This is one of those "connecting" chapters that help tie things up a bit. But it does a lot more than that--big decisions comin' up. One especially big one, and lots more. No spoilers, let's just dive in. Inching closer to the "big BANG" that closes the show...

You might have heard Aisha screaming, "Lord, have mercy! THANK YOU JESUS," all the way to your house if you didn't have the TV blasting or your earphones on or something, when the judge gave me that final ruling.

C'mon, that's not a spoiler. The Judge told you how it was going to go down.

But he didn't tell you how funny the hearing was going to be. I mean, I almost forgot to be nervous, I swear. It was like a TV sit com or something. All we needed was a laugh track and some of that goofy music they play before and after the commercials.

So first, let me introduce you to the judge they chose to do the damned thing-The Honorable Franklin Delano Dawson. I'm not lying, that was his name. And Dude looked old enough to have known FDR personally, I swear. Old enough to have known Jesus personally, for that matter.

He was this little Black man with sugar white hair, sitting there looking like big old dried up piece of beef jerky. I'm not kidding. His fingers looked like Slim Jims. Every time he pointed one at me I had to look down at the table in front of me to keep from laughing.

And he had these little gold rimmed glasses slid down almost to the tip of his nose, so he could read things when he looked down and then look up at you without the glasses getting in the way.

But what cracked me up most was how he clocked the girls when they walked in and sat down. I think he forgot where he was for a minute, which happens all the time of course, because you don't see three hella hot women walk into a courtroom all at once very often, let's be honest.

They didn't notice it, though, the girls. They sat down and grabbed hold of each other's hands, all nervous even though I'd told them what The Judge said.

"He crazy as hell," Aisha told me. "Prob'ly just said it to mess with you one las' time."

But when we got there and nobody from CPS besides their lawyer showed up on the other side of the aisle, I figured it was going to go just like he said. Chase had already told me that he was the judge they trotted out for moments like this, when there wasn't anything left to deliberate or argue about. So he didn't actually do any work, you know? They just sent him out there to read from a script almost.

Which is weird, because judges get elected. And your average person gets pretty pissed when they hear that some guy's being paid from their tax dollars to just sit around doing nothing all day.

But when I thought about it, I just filled in "Yes" next to the names on those ballots when I voted that first time. Mike went, "Yes" then "No" then "Yes" then "No" and back and forth like that all the way down that part of the ballot, just to be contrary. And I bet that's what most people do when they finally get down to the part with all the judges and whatnot. You don't know anything about these people. So I figured if they want to do that job, let 'em.

And he was worth the tax money, honest to God. He folded those Slim Jims, looked down at the CPS lawyer and said, "I take it there will be no opposing arguments today."

And the lawyer stood and said, "We have...submitted our recommendation for your consideration, Your Honor."

And the old judge said, "And I have read those recommendations, sir. And the records as well. Which I found very interesting. Very interesting indeed. You will be working with your clients to ensure that nothing like this has to be brought before the court again?"

"Well, as we wrote-"

"I read what you wrote. I'm asking you if you learned anything from what you wrote about."

The lawyer sort of swallowed as he said, "We were misled, Your Honor."

"Oh, we're culpable too, I'll grant you that. This is a black stain on our reputation to be sure. There's no denying it. However, the behavior or some of your case workers with regard to these children was...let's say over-zealous. Egregiously."

I wanted to get out my cell to look that last word up, but then I figured it must've meant "really bad," using those old context clues they harp on so much at school.

And the lawyer said, "This was a rather unusual case, Your Honor."

And the judge nodded and said, "We're talking about two children, sir. They were the crux of the matter. And they were mightily ill-served."

"And we-"

The little judge banged on his gavel and barked, "Let's get on with this! They've been toyed with long enough."

And then he turned and looked down that nose at me like he was going to give me a good tongue lashing, too. Scared me a little bit.

But he said, "Now, while I am aware that you were not married to the mother of these children, and that the circumstances of their birth were less than auspicious, it does my heart good to see a young man step up in this day and age. It truly, truly does."

And Aisha revved up with a little, "Praise Him..." that only we could hear that time.

Or I thought only we could hear it, 'til his little dried up body got a little more animated, and he straightened that back and said, "You see, in my day, man knew his duty and did it. I'm not saying we didn't have a few bad apples. But we knew what our duties were. There was no wiggle room there. You were either doing it or you weren't. Wasn't all this...hemming and hawing around. Man stood for something or he didn't. And we didn't make excuses for those that didn't.

"But these days, they come in here crying that the system's rigged or their mamas get up'n' talk about the no good fathers that walked out on them when they were babies--oh, just all manner of excuses. Makes my blood boil!"

And Aisha says, "Yes, lawd..." a little louder right there, like we were in sho' nuff church at this point.

So the judge folded those Slim Jims again and said, "Now, I did have to ponder the facts of this case somewhat. You're a very young man. Too young to be taking on so much responsibility perhaps. You can understand that, yes?"

I looked at Chase and then at the judge and said, "Yes, I can, Your Honor," as humbly as I could.

He nodded but he still looked kind of stern.

"But I am also aware, as a deacon in the church, of your good works," he said then. "We have received many blessings from you. In fact, I was a little bit worried that I might not be the appropriate person to lead these proceedings, because of your generosity to us. However, having also been briefed about the unethical behavior which led to your being here, I was honored to be chosen. And justice will be done today, young man."

I waited to hear Aisha say something, but I think she was too scared or excited to yelp anything that time. And then Chase slid his hand into the small of my back and muttered, "Here we go..." and my heart started pounding so hard I wondered if people could see it, maybe.

So I sort of closed my eyes for a minute as that little cartoon character up there picked up a sheet of paper and started talking again.

"Now, as I say, you're a very young man," he told us. "But you are a young man of integrity, a young man who was there for those children from the day they drew breath and who has fought to ensure their well-being ever since, despite overwhelming opposition. It is for that reason that I now grant you full-"

I almost didn't hear the whole thing because just as he said the magic words, the girls started squealing and Chase grabbed hold of my shoulder and squeezed it real tight and my heart sort of jumped over into my throat, it felt like.

But by the commotion going on, I knew what he said. And tears just started rolling-I didn't even wipe at them. I just waited for him to bring that gavel down, and then I fell back and covered my eyes and wept like someone had died.

Not for long, though, because he ordered my children to be brought in. So as soon as the woman carrying them came through that door, I ran and snatched them away from her. And then I sat down and hugged them to me, until I felt their little bodies lean into it like they knew they were safe. Nobody even tried to bother us, while I was sitting there rocking them like that. Somehow they knew what I was doing and they let me do it

And when I felt their little bodies relax, I leaned back to look at them. God, so beautiful. Just the most beautiful things in the world, they were. And I was starting to be able to see what they were going to look like, you know? Not as adults but maybe when they went to kindergarten, around that age.

But they were going to be good looking all their lives, my children. Real good looking. And despite all my misgivings about how that could mess you up some, I couldn't help just taking it in, how pretty they were.

Children are angels, just about. New here. Just come down from Heaven, some say. That's what they felt like, when I looked at them. These perfect, precious little beings who'd almost got spoiled by all the stupid nonsense they'd been put through. But they hadn't been. I knew it because just as the girls came running over, Taylor smiled and reached up and rubbed her index finger in some of the tears I hadn't wiped off my cheek.

And she showed her finger to me, and said, "Dis," the way they do when they show me stuff now. "Da! Dis," is how they say it. Pointing to whatever "dis" is.

I said, "Yeah, I know. I sprung a leak, huh?"

She had no idea what I was talking about, but she leaned over and kissed me as if to tell me not to cry. And I kissed her, and then I kissed Ty and he kissed me back and gave me a little worried look.

"I'm okay, baby," I told him. "Daddy's just real glad to see you."

And after he'd searched my face to see if he believed me or not, he leaned over and put his arms around my neck and just killed me, I swear. Everybody cried. It was ridiculous.

When we got to the Fun House with them, the girls and I just laid on my bed with them the whole rest of the day. I couldn't take my eyes or mind off them. I let them crawl all over me; whatever they wanted, I wanted.

And when Taylor stretched out on my chest all snug as a bug, Aisha laughed and said, "That girl know what she's doin', don't she?"

Mike laid down next to me with Ty in her arms, and said, "This one's mine."

"You gon' give him nightmares," Aisha said. "Them big ol' titties up in his face."

"That's the best part," I told Aisha. And she "spanked" me and crawled up to lay on my other side. Cat stretched out at the foot of the bed, looking up at all of us.

"The band's back together, huh?" she said.

"I can't believe it," I said. "I mean, I expected maybe-"

The tablet on one of the tables by my bed made the sound it makes when there's someone at the door, and Aisha reached to grab it and have a look.

"Oooooo, she know what she doin', too," she said. "Your woman down there. Din waste no time."

I hit the "talk" button and the "Enter" button at the same time and told Wyatt, "We're on five. I'll meet you at the elevator."

And then I grabbed both babies and headed over to meet her on my floor. I was like a kid waiting for Santa or something, watching the numbers go up as the elevator was bringing her to us.

And when the doors opened, her smile was the best present, ever. I don't think she realized how sincere it was, but it made me the happiest dude on Earth, honest to God.

I gave her just a little peck, but there was a little bit of fire in it. And she hugged me, and then touched Taylor's face, and then Ty's.

"This is what I came for," she said. "To see you with them. I won't stay. I can't stay. There's this meeting I promised to attend. At the new high school."

"C'mon, really?"

She sighed and said, "They need undivided attention, don't you think?"

"So there's no meeting?"

"There's a meeting."

"Come back after."

"What did I just say?"

"You're part of this family now," I said. "They need to get to know you, too."

Those sloping eyes almost melted down onto her cheeks the way they always did, when something really moved her.

"They've missed their father. And the girls. Don't let's overwhelm them, okay?"

"Don't back away all the time."

She watched me for a moment. And said, "I've missed that face."

"Backatcha. More than the face, though."

She laughed and nodded and said, "Oh, I know. A lot more. But...Well, it's a mess."

"What's a mess?"

"Well, the parents are very upset. I haven't got the whole story yet, but from what I can tell, they're going to march on the district headquarters during the board meeting next week."

"For real? For what?"

She shrugged and said, "They don't really want us. They've been bombarding the Superintendent with objections and conditions they want met."

"Well, that sucks. I mean, I wouldn't send my kids to a school that didn't want them."

"Exactly."

I liked the forceful look on her face. She could say whatever she wanted, but she loved being a teacher. She was fierce about it.

But she kissed the tops of the kids' heads and then leaned in to kiss me. A nice kiss. Way more serious than mine had been. And she seemed sort of reluctant to leave, too. You know I loved that.

So I said, "I'll call later. You can fill me in."

And she said, "There's a lot to talk about," in this mysterious way that sort of scared me. But it was also really intimate, you know? One of those "just between us two" moments. But then she hit the elevator button, got in and disappeared from my life yet again when the door closed.

But then the door opened just as I was about to leave. And she sort of hung there a minute looking like she wasn't sure why she'd hit the button to make them do that. But then she stepped out real fast so the doors wouldn't close again. And stood there in front of us looking all nervous, but also, her eyes were, like...

Well, I stepped up and kissed her for real like they were begging me to. And then we couldn't stop kissing for a few minutes. I had the kids, so I couldn't hold her right, but she put her arms around me and held on like I was a fireman come to rescue her from a burning building just as the flames were about to swallow her up.

That's a good simile, right there. Cause there was a fire for sure. Only it kept getting hotter instead of cooling down. I even started to sweat. And I don't want to talk about where the loudest alarms were going off. You don't need me to tell you, right?

But she finally pulled away when Ty started kicking and wriggling around. And we started laughing as soon as we looked down at them, because instead of being fussy and mad at us, they were both looking up at us, grinning.

"What are they thinking, I wonder?" I said.

Wyatt kissed them both and said, "Someone here has to. Think."

"Thinking's what gets in the way," I told her.

She gave me one last longing look and then kissed me right quick on the forehead to keep the flames from rising up again. And then she slapped the elevator button and almost leapt into it when the doors opened. We didn't stop staring at each other 'til they closed.

And I didn't stop staring at the numbers 'til she got all the way down. And then I checked the foyer on my watch, and saw her sort of hang there, just for a little bit, before she rushed out of the door like she was determined not to give in to temptation.

The fact that she'd had to fight that so hard felt like victory to me.

So I laughed and looked down at the kids and said, "So what are you thinking, huh?"

And they both just laughed and kicked their legs some more. So I kissed them the same way she had and headed on back to the bedroom.

Where all three girls gave me such stares.

"Where she gone to now?" Aisha asked.

"Meeting. There's some kind of mess over at the new school they're sending the kids to."

Aisha smirked, so I said, "Don't start."

"I ain't said nothin'."

"That's worse."

She shook her head and said, "You gon' do what you wanna anyway."

"Yep, I am."

I sat down on the bed and let the kids crawl off to whoever they wanted to be with next. But they started sort of wrestling each other.

So I said, "I'm nuts about that woman. More now than before, feels like."

Mike laughed and said, "I kinda noticed..."

And we all laughed.

"Oh, it was a lot more noticeable a minute ago, believe me," I told her.

"So what about school, while we're on the subject," Cat asked. "I mean, you don't have to go back, but..."

I think it was her way of telling the other two to mind their own business. Which I loved. So I said, "I kinda want to finish up if I can do it without having to go to wherever the others are going. To get the diploma, you know? And then I might even go to college. I mean, I've been sort of thinking about it."

"Oh, my God," Mike said. "What the hell for? JJ taught you more in that year you were runnin' all over the world than any college could."

"I'm thinking of something more specific," I said. "There's classes for, like, movie production and stuff like that. I wanna understand the technical side of the business. So I'm not just that guy who signs checks. I may add some business courses to it, too. Double major, in' that what they call it?"

Mike went, "Wow," like she was sincerely impressed.

But Aisha said, "How you gon' do all this with the babies home?"

"He's got Bonnie and Kelli comin' tomorrow," Mike said.

"And you're here every other day almost," Cat reminded Aisha.

And then there was this little thing in the air-not tension. I just felt like what she'd said had triggered something. They exchanged these little looks, like they were trying to see who should go first.

So then Cat sighed and said, "Okay, no time like the present."

"For what?" I asked.

"Well, we've-"

"We gon' do six months'n' that's it," Aisha said. "At the club."

"Wait-what?" I said.

They laughed a little, and then Mike said, "We'll have, like, short concert runs, a week or two, big names. And the club's so friggin' wild, I don't think anyone will give a damn, really. Che said she told you about that."

"She didn't tell me you were backing out, though."

"It's not backing out," Cat said. "We'll still own it and make all the major decisions."

"They go to Vegas to party now, anyway," Aisha said. "Ain't no big shows but maybe that circus thing'n'...stuff like that. Young folks wanna dance they asses off'n' drink 'til they cain't see straight. Them poor young girls..."

She shook her head and sighed.

And Mike said, "Those ones you see cryin' all the way through the casino next mornin', I always wanna slap 'em upside the head and say, 'Dudes spent ten grand on champagne and what not-what'd you think they invited you up for?'"

"And you wanna contribute to that?" I said.

"It'll be a lot more fun than most of the other clubs," Cat said. "There's all kinds of activities and whatnot. Different rooms for different kinds of music, game rooms-"

"It'll be like going on a cruise on dry land," Mike said. "If you get sick of just sitting or dancing, you can go play video games or go do a 3D experience or go play, like grown up party games."

"We found this place that would come to your house and have everybody do these really wild versions of Twister and stuff like that," Cat said. "So we offered them a new business, coming up with ideas like that for us. Game shows, you know? You win prizes for doing all kinds of crazy things."

"Stuff that'll be hilarious after you've had a few drinks," Mike said. "Like, they do this Dating Game type thing but it has a different name and isn't so hokey."

"That speed date thing what I like," Aisha said. "Had all these people from the office come down and get in two big circles-one around the other. Calt it 'Finders Keepers' cause if you like somebody you can jus' gon' on out of the circle wit 'em. But er' time you move to the next person, you got to take a shot o' tequila or sum. So by the time the real picky people git through goin' round and round they'll damned near pick anybody, right? Either jus' to get outta there or cause all that stuff they think they want don't matter so much when you drunk as a skunk."

I went, "Gee, that sounds like a super good way to meet the man of your dreams."

"Oh, quit it," Aisha said. "Jus' cause you all lovey dovey now dun mean other people don't wanna have some fun."

"If you go to Vegas looking for Mr. Right, you've got problems to begin with," Mike said.

"Is there a wedding chapel, too?" I asked. "I mean, as long as we're helpin' 'em make all kinda bad decisions, let's just go for broke, why don't we?"

And Cat said, "Now that's an idea! Remind me to run that by Big."

I reached over and shoved her and she laughed and fell backwards like I'd shot her or something.

"So, you're not going to be there after six months?" I said, trying to make sure I had it right.

Mike crawled up to put Cat's head on her lap and said, "We kick it off with a bang, and then there'll be other acts every two weeks or so."

"We got 'em callin' er'body hot right now, in the music business," Aisha said. "Some of them comedians, too, we got lined up."

"We give 'em a lot of say in what kinda show they want to do," Mike said. "So we're getting calls from people who wouldna even thought about Vegas before. Wantin' Vegas money to do their own thing."

"We had to create a whole new department," Cat said. "Talent Acquisition. People who handle the managers and agents and whatnot."

"Wow. When did all this happen?" I asked. "I mean, this isn't just an idea, it's already up and running."

"The thrill is gone," Mike told me. "Like he says in that song. B.B. King."

"Wun no thrill from jump," Aisha said. "And then you went got all shot to pieces and we couldn' even think straight half the time. Be up there runnin' into alla dancers'n shit. I couldn' learn no kinda lyrics."

"Oh, my God, that woman," Cat said, covering her eyes with both hands. "We had to cut a track to run instead of waiting for her to sing things live."

"I know the damned words," Aisha said. "I was jus' worryin' so. Cause Papi was over here goin' in and outta danger'n' we were jus' waitin' for that call, you know? Big Man say he jumped about two feet in the air, er' time he'd hear that one ring, you know? We all had a ring for the hospital. An' din' none of us wanna hear it."

"You've wanted this for years, though," I said. "Spent a year and some in meetings and whatnot, after JJ."

"You rememberin' all them dreams we had settin' in that damned diner at four in the mornin' half asleep, talkin' a lotta mess," Aisha said. "But the dreams come true. JJ jus' handed 'em to us."

"Not to us," Mike said.

"Same difference. He hand 'em to this one here and he hand 'em to us, after that," Aisha said.

"But this was something of your own," I said.

"I keep tellin' you it ain't goin' nowhere," she said. "And er'body still gon' get money from it. Pro'bly more'n' we woulda if it was just us. Cause after a while, they'd've seen us. Wouldn' be no big deal. But Papi, it jus' wun doin' it for nobody. I mean, it was fun while we was up there rehearsin' and whatnot, but then you go back to that damned sky villa and it's lonely as hell."

"God, after rehearsals, I was just lost," Cat said. "I mean, you had to call everybody, round 'em all up. I was used to just walking into another room and seeing everybody there, you know? Hearing people laughing and talking all the time. But suddenly, it just didn't feel--"

"-like family anymore," Mike said.

"And one day when you was really fightin' to stay wit us, Mike jus' stomped her foot and said, 'What the hell are we doin' here right now?'" Aisha said.

Cat laughed and said, "And that one choreographer grabbed his chest like he was having a coronary."

They all laughed. And then Aisha reached over and helped Ty climb up on me again.

And said, "This what we want, Papi. This what we're doin' right now. If I wanna sang, we can make a record anywhere! Alls you need these days is a damned computer. But we ain't about all that mess no more. That ain't us. We us. This us, right here."

"And he's thinkin', 'Shit, jus' when I thought I'd made a clean getaway,'" Mike said.

"I'm not thinking that," I said.

"Yeah, you are," Aisha said. "Cause you wanna bit wit yo' woman now. We know that. But we gon' be somewhere nearby. Din' say in the same house, but we gon' be close enough to get to yo' house right quick."

"I wanna see the rugrats grow up," Mike said. "I wanna see you grow up. You think you're there but you're not."

Cat sat up and hugged me the way they used to hug me on weekend mornings, when they all pounced on me in bed and we just snuggled up watching TV and eating something we'd sent out for.

And she kissed my cheek and said, "She said it a minute ago. We us. And when we're not us, it feels wrong. Maybe not to you..."

"Oh, are you kidding?" I said. "You guys saved my life. I came back to life because of you. I'd feel one of you touching me, and I'd fight my way to the surface, you know? I wanted to be there. Be here. Like this."

"That's my baby boy," Aisha said. She gave me a kiss on the shoulder, and rubbed Taylor's back when she landed in her lap.

"Little punk kid, I swear," Mike said.

That made us all laugh again. I threw a pillow at her, too.

And then Cat said, "Big Man'll run it, still. He's definitely CEO material, that man. He cracks the whip, they jump to it. He's got them well trained already."

"So he likes it?" I asked.

"It suits him," Mike said. "He has days when he's sort of not sure, but his mind works the right way. He'll come up with some new idea and you can see in his eyes he can't wait to get on it."

"I'm gonna miss the hell out of that man, though," I said.

"Oh, he know that. He feel the same way," Aisha said. "So I don't know if he'll stick for too long, but he feel like somebody from home need to keep a eye on things. Til they understand what we want it to be like. Once that seep in, he can let go, maybe. If he want to."

I reached over and put my hand on her cheek.

"I like us like this, too," I said.

And she took my hand off her cheek and kissed the palm of it. And then she grabbed me and started hugging me like crazy 'til I fell over backwards. And then the other two piled on and the kids squealed and decided to climb up on top of everybody and sit there giggling.

There was one participant missing, of course. But I could feel her there. I'd seen in her eyes how much she wanted to be there. So I closed my eyes and just let myself feel how I'd felt when she hit that button and the elevator doors opened that second time. Trying to send some of that heat her way, wherever she was.

I hoped it made her cheeks go all red. Maybe made her sweat like I did, when I was holding her. I wanted her to have physical symptoms, stuff she couldn't shake off.

But then, something weird happened. I was looking up at the kids and feeling all that love the girls had wrapped around me, and I just...let go. I mean, ten minutes later I was dying to call her and tell her to meet me somewhere so I could try to talk her into doing what I wanted her to do, but it's, like...that Sting thing again.

You've got to have faith. And faith is hard. I mean, even Jesus' disciples couldn't get the hang of it 'til He friggin' died on the cross as a last resort-what an incredible thing to do.

To die so all the people following Him had to step up. Take over and walk the talk. I wish I had His courage. But that day, I found just enough to relax and let whatever happened, happen. I felt like if I did that, she wouldn't have to fight me so hard. And maybe I'd see another side of her. Maybe she'd find another part of herself, if I quit trying to "fix" her all the time.

I need to let you go, too, don't I? I keep promising you we're almost there, so let's get on with it--you remember that girl I met in the hospital that night I ran away?

Watch this.