A/N: Whoever is reading this bless you for not giving up on me! 2013 has brought horrendous writers block. I've been trying but transitional sentences seem to elude me. I want to give you guys the best that I can and that's been taking an extraordinarily long time. I really appreciate you for tuning in despite this!

"Okay so the defense attorney is kind of a perv," Austin whispered as court was called to order. "He'll waggle his eyebrows at you when he thinks he's backed you into a corner. Also, he leans close when he asks you questions and he has terrible breath. Call attention to that, it flusters him."

Lindsay snickered and tried to keep a straight face because this really was important. The Eastmont case had finally gone to trial, as unsure as they were that they would get a conviction, based on the laziness of the prosecutor. They could do their best but they weren't really banking on this going the way it should.

"The judge is fair, probably the only thing we have going for us right now so don't pull a me and let your mouth run away with you."

"I'll remember that."

"I know you've done court before but…"

"This one's different, I know."

Austin nodded and sat back as the proceedings started up. They were all nervous knowing that this was their only chance to get a conviction and that they couldn't try the case again later. If they lost, the only thing they could do would be to hold out hope for new evidence that a judge would accept as big enough for a retrial. The only other thing that they could do would be to charge Eastmont with obstruction of justice, a pathetic attempt to get him to serve some jail time. But in the end, if they didn't win this case, there was really no making up for it.

Lindsay and Austin sat and took notes as inconspicuously as they could, trying to take in the turns of phrase and irrelevant points being brought up by both sides of the case. It was like being in a college lecture, only this was real life and no one was slinking in the back door in their pajamas.

Mac sat on the other side of Austin, elbows on his knees, sighing repeatedly and eating Tums as if they were candy. He looked much worse for the wear and hadn't said much all day long, save for a few grunts of annoyance when the prosecutor had dared to shake his hand. Jo had been eyeing him skeptically for days, trying to distract him from the case, asking his opinion on where they should go for a weekend away, but it was no use. His mind was so wrapped up in the case he wasn't even registering anything else. He didn't just look old. He looked done.

They sat through opening arguments from both sides, an overview of the case from the prosecutor, who missed many vital points, and the first witness who was about as unreliable as a holey dishtowel. The whole thing was a joke and by the time the defense attorney cross-examined the first witness, it was certain the outcome of the trial had already been decided.

"Want to play me a game of tic-tac-toe?" Austin muttered softly, crossing her arms.

"Maybe."

"You were no fun in high school were you?"

"Probably not."

The first officer on the scene was called to the stand and while he never wavered on his story, he was asked many questions that he didn't know the answer to. It was obviously his first time in court, but to the jury that made him look untrustworthy. He fidgeted as he was questioned about the state of the crime scene when he'd arrived, the same questions asked different ways. If only someone would ask him about the behavior of Mr. Eastmont at the crime scene, that would really help their case. Instead the officer was dismissed from the stand.

"Can we ask for a new prosecutor?" Austin whispered, crossing her arms ever tighter. Mac grunted in response, cracking his knuckles and looking like he was about to walk out of the courtroom in a huff.

Austin was called to the stand next and she did her best to insert important information into her answers to questions, even if they were unrelated, but the defense attorney knew what she was doing and was quick to cut her off. It was only about ten minutes of questions from the prosecution before he moved back to his table and let the defense take over. Austin was questioned on everything from the exact time that she arrived at the crime scene to her initial feelings about the Eastmont's marriage, based solely on the state of their home. A normal prosecutor would have objected to the line of questioning, but they didn't have a normal prosecutor, so Austin was forced to answer the questions. She did as best she could saying she didn't recall her feelings at the time, but that made it sound like she was biased from the beginning and didn't want to admit it now. Her frustration was palpable for the next half hour of questioning, in which she shot the judge several looks of desperation, but there was nothing he could do without objections from the prosecution.

By the time she stepped down Austin's face was screwed up into the most unsightly look of disgust that she could manage. She stomped back to her seat and sat down, her hands shaking in anger. This whole thing was the worst kind of farce. It wasn't like the guy was going to plead a lesser crime or anything. He was going to walk away, completely free.

"I think this is a good time to break for lunch," the prosecutor said, stretching as if he'd put in a hard days work. The judge gave a nod of agreement and soon they were leaving the courtroom, glad to be leaving the place if only for a few hours.

"Wow, you girls look great," Danny teased as he and Adam approached from the end of the hall. "Long day?"

"Very, very bad. And we're not even close to done yet, so do you two want to take us out to lunch?"

"Only if we can get pizza."

Everyone else groaned and argued for Chinese until Danny relented and figured he could talk Austin in to pizza for dinner.

"Mac, you comin' with us?"

"Nah, I'm meeting Jo," he answered, checking his watch. "She thinks I need comfort food."

"Well if she tries to feed you collard greens again, come find us, we'll have chow mein," Austin offered, squeezing his shoulder.

"I'll see you back here in a while."

He left out a side door while the four of them made their way out the front and down the street to a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, which had served them well during court cases in the past.

"You okay?" Adam asked softly, taking Lindsay's hand as they sat down.

"Yeah. I haven't had to testify yet."

"No, I mean your lack of sleep last night."

"Oh. I haven't really felt tired yet but if I yell at you tonight for nothing, I'm sorry."

"I'll put the kids to bed tonight and you can escape after dinner."

"I love you, you're wonderful, I owe you big time."

"Bring me breakfast in bed tomorrow and we're even."

"Consider it done."

He changed his hold on her hand and they perused the menu together, spending a while bickering over spring rolls versus egg rolls before deciding on lunch.

"Freddie told me that he wants to talk to us tonight when we get home," she whispered, just now remembering. "I have no clue why but it makes me nervous."

"Sounds ominous. Maybe he thinks the kids are hellions and he doesn't want to watch them anymore."

"Maybe. We'll pay him more, maybe that will keep him around for longer," she teased.

"I'm not paying him more! His cannonball game is the reason we have a hole in our wall right now."

"Yeah but he's going to fix it."

"Is he going to stop Ben from telling everyone he meets about how his butt got "stuckded" in the wall?"

"I don't think anyone could stop that. Although yesterday when he told the mailman about it, Colton said that if Ben wasn't so fat maybe he wouldn't have broken the wall. That shut him up for a few minutes."

"Great, now my son is going to have body image issues."

"I suppose it's the daddy's job to head that off at the pass."

"Hey, you guys aren't supposed to pair off like that," Austin reprimanded. "Means I have to talk to Danny."

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you two were probably tired of each other by now."

"Yeah, you should have known Lin."

"Hey we thought you weren't going to show up," Lindsay whispered as Mac shuffled into the courtroom, taking his seat at the last possible second.

"And miss you going head to head with this sleaze-bag? Can't miss the second half of the show."

He looked much better than he had just two hours before, and Lindsay and Austin exchanged glances.

"So what's gotten into you?"

"Oh nothing. Jo wants to do a big family dinner at our place tonight. At seven. You'll all be there?"

"Um, sure but-"

"Shh, court's starting."

"Smell him real quick," Lindsay said in a hushed tone. "Did Jo take him out to a bar for lunch?"

"One that has no serving limit?"

"He has not been like this in years."

They both continued to watch him suspiciously out of the corners of their eyes as if he was about to actually lose his mind. It didn't really make sense, but maybe the two hours away had been what he needed.

They sat through two more testimonies before it was Lindsay's turn on the stand. She sat rigidly on the chair making sure she didn't glance over at Austin because they would probably start laughing at the absurdity of it all. She answered numerous questions about the evidence and what it had indicated, staying as impartial as she could despite the prosecutors attempts to get her to overstep her boundaries and give her own interpretation of the suspect rather than the evidence itself. Once the defense was allowed to question her, he had enough information that he spent twenty minutes questioning her about evidence collection and the methods used for testing the evidence, then asking why the suspects own team of lawyers was not allowed to observe the process. Rather than explain the law to him she stared him down until he moved on.

"Now Ms. Ross isn't it true that you are friends with Detective Messer who was the lead on this case?"

"Well yes but I would count many of the detectives as friends-"

"What I mean is that your friendship extends beyond the professional; your families are close, you spend time together, share meals, even take vacations."

"Yes, but I hardly see how that's relevant," she answered shooting a look over at Mac and Austin, who looked just as confused as she felt.

"You'd even say that she is your best friend, is that correct?" he asked, leaning against the stand. She wrinkled her nose and scooted back a little.

"Yes I would."

"And you'd do anything she asked you to, correct?"

"Not necessarily."

"Including fabricating and manipulating evidence against an innocent man? One whom Detective Messer had a personal vendetta against?"

"What?"

"Mr. Eastmont, as we have seen through evidence presented in this court room, has in the past been falsely accused of domestic violence," he started, his voice rising a little. "The police department holds a grudge against him because they see him as having never had to answer for a crime. Detective Messer, having grown up in an abusive home herself-"

"Buddy, you'd better rethink what you're about to say."

"So if you were asked friend to friend to manipulate some evidence…"

"Never."

"It wouldn't be the first time, you were under suspicion for evidence tampering several years ago when you worked in Montana, is that correct?"

"No, evidence on a case that I worked was put into the wrong box by an intern. I had no access to that particular lot. Which you would know if your research was a little more thorough."

"Counselor, move on to matters at hand," the judge warned, shooting the prosecutor a look for his willingness to watch a trial of testimony happen.

"Back to the matter of my clients previous false accusations, when were you made aware of them?"

"The day after the murder, when the Eastmonts background checks came back."

"And who presented you with this information?"

"Detective Flack."

"Don Flack?"

"Yes."

"And after you were made aware of this information, what did you do?"

"I went home."

"Home? You just received information that could blow the case wide open and you went home?"

"I'd been at work for close to 36 hours, I hadn't slept, I hadn't eaten and I hadn't seen my family so I finished my daily notes, locked everything up and went home."

"Did you speak with Detective Messer about the case that night?"

"No I didn't."

"But I have a record of a fifteen minute phone call that night starting at 8:24 pm."

"That was personal."

"Are you sure?"

"Considering we were talking about a recent scuffle between our kids, yeah I would say that was personal."

"Will we have to take your word for it then?"

"You're going to have to take my word for it. I'm surprised you don't have the audio though," she said sarcastically, unable to stop herself. "Or did the search warrant not cover that?"

He chuckled but otherwise ignored her question.

"Now in the matter of the blood spatter, what did you determine about the assailant?"

"That he or she was between 5'9" and 5'11" and most likely right handed."

"Most likely."

"Indications are that the assailant struck with the dominant right hand. Doesn't entirely rule out a lefty who has practiced with the right hand, or someone who is ambidextrous, not unlike your client."

"Now how did you come to this conclusion?"

She sighed and explained evidence gathering, recreations, mathematic formulas and margin of error for fifteen minutes, glad when she finished because it was hard to put into layman's terms.

"But despite that, it boils down to interpretation."

"Yes, much the same way you interpret the law."

There was a smattering of laughter from the jury box.

"No further questions, your honor."

The prosecutor waved his hand to indicate he wasn't interested in reexamining any points. Lindsay's jaw dropped and she didn't bother hiding the fact that she was absolutely horrified at his treatment of the case. Luckily the rest of the court room seemed to share her silent sentiments. She was excused from the stand and took her seat next to Austin, blinking a few times in confusion.

"What in the world was that?"

"I can't wait to see Mac and Jo-Jo!" Ben announced from the back seat. "I really miss them a lot. I am glad we are all having dinner together."

"Yeah me too," Colton agreed. "We haven't seen Teagan and Liam much either and daddy said that even Sid is gonna be there."

"Oh I love Sid," Avery noted with a smile. "He make me laugh."

"I'm gonna give Mac a big hug on account of he's been distressed lately. And mama says my hugs can cure every bad feelin' in the world."

"I'm sure Mac would be happy about that Ben. I think we're going to have lots of fun tonight. And Jo always has popsicles for us kids."

"Yep! I can't think of much I like better than popsicles! 'Cept maybe ice-cream sandwiches, but Jo-Jo always gots those too."

Colton nodded in agreement and the boys launched into a discussion of different desserts they liked while Avery made noises of hunger from her seat and rubbed at her stomach.

"You feeling okay?" Adam asked softly, reaching for Lindsay's hand and keeping one eye on the road.

"I'm fine. I just need food and sleep."

"Did Freddie say anything to you when you got home today?"

"No, whatever he was going to say, I think he chickened out or something. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"You seem really blue."

"We lost the case. I know it's not over yet, but it's as good as. The focus has turned on the justice system rather than the suspect and they're running with the idea that Eastmont is a victim of circumstance rather than a suspect and there's nothing any of us can do about it."

He squeezed her hand, wishing he knew what to say but coming up short. This happened occasionally, the bad guy walked away and the good guys picked up the pieces. It was a fact of life that was wrong and uncomfortable, but nowhere in human history had someone been able to come up with a way to change it.

"Yay we're here! Look, Dunner's on the porch waitin' for us!" Ben hollered as Adam stopped the car at the curb. "Hurry up and let me outta here!"

He fumbled with his seatbelt until it came undone, then crawled over Avery to get out of the car.

"Hey Dunner!"

"Hey-o Binyin! There's a surprise inside the house, one that we will all enjoy! Come up here and see! Everyone is so excited!"

"I'm comin'! Hurry up family, we gotta see this surprise!"

He went back for Avery, grabbing her hand and running across the lawn while she laughed hysterically and tried to keep up. She tripped and fell part way but he helped her up and Colton dusted her off quickly before they all ran into the house. There was loud shouting after a moment and Lindsay and Adam followed them inside to see what all the fuss was about.

The kids were all crowded around Stella, trying to get hugs in and tell her a million things that they felt she needed to know. Isa had latched onto her waist and wasn't letting go for the foreseeable future and Junior was begging for her to pick him up.

"Stella, you're so much better than a popsicle!" Ben laughed, taking her hand and squeezing it. "And real life is better than Skype!"

"Well I'm glad," she chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Are you staying forever?" Sarah asked hopefully, her eyes lighting up.

"I can't stay forever but we can make the most of it while I'm here. How's that?"

"I suppose okay."

"So what brings you here?" Lindsay asked as Stella managed to find the couch and not be crushed under the weight of all the kids.

"Jo thought that you all needed cheering up for one reason or another and apparently I would be the easiest way to do that."

"Well Lin the mystery is solved. It wasn't drugs affecting Mac's mood, it was Stella."

"Now I can sleep tonight."

"I am never spending a whole day with you two again," Mac sighed, a twinkle in his eye.

"Don't speak too soon. You never know when you will be in need of hours of 80's movies and some good online shopping."

"It's okay, I get the feeling I won't ever need that."

"I can't believe you guys were late," Jo said, poking her head out of the kitchen and scowling at Lindsay and Adam.

"We had a fight. He wouldn't accept that I won so getting out the door took a bit longer than normal."

"Well par for the course. Now, dinner's been ready for fifteen minutes so y'all better get in here."

"Yes mom," several voices chorused.

"She gave them some broth without any bread and whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed," Jo retorted, going back into the kitchen.

"I quiver with fear," Jess dead-panned as they all went into the dining room.

The kids were seated around the kitchen table and told not to spill, which fell on deaf ears, at least as far as Avery was concerned. She was too buys begging Sid to sit by her that she didn't notice her cup of juice which went tumbling to the floor.

"Aves, you need to be more careful," Colton warned, grabbing a wad of paper towels to clean up the spill. "I am getting you water now instead of juice so you learn your lesson."

"Okay Coley," she sighed, dropping her head. "I so sorry."

"That's okay, just try to be more careful."

She nodded and he leaned over, pressing a kiss to her cheek and patting her hand.

"Don't worry, sissy. Everybody gots to spill sometimes," Ben said reassuringly.

"Yeah, the other day I spilled my cereal and my ma slipped in it," Junior offered with a grin. "And that is the end of me eatin' on the run."

"He means that for real," Sarah giggled. "He was really running."

"You kids gonna be okay in here?" Adam asked, walking through to get the bowl of ice that Jo had forgotten.

"Me and Colt will keep the kids in line," Isa said with a smile.

"Thanks princess."

He went back out to the dining room, setting the bowl of ice on the table and stealing an olive off of Lindsay's plate.

"Hey!"

"Couldn't resist."

He gave her a wink and she shook her head but smiled when he placed his free hand on her knee.

"Alright, well I feel like Pa Walton," Mac started with a slight grin, clearing his throat. "But I have an announcement to make."

A hush fell over the room and everyone exchanged looks with each other, wondering what Mac could possibly have up his sleeve.

"I'm going to need everyone to start collecting cardboard boxes so as soon as this Eastmont case is over, I can pack up my office and finally retire."

The hush didn't lift and they all stared at him, unblinking.

"I'm really serious. Really."

"Wait a second. You're retiring," Jess clarified, her eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

"And you're happy about it?"

"Yes, I am."

"But… what will you do?" Lindsay asked confusedly.

Mac just chuckled.

"That's the best part. I have no idea."

"What about the lab? Who's going to be you?"

"Well I'm glad you asked, Danny."

"Be afraid," Austin whispered, sensing what was coming.

"Jo will be me," Mac explained. "After we get back from vacation."

"So like you're going for a weekend?"

"We're going for a month. And that's where you come in, Danny."

"Oh boy."

"You're going to run the lab until we get back."

"I can't do that! Who do you think I am?"

"I know just who you are and that's why I know you can do it," Mac countered with a shrug.

Lindsay just groaned and dropped her head into her hands.

"This is going to be the longest month of my life."

"You're on intern duty Montana."

She wrinkled her nose and tossed a napkin at him while Stella laughed.

"Oh, I really miss this place."

"Wait a minute, Stella Bonasera, were you the one that talked him into this crazy retiring thing?" Austin asked, one hand on her hip.

"No, Jo did most of the work. Loosened the lid on the pickle jar as it were. I just applied a little pressure to break the seal."

"Great, now I want pickles!" Sid exclaimed with a laugh.

"Well, that wasn't exactly the response I was expecting."

They would have been supportive of his decision if they could wrap their minds around the fact that he would no longer be at the lab, would no longer be holding things together, would no longer be there day in and day out, much like a bonus father.

"This is going to be weird," Danny said finally. "I mean, it's going to be really weird."

"Everyone will get used to it," Mac assured with a nod. "And it's not like I'm going to never see you again so you girls can stop making those faces."

"Alright so we'll just need a theme idea for your surprise retirement party then," Lindsay teased. "Let me know by next Tuesday so I can get a good deal on balloons."

"I'll think on it."

"Okay, now everyone eat before it gets cold."

The conversation picked up happily again after a few moments, but no one could deny that a great shift had just taken place and a lot of work was going to have to be done in the next few months to get things to run smoothly.