Chapter 16 – RPOV

We were back in the court room again, waiting for the second session to begin; Royce's witnesses. However, as long as he didn't have anyone as surprising as Vera I knew I would get my baby girl back. I was elated anyway, after kissing Emmett once more we'd returned to his house where we spoke openly, and I confessed that what Jasper said was true: adding in the details where necessary to the point where he knew me better than my own twin. But it helped, and as soon as Bella came back to us we could start being the perfect family I'd wanted for ever so long.

Phil pulled me out of my musings as he gently lifted me from my seat when the Judge entered the room. He gathered his notes around him before setting the court proceedings in motion.

"Mr Ferrett if you'd like to call up your first witness then we can set this session into motion," he announced before banging his gavel with authority.

"I'd like to welcome Mr King and invite him to take to the stand," Mr Ferrett replied, wearing what seemed to be exactly the same clothes as the day before.

After Royce had sworn on the Bible, though I say that in the loosest sense, because the probability that he would lie was pretty much 100%.

"So Mr King, will you verify for me that you were married to Miss Hale here until a few weeks ago," Mr Ferrett sneered, giving Royce the one question that he couldn't lie about.

"Yes I was," he replied as he glared daggers at me.

"And during your time married to her, did you ever see anything out of the ordinary which may suggest Miss Hale had any form of mental disorder?"

This was absolutely crazy I thought to myself as I realised exactly which route they were planning to take: the one where I was not safe to be around, Mr Rochester's wife, and I had done all the abusing then couldn't remember it and forced my daughter to say it was her Father.

"Objection your Honour, but all the pre-tests have shown that my client is completely sound of mind," Phil interjected.

"Objection sustained; Mr Ferrett please do not elaborate within the court," the Judge responded.

"Of course your Honour," he replied, "Alright Mr King, do you have any reason to believe your wife may have hit Isabella?"

"Yes, primarily due to the fact that Rosie was the one who was always with her," he began as I shuddered at the name Rosie – never again would anyone call me that without me feeling physically sick, "I only saw my daughter briefly in the evenings."

"Meaning you had little chance to be able to abuse her?"

"Of course, because when I was with our daughter my wife was present too, however, I was normally not there when they were alone," Royce responded.

"And anytime you spent with Isabella you had someone around whether it was your wife or her family, am I correct?"

"Yes, you see Rosie planned to have the baby as soon as my father had died which would mean that I was too preoccupied to see her. My father was given seven months to live at the same time that Rosie announced she was pregnant."

"Would you ever hit your child?"

"No, not unless I was using disciplinary methods which were used on myself as a child."

"Therefore, I announce to you all that Miss Hale is guilty of keeping the child from her father and accusing him of abuse which really was just discipline."

I could see the Judge trying not to roll his eyes at that, and it made me smile slightly as Phil went to interrogate my filthy liar of an ex-husband.

"Mr King would I be right in saying that Miss Hale attempted to bond you with your daughter by inviting you along to many functions and events in which she was partaking?" Phil began.

"No, she tried to exclude me," Royce said like a spoilt child

"So all these emails I've collected from your secretary, forwarded by Miss Hale inviting you to come to her many nativities and kindergarten graduation to name a few never got through to you?"

"Um, well, my secretary must have kept them from me," he mumbled feebly.

"That may be the case, but Miss Hale clearly was trying to include you in these events."

"She never wanted me there anyway," he retorted.

"Anyway, Mr King, with regards to one of my witnesses yesterday, do you admit to hurting your own sister Mrs French?"

"No, because she has fabricated the evidence and any fighting we did was all in the name of games."

"So she completely invented the tape which clearly shows you pinning her down and attacking her with a knife?"

"I thought it was plastic," he replied.

"But still you did it, and if you can hurt your own sister what's to stop you hurting your own daughter?"

"Uh, um, well," Royce struggled weakly.

"Nothing. My point exactly."

Phil and Royce returned to their seats as one of Royce's hideous lawyer friends took to the stand as his character witness, vowing that he was a kind man who would never hurt anything be it human or otherwise. He said that Royce was one of his closest friends: godfather to his only son (who if I remember correctly resembled a small pig but not in a cute way) and how he was the best godfather anyone could ask for, meaning he must be a wonderful father. This was definitely something I'd never seen in Royce, but if this man wanted to say it he could because it was of little help whatsoever in Royce's plea for Bella.

After he had finished droning on about how wonderful my ex-husband was, Mr Ferrett announced that he wanted to call up his final witness and Phil looked at me with eyes that said we had won the case if this was all they could produce.

"I'd like to call Miss Rhonda Ball to the stand," Mr Ferrett announced then snuck a glance in my direction to see my reaction.

Rhonda had been the school bully right from kindergarten all the way through university. We'd been friends when we were little, but then she'd grown jealous: all the boys preferred me, all the girls preferred me, all the teachers preferred me and I was smarter than her. She'd then turned to making my life hell, and no matter what anyone did she would not stop and she'd applied to the same university as me just so she could continue her torment. It was pathetic really, but it had come close to ruining my childhood.

She looked nothing like I expected her to – her ginger hair had become bleach blonde whilst her face was made of so much plastic she may melt in front of a fire. What still remained though was her look of hatred as she glanced at me and narrowed her eyes before pulling her already indecent top a little bit lower.

"I have seen her somewhere before," Phil whispered and I shot him a confused look, but it was too late to ask as Mr Ferrett was now beginning to ask her questions.

"Miss Ball would I be correct in assuming that you've known Miss Hale since she was three years old?"

"Yes it would," she replied as she flicked her extensions behind her shoulder.

"And you were once friends were you not?"

"We were, but then Miss Hale decided she wanted to become little miss popular so we weren't," she said giggling in such a fashion that I would think she was slightly drunk if it were not banned in court.

"Did Miss Hale ever hurt you either emotionally or physically?"

"Why of course; she abandoned me and our friendship which caused me to start doubting myself as I thought nobody liked me, and this in itself led to a spell of anorexia during high school," she began, as I sincerely remembered her never being anorexic, and finding it quite appalling that she would lie like that when so many people were actually suffering from that disease, "And she used to bite me and pinch me all the time when she walked past me in corridors as well as getting her football player friends to shove me into lockers."

I had bitten her once, I will admit, but we were three and she had bitten me first so I retaliated, but my Mother put a stop to it and I had never bitten anyone since that day. As for the rest, it was her and her wrestling bullies who had pushed me into the lockers, whilst mine were there to pull me out again. I noted all this down for Phil so when he came to question her he had secure evidence.

"And you went to the same University as Miss Hale where you both met Mr King, am I correct?"

"Yes you are," she stated as she winked at Royce behind his desk.

"Can you inform me as to what you observed between the two of them whilst there?"

"Why Rosalie was all over him, and seduced him like the devil she is into falling for her without giving him a chance. She was disgusting really, acting like a cheap slut whilst taking any friends I had made away from me. She always had to be the best, and even if that meant hurting someone on the way she would do it. She had no sense of loyalty, as is evident now with her accusing this man she wickedly seduced."

That admission was interesting, as I believe it was her who had to be Queen-bee all the time; she would practice the egg and spoon race in her garden in preparation for sports day. Then when she was beaten she would scream. When it came to electing senior class president she rigged the election by spoiling any ballot papers which didn't vote for her and don't even get me started on Prom Queen.

"So, out of the two persons we have here today, who do you feel is the most likely to have abused Isabella?"

"Why it must have been Rosalie: a little girl who could take her crown and be preferred to her, she has all the motivation because she will still have wanted to be the best even if her own daughter is now her rival."

"Thank-you Miss Ball," Mr Ferrett sneered as Phil got up looking like the cat that has got the cream.

"Miss Ball," he began before smiling and saying, "Or should it be Miss Harroway?"

"Excuse me?" she stuttered, trying to remain calm and I looked at him puzzled but he just nodded.

"Does the name Henrietta Fanton ring any bells?"

It did for me: she was one of Phil's nicest wives who had lasted a record two years and borne him the most adorable daughter Phoebe, but why was he bringing her up?

"I don't know what you're talking about?" she said defiantly.

"Objection your Honour, what does this have to do with the case at hand?" Mr Ferrett piped up.

"Your Honour, if I may continue all will be revealed," Phil interrupted and the Judge nodded his consent.

"Right, so you never used to work at Mountain View Nursery then?"

"Oh, I worked there and I suppose the name Fanton does ring a few bells; was she a teacher?"

"Yes, you in fact were her classroom assistant under the name Miss Harroway. You see I was married to Miss Fanton during this time and remember seeing you quite a bit when I came to pick her up from work. Now, would you like me to explain what you did whilst at this nursery or would you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said looking rather paler than her fake tan.

"I'll do it then," he stated and then began his story, "My wife taught the two year olds, and during Miss Harroway/Ball's time there children began to go missing from the class. And this was not them just wandering off, but them being kidnapped. There were hysterical parents everywhere, and people refusing to send their children in to school for fear they would be next. Then one day Miss Harroway left and never came back, so after a team of Investigators tracked the children down to an illegal adoption agency they found the name Harroway mentioned regularly, but there was no mention of her anywhere not even in the records office. Obviously this is because her name was really Rhonda Ball. Am I not correct?"

"Well, you see," she started then turned feral, "Those hideous children and overprotective parents deserved it and I would have got away with it if you had not dragged me here. And it was all Rosalie's fault anyway as I thought her child went to that school and that I could get one up on her and her perfect lifestyle"

Now she was shouting abuse at Royce, how she had covered this up for so long but now he had made her admit it and she hated the world and it was now my fault because I ruined her life as a child.

At this point the Police had come in and taken her away, still kicking and screaming whilst Phil looked quite pleased with himself.

"Your Honour," Mr Ferrett said, "Could we please have it explained to us why that linked to the case at hand?"

"Yes," Phil said, "I quite forgot, but is it not clear that a woman who could do that is not really a reliable witness in ensuring the safety of a child."

"Sustained," the Judge announced, "And now the court is adjourned as the Jury contemplate their verdict."

BPOV

I wasn't allowed to go into the courts today because I had been questioned, so they felt that I would prefer to be at home. So, whilst everyone else went off to watch the proceedings, I stayed at home with Nanny who was looking after me whilst we waited for the verdict.

"Sweetie, do you want me to put the telly on for you?" she asked as she scooped me into her warm arms and kissed me softly on the forehead.

"Can we watch Mama and Uncle Jazzy's baby videos please?" I asked, feeling the need to see my Mama again.

"For some reason I think I've packed them," she marvelled as she dug in her suitcase, "My brain's failing me you see so there's a whole variety of unnecessary things in here but at least this will benefit you bubba."

"Thank-you Nanny," I whispered as she put the DVD in and came to sit next to me on the sofa.

We must have sat there for at least an hour watching Mama and Uncle Jazzy grow up. Mama was the prettiest little girl ever, and I wished I had her long blonde hair instead of the dull brown hair my Daddy gave me, though Mama always said she loved my hair because it added mystery to my beauty. But she had to say that, she was my Mama.

After the DVD finished Nanny's phone rang and we both looked anxiously at each other as my Grandpa's name flashed across the screen.

"Hello love," Nanny said as I sat down to play with my doll whilst I waited for their conversation to finish.

My dolly had once been Mama's, and my grandparents had had it made to look like her, which is why I had taken it to bed every night since I began to live with Nanny and Grandpa in their hotel. Grandpa had brought it with him because he thought I'd like it, and he was right because I loved her with all my heart.

"Bella," Nanny said as she put the phone down, "Grandpa says that we can go down to the courts now as they're about to make their decision."

I looked up at her as it dawned that this would decide my future once and for all. So I took her hand and knew that no matter what I was going to end up with my Mama for the rest of my life.

RPOV

It was time for the announcement that would change my life forever for better or for worse. As Phil and I walked back into the courtroom he put his arm through mine to steady my shaking frame and give me the strength I needed to review this ordeal. We sat back in our places and I took a deep breath as the Judge banged his gavel; setting the proceedings in motion.

"If we could have silence in the court I will relay the Jury's decision to you," he began in a solemn tone and I feared the worse, "The Jury has taken into account all of the witnesses statements as well as those of the prosecutor and defendant and have drawn a clear decision with help from many pieces of evidence which were mentioned in the proceedings, but we were not allowed to show you for legal reasons. Therefore, I grant full custody of Miss Isabella Marie King to her Mother Miss Rosalie Lillian Hale who will be monitored for the first two months by a social worker whom we will appoint after this case has closed, whilst the father of the child, Mr Royce King will be detained in custody whilst further allegations of child and marital abuse against him are investigated. I now call this session to a close."

And with a bang of wood on wood it was over and I had my baby back. I looked at Phil and he smiled at me, whilst I hugged him and thanked him before he told me to go and get my daughter. That's exactly what I did next. I flew out of the courtroom and along the corridor where I spotted Emmett's curly black hair in juxtaposition to my father's white blonde hair; I knew my baby would be with them so that's where I headed.

"Bella," I squealed like a five year old as she came into view.

"Mama," she replied and jumped into my arms as my eyes filled with tears.

"Baby girl I love you so much and I'm never going to let you go again," I sobbed as she held on to my tightly.

"Mama don't cry," She whispered, "You shouldn't be sad, you should be happy."

"I am happy angel; so happy I'm crying with happiness," I told her as everyone came to greet me.

"Darling I'm so proud of you," My father told me as he hugged both Bella and I, the former I was refusing to relinquish my claim upon.

I was on cloud nine as my family told me how much they loved me and my Mother announced we were going out for dinner. That was when Emmett approached, and without warning swept both Bella and I up into his arms and he kissed me with more passion than I've ever experienced in my life.

"Um Mama and Mr Emmett," Bella said finally, "I know you're happy to see each other again, but I'm starting to not be able to breathe."

We broke apart at this, as Emmett came to take my hand that wasn't securing Bella to me, and led me out of the door to the car and hopefully eternal happiness. Sadly, it didn't last long...

I'm not going to bore you with excuses; I just hope you enjoy this and thank-you for continuing to read this story! I hope you had a lovely holiday, XxX