Being forbidden to text or call Jack was harder than I anticipated. I talked to Zack and Leo a lot and they did their best to cheer me up, but from what Alex told me Zack was pretty busy trying to help Jack and Leo was too sad to comfort me so we stayed sad together. I think Jack had it worse than I did and Leo had had a rough month. After what felt like eternity Tuesday arrived. Allison and I met William at the courthouse. Jack and his lawyer were waiting. I immediately ran and hugged Jack. I buried my nose in his shirt and inhaled deeply. He smelled familiar and comforting. Like home. Like Dad.
"Annalise." I rolled my eyes when William spoke and let go of Jack. We waited in the hall for about twenty minutes until the judge showed up. His name was David Marshall. He was old and kind. I can't remember what my grandpa looked like, but Judge Marshall looked like what I thought a grandpa might look like.
We were in a conference room of sorts with a long wooden table. The judge sat at the head of the table with Jack and his lawyer on one side and Allison, William and I on the other. The stenographer sat in the corner and typed out everything that was said. William and Jack's lawyer took turns giving reasons why I should or shouldn't be allowed to stay with Jack.
"You did have a paternity test done, yes?" The judge asked. William nodded and the judge continued, "And this man is not the father of her child?" He gestured from Jack to me.
"The baby is not Jack's!" I snapped. Everyone stared at me. William sighed. "Sorry." I mumbled.
"Then who is the father of child?"
"I don't know his name and I can't really remember what he looks like."
"Why don't you tell us what happened the night the child was conceived?" The judge asked.
"It was during a concert. I was supposed to go out and sing with them, but I'd recently lost my best friend and I wasn't in any frame of mind to sing. I tried to though. I got out on the stage and then I couldn't make myself do it so I ran back to the dressing room. I was crying and this teenage boy I'd never seen before came in. He sat down beside me and tried to comfort me. Then he got up and left and came back with a bottle of water and told that all the crying was going make me dehydrated. I drank the water and that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital." The judge nodded.
"Mr. Barakat, why don't you tell us what happened that night? Just so I can get another perspective." The judge said.
"Like she said it was during our concert. She told us she was up to singing, but when she came on stage she looked like she was going to be sick. Then she ran off stage. I wanted to go after her, but I had to finish the set first. We were almost done anyway. We finished the concert and as soon as we finished the last song one of the guys from our crew was yelling through my earpiece for me to come back stage. And that it had something to do with Anna. I handed my guitar to the tech and ran. I went into the dressing room to find the guy from our crew and Anna laying unconscious and-" he choked on his words, "naked from the waist down with a towel laying over her. The crew guy had covered her up when he found her. I didn't know what had happened, I had a pretty good guess, but I rushed her to the hospital. They told me she'd been drugged and-" He couldn't make himself finish.
"Hmm. Can your 'crew guy' verify this story?" Jack nodded. "Now I've heard both sides and I must say that things are not looking well for you Mr. Barakat." I stared at the judge.
"What? Why?"
"Even if the child is not his, he is still responsible for you, Miss Dane." I stood up.
"No! IT's not his fault!" Allison grabbed my arm and tried to make me sit down, "It was stupid of me to stay in that room with a boy I didn't know. I was weak and vulnerable. Don't take it out on Jack. Please!" I was getting a bit hysterical.
"Miss Dane, please sit down."
"NO! This isn't fair!"
"Miss Dane! I'm going to have to ask you to the leave the room for the remainder of the hearing. Please!" The judge said. I clenched my fists.
"Fine!" I snapped and walked out letting the door slam behind me. I sat down in a chair outside the conference room. I couldn't hear what they were saying, just the low rumbling of voices. Then I heard Jack yell, "I can't lose anyone else!" He sounded upset. Not that I blamed him. A few minutes later he yelled, "No, Goddamnit!" I pulled my phone out and texted Zack. I tried not to cry while telling him I was afraid I would have to go back to Allison's. I would be there until I turned eighteen and then I'd be kicked out. I'd a single homeless mother at eighteen. Zack tried to comfort me, but I was a belligerent little brat and wouldn't let myself be comforted.
After close to an hour the doors to the conference room opened and everyone came out. Jack's lawyer patted me on the shoulder as he walked past. The judge smiled at me and the stenographer gave me the stink eye. Jack came out and immediately wrapped his arms around me. He was shaking a lot. He was crying and holding onto me really tightly. I started to cry, assuming that this meant I had to go back with Allison. William patted my shoulder awkwardly and said, "Good bye, Annalise." And then left. I didn't care.
"I'll have your things ready when you come to get them." Allison said and started to walk away. That was when I finally pulled away from Jack. I looked up at him. His eyes were still teary, but he was smiling.
"What?" I asked. I was incredibly confused.
"I won." Jack said. I smiled and wiped under my eyes.
"Oh my god. I thought you lost." I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"Let's get your stuff and go home." I nodded. He had me get on his back and he carried me outside. We got a few curious glances, but that wasn't surprising. We had both obviously been crying.
"When do we have to go back?"
"The day after tomorrow." I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. I had never been so happy to see an empty house in my entire life. I walked in and was immediately greeted by Alex, Lisa, Zack, Leo and Rian. I ran and hugged Leo first. Then Zack.
"I know it's only been a week, but I missed you." I mumbled into his chest.
"I missed you too." He responded, softly. I gave him smile and then let go of him so I could hug Alex and Rian and Lisa.
We order pizza and just sat around the kitchen table, eating, talking, laughing. It was perfect. Alex and Lisa left around two thirty. They wanted to spend some time alone before Alex left again. Rian stuck around till almost four and then left. Zack made supper which was just spaghetti and sauce since that was pretty much all we had in the house. We watched tv for a bit and then around ten I ate a bowl of cereal and went to bed. I was almost asleep when my stomach decided to stage a protest on my bowl of cereal and I tried to get up. My foot was caught in my blanket and ended up throwing up all over my blanket and bed. The sight of cereal and spaghetti was almost enough to make throw up again. I carefully extricated myself from the mess and gathered up my blanket. I opened my door and stepped into the hall. I came face to face with Zack and promptly burst into tears. Jack's bedroom door opened and he stepped out into the hall.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"I have no idea." Zack responded. I tried to tell them what happened, but I was crying too hard. Eventually I just sat down on the floor and cried into my hands. Jack and Zack had a short, whispered conversation that I didn't pay attention too and then Zack took my blanket and walked down the hall to the kitchen. Jack scooped me up off the floor and carried me into his room.
  I cried for awhile and then eventually ran out of tears. We laid there in silence for a little bit, him rubbing my back and me listening to his heartbeat.
"When you go to find out the gender of the baby would you not and let me do a gender reveal thingy for you?" He asked. I looked up at him and smiled.
"Sure." He smiled and then yawned which made me yawn. "Goodnight baby girl. Love you."
"Love you too, Dad." I whispered and closed my eyes. Almost instantly I fell asleep. And I got the best night's sleep I had in months.