Here is the next part of Seanna's story, I hope you all enjoy it.

**********

Seanna woke to the sound of the radio playing songs she liked, finding herself alone in her bed, then remembered that she had tucked the two girls in together in Leilani's room the night before. It felt odd to not have a child snuggled up to her while she was sleeping.

She stayed in bed for several minutes, thinking about the next few days. She had the meeting with the financial officers of the various divisions of the corporation this morning, then the court meeting tomorrow with that nasty irritant Singh, she would be glad once he was sorted out.

She hadn't actually been paying attention, but she could now hear the girls talking in Leilani's bedroom. "Time to get up," she muttered, "ugh!" She padded into the washroom, grabbing a towel from the linen closet on the way, then used the washroom before jumping into the shower. She ran it cold for a minute to wake herself up, then set it to hot and washed herself thoroughly, including her hair, using conditioner as well.

She stepped out of the shower, knowing it would take some time to dry her mid-back length hair. She didn't particularly like having to spend so much time taking care of her hair, but like her aunt Sue, it was her crowning glory, and she had no intention of cutting it.

She grabbed the hair dryer, plugged it in and started the long process of blow drying her hair so she could continue to get ready for the meeting. She was standing in the bathroom using it when the two girls scampered in, took turns using the toilet, then washed their hands before bouncing back into Leilani's bedroom. Seanna thought she could hear the bed creaking over the noise of the hair dryer, she hoped they weren't jumping on it, although they weren't likely to do much damage to it at their age. If they did, well, it could be replaced.

Seanna finally finished drying her hair about fifteen minutes after the girls had left the bathroom. She wandered into the main bedroom, looked through her clothes that had been placed in Sue's closet, picked out a charcoal coloured three piece business suit, a silver coloured blouse, black pantyhose and a set of three inch black heels, set the clothes on the bed and the shoes on the floor beside the bed.

Seanna called out, "Leilani, Asemba, let's see what we can find for breakfast!"

Seconds later, the two girls ran out of Leilani's room, Leilani jumped up into Seanna's arms, stealing a quick hug, before letting go of her. Asemba looked on while Leilani hugged Seanna, the look on her face had Seanna holding her arms out, and Asemba got her own hug. Seanna held on to Asemba for a minute or three, realizing that the child needed the comfort as much if not more than Leilani.

**********

A man was taken from his cell in the city lock-up about half a mile from the courthouse, placed in the back of one of the vehicles the city and the county shared for transporting prisoners, and sat there for about twenty minutes before the vehicle started moving.

The trip itself didn't take long. just a few minutes, but he was left in the back for nearly fifteen minutes before being taken into the underground level of the courthouse and placed in a cell. The two guards closed the cell and walked away, quietly talking to each other.

He dropped onto a hard wooden bench and thought about the last week. He'd been brought to the courthouse the morning after he was arrested; when he ended up in the court several hours later, still wearing the clothes he had been arrested in the night before, the lawyer who was sitting in to offer any help to the defendant if needed pulled back, shuddering at the sight, and stayed as far from him as possible.

The rest of the people in the courtroom were no better off, the stenographer actually threw up her lunch at the sight of him. Once the judge had been assured she would be okay, he got down to business, he wanted this man out of his courtroom as fast as possible.

"Robert James Johnson, you are facing a charge of first degree murder. It has come to our attention, through people in that neighbourhood, that you had been watching the woman you killed as she came and went to and from her home for nearly two weeks before you attacked her. You had time to plan what you wanted to do, and it is clear that you intended to do her harm. You may not have intended to kill her, but the fact that she died because of your attack, which you had been planning for some time, is what led to the murder one charge.

"I am in no wise sure as to your mental state, so you will be placed in the county lock-up's medical wing for a 72 hour psychiatric assessment. Once I have the record of that assessment, I will determine how this matter will proceed. That is all, please remove him."

Robert shrugged, the assessment had been fun, he'd played every trick he knew on the psychiatrists that were assessing him. The 72 hour assessment had ended at 4:30 PM on the Friday afternoon, and he'd been transferred to a solitary cell for the weekend.

He'd been moved to the city lock-up last night, and now he was in the courthouse again, waiting to be taken up to the court. The only difference between the first time and this one was that he was now dressed in the jumpsuit worn by prisoners in the city and county system.

**********

Seanna led the two girls into the kitchen and asked what they wanted, Leilani said bacon and eggs, Asemba wanted omelettes. Seanna laughed, then suggested that she could make some omelettes and cook some bacon and home fries on the side.

Leilani had helped Seanna before, so she showed Asemba where things were kept, pulling three medium potatoes from a bag in the pantry, then opened the fridge and grabbed six eggs, green onions, mushrooms, cheese and cherry tomatoes, setting them on the counter. Leilani then turned to Seanna, asking if she could cut a bit of the ham for the omelette, Seanna nodded, took out the ham and then reached into a nearby drawer for the carving knife; she quickly sliced off a 1/2" thick chunk, cutting it into smaller pieces, then put a bit of butter in a frying pan.

Taking a second frying pan down from a hook on the side of one of the cupboards, she added a bit of butter to it as well, turned the burners on, then washed the potatoes, cut them into slices crosswise before dropping them in the second pan. She watched the potatoes as she quickly chopped up the other ingredients, breaking the eggs into the first pan, adding the various ingredients as needed.

She flipped the sliced potatoes now and then, and watched the omelette as it cooked before flipping it to briefly warm the other side. She watched both pans carefully, and using an oven mitt, pulled the pan with the large omelette from the burner, then transferred the omelette to a plate, placing it on the upper rack in the oven. She then dropped six slices of bacon in that frying pan, setting it back on the burner.

She flipped the potatoes again just after starting the bacon; a few minutes later, both were done, she turned off the burners, walked to one of the cupboards, pulled three plates down, handing them to Leilani, who then set them on the table. While Leilani grabbed the silverware they would need from the drawer, she quickly transferred two slices of bacon and about a third of the potatoes to each plate before setting the frying pans on the back burners of the stove, which had not been used. She took the omelette from the oven, cut it into thirds and served it.

Seanna grabbed half a dozen glasses from another cupboard, setting two by each plate; Leilani filled the glasses with orange juice and milk. The three sat down at the table, and the next twenty minutes or so went by as they enjoyed a good, solid home cooked breakfast.

**********

Once they had finished eating, rinsed the plates and cutlery and placed them in the dishwasher, Seanna took a few minutes to wash the frying pans, leaving them to dry in the dish drainer next to the sink. She then used a clean cloth to wipe the table and the counters.

"Okay, girls, I have a meeting in a bit over an hour, do you want a quick bath now or wait and have one later today?"

Both girls yelled that they wanted a bath now, Seanna laughed and led the way into the bathroom; once in there, she plugged the drain in the bathtub and started running the water, testing it now and then to be sure it wouldn't be too hot for the girls. She added some lavender scented bubble bath, grinning as the girls giggled at the foam it created in the bath as it continued to fill.

When it was nearly full, she turned off the taps, helped both girls out of their nighties and underwear, then lifted them one at a time into the tub. "I'm sorry, I'm not getting in the tub with you today, I already had a shower, but I'll help you both get clean, okay?"

The girls nodded as Seanna took a cloth from the side of the tub, wet it, then rubbed the soap, smelling faintly of lilac, into the cloth; she then washed first Leilani, then Asemba, both girls squirming slightly as she washed them quite thoroughly, taking some time to wash their hair and use leave-in conditioner to help get the tangles out of both children's shoulder length hair.

Seanna smiled at Asemba as she washed the child; Asemba was an interesting child, half white, half black, she had her daddy's deep coal black skin colour with honey brown eyes, yet her hair was like her mother's, jet black and falling straight to her shoulders.

Once the two children had been bathed, she gently lifted them out, dried them off and sent them into Leilani's room to pick out clothes as the bath emptied. She wandered into the main bedroom, dressing in the blouse, pantyhose and suit before checking on the girls.

Leilani had picked out a pale blue jumper, a white blouse, white tights and white Mary Janes for her outfit. Asemba had chosen a similar outfit, but in a dark purple colour with a light purple blouse, white tights and black Mary Janes.

Seanna helped both girls to get dressed, then used a vanity she hadn't noticed before in Sue's room to put on her make-up. She giggled, she'd been living in this apartment for close to a week now, and she still was finding things she had apparently overlooked.

Once she was done, she called the girls and headed for the main entry of the apartment. She helped them to put on their coats, then pulled out a jacket for herself, slipped it on, opened the door, and led the girls out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.

**********

It was just turning 9 AM when Thaddeus Savmo walked into his office on the thirteenth floor of the Ramsay Enterprises headquarters building. He wanted to be there early to go over everything and have a moment to chat with the other Finance VPs. He was surprised to see Tony Ramsay, Sr. standing in the reception area that many of the various VPs in Ramsay Enterprises used for their offices.

Thaddeus walked over to Tony and offered his hand, the two shook hands and Tony followed Thaddeus into his office.

Once they were both seated, Tony smiled, saying, "I know I'm one of the main VPs for the corporation, but I'm not here very often. I spent most of my time at my business, making sure everything is done as it should be, I'm only here because of the meeting later."

Thaddeus laughed, "I forgot to mention that there are only four actual finance VPs, your division is pretty small compared to Toys, Tool & Die, Construction or Construction Equipment, the only one as small as your own is the housing rentals division. Hmmm... we might have a problem there, I'm not sure yet, but Bertrand Lundt, the VP running that division, has not been in the offices here for nearly three months now."

"That is rather odd, Thaddeus; has anyone looked into what he has been doing there?"

"I don't think so, but I'll make sure to mention it to Seanna at or after the meeting. If necessary, she can have him investigated."

"He has no excuse to avoid coming here, his work would mostly be done in this building, same with his subordinates."

"Correct. It's Seanna's decision as to what happens with him, whether or not he is at the meeting."

**********

Seanna and the two girls left the house through the back door, Seanna checking it to make sure it had locked behind her. It took a few minutes to get both girls secured in their seats, Seanna closed the back door, opened the driver's door, sat down and buckled herself in before starting the engine. There were quite a few clouds in the sky, with the sun breaking through now and then, road conditions would be fairly good.

After waiting for a few minutes, she backed up, then turned down the laneway beside the house, stopping near the street and checking both ways before she turned the car into the street and set off for the company headquarters building downtown.

**********

Thaddeus and Tony had been talking for twenty minutes or so when three more men knocked on the outer door of Thaddeus' office. He let Tony know he would be right back, walked over to the door and opened it to find the rest of the actual finance VPs standing there.

The first, Jameson Blackleigh, was the Finance VP for the Tool & Die division. Jameson had worked for Ramsay Tool & Die for almost fourteen years. Thaddeus remembered he had lost his wife about three years ago in a horrific accident caused by a drunken semi driver. Jameson had married again about eighteen months later, his new wife had three young girls, Jameson had just the one boy from his first marriage.

The second man, Robert Thomas, was the Finance VP for the Construction Equipment division, he had been in management in that division of the corporation for the last fifteen years, being named as the finance VP there about five years ago. He was still a bachelor.

The third man, Adrian Porterhouse, was the Finance VP for the Construction division, he'd started working for Ramsay Construction seventeen years ago; he'd worked hard, eventually becoming a foreman before joining management three years ago as their new Finance VP. His wife was pregnant with their sixth child, due in about two months, they already had three girls and two boys ranging from fifteen down to three.

They followed Thaddeus into the office, pulling up chairs so they could all chat together; all three said hello to Tony as they sat down.

The next half hour or so was spent discussing recent events in various divisions of the corporation while they waited for Seanna to arrive.

**********

The small analog clock on the dash of the car informed Seanna that it was almost 10:30 AM as she parked in the CEO space at the company headquarters. She had been told by Thaddeus that the Finance VPs had their offices on the thirteenth floor, and usually used one of the boardrooms on that floor for meetings. After releasing the girls from their seats, she locked the car and led them to the elevator.

Seanna and the two girls had to wait a few minutes for the elevator to get down to their level; once it did, they stepped in, Seanna pressed the button for the thirteenth floor and the elevator began to move, swiftly climbing through the building to the thirteenth floor.

When the elevator opened again, they exited it, finding themselves in a reception area similar to the one on the seventh floor, only bigger and fancier. A young woman was sitting at a desk, she stood and walked over to Seanna and the two little girls.

"Hello, I'm assuming you are Miss Ramsay, and you're here to meet with the Finance VPs?"

"Yes, I'm Seanna Ramsay, these two scamps are Leilani and Asemba," she said as she pointed at each of the girls.

Leilani giggled, saying she was a good girl, always had been, Asemba replied saying the same.

"Miss Ramsay, I'll let the Finance VPs know you're here, you'll use the board room at the end of that hall," she said as she pointed to her left. "If you'll leave the two young ones here, we'll have someone watch them while you are in your meeting."

Seanna turned to the two girls. "I'm not sure how long I'll be, I want you two to be good, okay?" Both girls replied that they would.

The young woman led the two girls over to her desk as Seanna started down the hall to the board room. As Seanna passed by an office about halfway down the hall, the door opened and five men came out; one of the men was Thaddeus, all five joined her.

**********

Thaddeus opened the door to the board room, waving Seanna through first, then the men followed her, taking seats around the table. Seanna moved to the head of the table, pulled the chair back, then swept her hand under her skirt as she sat down facing the five men.

Thaddeus opened the meeting, introducing the men by name and which division they worked in, before informing Seanna that one of the people who should have been there wasn't, specifically Bertrand Lundt, the VP for the housing rentals division. "Seanna, he knew well in advance that this meeting would take place, he promised to be here, yet he is not, and none of us have heard from him since Thursday. What is even odder is that, from what I have heard and checked through security here, he hasn't been in this building for almost three months."

"Thaddeus, is that unusual? I mean, his not being in the building for that long?"

"Yes, Miss Ramsay, it's quite unusual. Before that, he was usually in the office at least three days each week, sometimes four."

Seanna sat there for a moment, thinking before she replied, "Do you have reason to believe he may be doing something illegal?"

Thaddeus shrugged his shoulders, "I can't be sure, but it may be a possibility. What do you wish to do about it?"

Seanna opened her purse, searched through it for a few minutes, then passed a business card over to Thaddeus. The card showed the folllowing information: Jac Petroski, Private Investigator, with a local telephone number and an email address.

"That's the investigator that Sue used to dig into the activities of my mother's half brothers and sisters. He's honest to a fault, his prices are reasonable and he has connections to city police and the county sheriff's department which may prove useful."

"Thank you for that, Miss Ramsay, I'll call him once the meeting is finished and have him start checking out Mr. Lundt."

Seann nodded, replying "If he does start investigating Mr. Lundt, let him know to send his bills to the corporation's Finance Department."

The meeting then turned to a discussion of each of the various divisions of the corporation, lasting a bit over an hour. As they were winding down, Seanna stood in front of her seat, thanked the men for their time, then told them that she was implementing three new policies:

1) As of now, any division of the corporation that has more than five adults working within that division MUST provide day care on site or here in the headquarters building for any employee in that division that needs such help;

2) Some of our workers in the past have been targeted by one or more people at Child Protective Services due to being LGBTQI, etc., to the point where their lives have been utterly destroyed. From now on, the corporation MUST have at least two members of our legal team focus on assisting our employees, providing any and all legal support possible to the people involved in cases of this sort;

Our employees also need to know that people who are LGBTQI, etc., will be safe working here, and that they and their families WILL be protected by us. Any employee that fails to at least respect people who are LGBTQI, etc., will get only one warning, then they will be fired. Depending on the level of disrespect shown, charges of discrimination and/or harassment may also be placed against that person.

3) Any drivers we have that operate commercial vehicles who are found to have been drinking or using drugs on the job will be given just one warning. If it happens again, they will be fired immediately and hopefully face legal consequences including arrest and possible jail time.

The only exceptions to this will be medical prescriptions, unless the prescription(s) prohibit(s) the use of such vehicles. In that case, the driver would be required to take time off equal to the length of the prescription or switch to work not involving such vehicles.

Seanna then informed the men that she was currently being targeted because of her transsexual status. All five men shook their heads in disgust, then Jameson Blackleigh, the Finance VP for Tool & Die, quietly offered his support, saying his son was currently being assessed regarding the possibility that he might be transgender or possibly even transsexual, and had been living as a girl for the last six months.

As the meeting ended, Seanna smiled and said that she looked forward to working with them and any other VPs in the company.

**********

Seanna walked back to the reception area, the men headed off to their various offices to deal with business matters in their divisions.

The receptionist smiled when she saw Seanna, then used her phone to contact someone. Seanna was kept waiting for several minutes before a young girl in her late teens brought Leilani and Asemba into the reception area and handed them over to Seanna.

Both of the girls, once they saw Seanna, jumped on her, almost knocking her over, then hugged her for a moment before letting go.

Seanna decided to take the girls over to her Momma's house, they could relax there for the day just as easily as at Sue's apartment.

With a girl on either side, Seanna pressed the down button, waiting for the elevator to take them down to the car.

**********

On the way over to her Momma's, the two girls were chattering about having played games while waiting for her meeting to end.

Seanna smiled, only semi-listening, she was far more concerned with keeping an eye on the traffic around her, something which saved the three of them as a car ahead of them in the right hand lane hit some sort of wet patch on the street and lost control, spinning across the lanes maybe fifty or so feet in front of her car, before slamming into a large tree in the median strip between the two sides of the street.

Seanna slowed down, then pulled off the side of the street and stopped. She looked across the street, then noticed three people getting out of the car, a man, a woman and a teenage boy; there didn't seem to be any obvious injuries to any of them, so she started driving again.

A few minutes later, they arrived at her Momma's house; the visit was unexpected, but her Momma welcomed them all anyway. Seanna's Momma prepared a quick lunch of sandwiches and salad, which they all ate, then the children ran off to the playroom.

Seanna and her Momma ended up in the back parlour, settling into the comfy chairs, each with a fresh coffee in hand.

The two talked for a while, bringing each other up to date on recent happenings, then her Momma changed the subject.

"Seanna, love, are you going to check out that house in the community here I told you about the other day?"

"I've been thinking about it, Momma, but this is the first time that I haven't been running all over the place for several days."

"Well, Seanna, it's a big house, I think six or seven bedrooms, but at just under $5 million in this area, it's a steal."

Seanna choked for a moment, she had just swallowed some coffee, some of it sprayed across the room before she managed to regain her breath. "Almost five million dollars for a home? What the heck makes it worth that much, Momma?"

"The fact that it sits on 3/4 of an acre of land, is a corner lot, and has an Olympic size pool in the back yard, plus an antique gazebo. Remember, dear, that lots in this part of the city are quite expensive, and that one is bigger than many others here."

"Hmmmm... lots of bedrooms, a big pool, somewhere to relax outside, sounds nice, but that's darned expensive, Momma."

"Well, Seanna, after the last appraisal on this house, with just 1/4 acre of land and no pool, this property is worth $2.35 million."

"Holy... wow! So you think it would be a good idea to buy this house for myself and the two girls?"

Seanna's Momma nodded, "I'm pretty sure the corporation would buy it and have it signed over to you. You could think of it as a status symbol, showing your value as the new CEO for one of the bigger companies in this area. You will be in the public eye, you know."

Seanna shook her head, not knowing what to say to that. Her Momma shrugged and let her think for a bit, then turned on the TV.

**********

Just before 1:30 PM, two guards opened the cell and called Robert Johnson out, then escorted him up to the courtroom.

A few minutes after he took his place next to the court appointed defence counsel, the Judge entered the room, everyone was ordered to rise, then once the Judge had seated himself, they were allowed to sit again.

"I'm Judge Theo Carter, ahhhh, I see you have returned to my court, Mr. Johnson. I am not impressed with your actions, or the tricks that you played while being assessed last week. That assessment shows you are capable of standing trial on the charge of murder one."

Robert snorted, muttering something about lame ass psychs before being told to shut up by the defence counsel.

"Mr. Johnson, making remarks such as that one will not help you. I'm setting your trial for Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 at 9 AM. I expect that the assistant district attorney here will make available all the relevant info of your case within the next three weeks. Court is adjourned."

Once the judge had left the courtroom, the two guards escorted Robert back down to the cells below the courthouse.

**********

Seanna and her mother watched TV for about two hours before Seanna turned to face her Momma.

"I guess I should look at this house, should I take the children with me or go by myself, Momma?"

"Take them with you, love, if we buy that house, they will be living in it with you."

"Okay, Momma, what's the address of this house?"

Her Momma told her the address, it wasn't far away, a bit over three blocks from Momma's house, maybe a ten minute walk.

Seanna walked to the playroom on the other side of the hall, looked in and saw two little girls sleeping snuggled up to two large stuffed bears, Leilani had curled up with the one she had called Goldy on her last visit, and Asemba was lying against a white one just as big as Goldy.

Seanna hated to wake them up, but like her mother, she felt the children should have the chance to see this new house. She stepped into the room, gently shaking Leilani until she turned and woke up, then moved over to Asemba and repeated the process.

Once the girls were fully awake, she explained that they were going to look at a house, if they liked the house, they would live there soon. That got their attention, and both girls were soon up, pulling at Seanna's arms, saying they wanted to go look at it NOW.

Seanna laughed, taking the girls by the hand, she led them to the front door, had them put on their jackets, put on her own, grabbed her purse and was opening the door when she noticed that her Momma had also put on her coat, having decided to see it with them.

As they left the house, Momma used her own cell phone to make a call; when Seanna asked, she said she had called the realtor.

They reached the location of the house for sale not quite fifteen minutes later due to the smaller steps the children were taking. At first, the house didn't seem all that big, but when they went around to look at the side, it was at least half again as big as her Momma's house.

While they were looking at the side of the house, the realtor pulled up in a three year old silver and black Lexus, parking it in the driveway.

The realtor unlocked the house and led them all around, showing off the seven bedrooms, study, two parlours, billiard room, library, kitchen, dining room, full laundry facilities, mudroom next to the laundry room, a covered porch extending across the back of the house, then told Seanna that there were two rooms in the attic that could be converted and used for various purposes, if needed.

The four bedrooms at the back of the house all had access to the outdoors; the top of the covered porch had been turned into a long balcony, also covering the entire back of the house, with heavy railings along the edge so people couldn't fall from the balcony.

The realtor then led them out through the back door, showing them the large yard, the pool and the gazebo.

The house itself, other than its size, looked like most other houses, brick in a variety of shades and colours, but the item that entranced Seanna the most was the gazebo; the sides were delicately sculpted wrought iron, the roof one large eight sided piece of iron that had been pushed up into a peak in the center. There were four wrought iron benches in the gazebo, with entry points on the east and west sides of the building.

It would be a nice place to relax in the summer, a raised pit in the middle above the iron floor would allow them to build fires if they wished.

Seanna smiled, looked down at the girls who were nodding enthusiastically, and turned to the realtor. "We'll take it, please contact this number and someone from the finance department of Ramsay Enterprises will be here within an hour with the cash to pay for the house." Seanna then recited a number, watching as the realtor scribbled it on a shabby notepad, before turning to look at the gazebo one last time.

"You can afford to pay over $4.9 million for this house without a care? How?"

"I happen to be the new CEO for Ramsay Enterprises, I was appointed as such about three hours ago."

"So how does that make it possible for you to buy this house? What's so special about that company?"

"My company, ma'am, has a current net value of over $780 million and that's growing with each new quarter year that passes."

"Holy... ummm, I thought I was doing okay, with a net value of just over three million, but that's nothing in comparison to your company."

"I'm sure you'll get a nice chunk out of the sale of this house and property, thanks for showing it to us."

"You're welcome, Miss...?"

"Seanna Ramsay, ma'am, have a good day."

Seanna smiled as she and her Momma led the two girls to the sidewalk, then turned toward her Momma's home.

**********

About an hour after they returned to Momma's house, Seanna received confirmation of the purchase of the new house. Seanna, her Momma and the two girls worked together to make the evening meal, then sat at the table enjoying every last bite of the casserole they'd made.

They relaxed for an hour or two in the living room before the two little girls began to nod, and Seanna called it a night.

Her Momma helped her to put the jackets on the two girls, then Seanna led them out to her car, strapped them in, closing the door before climbing into the driver's seat; she then buckled herself in and started the car, waiting a few minutes before setting the car in gear.

She backed up, checking first to see the road was clear, then turned into the road and headed toward Sue's apartment. It likely wouldn't be the last time they would be going there, but within the next few days, the new house would become their home.

Once they were back at Sue's building, she released the two girls; after locking the car, she led them up the stairs to Sue's apartment, opening it, and telling the girls to take off their coats so she could hang them up. Once their coats were off, they ran to the TV and turned it on. The two girls watched a children's show for the next half hour or so before Seanna told them it was time for bed.

A few minutes later, once they were in their nighties, she tucked them into Leilani's bed and read them a story until they were asleep.

Seanna stayed up late enough to catch the evening news, including a brief piece on her being named as the new CEO of the company.

**********

The radio came on way too early the next morning, Seanna rolled over, looking at the clock, it was only 6 AM. She dragged herself out of the bed and into the shower, using a shower cap to keep her hair dry to save some time, then dried herself and put on a robe. She looked into Leilani's room, the two girls were still asleep. She padded into the room and gently woke them up, "Cereal and toast today, girls."

Seanna walked into the kitchen, placed a few boxes of various kinds of cereal on the counter, milk and sugar on the table, then waited for the girls. They entered the kitchen/dining area together, Leilani picked Shreddies, Asemba Fruit Loops while Seanna made the toast.

She gave each girl two slices of toast, with the choice of peanut butter and/or one of several jams. Both girls covered one piece of toast with peanut butter, Leilani chose a strawberry/raspberry jam while Asemba decided she wanted blueberry jam for her second piece. They quickly turned the two slices of toast into a sandwich, eating them at the speed of kid, making quite a mess of themselves.

Seanna laughed, but waited until they had finished eating before she grabbed a wash cloth and cleaned their faces. "Into the bath room, brush your teeth, and I'll be in there in a moment to run a bath for you. Now scoot!" The two girls scampered off toward the bathroom.

Seanna followed them a few minutes later, just as they were finishing brushing their teeth, having only had plain toast herself. She turned on the bath, adding a bit of bubble bath, testing the water to be sure it wasn't too hot, then turning off the taps once the bath was ready.

Like the day before, she lifted the two children into the tub and washed them, including washing and conditioning their hair; once they were fully clean, she lifted them back out, using towels fresh from the linen closet to dry them both before sending them to pick out clothes.

Seanna headed into the main bedroom, picking an outfit similar to what she wore the day before, but light grey instead of charcoal. When she had finished dressing, she wandered into Leilani's room and saw the two girls had picked out matching dresses, one lilac, the other rose.

Seanna helped the two girls to put on their dresses, tights and shoes before returning to Sue's room to do her make-up. She checked the time, it was now 7:50 AM, she figured the drive was about thirty minutes, they should have no problem getting there for 8:30 AM.

After putting on a different pair of black three inch heels, Seanna called the girls and they collected their coats from the hall closet.

**********

Seanna parked her car in the CEO space, then released the girls, locked the car and walked with them to the elevator, hitting the up button as she reached it. When it arrived, they got in, picked the seventh floor and were on their way up, arriving there half a minute later.

When the door opened, they walked out, Seanna led the two girls to the padded bench by the side wall of the reception area.

A few minutes later, the elevator opened again, and Jackie came out, walking right past them on her way to her office.

Seanna called Jackie by name, Jackie turned around and finally noticed them, then led Seanna and the girls into her office. Seanna allowed the girls to take off their coats and go behind the desk to play with the doll house there while she and Jackie talked.

Jackie asked if Seanna still had the judge's order regarding Asemba, when informed that she did, she grinned and then giggled. "I can't wait to see his reaction when he hears that a judge named you as in loco parentis for Asemba, I wonder if he'll explode?"

Seanna replied, "Between that, my being named CEO and the financial information, I think we're going to cut his legs out from under him. Oh, just for the record, Jackie, I had the finance department buy a house for me yesterday in the same community where my Momma lives."

"I've made copies of the various finance reports we were given, everything looks fine except for the report from the housing rentals division. That division barely made any money in the last twelve months, although a fair part of that may be due to the total loss of the three buildings we had in one part of the downtown core back in the early summer. The fire department ruled it as arson, aided by use of an accelerant. Those three buildings had a total of 190 units between them, average rental cost of about $850 a month, all wiped out in a few hours."

"So an accelerant was used? Hmmm... you might not know it yet, but the finance VP for the housing rentals division hasn't been seen or heard from in four days, missed a meeting he was required to attend today, and hasn't been in his office for nearly three months."

"So what's being done about that, Seanna?"

"I gave Thaddeus the card for the private investigator that Sue used to collect the info on Momma's half brothers and sisters."

"Do you suspect that he may have had something to do with the loss of those buildings?"

"No idea, Jackie, just he seems rather fishy at the moment, so I felt it better that he be checked out just to protect our interests."

Jackie looked at the clock hanging on her wall above the desk, "We should get going, it's a ten minute drive to the courthouse."

Seanna nodded, calling out, "Leilani, Asemba, time to go! Put your coats on, please."

The girls ran out from behind the desk, dragging their coats; Seanna helped them put them on and zipped them up.

Jackie, Seanna and the two girls left Jackie's office, heading to the elevator.

"So, Jackie, who will be watching the girls while we're in the courtroom dealing with that idiot?"

"My 19 year old daughter has the day off, she'll watch them for you," Jackie replied. "We'll meet her at the courthouse."

**********

It actually took them less than ten minutes to go from the headquarters building to the courthouse. Jackie had Seanna park in a space on the second underground level, one of the first spaces they found there, then helped her to get the girls out before heading to the elevator.

The exited the elevator on the first floor, walking over to the entrance of the cafe where a young woman was standing. Jackie introduced the young woman as her daughter Shonelle, then Shonelle spent a few minutes talking to the two little girls.

Once it seemed apparent that they were getting along just fine, Jackie and Seanna used the stairs to go to the second floor. Jackie led the way to the courtroom they would be using, then looked in before opening the door and beckoning to Seanna to follow her.

A man was standing behind of the tables used by attorneys; he was wearing what appeared to be a Sikh turban and a dark grey suit. He looked at them for a moment, then turned back to his table until he herd Jackie and Seanna drop their attache cases on their table. That caused him to turn and look at them again, a sneer on his face, as he spoke, "Ahhh, Miss Ramsay, you can't handle your own problems?"

Seanna and Jackie ignored him. When he received no reply, he shrugged and turned back to his table. Jackie giggled quietly and whispered to Seanna, "He doesn't pay attention too well, or he would have seen that your suit is a $650 high end brand name, not a cheap one."

Seanna whispered back, "Serves him right, it will just make it all that much easier for us."

The bailiff entered the courtroom, checked the time, and nodded, calling out, "All rise, the court of Judge Sascha Anston is now in session." He waited until the judge had seated herself, then informed everyone that they could sit again.

Seanna took a quick look behind her, seven people were scattered around the benches, waiting to see what would happen.

"Bailiff, what are we here for today?"

"Your Honour, today's case is being brought against Miss Seanna Ramsay by Mr. Singh. He claims that Miss Ramsay cannot, in any sense, properly care for the child known as Leilani Kealoha, and has entered a secondary claim regarding the child known as Asemba Charleston."

The Judge nodded, then spoke, "Mr. Singh, if you will present your evidence, please?"

"Your Honour, Miss Ramsay here," he said, "works a 40 hour week for the Shandihar Supermarket, earning $220 per week. That is just enough to cover the rental cost of her bachelor apartment and her own food costs, but not enough to feed one or even two children. Furthermore, the manager of that supermarket has told me that she is not a reliable worker, being lazy and irresponsible. He is present in the court."

Jackie spoke up, "Objection, Your Honour, Mr. Singh has outdated and inaccurate information about Miss Ramsay's financial status."

The Judge turned to face Jackie, "You have proof of this?"

"Yes, Your Honour, may I approach the bench to give the court stenographer these papers?"

"You may." Jackie then grabbed several sets of papers and walked to the front of the court, handing them to the stenographer. The stenographer took a few minutes to look through the various documents, then asked Jackie to prove their relevance.

Jackie faced the Judge, took a deep breath, then began to speak. "Your Honour, the documents I passed to your stenographer are financial statements from the six divisions of Ramsay Enterprises, a company started by Miss Ramsay's grandfather. They show that, over the 2.5 months between the end of September of this year and December 15, Ramsay Enterprises made a net profit of $11.3 million US. You may also wish to know that Miss Ramsay here was named as the new CEO of Ramsay Enterprises late yesterday morning."

"There was one other document I handed to her, Your Honour, one that I felt it would be better for you to see the original rather than a copy. That document was an order from Judge Thomas-Black, a member of this court, giving Miss Ramsay the right of in loco parentis for the child known as Asemba Louise Charleston. You might remember seeing Miss Ramsay's rescue of that child on last Thursday's newscasts."

"Furthermore, Your Honour, Miss Ramsay informed me this morning that she bought a house worth over $4.9 million yesterday afternoon. She plans to live there with both children, once they can sort out moving all their belongings to that new house."

The Judge chuckled, a high, pleasant sound that rang through the courtroom. "So young Miss Ramsay here, rather than being stuck in a dead-end job, is the new CEO for a highly respected company and owns a house worth almost five million? I see no financial problems."

Singh spluttered, "But... but... when I received the information I was given, the only income she had was from the supermarket."

The judge turned to him, a cold, hard look upon her face, "So, rather than make any effort to get information that was actually up to date and factual, you were prepared to cast slurs upon her work history by having the manager there say she was a lazy, no-good worker? That is coming rather close to a possible charge of defamation of character, Mr. Singh, I'd stop now if I were you."

Singh couldn't believe that fake woman was going to win! He screamed and ran toward the other table, yelling, "Filthy transsexual bitch!" several times before the bailiff grabbed him just as he took a swing at Seanna. Seanna backed away, letting the bailiff deal with him.

"Mr. Singh, that is ENOUGH!" the Judge snapped. "I'm holding you in contempt of court, sentencing you to 30 days and a $5000 fine. I'm also ordering you to be placed under arrest for attempted assault and assaulting an officer of the court. You can kiss your job goodbye, Mr. Singh. I don't think you will be wandering around in public for quite some time to come. Remove him from my court, please."

A few minutes passed before two county guards entered the courtroom, cuffed Singh, Mirandized him and led him away.

When they had left the room, the Judge turned to face the court and spoke to Seanna. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Miss. I've had the displeasure of having to deal with him in the past, but I never knew he harboured such hatred for others."

Seanna nodded, replying, "Your honour, we believe he has been responsible for many cases that resulted in broken families, often because he would push the case to the point where the defendant would spend themselves into bankruptcy, losing the case in the process. It is a known fact that one of his cases, from about twenty months ago, led to the death of one woman and another woman ending up in a mental health home. That second woman also lost her child, who has been bounced between five foster homes over the last nineteen months."

Jackie added, "Your Honour, I would not be surprised to find that he has targeted people who are known to be LGBTQI just so he could break those families as Seanna here informed you that he did regarding that case she mentioned. I believe his records need to be examined."

The judge shook her head, then spoke, "I'll order an examination of all of his records from his time with Child Protective Services. If evidence is found to support your claims, he may be looking at an additional twenty to thirty years of jail time for abusing his position there."