Page 46 of The Baby Behind Their Marriage Merger

This could backfire spectacularly, Jude thought as his driver dropped him off outside the courthouse where Addi and Lex were due to appear for the custody hearing. The girls, as Cole had told him, were in school and were being spared the ordeal of hearing a bunch of strangers argue about their future. Cole was accompanying Lex, but Addi would be by herself.

That wasn’t, in any way, acceptable.

Dressed in a sharp grey suit, a white shirt and a patterned tie, Jude ran up the courthouse steps, imagining Addi sitting next to her lawyer, dressed in a severe suit, her show-no-fear mask on her face. He knew her—she would be quaking inside, but nobody would see her sweat.

Man, he hoped he made it into the courtroom on time...room seven, on the third floor, Judge Nkosi. He glanced at his watch and ran up the steps. The proceedings were about to start, and he didn’t want to annoy the judge by walking in late. Jude found the right door, pulled it open and winced at its loud squeak. The room was silent, everyone was on their feet and they all turned to look at him.

Including Addi, her mouth dropping open in a perfect ‘o’. He really hoped to kiss that mouth later. It had been too long since he’d held her, loved her. He needed to tell her that she was his, and vice versa, and that...

‘Are you just going to stand there?’

The sharp voice intruded into his musings and Jude pulled his eyes off his wife to look at the judge. Her black hair was peppered with grey, bi-focal glasses rested on her nose and her bright-red lipstick complemented her deep-brown skin.

Her eyes were sharper than a Katana sword.

‘Who are you?’ she demanded. ‘And why are you late?’

Jude swallowed his grimace and out of the corner of his eye caught Cole’s smirk. Jude used one hand to button his suit jacket as he approached the row of people standing behind the tables in front of the judge’s dais. He looked to his left and caught a glimpse of Joelle, her long blonde hair hitting her waist. She looked like Addi’s older sister.

‘Again, who are you?’

Right. He really should start concentrating. Jude sent Addi a small smile and looked at the judge. ‘My name is Jude Fisher—’

‘Of Fisher International.’

‘That’s my company,’ Jude confirmed. He loved it but it wasn’t his life any more. He had a very different list of priorities now.

‘And what relevance do you bring to this hearing, Mr Fisher?’ Judge Nkosi asked, sounding impatient.

‘Your Honour, I’m just here to support mywife,’ Jude said as he stepped up to stand behind Addi, his hand on her waist.

‘Mmm...’ The judge grumbled and looked down. Feeling eyes on him, Jude looked down into Addi’s lovely, upturned face—the face he wanted to spend the rest of his life looking into—and watched as shock skittered across it.

‘I—what?’ she snapped.

He shook his head, placed his hand on his back and bent down to whisper in her ear. ‘Not now, sweetheart.’

As he straightened, Judge Nkosi looked up and lifted her eyebrows. ‘Right, people, let’s hear your arguments on who should get care of Miss Nixi and Miss Snow, and why. And please remember that the only side I am on is theirs...’

‘My ruling is that the primary residence of the young ladies will be jointly shared by their eldest sisters. Their mother will be entitled to contact but, judging by her lack of interest in her youngest children,’ Judge Nkosi stated, her disdain for Joelle clear, ‘I doubt that she will use them. I am also ordering that Ms Cannon pay child maintenance of an amount to be decided, but I doubt that will happen either. Will it, Ms Cannon?’

‘Probably not,’ Joelle replied blithely.

Addi wondered why she wanted the girls back and then decided that she didn’t much care. What Joelle did or didn’t do had no bearing on her life any more. Her sisters and this baby were important, but her mother wasn’t. Addi crossed her arms across her stomach, promising her baby that she’d be the amazing mother she’d never had. Loving, supporting and raising her child would be, for ever, her most important job.

Addi watched as Joelle dragged her eyes over Cole, then Jude. ‘Sexy and rich. I taught you well,’ she drawled. She raised an eyebrow at Storm. ‘And what’s your excuse?’

Addi heard Storm’s growl and she grabbed the back of her shirt to keep her from confronting their mother. Luckily for all of them, Judge Nkosi banged her gavel and dismissed the court, suggesting that Joelle leave the premises ahead of her daughters.

Addi thought that was an excellent idea.

Feeling lightheaded, she sat down on the nearest hard-back chair, rested her arms on her thighs and dropped her head. She didn’t know what to focus on first.

The girls were safe. Her family was intact. Jude was here.

He’d appeared when she’d most needed him and had stood behind her, his hand on her back, silently inviting her to lean on him.

From a place far, far away, she heard the sound of laughter, Storm’s excited chatter and saw Lex hug Thandi. She heard Storm telling Jude to expect a lecture from Nixi and Snow because they’d missed out on the chance to be flower girls. Why wasn’t Jude trying to hide their marriage any more? Instead of down-playing it, he’d announced it to everyone in the courtroom.

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