No reply came from Roisin when the evidence was presented to her, but two days after Calum and Mrs Doyle had presented their submission to nip Roisin's ambitions in the bud, a summons came that no one in the house could ignore; Jenny was being called to testify against her aunt.
"There's no way we can get around it?" Jenny said desperately, hands clasped protectively over her belly. She was due any day now, and she did not want to face her aunt when she was so close to giving birth. Roisin, being the poisonous individual she was, would likely try to deny medical aid to her niece should the younger woman go into labour, and Jenny wasn't relishing that prospect at all.
"No," Calum said, his face like stone. He'd been in a foul mood ever since he and Mrs Doyle had returned, but he'd managed to keep the worst of his temper in check so as not to frighten his wife, for which Jenny was grateful. She knew he wasn't angry at her, but his temper was an uneasy thing to see, and Calum gave her a rueful smile. "I'm sorry," he said, reaching out and taking her hand. "Your aunty has rubbed my last nerve raw, and I'm about ready to punch something."
Jenny squeezed his hand. "I know," she said. She took a deep breath. "If I have to do this, then I might as well get it over with. When do I have to appear?"
"Tomorrow," Mrs Doyle said, her face as stony as her son-in-law's. "My sister has demanded your presence so she can 'hear for herself' that you want nothing more to do with her. She claims that if she hears it from your own lips, she'll back off and finally leave you alone."
"That's a lie and you know it," Jenny snapped. She paused to recover herself, remorseful at having blown her stack. "I'm sorry," she said in a more even tone, "but you know my aunty. She won't rest, even if I tell her to her face I want nothing to do with her. She's going to keep pushing and pushing until she gets me to break!"
Mrs Doyle's eyes filled with tears as she reached out and squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "The judge told me in confidence he has no intentions of letting Roisin drag you through the courts any longer," she said. "He's said that he'll be happy to grant us a restraining order without jumping through all the legal hurdles to get there. It's highly irregular, but he's willing to look the other way, so to speak."
Jenny let out a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "He sounds like he knows his way around family law."
"He's speaking from experience, so he told me," Mrs Doyle said, a faint frown on her face. She shook her head. "Don't mind me. But he's assured me he'll make sure we get a chance to put our case, and he's ready to throw anyone out who isn't willing to give us that chance. I've gone ahead and submitted a restraining order in any case, and if Roisin acts up tomorrow, he'll have her thrown out, and he'll grant us the order. But we must not do anything to provoke her; no inflammatory language, and no accusations. You must give your statement clearly and concisely, and don't let her bait you."
"I can try," Jenny said, giving her loved ones a faint smile. But inside, she was roiling with a fear that had been slumbering for the last several months, and as she excused herself, she knew that tomorrow was going to be a trial to test her nerves like never before. She could only pray she'd grown enough to withstand that trial, and her hands cradled her belly protectively once more. She had to be strong, if not for her own sake, then for the sake of the life growing inside her, ready to come out into the world. She didn't want to bring her son or daugher into a world where her aunty was still hanging over her like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Once it was dealt with, only then could she feel safe enough to let her child be born. 89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeORtWrmoL
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