The London Paradigm (book 4 of Adopted by the Josephs)

51. Tyler

I was livid that Mark would approach Samantha in the empty courtroom. I fumed at Greyson who stated it looks much worse on his case than ours.

"I don't care. He shouldn't be speaking to her. He is supposed to know this. He's messing with Samantha! You have no idea what it was like when she found out about the suit. She didn't sleep because she had horrible nightmares. She couldn't eat because her stomach was in such knots. She was in constant fear. Either of having a seizure because she couldn't sleep properly. Or of Mark winning this case, or her diabetes going out of control because she couldn't eat. Greyson, this was killing her!"

"I know, Tyler. I know. I have all your notes and the notes from her doctors. We're going to use this all to our advantage. This stunt he just pulled, he could get this thrown out of court."

"Well, I hope it does. Because Samantha needs to get back to living. She doesn't go anywhere except for school. She's afraid to go anywhere."

"Tyler, we're going to win this. He's shooting himself in the foot."

I hoped he was right.

We were called back into the courtroom where Greyson and Mark's lawyer started laying out how they planned to defend their cases and going over a list of people who would testify for each side. We had more people willing to tell the court about Samantha and our relationships with her. People who had been in our lives and seen how Samantha has thrived and grown in just two years.

It wasn't a long day in court. But the next few days we're going to be. The judge wanted to hear from everyone on our side before hearing from Samantha herself. We had her scheduled for Tuesday if all went well with the rest of the testimonies.

Greyson drove me home where Samantha and Brendon were playing Fortnite. Samantha was laughing.

"Hate to get parental on you while you're having fun with your uncle, but is your homework done?" I asked her.

"Yes," Samantha said. "Uncle Brendon wouldn't let me play Fortnite until I finished."

"Good. Smart man," I smiled. He grinned at me.

Sarah and Jenna were in the kitchen. Jenna handed me a cup of coffee as I came in.

"How was the rest of the day?" She asked.

"Boring. They're going to talk to all our character witnesses first and then they want Samantha on Tuesday."

Jenna looked towards the living room where Samantha was the most carefree she's been in weeks.

"She knows it's coming," I said.

"I invited Josh and Debby and Zack and Kala for dinner," Jenna said. "I was thinking pizza."

"Good idea," I said, taking my coffee into the living room.

"Sam, I need two minutes of your attention after this round, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure, Dad," she said as she lined up a shot against an opponent.

I smiled. She had an outlet.

The game ended with Brendon and Samantha winning. He gave her a fist bump and ruffled her hair.

"Your dad wants two minutes. Then we'll play another round."

"'Sup, Dad?" Samantha asked.

"You're in a better mood," I said. She shrugged.

"So, the trial was all laid out. The judge expects she's going to want to hear from you on Tuesday as long as everyone else's testimony doesn't take too long."

"Okay," Samantha sighed.

"That's it? Just 'okay'?"

"Dad, he lied. In court. Well, his lawyer did. And you know I tell the truth. I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to tell them that he told you about some festival and lied to us."

"All you need to do is answer the questions you're asked truthfully. That's all we ask," I said, hugging her.

"I will, Dad. I promise. Will you tell me what people say at the trial?"

"We'll, from our side you should already know what they're going to say."

"I know, I'm a brat, demanding and expect the world on a silver platter," she smiled.

"Exactly," I laughed. I gave her a hug, kissed her head and let her get back to her game. Listening to her laugh, work on strategy with Brendon, and enjoy herself, made my heart swell. I was pretty sure we'd be okay.