Malibu: Green Versus Green Finale

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The verdict is read in the case of Green Versus Green...will anything be the same after?


Judge Donovan cleared his throat, a typed sheet of paper before him and glasses now obscuring his eyes so that he could read from it properly. They bothered his nose and gave him a slight sinus headache, but without them he would not have been able to re-read the tiny type face against the start white background of the page. With a bang of his gavel, "I now call this court to order, please be seated." The judge paused for a moment, looking at both parties involved in the trial. "This is the final meeting in the case of Green Versus Green barring an appeal of the decision by either party. Once the decision is read, the parties will be legally bound to it. Now, in the civil matter of divorce between Maureen Green and Michael Green, would both parties please rise."

Michael stood up gracefully, a large smile on his face. Oh yeah, he knew he had this thing in the bag. He'd presented his arguments, his lawyer was a goddamned human barracuda, and best of all, he was going to be able to raise his son.

His blessedly human son.

Looks like he'd made the right decision after all.

Maureen gave Dori's hand a squeeze and stood, smoothing her skirt. No matter what else, this would all be finally over, she told herself. Surely the court wouldn't take her son away from her? Surely they'd see that Michael's drinking, his bigotry, the way he'd spurned his daughter--all of them made him unfit to raise Ryan. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and focused on Judge Donovan.

Doreen sat, a lump of butterflies buzzing around in her stomach. If butterflies could buzz. Or came in lumps. She was so nervous. She had a lot of experience with just how people acted when they only saw skin deep.

After another brief pause, the judge shook the paper and adjusted his glasses. "In the matter of Green Versus Green, after careful consideration of all factors and testimonies given here in this court. It is the opinion and decision of the duly empowered servant of the great state of California, that custody of Ryan Green should be awarded to Michael Green. All other arrangements for separation of assets have been agreed upon by both parties. The cause for concern in this case is the mother's ability to provide a stable household while working so many jobs, which would have an adverse effect upon the development of a healthy psyche within her son. While the court does recognize the need for a maternal influence in a boy's life, we are not restricting visitation rights, so long as the child is not endangered in Miss Green's care." The judge slammed his gavel down on the desk and stood, "Court is adjourned."

Michael was all smiles, exchanging a hearty handshake with his lawyer. Damned shame about his little girl, but as his new friends would say, real humans had to stick together in the end. And Maureen ... what an error he'd made. It was so good for so long, but now? Ashes. At least he hadn't been completely taken to the cleaners.

Now that this whole trial thing was over he could get back to some normalcy in his life. Raise his boy, climb the ladder, take that trip around the world he'd always wanted to do. The vistas before him were endless and he felt like a new man ready to take on the world.

"Congratulations," Grossman said to him, smiling. "You did a great job on the stand and things worked out just fine."

As soon as the gavel hit, Ryan sprang to his feet and ran to his father's side, throwing his arms around the man and refusing -- or unable -- to look at his mother and sister.

Was this her fault? It was all Doreen could think in the aftermath, too stunned to do much else. This... wasn't right. That they were being broken up as a family.

"Ryan..." Maureen called, reaching a hand out to stop him, but he was already standing next to Michael, beaming. Maureen wrapped an arm around Dori--partly to steady herself, partly to comfort her, but mostly to reassure herself that her daughter was still there. Her lawyer was saying something to her about appeals and resettlements and continuing to fight, but Maureen didn't hear any of it. She just clung tightly to her daughter as her son and husband--ex-husband--walked away.

Julian was shocked, this couldn't be true- how could that man possibly get custody of his son after all he'd done to his daughter? He wanted to scream out about the injustice of the situation, but the words just wouldn't come. Reaching over the railing that divided the audience from those involved in the case, resting a hand on Dori's shoulder and giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Nick ran his hands quickly through his hair as his face fell to the ground. He forced them up towards Doreen, trying to find comforting words to say, but in the end, all that he could get out of his throat was a squeak. After all, what do you say in this type of situation. All he could do was give her a quick nod, hoping that his silent support was at least some comfort to her.

Vic exchanged glances with Johnny, then glared towards Dori's dad. While the green boy didn't really have a clear idea of his classmate's family dynamics, it was obvious that the man was gloating and Dori was utterly devastated. "What a jerk," he muttered to his roommate.

Johnny met his roommate's gaze briefly, doing his best to prevent his features from falling beneath the weight of his own shock and Doreen's obvious devastation. He had seen enough of the proceedings to know this wasn't right. Even justifiable. He nodded numbly at Victor's comment and followed his eyes to Michael and Ryan and then back to their companion, trembling faintly beneath Julian's outstretched hand. All they could do now was be there for her.

Sean was furious. He wrenched his hands and felt his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't believe the judge would allow for that man, and yes he would only ever refer to him as that man, to have a modicum of control over his grandchildren. And yet, that man was given full custody over his grandson. It was almost too much to bear.

Fred had to restrain himself from throwing Dori's father out a window as he celebrated his 'victory'. He glowered deeply at the man, but his face softened instantly. Hating him wasn't gonna get anything done. He leaned up to where Jules and Dori were sitting and patted her back a few times, "It's okay Dori. He's the bad guy here. Not you." Fred spoke quietly and evenly to the girl, sure that, knowing her, she was teetering on the brink of a meltdown right now, and needed to be consoled.

Maureen stood holding on to Dori for a long moment, unwilling to let go just yet. At the sound of Fred's voice she looked up, blinking back tears as she saw Doreen's school friends approach. "Dori, honey," she said quietly, indicating her fellow students.

Doreen nodded and wiped her eyes, "Um... thanks guys. Just need a few minutes alone. But really, thank you so Mom, let's go get you something to drink. I think I saw some vending machines this way..." she said, the goal being to draw her mom away from the crowd just so they could have a bit of space. And Grandpa would follow. She knew that. And it would give them a few minutes to themselves.

"We'll be right back," she said to her friends.

Her mom kept one arm around her shoulders as they maneuvered their way through the crowd and out of the room, Sean close behind. "It's okay," Maureen kept murmuring. "Everything's going to be okay." She wasn't able to keep the stunned tone from her voice.

Sean's fury was surpassed by the pain he saw in his family, and he couldn't figure out how to support them beyond standing with them. As they moved away from the crowded courtroom he kept imagining that Ryan would come running up to them and beg for them to take him away. He knew it wouldn't happen, but he could not deny his desire for it to.

"Little One," he whispered, moving closer to hug both his daughter and granddaughter, "We'll get through this. It'll be tough, but we've got one another." It sounded like false hope to him in that terrible moment, but it was the best he could muster.