Jack's mansion being watched by Angela and Jack who wouldn't have to testify until later.
"No," Booth answered. "But you can petition the court to take away her parental rights."
"How do we do that?" Mike asked.
"I've already started getting the paperwork together for you," Booth answered. "It's better to wait until she's convicted, then you'll have more against her. I doubt they'd say no, though. Considering how he was conceived and her charges, she's a danger to everyone."
"She doesn't already know where Emmett is, does she?" Micky asked.
"No, the courts granted all of you, including Emmett, orders of protections against everyone on trial," Booth said.
"So he's safe for now," Micky confirmed.
"Yes, and I have complete faith that the courts will take away her rights," Booth answered. "Even so, Angela, Dr. Brendan, Jack and I are all going to write letters and will testify on your behalf if need be."
"Thank you, Booth," Mike said sounding slightly relieved. "I honestly didn't think about any of that."
"Don't even worry about it," Booth said. "I have a son, too. I know how much you want to keep him safe. I also wanted to tell you that after the proceedings today, Lisa Anne Hopkins wants to talk to the four of you."
"Really?" Micky asked as Booth motioned at Mike, Micky, Sarah and Rose. He could understand her wanting to talk to Micky and Rose, but why Sarah and Mike? And why was she even coming to them at all?
"Is everything ok?" Rose asked worriedly.
"Everything's fine," Booth answered quickly to reassure them. "Hope's fine. She just wants to talk to you."
"Are we sure it's safe?" Micky asked.
"I've taken every precaution to make sure it is," Booth said. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to Hope either."
"Ok, but why does she want to talk to me?" Mike asked. "I don't have anything to do with this. I don't even know them."
"She asked me not to say anything," Booth answered. "She wants to talk to you."
"I don't know," Micky said. "I don't really wanna stir that pot."
"She wouldn't be coming to us if she didn't think it was important," Sarah said softly.
"Ok," Micky said relenting. He felt that this could be a really bad idea as far as keeping Hope safe, but he knew Sarah was right. So he agreed and they waited only a few more minutes before a bailiff called Micky to testify. He took the oath and took his seat before answering the slew of questions posed by the prosecutor, then the defense. They were trying his mother and sister in the same trial since they were both guilty of the same crimes committed over the last 7 years or more; they just added more, older charges to Claire. His testimony lasted all day with only a few bathroom breaks and a lunch break. Micky expected as much since he was the prosecution's key witness. His testimony was crucial to the case and would be backed up by the evidence Dr. Brendan and the others found.
The defense tried to discredit Micky and make him out to be a liar, which Micky didn't understand. There was so much evidence against them he didn't see a way out for them. But the defense asked Micky why he waited so long to come forward with his story and even proposed that Micky had been the perpetrator of the murders. It didn't work; Micky didn't allow himself to be rattled and he didn't sway in his testimony. Whenever he got angry, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths while picturing his daughter, Sarah, and everything else that made him happy before calmly answering the questions.
When the day's testimony was done, the judge excused them all until the next day. When he passed Claire and Heather, they both shot him threatening looks. He responded with a smug look of his own. He wasn't going to let them intimidate him anymore. Booth and his friends were waiting outside the courtroom and asked how it went. He told them what he was allowed to; only that the defense was trying to rattle him and he didn't let them win. Booth told Micky he had a ride ready to take Peter, Davy, and Willow home and another for Mike, Rose, Sarah Micky and him to a diner to meet with Lisa Anne. Dr. Brendan was going home as well.
When they arrived across town at the diner, after taking as many turns as they could in case they were followed, Micky saw Lisa Anne sitting in one of the booths toward the back with her husband. They'd never met, but Micky had seen them from afar and knew who this man was. He walked toward the booth with Sarah, Rose and Mike close behind while Booth took a seat near the front so he could see the entire diner.
"Hello, Micky," Lisa Anne said standing to greet them as they approached. "It's nice to see you again. This is my husband Joel."
"Pleasure," Joel said shaking Micky's hand. Micky introduced them to Mike and they each took a seat in the booth. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I don't know if that's good or bad considering what people have said about me today alone," Micky answered.
"I'm sure this trial can't be easy for you," Lisa Anne said. "But I know you're a good person. You and Rose were two of the best students I've ever had. And I told Joel that."
"Thank you," Micky answered. "Not to be rude or anything, but what did you want to talk about? Hope's ok, right?"
"She's fine," Lisa Anne answered. "She's actually quite brilliant. Just like the two of you."
"It's because of that we wanted to talk to you," Joel said. "One of her friends parents, our neighbors, let it slip that Lisa Anne was never pregnant...that Hope just kind of showed up one day. None of them knew we were expecting a child."
"She asked me if I was her mother," Lisa Anne said. "I couldn't lie to her. We told her that she was adopted and that her birth parents loved her, but that they couldn't take care of her. We made sure she understands that it was hard for you to give her away, but you did it because it was what was best for her and you loved her enough to make sure she was happy and healthy."
"We haven't told her the reasons," Joel said. "She's too young to understand."
"I don't want her to know even when she's older," Micky said.
"You don't think she's gonna ask?" Rose said.
"Probably," Micky said. "But that doesn't mean they should tell her. I don't want her knowing she comes from evil."
"She doesn't," Lisa Anne said. "She comes from you. You broke the cycle of evil. She's the sweetest little girl."
"I have had a hard enough time just trying to convince myself that I'm not like them," Micky said. "I don't want her to have to go through that too."
"She has a family who loves her, Micky," Sarah said. "She has support. You didn't until now. It'll be easier on her when they tell her."
"Actually, we wanted you to tell her," Joel said.
"What?" Micky asked even more dumbfounded.
"Agent Booth has told us everything," Lisa Anne said. "He told us you've been watching her for years, that Hope has a baby sister, and that the two of you are in relationships with Mike and Sarah. That's why we wanted to talk to all four of you. We want to invite you to be a part of her life. All of you."
"No," Micky said firmly. He couldn't walk out of her life and then walk right back in. It wasn't fair to her.
"She wants to meet you," Joel said pulling something out of Lisa Anne's purse. "She drew this in art class. We asked her what it was and she said it's a picture of all four of her parents. She said she wants to give it to you someday." Micky stared at the picture Joel had placed on the table. It was a somewhat crude picture of 5 people, two women, two men, and a little girl, sitting at a picnic table eating a meal and smiling. "She's not very good at drawing, but she has a beautiful voice. She actually has a choir concert in a month. A few weeks before her birthday."
"I can't," Micky said getting up and leaving.
"Micky, wait!" Sarah called running after him. He ignored her hoping she would just stay inside the diner. He wasn't really sure where he was going or what he was going to do, but he had to get out of there. He felt like he was suffocating. He felt like his heart was being wrenched out of his chest. It had grown dark and rain had started falling hitting his face and making him cold. But he just ignored it and walked down the street until Sarah ran up behind him and stopped him on the corner.
"Go back inside," Micky said turning to her. "It's not safe out here. You're safer with Booth."
"The same could be said for you," Sarah said placing her hand over his chest lovingly. "Besides that, nowhere's safer than with you. Let's go back inside and talk about this."
"I can't," Micky said turning to walk away, but Sarah pulled him back.
"I know you're scared-" Sarah said.
"I'm not scared," Micky said. "I just can't do this."
"Micky, talk to me," Sarah said.
"Go back inside," Micky said. "you're getting soaked."
"So are you," Sarah answered. "Micky, come inside. We can talk about this. Please."
"I can't," Micky said. "I can't do this. I can't...I walked out of her life. How can I expect her to just let me walk back in? How is that fair?"
"She wants to meet you, Micky," Sarah said. "She wants you back in her life."
"Why?" Micky asked.
"Why else?" Sarah answered. "She knows you loved her enough to give her away. She wants to thank you for that. She wants you to have a chance to be part of your life and share hers."
"I can't burden her," Micky said. "I won't be able to tell her the truth about where she comes from."
"You have to," Sarah said. "You don't think she's gonna ask in ten years? You don't think she's gonna wanna know the truth? You can't ask the Hopkins to keep that from her. That's not fair to either her or them. They're gonna tell her the truth because it's the right thing to do. And when she finds out the truth it's gonna be hard for her, but if you're there, it'll be easier on her. If anyone knows what she's gonna feel, it's you and Mike. The same thing is gonna happen to Serenity and you're gonna help her. Are you really willing to be there for Serenity and not Hope?"
"Don't do that to me," Micky said. "How can I help either of them when I haven't even gotten over it myself?"
"You have, Micky," Sarah said. "You're just too afraid to admit it."
"I'm not scared," Micky repeated.
"Not of them, but yourself," Sarah said. "You're afraid of letting go of the pain. You've lived with it so long you don't know what to do with yourself once you leave it behind. You're afraid of leaving Michael Eichmann behind and becoming Micky Dolenz. But if you don't, you'll just drag everyone else down, including Serenity and me. I fell in love with Micky, not Michael. Micky the smart, talented musician, loyal friend, and amazing father and lover."
"I...I don't know what to say," Micky said slowly, truly at a loss. She was right. He knew Hope would find out the truth and he knew he had to be the one to tell her, to help her get through it. In that moment he realized something. He knew he loved Sarah and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but something was missing.
"You don't have to say anything," Sarah said as Micky's thoughts swirled. "Just come back inside with me."
"Wait," Micky said as she tried to urge him back toward the diner. "Marry me."
"What?" Sarah asked.
"Marry me," Micky said. "I love you. I don't know why I've waited so long to ask you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
"I've always known I wanted to marry you, Micky," Sarah smiled. "I was just waiting for you to be comfortable with yourself enough to do it. I love you, too." Sarah leaned in and kissed him. He felt warm, despite the cold rain. He felt happy. As though something had changed in him. When she pulled away, he realized they were both shivering a little despite the feeling of warmth from their kiss.
"We should go back inside," Micky said turning back toward the diner. He saw Mike, Rose and Booth standing under an awning and watching them. Mike checked to see if Micky was ok before they decided to go back inside the diner. They sat around the table with the Hopkins again and Micky told them he wanted to be part of Hope's life. The Hopkins made sure that Mike, Rose, and Sarah all agreed, not wanting any contention or envy between them. They all agreed and set up an initial time for them to meet Hope sometime after the trial for Hope's safety. Micky decided to wait until they got home with Peter, Davy and Willow to tell them that he and Sarah were now officially engaged.