A lot went down in the next few weeks. Kate decided she didn't want to have anything to do with Ashley anymore at all, and signed the needed papers to give full custody of Christopher back to her. Zac didn't have a problem with that, he thought it was time for him to go back to his mom anyway. But he didn't like the way she went about it. She had gone behind his back to get the papers drawn up, and then set them in front of him one day, telling him to sign them. Now they were barely talking.
Natalie came back into town for the custody battle over the kids. In court she brought up Ashley's past, as she knew at this point that the two were together. She was desperately looking for any reason to hold onto her kids, even if it meant saying Taylor was a horrible father who was with the woman that had abandoned her own kids, and that she wanted her kids nowhere near her.
Arielle tried to stay out of the drama, but felt herself being sucked in. She wanted to help by standing up in court for her dad, so she could tell the judge what an amazing father he was. She wanted to help him gain custody of her step brother's and sister's. But then there was that bond she had shared with Natalie too. She was torn, because she knew that Natalie was a good mom. Her own mom was trying to talk her out of standing up in court to help, saying it was a bad idea.
During the short recess in court that day, the lawyer looked at Arielle seriously, and asked if she still wanted to go up on the stand.
She looked at him nervously, and looked over at her dad. He nodded to say it was okay with him. " Yes. I... I want to do this. My dad deserves to have them back in his life, and I... I want to help."
" Arielle, I don't think you understand the situation. The bond you say you have with Natalie will be ruined. She will never talk to you again if you do this." Ashley looked at her, continuing to try talking her out of doing it.
" Mom, please let me do this for dad. I hate seeing him so sad without them in their lives, and if I can help sway the judge to give him custody... I just have to try. Please." She begged her.
" I know you can legally tell her what not to do, Ashley. But she feels strongly about this. Don't you want her to learn to fight for everything she believes in?" Taylor asked her.
Ashley sighed, feeling defeated. " Alright. But I really think this is a bad idea."
Court was called back into session, and moments later Arielle was called to the stand. She started by explaining who she was, and then talked about what an amazing dad she had. She talked about how supportive he was and that just because he was on the road
a lot, didn't mean that he wasn't around when he needed to be.
When Natalie's lawyer started asking her questions was when things got rough. They asked her why she wasn't raised by her dad to begin with, and why her mom never thought to bring it to his attention sooner that he was a dad. She got defensive as they
shot questions left and right about it.
Finally when she couldn't take it anymore, she took one look at Natalie and lost control of her emotions. " You know why my dad wasn't in my life, Natalie. You understood me! Or at least you acted like you did. Don't just sit there and let your lawyer shoot me down
because of the situation! Don't let your hate for my mom be the reason you don't want to have your kids around their father!" She cried out, as tears began to stream down her face.
The judge looked at Arielle, and told her to calm down as he pounded his gavel on the desk in front of him. He called for another short recess, and she stepped down.
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Zac looked over at his wife, who was sitting on the other side of the court room over by Natalie. She was whispering something to her, and didn't even notice he was looking her way. Isaac noticed his look of sadness, and gave him a little hug. " It will be okay, Zac. Things between you two will get better."
