New York City, early morning.

The scene opens with Joey standing next to Dawson 's parked car on a New York street . She is holding a cell phone to her ear, in the middle of a telephone conversation with Bessie. Dawson is leaned over digging around in the trunk of the car gathering- what else- filming equipment. In the background, we see a large building that has “New York Superior Court” in black lettering on the side.

Joey is speaking on the phone:

“Yeah, we just got here. Not too much traffic, thank goodness. We found a parking spot just down the street, so Dawson won't have to carry his equipment far at all.” Joey listens for a moment (Bessie is speaking on the other end). “No, we haven't seen Jack yet” Joey looks around, “but we just got here and we aren't that close to the courthouse. We're pretty early anyway, but we wanted plenty of time to get the equipment in without it being a rush.” Joey glances at Dawson affectionately. “The judge is even letting us go into the courtroom early before everyone else comes in, so we have plenty of time to set everything up.”

Joey pauses, biting her lip a moment.

“I'm nervous but excited about today. I can't imagine what Jack is feeling. How are you doing?” Joey asks, concerned, with a serious expression on her face. She listens to Bessie on the other end of the line before talking again.

“Yeah, I know. It doesn't seem real, or fair, that Amy might be leaving to go live with Helen in a few days. Amy's become such a big part of our lives in such a short period of time, it seems like she has always been with us. Not to mention how Jack will feel. I just hope Jack wins today. <beat> He just has to.”

Dawson has by now collected most of his filming equipment and is slinging bags over his shoulder. He looks at Joey expectantly. Joey catches his look as she sees him mouthing something.

“ Dawson says hi” Joey smiles at him and Dawson smiles back. “Listen, Bessie, we're ready to go. We can talk more when you get here. Call me when you and Bodie leave Capeside. I'll talk to you later Sis. Bye”

Joey snaps shut her cell-phone and stows it in her purse, before looking at Dawson . The two just look at each other a moment, knowing how important a day this is for everyone.

“Well, let's get going” Dawson finally says, picking up his filming camera. “Could you get those bags?” he asks, nodding to the open trunk. “Sure, no problem.” Joey replies with a smile, grabbing a few small bags from the trunk. “I'm your assistant today anyway, aren't I?” She says sweetly and humorously.

“You're my assistant always” Dawson smiles at her.

“Corny,” she replies, making him laugh. Then she shuts the trunk and the two turn to look sombrely at the courthouse.

“Well, if justice has anything to do with it, Jack will be walking out of the courtroom today with Amy,” Dawson comments, “and Helen can go back to her trivial self-absorbed life and leave Amy to us.” Dawson looks at Joey with a soft expression on his face. “To the people who love her.”

They start to walk down the street when Joey speaks again.

“I hope you're right, although I'm double worried. Not only would it be Jack losing, but Bessie and Bodie too… they have grown to love Amy just as much, and it would be very hard on them too. Almost as if losing their own kid” < a beat > “I can't imagine the feeling. I can't even imagine how it might feel having one, let alone losing it”.

(MUSIC OF THE CREDITS STARTS PLAYING)

Dawson just looks at her seriously.

“Do you think about it?” he asks softly.

“About kids?” she says, giving him a side-glance, and he nods his head.

“Do you?” she asks curious, not quite ready to answer.

Dawson seems to ponder her question as they cross the road with the green light, immersed in the crowd. It isn't until they're on the other side and walking down the street that he replies.

“Sometimes. Since we're together… sometimes,” he smiles.

Joey bites her bottom lip and then smiles back at him, nodding her head.

“Me too,” she whispers softly as they reach the entrance of the building. Smiling at her, Dawson manages to open the door and keep it open for her. As she passes by, her smile grows even bigger and Dawson follows, still smiling as well.

(CREDITS)

Capeside, Amy's room at the Potter's B&B. Early morning.

Bessie is leaning over Amy's raised crib and tenderly tucking in a pink blanket over the sleeping child. Bodie quietly walks into the room and stands close behind Bessie, wrapping his arms around her.

“You're back,” Bessie smiles and straightens up, leaning a little back against him as the two gaze at Amy. “Everything ok?”

“Yes, everything's fine. Lily was already awake and waiting for Alex. As expected, I left them to have a great time together and drive Gale crazy I suppose, although she didn't tell me that part. But knowing Lily and how she loves to drag Alex to anything she can think of,” he laughs, thinking of how naïve his son is, despite him being older than Lily.

With a little smile and an amused glint in his eye, Bodie starts to knead Bessie's stomach, pressing it and poking it a little. Bessie looks surprised and a little annoyed, but amused too.

“What pray tell are you doing?” She asks

“Just checking”

“Checking what?”

“To see if there is a bun in the oven yet.”

Bessie looks exasperated and amused. “Well if there were, it would only be the size of a peanut, so molesting my stomach is not going to be of much use.”

Bodie smirks. “These are love pats. I would never molest my beautiful wife,” he teases.

“Oh yeah? Tell that to my stomach” Bessie grouses, but then she smiles and leans back against her husband again, her gaze returning to Amy.

“So you really want to…?” Bodie asks softly in Bessie's ear. Bessie sighs.

“Yeah, I do,” she sighs. “Now that you've made me an honest woman,” she teases. “I just hate to see her go. Just think, by this time next week, she will either be back home with Jack where she belongs, or, heaven forbid, with the witch otherwise known as her grandmother Helen. God, I would hate to see that happen.”

“What will be will be,” Bodie says philosophically. “At least we got a chance to enjoy her while it lasted."

“Yeah, that we did.” Bessie agrees with a smile. She thinks a minute. “Funny, I did not want another baby in this house. I had everything perfect in my life. I never thought I'd see the day when everything was so perfect.”

“Something doesn't have to become less perfect just because things change. Things can become a different kind of perfect.” Bodie comments with a smile.

Bessie sighs. “I know, but it was very rough going for a while there, with you gone and Alex a baby. Now everything is perfect. Three months ago the last thing I wanted was a baby in the house and now all I can do is come in here to take peaks at her and think how glad I am to have Amy here. And I know I said in the past ‘no more babies' but I guess you should never say never” Bessie smiles ruefully.

Bodie cuddles Bessie. “You act tough but I know what a softie you really are,” he whispers affectionately in her ear.

“You wouldn't have thought so ten years ago” Bessie says, pulling a face. “I was almost like a crazy woman. It's a wonder Joey managed to grow up. I wanted so much for her to be a kid too, but I needed her help so much. Thank God for Dawson . I think he kept her sane.” Bessie pauses. “But when those hormones kicked in, all hell broke loose.” Bessie turns to look at Bodie again. “Can we have a boy again? I don't think I can live through another teenage girl” she jokes half-heartedly.

Bodie smiles, amused.

“At least she's with Dawson now.” Bodie says, satisfied.

“ Dawson is the one for her. I've always known that. < beat > It's the real deal with him. He makes her happy.” Bessie states. “And I'm glad she finally realized it. You can't run scared your whole life.” Bessie sighs. “Joey is twenty-six and I still worry about her.”

“That's why you're such a good mother to Alex and why you'll be a good mother to the next little rug rat running around here.” Bodie smiles.

“Yeah, well you say that now but just wait until the precious little one starts screaming at the top of his…or her…lungs at three in the morning. Don't let Amy's sweetness fool you. Most babies are not as quiet as she is.” Bessie looks at him, pensive. “You missed so much with Alex,” she says a little sadly.

“I had to go, honey. For our future” Bodie says quietly. “I knew you could handle it or I wouldn't have gone” < a beat > “I don't know if I ever get to thank you. So thank you for doing it and thank you for raising my son…our son…while I was gone.”

Bessie smiles a contented wife smile. “You're welcome” is all she says. It has been ten years since that time and a lot has changed.

Amy stirs in her sleep and Bessie finds herself surprised that she has been standing over the crib watching her this whole time and it seems like hardly any time has passed at all.

“A lot of things have changed,” Bessie says softly. “Who would have ever thought that Jen would be gone and I'd be taking care of her child. Even if it is just for a little while.”

“So I was right about asking to foster her?” Bodie asks, nuzzling Bessie.

Bessie sighs. “We had help through the hard times and now it's our turn to help. They are our friends. It's the least we can do.” She pauses thoughtfully. “And Dad seems really to be enjoying it too” she adds. “Besides, I know what it feels like to be treated unfairly because of prejudice” she says softly, closing her white hand over Bodie's dark hand.

“Love is blind. It shouldn't matter that Jack is gay. Fostering Amy was the right thing to do, for everyone,” Bodie states with calm assurance.

“I know” Bessie reaches up and back with her hand and without turning around she caresses Bodie's cheek. “This reminds me of why I fell in love with you,” she says softly with a warm caress in her voice. “You are such a good man,” she says deeply and sincere.

Bodie smiles. “Does that mean I get out of diaper duty?”

Bessie laughs. “Not a chance. You missed most of it the first time around and it is only fair that you make up your share of diaper changing this time…. starting with Amy when she wakes up, because we better get going.”

Bodie jokingly groans.

Morning, New York Courthouse.

The scene opens with Jack, Grams, Pacey and Andie arriving at the courthouse. We first see them standing below the courthouse steps, looking up at the formal and somewhat imposing white New York court building. They all look a little nervous but also determined. They are early for the trial but they wanted to arrive early.

Grams takes a deep breath. “Well, this is it. The day has finally come“, she says softly, then looks at Jack who is standing next to her, their arms laced as she needs a little of support (in both senses) sometimes.

“Yes, this is it” Jack states, deep voiced and a little grim, but he is clearly determined to go forward and do his best.

“Well, the sooner we go in, the sooner we can get this over. All we can do is what we have prepared to do all along, and the rest is in God's… and the court's hands” Grams says resolutely, starting up the steps. Jack starts up too. Pacey and Andie lag behind a moment and Andie touches Pacey's arm to detain him.

“I'm worried about Jack,” Andie says in a low voice, glancing up at Jack's back as he is climbing the steps. “Promise me you'll keep an eye on him, okay?”

“He'll be fine,” Pacey reassures Andie warmly, putting a comforting arm around Andie's shoulders. “Look at all the support he has: you, me, Grams, Bessie, Dawson, Joey, not to mention half the town of Capeside . {beat} Helen doesn't stand a chance” he smiles at Andie. Andie smiles a wavering smile back. “But I promise to keep an eye on Jack if that will make you feel better” Pacey promises.

“It does, Pacey, it really does” Andie says, still a little worried about Jack.

Grams, in the meantime, has reached the top of the stairs and has turned to watch Pacey and Andie.

“Let's go McPhee” Pacey says with a grin. “It cannot be said that the McPhees are fainthearted. The McPhees I know are big-hearted and brave and true,” he says with a warm expression on his face as he smiles big and bright at her. “Besides, I've seen you working at the hospital, and you, Dr. McPhee, have nerves of friggin' steel! Don't tell me a little old courtroom can throw you when a code blue doesn't.”

Andie takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I think I'm more nervous than Jack is,” Andie admits with a shaky little laugh. “At least at the hospital, I have purpose and structure! Here, I don't know what I can do to help or what is going to happen.”

“You'll be okay, Andie.” Pacey says kindly. “And I'll be here with you the whole time, for what that is worth”

Andie smiles at him. “That means a lot to me Pacey” she says sweetly, and the two share a look for a moment before Andie breaks their gaze, steps out of his arm, and hastily starts rushing up the steps.

Pacey takes a few quick steps up to catch up beside her and takes her elbow. “Easy there Andie, let's not be out of the game before we even get into the courthouse” Pacey chuckles, taking Andie's arm gently. “Slow and steady is more like it.”

Andie smiles a little embarrassed, but pleased too, as Pacey gently and carefully guides the two of them up the remaining steps in a most gentlemanly manner, protective of her. This does not go unnoticed by Grams neither.

The four of them enter the courthouse, and enter the large lobby.

“Why don't you all wait here while I go scope things out first?” Jack suggests.

Andie gives Pacey a pointed look. “I'll go with you” Pacey hastily offers.

“Good idea” Jack agrees. “You can get some coffee and drinks for everyone too”

“I am here but to serve” Pacey says with a smile and little flourish of a bow, trying to keep the mood light.

Andie can't help but smile as she watches Pacey and Jack head off down the hall in search of the courtroom and refreshments.

Grams links this time her arm with Andie's and they sit down at one of the benches along the wall of the lobby. She looks at Andie speculatively.

“Your young man seems quite nice” Grams comments.

“Oh, Pacey! He's not my young man” Andie laughs a little nervously. “But yeah, he is nice. He has always been” Andie adds with a smile.

“Oh, I know. I remember that summer you were away in the hospital, how often he would come to my house to visit Jack and talk about you for hours and comment on your last call or letter. He seemed quite taken with you. He still does.” Grams says with a sweet smile.

“Oh, that summer. It was so long ago” Andie replies, her gaze lost in the memories. “A lot of things happened. A lot of chances lost I guess” she smiles sadly at Grams.

“But you're friends now. And the book of fate is never closed, just open in the middle” Grams smiles softly while patting Andie's hand and seeing her blush a little.

“Pacey and I just seem to fall in together, you know? In some ways, it's as if no time has passed since high school, and in other ways… everything is different.” Andie replies. “Some things exact and some things different.” Andie pauses, thinking. “I guess we bring out the best in each other… at least when we aren't bringing out the worst”. Andie laughs. “He calms me down and he can be, and is, quite generous and funny and kind and wonderful, and I…. I don't know…. I guess I help him get on track sometimes, when he needs it.”

“You complement each other.” Grams states. “And ground each other. That is a rare thing to find.”

“Yes, well, it isn't all a picnic, let me tell you. Pacey Witter can be trouble with a capital ‘T'“, Andie says fervently.

“I heard of some of his troubles” Grams says softly. “I knew that he was a friend of Dawson 's and I've seen him grow up almost as much as I saw Dawson and Joey grow up, Jack and my own Jennifer. I was very disappointed to hear that he had been seen with a married woman. I don't mean to be judgmental, but no good can come of behavior like that.” Grams comments, pursing her lips.

“I agree”. Andie states forthrightly. “And he agrees as well. We have talked about that, and he knows it was wrong. He figured that out by himself. Just like he did figure out other things. And that's a good thing, you know? Because anyone can help anyone. But Pacey and me have talked a lot. We talk a lot. We go for a coffee, or he cooks for me and we talk and talk. I think we have never talked so much before!” Andie smiles, remembering evenings at the back room of his restaurant, or at the main of the restaurant when everybody was gone, or at her house, or his apartment. “I think he is looking back and seeing the error of his ways in certain things”

“Perhaps he was just lost,” Grams says kindly. “It is a common thing for young people to get lost sometimes on the way to finding out who, and what, they are. Sometimes they just need the right person to help them see where they want to go.”

Andie frowns slightly, thinking about that. “Well, that doesn't seem like that works with Pacey” Andie shrugs. “I helped him before, but it seems like it didn't work then. Sometimes even if you want something to go one way, it doesn't.” Andie says a little sadly.

Grams pats Andie's hand.

“I wouldn't worry too much dear. All I know is what I know, and what I've seen. I know every one has a special someone out there, someone that was made especially for them. A soul mate, they call them. And you might think that this is only an old crazy woman speaking, but in my opinion all Pacey needs to find is his own soul mate. It would be then that he would be completely fulfilled and it will be then that he will become a whole person: reuniting with his other half. For me it was certainly my husband, with his good and his bad qualities. For my Jennifer I am truly certain that it was Jack. For Joey is certainly Dawson 's. One only has to see the two of them together to see that. And I see much the same between you and Pacey.” Grams says sweetly with a kind smile at Andie. “I have a feeling that this time, Pacey will see that the right woman for him is standing right next to him, and a lovely and accomplished woman at that too.”

Andie smiles slightly, a little embarrassed, but she is happy too to hear Grams' kind and encouraging words.

“Plus, you do love him, don't you?” Grams says leaving no room for a no, since she already knows the answer.

Andie looks at her not really knowing what to do. Saying it out loud, saying it to another person makes it real and she doesn't know if she is ready for it.

Just then she looks up and sees Jack and Pacey coming down the hall toward them smiling with coffee and drinks in their hands. Pacey waves at her and Andie smiles back.

“Here” he says, giving her a muffin. “I know these are your favourites,” he smiles warmly as he sits down by Jack's side and they continue the conversation they were having on their way back.

Andie looks at the muffin in her hand and then to Grams. Silently, she nods her head in reply to the lady's question, and she gives Andie's hand one last pat.

Inside the courtroom.

“Ok, we're done,” announces Dawson as he straightens up from behind the camera. “The angle is ok, from here I can move the camera so it films the whole room,” he explains to Joey as much as he does to himself, “and the light is good” he finishes.

Joey chuckles and he looks at her.

“What?”

“You always do that. You always recount things when you're done”

“Well, sue me” he smiles at her and they just look at each other in silence for a couple of seconds.

“What's the time?” Joey asks.

“We still got some time. I guess everybody might be outside already, waiting.”

“Let's go then,” Joey says, taking his hand and passing his arm around her shoulder. She puts her arm around his waist as they walk outside the courtroom.

There they meet Jack, Grams, Pacey and Andie sitting outside. Jack seems to be nervous, tapping with his feet on the floor. Grams is rubbing his arm sitting at his right. Andie is sitting by the other side and is trying very hard not to look concerned but optimist. Pacey is trying to cheer him up with some bad joke, what only causes him to smile while Andie can't help but laugh.

“That was so bad!” she complains.

“Well, you know the guy,” Dawson says as they near the group.

“Hey, you're here!” Pacey comments as they all stand up and exchange hugs.

“Yeah, we came earlier to make everything ready for the filming.”

“Jack, you're a star” Joey jokes.

“Yeah, only I wish I wasn't” he says, and everybody is silent. Jack notices, “Sorry, I am just nervous”

“No problem,” Joey says, “I usually never say the right word in the worst moments”

But she passes her arm around Jack and he hugs her against him.

“Bessie called. They'll be here soon and they will be bringing Amy” Dawson informs them.

“Good, I've missed my girl,” Pacey smiles.

“We visited her this morning before coming. She was sleeping” Grams says.

“It's been a while since the last time we saw her,” Joey comments, looking at Dawson for confirmation. “Last time was on Christmas, right?”

“Actually, that is not a lot of time,” Dawson jokes.

“When it comes to Amy, that is a lot of time,” Andie protests half joking.

“True,” Pacey agrees and everybody smiles.

“By the way, we already developed the pictures,” Joey says and searches on her purse for them.

They sit all together and for a while they spend their time looking at the pictures of their Christmas together.

“God, it had been years since we all spent a Christmas together, isn't it?” Andie comments.

“Very true,” Grams says, “and thank god we had them, because no matter what happens today here, anyone will be able to take that away from us,” Grams says.

“Amen,” Pacey jokes.

“Pacey Witter!” she scolds him, but she is smiling at the same time.

“Oh, look at this one!” Andie laughs.

“Pacey, I'm so gonna kill you,” Jack laughs at the picture of him and Andie in pose and Pacey behind them, unnoticed by the two siblings, making a silly face.

“I love this one,” Grams intercedes once more to signalize a picture of the whole group: Jack in the center, making sure that Amy's dress, who is sitting on his knees, looks perfect. Andie by his side, smiling at the camera and Pacey sitting by Andie, taking Amy's little hand on his and speaking at the baby as the baby looks at him, smiling wide. By the other side of Jack we can see Grams saying something while she laughs, and next to Grams is Dawson, Joey sitting on his lap with a big grin, her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist as Dawson laughs while telling her something. Behind the group sitting in the sofa we can see Mike in the center, with Bessie and Bodie by his left side. By his right, Gale and John, who is trying to get to his place on the picture, they all talking with each other as Alex and Lily are about to sit in front of the whole group by Ethan, Sam and Audrey, who are already on the floor and seem to be the only ones smiling at the camera.

“I guess this is the picture John took with the wrong temporizer in the camera,” Pacey laughs.

“You're guessing right,” Dawson laughs.

“You're right Grams, it's a great picture,” Jack concedes with a bittersweet smile.

“And I'm sure next year we'll be able to make another like that one or even better,” A female voice startles them and they look up to see Audrey.

“Hey!” Joey jumps from her set and hugs her with a big grin.

“Hi everybody,” she waves her hand in a general salute. “And sorry to interrupt this moment, but the witch from the east was coming right behind me”.

As soon as she says that we see Helen entering the place with whom they presume is her lawyer.

“I guess we should act as civilized people and talk to her,” Jack says.

“Do we really have to?” Pacey asks.

“Well, I'm going to at least,” Grams sighs and she stands up with a tired expression on her face.

“I'm going with you Grams,” Jack says as he laces her arm on his. Grams smiles at him thankfully and they walk towards Helen.

“I think I'm going for a coffee,” Dawson says. “Anyone?”

He is met by negative nods from everybody.

“No thank you hon,” Joey says as the three girls sit back in the bench and she puts the pictures back to the envelope in her purse

“I'll go with you,” Pacey offers.

They both go to the coffee machine on the other side of the aisle.

"How you holding up?" Pacey asks him.

Dawson shrugs in response.

"I'm feeling a little helpless, but hoping for the best," he responds. "But I think the person you should be worrying about is Jack. This is probably going to be the toughest fight of his life."

"Yeah I know. Andie already asked me to look after him, but there is no much I can do right now," Pacey adds.

"Yeah, you're right" Dawson sighs.

“And how you're holding up?” Dawson asks back.

“Well, I am more involved on this than I thought I would be because of Andie. Amy is, after all, her niece, you know?”

“True,” Dawson nods his head as he takes his coffee. “Funny the way things work, huh?”

"You can say that again” Pacey agrees. “I just can't believe it got to this point," Pacey grumbles. "You know what the worst part of this is? Jen would hate this. If she were alive, she'd go up in front of the jury and just tell them what a monumental joke this is."

Dawson can't help but laugh at Pacey's comment.

“Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what she would do” < a beat > "If Jen were alive though, we wouldn't be having a trial in the first place."

For a moment they both remain silent.

“It is hard to believe that she has been gone for one year and 8 months now,” Pacey says, and Dawson can only nod.

"How can she do this, man?" Pacey glares at Helen across the aisle. The conversation with Jack and Grams seems to be tense. "All the time Jen was growing up, she treated her like dirt. Sending her away like she did, and somehow she thinks she has more right to raise Amy than the person Jen wanted to?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Dawson replies. "She looks at Amy as her 'second chance' to make up for what happened with Jen. Her reasoning for Jack being 'unfit' it's just an excuse."

"I guess you're right. But is sucks the same.”

“I have a feeling though… that everything will be ok.”

“Is there something you know that I don't?” Pacey eyes his suspiciously.

Dawson only smiles and shrugs his shoulders.

“We'll see.”

“Dawson Leery, don't make me go around calling you Oompa Loompa” Pacey shakes his finger at him, joking.

“Just be careful there is no basketball anywhere near me when you do that.” Dawson jokes back.

The court clerk opens the door and stands back to let everyone in.

“We better enter. I think we're going to start soon." Dawson states as they both look at the open door.

Jack and Grams say goodbye to Helen, relieved that the exchange was over, and the rest of the gang are gathered in front of the courtroom door. At first no-one moves, contemplating the momentousness of the occasion and they just look at each other, expecting.

Joey, standing next to Jack, grabs his hand. “Good luck , ” she whispers to him, nervous and excited at the same time, giving his hand a squeeze. Jack gives her a weak smile and gives her hand a quick squeeze back.

“Thanks , ” he says, glancing at her and his friends for a moment, but quickly all his attention goes back to the courtroom as he drops her hand and straightens his shoulders, mentally preparing himself for whatever lay ahead as he walks inside.

Inside the courtroom.

Dawson , with Joey's help earlier, set up the filming camera on a tripod in one of the side aisles of the courtroom. A guard comes over to talk to them, checking to make sure that everything complies with the court's rules. Satisfied, the guard walks away. Dawson finishes getting the camera secure in it's cradle, sets up a microphone, then quickly starts to film everyone as they finish making their way to their seats and start talking to each other in low voices.

Dawson takes his eye away from the camera a moment, surprised when he sees quite a few people he doesn't recognize coming into the courtroom and sitting near the back.

“Some of Jack's students, and other students and faculty from his school” Joey whispers to Dawson , nodding to one small cluster of unfamiliar faces. “More are coming later… for the afternoon,” Joey adds quietly, “along with some of Jack's gay parents support group.”

Joey nods to another little knot of people. “Those people are some of Jen's friends and coworkers here in New York . They can't stay long this morning either, but they will come back this afternoon if they are needed.”

Dawson gives Joey a surprised look. She catches his look.

“What? You think you're the only one involved in this documentary, or this trial for that matter? I've been doing my homework, Mr. Leery. I'll have you know that I am an excellent production assistant.” Joey grins at him. “With great experience,” she adds teasingly, “and excellent references!”

“I never doubted that , ” Dawson smiles at her, proud and thankful.

Joey then notices some other people coming in and taking seats. “I don't know who those people are , ” she comments after a moment with a frown. “Must be people with Helen,“ she says a little worried.

“Well, that is to be expected , ” Dawson says practically. “This is a courtroom battle after all. I would expect there to be adversaries. And somehow Helen doesn't strike me as the type of woman to do anything half-assed. I'm sure once she puts her mind to it she can be quite…”

“A bitch?” Joey supplies sourly with a frown.

Dawson smiles. “No, I was going to say dedicated, single-minded, but I guess bitch will do.” Then he notices Joey still worried. “But don't worry about it Jo,” he says easily. “Jack's lawyer is ready for anything and he's one hell-of-a fine lawyer.”

Joey stares at Helen a moment and crosses her arms huffily across her chest. “Well, if she thinks this is going to be a walk in the park, then she doesn't know Jack!” Joey declares hotly. Then she narrows her eyes still staring at Helen across the room. “I can't wait until Jack's lawyer gets her on the stand. It'll be a bloodbath in here, I'm sure.”

Dawson looks at her amused, and he feels how his love for her grows even more if possible.

“Jo, remind me not to ever get on your bad side.” Dawson comments with a smile, only half-joking. “It sure ain't pretty,” he teases. “But it's touching to see you so worried and implied in Jack's case”

“Well you know, anything for my friends. And the people I love” she adds, her eyes warm as it is clear she is referring to Dawson .

“Do you think it would be politically incorrect to kiss you right now?” Dawson teases.

“If it is just a one, small kiss…” Joey smiles, already looking at his lips as he nears her.

They kiss briefly, still smiling into each other's mouth. Then Joey casts him an amused glance out of the corner of her eye and a smile lurks in the corner of her mouth as Dawson goes back to the camera. But she glares at Helen again a few more moments for good measure. Helen is oblivious to it all, talking with her lawyer.

Dawson goes back and forth across the room to make sure he has everybody. Bessie and Bodie sitting with Amy, next to Bessie is sitting Joey by Andie's side. In the bench in front of them, Grams and Jack with their lawyer.

“Well, the time is finally here , ” Andie states, almost as if she can't quite believe it herself. Then she looks at Jack, who has heard her and turned to see her, and gives him a big encouraging smile. “Let's go big brother. Let's go get our Amy,” she says with perfect composure. Pacey, who is by her side, smiles at Jack as well and he relaxes a little and smiles down at them.

“Yeah” Jack says, taking a deep steadying breath, looking into Andie's eyes. “Let's.”

They're sitting in the front seats nearest to the judge's bench, which is an imposing wood desk-like structure on a raised platform. Seeing it, Jack starts to get a little nervous. Andie notices and exchanges a look with Pacey.

“Just think, Jack, today the man behind that table is going to give you Amy. Just keep thinking that” Pacey encourages him, trying to use his charm and humor to make Jack feel better.

“Exactly” Andie adds. “Don't think about anything else. Just about saying what you have to say, saying what's in your heart, what Jen would want you to say…”

“And, well, what your lawyer needs you to say too,” Pacey intercedes.

“Well, that too” Andie concedes, “and don't worry about anything else. That's all you have to do. For Jen… and for Amy.” She grasps Jack's hand tightly as Pacey pats his shoulder.

“That's right Jack, your sister has it quite right. We can't worry about what everyone else is going to do or say. That is why we have lawyers. All we have to do is say what we need to say, and hopefully, God, and our hearts, will give us the right words.” Grams tries to encourage him as much as she is trying to encourage herself.

“I feel full of words” Jack states with a frown. “Too many words. We've been talking about this for months. Talking circles around it! I'm just glad today is finally here, even if it means we don't get Amy. Then we can do more than just talk about it, and actually do something about it, even though God knows I'm dreading this too.” His jaw clenches, throwing a resentful glance to Helen who has entered the courtroom too and is seated far away from them on the other side of the courtroom.

Grams glances at her daughter as well, and her eyes are filled with pain and sadness. Fights between family should not happen, but much less between mother and daughter. She turns back to Jack, studying him as well. “God give me the strength to change the things I can, the patience to accept those I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference” she quotes a favorite saying of hers.

“You're right Grams. And I know this is hard for you too. So I'll try. Anything to make sure we walk out of this court knowing that Amy is ours.” Jack agrees, smiling at her and his voice calming.

Grams takes Jack's other hand in hers gently, then closes her eyes with a small and tender smile. She takes a deep breath, relaxed. “I feel Jennifer with us here today,” she says quite calmly after a moment. Then she opens her eyes and smiles softly. “I won't ask God to choose sides, as it were, between me and my daughter, but I would like to pray for the strength and clarity to get through this day, and if He has to choose sides, for Him to be on Amy's,” Grams says with simple and heartfelt devotion.

Just then, the clerk calls for quiet in the courtroom and the judge comes out and takes his seat behind the huge oak table. Joey takes a seat and Dawson starts filming the hearing.

“This court is now in session,” the judge says, banging a gavel onto the tabletop. He takes a folder off the top of the desk and flips through the pages for a few moments, scanning them before setting them down. He peers seriously out at everyone in the courtroom. “We're here today to decide who the child Amy Lindley is going to be living with, and make no mistake about it, although the decision is mine and mine alone, everyone here will be participating and contributing to that decision. What is in the best interests of this child, and, just as important, who has the right to custody of her. That's what interests me. Nothing else. "I have to admit...,” the judge announces. “This is possibly the most bizarre custody battle I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. Since, from what I hear, neither parent is present?"

"The child's mother passed away some time ago!" Helen's lawyer announces. "However, we have found the father..."

A murmur goes through the room as everybody look at each other. Dawson straightens from his camera and exchanges a look with Joey. Andie reaches for Pacey's hand and squeezes it tight, feeling Pacey's squeezing hers in response. Grams places her hand over Jack's shoulder and he places his hand over hers, his face pale as Helen's lawyer reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a piece of paper.

"He's signed here, stating he does not want to hold any responsibility for the child. Considering that..."

Jack closes his eyes tight and tenses his jaw before turning to his own advocate.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jack mutters in desperation. "This sucks! How did they get a hold of that and not us?"

"It doesn't matter," his lawyer replies, smirking. "If things go the way I expect them to go, we managed to get something even better."

"What?" Jack asks, but then remain silent.

He notices Helen watching them, trying to figure out what they are saying, a spark of triumph in her eyes.

"Just as long as you've got a few tricks up your sleeve," Jack whispers.

"A few..." the lawyer reassures him.

“And now, let's begin” the judge proclaims.

The two attorneys stand up from their chairs and walk up to stand at the lawyers' table in the open area in front of the judge's bench. “Good morning, your honor. I'm Mr. Stone and I'm representing Jack McPhee….”

We then see a montage of moments and segments testimony of the custody hearing, overlapping and dissolving one into another as the camera slowly circles the room and the people as they testify, each seen at a slightly different angle as the camera slowly pans around.

Jack's attorney saying “Jack is the natural parent of Amy even though he is not the biological parent…” <dissolve into> Helen's attorney saying “my client, Mrs. Lindley, is the child's biological grandmother and the natural choice of a parent…” <dissolve into>

Andie sitting on the stand raising her hand and solemnly swearing to tell the truth under Pacey's stare who is sitting in the bench <overlapping> the principal saying “Jack is one of our finest teachers and has a real gift with the children….” <overlapping> Bessie speaking loud and clear, “I can't imagine Amy with anyone else. They adore each other and he is a wonderful father, if you could see her face light up just at the sight of him…” <fades into> Andie talking straight to the judge, “he's such a great brother and wonderful person, not a fake person without flaws, but a real person who knows what it means to overcome adversity and to appreciate love and life and everything it has to offer…” <overlapping> Dawson speaking passionately but serenely, “he and Jen were as close as I've seen just about any two friends, and I've seen their amazing friendship grow from the very second they met until I saw how strong it was even the day Jen died, and still it goes on…” <fades into> Pacey with his hands over his lap, a determined look on his face, “Jen was the sweetest person I've ever met, and the only thing she wanted was to be loved, and when she died, the only thing she wanted was for her baby to be loved. Jack is the right person…” <overlapping> Grams: “It was just an accident, your honor, the weather changed so suddenly, it could have happened to anyone. I would give my life for that child- in a heartbeat; I would never do anything to hurt her. She is my own sweet great- grandchild and all that is left on this earth of my own sweet granddaughter. She is part of my very heart.” <fades into> Joey is sitting straight with her eyebrows narrowed, thinking deeply each and every word she is saying, “ Jen wanted so much to belong somewhere, and to be loved and accepted. She told me before she died how glad she was to have Jack in her life and there to raise Amy and give her a true home, besides the love and emotional support that Jen didn't feel she got from her own mother growing up.“

The montage ends with a rapid succession of various students and friends saying how wonderful a father Jack was, how all he talked about was Amy, and how ecstatic he was every time that Amy came to see him at school, how loving careful he was about her, and how Grams was also loving and caring and so on...

The montage finishes and then Jack takes the stand.

( Soft piano theme by Laputa starts playing in the background)

He is composed and serious, but emotional too, explaining his side to the judge. We see Grams, and the whole gang sitting almost at the edge of their seat. Dawson adjust the camera and leaves it filming, his attention focused on Jack. Joey is by his side, her arms crossed over her chest, slightly leaning on him. The rest of the people in the audience are quietly listening as well.

“You may look at me and just see a gay man fighting to keep a child because he might otherwise not have one. But that is not true. I tell you that you are looking at a man who is fighting for his child. Amy may not be a child of my body, but she is the child of my heart, and she was given to me by my best friend in the world, because she knew that I would love Amy and raise Amy…with all of my heart.“ Jack pauses and looks at the judge a moment, sincerely, then looks back at Helen's attorney and the rest of the audience in the courtroom. “I've known Jen since I was sixteen, and despite all odds, despite her moving to another city, we remained close. While I watched my other friends drift off to separate lives, Jen and I remained connected. In a very special way, she was my soulmate, and time didn't change that. She was special.” Jack stops and looks at his hands clasped in his lap for a moment, emotional, to collect his thoughts before continuing.

“Jen was non-judgemental because she knew what it was like to be judged. She was generous with her love and support because she knew what it was like to have those things denied her. She was open to possibility because she knew what it was like to have her spirit binded. The reason she knew those things, all those things, was because of her parents.” He pauses, thinking. “Jen still loved them, she still loved Helen, I admit that, but she would never have wanted Amy to be raised by Helen, by a mother who wanted to see her only child be just like her, be molded into a cookie-cutter version of Helen. And if you knew Jen, you would know that she was an original.”

Jack pauses and smiles, a little sadly, and everyone in the audience who knew Jen smiles too in agreement.

“Jen became the loving, generous, supportive… adventurous… person she was despite her parents. Amy will become a loving, generous, spirited person because of her parents, because of me, and because of Jen. If you send Amy to Helen, Amy will have to fight all over the fight Jen already had to fight. A fight Jen most certainly never wanted her daughter to have. Award Amy to Helen, and you invalidate Jen's life. You make her experiences worth nothing. Jen's ideals will be lost, and I'm sure that wherever she is now, she would be the more unhappy person ever. She had a lot of that already while living in New York with her parents as a child, and despite her cheerful spirit she was never truly happy until Amy was born. I saw it. I saw her with the baby. And when she died… she died in peace knowing that her daughter was left in good hands. The love and respect I had, and I still have for her, will make sure that I will never disappoint her. I love Amy as much as I loved her mother. And I know that with time that love will only grow and becoming better, making sure that she has everything she needs.”

“I admit that I made some mistakes with Jennifer, but they were not made because of a lack of love. She was my daughter, my only child, and she was precious to me. What parent is perfect? Did I deny her clothes, friends, school? No. Did I beat her, lock her in her room? No. All I wanted was for her to have a normal, sane, decent life.” <beat> Jack would like you to think that she was some kind of a sainted child. She was not. She was temperamental and rebellious, getting into trouble in school and with boys and drugs when she got older. I did what I thought was best. I sent her to her grandmother's, and it was the right thing to do. She calmed down right away. But I blame Jen's wild ways on the city, too many temptations for one so young, and on her constant need for attention. I don't live in the city now, and Amy is not a wild child like Jen was. I can raise and love Amy safely and sanely. I won't have the problems with Amy that I had with Jen. I love Amy and I know that Amy will love me too. And I am her grandmother , not a stranger.” Helen adds, looking pointedly at Jack.

“Mr. McPhee should never have left Amy in the care of Mrs. Ryan. She is eighty-three years old, and there are incidences where she has shown a lack of attention that I think is attributable to her age. Now that Amy is getting bigger and starting to walk, in my opinion, Mrs. Ryan won't be able to physically manage Amy.”

There is more testimony from other witnesses about how Grams is still mentally sharp and physically strong, and how Helen was a controlling parent, and some of Jen's friends from her art gallery job in New York talk about Jen and Jen's devotion to Amy, and a few of Helen's friends testify as to how Helen always tried to be a loving mother to Jen.

“I know we have one last testimony to see. Should we?” the Judge nods and a tv screen starts showing…

Hi, Amy, it's mom. Well, by the time you see this, I won't be here anymore, and I know how much that sucks, for both of us. So seeing as how I won't be around to thoroughly annoy you, I thought I would give you a little list of the things that I wish for you. Well, there's the obvious. An education. Family. Friends. And a life that is full of the unexpected. Be sure to make mistakes. Make a lot of them, because there's no better way to learn and to grow, all right? And, um, I want you to spend a lot of time at the ocean, because the ocean forces you to dream, and I insist that you, my girl, be a dreamer. God. I've never really believed in god. In fact, I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to disprove that god exists. But I hope that you are able to believe in god, because the thing that I've come to realize, sweetheart... is that it just doesn't matter if god exists or not. The important thing is for you to believe in something, because I promise you that that belief will keep you warm at night, and I want you to feel safe always. And then there's love. I want you to love to the tips of your fingers, and when you find that love, wherever you find it, whoever you choose, don't run away from it. But you don't have to chase after it either. You just be patient, and it'll come to you, I promise, and when you least expect it, like you, like spending the best year of my life with the sweetest and the smartest and the most beautiful baby girl in the world. You don't be afraid, sweetheart. And remember, to love is to live.

We see Dawson turning off the video and a few people in the audience dab tears from their eyes. Even the judge looks a little, even if just a little, moved. Bessie is in the audience with Amy on her lap. Bodie is sitting next to her. Bodie leans down and kisses Amy's head as Bessie watches the video with emotion. Everyone is quiet a moment, moved by what they have seen.

“Is that all of the testimony and evidence to be presented today?” the judge eventually asks the attorneys.

“Yes your honor , ” the attorneys reply.

“We'll break for lunch and I want to see everyone back in the courtroom at one P.M. sharp. I have another court matter to take care of after lunch so I expect everyone to be quiet if court is still in session!” the judge admonishes them sternly. “Court is adjourned for the morning.” He bangs his gavel on the bench.

Everybody leaves the audience in total silence.

In the cafeteria of the courthouse.

We see everybody sitting in a table. Bessie and Bodie, who arrived when the hearing was taking place, are sitting together. Jack is holding Amy, who is playing with Grams' fingers. Pacey and Andie are sitting together, Audrey by Joey's side and by Joey, Dawson . They all are still silent, Grams has her eyes red. Seeing Jen in that video has truly affected them. Some of them, like Audrey, hadn't even seen it before, so now even she is feeling sad and with no appetite at all. Actually, only Jack, Grams and Dawson did, and it was right after Jen's death before they decided to keep it safe somewhere until it was time for Amy to watch it.

“I'll be right back , ” Dawson says as he stands up and makes his way to the restrooms.

Just as he leaves, his cellphone rings and Joey sees the name of Gale in the screen. She takes the cell and leaves the table.

“Hi Gale, it's Joey. Dawson left a moment.”

“Oh Joey, hi. Just wanted to call and see how everything is going”

“Well, the trial is still going on, so we still know nothing yet”

“Why do you seem to be so down then?” Gale asks concerned.

“It's not because of the trial, it's just… we saw Jen's video, the one she taped for Amy and it's been… so sad , ” Joey closes her eyes tight not to cry. But it's being very hard.

“Oh honey” Gale says sweetly in the other side of the phone. “I'm so sorry to hear that. Dawson talked me about the video. I didn't have the courage to see it” she admits, her voice soft and sad.

“How is everything there?” Joey asks, wanting to change the subject before the tears pricking in the back of her eyes wins the battle.

“Oh, you tell me” Gale laughs lightly. “Remember you and Dawson? Well, that's it. Lily and Alex are just going here and there, playing with anything they can get. I had to forbid them to go outside because Lily insisted in rowing your old boat. Go figure! She says she wants to take it with us to the new house.”

“Oh, and how is that going?” she asks, interested.

“Well, it seems to be going well. We have a buyer, finally! We'll probably sign the contract in a couple of weeks. Can you believe they have bought the house by seeing it only by pictures?”

“Well, you got a very nice house Gale, it makes good pictures , ” Joey smiles.

“I guess it must be it , ” Gale concedes. “I better leave honey, I gotta check if these two are eating their lunch.”

“Ok, talk to you soon. Bye”

“Hey , ” a voice says from behind her.

“Hey , ” Joey greets back, smiling at Dawson . “That was your mother. She called to check how everything was going , ” she explains.

Dawson looks at the table, where everybody seems to be concentrated on their meals.

“Not very good if you ask me , ” he murmurs and Joey sighs.

“Are you ok?” Dawson asks, concerned.

“I'm just tired , ” Joey admits. “Have you ever felt like knowing exactly what is right, knowing exactly the way things are supposed to be and feeling frustrated because it seems as if only you and a few more people agree on that? I mean, I know Amy belongs to Jack. Period. No matter what the rest of the people or the world says. No matter what that Judge inside there says. But here we are, hoping that everything will come our way because maybe the powers that be see it in another totally different way. So everything we know, everything we have believed in, everything we feel in our hearts might come crumbling down because of one person's decision. There goes our happy ending. And it's just not fair.” Joey ends, upset.

Dawson smiles sadly.

“I know exactly how that feels , ” Joey half smiles back at him and leaves out a deep sight as she seeks for comfort on his arms. “I guess all we can do is to take a leap of faith and hope for the best.”

“And if the best doesn't happen?”

“Then, we'll keep on going with what we have, there is no other way. But nothing last forever Joey. Nor the good, and nor the bad neither. Even if they give Amy's custody to Helen, there will come a time when Amy will seek for Jack. She will seek for us, for her mother's friends, trying to know her better. It's just like Jen said: don't chase love. With patient, it will come to you.”

“Just like I came to you?” Joey asks, smiling at him, some tears still in her eyes.

“Just like you came to me. What is meant to be, is meant to be. As simple as that. And even if they take her away from us, she will find her way back.”

He kisses her forehead and takes her hand, going back to the table.

Back to the trial. 1.05 pm. New York .

Helen is sitting at a table near the judge with her attorney. Jack is sitting at a table nearby. Jack's attorney is standing next to Jack, facing the judge, talking. He is giving his closing argument to the judge.

“…and in conclusion your honor, you have heard Mrs. Lindley admit that she was unable to successfully raise her own daughter, and had to send her away for Jennifer to get the love and support from her grandmother that she didn't get from her own mother. It was there in Capeside that Jennifer Lindley met the best friend of her life, who is here today asking only for what Jennifer wanted him to have… the right to raise and love her daughter Amy after her death. Something that Jen wanted so much that she gave Jack McPhee legal custody of Amy instead of to her own mother…”

We see Dawson still filming, he focus the camera and straightens up, paying attention to what is going on. Joey, on her feet by Dawson 's side and her arms crossed over her chest, is concentrating on what the lawyer is saying. Pacey and Andie are sitting very close together. We see Andie reaching for Pacey's hand. Pacey looks at their joined hands, then squeezes hers reassuringly. Andie turns to look at Pacey and they smile at each other. Audrey leans forward to say something to Grams and Jack.

Just then the lawyer is interrupted slightly in his speech when someone opens the door at the back of the room without making almost any noise. A few people in the back of the courtroom notice someone new standing quietly in the shadowed passageway near the door, and they turn to look. Jack's lawyer turns to look too- he has been waiting for this person to arrive. The person standing in the shadow nods to the attorney, and the attorney nods back in acknowledgment. The attorney turns back to face the judge.

“Your honor, I am pleased to see a last-minute witness has arrived , ” Jack's attorney smilingly announces.

The judge seems none too pleased and almost glowers at Jack's attorney.

“What do you mean a surprise witness? This hearing is almost over!” the judge growls, annoyed.

“It is very important, your honor, that this witness be given the opportunity to speak” Jack's lawyer implores. “I beg the court for permission to allow this witness to testify.”

“Who is this witness?” The judge asks, peering to the back of the courtroom. “Come forward” the judge orders.

The witness steps into the courtroom. It is a young woman. She is wearing a nice blue suit, tailored and fashionable. Her blond hair is shoulder length and softly curled. She is pretty, petite and fine-boned. Everybody turns to stare at her.

At first, nobody recognizes her. Then Dawson gasps a little, startled.

“Eve , ” he whispers, happily. He stares at Eve for a few moments, then leans down to focus the camera on Eve while Joey's eyes go wide when she realizes that Dawson is right.

Eve walks down the courtroom aisle in the middle of the absolute and expecting silence, to stand next to the low wooden barrier separating the audience from the judge.

“Your honor, this is Eve Peterson…Jennifer Lindley's sister” Jack's lawyer clearly announces. He looks pleased at Eve. “Half-sister” he amends. “Her birthmother is Helen Lindley.”

After hearing the news, everyone starts talking at once, excited and confused. We see Grams taking her hand to her chest, Pacey and Andie checking if she's ok. Helen's face has gone totally white and her lawyer is furiously speaking to her, although she is not even noticing, her eyes fixed on her… daughter.

The judge bangs his gavel. “Order in the court” the court clerk yells out.

After a few moments, almost everyone settles down, but there are still excited voices heard exclaiming. Helen still looks too stunned for words while Jack's jaw was dropped at first, but now he is smiling satisfied. This could be good. Very good for them.

The judge bangs his gavel a few more times and asks for silence. The courtroom falls into silence, everyone looking expectantly at the judge or curiously at Eve, who is just standing there calmly among the chaos, staring straight ahead. She can't see the way her grandmother, stunned, is looking at her, trying to figure out if it's all true or just a big mistake.

“I want to see Mr. McPhee, Mrs. Ryan, Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Lindley and Mrs.…”

“Mrs. Peterson” Eve helps him.

“And Mrs. Peterson and counsel, in my chambers right now. Everyone else can take a ten minute break” the judge orders. “I want to get to the bottom of this.”

The judge stands up and goes into his office behind the judge's bench. Eve walks through the knee-high set of swinging wooden doors into the judge's area. She glances at Helen sitting at the table next to her but quickly looks away, then starts to follow the judge into his office. Before she enters, she turns and looks out over the audience, at Bessie and Jack getting up from where they are sitting, and Amy. Her gaze rests on Amy a moment. Eve's gaze flicks onto Joey for a moment. Then her gaze settles on Dawson , bent over the filming camera. Dawson sees Eve looking at him through the lens. He straightens up and the two look at each other seriously for a few moments, but then a smile then flickers on Eve's composed face and Dawson smiles back, nodding his hand to her as a salute. She nods back and then she turns and goes into the judge's office. The rest of the people follow her, Helen going in last of all, her spine straight- proud and angry.

A few minutes later, in the courthouse aisle.

Everybody is commenting about Eve and giving Dawson the third degree about how he had known with the exception of Joey, who is silently watching him as he gives his hurried explanation.

Noticing her staring at him, Dawson throws the occasional glance to her knowing full well that Joey is reaching her usual level of annoyance because he never told her about Eve being Jen's half sister and coming to the trial, even though there were supposed to be no secrets between them.

“So bus girl was Jen's sister?” Pacey's right eyebrow arches. “Who could have known…”

“I tried to get her to talk to Jen or even to Grams but she disappeared as mysteriously as she appeared. I told Helen that following Thanksgiving and we talked about it, but I never knew if she had told Jen. I figured she never did though“, he adds pensive.

Just then Joey notices her father entering the courtroom and she smiles, relieved to see him. Mike Potter spots the group almost at the same time and walks to them as Joey walks toward him as well.

“I didn't think you would make it,” she hugs him tight.

He kisses the on top of her head and caresses her hair.

“I wasn't sure myself, but lucky for me the Icehouse is dead at this time of day, so I let Stephen on charge of it.”

“How are things going over here?” he asks, noticing all the attention Dawson is getting as he is talking and talking and everybody seems to listen or make questions.

As Joey steals a glance over to Dawson , Mike notices that his daughter's expressions change as if something is bugging her.

”Is there any problem with Dawson ?” Mike frowns.

“No, it's not that”, she says, tucking her hair behind her ears. “It's just old history rearing its ugly head again.”

“Yes, history has a way of doing that.” Mike smiles, trying to relate to his daughter.

“It's about something that happened that summer after the whole incident with me, you and the wire.”

“I see” Mike says, not very happy to go back to these days that still embarrass him.

“This was the first summer we had ever spent away from each other and as you know, once he came back we had some kind of… weird encounter, after what we hardly talked to each other. It was a big deal, at least for me.” She explains, her face serious as she remembers those dark days. ”When he came back from Philadelphia I was hoping that we could patch up our relationship but after the way I treated him, Dawson didn't want anything to do with me, and not only that, he had met someone on the bus” She looks over to Dawson as her father is listening to her. He knew that her daughter and Dawson had had troubles after what he did, and that that had been the beginning of the end for them until now that they had finally reunited. But Joey had never gone into much detail about it. ”Let me tell you Dad, this girl was gorgeous, to me she was a woman and there was no way could I compete with her. She was all over Dawson , and I was jealous and I almost did something stupid.” She smiles sadly and nods her head slowly, feeling a little embarrassed as she replays the scene in Dawson 's bedroom back in her mind. ”Thank god Dawson was thinking clearly that night, although I didn't see it that way back then” Joey manages to stop her rambling monologue when she sees a curious look across Mike's face.

“I offered myself to him, you know?” she says, looking at her father, biting her bottom lip and raising her eyebrows. Mike Potter looks surprised and sad at the same time, thinking how desperate his daughter might have felt back then to do something like that.

“Joey…” Joey just shrugs her shoulders, hanging down her head.

“I told you it was stupid. Anyone should never have sex under pressure. Sex, specially the first time, should happen spontaneously, not to get anyone back, or to make someone get over their insecurities” she adds as an after thought, remembering how her first time wasn't that positive after all anyway.

“I'm glad Dawson said no. That proves the kind of guy he is.”

Joey smiles and nods her head.

“That's true.” She agrees dreamily, but then her expression gets serious again. “The thing is that the woman I was just talking about is here today in this courtroom and not only is she the woman that came between me and Dawson at beginning of our Junior year, but now I find out that she was Jen's half sister.” She glances again over to Dawson who is still talking to Pacey, Andie and Audrey and crosses her arms, looking back to her father. ” Dawson knew all these years and he never told me.”

“Jen had a half sister?” Mike exclaims, incredulous. “Did he know back then that she was Jen's sister?”

“Not at first, but later. And today he knew she was coming and he didn't even mention it to me”

“Oh,” Mike says, understanding “so that's what is bugging you”

Joey puts a face and Mike can't help but smile. They might be older, and even wiser, but sometimes these young people he has known for so long can still act as kids.

“But Jo, it wasn't his secret to tell and you can't be mad him for that.” He gives her a serious look. ”Just think of all the secrets that Dawson knows about you? How would you feel if he went around spouting them off to everyone?”

Joey stands up a little straighter from her natural grumpy slouch knowing that her father is right but she is not ready to admit she is wrong yet.

Dawson looks over to Mike and Joey. Mike salutes him with a nod of his head and Dawson takes that as a cue to get near and to take his chances on whatever mood Joey is in.

“Hello Mike, I'm glad you could make it today.” He says, shaking Mike's hand.

“Hello Dawson . It seems I came at an interesting time.”

“Yes you did.” Dawson looks over to Joey who is trying to avoid eye contact with him.

“Dad, I'm going to give the office a quick call while I have the chance.” She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Okay!” Mike nods his head and watches her turn away. She says nothing to Dawson as she reaches for her cell phone and heads to a place where she can speak quietly.

“She's not happy with me, is she?” Dawson asks Mike as he watches her go as well, his hands resting on his hips.

“No, but she'll come around. She's just like her mother, give her some time to herself and in no time she'll admit that she's being stubborn“, Mr Potter says as they walk to the group of friends.

“We're talking about the same Joey Potter right?” Dawson jokes as he looks over his shoulder at where Joey is standing and Mike can't help but laugh.

“Hey, Mike how's the Icehouse treating you?” Pacey pats Mike on the back friendly. They talk on the phone from time to time, just exchanging comments and advices about the restaurant business.

“I have no complaints, you built a great clientele and they have been great in accepting me.”

“That's good to hear. I knew I left the Icehouse in capable hands,” Pacey smiles.

Mike smiles back to him and notices the lovely petite blonde woman at Pacey's side.

“Is this who I think it is?”

Pacey takes Andie's arm in his and his smile grows even bigger.

”This, Mike, is the beautiful and much beloved Andie McPhee.” He jokes, causing Andie to throw at him a half amused half scolding glance.

“A pleasure to meet you again Mr. Potter.” Andie offers her hand. “It's been a long time” she smiles.

”The pleasure is all mine Andie. Pacey has told me a lot about you.” Mike shakes her hand among everybody's rejoice at his comment. Some knowing smiles show at Dawson and Audrey's faces that they try to hide. Well, Dawson more than Audrey actually.

“Oh really?” Andie gives Pacey a curious look. She is pleased to hear that, although a little surprised as well.

“I didn't really tell him that much.” Pacey's face becomes a little red and Mike notices, realizing that maybe he has spoken too much, but immensely amused by the situation, reaffirmed once again that sometimes they can act just like kids. To him they are still kids somehow. Twenty something? Pff. Still so young.

“Don't worry, he told me nothing but good things about you Andie. You have some very interesting ideas for the costumers” Mike smiles gently.

Audrey decides then to bust into the conversation.

“And me? Do you remember me?” she beams at him charmingly. Mike can't help but laugh. Pacey shakes his head and Dawson smiles.

“How could I forget you Audrey? You know how to pick up a Christmas party”

They all laugh except Andie, who doesn't know very well what they are talking about.

“I'll explain it later” Pacey tells her.

“Can you believe it Mr. P?” Audrey keeps on going. She really hasn't changed that much, has she? “Jen's long lost sister has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, probably to dish some dirt on her own mother that she never knew. This is just like watching The Practice.”

“It's nice to see you too Audrey.” Mike says, entertained by Audrey's energy.

“Oh my bad, nice to see you too Mr. Potter.”

Joey walks back into to the group and nears Dawson by his back.

“They're still in there?” she asks him.

Dawson turns to her, surprised that she is talking to him, and checks his watch.” Yeah. It's been fifteen minutes already,”

“Maybe we should go to the cafeteria.” Andie suggests to the group.

“Sounds like a good idea McPhee. This tie is cutting off the blood flow to my brain.” Pacey loosen up his tie and opens his collar.

“Funny Witter. What's your excuse for the last twenty six years?” Joey shoots back sarcastically.

“Joey, my hero” Audrey laughs, along with Andie.

“Ha, ha” Pacey pretends to laugh but then becomes serious and looks over to Dawson for some help. “ Dawson , curb your woman.”

“If you have any suggestions, I will take it under consideration.” Dawson jokes but Joey meets him with an evil eye. “Or not.” he says as they all head to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, inside the judge's chambers.

Everyone except Eve and Jack's lawyer is looking around at each other kind of shocked and confused about what is going on. Bessie is holding Amy protectively as Grams holds the baby's hand, and Jack looks back and forth between Helen and Eve, looking a little stunned as well.

Helen is too shocked to speak at all. She stares at Eve for a few moments, disbelieving. Eve has been sitting quietly with her hands in her lap, looking straight ahead serenely, exchanging a few words with Jack's lawyer or looking at Amy, a smile dancing on her lips. She can feel Helen's stare on her, but she ignores her. But when Jack catches Eve's eye and he smiles shyly at her, Eve flashes a small smile back. At that moment, the judge comes in to the chambers and everyone becomes still and quiet.

The judge sits behind his desk, looking concerned and attentive. “What is this all about, counselor?” the judge asks Jack's attorney quite seriously.

“Mrs Peterson was really hard to find, your honor” the attorney starts explaining. “I didn't mean to surprise the court. It took us quite a while to find her and then convince her to come to court. I didn't know until just now that she was going to come. I know that she is reluctant to be here, your honor. Apparently she is, or was, friends with some of the other witnesses, who was the one who told me about her existence, and she decided to come as a show of support and to aid in seeing that custody of Amy is awarded to the right person. { beat} I'm glad that she did”

Suddenly pandemonium breaks loose in the judge's chambers. Everyone has sat still long enough and emotions are bursting forward. Everyone starts moving around, all talking at the same time, excited and confused:

Grams: “Helen, I can't believe you didn't tell me you had a child….”

Jack: “Jen had… has… a sister? I don't understand…”

Bessie: “Didn't she come to Capeside once? Didn't Dawson date her??…”

The judge bangs the palm of his hand a few times on his desk. “That's enough! I want it quiet in here , ” he kind of shouts. Everyone gets instantly quiet and settles back into their chairs.

“How does that help me decide who should have custody of Amy?” the judge inquires impatiently. “I don't like interrupting court hearings for unnecessary witnesses. What is her proposed testimony?"

“I would rather she tell you while on the stand, your honor , ” the attorney replies with dignity.

“I object”, Helen's attorney exclaims. “What is this about? I object to surprise testimony.”

“The gist of it, Mr. White?” the judge inquires flatly of Jack's attorney,

“Mrs. Peterson, otherwise known as Eve, can testify as to certain….irregularities…. concerning her adoption out by Mrs. Lindley” the attorney says. “As can the private investigator who found her, and even her own parents if need be. We think that this testimony bears on the character of Mrs. Lindley and will aid the court in making a determination of custody.”

“This is ridiculous your honor. This young lady is not my child. This is some kind of mistake or mix-up, or a last minute legal manoeuvre to try to confuse you and deny me my rights to raise my own flesh-and-blood”

Eve looks pained and tightens her lips.

“I'm not so easily confused” the judge says dryly to Helen “And I'll decide whose right it is to raise Amy.”

“There's evidence” Eve suddenly says quietly, looking at the judge.

Everyone turns to look at Eve.

“DNA evidence” Eve says, and then looks directly at Helen. “Genetic evidence to prove that you are my birth mother” Eve says clearly and distinctly. “It's not that hard to do , ” she adds deceptively.

Helen tries to battle Eve with her eyes for a moment, but then she drops them in defeat. It looks like all the air has gone out of Helen as she sags a moment in her chair. No-one speaks for a moment. Eve just looks sad.

“Anything you'd care to add, Mrs. Lindley?” The judge asks not unkindly. “You of course have the right to consult with your attorney, and maybe you should since it looks like he's about ready to pop a cork. This isn't a kangaroo court and I can assure you I will hear all sides of every issue if it means coming to the right decision concerning the child.”

“I know you will , ” Helen's attorney says to the judge.

“I'd like to consult with my client now.” Helen's attorney turns to look at Helen. “I advise you not to say another word , ” he instructs Helen in a whisper and in a very lawyerly tone of voice.

“I've heard enough for now. Anything else will be testified to under oath on the witness stand if I decide to hear this testimony. Everyone is excused for an hour while I decide if Mrs. Peterson will be testifying, and to finish up a few other matters on my court calendar today. I want everyone back in the courtroom at two PM sharp. You can all go now.”

As they are leaving the judge's chambers, Grams is about to go and talk to Eve but she sees Helen approach Eve and so Grams leaves, thinking that she will try to talk to Eve later. But Eve is still too upset about what Helen said earlier, and she turns away from her. Helen gives Eve a somewhat withering look and then leaves in a bit of a huff. Jack, who was eagerly waiting for Eve to be alone, goes to Eve and impulsively hugs her with a big smile. She looks a little flustered by the hug, but she smiles too.

“You don't know how happy I am that you are here , ” Jack says with relief. “And not just because of the custody hearing. But because Amy has another person in her life. I can use all the support I can get” Jack smiles.

“You are quite an optimist”, Eve smiles back. “You don't even know me”

“But Dawson does, and you're Jen's sister. That is good enough for me , ” Jack says firmly with a broad smile.

Time lapses. We see a montage of images of the city of New Cork fading into each other: people walking down the streets, some shops, someone jogging in a park, the New Cork sky and fades to…

Back to the courtroom.

We see Eve testifying. She is sitting straight, pale and nervous, but keeping her composure. Grams realizes how much she looks like her mother when she does that.

(“Your ghost” by Kristin Hersh starts playing in the background)

If I walk down this hallway
Tonight, it's too quiet
So I pad through the dark
And call you on the phone
Push your old numbers
And let your house ring
Till I wake your ghost

“When my mother, June” she clarifies, “told me I was adopted, she gave me a picture of a young woman and told me that it might be a picture of my biological mother that she found in my father's, Roger” she explains once again, “suitcase when he came back from meeting with what she thought was the adoption agency. June told me that maybe my biological mother's last name was Linsey or Lundley or something like that, because she overheard Roger saying that name on the phone when he was talking about adopting me. When I confronted him about it, he told me that I was their daughter and that anything else was my business, and he wouldn't tell me anything about it.”

Let him walk down your hallway
It's not that quiet
Slide down your receiver
Sprint across the wire
Follow my number
Slide into my hand

“When I graduated from highschool I wasn't ready to settle down, I felt restless, and I decided to go on a quest for my birthmother. I found out that the doctor listed on my birth certificate had a medical practice in a college town and so I gathered as many names as I could from the college records for women with last names similar to Lindsay, then went to many places looking for the families of these women. Until I found her. I was brash and liked to flaunt rules and be rebellious back then, and I didn't think twice about creeping into Gram's house and finding the picture of Helen, that looked just like the woman in the picture her June had given me. So I went there decided to find out the truth and hurt that people that abandoned me as much as they had hurt me. I became friends with a guy there , ” she says, throwing a glance to Dawson, who smiles at her and she smiles back, seeming to relax for the first time since she is up there, at least a little. “And I came somehow to care about the people there and see how disruptive I could be by throwing around accusations and upsetting everybody, not to mention that in the right or wrong way, I had a mother back at home that loved me and always took care of me. So I dropped the whole thing.”

Its the blaze across my nightgown
It's the phone's ring
I think last night
You were driving circles around me

“Years later when my father had a heart attack, before he died, he told me that Helen Lindley was my birthmother. He admitted that he didn't want me to know because even though we were never really close and he adopted me just so June could have the child he couldn't give her, he did love me, even if he didn't show it,” at this point Eve's eyes tear up a little “and he didn't want the adoption to be questioned. I hired an investigator who located Helen. Also, the investigator found some of Helen's college roommates and they knew that Helen had been dating Brad, and that Helen had gotten $50,000 suddenly after she gave her baby up for adoption.”

At this point, everybody in the courtroom speaks excitedly. They can't believe what they're hearing.

I can't drink this coffee
Till I put you in my closet
Let him shoot me down
Let him call me off
I take it from his whisper
Your not that tough

“Silence in the courtroom!” the judge barks.

“I went to Helen's house and pretended to be a daughter of one of Helen's old college roommates. After some polite conversation, I told Helen I was her biological daughter. At first she didn't say anything, but she denied any chance of that being true. I was confused and before she kicked me out of her house,” another murmur in the room when the people attending hear that.

It's the blaze across my nightgown
It's the phone's ring

“I took one of Helen's used napkins and had tested the DNA on it. They showed that Helen was indeed my biological mother. I even have the test results with me for everybody to see” she says.

I think last night (you were in my dreams)
You were driving circles around me

The judge rubs his eyes, sighing tired.

More of the trial.

We see Joey walking inside the courtroom as quietly as she can. She makes her way to Dawson, who is filming, but he looks up at her with a curious face.

“That was Ethan and Sam. They're still at Ethan's hometown and they wanted to know how the trial had gone , ” Joey explains not looking at him.

“Good , ” Dawson says distractedly as he focuses the camera.

“Did I miss something important?” Joey whispers.

“Doug arrived , ” Dawson nods to where Doug is sitting. And there's a new witness” Dawson replies, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest as he looks from the camera's TV screen to the witness stand to check everything is ok. Joey also seems to be concentrated on what is happening and the two of them don't exchange any more words. Although Dawson looks at her out the corner of his eye before concentrating in the trial.

A man in a casual suit, mid-30's, is standing in front of the court deputy, facing him. The man's right hand is raised. “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God , ” the man states, before taking the witness stand.

“My name is Stanley Baker. I'm an investigator for the New York Justice Department , ” Jack's attorney holds the birth certificate out to Stanley . “Do you recognize any of the names on this birth certificate?”

Stanley takes the certificate and inspects it. “Yes, the doctor listed, Dr. Joseph Rutgers. I've been investigating him for over five years for violating New York and other state adoption laws. He is suspected of falsifying birth certificates for illegal adoptions, both inside and outside the state of New York . To his financial benefit too. A black market baby scheme, as it were. He disappeared once the babies he delivered became adults and started asking questions he couldn't answer. He had connections through the military- that's where most of the babies he placed ended up- with military families.”

“Can you tell if this birth certificate has been falsified?” Jack's lawyer asks.

“No, not at this point. Not just by looking at it. I would have to know the facts or do an investigation maybe. A birth certificate, or an adoption, can look perfectly legal on paper. It's the facts that tell us if the law has been violated , ” he answers.

“And if the information on the document is intentionally incorrect?”

“Then that would be in violation of the law, especially if money…profit… was involved.”

“Thank you Mr. Baker. I have no further questions at this time.” Jack's attorney looks at the judge. “I'd like to excuse this witness and re-call Helen Lindley to the stand.”

A look of dismay crosses Helen's face before she regains her composure and settles her face into her usual expression or mask of calm politeness. As Mr. Baker leaves the stand, Helen walks dignified to the front of the courtroom and slowly sits in the witness chair.

“Did you and Eve's biological father scheme with Dr. Rutgers to illegally adopt out Eve?” Jack's attorney asks bluntly and a little harshly in aggressive cross-examination.

“Of course not , ” she protests, sounding shocked and offended. “That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard , ” she exclaims, indignant. “I gave my child, legally , to loving parents who wanted her desperately. I did nothing wrong”

“Isn't it true that you were paid $50,000 to give her up? Quite a large sum in 1980, I'd say.”

“Any money I received was merely compensation for my medical bills and time and... discomfort,” she states primly, a little haughty. “Besides,” she adds with a dismissive shrug of one shoulder, “Eve's biological father, took care of all that. He's the one who gave me some money. Who was I to say no if he wanted to help me with my college tuition?” Helen defends herself. “He was rich, he could easily afford it,” Helen adds calmly, facing the attorney with confidence. “His family was wealthy and well connected. It was nothing to them.” Helen makes a small dismissive waving motion with her hand. “There's nothing illegal about a boyfriend helping his girlfriend…financially.” Helen says clearly and distinctly, fixing Jack's attorney with a cold and challenging stare.

“It is if it is to pay off a woman to illegally adopt out her baby.” Jack's attorney states calm and meaningful, giving Helen a sharp look.

Helen's calm veneer shatters. “I am telling you for that last time, I did not sell my baby!” she almost yells, angry and upset.

“Then what would you call turning over your baby to people you knew nothing about, signing a birth certificate you knew was false, and accepting fifty thousand in cold hard cash to do it?” Jack's attorney questions harsh and mercilessly.

There is some commotion in the courtroom and Helen's attorney jumps to his feet protesting.

”I object to this line of questioning. My client is not on trial here. The adoption happened almost thirty years ago, and, more to the point, this has been sprung on me, on us, last minute. This hearing should be stopped immediately!”

The judge looks passively at Helen's attorney. “Well, it is cross-examination, counsel” the judge says dryly. “And you're right, your client isn't on trial. But her character is, to some extent. I'll allow it. Your objection is overruled. I'd like to hear what the witness has to say,” the judge says, looking expectantly at Helen.

“Please answer the question, Mrs. Lindley, did you or did you not give your baby to strangers for money?” Jack's attorney enunciates the question carefully.

Helen glares at Jack's attorney. “No, I did not” she states clearly and angrily. “How dare you question me. You have no idea what happened” she states indignant.

“Well, why don't you tell us what happened then?”

“I already did!”

“Isn't it true that you knew nothing about Eve's adoptive parents at all? That they could have been drug addicts, abusive, anything?”

“That's not true” Helen says defensively. “I… I met Mr. Redford. Roger. He… he seemed very nice. I even slipped a picture of myself into his luggage.” Helen glances at Eve a sly and somewhat calculating look. “Eve seems to have turned out fine” Helen says somewhat self-righteously. “No harm, no foul” she adds, with a smug look and tight smile at Jack's lawyer.

The judge sees her look and frowns.

“Some damage doesn't always show” Jack's attorney says sombrely, which wipes the smug look right off of Helen's face. Helen looks at Eve uncertainly, and drops her eyes. Then she raises her eyes again. “I certainly didn't mean any harm for Eve. I believed she was going to a good home,” Helen says with apparent sincerity.

“But you didn't know for sure, did you?” Jack's attorney grills her.

“No,” Helen admits after a pause. “But I had no reason to believe otherwise either.” She says a little sadly.

“Don't you want the best for your children, and for Amy?” Jack's attorney asks.

“Of course” Helen replies indignantly. “But I already told you. It wasn't up to me. I had nothing to do with the placement... the adoption of Eve.” Helen declares defensively, getting angry at the attorney's continued attack on her.

Jack's attorney looks incredulous. “You had nothing to do with it!?!” he asks in disbelief, his voice rising a little. Turning sharply, he walks angrily over to his papers on the lawyer's table, and quickly snatches the birth certificate out of it. He strides back over to Helen and slaps the paper down with his palm in front of her with a loud bang. Helen, and the audience, jumps. Amy, on Bessie's lap, starts to cry. Grams looks aggravated, but also terribly sad at what she is hearing.

Helen's attorney jumps to his feet, shouting “Objection, counsel is intimidating the witness” and the judge bangs his gavel for order, which only makes Amy cry more, so Bessie gets up and takes Amy out of the courtroom.

“Whose name is on this birth certificate, the certificate you signed by law?” Jack's lawyers questions her harshly, his voice rose. “Look at it and tell me who the father is!” he demands sharply, pointing at the piece of paper in front of Helen.

“Counsel, there is a fine line between zealous cross-examination, and harassing a witness. You are very close to crossing that line” the judge warns Jack's attorney. “This is a family law hearing, not a criminal prosecution”.

“I apologize his Honor, it won't happen again”

“Answer the question” the judge instructs Helen.

Helen is shaking a little, but she manages to answer “I know what it says.”

“Whose name is on it for the father??” Jack's attorney asks again.

“Roger” Helen answers in a small voice.

“And is he the birth father of Eve?”

“No”

“And you knew that when you signed this document in Dr. Rutger's clinic after you gave birth to Eve, didn't you?”

“I know who Eve's father is” Helen replies coldly.

“Then you knew his name, the birth father's name, was supposed to be on this birth certificate, didn't you?” Jack's attorney asks sternly, giving Helen the third degree.

Helen looks dismayed. “William said… he said it would be easier…that it would make things easier….if I just agreed to put in the adoptive father's name, instead of his, William's. That it wouldn't make any difference.”

“But you knew it was wrong, didn't you?”

“He told me it was done all the time and I shouldn't worry about it,” Helen says defensively. “He, Roger was going to adopt her anyway.”

“But you knew it was wrong?” Jack's attorney doggedly asks again.

“Yes, no, I don't know,” Helen answers, confused and upset, shaking her head a little in frustration.

“Perhaps you didn't care enough to find out?” Jack's attorney suggests snidely.

Helen turns a little pink. “It wasn't like that” she huffs. “William already had everything arranged. And he was older, and in law school. If something wasn't done right… well, it was his mistake, not mine!”

Jack's lawyer raises his hand to stop her from continuing. “Don't tell me. Let me guess. It's not your fault” he says with an edge of sarcasm, shooting a triumphant look at Helen's attorney. “But according to your college roommates, you gave up Eve for adoption because you needed the money”.

“That's not true.”

“You weren't worried that he would dump you if you kept the baby?”

Helen looks down her nose at Jack's attorney like he's a bug. “No”

“We have witnesses who will say otherwise.”

“For God's sake, I was only nineteen!” she exclaims, defensive. “What else was I to do? You make it sound like I threw her to the wolves. William assured me that everything was legal,” she explains, almost wearily. “I believed him when he said he checked out the parents. I was nineteen and in love. I believed him” she says simply, a sad expression on her face.

“And you believed him when he said that he, and not the adoptive parents, was giving you fifty thousand dollars for your…education” Jack's attorney asks with an obvious note of sarcasm in his voice.

Helen looks like he slapped her.

“Isn't it true that you were in love with his money and his socials status? That you were hoping he'd marry you once he knew you were pregnant, but then you couldn't wait to give your daughter up once you found that he wouldn't?” Jack's attorney questions her harshly.

Helen is aghast and speechless.

“That's enough” the judge says, sharply looking at Jack's attorney.

“Why didn't you tell your mother that you were pregnant?” Jack's lawyer continues, now calmer.

Helen glances a little guiltily toward Grams.

“She wouldn't have understood. The only thing she knew to talk about was God. She would have never forgiven me for my… sin” she finishes, angry.

“But you didn't give her the chance to understand, did you?. Jennifer had a baby while being single and your mother had no inconvenience”.

“I didn't tell her because I knew I couldn't keep the baby” Helen finally asks defiantly. “William didn't want a child, period. He was in grad school- law school and I wasn't even through college. We both had other… aspirations, plans. He said it would be….” Helen abruptly stops talking, realizing that what she was about to say something not to her credit. She looks down at her hands clasped in her lap, her expression tight and closed.

“Inconvenient?” Jack's attorney says quietly.

Helen looks up sharply, her eyes flashing. “Yes, inconvenient. Expensive, time-consuming, disruptive, bad timing, too young…all the normal reasons a person gives a child up for adoption.” She glowers at Jack's attorney. “Nothing wrong or illegal, or immoral, about that. I refuse to be made as if I did something shameful. People give up babies for adoption every day,” she says with a proud toss of her head.

“No, nothing wrong or illegal about that,” Jack's attorney agrees softly. “But,” he says more forcefully, pausing a moment for dramatic effect before shooting off questions “Wasn't it also inconvenient for you when your ex-husband started an affair with your daughter's highschool classmate? Wasn't it inconvenient when your daughter Jennifer found out about it, and you had to send her away? And what about Eve? Certainly it was ‘inconvenient' when Eve showed up on your doorstep four years ago, and you turned her away without even a cup of coffee first? Wasn't it? And when you mother got sick?“ Jack's attorney leans forward dramatically and fixes Helen with a stare. “What happens to Amy when she becomes…inconvenient?” he asks devastatingly.

Helen's eyes widen, but she doesn't answer. Her attorney shouts “objection” and the judge barks, “sustained”, giving Jack's attorney a stern look. “You've made your point,” the judge says to Jack's attorney. “Move on”. However, the judge also frowns and gives Helen an unfriendly and measuring look, thinking about what Jack's attorney has said.

“Isn't it true that you were travelling and throwing parties and couldn't be bothered with Jennifer when she was in high school? That you told her you were too busy for her to come home?”

Helen glares at Jack's attorney and doesn't answer. Jack's attorney pauses, contemplating, before asking his last question.

“The money Eve's biological father gave you- it wasn't just for tuition was it?”

Helen presses her lips together, and doesn't answer. She drops her gaze to her lap and doesn't answer for a long time. Then she raises her eyes. “No, it wasn't” she admits. She sighs and looks away, tears in her eyes. “It was a long time ago. You don't understand. There could have been a scandal. I trusted him.” Then she looks defiantly, angrily, straight at Jack's attorney. “It wasn't my fault”.

We finally see Eve's reaction to all of this. Even thought she tries to hide, her eyes show the pain she is feeling inside, finally listening, by first hand, her own history. Jack looks at Grams, concerned for her after listening to everything her own daughter has confessed, and Grams, pained, just searches for Eve in the audience. She sees her and feels her pain and Grams looks down at her hands, clasped on her lap.

The last we see is Dawson standing behind the camera, straighten up, his face serious, his arms crossed over his chest. Joey is by his side, her hand covering her mouth as her arms are crossed over her chest. She is frowning and she exchanges a look with Dawson . Everything that has been said in the courtroom has been… devastating .

Hallway of the courthouse

Everyone is milling around, waiting for the judge's decision. No one really feels like talking.

Eve and the attorney steps out of the courtroom, where they had been talking. The attorney touches Eve on her shoulder, then walks over to the group of people.

“It shouldn't be too long now” he tells them. “I think the Judge has all the information he needs to make his decision. Luckily, we got a good judge who is known to be fair, so we have a good shot at it. The hearing went well” the attorney assures them with a smile. “Everyone did a great job, and the rest is out of our hands” the attorney says. Then he looks at his watch. “If you will excuse me, I have another court appearance to make today, so I'll be leaving now but I'll be back in about twenty minutes. Jack has my number so he'll call me when it is time to go back in. It shouldn't be more than an hour at most.” The attorney smiles briefly at them all before rushing off.

Eve is standing where the attorney left her, uncertain what to do next. She glances over at the group, then looks down, feeling out of place and uncomfortable, and finally decides to walk out of there. Grams looks at Eve intently for a few moments, then comes to a decision.

“Eve, wait!” she says.

Eve turns to her and looks at the old lady tentatively.

“We haven't been introduced formally” Grams apologizes. “My name is Evelyn, and I am your grandmother” Grams announces to Eve with confidence. Eve smiles waveringly at Grams and Grams smiles back. “You can call me Grams. Everyone else does anyway, and, well, apparently I really am your grams.” Grams says with a gentle smile. Eve visibly relaxes and the two begin to talk.

Andie and Joey, who are sitting together in a bench in the aisle, watch Grams and Eve talking.

“This is so weird” Andie comments. “To find out that Jen had a half-sister and Grams another granddaughter, and how Helen kept this all to herself for almost thirty years. So now Amy has another aunt” They both stay in silence for a moment. “Isn't it strange that Jen died without ever knowing that she had a half sister?” Andie finishes.

“Not so stranger as sad, if you ask me. Dawson should have told her. He should have told us” Joey says, shaking her head and slightly upset.

“Maybe yes, maybe not. I don't think that it is a decision so easy to make” Andie says, noticing her anger.

Joey looks down and then up at Dawson, who is standing on a corner, talking to Pacey and Jack, gesturing with his hands as if explaining something.

“Maybe , ” Joey says.

“So you didn't know about this, did you? “ Andie asks Joey.

Joey shakes her head a little unhappy.

“Joey, you gotta understand that it wasn't his secret to tell. Besides, it seems like nobody knew anything for certain back then anyway. It could have just caused a lot of trouble for nothing if it turned out that Eve wasn't Helen's daughter. It was just a possibility.”

“Well, you have more understanding than I do” Joey says, sighing. “Because, I mean, this is Dawson . This is Dawson and me. We shared everything. Well, not everything, but something as important as that…”

“Maybe you got a point” Andie seems to think about it. “I think I'd beat Pacey if he didn't tell me something like that.” Andie says with happy enthusiasm just to make the frown on Joey's face disappear.

It succeeds as Joey laughs.

“Well, I admit the thought crossed my mind. But I guess I better work on handling this in a more mature manner, right?” Joey sighs, resigned.

“Right” Andie smiles sincerely to her. “I mean, the world hasn't come to an end because Dawson kept a secret from you, right?“

Joey smiles.

“No, and go figure, the world didn't explode neither because Dawson and I are still together, working things out in some semblance of a mature relationship” Joey smiles, happily this time. “He inspires me to be so much more than I am. To be better. He makes my life better. I've known this for long ago, but it hasn't been until now that we are together, truly together, that I am totally appreciating it.” < a beat > “Once upon a time I wanted more than anything for us to be together, and now we are. It is a feeling like no other, to have your biggest dream come true” she smiles at the resemblance to the same words said in another time. “And we're really going to make it this time. I can feel it. So yeah, you're right. I can't leave something as tiny as this to make me mad. It is something that happened in the past and I guess we'll have much more important things to discuss and get mad at in the future” Joey affirms with a smile that grew bigger and bigger as she spoke.

Just then, Pacey laughs loudly at something Audrey has said, and the two turn to look at them.

“And what about you two?” Joey asks Andie, nodding toward Pacey. “Any news there?”

Andie just shrugs and gets a certain slightly shy and slightly sly smile. Joey recognizes it.

“So that's the way it is” Joey says knowingly, and Andie's smile gets bigger.

“I don't know. It is kind of confusing sometimes, because we have become very good friends over these last months. Something that we didn't have the chance to be before, you know? Not like now anyway. We jumped straight into a relationship when I was a new girl in town and then it all… ended” she says, sad. “And well, after that what else happened? A few conversations here and there and then I left.”

“I always wondered if me… if Pacey and I, if we had something to do with that” Joey asks almost whispering.

“Yes and no” Andie says, looking straight and after thinking about it for a few seconds. “Yes because I still felt something for Pacey, and it was hard to see him with someone else. And no because going to Italy was truly an opportunity I couldn't leave pass me by and I knew it would be good for me to learn and have new experiences. But I guess you know that. Italy was my own Paris ” Andie says with a grin.

“And it made you good Andie,” Joey smiles.

“Yeah, Pacey says the same. He says I have changed, but at the same time, I am still the same. Figures” she laughs and Joey smiles.

“So he hasn't said anything else yet?,”

“Something like what?” Andie asks innocently.

Joey laughs again.

“You know what I'm talking about. But if I've known Pacey in something, is that he doesn't wait for things to happen. He goes for what he wants. And I guess that's why he usually gets it” she comments.

Andie just shrugs her shoulders, looking down at her feet and trying not to get her hopes up.

“And if he doesn't, don't wait too long. Maybe now he needs a good swift kick in the pants, in a manner of speaking,” Joey advises.

Andie laughs as Joey pushes her shoulder jokingly against Andie's.

“What's so funny?” Dawson asks as he walks up to Joey and Andie.

“Men!” Andie and Joey say in unison, with a laugh. Dawson looks at them as if they both are a little crazy, but Andie and Joey just look knowingly at each other in silent understanding.

“Oh, the favourite subject of any woman , ” Pacey smirks.

“Yeah, sure, we have much better things to talk about that men Pacey , ” Andie says pretending to be offended.

“Sure, just like we have much better things to discuss than women , ” Pacey laughs looking at Dawson, who smiles at him and chuckles.

“You two and all that rebuilding bridges thing seems to be really working this time, what only makes me be scared” Audrey eyes him with suspicious eyes. “I've never really known you as friends, you know? And I'm afraid it might be quite an experience”

“That is, open old bounds Audrey , ” Dawson scolds her funnily.

“Well, you know me , ” Audrey smiles angelically at him.

“Yeah, quite the sweet pie, the girl , ” Pacey teases her.

“Leave her alone Pacey, or I'll kick your ass from here to Capeside , ” Joey menaces him and Audrey smiles big as she pretends to seek for refuge sitting by her side and lacing her arm with Joey's.

“By the way, where is Jack?” Dawson asks.

“He's still inside, talking with…”

Andie starts to explain but just then, there is a small commotion at the doors to the courtroom. Helen emerges, looking upset. “It's not my fault!” she almost yells to her attorney. Then Helen sees Eve and Grams, who during all this time have been speaking, but Helen's expression remains cold as she quickly looks away. At first Eve looks hopefully and expectantly at her mother, but Helen walks right by her without another glance. Eve's face falls and then she regains her composure as Grams places a hand on her shoulder before going after Helen.

The group has been watching and they are no longer smiling. Dawson seems to be worried, and it seems as if he wants to go and talk to Eve but for some reason he doesn't. Joey stands up and approaches him.

“Go talk to her , ” Joey tells Dawson quietly, giving him a gentle push in Eve's direction. “This must be really hard on Eve too.”

Dawson looks at Joey for a moment, to make sure it is really okay with her, and he sees that she is serious. He walks over to Eve and puts his hand on her arm to comfort her as he starts to talk to her.

“I can't believe Helen just totally blew off Eve , ” Andie says quietly and sadly.

Mike Potter has approached the group without anyone noticing, hearing the last sentence. He shakes his head slowly.

“I guess some parents never gets to know that your children are the most precious and important things in your life , ” he states, passing his arm around Joey's shoulder. She glances sweetly at him and smiles.

“Yeah, for some of them it takes longer than for others , ” he says, thinking about his own family.

“Hmmph , ” Audrey agrees.

Andie just sighs, remembering the hell they went through until her father came to terms with Jack's sexuality.

“I guess not , ” Joey also replies thoughtfully, as the four of them watch Dawson put his arm around Eve while she sadly rests her head a moment on Dawson 's shoulder.

The scene ends quietly with everyone sombrely watching Eve.

At the same time, inside the courtroom.

Jack is sitting in a bench, his hands laced and just looking at the ground, thinking about everything that has happened that day and what it still has to happen. He notices someone walking towards him and sitting by his side.

(Solace and pain, by Matt Nathanson starts playing in the background)

He is more than surprised to look up and find Doug.

I'm so confused by what I have and what I want,
But I can't stand alone without your help

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, hi to you too” Doug smiles.

“Sorry. Hi. I mean, you were supposed to be on duty today, weren't you?”

I'm afraid of the truth that I might find
when I look inside myself,

“Yeah, but I asked Scott to cover half of it so I could stop by, even if only at the end”

Jack nods his head and smiles weakly at him.

“When did you arrive?”

But I can't stand alone without your help
And what once gave me solace, now only gives me pain

“Right before that NY detective started his declaration. I kinda sneaked in without being noticed”

“Thank you Doug. It means a lot to me” he says, reaching for his hand.

I over estimated your emotions again
How easily we can fool ourselves
and see things that just aren't there

Doug tenses a little when he feels Jack's hand covering his, but he doesn't dare to move or say anything about it. He knows that this is a very delicate moment for him, so he just squeezes it.

“So how are things going?” Doug finally asks. “I haven't had the chance to ask anyone”

“I don't know” Jack says, sighing deeply. “I honestly don't know. To me, there is only one outcome possible of all this, so anything I tell you is biased. But I am nervous. I am nervous that I fail Jen and I am nervous that I fail Grams and that I lose Amy… I haven't been able hardly to sleep or eat in the last days. I just want this to end , ” he says, burying his face on his hands.

Doug can't help but rub his shoulder and Jack leans on him. For a moment any of them speak. Jack feels comfortable, his eyes closed, reaching some kind of peace now that Doug is there.

“I've missed you , ” he whispers to him.

Tangle up our emotions until it seems that people truly care
It's been out of my hands now for so long
and there's nothing I could have done

Doug can't take himself to respond though. What is he supposed to say? He is dating another man. He has missed Jack. But he is not sure anymore he misses him the way Jack might be implying he misses him. He gulps down and Jack straightens up.

“I'm sorry , ” Doug says, although he doesn't even know why he is apologizing.

Jack just looks at him and tears fill his eyes.

“I shouldn't have come , ” Doug says, feeling terrible, standing up and ready to leave.

“You're still with him, aren't you?” Jack asks, defeated.

“Look Jack, I didn't want this to happen, I just wanted to come here and be your friend. Give you support, let you know that I am by your side…”

“But not the way I want you to be, right?”

“I'm sorry that…”

“Don't repeat that any more time!!” Jack suddenly yells, leaving Doug petrified and rooted to the floor.

“Jack, it was you who left me. It was you who said you had no time nor space for me in your life. What was I supposed to do?” Doug recriminates him.

And jealousy's an emotion that I'll have to learn to overcome
And what once gave me solace now only gives me pain

“Wait for me , ” Jack says in the edge of tears. “Just wait for me , ” he whispers.

“And I wanted to. I wanted to wait for you. But things sometimes don't happen the way we want them to happen. I met someone and things just… happened.”

“Do you love him?” Jack asks softly.

Doug sits back by his side.

“Do I love him?” he asks to himself. “I guess I do, otherwise I wouldn't be with him, don't you think?” he relies as softly as Jack asked. “Now, other question would be: will it last forever? Because nowadays, who knows that?”

“Sad but true , ” Jack agrees. “So maybe there is still a chance for us , ” Jack says.

I overestimated your emotions again

“Maybe , ” Doug concedes, “but what if we start as friends? Can you be my friend, and accept me in your live with a boyfriend and all.”

“I can't promise. But I can try.”

“OK. But right now let's just concentrate on today. I wanna be here for you. As your friend.”

Distance and silence, how do they make you feel?

Even though every time Doug mentions the word friend Jack feels as if a knife digs into his heart, he knows he has no option but to accept what Doug is offering. And cling to that little hope that maybe, just maybe, with time, he can wins him over again.

Well they hurt me.

Back to the courthouse corridor.

"Are you feeling better?" Dawson asks Eve.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" she tells him.

"Come on..." Dawson encourages. "Don't talk like that."

"Why not? It's true." she says, sighing again.

"You want to know what I think?" he says in response. "I think Helen hates herself more than anything. This whole trial...do you think it's really all about not trusting Jack? Or her own mother, even? You're just something else she feels guilty about."

Eve turns towards him and smiles. She smiles and shakes her head.

"Almost a decade later, and you're still trying to prove everyone's a good person deep down?" she asks. "I would have thought you'd become at least somewhat cynical since the 11th grade."

"You just caught me at a good time," he retorts. "I spent a good amount of time being cynical that year and the next one,” he says with a little smile. “Besides, you're one to talk. The seductive vixen comes forward to help the 'little guy' fight for his best friend's memory. Doesn't sound like the girl who was caught making out with me in front of all Capeside High."

"Well, having a kid of your own teaches you a lot about responsibility," Eve announces.

"You're kidding?" Dawson asks, his eyes going wide with surprise.

"Nope," she replies. "My 'wild ways' caught up to me eventually. It's kind of a recent; my boy is more or less the same age than Amy actually. Ironic, isn't it?”

“Yeah, ironic and… I wish you and Jen could have shared that experience”

“I wish too. But now that I know we were pregnant almost at the same time, I kinda feel like I did somehow” she smiles. “But things are the way they are I guess. And that's it”

"Seems like we all have grown up," Dawson tells her.

"Oh please..." Eve jokes. "You were mature by 16."

"You obviously didn't know me as well as you think you did, Eve!" he laughs. “If you had seen me just a few months after you left.”

The both of them continue to talk as Dawson turns around and notices the whole group talking but Joey looking at them intensely. A weak smile appears on her face and he waves for her to come join them. Rubbing her father's arm to let him know she is leaving, Joey walks toward Dawson and Eve.

"Well, you seem to be feeling better," she informs Eve kindly.

"What can I say?" Eve smiles at her. " Dawson has a way with words."

"I'll bet!" Joey comments. "He has the magic touch...but of course, you knew that already..."

Dawson coughs and Eve laughs sincerely for the first time.

"Remember Joey, right?"

"Yeah. I remember some of her killing looks , ” Eve laughs again and Joey grins, shrugging her shoulders and playing her innocent look.

“What can I say? When it comes to Dawson , I have always been very territorial, whatever we were together or not" she admits as she leans on him and passes her arm around his waist. Dawson puts his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't I know it," he agrees, pushing her lightly against him and kissing her on the temple.

Eve can't help but smile at the display in front of her. It is a huge contrast compared to what she has seen back in the courtroom and it is somehow comforting. Healing.

"I'd better be going," she tells them, feeling like maybe she should go and leave them alone.

"Wait!" Dawson speaks out. "Come back inside and talk to the others. I'm sure they'll like to know you. You are, after all, someone related to Jen and we… we miss her."

"She was lucky to have such good friends” Eve says sweetly with a smile.

“Well, truth is, in the last years we hadn't been that close” Joey says, regretful, and Eve notices.

“That is normal. People grow up and change and drift apart. But that doesn't mean they don't think of you and still love you. I'm sure Jen knew that”

“That's true” she smiles back and her eyes drift to Dawson . But then she looks at Eve again and she seems to concentrate in what she wants to say next. "Look Eve...I know you didn't really find what you were looking for when you wanted to find your family, but just because your mother is not ready to accept you doesn't mean it's the same for everyone. And even if you're not ready today, don't miss out on the chance to get to know your grandmother and your niece. They already lost Jen...it'd be a shame if they lose you, too."

Eve smiles at Joey thankfully. Here was the last person she ever expected to even like her, yet here she was...a former rival offering a hand out in friendship.

"I wouldn't be intruding?" she asks. "You really need another misfit hanging around?"

"The more the merrier," Joey says with a wink. "Us 'misfits' need to stick together...just as long as you keep your paws off Dawson !"

Eve laughs out loud.

"You won't have to worry about that," she replies, grinning. "I don't think my husband would approve. < a beat> And thanks for the offer. The two of you.” she says before walking away.

Joey turns to Dawson .

"Husband, huh?"

“That's what it seems.”

“So… I take it that you're not angry at me anymore?” Dawson says, taking her hands on his and facing her. “Joey, I'm sorry I never told you.” he apologizes softly as Joey watches him.

“It's ok. It's just that I thought we had no secrets. I thought we agreed on telling everything to each other. And discovering that there are things about you that I don't know makes me feel… nervous”

Dawson frowns. “Nervous? How come?” he asks.

“Because of the ‘lost years,'” she says. “I mean, you and me have spent so many time apart, but now that we're together it seems at the same time as if we have never left each other's side. And then something like this happen and it reminds me that there was a time where you and me hardly spoke to each other, out of pain that kept us apart or because of time and distance. And I don't want to remember that part. It seems like we lost so much time”

“A time that we are taking back each and every passing day we are together , ” Dawson says as their foreheads rest together. “There'll never be more lost years” he smiles at her.

“No, there won't” Joey assures him as well and they lace fingers, still leaning on each other's.

“This might sound stupid, but even these little fights for the silliest things with you feels good,” Joey says cuddling to his chest, her face buried on his neck. “And reconciliations are the best part” she smiles, turning her face so he can lean down and kiss her.

“Oh yes” he smiles. “Remember that day under the rain?”

“Of course I do” she smiles, “and that day at the ruins, when you got mad at me because I didn't tell you about your mum”

“See?? I'm not the first one to hide information” Dawson jokes.

“Oh, shut up!” Joey swats his arm playfully. “We talked about being married at least for 50 years in an alternative universe”

“You say that I got a creepy eye for details, but it always amaze me how you can remember each and every little detail of our past moments.”

“Well, if I can remember the song playing at your mum's car when she came to pick us to the movies back when we were kids, how could I forget the boy I loved telling me that we might have been married in another life? And I remember I thought that I wished it had been in this one” she smiles her famous half smile, remembering that moment.

“I love it when you smile like that” Dawson says. “It looks sexy on you” he speaks, his voice low and Joey pretends to be scandalized.

“ Dawson !” she scolds him as they laugh. Just then they notice Pacey and Andie joining the group in animated chatting.

“It truly seems as a journey back in time to see them together” Dawson comments.

“Yeah, I guess we're not the only ones who have lost some years after all” Joey says. “Isn't it funny how things that are meant to be are always proved in the end? It's like what my mother said: you always go back to those who were there in the beginning. Andie was Pacey's beginning. I only hope he realizes that soon”

“Aha, now that a certain obsession by a certain brunette has disappeared,” Dawson jokes.

Joey bites her bottom lip and throws him a side glance, then they playfully kiss.

Just then we see Jack showing up at the door of the courtroom and prompting everybody to go inside.

Inside the courtroom, a few moments later.

Jack sits in his chair impatiently waiting for the Judge to come from the chambers. He turns around to the row behind him and is greeted by friendly faces including some of his students at high school, the principal and a few workmates. He didn't expect them to show up at all and they had cheered him up more than they could even imagine. He smiles at them and then his eyes rest on Doug, who is sitting in the last rows, and smiles at him. Andie reaches for Jack's hand and pats it in an attempt to comfort him. Brother and sister share a quiet moment between them before the bailiff announces to the courtroom

“ All rise. Honourable Judge Foster presiding. This court is now in session.

Judge Foster sits heavily on his seat and lets out an audible sigh. He is an old man and finding himself fed up with Family court. At least in criminal cases, he thinks, there was clear law and reaching a decision was fairly straightforward. Family court has none of that clarity, and it could even harder to take because of the kids. Broken, hurt, abandoned or worse physically and emotionally abused he ' d seen them all come before him. He nods to his clerk who begins to speak.

“ Case number ACD 7584 Petition for guardianship of Amy Lindley from Jack McPhee, Mrs. Emily Ryan ”

The clerk nods to the judge who sits down.

“Ok, I see we have this petition before us today. Who represents the petitioners? ”

Jack's lawyer nudges Jack to stand up.

” Well here goes nothing. ” Jack whispers to Andie, Pacey and Grams before letting go of his sister's hand, hoping to bring some humour to this situation.

“Go get them tiger!” Pacey jokes as Grams just smiles encouragingly at him.

”John Murray for the petitioners your honour. ”

Jack stands nervously waiting for the Judge and glances over to Dawson, who is filming, and Joey, who gives him a reassuring smile. After that his gaze goes instinctively to Amy, sitting in Bessie's lap and who is watching everything in silence with wide-open eyes, as if she knew that her future is being decided at that moment. Lastly, he looks at Helen. When the judge had appeared he tried hard to read his face in order to give him some idea to what the verdict will be and he noticed that Mrs. Lindley was trying to do the same. Now her face just looks blank.

“ You may be seated, “ the bailiff calls out.

Before they have chance the judge stops Grams and Jack.

( Alright by Reamon starts playing in the background)

“ Mr. McPhee and Mrs. Ryan. Please stay standing. ” he directs Jack and Grams. “ And you too Mrs. Lindley. ”

Wipe those tears away from your eyes
Just take my hand you don't have to cry it'll be allright

I'll make it allright

All three exchanges a nervous look. The judge starts to flip through the file that lay in front of him which seems to the onlookers to take forever. Finally, he closes it and adjusting his glasses, he looks out to the courtroom.

“ Mr Murray, I can say with some certainty that this is one of the most unusual cases my court has dealt with. Am I to understand that the late Miss Jennifer Lindley ' s will has been probated? ”

“ Ah, yes your honour. ”

Don't let the world get you down
Reach for the love that's all around

“ Thank you Mr Murray. I am satisfied that Miss Lindley ' s will shows clear intent for her child ' s welfare as per the Massachusetts Child Welfare Act of 1992. You have any comments Mr Murray? ” The judge asks at Jack's lawyer.

“ None, your honour. ”

“ Very well then, I shall now issue my ruling. ”

He opens the file and pulls out a piece of paper. Briefly glancing through it, he adjusts his glasses again and begins to speak.

It'll be allright baby we'll make it allright
I'll pick you up when you're feeling down
I'll put your feet back on solid ground
I'll pick you up and I'll make you strong
I'll make you feel like you still belong

“ In this day and age, the definition of a family is a fluid concept. In our society there are wide-ranging opinions if this right or wrong. However, today it is not my job to make that decision on what a family should or not be. I will leave that to higher courts to decide. ” He pauses briefly.

“ But regarding the decision as to where this child should go is fully in this court ' s hands. It is a responsibility under law and the best interests of the child for this court to render a decision. In saying that, I acknowledge that the mother of the child, prior to her untimely death, made the decision long ago. Her will simply states that Jack McPhee is the lone caretaker of this child and that no other party has been stated. Nothing I have seen or heard today has swayed me from wanting change the wishes of child deceased mother. In fact I applaud the mother for making such excellent choice, she did not judge Mr. McPhee on his sexual preference but on fact that she knew her child would be loved and well taken care of and I have no doubt that Mr. McPhee is up to this task. I am given to understand that Mr. McPhee is in gainful employment and well respected in the community of Capeside I also state for the record that Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Lindley are fully in support of this arrangement, which the court has duly noted in making the decision. Therefore, it is my ruling that as per Miss Lindley ' s will, this court awards the custody of Amy Helen Lindley to Jack McPhee. ” The Judge banged his gavel. “ Court is adjourned. ”

Cause it's allright, yeah it's allright

let me make it allright, make it allright
Stay with me tonight, stay with me tonight

The reaction of the people in the room was immediate . An exclamation went throug