The late November sun shone down upon the Erebor courthouse on this chilly afternoon one week before Thanksgiving. The various people streamed in and out of the large federal style building...most unaware of the drama unfolding in one of the courtrooms within. Inside the small room was many chairs lined up in perfect rows behind a wooden half partition that dissected the room from the rest of itself...two tables sat facing a raised platform where a large chair was at. At these tables perched nervously was a dark long haired man...his locks were bound into a tail in an attempt to look more polished, belaying what he felt inside. The mans face was elegant in features with deep grey eyes, black mustache and manicured goatee...all of which gave him a refined roguish appearance to any who saw him. Down the way , on the other side of the room, sat another man , equally gorgeous with strawberry blond hair, sweet spring green eyes and a regal face who looked bored at everything going on around here. Up upon the raised platform sat a dark haired woman who was barely suppressing her tolerance for these proceedings she found herself having to preside over. Looking over both men she could see they both were anxious for this to end...both for very different reasons. The woman was getting frustrated as she looked at the blond as he yawned for the fifth time in the past hour...her irritation grew and it showed in her tone when she addressed him.

"Mr. Kaine...Mr. Kaine. Are we boring you?" the blonds eyes looked up at the judge and his jaw clenched in annoyance before he schooled his features into what he believed was a look of contrition  on it. He knew it would do no good for himself if he did let her know that ~Yes this was boring him.~ he was only here to try and make sure that his husband didnt get custody of the kids..not because he wanted the brats..it was just to be spiteful to the other man, so he was enduring this farce to keep him from what he wanted. He was able to deny him alimony when they divorced..denied him the house they lived in together for several years...now only one thing left to deny him of...one more twist of the knife that would destroy his ex lover.

"Oh, no your honor. Im listening. I do apologize." she sighed heavily at his faked apologetic tone, then she turned back to what was being said by a tall man with stunning black hair, slender chiseled features that framed sky blue eyes and lush lips of the lawyer Mr. Elrond Rivers.

"Very well. Please continue Mr. Rivers." he nodded his head and spoke in a deep melodic voice to those assembled in the room...a few adults for whatever reason and three young children that sat behind the darker man.

"As I was saying, your honor.. Mr. Bowman..." he indicated the dark haired man to his side who was now steepleing his fingers in front of his mouth in fretfulness. "...is only asking for the sole custody of the three children that him and Mr. Kaine had incurred during the course of their marriage. He wants no other compensation, except for that. Mr. Bowman has already procured a home for him and the children which shows he can provide them a safe and stable environment  to grow. He also has shown that with a his job as a firefighter that brings in a steady income he is able to provide for them." Elrond looked pointedly at Mr. Kaine and his lawyer Mr. Sarumon Lee who was giving Elrond a look of ~yeah right...as if he is capable~ " Will you grant Mr.  Bard Bowman sole custody of their two daughters, Sigrid and Tilda and their son Bain, placing them into his care, so they can be a family once more as is per the childrens own wishes?" The judge looked at both men sitting there awaiting her decision upon the placement of Bard and Daniels three children. Her thoughts wandering back and forth between both men...one making a valid point about how dangerous and tenuous a firefighters job was...not actually a very stable atmosphere for young children...but the other made a valid argument about love being strong in the home all ready which was very important.

As they waited in the pending silence, Bards thoughts went back to five years ago when this all started. It had been a lovely day for his and Daniels wedding..there was lovely blue hydrangeas that bloomed spectacularly in the gardens where they were having their spring wedding out in the countryside. Bard stood at the alter looking splendid in a white  tuxedo next to Daniel who was looking resplendent in his dark blue tuxedo. Those first three years were some of the best years of their marriage...everything seemed so perfect...the parties they attended together for Daniels job as an events coordinator for the privileged and wealthy...the exotic locations they got to go to that Bard would have never been able to go on his salary. After three years they even were able to adopt children..three siblings...Sigrid - who was the oldest at 13, Bain-who was 8, and little Tilda-who was 5. Bard remembered how he wanted a family so much that he had pleaded with Daniel until he had agreed on adopting a child...they bantered back and forth about if it should be a  boy or a girl. They fully intended on adopting one  but the moment Bard saw those three standing there and the love that flowed between them as the eldest girl tried to push her little sister ,who cried about maybe leaving her, to be the one they chose..he knew he could not separate them...he refused to break up such a loving trio. So he did more begging and more pleading until finally Daniel broke down and agreed...thats when their family went from two to five and Bard felt it was perfect.

Over the course of a year his perfect world started cracking...it started with arguments because now they were unable to go out like they used to on a whim...going to new places that used to be affordable, now became costly. If they wanted to do anything like they used to do they had to schedule around school, who could watch the children ( which never sat well with Bard- they were a family now) and having to curtail inappropriate outings for the sake of the children. Bard never had a problem with this...to him he would of done anything required with pleasure...but Daniel was chaffing at these restrictions and became belligerent each time. One day, in one moment,Bards world finally shattered in millions of pieces around him. Daniel had come home late at night, after leaving Bard home with the kids ,from doing some special event for some celebrity client that he had gone to alone....drunk and with a garish whore on his arm. Bard confronted him in confusion at the sight of her..there was screaming accusations of how Daniel lied to him about being gay...Daniel laughed mockingly at him.

"Didnt you know I was bisexual? You really are a fool Bard. Get with the program Bard...everyone does it these days." Daniel had rolled his eyes as if Bards reaction to this was nothing but childish behavior. "You know...Bard...this is the problem in our marriage. You have become a drag this past year and now are boring to me." he could see Bards eyes were tearing up that their marriage was falling apart but he ignored them as he pushed on as he reached out to lay a hand on the mans shoulder . "Listen up, lover...if you really want to save our marriage then take back those brats and we can move on with our lives again..like how it used to be." the moment Bard felt the hand he jerked back in surprise at what Daniel said in disbelief...shaking his head at his husband.

"Wh..what? I can not. they are our children, not some kind of pet that you discard once you get bored..our children." Daniel scoffed at Bard and rolled his eyes in vexation that he didnt see things from his side...this made Bards blood boil. "No! I will not get rid of them. Know this Daniel, I love Sigrid, Bain and Tilda...they are my children and I love them with all my heart. There is no moving on if it means they are not apart of that life...I dont want it without them in it." Bard spat through gritted teeth and Daniels eyes narrowed for a moment then he turned to walkaway...sneering over his shoulder as he spoke at  Bard..heading for the front door.

"Fine Bard Bowman. you have made your choice. I expect you four to be gone by this evening." there was shocked sputtering of  ~ What? Where do you expect us to go?~ behind him. "This is my home...was mine before you came along, so you need to leave. My lawyer will be contacting you soon...expect the call." Daniel reached the door and before he walked out of it he looked over his shoulder for one last parting shot in his direction. "Oh, by the way...dearest...just to let you know, Ive been faking it all these years when we were having sex. You are so terrible at it that it was the fastest way to end it. Bye, Bardy." with that, Bards life, self-esteem, his very world crashed in around him. He knew Daniel was lying about faking during sex, for it was a bit hard for a man to hide that...but those words still hurt deeply. After, Daniel tried to put the three children back into the system, but Bard fought hard to keep them with him. It was during the divorce that Bard found out that for the past 6 months, Daniel was seeing a woman on the side, who thought it was her mission to steal Daniel away and make him "see the light" about being with a guy. She succeeded at her mission..she won Daniel away from Bard. It seemed getting a divorce was the easy part of it all...no one seemed to have problems with two men separating from one another...but letting a single gay man become the sole guardian of three children was absurd in peoples eyes. So now here they all were before the judge...Bard praying fervently that she would grant him this one thing. The children had gone up at one point and made their wishes known about wanting to be with Bard who they loved very much. Suddenly the judge cleared her throat as all eyes focused upon her...trepidation filling them as they waited to hear her decision.

"I have taken all that has been said in this room today and i have reached a verdict. I declare Sigrid, Bain, and Tilda will become the wards of ....Bard Bowman and not of the state." she saw him jerk up in his seat in joyous surprise and she smiled as he let out a loud ~Yes!~ as he swiftly leapt over the bannister to gather the children into his arms, all of them laughing and crying in happiness....then her eyes fell upon Daniel as he glared and huffed in disgust. This irked her beyond belief and she decided to give one final judgement...which she would have bypassed if the man had not been so blatent about being a callous bastard. "Also..." she spoke out over the assorted cheers and they all quickly quieted to hear her. "Also, I have decided that, you, Mr. Kaine, will from here on pay child support to Mr. Bowman of $1500/ month." Daniel jumped up out of his chair in outrage over her verdict...shouting how unfair this was...she pounded her gavel down for silence. "Order..control yourself Mr. Kaine or I will fine you for contempt of court." snarling he did as he was told. "Now, You made the agreement to take care of these children the day you signed those adoption papers, so your going to help do your part in supporting them..as in financially . You also will have supervised visitations once a week, but if you want you can forgo those...Well?" he nodded his head..Daniel didnt want to have anything more to do with them." Okay...then court id adjourned...good day.." she smiled at Daniel with a bit of chill to it then peered over at Bard to smile sweetly. "..and good luck Mr. Bowman." Bard smiled at her as tears fell from his smiling eyes and he mouthed ~ thank you~ to her before she went out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was three days till Christmas day arrived...almost a month and half since Bard and the children officially became a family once again. They were shopping for a small feast at the local grocery store for the upcoming holidays with the little bit of cash that he had been given for child support...which Daniel wasnt hardly making the payments on, only giving $100 this time..saying something about having a big paying client and he would catch up then- Bard didnt believe that one bit. They all knew they wouldnt have much to eat on that day...the paying for divorce and custody battle siphoned most of his money he had for the time being, but he didnt care, they were together as a family and thats all that really mattered to him. The children even seemed to understand about the lack of presents this year. 

Bard was looking down at some discount meat in the case when suddenly he heard a voice that he could have gone a life time to never hear again...Daniel Kaine. He looked up and spotted him a few aisles over...he didnt see Bard or the children there as his attention was focused upon his lover who was practically beaming up at him with her voice pitched high in excitement.

"Guess what baby?" he smiled down at her with that mouth that Bard used to think was sexy but now repulsed him.

"What sweetie?" she giggled annoyingly.

"Im pregnant!" to Bards astonishment Daniel glowed at the news and he gushed at her in delight.

" Thats great! Oh..I do hope its a girl! I always wanted a little girl." Daniel hugged the woman to him as he smiled in joy. That smile was Bards undoing...he marched over to the couple who finally noticed him coming over...mouth compressed in a tight line.

"You calloused bastard!" he growled low at the blond man who was staring at him in surprise. "You had a daughter...two perfect girls and you cast them aside coldly. I pray, lady, you have a healthy child, but I hope you get smart and leave this...this..." his tirade was interrupted by Sigrid who reached out and took his hand into her own.

"Da...lets go please. I ...I think Tilda is getting tired and needs a nap." he soft tug and tilt of her head made Bard glance over at the little girl whos lip was quivering  as tears threatened to spill down her rosy cheeks. He swiftly went over to his daughter to gather her in his arms...leaving the store with his children and no groceries in hand. As he walked towards their car he could hear Tilda sniffing into his shirt and he rubbed her back to comfort her.

"Its okay love. Im sorry I got mad at him." he crooned into the childs ears as he held her close.

"Do...do..." she sniffled as she tried to talk around her tears. "...do you wish you didnt have us, da?" he was shocked and heartbroken by her question.

"No, my little dove. Never. I love you three so much. How could you ever think I would not want you...ever?" he sat her upon the hood of their car to softly stroke her dark blond hair and wipe the tears from her blue eyes. It was Sigrid who answered him.

"Daniel said we were a burden and if we were good children then we would go back to the orphanage. He said overtime you too would finally see that. How could anyone want waifs like us." as Sigrid spoke , Bard could feel anger boiling in his gut at those heartless words, but he controlled it so not to worry the children.

"Listen her..all three of you. Not now...Not ever have you been a burden to me or will you ever be. I love you three very much. You are not waifs or burdens or unwanted." Bain began to fidgit next to him as he spoke.

"But da...we dont have enough for Christmas dinner..not enough to afford presents. If you didnt have us then you would have these things. " his brown eyes began to tear up as he bowed his head. Bards heart was breaking at his childrens fears that had been placed in them by That Man. Slowly he reached out his hand to cup the boys face to look him in the eyes as he spoke from the depth of his heart.

"Bain. I dont care about any of that. Those are material things and dont matter at all. Please, my son, know you three are all I need this Christmas and any day after. You, Sigrid, and Tilda are the best presents I could ever have wished for...your love is the grandest feast to my heart and soul that fill it to overflowing. Never doubt that my angels..never." they all pulled one another into a hug in that cold parking lot. As Bard held his children tightly to him he made himself a vow that he will never let another person in to hurt his family again...even if he had to remain celibate than so be it.