**CONTENT WARNING** Homophobia and very brief mention of self-harm.

"Hey love," I call over the counter where Thomas and Hazel are currently sitting, doing their homework with Orion. "Your cell is going off."

"Okay," Orio replies, sliding off the chair and quickly giving Hazel a kiss on her head. "I'll be right back guys, keep going."

Orion picks up the cell. I was at the fridge getting something to drink, the phone on the counter next to me. I watch him as his brow furrows.

"Hello, this is Orion. Oh, Mrs. Ellsworth, hello. Yes..."

Orion grabs a flavored water from the fridge and walks away from me. I don't think anything of it. I go over to my children, ruffling Thomas' hair. "How's it going, guys?"

"This assignment is so stupid!" Hazel tells me immediately. It's funny--she's taken to wearing dark colors more recently. Not black exclusively, but purples, blacks, and deep reds. We all know it's in the emulation of Orion.

Hazel made this declaration about their homework because she wouldn't be caught dead saying something like that around Orion. Orion makes sure they take their schoolwork very seriously, and he has a zero tolerance policy for whining, bemoaning, and other such vocal expressions of distaste towards it.

"What is it?"

"Hazel just doesn't like it because she doesn't get it," Thomas teases her.

"I do so!" she snaps.

"No you don't--you suck at English, you just don't want to say it--"

"Guys," I interject. I then glare a little at Thomas. "And, language."

He rolls his eyes. "Daddy says 'fuck' all he time!"

"Yes," I say. We've had this discussion--with both children--on multiple occasions. "However that doesn't mean we want you to say that your sister sucks at something."

"What's that even mean?"

"Don't worry about it..."

Orion opens the sliding door. I catch a glimpse of his face before he leaves; he's visibly upset.

"Hey...you guys stay in here for a few minutes, got it? We'll be right outside."

Both my kids mutter an acknowledgement. As soon as I'm outside Orion turns to me, signaling for me to shut the door, so I do.

"Uh huh. Right. Uh huh. But--but it shouldn't be a problem, right? Oh. I see."

I watch him pace, gnawing on his thumb which he hasn't done in years. It sends me into a downright panic.

"The fifteenth? Could you please hold on a minute, I want to mark it down on my calendar."

I watch as Orion places the call on hold, pulling up the calendar on his phone.

"What's going--" I try to ask, but Orion shoots me a glare and makes a chopping motion at his neck.

"Alright, the fifteenth at three o'clock. I'll be there. We'll be there, I mean." He glances at me. "No, it's fine, even if I did have something I'll clear my calendar. Yeah. Okay. Bye."

Before I can get any words out Orion hangs up and flings his cell as hard as he can. My eyes go huge and I go to him immediately. When I try to touch him though, he side steps out of the way, holding up a shaking finger.

"You're freaking me out," I tell him desperately.

Orion opens his mouth but then shuts it. He tries again, same thing. Finally he speaks, but not before sucking his bottom lip into his mouth and biting it--hard.

"Nick's biological father came forward. He wants Nick."

I blink. Orion continues to pace back and forth, now with his knuckle crammed into his mouth. I want to say something but I'm literally speechless. So Orion continues around his knuckle.

"We have to fight him in court now. Our first court date is on the fifteenth."

"The fifteenth--don't you have a concert that day--"

"Fuck the concert!" he screams at me.

We both freeze and look worriedly at our children. If they heard, they're pretending they didn't. I look at Orion.

"Can he--can he do that? Legally, can he do that?" I don't like how frantic my voice has become. "We're so close to the finalization of everything--"

"We have to go to court," Orion tells me simply. It's only then his face crumples and he breaks down, turning his back to the glass door. "We have to go to court, and that's that."

~

Sadly it wasn't 'that's that'. It turned into anything but 'that's that'.

"Mr. Perez, you have the floor."

"Thank you Madame Judge," our lawyer--our very expensive lawyer--says, getting to his feet. "If you'll look at our documents, my clients have fulfilled all required supervised visits at the social services home except one. It is at this time I would also like to point out that final visitation is scheduled for tomorrow."

Our lawyer waits for the judge to find the appropriate page. "Correct, proceed."

"Nicholas has become very attached to my clients. Mr. Bauwens-Smith said that in this most recent visit, the child even referred to him as 'Daddy'."

It was true.

"The final visitation has been put on hold in lieu of this new information that has come to light. I fear it would be detrimental to Nicholas if we halted the proceedings--frankly, the child is too young to understand what is happening. It would cause him undue duress, and it would taint his well-being."

I look over at Orion. He's dressed very nicely, but still in Orion fashion, with a tight fitting jacket, black slacks, several rings, with his contacts and light eyeliner. I'm dressed more conservatively in a grey suit, my hair slicked to the side.

"I also would like to point out the quality of life aspect of this issue," Mr. Perez continues. "Mr. Bauwens-Smith and Mr. Smith-Bauwens are in a comfortable financial position. They will provide continued education to Nicholas. All pediatric and other healthcare needs will be easily administered. They have a clean, safe, and orderly home, as has been verified by Child Services themselves."

The judge pauses a moment, ruffling through more papers. Once she finds the form she nods.

"So it is with the child's best interest at heart that I implore you to allow this adoption to continue smoothly as planned. Thank you."

The judge ruffles through more papers and then looks at the other table. "Mr. Carter, you have the floor."

"Thank you Madam Judge," the other lawyer says. "I would like to point out that, while it's all very sad that things have proceeded this far, the fact remains that Mr. Adler is Nicholas' biological father, as proven via paternity test." Mr. Carter shoots us a quick glare. "The law is the law--Mr. Adler is refusing to relinquish parental rights."

Mr. Carter buttons his sports jacket as he speaks. "Furthermore...Since Mr. Perez felt the need to bring up their clients financial standings, I would like to delve further into the matter."

"If it's relevant, proceed," the judge replies with a nod.

"Mr. Bauwens-Smith is a high profile celebrity."

I was really, really hoping that wasn't going to be brought up...

"He has a rather--erm, colorful--past. He's been in the news and tabloids for drunkenness to start."

Orion is smart enough to know now is not the time to have any sort of outburst. Instead he just reaches over and taps our lawyer frantically. Mr. Perez nods curtly, holding up his hand to Orion.

"I also fear such a lifestyle would be detrimental to the child--where would stability be? One of his parents has a highly demanding job that would leave him largely absent of one parental figure."

Orion once again frantically taps our lawyers wrist, and he responds by holding up his palm. Orion sits back in his chair again.

"Also finally, I worry about the...parental structure of the household. A boy so young might be...confused, about certain things."

It takes everything in me to not leap across the courtroom and strangle the man. Instead I squeeze the shit out of Orion's hand. Orion looks murderous now, too, which is half the reason I squeezed his hand. Orion's knee starts to go up and down quickly under the table in agitation.

"There are going to be a lot of conversations at school with friends about why he has two daddies. There's going to be a lot of ostracization just because his parents are gay."

Orion is now digging his nails into my hand that's squeezing his but I don't even care. I can't remember the last time I was so angry in my entire life. Besides me Mr. Perez chuckles, looking down at his lap while shaking his head, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Yes, sure, he might be well financially. But will Nicholas be safe having parents that have been stalked by violent stalkers before? Will he be happy having to explain over and over why his family is different? Will he be allowed to flourish socially with a rock star father who's gay."

"Okay, okay, ow," I whisper, removing my hand from my husband's grip and shaking it out.

He doesn't move though, simply glaring venom at an undisclosed spot in front of him.

The judge looks thoroughly unimpressed. "Are you done?"

"Yes ma'am," Mr. Carter replies, unbuttoning his sports jacket before sitting back down.

Orion leans to our lawyer and whispers. "Can I speak?"

"No," he replies quickly.

Orion leans back and goes back to glaring.

"Madam Judge," Mr. Perez says at my side, getting to his feet and raising his head. "I request to speak."

"Permission granted."

Mr. Perez squares off at the other table. "First of all, way to be an appalling bigot!"

Mr. Carter glares. The Judge hits her gavel. "That's your only warning, Mr. Perez."

"Sorry Madam Judge," Mr. Perez continues, adjusting his jacket out of annoyance. He takes a deep breath and continues. "I would like to clarify that the Bauwens-Smith's already are parents--equally adopted. A young boy and a young girl. So clearly--"

He pauses to glare at Mr. Carter.

"They are competent parents if they already have two children in their care. Secondly, Mr. Bauwens-Smith has been sober for a number of years now, and it should not be taken into consideration, especially since they already have one adoption under their belt."

I glance over at Orion. He's digging his nails into both his palms. I grab one of his hands again, whispering at him to stop.

"As for the whole stalking issue, that was resolved. The Bauwens-Smiths have state of the art security at their home, including a manned security detail they hired once their children came into the home. They drop off and pick up the children personally every day from school, with an security escort. Finally, as for Orion's profession...Well frankly it shouldn't hold any bearing, because we don't stop CEO's who travel nine months out of the year on business from adopting children, do we?"

"It's different," Mr. Carter drolls.

The Judge hits her hammer. "That's your warning Mr. Carter." She then looks at our lawyer. "Is that all, Mr. Perez?"

Mr. Perez looks at us. Orion looks at him in silent desperation. I merely shrug, because I feel defeated.

"Yes Madam Judge."

She sighs, shaking her head and rifling through the papers again. As she does she speaks. And as she speaks I can feel my heart growing smaller and smaller.

"Truth be told I think it would be in the best interest of the child to be in the custody of the Bauwens-Smiths--mainly given the advanced nature of the adoption proceedings. However the fact remains Mr. Adler is the biological father of the child. By law if he refuses to relinquish his rights, there is literally nothing I can do."

I have never felt so hopeless in my life. I look over to Orion and he's barely holding back tears.

"Mr. Adler."

The man--the man who I don't even know but I loathe and despise him--gets to his feet. "Yes Ma'am."

"You are sure, absolutely sure you want to take responsibility for Nicholas?"

"The second Dawn reached out to me and told me that she had a kid three years ago, and told me that it might be mine, I was absolutely overjoyed."

"Dawn is the biological mother?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"I understand she gave the child up due to addiction issues--" the judge raises her eyebrow. "You're not still involved with her, are you?"

"No. I swear."

"How did she get in contact with you then?"

"I've never had direct contact with her--I was told the message through a friend of a friend."

"And do you plan on becoming involved with her again?"

Mr. Adler blushes. "It was--a mistake. It was a one night stand."

For a moment the judge stares him down. She sighs heavily and shakes her head.

"Alright. Then by the power invested in me by the state of Vermont, I am halting any further adoption proceedings, and young Nicholas is to be placed into the care of his biological father immediately."

I look over at Orion. I have no idea how he's doing it but he's still not crying.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Perez tells us, patting our shoulders.

As though in a nightmare, we walk out of the courtroom. I see Mr. Carter talking happily with his client. So I walk over. As I do, Mr. Adler's expression falls and he nods his head towards me. I can hear Orion telling Mr. Perez to wait, and then his feet hurrying after me on the hard floor.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Carter says insincerely.

He's a short man so I gleefully tower over him, glaring. "If you passed me on the street, would you peg me as gay?"

I'm happy when I see his Adam's apple bob up and down. "Honestly, no."

"Tris," Orion says softly, pressing on my chest gently with his open palm. "It's not worth it."

"How would you think of me, especially with my accent? A good ol' boy maybe?"

"This is ridiculous--" Mr. Carter starts to say but I cut him off, taking a step closer.

"For the record, Mr. Carter, neither of our twins have been harassed in school about having two fathers."

"Yet," he says smugly.

"Tristan," Orion tells me in warning, worriedly.

"Also, for the record, my husband isn't gay, he's bisexual. That means he likes women, too. So next time you're going to be a fucking prick, at least be a little less ignorant about the group of people you're insulting."

"Babe, come on," Orion says desperately now. "It's done. It's done, okay?"

It's Orion finally breaking down that makes me stop. I immediately wrap my arms around him as he cries. "It's done Tristan, it doesn't matter, it doesn't fucking matter."

Mr. Carter looks smug as he walks away. Mr. Adler, on the other hand, keeps glancing over his shoulder as he leaves, with nothing but sympathy and sorrow on his face. I can tell the image of me holding Orion as he cries in the middle of a courtroom hallway is going to haunt Mr. Adler for the rest of his life.

At least Nicholas' dad isn't a complete douche bag. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better at night with that knowledge under my cap. 

Maybe.