Err on the Side of Violence: Terribly Acronymed Detective Club Series (Book 3)

Chapter Sixty-Three: Joe, One Month Later

Rachel and Al owed explanations to their respective mothers for not reporting to them immediately the vicissitudes that had befallen them that summer. Joe wasn't there to witness the groveling they had to do to get back into their good graces, but inviting them to witness the adoption hearing for Logan and Emma went a long way, in his opinion, to including them in their lives and in their family's life again. Jen McWilliam and Gladys Mackenzie inherited two grandchildren in minutes, and from the looks on their faces they couldn't have been happier.

Joe watched them from where he stood in the courtroom, a couple of rows behind Al and Rachel, who stood in front of the judge with their hands on Emma's and Logan's shoulders, beaming while the judge officially signed the papers and gave them words of encouragement. They were all dressed formally; he didn't think he'd ever seen Al in a suit and tie, that was more Sunny's couture; Rachel was lovely in her black pant suit and emerald green blouse that matched her eyes; Emma was in a pretty and simple blue tunic dress, which reminded Joe of the dress Rachel had worn at thirteen that had changed his perception of her forever; even Logan was dressed formally for a teenager, in a white Oxford shirt and khakis.

He looked down at Lauren beside him. She wore the clothes she wore on the rare occasions she went to church with him, a black paint suit and pink blouse, the most formal things she owned; she didn't look natural in them, he actually preferred her in her leather jacket and jeans, but that might not have been appropriate in a courtroom. She was smiling and wiping tears from her eyes, and that annoyed Joe a little; Lauren wasn't even emotional at her own daughter's Confirmation, and this was just as much a ceremony as that had been. The signing of the papers was all that was required to make the adoption official, but everyone wanted to be here to share in the joy of this moment, when a new family came into being.

Sunny, Tej and their kids were here, sharing their bench, all formally dressed as well, Sunny more familiar with court decorum than all of them. Sunny's turban was red today; perhaps the lighter, more whimsical colours he wore in social settings weren't his choices for the solemnity of the courtroom. Tej was smartly dressed in a grey skirt suit Joe could envision her wearing when showing properties. Harpreet and Ajit mirrored Naomi and Tosh, sitting beside them, in their choices of clothing, and they had taken their cues from Emma and Logan.

Both grandmothers sat across the aisle from them, dressed in their best as well. They weren't alone on that side of the courtroom, though. Melinda Barber, Logan's attorney while he'd been briefly in custody, was there, still with her unfortunate hairdo, as was Maureen Glynis, the social worker who had the Davenports' file, overjoyed that her two charges had found a permanent home at last. To Joe's surprise, Detective Tracey of New Westminster Police was there, wearing his leather jacket without any self-consciousness, grinning with that prominent diastema. Perhaps something about Logan and Emma's story had touched him, or maybe it was concluding their mother's murder case now that McTeague was dead that had inspired him to come here.

Rachel's friend Allison was also here, with her second husband and her daughter, Apple. Tracey had seemed happy to see her and asked her to sit with him before the hearing had begun; she was the widow of Constable Mason Chan, Rachel's ex-husband and a colleague of the detective's in the New Westminster Police. Joe was secretly relieved Trainee Detective Maria Goncalves hadn't come today; it had been partly her actions that had caused the terrible car accident that had taken Mason's life, and the last thing this happy occasion needed was a heated argument between Allison and her late husband's former partner.

The judge descended from his bench at the conclusion of the hearing and shook Rachel's and Al's hands, then Logan's and Emma's. The bailiff then opened a door for him to disappear through, off to attend to other business of the courts, most likely. The bailiff then opened the doors of the courtroom, signalling they were done here and the room was needed for other business.