Piper ~ H.S

~Thirty-Six~

A/N: Btw, I have no idea how family court cases go, so I made this all up as I went along :p I apologize in advance for anything inaccurate or anything for any of you who know more about court than I do :p

~Leah~

"Your Honour, I am not only testifying as a witness to Leah's role as a mother, but I am also testifying as Leah's co-caregiver," Ashley was saying to the judge, "I was there for Leah and Piper – I had to be – since he wasn't going to do it," she shot an accusing glare towards Heath across the room.

"And why do you think that, Miss Wright?" Judge Elliott asked her, "Please explain."

"When Leah first found out she was pregnant, she told Heath as soon as she could," Ashley replied, "and one of the first things he asked her when she first told him, was if she'd consider getting an abortion," she spat the word out like it was poison, "Piper wasn't even born yet, and he was already showing signs that he wasn't willing to take care of her."

"Is that true, Miss Marrone?" The judge turned to me.

"Yes, Your Honour," I replied with a nod, "that...that was one of the first things he asked me."

"Mr Foster?" The judge faced Heath.

Heath sighed. "Yes, Your Honour. It's true. I did ask Leah if she'd have an abortion," his voice was low, "I just...I was just considering all the options. We were both still teenagers, after all. We hadn't even completed Year 13. But I really am glad she decided to keep our child after all."

"I see," the judge nodded at him before turning his attentions back to Ashley, "Miss Wright, please continue. Miss Marrone refused abortion...and then what?"

"She kept Piper, and then her parents found out about her pregnancy," said Ashley, "it was a very sad day for Leah, Your Honour, because her parents refused to support her and kicked her out of the house. My family ended up taking her in so that she at least had a place to rest her head at night," she explained, "but, refused support from her parents, Leah had to turn to Heath once again, to practically beg him to help her look after their child. And he promised he would, but he pretty much broke it as soon as she was born," she began to grit her teeth, "Piper was barely two and a half weeks old when he told Leah she was on her own and turned his back on them for the next four years."

"That is also true, Your Honour," I backed up Ashley straight away, "he walked out on us and never looked back. I doubt he would even be in Piper's life right now if I didn't reach out to him myself earlier this year."

Judge Elliott's eyebrows rose. "Really? That's interesting. We'll have to get back to that," he then turned to Heath once again, "Mr Foster, did you really walk out when your daughter was only a couple weeks old?"

Heath's face fell sheepishly. "Yes, Your Honour – I did. I admit it. I thought I'd be able to handle looking after a baby, but it was much harder than I thought. I wanted to study to become a lawyer, and I didn't know how well I could do that if I had a baby to look after. But that's no excuse, Your Honour. I tried to run away from looking after Piper, and that wasn't right. And that's why I really respect Leah for pushing through it when she was basically on her own with my child."

My face immediately hardened at his words.

Oh, like HELL you do!

Ashley could somehow sense how much I wanted to bite his head off – and she immediately put her arm in front of me and shook her head – gently reminding me that it would be a bad idea. So, I nodded back and took a deep breath – forcing myself to stay composed.