A Hard Man To Love

Family

WARNING: chapter contains mention of past sexual assault and other crimes, blood, medical complications of pregnancy, loss, and strong emotions

You sat heavily down onto Carol and Daryl's dining room chair while Carol sat a glass of iced tea and a sandwich in front of you then sat across from you with her own. Lifting your plate you sat it on top of your very pregnant belly and rolled your eyes over at Carol who started to laugh.

"I remember when Daryl would do that to me when I was pregnant with Lizzie." She looked wistfully down at her own plate. "The first time Lizzie kicked the plate I swear I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head."

Almost as if he could understand you, your son did exactly that. "Merle is convinced he's going to be a linebacker. Even though the doctor says he's small. But I feel huge. I'm thirty-five weeks and it just feels like he should be ready to go now."

Carol studied your belly as you both ate. "I still say there's two in there."

"No. Ultrasound has only found one and there's only been one heartbeat. It's just him." You moved your plate back to the table and rubbed your belly over where he'd kicked. "He's a strong one, like his daddy." There was a kick to your hand and you grinned.

Carol brushed her hands off and put her hand over your belly next to yours and he kicked her hand as well. She smiled then looked up at you as she sat back. "Have you picked a name for him yet?"

"We're still bouncing names around, but I kind of feel like Merle's right. We'll know what his name is when we meet him." Your shoulders bounced, and you looked over at the clock. Merle had dropped you off with Carol while he and Daryl were at the courthouse for Mayor Phil's trial, the jury was supposed to go into deliberations.

"Stop worrying Grace, everything is going to be fine."

"I still can't believe Maggie never told us he assaulted her."

Carol pursed her lips and stood up to clean off the table and wash the dishes once you were both done eating. Which just left you to think back over what had led you to this day with Merle at the courthouse waiting for a jury to once and for all put Philip Blake in jail.

Immediately after creepy crawly Phil's suspension the DA and Sheriff's office started investigating the allegations of blackmail the judge who wrote Merle's paternity order had made against Phil. Not only was the judge investigated and ultimately suspended but Phil wound up being charged with abuse of governmental powers, blackmail, extortion, and various sex based charges. One of those involved him forcing Maggie to strip for him while she worked for the Mayor's office. He had threatened to have Caesar plant a gun on Glen and then turn him in for unlawful weapons possession and concealed carrying. She had believed her husband would go to jail if she didn't do what the Mayor demanded, and he got her to remove her bra before he was interrupted for actual Mayoral business. That wasn't the worst of the sex charges though. Several women had come forward with similar allegations and two had alleged the Mayor had raped them. Those rape kits had never been tested but once they were the final nail went into creepy crawly Phil's coffin.

When all of that came to light and Andrea was questioned she admitted that she knew all along her baby wasn't Merle's. That wasn't a surprise to you at all but a lot of the town folk were noticeably nicer to Merle after finding out he wasn't a dead beat father. Phil had convinced Andrea to claim Merle was her baby's father in order for Phil to have something to hold over Merle's head if Phil's behavior ever came to light. He was apparently convinced Merle knew more than what he actually did and wanted to keep him quiet. Andrea was ordered to pay back the child support Merle had paid, and she was given probation with community service for various charges of her own. It eventually came out that her baby wasn't even Phil's but was in fact Caesar's, who had his own legal issues to deal with since he helped cover up Phil's assaults.