That afternoon they were all sitting in the family courtroom and waiting for Emily's case to be called to the docket. They had gotten there about an hour early even after going out to get lunch together. As they got closer to the time frame they were given Emily became more restless. She was excited but she was also drained from giving her victim's impact statement at the sentencing earlier.
Eddie placed her hand on Emily's shoulder to reassure her. Emily shot her a smile. Jamie tucked his arm behind both of them from the other side of Emily. The rest of the family sat behind them from one end of the bench to the other.
Laura slid onto the bench next to Jamie as the case before theirs wrapped up. She reached over to pat Emily's knee. Emily smiled when she saw Laura.
"Hey, kiddo. You ready for this?" She whispered.
"Couldn't be more ready for this, Laura," Emily replied.
"Heard your father took a plea and agreed to life without parole."
"He did. He was sentenced this morning. I even gave a victim's impact statement."
"Good. I'm glad he's out of your hair and you don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Me too," Emily replied as the judge moved on to Emily's case.
"Next case on the docket, Emily Jelena Hasani Walsh. Presiding case worker, Laura Nichols. Adopting parents Jameson Henry, and Edit Marie Reagan. The foursome stood and moved forward to their places at the table in front of the judge.
"I'd like to start by addressing you, Ms. Nichols, are you absolutely sure this is the right place for Miss Walsh?"
"I am your honor. Since being placed Jamie and Eddie's custody Emily has shown progress in processing her trauma, and moving forward with her life. Emily feels safe and the Reagans can provide her with a stable environment."
"And you believe this even with the incidents that have taken place since being placed in their custody?"
"Yes, your honor. They could not have predicted a drunk driver hitting her and Ms. Nicole Reagan. Not to mention that Nicole was over the age of eighteen at the time and therefore Emily was left in the company of a trusted adult with no criminal record or other history of issue, not to mention she's family," Laura defended before continuing, "Jamie and Eddie immediately called me when they reached the hospital, and again when complications arose. They were concerned first and foremost with Emily's safety and wellbeing."
"Very well. Miss Walsh, is it true that you feel safe with the Reagans?"
"Yes, your honor, if I may as a matter of fact, being with Jamie and Eddie has provided me with the first opportunity to feel safe in my life."
"That's a bit overboard, don't you think?"
"No, your honor, I don't and as I am the one who has lived through the heinous acts detailed within the case file right in front of you, I think I am perfectly within my rights to speak on my experiences, ma'am." Emily replied and Eddie had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing and the grin on Jamie's face said everything about his feelings on how Emily handled the question. A few of the Reagans were unable to contain their laughter.
"Mr. Reagan, do you believe that you and your wife can handle taking in a teenage girl who has suffered so much trauma?"
"All due respect your honor, it's Sergeant, and my wife can speak for herself. Second, yes I do. My wife and I both have traumatic experiences of our own that may actually aid in Emily's recovery. And she didn't suffer trauma, she survived it. I have no issue with you but I don't appreciate your underestimating my wife and I, or Emily. We have been and wish to continue to doing right by Emily. We have taken care of her, loved her, done everything possible to help her feel safe so that she may move forward and life a relatively normal life. We have both the means and will to adopt and love Emily. You be biased because we're cops or because of our last name, but if that's the case, it's your problem." The judge looked like a deer caught in the headlights and Jamie knew he had her.
"And if you are indeed biased for any reason, then we have a right to request a different judge to preside over our case."
"I don't know what makes you think you are entitled to something like that, Sergeant, but I suggest you control yourself."
"Actually, New York State law gives me, us, that right, your honor. You seem to have missed some details in my past, including my Harvard law degree." The judge was stunned. She hadn't had enough time to read that part of the file.
"Very well, I see no reason to deny this petition to adopt. Congratulations." She banged the gavel and they were escorted out with the rest of the family to an office area where they were given paperwork to fill out if Emily wanted to change her name.
"Can you guys give us a minute?" Emily asked the rest of the family. They stepped away and Emily turned to her parents.
"I want my last name to be Reagan but I don't want to take away my middle name or my mother's maiden name. That's important to me, I can't erase her history from my life."
"Baby, that's the last we want. There's a way to do that. Here, let me show you. I'll help you fill it out, okay?" Eddie sat down next to Emily as they filled the documents out. Jamie sat on the other side of Emily.
"Alright. All done, is everything correct?" Emily nodded.
"Are you ready to turn it in?" Emily nodded again.
"Počivaj u miru, mama," Emily says as they stand and move to turn in the paperwork and Eddie stops in her tracks.
"Počivaj u miru, Jelena." Eddie replied. Emily put the paperwork on the counter and turned back to Eddie.
"You speak Serbian?" Emily asked.
"I am Serbian, well half Serbian." Eddie replied.
"Mama was Serbian and Albanian." Emily replied.
"Now we have a new way to keep her memory alive. Eddie's already been teaching me Serbian for a while, we can speak it, we can find other ways to incorporate it and her." Emily hugged him and they were handed a temporary copy of Emily's new birth certificate and social security card.
"The official replacements will be sent in the mail. You should receive them in a bout 6 weeks. But you'll need to keep her originals because she'll them along with these to prove her identity when she's applying to jobs or anything like that in the future." The lady behind the window said and thanked her before turning to leave.
They met the Reagans on the steps of the courthouse and Emily ran over to them. They crowded around her and waited for her to say something.
"I'm officially a Reagan!" She smiles and they hugged her.