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TW// mention of eating disorder/anorexia

I took a deep breath while gazing at my appearance in the mirror. It was my nicest outfit: a pair of freshly ironed striped pants and a black flowy top. I had my hair in a neat bun and I wore minimal makeup. I wasn't sure how to dress for court, as I'd never really had to go, other than when my mother was finalizing her will right before she passed.

Today was the day. Today was our first and, hopefully, final court appearance to get my siblings away from that mess they were living in New York. I'd worked so hard for this day. I'd gotten a new job, I'd gotten a house, I had my shit together... Hopefully, I had everyone on my side.

"You look nice," Sodapop said as he walked into our bedroom. He was wearing nice pants and a nice shirt and just socks.

"Do I?" He nodded.

"You always do."

"I just don't know what to wear. I'm so nervous about this."

"I think you look fine. Besides, they're not going to be looking at your outfit. They're going to be looking at your records and your ability to take care of two kids."

I nodded. "I know. I just want to look my best. I can always have professionalism on my side, right?"

He grinned at me and pulled me into him. "Are you about ready to go then?"

"Yeah," I said. "I just need to get my shoes on."

"Me too."

We both located our shoes and I grabbed a granola bar out of the cabinet to eat on the way to the courthouse.

Greg, Claire, and our grandparents had been staying in a hotel for the last couple days so Eric and Judith could finalize things with their part of the case. I'd seen my brother and sister the day before when Sodapop and I took them for lunch.

Sodapop and I sat down outside the courtroom on the bench, our papers in hand.

"Now remember," my attorney said. "Only speak when asked to and don't interrupt Eric or Judith, even if they say something you don't want to hear. What you say in a court of law can and will be held against you. Understand?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Chambers."

Sodapop and I sat there for a good few minutes before Greg, Claire, and our grandparents walked in. Judith was looking lost and Eric looked exhausted. Greg and Claire perked up as soon as they saw Soda and I and they ran toward me to hug me.

"Hey, guys." I kissed them both on the top of their heads, even though Greg was nearly as tall as me. "This'll all be over soon," I promised. They both gave me the same reassuring smile.

"Candice Marshall?" came my attorney's voice. "We're ready for you now."

I led everyone else in. Sodapop, Greg, Claire, and I sat on one side of the room while Eric and Judith sat on the other.

"Hello, Ms. Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen. So we're here today because Ms. Candice Roxanne Marshall has made the case to have her younger siblings, Gregory Owen Jensen, aged fourteen, and Claire Brianne Jensen, also fourteen, to be put under her lawful guardianship.

"Now, I see that both maternal grandparents have signed the document to give custody to their oldest granddaughter. But, it has been brought to my attention that one of the signees was possibly not in the right state of mind in doing so."

I looked over to where Eric and Judith were seated to see that Eric was glaring at me.

"Mrs. Judith Beverly Jensen appears to have Alzheimer's disease. Was the plaintiff aware of this before asking the defendants to sign said document?" Judge Astor asked me. Alzheimer's? You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

"No I was not, Your Honor," I said. "To my knowledge, my grandfather had tried to get my grandmother to go to the hospital several times, to which every time she denied."

"That is false, Your Honor," Eric said and I turned to him. What the hell kind of game was he playing?

"No, that's accurate," said Claire, ever the loudmouth she is. "Even my brother and I tried to get her to see a doctor on numerous occasions."

The judge turned to Greg. "Is this true, Mr. Jensen?"

"Yes... Y-Your Honor," Greg said. "She would have spells where she would forget where she was and sometimes she would freak out like she couldn't figure out where she was. And then when she would snap out of it, she wouldn't remember a thing at all. And my sister and I, and even our grandfather would beg her to see a doctor."

"When was she diagnosed?"

"Only about a week ago," said Claire. "Months after she and our grandfather had already signed the documents."

The judge wrote something down. "Now, it says here, Ms. Marshall, that you are claiming negligence on your grandparents' part. Can you elaborate on that a little?"

"Um, yes," I said. "Upon my visit back in February, which was when I got the guardianship transferal documents signed by both of my grandparents, I noticed that they didn't keep much food in the house, and my siblings didn't own many valuables or clothes. When they visited me, they had a small suitcase each and about four outfits total. Given, they only stayed with me for a week, but even just four outfits on a weeklong stay like that is enough to raise eyebrows."

"And it says here that you have raised your siblings before?"

"Yes, Your Honor. I was about nine when they were born and it wasn't long after their birth when our mother started drinking. She became an alcoholic and I was left to take care of my siblings myself, making sure they got fed and went to school on time. I ended up dropping out of high school when I was sixteen so I could get another job to support them."

"Did you ever go back and finish your education?"

"Yes. After my mother died, that's when my grandparents took custody of them. I went to the university here in Tulsa when I was eighteen and I got my GED."

"So you know everything about these kids, right?"

"Yes. I raised them like they were my own."

"And your partner, Sodapop Curtis is okay with becoming a shared guardian of these kids?"

"Yes, absolutely, Your Honor," said Sodapop.

"Now, it says here, you both have been to jail."

I scrunched my eyebrows, trying to think of when Sodapop and I went to jail. And then I remembered. When we were younger, Darry took some gymnastics classes and he ended up teaching us how to do flips. Sodapop, Two-Bit, and I all got arrested and spent the night in jail for doing flips off of cars.

"It was a minor offense, Your Honor," I said. "We couldn't have been very old. Maybe ten. We got in trouble for doing backflips off cars in the streets and they kept us overnight down at the station until Sodapop's mother came and bailed us out."

"I see," the judge said seriously, but he had a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Mr. Jensen, I have to ask: how do you feel knowing your granddaughter wants to take custody of your other two grandchildren."

"I think she's batshit crazy," Eric said. "Those kids are nothing but trouble. I told her when she come up and made us sign those damn papers. Greg likes to fight and Claire won't eat a damn thing that's put in front of her." Greg and Claire were silent and I was about to protest when I remembered what Mr. Chambers had told me about keeping my mouth shut. If I started a fight with Eric, I could lose the battle.

"In my opinion, she can have the damn brats, but it's all on her from then on. I don't wanna hear any complaints ever outta her."

I bit my tongue. Sodapop grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Well, taking into consideration your wife's condition and your home environment, I'm seriously leaning toward signing the parental rights over to Ms. Marshall. But, I can't just take her word for it that these children are being neglected. I want to have child protective services at your house by the end of the week to see what kind of living conditions they are under. I have not made my decision yet, but I would say that by the end of this month, Ms. Marshall, you may be looking at being the new guardian of Mr. and Miss Jensen.

"Once I get word back from child protection services, I will deliver the entire findings off to a grand jury and we'll finalize the entire case. We'll call you all back in for a final hearing and we will deliver the results of the case to you. Court dismissed."

I took another huge breath. Everyone in the courtroom filed out. Sodapop, the twins, and I walked out together.

"This'll all be over soon," I told them, bringing them both into a hug.

"We hope we get to go with you," Greg said.

"If all else fails, you guys are old enough to decide where you want to live," Sodapop said. If they ask you where you prefer to live, you tell them your final decision."

They both nodded and we were soon joined by Eric and Judith.

"Let's go," Eric gruffed.

Claire looked to me desperately. "Can we stay with Candy and Soda tonight?"

Eric huffed. "Nothing's stopping ya."

"We'll go and grab their things from the hotel and I'll bring them back by in the morning before you guys leave."

"Whatever," Eric said, pulling a carton of cigarettes from his breast pocket and lighting one up.

I turned to my brother and sister. "You guys ready to go?" I asked them and they both nodded, looking relieved that they wouldn't have to stay with Eric and Judith tonight.

'''

When we got home, Sodapop and I set up the pullout couch again.

"This is so exhausting," Claire said as she walked out of the bathroom, now in her pajamas. "I can't wait until this is over."

"Us, too," said Sodapop. "We want you guys to move in as soon as possible. Hopefully, that'll be in just a few short weeks."

Greg and Claire made themselves comfy on the couch.

"You know, even if we had to sleep on this couch for the next four years, I'd be happy just because I'm here," said Greg.

"That's really touching, Greg," I smiled. "But you guys are gonna get beds and new clothes and our fridge won't ever be empty. I can assure you that. I made this all work once. I'll do it again."

"Hey Candice?" asked Claire, her voice sounding small and unsure.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Can I talk to you? Like, alone?"

"Yeah, of course," I said. I led her into my and Sodapop's bedroom. I closed the door and joined her on the bed.

"Sooo... you know about my eating disorder," she said.

"Yeah," I said. "That day I took you and Greg to lunch, I watched you push your food around."

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna be honest and say that most of the time I don't even realize I do it. I've been doing it since sixth grade and now it's just a natural thing to me."

"Why are you not eating?"

"Well..." Claire trailed off, but I didn't push her. I let her gather her thoughts. "When I was in sixth grade, all my friends became cheerleaders. They were all skinny and pretty and I was just kinda plain. They wore new clothes and they started to get into makeup, and I mostly wore Greg's hand-me-downs. I went to tryouts, too, but they said I wasn't skinny enough. So I stopped eating."

"Claire..."

"And pretty soon I lost all my friends. They turned on me. Started spreading rumors. I had no one but Greg. And then all the guys started picking on me."

"Is that why Greg's been fighting?" I asked her.

"Yeah. He's always stuck up for me. Greg lost a lot of his friends, too, because they were either talking crap about me or they were saying dirty things."

I wanted to cry. Claire was starving herself to impress girls who didn't give a shit about her and Greg was risking getting expelled to stick up for her. I wanted to hate myself for not being there, for not seeing their problems sooner. I wanted to hate myself for wallowing in my own self-pity when they needed me. They needed me and I wasn't there.

"Claire, I'm so sorry." I pulled my little sister into my arms. "I can't wait until I get you guys."

"You sound so sure," Claire chuckled. I held her at arm's length away from me.

"Hey, we're gonna get through this. We're tough. I'm gonna get you guys. Don't worry about a thing, okay?"

She nodded. "I love you, Candice."

"I love you, too, Claire." I gave her another hug and we left the bedroom. Sodapop had been talking with Greg. He looked up when he heard the door open and he dismissed himself from their conversation with a pat on the back.

"Everything alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah. He was just excited about coming here. I was telling him about the shop and he wants to get a job."

I grinned. "He's always looked up to you," I told Soda.

"Claire looks up to you."

I smiled at him. "Well, you said you wanted kids," I smirked at him.

"Okay, not that I'm not excited for them to come and live with us, but I meant our own kids," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm exhausted."

"Me, too."

"Jesus. We are getting old. Tired by nine?"

"I had no idea this was what being an adult would be like."

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Who could that be?" Sodapop asked and I shrugged. "I don't know. One of the guys or girls, maybe?"

Sodapop walked over to the front door. The twins were both looking expectantly that way as well. Soda opened the door. I heard him greet whoever it was, but I didn't hear who it was.

"Who is it?" I asked.

Soda moved out of the way to let Hannah in, who had a tear streaked and blotchy red face. She looked like hell.

"Hey, what the hell?" I said and rushed over to her.

"Candy, I don't know what to do," she sobbed. I pulled her into me and led her toward the bedroom. I guess Sodapop and I would need to convert our bedroom into a therapist's office.

I closed the door and turned to her. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I'm-I-I'm p-pregnant," she spluttered out through sobs.

"What?" I said, scratching my ear like I hadn't heard her right.

She took a deep breath and I rubbed her arms to help her calm down.

"I'm pregnant," she said finally, then taking a huge, wavering breath.

"Pregnant? Are you sure?"

"A hundred percent. I just got back from the doctor's. I was sick a lot and I was thinking it was the flu, so Two made me go. I told him to stay home with Mikey and I'm glad I did because I don't know how he would have handled it if he found out that way. Candice, I don't know what to do."

"Okay, well, calm down. Sit down on the bed. Do you want me to bring Sodapop in here?"

She shrugged. "I don't care."

I stood up and poked my head out the door. Soda caught my eye immediately and jerked my head back toward the bedroom and he pushed himself away from the counter and entered the bedroom.

"Hey, honey, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to Hannah and rubbing her back comfortingly.

"I went to the doctor today and I--" she couldn't finish her sentence before she broke down into tears again.

"She's pregnant," I told Sodapop.

"Oh," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah." Hannah took another deep breath before continuing. "It's Keith's. But I don't know how to tell him he's gonna be a dad. I don't even think I've quite grasped the idea of me being a mom. And I keep thinking about my dad and how he wanted nothing to do with me and how I never got on with my mom. You know? You guys are my only family. What if he doesn't take it well and... I lose you guys, too?"

"You'll never lose us," I tell her. "Never. And, you know, you and Two-Bit have more in common than you think."

She looked at me curiously.

"Did Two never tell you?" Soda asked, to which Hannah just shrugged. "Two-Bit's daddy walked out on his mom. Anne was left to raise Two and Sarah on her own."

"Well, I knew his dad wasn't around. I didn't know he walked out."

"I don't think Two-Bit would be the kind of guy to walk off on a girl he got pregnant, especially you. Two-Bit used to be a little womanizer back in the day, but I can see it in his eyes-- the way he looks at you-- he really loves you. He's gonna support you through this."

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone this," Sodapop began, "but when we were younger, Two-Bit once told me that if he had kids, he wouldn't do to them like how his dad did to him. Two-Bit may be the kind of guy who doesn't take anything seriously, and he jokes around a lot and is generally kind of irresponsible--"

"Soda, you're kinda going off track," I interrupted. He laughed.

"Sorry. Anyway, my point is, Two would do anything for those he loves. And I agree with Candy. There's something about you he's never seen with anyone else. He cares about you. I don't think he'll walk out. He's gonna support you."

Hannah nodded. She looked like she was finally done crying. "How do I tell him? I mean, we're raising a four-almost-five-year-old and now I'm pregnant--"

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. And Sodapop and I will be here to help. And so will the others. And Two-Bit's mom will support you. We're your family. We're not going to let you go through this alone."

Hannah smiled at me. "What would I do without you?"

"Hey, I've been asking myself the same thing about you."

I pulled my best friend into a hug.

"I better get home, I guess. Sorry for just dropping in," she said.

"You're always welcome here," Soda reassured her.

"Thank you, guys. Honestly."

"Hey, anytime."

With that, Hannah left our bedroom bid the twins a quick goodbye, and then left. I heard her car rev up and drive off toward her and Two's place.

"Well, shit," I said.

'''

Hey, did anyone catch that little easter egg? x