Hope

[Ollie]

I don't get it.

Edit; oh, are you referencing Betty Newbie? Haha, I get it now.
http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Betty_Newbie

[Ollie]

So here I was, outside of the court and nervously staring blankly at my opponent, I can't believe I was ever with that sick freak anyway.



Cody was speaking to his lawyer very confidently, which made me even more nervous.



I manage to catch up with my lawyer and Zach before the court session.



Finally, it was time to go in.



Soon, everyone involved (except for Cherry herself) was in.



"This court is now in session with the case of Gracie Hope versus Cody Velez in a battle of custody over a Cherry Hope," The judge began. "Everyone may now rise... You may now be seated."


"Now to get started, Cherry Hope is an Illegitimate child, is this correct?"

"I prefer not to use the term illegitimate, but it is true that Cherry was born out of wedlock," I answered.



Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Cody smirking and relaxing as if there was no doubt he would win this case.



So the custody battle continued, with Cody and I attempting to persuade the judge as to why either one of us should take custody of Cherry.



Thankfully it was my time to shine with Cody's sexual harassment performed on me being brought up for discussion.


"You didn't report this incident to the police, did you, Ms. Hope? Why?" The judge questioned.
"I didn't report it to the police because I was in a very dark place at the time and I didn't want the stress of the police bothering me to be added to that, nor did I want Cherry to think of her father as a creep," I replied, hating being put on the spot.





"Cody, can you please remind us what you were doing at their house on the day of the accusations?" The judge pondered.
"Well on the day of these 'accusations' I was forwarding a letter that I had received from where we both used to live, might I mention that this letter came from her father, whom I might also mention is supposed to be DEAD." Cody spoke in such a way that chilled me, I was honestly scared, shaking in my own skin, it made me feel as if I was losing this, but I put on a brave face.


The entire court room was silent for a minute or two.

My lawyer attempted to reassure me that Cody was going down, so I hid my fears away in a slight smile.



"Well, that's beside the point, Mr. Velez, we aren't here to discuss wether or not Gracie's father is alive or not, but we are here to discuss Cherry Hope's future," The judge pointed out. "Now back to the point, Ms. Gracie can you please explain the events that occurred during the period?"


So off I went describing every little detail that I could remember from that time.

It wasn't long before I was interrupted by Cody, mumbling a jumble of words, "That's not true!"



After I finished my statement, Zach was called up to state what he remember from the day.



After Zach's statement, a recess was called, after it we would know who had custody of dear Cherry.



My lawyer seemed convinced we would win.



Before I knew it, the recess was over and it was time for a verdict.



"This has been quite a difficult decision to make, but I believe that it is clear that both Gracie Hope and Cody Velez have problems that need to be sorted out and until they are sorted, the both of you are unsuitable parents," without hesitation the judge declared. "For the time being Cherry Hope shall be placed in a foster home until a new court date roughly around two weeks from now, until then you two have problems that need to be sorted out. Gracie, I'll give you around 24 hours to say good-bye and help your daughter pack before she'll be taken away.


Both Cody and I were shocked. We had nothing to do or say, it was all just silence.

Later that day I arrived home with Zach. It was a sad day indeed.



I immediately hugged Cherry after arriving home.



It wasn't long before my darling girl was taken away.



I had to do something to calm my nerves, and there was only one thing I could guarantee would.

[Caspin]

Noooooooooooooo!

Poor Gracie and poor Cherry. This outcome would never have been permitted if the eminently sensible Judge Judy had been presiding! Well at least the judge was sensible enough not to hand custody to Cherry's father. I hope that Cherry is placed with a good foster family and that Gracie continues the fight!

[Minty]

Poor Cherry! Could have been worse though, the judge could have taken away the cat

Really thought Gracie had it in the bag, but that's the law for you (a complete donkey!)

[Caspin]

(02-07-2013 09:11 AM)Minty Wrote:  Could have been worse though, the judge could have taken away the cat

Oh my! Didn't even think of that possible (and horrifying) outcome.

I feel that we have been spared the worst. Thank you Ollie.

[Ollie]

I'm kind of worried about what Cherry might have in her shorts, they're so puffy.

[Caspin]

Yes they are very puffy now that you mention it. So are her sleeves but no so much. Perhaps she was p'd off at being put into foster care and decided to steal some cakes from the house in case the foster family serve poor food.

[Ollie]

My apologies to the fact I haven't had an update in a while, but here we go!

The days following the verdict was spent in an awkward silence. I guess Zach didn't want to upset me in my very fragile state.



As we sat down to watch some TV in peace, Zach seemed on edge and nervous, as if he were about to do something he would regret.



"Look, I Know you're upset about this whole situation, but you've got to get it off your mind. How about we travel a little? Just a short trip?" Zach pondered.



I stared at him blankly and shook my head, "I don't know, I guess I'll think about it, where would we go anyway?"


"Well, I was thinking maybe France, I found some cheap plane tickets online, just tell me yes or no and I'll make it happen. Anyway, I've got to go to work, we'll discuss it later, okay?"
"Okay."

So I continued to stared at the glaring TV screen thinking, wondering, should I? It was a difficult decision, if I left I'd feel like I was leaving my daughter, but I had to lift the stress off my shoulders.



Before I knew it I was off to work, my performance wasn't the best, but I needed to save up money for more custody battles in court over my daughter.



Later in the evening we arrived home from work. Zach managed to convince me to head to the local bar with him.


"So what's the answer then?" Zach pondered.
"Yes," I blurted out with no thinking. "Well maybe-okay, I've been thinking about it all day, I need the time away, but I feel as though I will be abandoning Cherry, no guarantee's that I won't pull out at the last minute but for now, I think the answer is yes."
It was a tough decision, but I made it-there was no way that I could.
"Great! don't worry about a thing, I'll organise it all, just relax."

Days of slow packing passed and it was nearly time to leave, Zach had managed to coax me in to a lovely slow dance which was nice and sweet.



Time had passed extremely fast and finally BANG! IT'S FRANCE!



The place was already begining to steam up, it was so lovely here.





On our first day we went out to the nectary and I began making some nectar!



In the meantime Zach was getting to know the local, getting to know a romantic song so he could sing it to me, how sweet.



Soon enough I made my first bottle of nectar, something that I would treasure forever-well maybe not forever considering it was some damn fine nectar indeed.



Later in the evening, we went out for dinner and little did I know that Zach was planing something very sneaky indeed.



"What on earth are you doing?" I asked in a worried state.



"Will you-Gracie Hope-do the honors of becoming my wife?"


"HELL YES!" I replied with joy.

"How much did that ring cost you?" I inquired.


"You don't need to worry about that," Zach smiled.

Mwah. I hugged him.



We stayed up a little late and Zach went a little crazy with over excitement, I know you wanted to see him in his fire outfit, but I've got something better...



Even with all this exciting I felt really stressed out, so I had a smoke.



After a long night of *cough* sleep *cough*, Zach and I went out to visit the museum.



Sadly the interior wasn't as French as I had expected (not to mention that fact that it appeared we didn't have a roof).



I decided to be a little sneaky and had a closer inspection at some of the art.



We had an earlier dinner than the night be fore but it was still fun.



We had a much more quiet night for our final night, staring at the stars.



I should say this hotel we were staying in wasn't very tight with security.



Unfortunately, reality hit and we were back home.

[Caspin]

Ollie! Yay for appearance of another chapter! I thought you might have had to abandon Hope as you have so many other gaming commitments.

I must personally thank you for the picture of Zach in his fireman outfit. There is nothing quite like a man in uniform. Except maybe a man in uniform bring you a plate of lamb chops and polenta. Mmmmm. Hot in here isn't it.

I am glad that there was some good news for this couple after last time's sad events in court.

[Minty]

Celebrating getting engaged by streaking naked? Is that him practicing for his stag night when he'll find himself wandering the streets in the buff if he's lucky (if unlucky he'll be handcuffed to a lamp post until the local police come along to arrest him!)