Cool Mom

46: Decision

We all are forced to remain in our seats in line with court protocol till the judge adjourns the session. The minute the end is announced, Jeremy and I are out of our seats, rushing towards the front. Jeremy sprints towards the group of directors and lawyers but I have eyes for only one person in the room who opens his arms as I barrel into them.

"You did it." I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder.

I feel him laugh silently, before he pulls away from me and takes my face in his hands. Unable to keep myself away, I lean forward and kiss him. I don't care if the proceedings are being telecast live, I don't care if this makes it to tomorrow's newspapers, don't care because the person who I care most about the world is as happy and content as I am.

I pull away from him but he doesn't let me back away.

"Daniel!" Jeremy appears from the crowd of people and pulls Daniel into a hug. I smile at the two of them as Daniel thumps Jeremy on the back and praises him for all the work he did to get to today.

Daniel turns to me grinning but the grin turns into an instant frown which makes my smile fade too. I turn around to see who's behind me.

"Emma Aaron." Hamish says, as I face him. Not seconds later I feel Daniel wrap his arm around my waist and we stand side by side to face our nemesis.

"You won." He comments, shaking his head.

"What do you want, Hamish?" Daniel asks for me.

"Nothing. Just wanted to congratulate you two." He says, his face showing no emotion.

"Thank you," is all I say before I take Daniel's arm and lead him away from the man who is responsible for all the trouble we've been through in the last month.

Daniel has to stay back, so I leave with one of his waiting drivers to pick up Hazel from her playdate. I instruct him to park the car outside the building and then I head inside to see my daughter. Hazel is waiting with Charlie in the lobby.

"Hi Bunny!" I call out, kneeling down so that she can hug me. "Did you have fun?"

She nods against my shoulder as I stand up and take her hand before leading her out to the car. I ask the driver to ride with Charlie so that Hazel and I can have the car to ourselves. I'm buckling her into her car seat when I notice a card in her hand.

"What's that, Bunny?" I ask her and she hands it to me.On closer examination I see that she's drawn a girl and a man, holding hands and inside there's a big heart.

"Daddy was sad." She explains as I hand her back the card making me smile.

"He's going to love this." I lean down and kiss her head before safely closing the door and getting in behind the steering wheel.

"Do you want to make brownies for daddy?" I ask, looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"YES PLEASE!" She screams, making me laugh.

"Can we please use grandma's recipe?" She asks, referring to the recipe that my mother used when they visited us.

"Of course." I reply, turning around to smile at her.

I drive to the nearest Target and get all the ingredients that we'll need before heading back home. I instruct Hazel to change into comfortable clothes as I too switch the suit I wore to court with a plain t shirt and jeans.Hazel helps measure out all the ingredients and while I tell her what to do, she manages it all by herself.

By the time we've poured the mixture into the baking pan and put it in the oven to bake, it's almost 6 o'clock so I ask the chefs to prepare us an early dinner since Daniel already called that he'll be having dinner at the office during a meeting.

The chefs are clearing away the dining table when I hear car doors close outside the house and an excited Hazel runs to the kitchen with Vanessa on her heels.

"Hey." I say as Daniel appears in the doorway.

He looks the most relaxed and calm that I have seen him in weeks. This warms my heart as I walk over to him and give him a kiss.

"Hi, daddy." Hazel's small voice says from behind us.

I look around Daniel to find Hazel with the plate of brownies I helped her arrange and the card she made.

"Hi, Bunny." Daniel smiles at her as he crouches down and takes the card from her first. I see his smile broaden as he looks it over before look up at Hazel again, "This is beautiful."

Hazel is beaming, unable to speak, so Daniel asks her, "Are these for me?"

She just nods and extends the plate. During their exchange, I sneakily grab my phone and take a picture of the two. They're so happy that I can't help but feel by heart melt a little.

"Did you make these yourself?" He asks, picking up a second brownie.

"Mommy helped." Hazel smiles at him.

"But Hazel did most of the work. Are they good?" I ask as Hazel holds out the plate to me. I take one and bite into it. It's delicious. The perfect balance of gooey and solid.

"Yum, Hazel!" I tell her, earning a smile from her.

Filler chapter, the next update is going to a whole more interesting! Plus, Hazel's swimming competition is coming up :)

-T