I've Seen 2

Court dates and DNA samples

Kalene was walking around checking on the crew after dealing with the venue manager. There had been some problems with dressing rooms that she needed to get sorted. There was a problem with catering that she was dealing with as well. Today was one of those days that it seemed if it could go wrong, it was going wrong. She was stressed, she was irritated, and she wasn't expecting to get a notice from the courts.

Luke was just delivering the mail to her since she seemed to be all over the place that day and didn't seem to have much time to sit down for a moment or two. She thanked the manager before walking off to deal with more problems. It was well past lunchtime when she finally had the time to sit down and look at her mail. She made herself a plate and leaned back in her chair. As she casually ate her meal, she went through her mail.

"Miss Mercer,

You are hereby being summoned to a court hearing over the custody of your daughter Genesis Mercer against Theodore Mays on the twenty-first of October 2019. The docket is at 9am. Please be there no earlier than an hour before."

She couldn't read anymore. Whether or not they were going to win this case, the last time she had to go to court, she got shot! That was not a fact she quickly, or easily, forgot. She would have to, again, take off work. Genesis would have to take off as well so she sent a text to her daughter and Rachel. She sat back thinking about the case, Ted, and her previous life.

"Hey there." She heard Chance exclaim from above her.

"Oh! Hey Chance." She stated, "What's up?"

"I was going to ask you that. I know it's none of my business what goes on in people's personal lives. Despite us being a family here and everything, we all deserve to have that "behind closed doors" kind of life too." He said, "Are you ok? I know this lawsuit has to be getting to you. Especially since it's all about Gen."

"I will admit I'm a bit skittish about going back to court." She looked down.

"How come?"

"The last time I was in court, I got shot." She whispered, ashamed of her fear.

"Oh my God, Kalene! We all...none of us...we didn't think about that!" He smacked his forehead, "We're all idiots. Have you talked to anyone about this? Luke? Tim? Anyone?"

She shook her head no.

"Why not?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sweetie, I highly doubt that'll happen this time around. Mrs. Marion was...she was psychotic. Off her rocker about Ashley and Jenika. This guy is probably just wanting his meal ticket now that Gen is making a name for herself. He's harmless. We'll all be there with you."

"You were all there with me last time too!" She exclaimed taking him back.

"I'm sorry, Kalene." Chance stated.

"No. No, I'm sorry Chance. You didn't deserve me blowing up at you." Kalene said as Tim walked up with Adam.

"Why did you blow up at Chance?" Tim asked.

"No reason." She quickly stated before grabbing her mail and bolting back to the bus.

"Kalene doesn't just snap at people, Chance. What's going on?" Tim pressed his friend.

"None of us thought about this." He started out as he looked over at the bass man, "The last time she was in a courtroom, she got shot. I guess that's messing with her head."

"Oh my God." Tim sat down, "How do we help her?"

"I don't know, Tim. But if I were you, I'd go talk to her. Sooner rather than later. She had a letter with her. I think that put her in a funky mood too." Chance advised, giving Tim's shoulder a squeeze before leaving the bass man to his thoughts.

The idea of her getting shot again was frightening enough. Could he handle that? It was hard enough the first time for him. The not knowing where or how she was. Watching her as she struggled with day-to-day things in pain. Unable to do certain things because of her injury. It was torture! 'With this nutjob who knows what he's capable of!' Tim thought with a huff as he stood up, 'Chance is right. I need to talk to my woman!' He left to head to the bus first where he hoped she was.

Thankfully, she was sitting on the couch petting on both dogs. JR was sitting on her left and Satchmo on her right. Each with their heads on each of her legs. She looked like her mind was miles away and he wondered what she was thinking about. The court case? They were going to win that hands down. Was she wanting to break off their engagement? He surely hoped not! That would break him!

"Kalene? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Tim knelt down in from of her, placing his hands on her knees.

"Hmm?" She snapped back to reality, "I got a letter from the courts today. Read it. I've been ordered to send a sample of Gen's blood for a DNA test. And we have a court date already. I couldn't read any more after that."

"Everything's going to be fine. You know who her father is but I'm her dad. You know what you did way back when, he's just trying to get into your head with all this. She's 18, baby. The courts can't force a legal adult to spend time with another person." Tim tried to reason with her.

"I know." She sighed.

"Then what else is bothering you?"

"I...the last time...I mean... (she sighed heavily) it seems stupid. I have this...fear...of physically being in a courtroom. The last time I was in one, I got shot. They are supposed to be safe, they do searches on people, Tim! Somehow she got a gun in anyways! How the fuck do I know he won't do the same?!" Her voice got louder and louder as she began to yell.

"It's ok, baby. Let it out. I'm here." He calmly stated.

He knew she needed to get this out. Not someone to try and reason with her or calm her down. She just needed someone to listen to her, a shoulder to cry on so to speak. And that's exactly what he planned on doing for her.

"Am I crazy for this?" She suddenly asked.

"No, baby. You make a good point, honestly." He took her hands in his and kissed the backs of them, "But we still have to go. We have to show him we're not afraid. We have to show him he doesn't intimidate us."

"Us?"

"Of course, Darlin'. We're a team, remember? We ride the waves of life together, no matter what." He grinned at her making a small smile appear on her face, "I'd call Rachel if I were you so she can get Gen to a hospital to get that blood sample sent off to the courts. Hopefully they can have the DNA test done by the time we get there. I'll go talk to Luke about getting the time off. It may just beme this time, though.

She flung herself into his arms making him smile this time. He moved so he could kiss his fiancé which turned passionate rather quickly. 'I don't know how she does this to me!' he thought when they pulled away. He adjusted himself so it wasn't his problem wasn't as obvious as it was before. She leaned back and dialed Rachel's number so he blew her a kiss before walking off the bus. He felt tingly all over which happened a lot whenever they had those little moments.

A/N: You think they'll win the case or not? Please vote and review down below ;)