I’ve been giving my sims makeovers, and I’m really happy with how they’re coming out so far!
(PLEASE click on the pics to make them bigger because tumblr botches quality and yeah)
1- Jaymie’s skin makes her look yellow, confirmed by @nonsimsical like, .5 seconds ago lol. I’ll be doing some challenges for challenge skins so maybe I can find the perfect one for her! But she looks less like a cartoon, now, which I’m a fan of.
2-Emily’s eyes are kinda dark, so I’ll get the makeup for that. But I’m really proud of her too! She was always pretty to me, I just enhanced it :D
3- I literally finished Meghan’s makeover a few minutes ago! I think hers is my favorite so far!
His Honor raised his eyebrows up, blinking rapidly as he thought about it. “Well, it has been done in extreme circumstances. Someone would legally have to be in position to consent to the marriage on her behalf and I would grant that power to that person that would bind her to you in marriage but.. May I ask why you’re asking me?”
“Faye is an extraordinary Mother, Your Honor. If things hadn’t gone the way they did.. I would have already purposed and been married to her.”
“What?” Jaymie gasped.
Freeman turned to see her standing next to him, Christian right behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. “I bought the ring when the girls turned 3 years old. I was going to ask her to adopt Amora, but I needed Aida to sign a document, even though she technically had no rights to my daughter. Faye has always and will always be Amora’s Mother. And I love her with every part of my being.”
“I’ll do it.” Jaymie said, no hesitation. “I’ll do it. Can we do it now?”
“Of course… I’ll call my wife. She can bring down the documents.” He turned to his right hand who was already on her cell phone, then turned to Dr. Hernandez. “Do you know where your minister is?”
“No, I know someone. He’s our pastor. Please, he’d want to do this.” Jaymie asked, stepping another foot towards the two men.
“As long as he can make it fast.”
Jayme nodded her head, already pulling her phone from her pocket and calling the familiar number. “John. It’s Jaymie. I know this is last minute, but this is of utmost importace…” her voice trailed off as she walked to the other side of the chapel, lowering her voice. When she returned she was wiping tears from her face. “We’re in luck. He is already in the hospital. He heard what happened and rushed over here. Apparently, it’s all over the news.” She looked up at Christian, who squeezed her shoulder.
The ceremony didn’t take long, it was mostly swearing Jaymie in, signing some paperwork and it was done. Not the way Freeman would have wanted it to happen, but when Faye woke up and he was sure she would wake up.. They would have the time in the world to make things right. He would make this right.
“Now I can officially call you brother.” Jaymie hugged him tightly. “Should we tell Madlaina?”
“Yes, but I think we should do it together… and we should tell the entire family.” Freeman said, smiling for the first time since yesterday afternoon. “Better do this before I have second thoughts.”
Jaymie chuckled, the laugh not entirely reaching her eyes, but he could see hope there and he hoped his own reflected that as well. She wrapped her arms around her husband's waist and grabbed Freeman’s hand as they walked together back to the lobby to tell both their families, or rather their families, the first good news they’ve had since this whole thing started.
“Are you...are you all here for Faye Ross?” Everyone in the room nodded. Besides Jaymie, Christian, Freeman, and Braylie, Madlaina and Benji sat across from Jaymie with Emily sitting beside them. Emily had her boyfriend, or maybe just a friend, Gabe, with her. Jaymie had only met him a couple of times.
The doctor shook his head slightly, surprised. “Who is immediate family?” Jaymie, Madlaina, and Freeman raised their hands, and Freeman motioned for Braylie to as well.
“Er, alright, come with me.” He held the door open and they all stood, filing one after another into the hallway. “We’ll be right in here.” He pointed to a room that housed a few couches, a couple of tables, a coffee machine, and another TV. Jaymie was almost positive no one on this floor ever watched the TVs.
“Sit down, please. My name is Doctor Raegan, you can call me Chris though, if you’d like.” No one said anything, so he pressed on. “I was the head surgeon for Miss Ross.” He sat down in an available chair, putting the file he had been holding on his lap.
“First things first, she’s stable.” There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. Jaymie felt some of the heavy weight that had been sitting on her chest lift. Dr. Raegan smiled at them all before continuing. “She is not out of the woods yet, however. I was told her heart stopped a few times on the ride over here. It stopped again, once, while we were operating.”
A bolt of fear shot through Jaymie. Again? How many times could a heart be restarted before it became incapable of doing so any longer?
“We were, however, to revive her and keep it steady for the rest of the operation. Now, about her injuries.” He opened the folder in front of him and stood, walking to the other side of the room and turning on the light for the x-ray photo viewer. He stuck a few images up on the ledge and pointed to the first one.
“This is Miss Ross’s skull. If you look down here,” He pointed to an area of the photo that seemed to reflect the front of the brain. “She had multiple fractures around her brow bones and in the front part of her skull. We had to go in and re-align bones to make sure they will heal properly. We were not able to get to down here, because these bones are in her face. However, the fractures here are smaller, and will most likely repair themselves.” Everyone’s faces had blanched as they looked at the images of Faye’s fractured skull.
“Because of these fractures, her brain sustained a bit of trauma…” He moved over to the next x-ray. “Here, here, and here. There is swelling.” Madlaina, who was sitting next to Jaymie, let out a whimper and covered her mouth, closing her eyes tightly. The doctor gave her a sympathetic look before moving on. “Because of that swelling, we have put her in a medically induced coma, and will monitor her progress to see when we can lift that. The coma,” He said, slightly louder, because Madlaina had begun to cry harder, “Will allow her body to heal and keep her out of pain.” Jaymie exchanged a look with Freeman. Both of them were thinking the same thing- how long?
“Um…” Dr. Raegan cleared his throat. “If and when she wakes up-”
“If?” Freeman’s voice was slightly higher than usual.
“Well, yes. She has sustained multiple life-threatening injuries, Mr…?”
“Rodriguez.” Freeman swallowed. “Fiance.”
“Yes, Mr. Rodriguez, like I was saying, the brain swelling and bleeding are life threatening. We managed to stop the bleeding, but it’s completely up to Faye now. Her body will either heal or...it won’t.” The finality in his words caused Jaymie to suck in a breath. Tears spilled down her cheeks.
“As I was saying, if and when,” He emphasized when, mostly for their behalf, Jaymie assumed, “She wakes up, we don’t know what sort of state she might be in. It’s impossible to tell with brain injuries what exactly could be affected, because of how complex the brain is. She will most likely have some amnesia, but to what degree we are uncertain. She could have trouble speaking, walking, seeing, hearing. She might have short term memory loss. She might have a completely different personality.” Freeman groaned, leaning forward and placing his head in the palms of his hands. Braylie absentmindedly put her hand on Freeman’s back, but her eyes were glazed over, staring at nothing.
“Again, we will not know anything until she wakes up, however. For now, it’s about monitoring the swelling and seeing how well the rest of her injuries are.” He pressed his lips together, and Jaymie was suddenly overcome with the feeling that there was something he was not telling them.
“Is that all, Dr. Raegan?”
“Y...yes, that’s all, for now. Updates will come in as they become available. As for this immediate moment, they are getting Faye ready and set up in her room. You will be able to see her shortly. I do warn, however, there are numerous tubes, bandages, monitors, and the like currently attached to her. Most of the blood has been cleaned off, but she has deep cuts and a large amount of bruising forming already. She may not look like the Faye you know.”
Freeman sniffed audibly. Madlaina had her eyes closed tightly and was shaking her head back and forth. Braylie had her head in her hands and was shaking. Jaymie stood, wiping her clammy hands on her PJ bottoms and extending one to the doctor.
“Thank you so much for the update, Dr. Raegan. We appreciate it.”
He took her hand and looked at her with a genuinely sympathetic smile.
“It’s my job to keep your loved one in the best state I can manage. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask any member of the staff here. We will do what we can.” Jaymie nodded, her eyes misting over again.
Freeman took her hand and squeezed it as they walked back to the waiting room to tell every one else the news.
Jaymie watched, without interest, as the happy dancing flower on the receptionist’s desk waved back and forth, dancing a little dance that felt horribly out of place in the yellow lighting of the waiting room.
Around her, members of the Ross and Rodriguez families sat, wearing expressions identical to her own- worry, sadness, guilt. They all felt the same things- if they had reached out sooner, would this have happened?
She leaned forward in her seat, pressing her palms to her eyes to prevent herself from crying for the millionth time since she had gotten the phone call.
“Jaymie…” Madlaina had sounded strained, tired, exhausted, and like she was about to cry herself. Jaymie, who had been cleaning up after dinner, sighed deeply. Madlaina had evidently found out about what Freeman was doing, despite Freeman’s attempts to keep them from her.
“Mads, I wanted to-”
“Jaymie, Faye is….” Mads broke down, then. Jaymie stood, rooted to the spot, feeling her world start to spin around her.
“Faye is what, Mads?!” The hysteria in her voice had caught Christian’s attention, who had been sitting on the couch watching the highlight reel from the baseball game. He turned to look at her in concern. Madlaina only continued to cry.
“Madlaina! Tell me right now! What’s going on with Faye?”
“She’s in the hospital, Jaymie!” Mads gasped out. “Fr-freeman got a c-call from Sophie. He had t-to go g-get her and...and…” She dissolved into tears again. There was a fumbling with the phone. Jaymie’s heart beat out of her chest. What was going on?
“Jaymie?”
“Benji, please, what’s going on with my baby sister?” Christian had come up to her, looking at her in alarm. Jaymie put the phone on speaker and held it out so Christian could hear.
“Jaymie, maybe you should come to the hospital…”
“TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON.” Jaymie yelled into the phone. Christian put his hand on her shoulder. The kids were just upstairs, playing.
“Oh, Jaymie…” Benji sighed. “Freeman got a call from Sophia. She told him Eli was hurting Faye.” Jaymie’s stomach dropped.
“What do you mean he was hurting her?”
“Freeman went over there, and...and he saw Eli standing over Faye, she was bloody and unconscious.”
“Oh my GOD!” Jaymie wailed, her knees buckling beneath her. Christian caught her, putting her up on a stool. His face was white as a ghost.
“She was still breathing, she’s alive, Freeman got there just in time and called the ambulance. He also got Sophia.”
“Is..?” Jaymie couldn’t finish the sentence. She handed the phone to Christian and turned away, sobbing.
“Sophia is just fine. She’s being checked over now, but she didn’t have any blood or bruises on her.”
“Where is Faye now?” Christian asked. Benji hesitated on the other line, clearly unsure if he should tell them when both Madlaina and Jaymie were in the state they were. He sighed.
“She’s in surgery. She had...multiple contusions and was losing a lot of blood. She went in about a half hour ago.” Jaymie cried harder.
“Fuck.” Christian whispered. He placed a hand on Jaymie’s back. Jaymie straightened and turned back around.
“What hospital. What floor.”
“Simvita General Hospital, 8th floor.” Benji replied curtly. “We’re on our way there now. Freeman and Sophia rode with Faye in the ambulance.”
“She was alive, though?” Jaymie asked tentatively.
“....yes.” The pause didn’t go unnoticed.
“Benji!?”
“Look, get to the hospital, we’ll tell you everything when you get here.” He had hung up without saying goodbye to avoid any more questions.
Jaymie had since learned Faye’s heart stopped multiple times in the ambulance. The thought terrified her. What if it stopped on the operating table, and they were unable to bring her back?
What if she never got to tell her little sister goodbye? What if Faye died, not knowing that Jaymie regretted ever letting Faye cut contact with her? She looked over at Sophia, who had been discharged almost as soon as they had arrived. Her cheeks were tear stained, she was curled up in Freeman’s lap, sleeping soundly. What if Sophia had to grow up without her mother? Jaymie knew exactly what it was like to lose a parent, but she hadn’t been as young as Sophia was.
Would Faye follow in their parents footsteps, and leave her daughter at such a young age?
Freeman scanned the room, then caught her eye. He gave her a half smile that didn’t go anywhere near his eyes. Jaymie couldn’t imagine walking in on the scene he did, but was entirely grateful that his quick thinking and quick actions possibly saved her sister's life. She closed her eyes again, imagining the last time she physically saw her sister. It was right before they had moved to the new place, Faye had come over with Sophia, looking tired and emotionally drained. They had stayed the night, Sophia had woken up screaming, and Jaymie had credited it due to the kidnapping incident.
The door opening made all of them jump in the otherwise still room, and all pairs of eyes looked up towards the newcomers.
Braylie and Oona had arrived, both looking as if they too, had been crying. Oona, without saying a word, walked over to Sophia and scooped her up.
“Oona?” Sophia said sleepily, in her tiny voice.
“Yes, Princess Sophie, I’m here.” Her voice was strained with the effort of her holding back tears. “I’m going to take you to Aunt Jaymie’s house, okay? Uncle Tyler is there right now with Avery, Adelynn, Noah, and Amora.” Sophia’s eyes widened.
“Amora is there?”
“She is, baby.” Freeman stood, wiping his palms on his jeans. “Abuela took her there just a little while ago.” He walked over and kissed the top of Sophia’s head, smoothing back her hair. Jaymie could see his eyes misting up.
“I miss Abuela.” Sophia whispered.
“You’ll see her soon, baby. For now, go see sissy and your cousins, okay?”
“Where are you going, daddy?” Freeman smiled at her.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here, to make sure mommy is okay.”
“Mommy is hurt.” Sophia whispered again, frowning. Freeman nodded.
“But you helped save her, bug. She’ll be okay.” His voice cracked audibly at the last word. He kissed her forehead one more time, nodding to Oona afterwards.
“Thank you.” She nodded, turning and walking out of the room with Sophia, whispering to her quietly. Braylie stayed behind.
After another hour of waiting, the door leading back to the patient ward opened. A tall doctor stood there, holding the door open.
“Here, drink this.” Freeman looked up to see Christian standing before him. He sat back, letting his hands fall between his knees as he stared up at the man he considered to be a brother, sighing out loud. He leaned forward, taking the cup into his hands. The weight and heat from the coffee felt good. “Drink it. It’s at least something in your stomach, even if it’s bad for you. I know you haven’t left except to check on the girls and have Oona follow you back to your place.”
Freeman gingerly took a sip of the coffee. “Thanks, Christian.”
He sat down next to him on the sofa, which was a lot more comfortable than the chairs in the lobby where most of both their families sat seeing as this waiting room was a lot smaller. “This is cozy.” He stated, looking around.
Freeman turned his head, scrutinizing his face. “Seriously?”
“Well, yea. I mean.. I’ve been to plenty of hospitals. Especially after becoming a lawyer. This is definitely a perk. And, I made the coffee so it’s not that harsh shit you get at the vending machine.” Taking a sip of his own cup he hand in his hand, then smacking his lips. “But seriously, I need you to down that because we have somewhere we need to be and seeing as I called this person in and will now owe them my career and possibly my first born son, which he doesn’t know I have, but I figured we could grow Noah’s hair out and pass him off for a girl. I mean, Miley Cyrus’s little sister’s name is Noah, so…”
“I don’t think I have ever in all the years I have known you, EVER, hear you talk this much. And that’s collectively.” He raised his eyebrows. “And you know I can’t go anywhere. I need to be here in case something happens to Faye or.. Or they need a blood transfusion. I’m a donor.”
“But you’re not Faye’s blood type, my brother. And besides, this is important. Especially with all things considered. No one is saying it, but I know you have thought it. Call it.. Occupational hazard or the fact that you have seen too much shit in your line of work to NOT have thought it. If Faye dies…”
Freeman raised his hand cutting him off. “1. She won’t die and 2. Just tell me where the fuck you want me to go so badly. I don’t have the patience or the time for cat and mouse games, Christian.”
Christian nodded his head, sensing he’d about run out of leg room here for playful batner. “I called Judge Patrick to the hospital. He wants to meet us in the chapel. Normally we don’t go about proceedings like this. However, due to what’s happened in the past 24 hours and the fact that by law you technically have temporary custody..” He sighed. “Freeman, if you were in Faye’s position. If you were the one fighting for your life, odds against you, in a coma no less because of how bad your injuries were. If there was even the slightest chance that you were not going to make it. Where would you want Amora to go? Or better put, who would you want to raise your daughter?”
“With her Mother.” He stated without so much as the slightest bit of hesitation.
Christian stood up. “Drink it, or toss it, either way Judge Patrick isn’t going to wait much longer.”
Freeman stood, taking a swig of coffee and then tossing it in the waste basket as he followed Christian from the waiting room, they headed towards the main lobby. Christian poked his head out the doors and waited until Jaymie looked up to wave her over, closing the doors behind her. They waited about three minutes before she came slinking through the doors.
“What’s going on? Is it Faye?” Jaymie asked, wringing her hands together.
Christian took her hands in his and looked down at her. “There is nothing wrong with Faye, but we need you to come with us. It’s about Sophia.”
“Ok, but.. Christian,” She stood shaking her head. “I can’t take any more surprises today. You have to give me something here. They cleared Sophie. They even let her leave.. Are you te-”
“Shhh, no. No! It’s nothing like that.” He sighed. “Freeman was granted temporary custody of Sophia and Faye was supposed to surrender her to the Police Station or to Child Protective Services 32 hours after she was served. I just spoke with my mole and he’s informed me that the officer who was to deliver the papers actually gave them to this rookie who had no idea what they even were and gave BOTH of the packets to Eli, whose signature corroborates his story, which he’s already agreed to give a testimony when this all goes to court. However, that’s besides the point. Faye never relinquished custody, but a warrant will still be issued for her arrest regardless. We need you to say that she gave Sophia to you and that she is officially surrendering Sophia over to Freeman. We also need you to sign a document saying that your sister is currently incapable of caring for her child and that you request full and sole custody be given to Freeman.”
Jaymie stared up at her husband, her lips pressed together. “Alright. I’ll do it.”
“Jaymie..” Freeman put his hand out, not sure what to do.
She held hers up. “My sister and I can never repay you for all that you’ve done for Faye and for Sophia. And on top of everything, you’re the only reason Faye has a fighting chance at all.” She shook her head, fresh tears filling her eyes. “When I think about what that bastard might have done to Sophia, who is so tiny and frail. So much more fragile than my sister, it makes me physically sick to my stomach. I know that in my heart, Faye would DEMAND this. She would not want any of us to go to court over custody of Sophia and she for damn sure would not want anyone in Eli’s family to get their clutches in her. So, yes. I will do this. For my sister, for my niece and for you.”
Freeman pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her temple before nodding to Christian who lead the way to the chapel. The surgeon was there along with the Doctor who would be caring for Faye while she was in the hospital for the rest of the duration. She extended her hand and shook Christian and Jaymie’s hands before taking Freeman into both of hers. “I plan on taking excellent care of your wife, Mr. Rodriguez.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hernandez.” Freeman tried to smile, but it caused him physical pain to do so.
“Please, call me Amelia.”
“Freeman.”
“Now that we’ve all been introduced, this is Judge Patrick. He’s been good enough to come today due to the circumstances, we thank you greatly.” Judge Patrick nodded to Freeman as Christian continued introductions. “This is his Judge Patrick’s right hand. She will be here as a witness to this proceeding. This should would have been considered the preliminary hearing, however due to circumstances..”
“Due to circumstances,” Judge Patrick interrupted. “I would like you all to consider this the actual hearing. We will be adding in a clause where if Ms. Ross does in fact pull through and she is coherent and able to stand on her own and is deemed fit by all of her doctors including a Psychologist, she may have the opportunity to file for an appeal to try and gain back some of her parental rights. Do we all agree?”
Everyone in the room nodded their heads, except Jaymie. “What do you mean by gain back some of her parental rights, Your Honor?”
“That Freeman will have 100%, sole and physical custody of their daughter. She will not be allowed to visit, speak to, see or even so much as have any sort of unsupervised visitation with the child unless Mr. Rodriguez sees fit to allow it. By gaining back some of her parental rights, she may be looking at at least anywhere from 25% to possibly close to 50% custody. Of course, this will all be determined at a later day. If they were to marry, it would be different. Obviously.”
“Obviously.” Jaymie repeated, looking to Freeman. She knew he would never keep Sophia from her sister. He was doing this to protect her niece and to protect her sister from any unjust actions that may be committed against her even if it was temporarily. The news was horrid about exploiting these sort of things and she wasn’t about to stand for her sister’s reputation or her own morals to be tarnished by not agreeing to this. She nodded her head and the hearing continued on.
They went over hours and hours of material. Listening, signing, listening and more signing until finally everything was in order. Sophia Grace Ross was no longer Sophia Grace Ross. She was now Sophia Grace Rodriguez. “She’ll be tickled pink.” Jaymie said, smiling up at Freema, squeezing his forearm before she stepped out of the chapel into the hall.
“Christian..” Freeman said, reaching out to him.
“No need to thank me.” Christian smiled, following his wife. “On second thought.” He snapped his fingers turning around. “You can make me some of those enchiladas of yours.” He rubbed his belly as he backed out of the room until he spun around, wrapping his free hand around his wife’s waist as they leaned against the wall.
“Your honor..” Freeman walked up to Judge Patrick. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course, though if you have another child you’re wanting custody of or to change their name you’ll have to go about it the long way. It’s late and my wife wasn’t too happy about my leaving.”
“Feel free to explain everything to her so she understands.”
He nodded once, “What can I do for you?”
“What are the laws about one marrying someone in a coma?”
Freeman headed into the house first and through the kitchen into the garage and out the heavy door to his Jeep. He unlocked the car, making note of who was outside and anything odd in the surrounding areas as he pulled the manila envelope he picked up from Louie’s house that was dropped off by Aida. He locked the Jeep and headed back inside.
“Here it is.” He waved it in the air as he closed the door, noting Jaymie frowning in his direction. He turned the lock, just in case, before walking to the desk and dropping the manila envelope and all its contents inside of it on the dark glossy oak surface of Christian's desktop. “I’ve had copies made and those I’ll keep. These are eventually going to be handed in.. but they’ve already been finger printed and scanned and sent to my team back at Quantico.”
Christian simply nodded his head as she read the letter and viewed all the pictures. He pushed them aside, and got up walking to the filing cabinets behind his desk. As he rifled through the files, Freeman gathered the documents and slid them back into the manila envelope and placed them under his thigh as he sat down at the visitor's chair across from Christian.
They went over the paperwork that Freeman had filled out and already filed with the court as well as the court date itself. Christian also told Freeman about some new information he found on Eli. “But with all of this new information that Aida has provided… I can probably get you temporary custody easily.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “How long until you can get a judge to grant that?”
“It’s not even 5:00 PM, there are at least two that are still working and four that I can call in for a personal favor. They could get the ball rolling and by this time tomorrow, if not sooner, Sophia would be with you and Amora at your house having dinner.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“We serve her, and Eli. Which can be done one of three ways. By certified mail, by Police Officer or by someone you know that hasn’t filled out a declaration.”
“Ok, let’s do it then.”
Christian looked pointedly at Freeman, tapping his expensive fountain pen on the side of his equally expensive loafers. He sat up, dropping the pen on his desk in front of him, intertwining his fingers together before he cleared his throat and said, “No.”
“Wha-what the hell do you mean, NO!?” Freeman slumped back against the leather chair of Christian’s at home office. He knew he really should formally meet him at his work place, but he couldn’t take away the chance of Amora seeing the twins and Noah. Plus he knew Jaymie and Christian really missed having them over as well. He ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration. “Christian, throw me a bone here, ok? I just.. I mean.. What the fuck!” Standing up, he turned to face the picture window outlooking the backyard. He watched Amora running after Noah and felt his chest tighten at the sheer joy on her face.
“I don’t mean, no, as in never. I mean, no, as in you need to give Mads the letter you received and those pictures. Let them open the investigation back up on the girls’ kidnapping.” Christian held his hand up before Freeman started to protest. “I know, ok. I know and I understand why you haven’t already turned it in, bu-,” There was a knock on his office door, cutting Christian off from finishing what he was about to say.
He stood and walked over the few feet from his desk to open the door, but only far enough that signaled to whomever was on the other side that he was with a client. “Hey, Uncle Chris, is Freeman still here?”
“Emily,” Christian began with a sigh. He always hated being referred to as Chris. Not that it was a bad name, it was just if his Mother had wanted him to be called chris he was sure she would have named him Christopher, not Christian. “I’m with a client.”
Emily snorted, “Ookay, but where is Freeman? Or is your client, Freeman? It is, isn’t it? Seriously?”
Christian stood there staring down at her waiting for her to register that he wasn’t joking. Emily rolled her eyes, “Whatever, ok, well, Mom is here and she wants to talk to him. Or, whatever.” She shrugged.
“I’ll let him know.”
“He’s in there, isn’t he?” Emily raised her eyebrows. When Christian didn’t move or answer her question, she sighed, rolling her eyes again. “Fine, but like.. Not to be rude or anything, but could you hurry up though? I was supposed to meet Maddox at the mall, like, 20 minutes ago.”
“Sure, Emily.”
Christian waited for her to go outside and close the backdoor before he shut the one to his office. He turned to Freeman. “Do it. Now. Give Madlaina the letter, or take it in and formally hand it over to the Chief of Police, or Mad’s partner, but just do it. Once there is an open investigation on Eli Gardner it will only strengthen your custody case and put the odds in your court.”
Freeman ran his thumb over the stubble on his chin, nodding his head. “Ok. I’ll.. I’ll do it, but I don’t want to directly involve Mads. Faye and your family are already butting heads and as soon as she finds out you’re my lawyer… Having her sister as the lead investigator on reopening the girl's’ case will make me unforgivable in her eyes.”
“You might already be there, Freeman. You’re going after sole and physical custody of Sophia. Keep that in mind, not Faye’s feelings. Or even Eli’s. You are getting custody of your daughter and that is all you need to focus on.”
Freeman, Jaymie and Christian stood before their family and closest friends. Jaymie still had her arm wrapped around Christian’s waist and with her free hand she squeezed Freeman’s hand tightly, a silent, ‘We support you. We’re here for you.’
Freeman cleared his throat, glancing towards his right and catching Jaymie’s eye. He nodded, “What most of you don’t know, or I should say what all of you don’t know, is that a little more than 2 months ago I hired a Private Investigator to look into Eli. What I had learned about him confirmed my gut feeling about him not being upfront and honest. I knew Faye didn’t know anything about any of this about him, however, I couldn’t just waltz up to her and show her that I had him investigated behind her back.” He paused as he shifted his weight and looked up at the ceiling trying to go about telling them everything, but not giving them the long version, though they deserved to know after all the support and love they have shown not just to Faye and Sophia, but to him and his family as well.
“It’s ok, Freeman.” Jaymie murmured.
He looked over at her again. She was smiling at him. Christian was nodding his head, eyebrows raised. He sighed. “Just under 2 months ago, I ran into Faye and Sophia at the grocery store. I had Amora with me and she spotted them before I did. Before I could stop her she was already in Faye’s arms and Sophia was delighted to see her sister. When she spotted me, it literally was almost my undoing. It took everything in me to turn and walk away from them especially after what I had witnessed transpire when Eli came upon our little family reunion.” He scoffed. “Faye’s body language spoke a thousand words to me in that moment. I noticed that she make up was too heavy and it didn’t hide the bruise she was trying conceal or the swelling underneath, however it was Sophia’s reaction to Eli that caused me for alarm. I know that sounds odd, seeing as clearly Eli had hit Faye - at least, that is what I had assumed, but Sophia was another story. She always was friendly and loved everyone.. She was visibly afraid of this man she and her Mother lived with. I called my PI and asked him to look into Sophia and how she was doing what he uncovered turned my blood boiling. That was when I reached out to Christian.”
“Reached out to Christian… for what?” Emily asked.
“Em!” Madlaina, turning around to glare at her teenage daughter. “Don’t interrupt.”
“Sorry.” Emily looked down at her hands that were currently clutching the boys next to her.
“He came to me not as a friend or a family member, but to hire me as his lawyer. He explained what he wanted to do and if I was uncomfortable with it that I could say no at any time. He didn’t want me to feel like I was obligated to help him. I didn’t. And after reviewing what he brought forth, I accepted his case.”
“Is that why you were always over at my sister’s house?” Madlaina asked, her arms crossed in front of her, eyes narrowing. “Because Christian is your lawyer?”
“It’s not the way you’re thinking, Mads.” Jaymie interrupted, standing upright. “I’d been messaging Freeman on twitter. He’d changed his phone number and I was concerned about him after Christian had seen him last. We hadn’t heard from or about him in over a month. He did so much for our baby sister and her daughter and to just leave him out to dry because she chose to leave and go back to that piece of shit wasn’t right and you know it. He came over for two full weeks before calling me to ask when Christian would be home.”
“And that was actually because I wanted to sell the house I had bought.. For Faye.”
“You bought a house for Faye?” Emily perked up. “Why?”
“I had been trying to find the right time to propose to her, but it seemed like every time I got up the nerve, there was another hurdle we were working through. And as sure as I was about her, there was always that what if playing in the back of my mind. We were both so young, too young, to become parents and yet be continued to fight the odds stacked against us. My experience with people told me that anyone at any point in time could change their minds and be done with their situations or home lives. If she wanted to leave to go to college, or because she no longer was in love with me.. If she was tired of being a Mother to a child she didn’t birth or even if she was just tired of being a Young Mother in general, I didn’t want her to feel like she HAD to stay, however I still had hopes and it took me a lot longer than I thought, but I bought a house for us to continue to grow in. I had planned to propose in front of the house after I finished paying it off. Unfortunately, I was too late. After two miscarriages and too many false positives, Faye had given up on having any children with me and then the girls were kidnapped.”
“You guys were trying to have a baby? You never told me that.” Jaymie squeezed his arm.
“We had decided to keep it to ourselves, however there has been new evidence that shows Aida and Eli, or maybe it was just one of them, either way they were stalking us MONTHS before they ever took the girls.”
“How do you know that?” Madlaina asked.
“Because Aida showed up at Louie’s apartment, my old apartment, and gave him an envelope containing very damaging evidence. Not just towards her, but towards Eli as well. She also wrote a letter naming Eli her accomplice and how she never intended for Sophia to be taken, just Amora. Not that I am defending her, I am just repeating what she wrote.” Freeman took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I believe her.”
“How come you didn’t come to me with this, you know that I was lead Detective on that case. Hell, I’m the one that brought those girls home.” Madlaina’s brow dipped. Sadness and hurt reflected in her eyes.
“I turned all evidence over to Police Chief Hicks with specific instructions on how I wanted to go about things. You were going to be told, but I had a window of opportunity that helped me and I took it. I won’t apologize for that.”
“Opportunity for what?” Benji asked, stepping up next to his wife and putting his hand on her hip.
He looked to Christian before continuing, “To gain sole and physical custody of Sophia.”
