Imperfectly Beautiful (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #3)

Lawsuits and Ladybugs

-JORDAN-

"I'm sure we've all heard the saying 'you can't judge a book by its cover' and yet, we're still guilty of it anyway, often for our own best interest. What if that little rustle in the grass off in the distance is really a prowling lion waiting to devour us whole? Isn't it better just to assume it is and take off and run? Call it God, call it evolution, but it's innate to our human nature to make quick decisions on outward appearances in order to protect ourselves. The one exception to that gut reaction is when the danger comes from those that are closest to us. To quote another overused cliche, 'love makes us blind'. Now in most cases, that refers to romantic love, but it's true in all forms of love—friendly love and especially familial love. After all, it's hard to believe that the people you share the deepest bonds with would want to bring you harm, so we let our guards down and we decide to believe that the rustle in the grass is just the wind."

It wasn't often that I got to see my wife in action. Unlike my career in entertainment where Lia constantly got glimpses of the fruits of all of my labor from new songs to nationwide tours, I rarely got to see the results of all of the tireless efforts that she put into her work. Occasionally, I'd read an article or see a new community award hanging on her office wall as a symbol of her talents and I beamed with excitement for her every single time, but nothing in the world beat the overwhelming pride I felt when I got the opportunity to nestle in a seat in a courtroom and watch Lia transform into attorney mode.

My wife, who was usually the more reserved and less dominant of the two of us, became a force to be reckoned with the minute she entered the courtroom doors. Suddenly her petite frame commanded the attention of everyone around her as she expertly maneuvered across the floor in a pantsuit with matching black pumps and enunciated her argument with dramatic pauses, steep changes in the intonation of her voice, and an overall pacing that made my heart race. It was clear that she was taking her audience on a ride and we'd better buckle down and listen up because it was about to get bumpy.

Lia pressed her hands together, "You see, in most cases that decision to believe it's just the wind is a wise one that pays off tremendously. It's a move that represents the innocent faith that we place in our parents from the day we're born, newborns don't worry if their moms and dads are going to take care of them, they just trust and believe as the start of a parent-child bond that should last beyond a lifetime, but sadly for many people, somewhere along the line the parent breaks that bond with a deep betrayal that can forever shatter a child's idea about love and the very essence of right and wrong. That's exactly what has happened with Anthony Holloway."

The tremor of a sob caught my attention and I softened as I turned to my left to see Maria already crying her eyes out with a wad of tissues in her lap sitting just ahead of her baby bump. My focus had been so locked on Lia that I'd almost forgotten she was sitting next to me, taking this all in and keeping an unwavering stare on the back of Tony's head where he sat frozen with Jack right next to him and awaited to hear his fate—if all the strides he'd made in building a family would end up all for naught.

I reached over and draped my arms around her shoulders before I placed a soft kiss on her temple, "It's going to be okay, honey," I said gently. "Your mom and grandpa are the best of the best."

"I know," she sniffled and gazed down at a tissue that had been folded and refolded a million times. "I just can't help it. Hormones I guess. I love him, Daddy. I think more now than I ever have before, especially after some of the things that have come up in counseling and I still don't think he's told me everything," she sucked in a sharp breath and gazed up at me. "I'm really lucky to have you and Mom and I don't think I'm always appreciative enough."

"You are, honey," I gave her another side hug. "You've got one of the most tender hearts I know, you're more than appreciative and the truth of the matter is your mom and I got lucky with you and all of your siblings and all of our grandchildren and children-in-law that are joining this family. I don't know why Tony was born into the family that he was, but I think he's going to have a really special wife to build his own family with."