I shivered as yet another cold gust of wind cut through my thin hoodie and chilled my bare legs. It was unseasonably chilly tonight and, although I didn't normally sit outside in the middle of the night, I didn't want to wake Jessie by shuffling around the house. The balcony was amazingly calming though, despite the cold.
Needless to say, sleep chose to elude me tonight which really wasn't a surprise. Actually, the fact that Jessie had been sleeping soundly all night was genuinely surprising considering the events that would be occurring today. I was glad though. She needed as much rest as she could get today more than ever.
I ran my hand through my hair nervously as I thought over what would be happening today. Jessie would have to testify against Brad for all the horrible things he's done to her while he was in the same room. Meanwhile I would be there with her not only as her support but I would be up there as a witness seeing as I was the one who found Jessie that night. So there was that and the fact that I would probably be spending the entire trial trying to restrain myself from actually murdering Brad.
As I saw the sun start to peak over the horizon I knew I would have to go in and wake Jessie soon. I really didn't want to but it was inevitable.
The sky brightened eventually and I checked my phone to see that it was time to go in and get ready.
I quietly slid the glass door open and lightly stepped onto the carpet inside. The soft snores coming from the bed told me that Jessie was still sound asleep and so I sat down on the bed and leaned over so that I was hovering slightly over Jessie's sleeping form.
"Hey, Jess?" I called quietly. I had to say her name a few more times before she started to even stir.
"Hmm?" She hummed sleepily, her eyes refusing to open. I planted a soft kiss on her cheek before laying down beside her, draping my arm around her waist.
"It's time to wake up. We need to start getting ready..."
She sighed heavily and I knew that she was remembering what the significance of today was. When her eyes flickered open I could see the stress extremely apparent in her expression. More than anything I wanted to just let her sleep and not have to go through this but sadly that wasn't going to be the case today. I gently ran my fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face as I waited for her to wake up fully.
Jessie was mostly silent as we got dressed. I didn't press her to speak since I figured it was best to give her her space. She probably knew that I was eyeing her all morning though and I'm sure that was probably annoying enough without forced conversation.
Despite the seriousness of the atmosphere I can't deny that Jessie looked gorgeous today. We'd managed to find a nice dressy outfit suitable for court in maternity sizes which was a relief.
I stood behind Jessie curling her hair for her as she applied her make-up. I was so focused on making sure each strand was placed perfectly that I didn't even notice Jessie staring at me through the mirror for quite some time.
"See something you like?" I smirked in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. A raised an eyebrow at her when she took a few seconds to actually respond to my question.
"Nope." Her voice was serious and I could feel my face fall immediately at her short response. Then I saw her smile at me in the mirror. "I see something I love."
****
We arrived at the court house with time to spare thankfully since Mark wanted to speak with us before the trial. As we got out of the car I spotted Mark standing at the bottom of the courthouse stairs waiting for us. He offered us a kind smile as Jessie and I approached him.