Page 87 of Fourth Wall

“Ready as I can be, I guess.”

We walked to the courthouse steps and were about to walk through securitywhen I saw my lawyer gesturing for us to hurry up.

“That's the lawyer,” I whispered to Christian as I threw my keys and purse into the security machine.

Once we got inside the building, I saw Antonio standing in front of the courtroom doors. My heart dropped at the sight of him. If he wanted us to hurry, maybe somehow we were late or something was wrong. My hands shook, and the beads of sweat started to pool in the center of my palms.

“Hey, sorry, I think we are on time?”

Christian stood supportively behind me with his hand on my waist. “Christian West.” He offered his hand to the lawyers.

“Nice to meet you, Antonio Roma.” A gesture passed through them as if they knew each other.

“Wait, have you guys met before?” I asked them.

“Antonio works with Alex often. He’s done a few deals for us.” Christian lowered his tone before turning to me and whispering in my ear, “He is one of us.”

“Holy shit,” I responded more loudly than I intended.

“So you knew about Christian all along? Why did you come into the house acting like you didn't?” I asked the lawyer.

“Legal reasons.” He held up a recorder. “I needed to make sure you had no idea what he did for a living, and if they planned on bringing it up here, then I could show that you had no idea based on this recording.”

“Damn.” I felt a little sidestepped. I guess if Christian had his secrets, I wouldn't feel so bad about waiting twelve hours not to say anything about the baby.

“Wait, why were you gesturing for us?” I asked.

“They dropped the case. All charges are dropped. The custody arrangement will remain the same.” My jaw dropped. I could feel Christian’s hand tighten.

“Wait, why?”

“Said there wasn't enough evidence. They also said that it appeared you two were quite serious but wouldn't say why.”

“Holy…”

“Shit.” Christian finished for me. The water welled in my eyes. Tears brimmed the edges. This was it. This was what I had been fighting for months.

“We did it,” I told Christian.

“You did it,” he whispered and dropped a kiss onto my mouth. It was filled with the taste of wet, salty kisses.

“I did do it, didn't I?” I rasped.

“I’m so proud of you.”

Antonio hugged us each before heading out of the courtroom, telling me that he would send me the original custody arrangements that it would revert back to. I thanked him profusely.

Just as we were about to turn and head out of the building, I saw a glimpse of Tyler in his suit, talking to one of his business associates who I recognized.

“Wait.” I pulled on Christian’s hand and pointed in their direction. Stephen was now rounding the corner and headed toward us.

Christian released my hand and walked over to Stephen, hugging him.

“Thank you.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and I knew then the magnitude that this took on him too.

“I didn't do anything.” Stephen smiled and looked over at Tyler, who was still talking but glancing in our direction. “Wanna take a walk?” Stephen asked Christian who just looked at me.

“I’m okay,” I insisted. The two of them headed outside the building just as Tyler slowly walked toward me. When he got to me, he shoved his hands into his pockets with his head hung low.

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