It took another month for court to allow an audience. Nevertheless, it would be a decisive audience. The lawyer Susan had recommended had been of great help despite always being honest in the way he always told them how these cases were hard to fight. He never gave up on them though and he finally was able to take the case to court. They had only one chance though, which left them too nervous. If it failed they would be back to Eric's sole decision and he was taking too long, in their opinion. Sessions continued. They were tested every week for substance abuse and came clean each time. They still visited Heaven every day and yet, Eric was irreducible in giving them their daughter's legal guardian back.
They arrived in the Municipal Court of Seattle together with their lawyer a little sooner than schedule so they could go through a few things. Though they had some witnesses in their favor, they all had arrived separately as orders given previously. They would all stay in a different room too, so they wouldn't be able to communicate right before the trial began. Chris and Ellie sat outside the courtroom destined to them, facing an immense dark hood door. They held hands but they were silent. Chris had taken his hoops off his ears thinking it would give a better impression. He even bought a pair of new black trousers and a buttoned shirt to lose a bit of his rebel style, and he tied his hair on a combed ponytail. Ellie put on a dress and braided her hair. Minor makeup on her face, though she had mascara and eyeliner. Their legs were bouncing. By their side, their lawyer was going through some papers, probably revising his questions and his defense.
"They are taking long." Chris commented. The lawyer raised his eyes from the papers he was reading and looked at him.
"They are preparing everything, Mr. Cornell." He said formally for the secretary was standing in front of the door waiting for orders to let them in.
"How many witnesses do the State have?" Ellie decided to ask. "Do you know?"
"Only Eric and your mother." He answered and they both opened their mouth in absolute surprise.
"Just them?" Ellie finally blurted and the man nodded. "Though I cannot believe my mother is going to testify against us..." She shook her head with an ironic smile on her face.
"She had to." The lawyer told her. "She is the one with Heaven's guardian now."
"Ellie..." Chris whispered and squeezed her hand to make her stop. Up until then, she was still not talking to her mother.
Suddenly, the door opened. The crack causing a tremendous echo in the large and empty and huge hallway. They got up from bench at the same time with the lawyer being the only one relaxed. Ellie and Chris were standing so straight it seemed like they were statues, but their hands still glued. They didn't let go of one another.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cornell." The secretary finally called in loud voice. "Mr. Christopher John Cornell and Mrs. Eleanor Rae Cornell."
"Here." The lawyer said approaching the middle-aged man. "Here are the court files and my ID." The secretary read everything carefully and then checked the ID's.
"You may all occupy your seats." He motioned a hand inside the courtroom.
It looked so impersonal and so cold. As they sat right in front of the judge's counter, Ellie started looking around. The ceiling was so high the lamps didn't seem to work. If it wasn't for the huge window on their left, it would be dark inside. The horrendous velvet curtain made her shiver. Everything was in wood. Wood boring color surrounded them. Cold, impersonal, and scary. She squeezed Chris's hand as she shivered again. Her heart started racing and she took a deep breath.
"Are you ok?" Chris whispered in her ear as he leaned over her.
"I am scared." She confessed, looking in his eyes.
"I am too." He whispered back and refraining from kissing her lips inside the formal room which would not be appropriate.
They didn't have time to say anything else as right after a loud voice made them stand up and a woman in her fifties with her hair combed in a perfect bun entered the room. She stood right in front of them and, through the glasses that hung on the tip of her nose, she looked at Ellie in the eye first and then Chris's. Immediately, she perceived how scared the young couple was. They looked terrified. After years in her position, she could recognize fear in people's faces and they were not an exception. Judge Carpenter was a known specialist in cases similar to them and that was both a good and a bad thing. A good thing because she had experience and terrifying because she had seen it all. Chris and Ellie's hands were holding so tightly, their knuckles were turning white and it was becoming impossible to breathe. Both their chests came up and down heavily and in tune.
"You may sit." The judge ordered after and they sat only after her.
Judge Carpenter started reading the papers she had in front of her, introducing the case, and Ellie took the opportunity to gaze at the accusation by the corner of her eye. He too was reading something which caused her to gasp.
"Don't let go of my hand." She whispered at Chris and he gave her a soft smile.
"No..." He mouthed and then they just stared into each other's eyes in silence.
He saw her eyes inundating with tears and ran his free hand over her face gently and shook his head like telling her not to cry. Ellie nodded softly and looked away from him to stare at the judge once again. She was watching them and as they realized so, their insides shook violently.
"I would like to start with Mrs. Eleanor Rae Cornell." The judge said quietly, and the announcement left both Chris and Ellie insecure and alarmed.
"Wasn't I the last?" She whispered quickly at her lawyer, feeling a huge lump in her throat.
"Mrs. Cornell..." The judge insisted with a soothing tone and Ellie got up, feeling her legs shake.
She approached the chair from where she would testify and stood. A man stretched her the Holy Book and with a hand on the Bible she swore to tell the truth. Then, she sat down and rested her hands on her lap. Her fingers were shaking so much, it could be seen, but she couldn't avoid it. She turned her head to look at the judge who smiled softly at her and gave her a soft nod too. The small gesture comforted her somehow, but she still took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a mere second so she could prepare for her testimony.
"Mrs. Cornell..." The judge started. "Can you tell what happened on the day you gave birth to your daughter Heaven Cornell?"
"I was not supposed to give birth naturally." Ellie started telling her story from there. "I discovered a heart condition during my pregnancy which got worse in a few months. It was decided that I would give birth through a C section and not natural birth because it was a huge risk." Ellie paused, feeling her heart beating fast and her eyes welling in tears as she recalled the episode.
"It's alright." The judge reassured her empathically.
"I woke up that morning already in labor and everything went very fast and when I got to the hospital I was already pushing. My baby was in the birth canal ready to come out and she was in distress." Another deep breath with Chris's eyes not even blinking as he looked at her. "So, the baby needed to be born by natural birth that was not recommended at all..."
"Objection, your honor!" The accusation lawyer intervened. "Mrs. Cornell cannot give her opinion about medical decisions."
"Overruled." The judge said quietly. "You may continue." She then said to Ellie.
"I am not giving an opinion about a medical decision..." Ellie started there. "... I am just stating that it was decided previously by the doctors that had been following me that I should not give birth naturally and that when I got to the hospital my labor was too far gone and there was no other option." The judge nodded as she explained the situation.
"And then?"
"Unfortunately, as the doctors had predicted, labor turned to be very dangerous to me and before my baby girl was born I had a cardiac arrest." Her lips trembled and she had to stop there to give deep breaths so she wouldn't cry.
"It's alright, Mrs. Cornell." The judge told her, understanding how hard it must have been for her to relive the moment.
"All I know after that is what I have been told." Ellie proceeded. "Heaven was taken off me with forceps and I was revived and taken to surgery so they could fix my heart. Surgery went well, but I remained in a coma for two weeks. My mother and my husband took care of my daughter."
"And after that?" Judge Carpenter asked her.
"I started recovering and came back home two weeks later." Ellie stopped there. The judge nodded.
"You started helping taking care of your daughter?" Judge Carpenter asked.
"Yes." Ellie nodded. "Controlled in the beginning because I still had to be cautious because of my surgery, but little by little I engaged in a normal life."
"Very well, thank you." The judge nodded and turned to the accusation. "Mr. Fischer, do you have questions?" She asked and the lawyer nodded.
"Yes, your honor." He said, getting up with a sheet of paper in his hands. Ellie shook like an earthquake that moment. "May I?" He asked permission to start to which the judge consented by nodding her head.
"Mrs. Cornell, your daughter's guardianship was taken from you and your husband because of substances abuse, was it not?" Just like they predicted, he started by the ugliest part of the case.
"Chris and I always took care of our daughter with love and caring." Ellie said instead.
"Please, answer the question." The judge told her.
"Yes and no." She simply said.
"Yes and no?" Fischer frowned. "Do you want to explain your answer?"
"Chris was not abusing substances when the guardianship was taken from us. I was. His tests were already clean at the time." Ellie clarified.
"Isn't he being treated for PTSD?" He asked.
"Just like me." Ellie told him.
"Do you know why your husband was admitted in the hospital a few days after what occurred to you?" Fischer asked and Ellie felt her heart skip a beat.
"Yes." She responded almost inaudible.
"Can you repeat your answer louder, please." Fischer told her.
"Yes." Ellie said with tears probing in her eyes.
"Can you tell it to the court then?"
"He was admitted after mixing alcohol with benzodiazepines." Ellie responded with her voice shaking and then cleaned her tears that fell.
"According to his medical registration, it was an attempt of suicide." Fischer went further.
"It was an accident." Ellie argued firmly.
"Don't you think it shows that he was mentally unstable to take a care of a baby?" Ellie narrowed her eyes at the lawyer.
"Chris started therapy and is off benzodiazepines and alcohol. He is stable. Like I said, at the time our baby girl was taken from us, I was the only one, like you like to call it, abusing substances. He was not."
"You didn't answer my question." Fischer said coldly. "Is your husband mentally stable to take care of your daughter?"
"Yes." Ellie was firm. Fischer gave her a smile, a sarcastic one.
"No further questions your honor." The lawyer smiled again and Ellie felt her stomach churn and her eyes burning.
"Your honor, may I?" Their lawyer asked and the judge nodded. "Mrs. Cornell, can you be more specific about the substance abuse? I mean, can you tell the court what substance were you taking?"
"Prozac." Ellie responded.
"When you asked for help, how many pills were you taking a day?" The lawyer continued. "Let's say in twenty-four hours."
"Six pills."
"Can you explain how did you take these pills?" The lawyer asked.
"Objection, your honor." The other yelled. "It is proven that there was substance abuse. How Mrs. Cornell took it is not relevant."
"But it is relevant." Their lawyer fought back.
"Overruled." The judge said quietly. "Mrs. Cornell, you may answer the question."
"Most of my pills were taken during the night so I could sleep." She explained. "I avoided it during the day because I was alone with Heaven and I was afraid it would interfere. I usually took one or two but with hours of difference but at night was the worst because I couldn't sleep properly, and Chris was home by then."
"You had trouble sleeping because you suffer from PTSD too, right?"
"Yes." Ellie nodded.
"Have you stopped taking the pills?" Their lawyer asked.
"Yes." She nodded again. "I searched for help when I thought maybe it was getting out of my control. Not taking the pills, but the stress I had inside my head, my fear of not waking up the next day. The therapist reduced the Prozac for three pills a day and gradually until I was completely off of it. I don't take any now and that is proven in the tests that Chris and I make every week. We are clean." The lawyer smiled and nodded in approval of her answer.
"I have here evidence number one and two." The lawyer approached the judge and handed her some papers. "These are the reports from the doctor that has been treating Mrs. Cornell that correlates the information she has just given."
"Very well." The judge nodded.
"I have no further questions, your honor." The lawyer said and sat back by Chris's side who gave Ellie a soft nod.
"Mrs. Cornell you are dismissed." The judge said and Ellie got up. "I would like to call Mr. Christopher John Cornell."
They switched places. Just like Ellie, Chris complied with the vow and then sat also with his hands shaking. He looked at Judge Carpenter who smiled at him just like she had done with Ellie.
"Mr. Cornell..." The judge called him and he nodded. "As I heard the story from your from your wife, I am skipping to the questions." Chris nodded again and the judge looked at the accusation. "Do you have questions?"
"Yes, your honor." The man got up and stood in front of Chris. Chris felt his palms sweating cold and swallowed dry, waiting for him. "Mr. Cornell..." He paused to look in Chris's eyes. "Your wife described your episode as being an accident. What happened that night?"
"My wife was in a coma and we didn't know if she was going to wake up." Chris started. "After visiting her at the hospital and basically thinking Ellie was not coming back, I got desperate." Chris took a deep breath for it still hurt to remember. "I knew I shouldn't drink but I was so out of myself and so desperate..."
"Who was looking after you daughter when you mixed alcohol with the benzodiazepines?" The lawyer interrupted Chris and he felt his heart start racing.
"I was." He said.
"And even then, knowing your daughter was a defenseless new born...."
"My parents in law were there." Chris interrupted him, feeling irritated. "I was not alone in the house."
"Did you or did you not try to commit suicide?" The lawyer then asked and Chris fell silent. "Can you answer?"
"Yes." He responded and looked at Ellie who mouthed a "I love you."
"So, you didn't care that you were leaving your baby daughter without parents because at the time no one knew if your wife was coming back."
"Objection!" Their lawyer jumped off his chair.
"Sustained." Judge Carpenter looked at Mr. Fischer. "Your questions must be objective."
"I have no further questions." Fischer announced.
"The defense?" Judge Carpenter turned to their side and their lawyer got up.
"May I approach you, your honor?" He asked and the judge nodded. "I have here evidence number four and five. These are also reports of how well Mr. Cornell has been doing. All his tests come clear too and here it states that he his cooperative and doing fine. He is off any medication and his state of mind is described by his doctor as stable."
"Very well." The judge collected the papers.
"I have no questions for Mr. Cornell." The lawyer announced which did not surprised them. He had previously told them he was opting for not questioning Chris since the documents he'd deliver would be enough to prove his capability to take care of their child.
"You are dismissed. Mr. Cornell." The judge told him and Chris came back to his seat.
After them, all their witness were called one by one. First Brooke and then Eddie. After it was Jerry and after him Brenda. Stone came next. All Soundgarden members and Susan testified in favor of the couple with Susan having the most eloquent speech about why she thought they were fit to have their daughter with them. Ellie cried while hearing her go through their story as a couple and her opinion about them as parents. The judge was impressed, she could tell. With all defense witnesses heard, a lunch break was ordered and around three pm, they all came back. There were only the accusation testimonies to be heard, Millie and Eric. Ellie had her heart beating extremely fast for being faced with her mother on opposites sides and one that wounded her so much.
"I'd like to hear Mrs. Amelia Wood." Judge Carpenter called.
Ellie swallowed dry as she heard the door opening and then her mother appearing. As Millie was crossing the courtroom, she looked at her daughter in the eye and then took a deep breath. She never asked to be in that position. What mother wishes to be against her daughter in a trial? Millie sat and the Bible was brought to her. After swearing to tell the truth, she took another look at Ellie and Chris and saw their hands glued under the table. She smiled at then but only Chris smiled back. Ellie remained serious. Then, she looked at the judge.
"Your honor, may I speak?" Millie asked politely.
"Yes, you may."
"I never agreed that my granddaughter should be taken away from her parents." Millie started and Fischer facepalmed himself. "As a doctor I know what the protocol states in cases where parents abuse drugs or other substances but in their case Chris was already clean."
"He was considered mentally unstable." Fischer intervened in what should be a witness in his favor.
"Mr. Fischer..." The judge warmed him and then turned to Millie. "You may continue."
"Chris was at a phase of his treatment that put him as eligible to take care of a child but dealing with Ellie that had recently turned to Prozac made the home environment hostile for a baby. Despite that, I know my daughter was always a wonderful mother. I used to visit her every day and never once I saw Ellie failing as a parent or Chris for that matter. They were always caring and they love their baby girl more than anything. Heaven is everything to them."
"In your opinion, are they fit to take care of Heaven Cornell?" The judge asked and Millie nodded.
"Heaven needs her parents more than anyone else. They went through a lot to have her and they might have done some things wrong that are consequences of a pathological case, but they are doing therapy. They are both stable and clean of all substances. All tests show that. Also, the therapist notes all state how stable they are, so why not give Heaven to her parents?"
"Why do you describe them as stable?" Judge Carpenter asked.
"They are both working. Ellie started working from home and has been helping her sister, who gets married tomorrow, with her marriage. They receive friends in their house. They engaged in a regular healthy life." Millie explained and Carpenter nodded.
"Mr. Fischer, do you want to question the witness?" The judge asked the lawyer.
"Yes." He got up visibly irritated.
"Mrs. Wood..." He stopped in front of her with his eyes narrowed, letting her know how displeased he was with her words. "If you are so sure that they are fit to take care of a baby, then why accepting to take care of your grandchild?" Millie smiled.
"I accepted it because my grandchild was going to be delivered to the Social Services. I would never allow that to happen. I have always told their therapist that I disagreed with his decision," She explained. "Heaven should be with her parents. Any child whose parents are capable of taking care of her should be given to them. Chris and Ellie have always been excellent parents despite the hard time they were both living. They are now closer as couple. They have a solid marriage. They have monetary means. They both have a beautiful and solid career and clean tests that prove they do not abuse any substances."
"I can't believe this..." Fischer whispered exasperated and sat down without saying anything else. "No further questions..." He said impolitely to the judge.
"I will let that pass once, Mr. Fischer." The judge warned him. "What do you suggest, Mrs. Wood?" Carpenter turned to the woman interested in what she was saying.
"I suggest that the guardianship of my granddaughter should be given back to her parents. Obviously, they should both continue therapy until their doctor thinks it is necessary and control of substance abuse every week until they are discharged. If any substance shall be found, then Heaven should return to my house." Millie paused and smiled. "I don't think they will risk anything that might led them to lose their child. They are fit to raise her."
"Very well." The judge nodded. "Does the defense have any questions?"
"No, your honor."
"You are dismissed." Carpenter told Millie and she got up, and left leaving both Ellie and Chris with high hopes how the case was going to turn.
"This was great." The lawyer whispered at them and they both smiled. Ellie felt like running after her mother, but she couldn't leave her place.
After Millie, Eric was heard. Obviously, he testified against the couple. Next, the judge called a recess where she would deliberate. She ordered them back around six pm. That was still a two-hour waiting. Ellie and Chris went outside just the two of them with emotions running wild and finally free inside. When they got to the sidewalk, Ellie took both hands to her face and bent over. Chris saw her shoulders shake and he knew she was crying.
"Hey... babe..." He patted her back and then made her stand up straight. "Look at me, Ellie." He held her face with his hands and ran his thumbs over her cheeks, cleaning her tears.
"I was holding on so much inside." Ellie told him. "It's so insane... so heavy..."
"He told us it was going to stir our emotions." Chris finally kissed her lips.
He rested for a while and then pulled back but rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. They stayed still in that position, feeling people passing by them as they headed back home after a day of work. It didn't matter what people would think, they needed that moment for themselves. The moment where their heart would suddenly start beating at the same rhythm and their breathing would align too. Then, Ellie opened her eyes and pulled away. Chris opened his eyes to look at her.
"Do you wanna go for a walk while we wait?" She suggested. "Staying here is going to drive us insane."
"Let's go." Chris agreed, kissing her lips, and then holding her hand. Like that, they started descending the avenue.
Two hours later, they all reunited inside the impersonal courtroom but that it turned familiar after an entire day closed in there. Only they and the lawyers were there. Everyone left after their testimony, though they knew their friends were all together waiting for some good news. That moment while waiting for the judge to come back seemed like an eternity. Their hands were again glued and their legs had a life of their own. Chris puffed every five seconds and Ellie took deep breaths to help her unglue her chest from her back. The lump on her throat was bigger than ever. The air was dense, barely breathable.
"Calm down." The lawyer told them, seeing them so distressed.
"It's impossible." Chris whispered and the lawyer noticed how his voice was shaking.
"All rise!" A voice announced suddenly and Ellie and Chris almost jumped off their chair.
"This is it, babe." Chris whispered as the judge came back to sit in front of them as in the morning when it all started.
"You may sit." Judge Carpenter said, and they did so. "On the case that opposes Mr. Christopher John Cornell and Mrs. Eleanor Rae Cornell and the State regarding the legal guardianship of Heaven Cornell, their daughter, and after having heard all witnesses on the case..." The Judge took a break.
"Oh my God, Chris..." Ellie whispered feeling like she was going to pass out. "Please..." He heard her whisper in a plead.
"I, by the power given to me by the State of Washington, deliberated that the legal guardianship of Heaven Cornell should be restituted to her parents Mr. Christopher Cornell and Mrs. Eleanor Cornell." The judge looked at them as they clutched onto one another crying. "Mr. Cornell and Mrs. Cornell..." She called and both Chris and Ellie looked at her. "You must continue therapy until your doctor discharges you and you should be tested every week. Any founding in your tests revokes this order."
"Yes, your honor." They answered at the same time.
"Heaven Cornell shall be delivered to her parents immediately." Judge Carpenter turned to Mr. Fischer.
"Yes, your honor." Fischer nodded.
"I end this case." Judge Carpenter then rose and bowed and left.
"Chris..." Ellie turned to Chris and they held tightly. "It's over... this nightmare is over, babe..." She whispered.
"We have our baby back." He cried holding onto her.
"We do, babe." Ellie cried too. "We made it."