Update of the week. Enjoy ☺️
Keira's POV:
I woke up to Lucy gently nudging me. I squinted my eyes open and carefully sat up, careful not to wake Charlie who was still fast asleep beside me. "We better get up", Lucy whispered to me as she stood up from sitting on the bed beside me, already dressed, heading quietly down the stairs. I glanced at the alarm clock, and sighed when it read 7:30am. I slowly climbed out of bed, grabbing a suitable outfit and heading into the bathroom.
I arrived downstairs to a smell of coffee, a small smile creeping onto my face, as I saw Lucy trying to perfect my coffee for me, in my favourite mug. "Here you are gorgeous", Lucy carefully placed the coffee mug in front of me, quickly kissing my cheek as I sat down at the kitchen table, while Lucy grabbed her mug and sat down beside me. I sighed at the thought of today, and Lucy grabbed my hand, squeezing it and quietly replying "I know". As we discussed the day ahead, I glanced at the time and spoke up "we better wake her". Lucy nodded and replied "I'll get her up, you dress Ellie, I'm not sure if she's allowed in the court room, so I was thinking of asking Alex or one of the girls could they look after her for the day while we're in court, what do you think ?". I hummed in agreement as I stood up, "maybe it's best not to have her causing chaos in the court room while we defend that our home is the best place for Charlie, I can text Alex and ask her", I told Lucy as I followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "Yeah", Lucy responded and she headed into our room while I quietly opened the door to Ellie's room. I rooted through her wardrobe before gently waking her up. "No, mama", Ellie grumbled back to me. I just chuckled and lifted her up onto the changing table, and changed her. I lifted her back up and headed downstairs where i saw Charlie pouring herself a bowl of cereal. I patted her shoulder and she softly smiled with her tired eyes, sighing as she leaned against me. I side hugged her while grabbing the orange juice from the fridge. Charlie immediately took it from my hands and brought it over to the table where she poured herself a glass and began eating her breakfast. I chuckled as Lucy came back into the kitchen, after having to step out because of her phone ringing. "Good morning princess", she quietly said to Elleã who lazily smiled and cuddled back into my chest. "Still tired hm ?", I softly asked Elleã who just grabbed onto a piece of my jumper. I grabbed my overnight oats from the fridge and placed them on the table while Lucy served herself a bowl of granola and yogurt. I sat down with Elleã on my lap. As I ate my breakfast, I offered Elleã a few spoonfuls, just to make sure she ate something in the likely case she fell back asleep again. Lucy cleaned up after breakfast as Charlie headed upstairs to brush her teeth and I grabbed Elleã's blanket and teddy from her bed. As I came back downstairs, Lucy had grabbed the car seat from the car, to make it easier for me to transfer Elleã who had fallen back asleep into it. Once she was in it and had her blanket and teddy with her, Lucy carefully lifted it and headed outside to the car. Charlie came slowly down the stairs, stopping when she got to the last step, looking at me, like she was going to cry. "Come on, we'll be home before you know it", I softly said to her, holding out my hand for her to take. Charlie slumped against me as we left the house, I locked the door on my way out. Slowly Charlie climbed into the backseat beside Elleã as I got in the passenger seat and Lucy reversed the car and headed into town.
We pulled up outside the courthouse just as my phone started ringing. I quickly got out of the car to avoid waking Elleã up.
Alex: Hey, I'm about 2 mins away, just to let you know Steph has joined me.
Keira: No worries, we've just parked up, Ellie's still fast asleep.
Alex: just pulling into the car park, I'll see you in a minute.
I ended the call as Lucy got out of the car. "Alex and Steph are just parking up now", I told Lucy, who nodded and we both turned when we heard footsteps towards us. Alex engulfed me in a hug as Steph hugged Lucy, before we switched. "Stephy, Alex what are you doing here ?", Charlie asked as she got out of the car, having seen us talking to them both. "We've come to look after your sister for a bit", Steph gently explained to Charlie who's shoulders dropped, knowing they weren't here to stay with her. "Oh", was all Charlie replied. We all sympathetically looked at each other. "Once we're finished here, we can all go for something nice, how bout that ?", I suggested to Charlie who only nodded in return. Lucy opened the backseat and Alex leaned in to gently unbuckle Elleã and lift her up onto her chest. Steph grabbed the blanket and teddy, as Lucy took out the stroller from the boot of the car and set it up for Alex to gently put Elleã into the stroller.
Another car pulled up and out got Lucy's lawyer, who smiled over at us before beckoning that it was time to head inside. Alex and Steph waved off as they walked away with the stroller, while I turned to Charlie who had a few tears running down her cheeks. I sighed and lifted her up and settled her on my hip while Lucy grabbed the folder with all the documents and locked the car, before following after her lawyer, leading us inside.
As we walked into the courtroom, I spotted Gillian and Martin with their lawyer near the front, then saw Lucy's parents sat in the front row behind the table we'd be sat at. I nudged Charlie who looked up at me and I nodded my head towards them. Charlie smiled slightly, before nestling back into me. I mouthed a hi to Diane as I passed before sitting at the table with Charlie on my lap while Lucy was quietly talking to her lawyer.
We were quickly quietened when the judge came in and sat down. "Welcome everyone, we're here today to evaluate and discuss the best course of action in regards to the custody of Charlotte Tough Bronze-Walsh, my name is Judge Lawrence and I'll be the judge on this case, could lawyers please state your clients names and relation the child", Judge Lawrence announced, looking between us all. "I'm Louise Clarke, and I am representing Gillian and Martin Lowry, who are Charlottes paternal grandparents", Louise stood up and stated before sitting down and allowing Lucy's lawyer to stand up and announce "I'm Patrick Myer, and I'm representing Lucy Bronze who is Charlottes biological mother and Keira Walsh who is Charlottes adopted mother". At the statement I gave Charlie a tight squeeze, who cuddled closer to me, avoiding looking over to Gillian and Martin.
"Now that we've got that sorted can we have the first discussion about Charlottes current housing situation", Judge Lawrence announced, causing Patrick to speak up and begin saying, "Charlotte is currently living with her mothers in their home in Manchester, with her younger sister and the family dog". "She's more mine than Mums", Charlie whispered extremely quietly to me, gaining a small smile from me. "And could you give me a description of the house and Charlottes role in the home", Lawrence continued. "The home is a two storey detached house, in a quiet neighbourhood. It has three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office, kitchen-living area and a back garden. Charlotte has her own room in the home. Charlottes role in the home is to be a teenager, a daughter, and an older sister", Patrick finished.
"What can you offer Charlotte that differs from her current living situation, in terms of your home ?", Lawrence asked, turning to Gillian, Martin and Louise. Louise stood up and began talking "Gillian and Martin here live in a two storey detached home in London. The house has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, an office, a spacious kitchen-living area, a dining room, a basement and a large spacious back garden. The neighbourhood is quiet and they have security cameras surrounding their home for safety. Charlotte will have her own bedroom and bathroom. The basement will be decorated for her, to use as her own space and a study area".
"I don't want a bloody study area", Charlie muttered to me, causing me to bite the insides of my cheek in order not to laugh. Lucy glanced at me curiously, but I shook my head gently, not to question anything. Lucy placed her hand on Charlie's knee, giving it a gentle squeeze, leaving it there as she faced back to the judge. I watched from the corner of my eye as Charlie began playing with Lucy's fingers.
These discussions continued back and forth between Patrick, Louise and the judge, as the rest of us just sat and listened, until Lawrence asked "Lucy Bronze, could you tell me yours and your partners jobs please". Lucy sat up properly, but kept her hand on Charlie's knee "of course, myself and my partner are both professional football players". Lawrence nodded and went back to the discussions with both lawyers. Charlie sighed quietly and whispered "i need to go to the bathroom Kei". I sighed and whispered back "I'm sure we'll get a break soon, you'll just have to wait". Charlie quietly huffed and wriggled on my lap to get comfortable again.
I was right because no more than 10minutes later, Judge Lawrence announced "let's take a 15-minute break", and left the room. I nudged Charlie to stand up but she shook her head "please don't put me down", she mumbled against my neck. I nodded and stood up and followed Diane out of the courtroom and towards the bathroom. I let Charlie use the bathroom while I stood outside with Diane. "How do you think it's going ?", I asked Diane, who sighed and replied "the judge likes what their lawyer is saying, but she can also see how attached Charlie is to you and Luce". I nodded and replied "I'll be honest I haven't been entirely listening, I don't want to hear whatever they have to say, I just want this wrapped up so we can all go home". Diane nodded sympathetically and replied "I think we can all agree". Just then Charlie came out of the bathroom and leaned against me, before looking up at me and Diane "is it nearly over Nana ?", Charlie asked quit, as I combed my fingers through the loose hairs that had come out of her ponytail. Diane smiled softly and replied "I'm not sure pet".
