Meet the Howlters

See You in Court

YEAR: 2030

[Phil's POV]

"Winnie, get up," I said as I opened the curtains.
"Dad," he whined.
"Come on, get up lazy bones,"
"I'll get up if you promise not to make any more puns,"
"You know I can't promise that. Now come on, get your suit on, we can't be late,"
"Dad," he complained.
"Let's go,"
"But dad-"
"Winston Alexander Howlter! Get up!" I yelled.
"Okay," he pouted.

I gave him a smile and walked into Delilah's room.

"Dil, get up, let's go,"
"I heard you yell...I don't wanna get yelled at," she said as she scrambled to get out of bed.
"See you downstairs then," I smiled.

I walked downstairs to find Dan and Susan resting on the couch.

"Dan!" I whined.
"What?"
"She's gonna shed all over your suit!"
"Calm your tits Phil," he chuckled. "The lint roller is in the drawer. I can have the-"
"Dan, you know I don't care about the hair on the suit," I sighed.
"You okay? Do you want some coffee? Maybe it'll calm you down,"
"I've already had two cups," I pouted. "How are you not anxious?"
"I want to scream my head off and break everything in sight but that's not socially acceptable, now is it?" he calmly said.
"Glad to see we're in the same boat," I smiled. I began fiddling with my fingers as we waited for the kids to come downstairs. "Do you think we'll win?"
"I think so," he grabbed my hand.
"Dad! Bear!" Winston yelled from upstairs.
"What's wrong?" we yelled back.
"I need help getting downstairs!"
"Oh yeah," we bother went upstairs. Dan picked Winston up while I carried his crutches downstairs.
"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked.
"Cereal...Shreddies please,"
"What kind of not milk do you want?" Dan teased.
"Almond please,"

I walked into the kitchen and prepared a small bowl of cereal for Winston.

"Here you go," I smiled.
"Can we please watch Doctor Who?"
"Sure thing," Dan mumbled as he turned Netflix on. "We can only watch one episode though,"
"Okay..."
"Dil!" I called. "Come on!"
"I'm here," she smiled. "Bear, can you please straighten my hair like you did last week?"
"We don't have enough time, sorry honey. What do you want for breakfast?"
"Cereal please,"
"Do you want real milk or not milk," Dan laughed.
"Real milk," she laughed back.

I walked into the kitchen to make Delilah her breakfast. Before I even got a chance to get the milk Delilah already met me in there to take the bowl. After the Doctor Who episode we cleaned up our mess from breakfast and went to the car; 30 minutes later we were at the court house.

Unfortunately the press got there before we did so as we walked in we were being yelled at by reporters, fans, and homophobic assholes. Even when we walked into the court house, there were phangirls bombarding us with questions.

"Dan! Dan!" A few yelled.
"What?" he mumbled as he guided Winston to our court room.
"Which child is yours?"
"I don't know," he admitted.
"I think Delilah's his!" One yelled.
"No way! Winston's his!"
"Are you kidding me? Winnie's a red head like his real father, Philip Michael Lester!"
"Jesus fucking Christ, stop! Does it matter? They're both mine and they're both Phil's! Now, if you don't mind, we have to go sue some bitch," he huffed.
"Dan! Language!" I gasped.
"I don't care anymore Phil!" he yelled as he led Winston to to the court room.
"What's his problem?" the girls scoffed.
"You guys know I love you and appreciate everything you've done for us," I started, "but you guys make him miserable...you guys are the reason he didn't want to come out...you guys are the reason he doesn't like sharing things about the kids. You guys take things too far!"
"Daddy stop yelling," Delilah cried.
I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. "Look, Dan and I are stressed enough with this court case and right now, you guys aren't helping. Please try and take it down a notch,"
"Sorry Phil," the all murmered as we walked away.
"I don't like it when you yell," Delilah cried.
"I know, I'm sorry honey,"

I showed Delilah into the room and sat her by Louise and Darcy in the crowd. We had to wait a little bit before Betty, her attorney, and her son came in.

"Hello Laura," Becky mumbled across the aisle.
"Hello Becky," she huffed back.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"My ex girlfriend," she growled.
"Oh..."
"We're gonna win this..." she sighed. "I'm the best damn lawyer in the city...A LOT BETTER THAN HER!" Laura just flipped her off and continued to shuffle through her papers.
"Guys...please stop," Dan chuckled.
"Sorry," she grumbled.
"All rise for judge Dillon!" Everyone except Winston stood up for a brief moment before being told to take our seats.

The judge did his whole speech before we started and of course made all of us, even the kids, take oaths.

"Winston, honey, would you mind going up to the stand?" Becky asked.
"Sure," he sighed. Dan and I helped him up and 'escorted' him to the stand.
"Winston, would you like to tell everyone what happened from your point of view?"
"What?"
"Your accident dear, would you like to tell everyone how it happened from your point of view?"
"Oh...sure," he mumbled. "I was playing in a football match with my sister and then he came and kicked my leg in,"
"Could you possibly be more descriptive?"
"David was on the other team, he saw that I had the ball, he slid into me, then my knee and ankle popped out of their sockets,"
"Did your doctor say if you can still grow or not?"
"He said that I still have the possibility to get taller but I shouldn't count on it,"
"After your leg heals, are you going to be able to play any sports?"
"No...I can't do anything other than walk,"
"Thank you Winston, you can take your seat,"
"Thanks..." Dan quickly rushed up to help him back to his seat.
"I'd like to call Daniel Howlter up to the stand," Laura yelled. Dan sighed and walked back up to take his seat.
"What?" he rolled his eyes.
"Don't cop an attitude with me! Now, Mr. Howlter, may I call you Dan?"
"Whatever,"
"Dan, is it true that you and your husband put in a pool a month after Winston's accident?"
"Well, yes and no. We asked to have it built a few months before his accident and it just happened to be put in a month after,"
"So, you still got it, knowing your son can't use it?"
"What are you implying?"
"I'm implying that Winston is still fully capable of swimming and doing pretty much any sport he claims he can't do,"
"You do realize that this argument is invalid?"
"How so, Dan?"
"Well...why are you basing your opening argument on a pool I bought months ago? It is irrelevant to the case,"
"I'm just trying to-"
"My sons medical records, basically, say that he is incapable of doing anything other than walking,"
"Then why do you have the pool?" It was clear she was becoming anxious; I knew we had this in the bag.
"We have it because we paid for it, my daughter wanted it, and Winston is still fully capable of sitting in a raft and relaxing. So may I say once more, this argument is invalid. May I take my seat?"
"Yes," she gritted her teeth.

The court case dragged on and Becky was thankfully building up a convincing case; Laura couldn't seem to break her. After a gruesome 5 hours, the Lane's finally lost and were forced to pay Winston pain and suffering money. As soon as the judge said we won, Dan and I stood up and gave each other bear hugs.

"Congrats Winnie," we heard a flamboyant American call.
"Uncle Tyler!" Winston cheered.
"Hey kiddo," he gave him a quick hug.
"Thanks!"
"Hi Winston..."
"Hi Stefi," he blushed.
"We really should get home," Dan said.
"Dan," Louise whispered, "Dil fell asleep," she began lightly bouncing the sleeping girl on her hip.
"I got her," I whispered. "Thanks Louise,"
"No problem, let's go Darcy,"

Dan and I began leading Winston out of the court room; before we even left the building, we were being surrounded by phangirls.

"Did you guys win?" A couple yelled.
"Yes," Dan mumbled. "Excuse us,"

We pushed our way through the crowd and thankfully got to our car without a huge fuss. Delilah woke up a few minutes later, dazed and confused.

"Did we win?" she yawned.
"Yes, I looked to Dan and smiled, "yes we did."