The moment our alarm went off to wake us up I immediately regretted it.

Ashton groaned next to me then rubbed his hands along my waist.

"You ready for this?" He breathed against the back of my neck.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready." I sighed before the two of us rolled out of bed.

I took a shower first so I could start blow drying and curling my hair while Ashton showered.

We stood next to each other at the counter while I applied my make up and Ashton carefully shaved, applied aftershave and then cologne.

He fixed his hair in the mirror then turned to me.

"Does it look okay?"

"It looks very handsome." I smiled.

We then went to the closet where we chose a light blue dress for me, it was long sleeved and very modest, and then black slacks and a nice light green button down for Ashton.

I watched him in wonder as he tucked in his shirt and but a belt through the loops on his slacks. I had never seen him like this before.

He sat down on the bed to put on dress socks and shoes and I sat next to him to slip on my heels.

"I need some of your coffee." Ashton said.

"There's coffee on the table babe."

"No. I mean like when I wake up in the mornings at home, and I go downstairs and you pour me a cup of coffee and kiss me good morning...I miss that."

"Someone is homesick."

"Yeah." He sighed.

"Well we will be there soon enough." I kissed his cheek.

There was a knock at the door and Ashton opened it to let Ann in who would be staying with the kids while we were gone.

"You clean up good." She nodded to Ashton.

"I hate these slacks." He huffed.

"I think you hate the reason you're wearing the slacks more than you hate the actual slacks." I pointed out.

"It's a close tie." He said and I kissed his cheek again.

Ashton and I each tried to down a cup of coffee and I was touching up my lipstick when I heard Gracie speak.

"Mommy?" Her voice was high pitched and whimpery like when she was about to cry.

"What's wrong baby?" I walked over to her side of the bed quickly and bent at the waist so I could brush aside her curly hair with my fingers.

"My tummy hurts." She whined.

"Your tummy hurts?" I frowned and then placed my hand on her forehead. "You don't have a fever."

"Yes I do." She looked up at me with her big brown doe eyes and I figured out what was really going on.

"Gracie, does your tummy really hurt, or do you just want me and Daddy to stay home with you?" I said to her and she frowned.

"I don't want you to go." She whimpered again.

"I know you don't, but Daddy and I have a very important meeting to go to this morning."

"You don't go." She shook her head.

"We have to, but Grandma will be with you all day and can play with you and watch movies with you until Daddy and I get back, okay baby?"

"You miss me?"

"We will miss you very much, I promise." I leaned in to kiss her cheek.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and I placed my hands on her sides to lift her up where she wrapped her legs around my upper half.

"Someone doesn't want us to go." I walked her over to Ashton who smiled at her.

"You don't want us to go?" He asked her and she shook her head no. "We'll be back super quick I promise."

He wrapped his arms around the two of us and kissed Gracie's forehead, the little girl leaning over to rest her head on his chest.

She looked over at me and then reached out to touch the sea shell necklace that Ashton had given me.

"I want one."

"You want a necklace like mine?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Maybe Daddy and Mommy will get you one." Ashton told her and she smiled up at him.

"You give me present?"

"Mhmm. But only if you're a good girl."

"I be good girl." She nodded in affirmation and I laughed.

"Baby, we gotta go." Ashton said to me and we hugged Gracie to us and kissed her goodbye before kissing a sleeping Ender and then leaving.

We got a car downstairs and had it take us to the courthouse.

"I'm so nervous." I put my head in my hands as we rode in the car.

"I know how you feel." He reached over to take my hand.

Once at the courthouse we went inside and asked a person to show us where the judges office was and they led us there where Ashton told his assistant we were here and then we took a seat in the waiting area.

"Do you think we look like good parents?" He asked me.

"Yes. You look very handsome and respectable." I smiled at him. "Like an amazing dad."

"And you look very pretty as well, best mom in the world."

I leaned my head on his shoulder as I tried to not freak out.

"Mr. Irwin and Ms. Chase, Judge Moulder will see you now." The assistant said and we hesitantly stood up to follow her and she opened a door to an office and let us in.

"The Ramone vs. Irwin-Chase case." She set a file on his desk and then left, Ashton and I approaching his desk.

He was an older man with greying hair and ageing eyes.

"Judge Moulder, I'm Ashton and this is my fiancé Halle." Ashton said as he shook the judges hand and I glanced at him when he called me Halle.

"Yes, I have been reviewing your case file a lot recently." He then shook my hand. "Have a seat."

Ashton and I sat down in the chairs and he took my hand up in his for comfort.

"So you are the adoptive parents of Parker Grace." He said and we nodded. "And you're fighting custody against the birth father, that's not an easy fight."

"No sir." I said and he let out a little laugh.

"Well I've looked at your file and you have a very good income Mr. Irwin, may I ask what you do?"

"I'm in a band." Ashton said. "We are actually on our first headlining world tour right now."

Judge Moulder nodded.

"And Ms. Chase, you own a business, a family business?"

"Yes sir." I gave him a little smile.

"What is it?"

"It's an underwater diving tour business, that's actually how Ashton and I met, he was our first customer of the season."

"Now you two have been together for how long?"

"We're going on almost seven months now." Ashton said.

"And it says here you're engaged?"

"Yes, for a few months."

"Are you planning on getting married soon?"

"Yes." Ashton said and squeezed my hand.

"So how long have you been taking care of Parker?"

"For three and a half months."

"Tell me about Parker." He then sat back.

"She's just the sweetest little girl." Ashton said. "She's just constantly giggling and smiling and you just can't help but be happy when you're around her, even if you're in the worst of moods. She's super shy but once you're with her for a few minutes she's your best friend."

"Gracie is also a very cuddly child and loves to give hugs and kisses just as much as she loves to get them. She really is a total sweetheart." I smiled. "We love her very much."

"But you don't believe she will do well with Mr. Ramone?"

"Gracie is a very attached child. Ever since she came to us she won't let go, and we think taking her away from this stable and safe family that she knows and loves will scar her for life. She has this very close knit group of people who love her and take care of her and look after her and she loves them and relies on them to be there for her. So putting her with a stranger who she doesn't know and who doesn't know her and how to care for her will really upset her."

"How much more care does she need than every other four year old?"

"She's just a very particular child." I said and Ashton nodded. "She's been through a lot and it's made her very emotional, so if something happens that isn't to her liking, she gets very upset."

"We know what she wants and how she wants things and how to care for her best. We know what discipline works for her, we know how to calm her down when she's upset, we know how to get her to sleep when she doesn't want to or how to get her in the bath when she doesn't want to, we know because we're her parents and Mr. Ramone doesn't know that. He doesn't know her, and I think that's what will hurt Gracie the most." Ashton added.

"So how do you discipline?" Judge Moulder asked us.

"Timeout works for her. She's very emotional, so if she knows we are upset with her and she knows she's in trouble, she knows not to do whatever she did that got her in timeout in the first place so we won't be upset with her again." Ashton said and I nodded in agreement.

"So do you discipline Parker and your brother Ender the same way?" The judge asked me.

"No. I mean when Ender was little that would be how I disciplined him, but grounding him is more effective now. They are in totally different age ranges as well so it doesn't pose as a problem."

"So who watches Parker if you both aren't there?"

"Either Ashton's mom, who is Grandma, my best friend Ari and her fiancé Jason, and Ashton's band mates Luke, Calum, and Michael who are practically our family. She calls all of our friends Aunt or Uncle." I said.

"So she has quite the group surrounding her."

"She does, and they all love her so much."

"Now you both are very young, do you think that limits you in your knowledge and skill of caring for a child?"

"Well I've been raising Ender since I was thirteen, so I have experience, and Ashton has been so great since the beginning with both Gracie and Ender. They love him so much."

"We face the same challenges as other parents." Ashton said and the judge nodded.

"What kind of social activities does she participate in?"

"Oh gosh." Ashton said and thought. "I mean she's always around people, whether we're at shows or interviews, or meeting fans. She loves meeting people and telling them hello and she'll draw pictures for fans and hand them out to everyone; it's super adorable."

"And she's not old enough yet but I'd like to put her dance or gymnastics classes when she gets older." I added with a polite smile.

"Well, I like what I've heard so far, but I'd like to see Parker spend some time with Mr. Ramone before we conduct the hearing."

Ashton and I both froze.

"Wait, what?" Ashton sat forward.

"I'd like for her to have a 24 hour supervised visit with Mr. Ramone to see how they connect and interact with each other."

"Supervised? So who would be supervising?"

"A social worker."

I looked at Ashton and he looked so dejected.

"And we don't have any say in this?" I asked the judge and he shook his head no.

Ashton and I left after the judge had set the day for Gracie's visit for the day after tomorrow.

We were both silent as we rode in the car and went straight to our lawyers office where he went over all of the guidelines and formalities of the overnight visit.

I felt so uncomfortable with the idea of her spending the night at a random mans house and I knew Ashton was just as upset as me.

"There's absolutely no way we can fight this?" I double checked.

"It was handed down from the judge." Mr. Jackson shook his head. "All we can do is go through with it."

We then left the lawyers office and got in the car.

I was staring out the window when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

I looked to see it was a text from Harry.

'You good for tonight?'

I sighed.

'Meeting with judge didn't go well. I don't think tonight is the best time.'

'Oh no. What happened?'

'He's making Gracie spend 24 hours with her birth dad for a supervised visit. We can't fight it.'

'I'm sorry.'

I set my phone down in my lap and then sighed.

"How are we going to explain this to her?" I asked Ashton.

"I honestly have no clue." He ran his hands through his styled hair, messing it up. "I haven't even processed this yet."

"She's going to panic if we're not there."

"She'll be freaking traumatised." He angrily sighed.

When we got to the hotel room Gracie, Ender, and Ann were playing when we walked in, all of them turning to us with smiles.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Gracie ran to us and wrapped her arms around my legs.

"Hey baby." I smiled and bent down to pull her into a hug, holding her tightly.

"Hey Gray." Ashton hugged Gracie as well, kissing the top of her head.

"How did it go?" Ann asked us and I sighed.

"Not good."

"We'll tell you later," Ashton sighed as well, "but how about for now, we go out to lunch and get some ice cream."

"Ice cream!" Gracie yelled excitedly and Ashton picked her up, giving her a kiss as he held her close to him.

We called Ari and Jason to come join us and the group of us walked down to the car, deciding on a little bistro for lunch.

"So what did he say?" Ari asked after we had ordered our drinks. Gracie was distracted by Ashton's phone and had the earbuds in as she watched one of the movies he had downloaded on his phone for her. Ender was paying attention and I held his hand.

"The judge wants her to spend 24 hours with her birth dad on a supervised visit the day after tomorrow." Ashton said and Ann gasped.

"She won't make it, she'll be terrified!"

"We know. But there's nothing we can do. It's an order handed down from the judge, we can't fight it." I said.

"What did your lawyer say?" Jason asked. "Like is this good or bad for your case?"

"He said it could be that the judge just wants to see how it would play out, or that he's preparing both Mr. Ramone and Gracie for him to be her dad, but we don't know." Ashton shook his head.

"But do you think the judge liked you?" Ann asked.

"I mean he said he liked what he heard, but I don't know." I squeezed Ender's hand.

"Daddy, kissy!" We were suddenly interrupted by Gracie who still had her headphones in but was looking up at Ashton with her lips puckered and waiting.

He leaned down to give her two kisses before she smiled and went back to her movie.

"You're just the sweetest little thing, aren't you?" Ashton spoke mostly to himself as he placed a hand on Gracie's head, the little girl grinning cheekily.

I watched with a sad smile on my lips.

"I don't know who would take it harder if she left, him or her." I heard Ari say quietly to Ann.

As we ate our lunch I could see paparazzi gathering outside and Ashton had to call Brad to come escort us out of the restaurant and down the block as we walked to an ice cream shop.

Ashton had the headphones in Gracie's ears so she hopefully wouldn't hear anything and held her in his strong arms where she laid her head on his shoulder, him holding the back of her head to make her feel that much safer.

Once inside the ice cream shop he set her down where she proceeded to run to the counter and press her face and hands up against the glass.

Ashton managed to get a cute picture of her and Ender looking at the ice cream and I watched as he shared it saying 'Brother and sister.'

Us adults sat around as the kids ate their ice cream and I leaned my head on Ashton's shoulder as I watched Gracie lick strawberry ice cream off her spoon.

"She looks so much like you." He spoke quietly into my hair.

"Yeah, well she takes after you." I said just as quietly back and he put an arm around my shoulders to hug me.

Gracie walked over to us with her ice cream and climbed up in Ashton's lap as she ate the rest of it, Ashton wiping off her hands with a napkin since she was covered in the strawberry dessert.

After the ice cream parlour we walked in the paparazzi filled street a little more until we reached a coffee shop where we got the kids hot chocolates and us coffees before sitting down.

I helped Gracie drink her hot chocolate, Ashton wiping the chocolate from her lips before Gracie then came to my lap so we could cuddle. She leaned her head against my neck and I rubbed her back soothingly, watching her close her eyes.

I heard the click on Ashton's phone as he took our picture and smiled, kissing Gracie's forehead.

I carried her out of the coffee shop and we went back to the hotel where we went to put her down for her nap.

She was siting on the bed looking up at me and Ashton when Ann walked in the room.

"Gracie, I have a present for you." Ann came up to the bed and pulled a small light blue blanket from behind her back.

"For me?" Gracie asked her.

"This was your daddy's blanket when he was a little boy." She smiled as she handed it to her and Ashton chuckled next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"This Daddy's blankey?" Gracie asked.

"Mhmm." Ann caressed Gracie's cheek. "And I want you to have it."

"Why?" Gracie asked brightly.

"To make you feel safe and happy." Ann leaned in to kiss Gracie's forehead.

Ashton then moved forward to sit on the bed.

"When I was a little boy, if I was ever scared or sad, I would cuddle this blanket and it made me feel better. So if you ever feel scared or sad, you can cuddle this blanket and it will make you feel better too."

"Okay Daddy." Gracie grinned and hugged the blanket to her.

"Now, it's time for you to go to sleep." He tucked her in and she held the blanket to her along with her bunny and Ellie the elephant, sticking her thumb in her mouth. "I love you baby girl."

"I love you Daddy." She puckered up her lips and he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Have a good nap sweetie, I love you." I bent down to kiss her as well.

"Love you Mommy." She smiled at me.

We stood up and walked to the other side of the room so we could talk.

"That baby blanket idea was brilliant. She's so happy." I smiled at Ann.

"Well that's what Grandmas are for." She laughed. "I found it when I was going through some boxes at the house. She's lucky, Bear tried to take it for himself."

Ashton and I laughed.

"I think Ender is ready to get his dog back." Ashton chuckled.

"Um, I think you are ready for Bear to get back, by the time we left he was practically yours, he followed you around everywhere." I laughed.

"Yeah." He took my hand up in his.

"So I guess we need to figure out a way to break the news to Gracie." I leaned against him.

"Tomorrow." He kissed my head. "How about tonight we watch movies with the guys and figure something out."

"Okay. Would it be alright if I invited Harry? I kind of said no to seeing a movie with him and I feel bad."

"Sure." He smiled.

I sent Harry a message about movie night and he said he'd come and Ashton and I chatted with Ann about random things.

I scrolled through my Instagram for bit when I saw the picture Ashton had posted of me holding Gracie in the coffee shop along with the caption 'My beautiful girls. I'm so in love.'

After reading Ashton's post I gave him a kiss and hugged on him until Gracie woke up from her nap.

We ordered room service for dinner instead of going back out into the paparazzi storm, and a man came and set it up on our table.

Gracie came over with Ashton's blanket and her bunny in hand, sitting down next to him and we smiled at the sweetness that was this little girl.

"Oh Gracie, let's show your Mommy and Daddy what we've been working on." Ann said and Ashton and I looked at each other in excitement.

"Okay Grandma." Gracie smiled and then folded her hand together and closed her eyes.

"Dear God," She started and I reached for Ashton's hand as he and I both grinned, "Thank you for Mommy Daddy, thank you for Grandma, thank you for Ender, thank you for Bear, Aunt Ari, Uncle Jason, Uncle Mikey, Uncle Caly, Uncle Lukey, Uncle Harry, Aunt Becca. Thank you for my toys. Thank you for my pretty dresses. Thank you for my bed. Thank you for my food. Thank you for flowers, animals, and more toys. Amen."

My free hand covered my mouth in happy shock as I watched her say her prayer.

"Oh Gracie, that was so sweet." I fawned over her as she giggled happily.

"You are very sweet." Ashton kissed the top of her head and Gracie reached for her spoon so she could eat her macaroni and cheese.

Gracie was growing up right in front of my eyes. It seemed as if everyday she was learning something new and becoming brighter, happier, and more adorable (if that was possible).

I had seen the same thing happen with Ender and it made me so proud to see both of them growing up, but it also made me sad, especially with Gracie, because I had so many plans and dreams for her, and I knew that if she left, I would never get to see her finish growing up into the beautiful person I knew she would be.

That's what broke my heart the most.

--

Sorry it took so long!

I had a bit of trouble with this chapter but I like how it turned out. I hope you guys are enjoying the story, even though it's kinda sad right now haha

Remember, comment and vote if you'd like!

Much love xx -M