Stephanie stepped into the crowded courtroom, doing her best to ignore the flashing cameras and the barrage of questions being shouted at her by the press. She spotted Norman sat at the defendant desk, with their gorilla security sat on the row right behind him, and frantically straightened herself up as she quickly strode over.

"Oh hey, there you are!" Norman laughed as she sat beside him, though the pig's face quickly shifted to a more concerned expression. "How you holding up, Steph...?"

"Huh...?" Stephanie straightened up a bit, realising her fur and clothes were still ruffled and unkempt from what had happened in the bathroom, so she took a moment to brush herself down. "Oh, uh... y-yeah, Norman, I'm fine... I just... I just wanna get this over with, y'know...?"

"Hey, don't worry about it, Stephanie..." Norman said softly as he held her hand. "You're not gonna lose Porsha. I promise."

Stephanie pulled a small smile at this, only to freeze up again as she heard the doors open, and a familiar voice once again spoke up among the reporters hounding around the new arrival.

"Thank you all for coming! Really, thank you all so much, I appreciate it, I... I really do!" Jimmy Crystal projected out loudly through the barrage of cameras and questions, and Stephanie bit her bottom lip as she and Norman turned to see the white wolf and his legal team entering the courtroom. "I just... it's just been so hard, y'know... my little angel bein' away, not knowin' where she is, it... it really does hurt. But I know we're gonna be able to work things out!"

"Oh God..." Stephanie's eyes bulged to their widest point when she finally spotted the lawyer that was stood beside her ex-husband. While he was taller and more strapping than the other saluki that she knew - which was likely the result of his past military service - his rounded rectangular glasses and the eagle-headed cane he used to support his limp made him easy to recognise nonetheless. "Charlie..."

"Who...?" Norman said.

"Jimmy's lawyer, he... he's Charlie Lane... Suki's brother..." Stephanie whispered as she turned back around and slumped down in her seat, avoiding eye contact with Jimmy and Charlie as they approached the plaintiff table opposite them. "He's the biggest heavy hitter on the Crystal legal team. Plus he's a war hero too, so..."

"Ah..." Norman winced a little, but quickly patted Stephanie's hand. "But hey... we knew it'd be an uphill battle, right...?"

"Oh hey, look who it is!" Jimmy let out a hollow laugh to get Stephanie's attention, prompting her to send a glare his way. "I was beginning to think you'd be runnin' away again..."

Stephanie clenched both fists on the table, letting out a quiet snarl as she bared her teeth. She knew that Jimmy was only trying to provoke her, but she had to keep herself from taking his bait, just as she had in the bathroom. As Jimmy and Charlie sat down, Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose and lounged back in her chair, sending a rather hopeless look towards the pig beside her.

"Whatever that secret weapon is ya got, Norman... I really hope it's worth it..."

The doors in the back finally opened as the judge - an elderly but still indimating looking lion - entered the courtroom, momentarily silencing the buzzing energy of the crowd as he took his seat.

"Good afternoon..." He said, straightening his glasses as he read the sheet in his hands. "We are here today to begin the custody proceedings, in the case of Jimmy Crystal V. Stephanie Frangipane."

Stephanie took a deep breath, trying to center herself and maintain her composure, while Norman held her hand and gave her an encouraging nod.

"Before we proceed, I want to remind both parties that this is a court of law, and we will conduct ourselves accordingly..." The judge then looked down towards both wolves present at the front. "Mr. Crystal, Ms. Frangipane, we are here to determine what is in the best interest of your child. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Honour..." Stephanie and Jimmy responded in near-unison.

"Very well, then you may proceed..."

Porsha was planted right in front of the TV, her small frame tense with worry while her eyes were fixed on the screen. The hours, days and weeks had gradually all blurred into one throughout her time watching the trial, and while Rosita had occassionally put on the cartoon channel in a bid to cheer her up, the young wolf always changed it back to the news channel to keep watching the proceedings.

She was particularly focused on Stephanie, who had barely said a word throughout the entire trial, though this hadn't stopped the cameras from remaining fixated on her while the reporters and commentators obsessively analysed her body language. With each new day of footage, Stephanie seemed to deteriorate more and more, eventually looking like a tired, messy shell of herself, and Porsha couldn't help feeling a pit form in her stomach as her mother's new appearance brought some nastier memories back to light.

"Porsha..." Rosita's voice snapped Porsha out of her focus on the screen, and she turned around to see the pig sat on the couch behind her. "You comfy down there, sweetie...?"

Rather than say anything, Porsha quickly sat up and ran over to the couch, climbing up onto it to sit beside Rosita as they turned their attention back to the screen.

"She looks real sad..." Porsha finally spoke up again as her mother came back on the screen, while Rosita noticed the little wolf gently clutching her left forearm. "I haven't seen her like that since... since, um..."

"Yeah... I'm sure she is..." Rosita placed a comforting arm around Porsha's shoulder. "This can be pretty complicated, Porsha. It's not much fun for anybody, really..."

"Hmm..." Porsha nestled a little closer into Rosita's embrace. They remained silent for another minute or two, still focused on the screen, while Porsha fumbled her hands together, before she finally spoke up again. "Rosita...?"

"Uh-huh...?"

"Is, um..." Porsha's voice quivered as while her eyes misted up a bit, while she finally asked a question that made Rosita's heart completely sink. "Is Mommy gonna be taken away?"

"Oh... well, uh... P-Porsha, I..." Rosita sighed, then tightened her embrace, planting a little kiss on top of the pup's head. "I can't promise she won't, Porsha, but... b-but your mommy loves you very much. Cause she's fighting really hard for you, and... and even if she doesn't win, she knows you're worth it."

"Do ya really think so?"

"Absolutely..." Rosita's voice was filled with conviction, but she still kept an encouraging tone as she gently pressed the wolf's nose. "There's no power on earth that can match a mother's love, Porsha. You've gotta remember that."

"Okay..." Porsha's tense shoulders eased slightly as she relaxed a little, though she started sniffling again as she turned her attention back to the TV. "It's still scary, though..."

"Hmm... yeah, I know..." Rosita gently stroked the back of Porsha's head, putting the little one more at ease. Although the pig didn't want to make promises she couldn't guarantee, she could tell some words of comfort, however vauge, were still necessary for the girl to hear. "It's gonna be okay, Porsha. You've just gotta keep hoping for it."

By the third week of the trial, Stephanie had almost completely zoned out of anything that was actually being said, only instinctively standing and sitting back down whenever the judge entered and left the room. The wolf had been trying to repress her negative thoughts, but by now her mind was utterly racing rampant with a thousand different worries and doubts as she shuffled and writhed in her seat.

As hopeless as she'd been feeling throughout the proceedings, she couldn't help admiring the commitment and confidence Norman exuded with each testimony and piece of evidence he presented, though this only made her heart sink even more whenever Charlie presented something else to contradict or rebut it.

The dismissal of Kendall's attack a few days prior had been especially disheartening. Stephanie had been confident going in that this would have guaranteed a win - to the point where she'd initially assumed this was the secret weapon that Norman had been hyping up to her - though since Kendall was unemployed and acting of his own accord at the time, Jimmy was cleared of any responsibility for that incident. It was probably around this point when Stephanie had fallen into the depressed stupour that had taken hold of her for the past few days, and this whirlwind of negative thoughts had only worsened as the trial dragged on.

The thought of losing the case and potentially going to prison for kidnapping were scary enough as they were, but they were nothing in comparison to the far more crushing thought of losing her little one. Stephanie could already feel her skin crawl at the idea of Porsha growing up in Redshore under Jimmy's wing, and the image of that sweet, kindhearted little pup growing into a selfish, rotten little dumpster fire like her father was almost too much for her to bear.

It was almost relieving when Charlie's next words finally snapped her back to reality, though Stephanie still felt completely blindsided by what he was saying.

"I call..." Charlie hesitated for a moment, exchanging a brief glance with Jimmy before he completed his sentence. "S-Suki... I um... I call Suki Lane to the stand."

"Suki? But what's... ugh, dammit..." Stephanie frantically patted Norman's hand, whispering to him while Stephanie made her way over to the podium and took her oath. "Norman, what's goin' on? I mean, what... w-what are they askin' her about...?"

"What, you didn't hear...?" Norman raised an eyebrow, though his tone and expression was otherwise sympathetic. "She's gonna talk about... the Valentine's incident, whatever that is."

"Valentines...?" Stephanie thought for a moment as she pursed her lips, before her eyes bulged wide as it finally clicked. "Oh God..."

"If you wouldn't mind, Miss Lane, could you please give some context leading to what happened?" Charlie asked, while his sister straightened up in the seat. "You claim Stephanie had been drinking that day. Is that correct...?"

"Uh-huh... oh, I mean... y-yes..." Suki leaned into the microphone, trying her best to avoid eye contact with both the wolves on either side of the case. "Th-that morning, Stephanie had gotten a call regarding Mr. Crystal."

"I see..." Charlie cupped his chin. "And what was the subject of this call?"

"It was a call about his behaviour..." Suki gulped, quickly glancing over to see the reddish beam forming on Jimmy's face, a clear warning to watch what she said next. "You see, there had been some, um... w-well, to put it bluntly... infidelities."

"That ain't exactly relevant to the case, though!" Jimmy objected, while Stephanie noticed what seemed to be a look of fear flash on his face as he looked to the crowd. "Y'know, cause this ain't about me, right...?"

"Mr. Crystal..." The judge cut in, making Jimmy scoff as he crossed his arms and sat back in his chair like a pouting child, a sight that both Stephanie and Charlie couldn't help finding brief amusement in. "Mr. Lane, please continue."

"Thank you, Your Honour..." Charlie looked back to his sister, taking on a more serious tone again. "So... Stephanie didn't take the news of her husband's affairs well, I assume...?"

"Oh no, definitely not..." Suki sighed. "She tried drowning her sorrows, if you catch my drift, but... but Porsha was playing nearby, and she... she just saw red..."

Stephanie closed her eyes and hunched forward a little, Suki's words now being the only thing she could hear as this particularly nasty memory made its way back to the surface.

"Porsha, for the love of... ugh!" Stephanie slammed her half-empty glass down, slightly startling her daughter and cutting off her imaginative rambling. "What part of leave Mommy alone right now is so hard for ya to understand, huh...?!"

"Sorry, Mommy..." Porsha's ears drooped as she took a few steps back, fumbling her hands nervously. "Are you in one of your moods again...?"

Stephanie suddenly sat up straight, a tight scowl forming on her face as she glared at her anxious four-and-a-half year old. "What did you just say to me...?!"

"Well, when you get upset, Daddy always says you're - ouch!"

Porsha yelped when Stephanie suddenly grabbed her left forearm and yanked her closer. Without any hesitation Suki ran over to intervene, trying in vain to free the whimpering pup from her mother's hold, only for Stephanie to force her off as she tightened her grip on Porsha.

"Don't you ever speak to your mother like that again!" Stephanie snarled in Porsha's terrified face, baring her teeth like a savage beast. "Do you understand me...?!"

"Mommy, you're hurting me...! Ugh!"

"I'm miserable enough being married to a cheating slob like your father, and the last thing I need is to have a useless little brat like you for a daughter!"

Suki's heart nearly stopped when Stephanie swung hard with the back of her hand, sending Porsha to the floor with a THUD!

"Porsha!" Suki skidded down on her knees and sat the little one back up, gently holding a hand to her visibly reddened cheek. "Oh honey, are you okay...?"

Porsha winced a little as Suki studied the brownish-purple bruise growing on her forearm, though she otherwise remained relatively calm, barring a few sniffles. Her attention was more focused on her mother, who had collapsed to her knees with her face in her hands while she wept uncontrollably.

"What have I done...?" Stephanie's voice was muffled by her hands. "Oh God, what have I done...?!"

Suki wasn't sure which of the two was in greater need of comfort, though she ultimately decided to shuffle over and wrap her arms around the sobbing Stephanie. "It's okay, sweetheart... it's okay..."

"I'm just... I'm just so tired, Suki..." Stephanie choked out through her tears. "I'm tired of all of it..."

"I know, Stephanie." Suki sighed, planting a soft kiss on the wolf's forehead before tightening her embrace. "I know..."

"I call Stephanie Frangipane to the stand..."

Charlie's words snapped Stephanie back to reality again, causing her to look around and realise that the entire courtroom was now staring right at her. While most of their expressions seemed to be disapproving glares following Suki's testimony, Norman's still looked sympathetic and their three gorilla bodyguards all seemed more neutral, while Jimmy had that familiar smug grin etched onto his face as he relaxed back in his seat.

Norman gently patted Stephanie's hand and pointed to the witness podium, prompting the wolf to stand up and make her way over to it, trying to avoid eye contact with her opponent, the judge and the jury while she sat down. The bailiff presented a large, ancient-looking Bible towards her, and she placed her hand over it to take her oath.

"Ms. Frangipane..." The bailiff said. "While on this stand, do you swear to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do..." Stephanie nodded, straightening up and clearing her throat as the saluki approached her. "Oh, uh... h-hey, Charlie. Long time no see, huh...?"

"Hmm... yeah..." Charlie's expression looked rather neutral, though she could sense the pain - and what perhaps sounded like some regret - in his voice before he began his questioning. "As we've just heard, Ms. Frangipane, Miss Lane claims that you physically assaulted your daughter during a drunken rage. Do you um... do you deny this...?"

"Deny? W-well, I... I um..."

Stephanie hesitated, biting down on her bottom lip as she surveyed the curious eyes all around the courtroom, before finally letting out a regretful sigh.

"N-no, I don't... it's true."

This prompted a collective gasp among the entire courtroom, which was especially loud with the massive crowd in attendance. Despite this, Stephanie remained focused on the more quiet disappointment etched onto Charlie's face before he turned away.

"B-but ya gotta understand, I was smashed, okay?!" She said, desperately trying to keep control. "Y'know, I... I ain't even touched alcohol in years! Norman, you'll back me up on that, won't ya...? Rosita even said I'd be dead if I kept -!"

"Yes, thank you..." Charlie cut her off, tightly gripping his cane as he turned back to face the court. "Speaking as a father myself, I believe that every child deserves the basic right of a safe and stable environment. And we have to be fully committed to ensuring that Porsha gets those rights, and all the care, love, and support she needs... regardless of which of her parents provides it to her."

"I've been providin' that to her for two goddamned years!" Stephanie suddenly barked, furiously slamming her fist on the podium as it echoed around the room. "Look, I ain't pretendin' I'm some perfect parent, but ya can't act like I'm the monster here! This is total bull-!"

"Ms. Frangipane!" The judge cut her off, sending a glare Stephanie's way while her face still beamed red, now out of mild embarrassment rather than anger.

"N-no, Your Honour, it's alright..." Charlie raised his hands calmly, looking over to the wolf as he spoke a little quieter. "Stephanie, please... don't make this worse for yourself..."

Stephanie took some deep breaths as she unclenched her fists and the red beam faded from her cheeks, the sound of camera shutters and anxious murmurs now being the only sounds in the courtroom as she sat back down on her seat. She noticed the smug look still on Jimmy's face, which had only gotten more enthusiastic after both Suki's testimony and Stephanie's outburst.

"Right... s-sorry..." She finally said, pulling a small grimace as she looked over at Charlie again. "But... b-but yeah, Suki, she... she was tellin' the truth."

"Okay..." Charlie said, nodding slowly. "That being said... Suki did emphasise that this was the only incident of that kind. And there haven't been any since during your time in Calatonia?"

"Oh no, definitely not..." Stephanie sat straighter again, itching the back of her head. "Yeah, like I said before, I uh... I don't drink no more, so... well, I do drink, obviously, but y'know... nothin' with alcohol in it."

"Good..." Charlie felt a smile tugging at his lips, though he managed to hide it before Jimmy saw. "Then, if I'm understanding correctly, Ms. Frangipane. This was not a common occurence, then?"

"No. No, not at all..." Stephanie felt her eyes misting up as she sat up again, looking around the court while she continued. "Look, I know I've made mistakes, but there's nothin' that matters more to me than keeping my Porsha safe. It's the whole reason I took her away in the first place, she was never gonna be -"

"No ya didn't, ya spiteful little liar!" Jimmy bellowed as he stood up from the plaintiff table, catching Stephanie off-guard as his charismatic facade briefly cracked to reveal his true, far more visceral rage beneath it. "You stole her to get back at me!"

After taking a few deep breaths, and receiving a glare from both Charlie and the judge, Jimmy slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms again, aggressively yanking his hand away from Jerry's after the cat tried to calm or comfort him.

"Right. Well, uh..." Charlie cleared his throat, then looked back to Stephanie and the judge. "Thank you, Ms. Frangipane. No further questions."

Stephanie felt a mix of relief and anxiety as she stood up and returned to her seat beside Norman.

The faces of the jury and the crowd seemed more neutral and uncertain now as she glanced around at them, though she could tell that Suki's testimony - and her subsequent admittance to it - had left a rather significant impact. She felt herself zoning out again for the rest of the day, but was eventually snapped back again when she felt Norman's hand touching her own. She looked down to see the pig smiling at her, before looking around to see the crowd behind them beginning to disperse.

"Oh... are we done...?"

"Uh-huh. Until tomorrow..." Norman said, turning to Marcus and nodding. "You guys get the car ready, we'll just be a minute."

"Will do, mate..." Marcus said, gently patting Stephanie on the back before he, Stan and Barry left the room.

Stephanie leaned forward, pinching the bridge of her nose as she let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Norman, I... look, I know I shoulda told ya about the Valentine's thing, but I just -"

"Nah, it's okay. I get it." Norman patted her hand. "I mean, it... it's bad, Steph, don't get me wrong, but... but you're not like that anymore. That's what important."

"Yeah... yeah, I know..." Stephanie sat back up, pulling a small smile as she looked over to see Charlie and Suki leaving the courtroom behind Jimmy. "Kinda feels like Charlie took it easy on me, though..."

"Hmm... I wonder why..." Norman chuckled, though Stephanie couldn't help sensing what sounded like a mischievous tone in his voice as she turned back to him. "But hey... if that was meant to be their ace, I still think we got a chance with ours."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "And ya still ain't tellin' me what that whole ace up your sleeve thing is, huh...?"

Norman shook his head, then climbed off his seat and stood back up, gesturing towards the door as he and Stephanie left the now empty courtroom.

"You've just gotta have a little more patience, Steph..." He said cryptically. "We've gotta save it for the opportune moment."