Married To Baseball

Innocent Until Proven Guilty.

Jailyn~

"You okay?" Christian asks, his arms wrapped tightly around me as we wait in the back room for my questioning to continue. Getting Nick's lawyer flustered enough to call for a recess feels like a good sign, but he hasn't even tried to pick apart the sexual assault yet. 

"Yeah," I tell him, sighing slightly, "This is all just a lot." 

"I know, I'm sorry," He tells me, kissing the top of my head, "If it's any consolation, you're fucking crushing it up there." 

"Thanks," I murmur, pulling away from him. Even as we break apart, Christian is quick to hold my hand in his. "I just don't get what his angle is," I comment, "he's grasping at straws to try to paint me as some liar. It's like he didn't do any more than the minimum to prepare for this case."

"Everyone seems to see that," Christian confirms, "There's been whisperings in the crowd during the cross-examination. I don't think most people are following his line of questioning." Shaking my head, I push my free hand through my hair, why the hell didn't he go for a plea? "If that jury is paying any attention, there's no shot he doesn't get charged for your case at a minimum." 

"He hasn't even gotten into my case yet," I point out, "He's too fucking obsessed with my relationship with you to get there." 

Giving me a small sympathetic smile, Christian nods. "I know, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Like you said, he's grasping at straws, and the only argument he seems to have is to try to make you seem like a liar. He's trying to set that groundwork to try and invalidate your testimony. It's pretty clear that isn't working." 

"I guess," I reply, "We better be taking a long, long, vacation once this is all over." Christian chuckles, nodding with a smile before leaning in to kiss me quickly. 

Adjusting my blazer, I sit back at the stand and wait for whatever questions Michael's figured out. "You and Christian are pretty close, right?"

Bro, what? Unable to hide my confusion, I squint at Michael before responding, "I'm sorry, you have a law degree, and you're asking if Christian, my husband, and I are close?" There are a few murmurs and notable chuckles from the crowd before I answer, "Yes, I would say I'm close with my husband." 

"Were the two of you together before you were intimate for the first time?" Michael pushes.

"Not that it's relevant, but yes," I reply. "It's not a crime for two consenting adults to have sex without being in a relationship, Mr. Clark." 

"It's also not a crime to have sex with someone you're in a relationship with,  Ms.Jailyn." 

There it is, "It is when the person you're having sex with says no at any point." The Ms.Jailyn on top of it gets the best of me, "Of all the ways to address me, using 'Ms. Jailyn' is the most disrespectful choice you could have made. I have a hyphenated last name for god's sake; there are plenty of other options to pick from. It's Mrs.James, Mrs.James-Yelich, Mrs.Yelich, or just Jailyn. You're obsessed with my relationship with my husband, the least you could do is address me as if I have one." 

"My sincere apologies, Mrs.Yelich." He would pick the one that's just my husband's last name. At least he's finally respecting that I have one. "When did you and Nick become intimate in your relationship?" 

"A month, maybe two, after we started dating," I reply. 

"A little quick, don't you think? Especially since you claimed Nick was your first boyfriend," Michael asks. What a fucking pig.

Scoffing, I roll my eyes, "Given the context of us having been friends for almost a year by the time we started dating, it really wasn't. At the time we both wanted to do it, so we did."