Things Luke has had said to himself too many times in one summer: "I don't want to get older without your head on my shoulder..."
SEQUEL TO SOS!
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"Of course. I'm sorry, it's a really stressful day. I'm not at my best or most friendly." Luke nods, "we are grateful to have you here."
"No apology necessary. Your focus should be on protecting Elodie, especially with everything you two have been through this year. Where should I sit, I don't want to be in the way."
"Anywhere over here, the second row may have an open spot. Just behind us." Elodie motions towards the front of the room, seeing Michael, Crystal, Calum, Brandy, Sadie, Amber and Peter staring at her.
"Looks like you've built yourself a beautiful family of support."
"Ya, they mean everything to me." El nods, taking the first step towards her people, Luke and her dad following.
"Who's this?" Peter asks as Elodie settles into the pew beside him, Luke sitting down on her other side.
"This is Bill, my dad." Elodie says just loud enough for everyone to hear just before the bailiff steps forward getting everyone's attention and asking them to stand as the judge enters.
"Before we head home after this I want to put in a request for our restraining orders to be extended indefinitely against Amy. I know she hasn't done anything yet, but I can't have to worry about her after everything else this year has included." Luke whispers to Elodie as everyone shuffles to stand.
"Not a bad idea, her current restraining orders are up here soon." El nods, sitting back down as the judge informs them they can, opening the arraignment as she does.
"Please bring in Ms. Carson." The judge asks after giving a brief overview of how the day will proceed.
***
"That was a lot." Elodie falls against Luke's shoulder as the judge dismisses court an hour and a half later.
"Unfortunately that was only the start of this go around." Peter offers, rubbing his hand against her bicep.
"Hopefully this is the last go of court dates for us, I'm over it all." El chuckles humorlessly.
"Me too. Now, should we go find our baby girl?" Luke offers with a soft smile.
"Absolutely. I have a flight back to St. Louis in less than twenty-four hours and I need all the baby Atlas snuggles I can get." Sadie butts in.
"Come on, let's go get those restraining orders extended and head home, I'm ready to forget about this for a while."
"Except maybe the look your mom had when she saw your dad behind you. That one was worth remembering." Crystal giggles as she moves forward, pulling Elodie into the hug she knows she needs.
"Ya." Elodie searches for a moment until her eyes meet the ones she'd inherited. Stepping out of Crystal's hug to approach him.
"Thanks again for being here. I think a bunch of us are going back to our place for a bit, it's not often my sisters are in town. If you'd like to stop by and meet some of my chosen family for real, and meet Atlas, I'd like that." She offers.
"Send me the address, is there anything you'd like me to bring? I'd like to go home and change out of this stuffy suit first." He smiles genuinely.
"An open mind, because this family of mine is mismatched and loud and protective. Don't let them freak you out." She chuckles.
"Anyone you love is worth knowing, you're my daughter and I may not know you extremely well yet, but I do know you are a wonderful person."
"Thank you for coming, seeing my moms eyes go wide when she saw you over my shoulder was truly the best part of today."
"Lori deserves to live the rest of her life knowing she didn't keep us from each other. I'm glad she saw me here too. Next time maybe more of the family will come. Send me your address, I have a granddaughter I'd love to meet."
"I will. Thank you for showing up today. It means the world to me." She lifts slightly to wrap him in another hug.
"Anything for my baby girl. I'll see you in an hour or two." He chuckles at her repetitive thanks as he hugs her back.
"Thanks for coming, Bill." Luke offers as he steps beside El, nodding at her dad.
"Thank you for taking care of my girl even if I didn't know she was mine for too long." Bill nods at him before heading for the exit.
"You know how you were worried about Atlas?" Luke chuckles quietly to El as he guides her from the courtroom with their friends and family following.
"Ya?" She glances up at him with a certain amount of worry behind her eyes.
"She's fine." He smiles, showing her his phone and a cute little picture Ash had posted to Instagram about an hour ago.
Ashtonirwin
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liked by bbrooke, lillily, and others Ashtonirwin: got to steal our two favorite girls this morning for a little play date, so naturally we had to get them matching pajamas 🌈🩷
Bbrooke: I love being their auntie Brooke 🥹
Lashtonlover: Indy Kay and Atlas Blu are so lucky to have you Ash 🥺
Brashtonstan: Little Clifford and baby Hemmo need a cousin Irwin to join the family I think 🫣🤭
————————— Court dates are starting finally and her dad showed up to support her. How do things play out from here? Not much left of this story, but enough.
Trying to get things finished off for you guys! I know I've been terrible at updating, and I'm sorry. Mentally I'm in a much better place now and have made changes in my life to keep it that way (leaving an extremely toxic and mentally draining job being the big one). Thank you as always for being patient as my updates come few and far between.
