Piper ~ H.S

~Chapter 113~

A/N: Hiiii! Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Honestly I was procrastinating a little because we're starting to get into legal stuff now and legal stuff gives me the biggest headache. But I finally got it done! I hope it's okay - I know legal things can be boring asf but I tried to keep it interesting!

~Harry~

After speaking with some of my lawyers, I was advised to seek out a family attorney to help with the adoption case and guide me through what exactly it is that I have to do to officially adopt Piper. And when they told me that, I already had the perfect person in mind.

I was scrolling through my phone attentively to see if I still had his number. I didn't remember ever deleting it, so I was hoping it was just buried in my contacts somewhere. And luckily, after a few minutes, I finally found it.

I didn't waste any more time and dialled the number straight away – holding the phone to my ear and listening to it ring.

"Brandon Harvey, Family Law. How can I help?"

"Brandon? It's Harry Styles," I replied to him, "you represented me and my partner in a family court dispute a while back, if you remember?"

"Oh, Mr Styles! Yes, of course I remember," he sounded like he was smiling, "it's good to hear from you. How can I be of service?"

"Well..." I paused for a moment, "both Leah and I still remember the amazing job you did of representing us while we were trying to earn sole custody of Leah's daughter. And I was hoping you could help me out again..." I bit my lip a little, "...is there any chance you can help me out with adopting her?"

"Oh, you want to adopt the child? Wonderful!" He sounded genuinely happy for me, "Absolutely. Of course I can help you with that."

"Really?" I felt myself starting to smile.

"Certainly," he replied, "there would be a lot to go over, though. Not exactly the most suitable conversation for a phone call," I heard him chuckle, "how about we arrange a meeting? We can double-check that you actually meet the Camden Council's requirements for adoption, and then we'll go over the process from scratch. Sound good?"

I immediately nodded. "It does. When are you soonest available?"

"I've got an opening a couple of days from now. Does that work for you?"

I nodded again. "Would it be too much to ask you to make a house call? I just, er...I'm a bit anxious about being spotted walking into your Law Firm or something. I don't...really want any of this to be noticed by any sort of media."

"Completely understandable. That's fine – I can make a house call, no problem."

"Thank you," I said with a grateful smile, "I'm happy to pay you extra for your trouble, if you want."

"Don't worry about it," he assured me, "we'll slot you in for that appointment now, shall we? I'll see you in a couple of days."

***

Brandon made it to the house at our scheduled time that morning while Leah was out taking Piper to school. I did tell her that by the time she gets back, we'd probably have company – and explained to her that Brandon had agreed to assist us with the adoption. Leah was happy and even excited to see Brandon again – and I didn't blame her. She was still as grateful to him as I was for everything he'd done during our dispute with Heath.

"Right, Harry," Brandon set his briefcase down on the dining table and began shuffling through some papers, "so, let's start off by clarifying what we're actually trying to achieve here," he cleared his throat, "just to make sure I have my facts right: your intention is to adopt Leah Marrone's daughter, Piper Marrone, yes?"