“I read over that list of charges against James. How badly did he hurt Sam?”

“She’s… she’s got a concussion and one hell of a whopping headache.”

“Concussion, huh? He hit her that hard?”

“Well, he did a roundhouse swing and clocked her a good one. She stumbled and lost her balance, then went headfirst into the wall. I think it was the wall that really did the damage though.”

“That doesn’t matter. It was a direct result of his punch that caused the injury. He’s definitely responsible for it.” Randi let go of a smug little laugh. “Well, I’m glad that I did what I did then. It’ll serve him right. I don’t care if I do get my as… ah… hang on.” The phone crackled as she jostled it from hand to hand. “Julie, why don’t you go play with your toys in the next room. Now that’s a nice girl. Mommy will come play with you in a few minutes.”

“Randi, what did you do?” Brooke’s voice was full of concern.

“My ass is going to be in a sling if they ever find this out, but I’m glad that I didn’t turn in my refusal to prosecute until right before the hearing. He had to be reassigned and held over for the next day. I… ah… I kind of lost his paper work at the office and he was held over again when it didn’t show up on the docket.”

Brooke burst out laughing. “Oh my God. You did that. Really?”

“Yep, as soon as I saw who filed the suit, I knew what I had to do. I just kind of forgot about it.” Randi laughed.

“Well, I definitely owe you one, Sis.”

“Hey, this one was on the house. You’re my sister and that’s why I stuck up for you. Well, that and stuck one to James,” Randi smirked around a laugh. “I’m just glad that I could be of service.”

“Thank you, Randi. I really mean that.” Brooke paused, her smile faded as she turned to the more serious matter at hand. “Speaking of protection… could you file a PFA for me?”

“You got it. First thing Monday morning, I’ll meet with the Judge myself. You realize that you’ve just hired me, Sis. I’m on retainer for you now.”

Brooke took her feet down from the coffee table and sat forward on the couch. “Yes, I understand that. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Good, now what about Sam?” Randi paused, waiting for her sister’s answer.

“What about her?”

“Does she need one too?”

“Yeah, I guess she will.” Images of James leaning in to Sam flashed through Brooke’s mind with the clarity that she’d seen as she rounded the doorway into the room on Wednesday evening. She quickly reigned in her thoughts when she heard the sound of Randi’s voice.

“Then, you’d better put her on the phone. I’ll need to be hired by her as well.”

“Okay, but Randi… I’ll take care of the bill for both of us, okay?”

“Bill? What bill? I’ll do it pro bono, Sis.” Randi thought for a moment, then chuckled. “But just to keep it all aboveboard, you can give me a dollar for each of you.”

“Come on, Randi, what’s a dollar going to do?” Brooke laughed around her words. “I have a feeling that it won’t be that easy of a case.”

“You’re my sister, Brooke. All I want is for you to be happy. Well,” Randi chuckled, “…that and a dollar.”

Brooke shook her head as she laughed, “Let me go get Sam for you.”

She got up from the couch and started for the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. Bounding down the hall, she slowed to a stop, then poked her head in through the open bedroom door. A smile graced her face as she watched the blonde roll over in her direction. “Sam…” she spoke softly, “Are you awake, Darlin’?”

The young woman stretched her arms out as she yawned. She quickly brought a hand down to cover her mouth, “Yeah, I… I think so. Why?”

“Honey, Randi needs to talk to you. Do you feel up to it?” Brooke started into the room, crossing toward the huge bed.

Sam looked to the empty side of the bed next to her, then the fully clothed woman coming toward her. “When did you… huh… Randi?” Her brow furrowed, “Why does she need to talk to me?”

“Remember, we talked about that restraining order?”

“Restraining order? What are you talking about?”

“Baby, we talked about it this morning. Don’t you remember?” Brooke was starting to be concerned. She stood next to the bed looking down on her lover as Sam tried to get up, the pain evident in her face.

“It’s…” Sam brought her hand to her head and rubbed it. “It’s all coming back to me now. Yeah, I’m remembering it now.” She held her head and nodded.

Brooke grabbed the bottle of Tylenol from the nightstand and poured a glass of water from the pitcher that she’d placed there earlier. “Here, Baby, take these.”

The blonde looked at the pills with disgust, then popped them into her mouth, downing them with a large mouthful of water to wash their taste away. “Augh, I’m never going to get used to these.” She looked up to the woman standing next to her. “Thanks, Brooke. It’s getting better, but it’s still not gone.”

The tall woman sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arm around Sam’s shoulder. Leaning toward her, she kissed her forehead.

“Give me the phone. I’ll talk to Randi, then I just want to cuddle up next to you for the rest of the day.” She took the phone that Brooke offered her and brought it up to her ear. “Thanks.” Sam leaned into Brooke’s body as she spoke into the phone, “Randi, are you still there?”

“Sam… how are you feeling, Honey?”

“Better, I guess. I’ve still got a blasted headache, though.”

“Just give it a day or so and you’ll be good as new.”

“What do you need to talk to me about, Randi? I’ve got this doting nursemaid here…” she laughed as she shot a quick glance at the woman next to her.

“Well, Sam, to put it all in a nutshell, I need to hear you say that you’re hiring me as your lawyer so that I can ask the court to grant you a PFA against James. I’d like to do that when I plead for one in Brooke’s name as well.”

“I need to hire you?” Sam looked over to Brooke, more than a little surprised. “Randi, I don’t have that kind of money to hire a lawyer, let alone one of your caliber.”

“Yes, you do. I’ll go in front of the Judge on Monday.” Randi paused, then added. “Sam, don’t worry about the money.”

“I don’t want Brooke to be paying…”

“Pro Bono, Sam.” Randi chuckled. “It’s not going to cost you a thing.”

“Huh?” Sam was definitely confused. She looked to Brooke as her lover nodded reassuringly. “Okay,” the word was drawn out suspiciously. “But if I find out otherwise…”

“So, Sam. Are you hiring me or not?”

“Well, ah… sure. You’re hired.”

“Okay,” Randi sounded excited. “I’ll take care of everything from here on out.

“Will I need to do anything? Be anywhere when you file for that PFA thing?” Sam sighed, “You know, I’m not really up to it right at this moment.”

“No, Sam, that’s why you hired me.”

“Great! Thanks, Randi. Now I get to just cuddle up with this big ol’ teddy bear and heal my aching head.”

“No problem Kiddo. Why don’t you get some rest and put that big teddy bear back on the phone?”

“Oh… ah… yeah,” Sam looked shocked at Randi’s pickup on her reference to Brooke. She turned, handing the phone to the person next to her. “She wants to talk to you, Hon.”

The woman accepted the phone, then cleared her throat as she brought it to her ear. “So, what’s up?”

“Keep an eye on her, Sis. I think she really took a good hit there. You just worry about her, and I’ll take care of everything on my end. I’ll messenger over the PFA orders to you both as soon as I get them issued. You’d better keep them with you, just in case.”

Brooke gave Sam a little squeeze and kissed the top of her head. “I will Randi and ah… you don’t have to worry about me taking care of her. Thanks, Sis.” She started to pull the phone away from her ear when a thought struck her. “Hey, Randi,” she called out, slipping the phone back under her hair. “I need some ideas for the kids… for Christmas.”

“Christmas? Is that coming up already?”

“Yep, it’s practically right around the corner.

“Hmm… Well, you know that David is talking about a scooter all the time and Julie…she keeps talking about Sam’s baby.” Randi laughed, “I don’t know what you’re going to do on that one.”

“Uh…Umm…” Brooke gulped, then took in a deep breath, “Well…”

“Got you squirming there, eh Brooke?” Randi teased her sister. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that it won’t be too hard to please a three year old.”

Brooke rolled her eyes, “Yeah, that shouldn’t be too difficult. How about Kevin?”

“Sis, I only got one word of advice for you. Don’t go getting them what you want this year. They don’t need motorized cars or expensive mountain bikes, or even 30gig computers for their rooms. Okay?”

“Damn,” Brooke sounded disappointed. “You’re no fun.”

“Remember, you’re the big kid, Sis. They are just kids, plain and simple. Now try to put that to good use when you’re picking out their gifts this year.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Brooke chuckled.

“So when you going shopping?”

“Maybe tomorrow, if Sam’s feeling better.”

“Oh, so Sam’s going with you? Good, she’ll keep you in line. I knew that I liked her for some reason.” Randi laughed.

“Yeah, whatever smart ass,” Brooke shot right back. There was a moment of silence. “Hey Randi… thanks again for handling things for us.”

“No problem, Sis. I’m just glad I can do it.” There was a long pause, then Randi finally spoke, “Hey, I’ve got to go. The house is way too quiet and that’s never a good sign when you have three kids. I’ll see you, later. Bye.”

“Yeah, later Sis.” Brooke disconnected the phone, then wrapped both of her arms around the blonde next to her.