Lover

Chapter Forty-Four

Stefania

"Yes, the grandmother claims to not have known about Luna till just a few days ago."
"And Luna has been in your care for almost two months?"
"Yes. We were planning on talking to the social worker about adoption and then all this happened."
I poured another cup of coffee and took a sip. I didn't get any sleep last night, I was too busy making sure Y/N would stay asleep and worrying about Luna. She hadn't called yet.

"I'd be more than happy to take on this case Mrs. Spampinato. Just to let you know, I charge-"
"Money isn't an issue. We'll pay whatever in order to get our daughter back." I interrupted the lawyer.
"Would it be possible for you and your wife to come to my office and meet around 12:30?"
"Yes, we'll be there. Thank you so much Mr. DiNozzo."
"See you then."

I hung up the phone with a sigh. Mr. Tony DiNozzo was the best lawyer for custody battles in the country. He's never lost a case in the past eight years that he'd been practicing. I just hoped he would win this one for us.
I picked up my phone, and dialed Danielle's number.

"Hey! How'd the birthday girl sleep last night? She looked exhausted when you all left."

I couldn't control myself. The sobs started escaping my body as I tried to tell her what was going on.

"Stef? Is everything okay? What happened? Barrett! Watch the kids for me. I'll be right back!"
Danielle hung up the phone and I slid down the wall to the floor, trying to control my cries. I was trying to be strong for Y/N, but I couldn't do it.

A few minuets later, I heard the front door open and shut.
"Stef? Stefania?" She walked into the kitchen and ran to me.
"Stefania what happened? Where's Y/N?Where's Luna?"
"They took her. H-Her grandmother-" I grabbed Danielle and sobbed into her shoulder as she rubbed my back.
"Hey, it'll be okay. We'll get her back." She whispered.
"What if we don't? It'll kill Y/N. It'll kill me. She's our child. She's part of this family. She belongs here, she deserves to be here."
"I know. I know sweetie. You need to breathe. Take a deep breath."

I took a ragged breath and wiped my face.
"I just can't believe that some woman who hasn't been in her life for fifteen years just shows up and takes her away. It's bullshit."
"It is. But it's how the foster system works. Look, you need to call a lawyer and get a court date set up so you can get her back."
"I already called one. Y/N and I are supposed to meet him at 12:30."
"What do you need us to do? Do you want us to keep the kids again tonight? Or we can stay here and help out with them?"
"I don't know. I don't know what I need."
"Barrett and I will just plan on keeping them tonight until you say otherwise. Come on." She stood up and helped me up.

"You get dressed. I'll go wake up Y/N, and make sure she gets dressed. I'll drive you both down to the office."
"You don't have to-"
"Hey, she's my niece. She's family. And I'll do whatever I can to make sure you get your daughter back."
"Thank you." I whispered as another tear rolled down my cheek.
"Now, go get dressed. We'll get there early."

Y/N

I felt someone gently rubbing my back, and whispering to me to wake up.
I grumbled and pulled the cover over my face.
"Y/N, you gotta wake up. Stefania made an appointment with a lawyer." Danielle whispered.
"Dani?" I turned and saw her sitting on the bed.
"Hey honey. Come on, you gotta get up. I already picked out your clothes."
"What are you doing here?"
"Stef called me. I'm so sorry honey."

I felt the tears stinging in my eyes. I really hoped that it was just a nightmare. But this nightmare had become reality.

"I'm up." I sighed as I got out of bed.
"Put your clothes on. I'm driving you two to the appointment."

Danielle left the bedroom, and I wordlessly got dressed in the clothes she had picked out. I looked professional even though I felt like shit.

"I'm ready." I sighed as I walked into the living room.
"You look wonderful bambina." Stefania whispered.
"You do too love. Can we try to call Lu on the way there?"
"Sì. Come on." She took my hand and the three of us walked out to Danielle's car.

Halfway to the lawyer's office Stefania tried to call Luna, but it went to voicemail after a few rings.
"Let me try to call her off my phone." I grabbed my phone out of my purse and dialed her number, it went straight to voicemail this time.
"Maybe her phone died?" Danielle said hopefully.
"Yeah." I stared out the window, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Stefania

"Mrs. and Mrs. Spampinato, it's so nice to meet you. I just wish it was under different circumstances." Mr. DiNozzo said as he shook our hands.
"You as well. Thank you for meeting us on such short notice." I said as we sat down.
"I understand the urgency of this. So, you've already told me everything you've done for Luna while she was in your care. You said she has panic attacks?"
"Sì. Y/N is the only one who can get her calmed down when they get bad."
"So, you say she's come to rely on you both as parental figures?" He wrote something down in his notebook.
"She hasn't had too many good homes, if any, in her time in the system. She's happy with us. And we understand her grandmother is biologically related to her, but Luna didn't want to leave. We didn't want her to leave. We love her, she's our daughter."

"Y/N, do you have anything you want to add?" Mr. DiNozzo asked.

"She uh, she just needs her medicine at the same time every day and she has to carry her inhaler on her at all times. I don't know if you have any contact with her grandmother or not or if you can even get the message to her but-" Y/N took a deep breath. "She needs her medication."

"I'll talk to the social worker. Now, is there anything that they could use against us?" He leaned forward and looked at us both.
"Like what?"
"Have either of you ever been in legal trouble?"
"No, neither of us. We both have stable jobs with stable income, our house has more than enough rooms for all of our children, and we plan on getting a slightly bigger house here soon."
"Has any of your immediate family been in legal trouble?" He wrote another note down in his book.
"Um... my biological parents. I don't know how that would work out since I was adopted. Would the courts still consider that immediate?" Y/N asked.
"Will they be around Luna?"
"My biological Dad yes. Not my biological Mom. But it's been twenty something years since my Dad was in prison. He's trying to get it expunged."
"Since it was that long ago, there shouldn't be an issue."

We answered a few more questions, and Mr. DiNozzo let us know he'd be setting up a court date soon. He was going to try to make it within a week so maybe Luna could be home for Christmas.

"God, do I even want to know how much that check was that you wrote him?" Y/N asked as we walked outside.
"Bella, do you ever look at the bank account?"
"No, I don't really buy much except for groceries and cleaning stuff."
"Do you even know how much you make?"
"Ah... not really. I didn't really care about the money. I just really wanted to act. Especially since I knew you'd be my coworker."
"Really? You auditioned because of me?"
"Shut up." Y/N blushed and gave me a small smile.
"There's the smile I fell in love with." I cupped her face, and kissed her gently.
"Our girl will be home soon, right?"

"I will do everything in my power to make sure she's home before Christmas. Okay? I promise."

An: Happy Thanksgiving eve everyone! I won't be posting tomorrow, but I'll post Friday. Have a nice holiday!