Their coats were brushed, their faces washed, Their shoes were clean and neat

Damn, my birthday snuck up on me. Happy birthday me.

The birthday reminded me that I needed to take a few things seriously. Shannon was one of those things. Shannon makes me happier than I've been for some time.

I proposed to Shannon.

She was very happy to accept. She is already making wedding plans.

We celebrated in bed that night. We weren't quite as careful as usual but surely just careless for just one night won't matter.

Picasso brought over the photos Sunday night. God, my nephew is a grown man. Hard to believe so much time has gone by.

It's not hard to see what Alaina managed to do. She convinced her lovers in city hall that they should grant sole custody, issue the restraint to keep me from being near Catherine. She had a lover in the police force willing to enforce those orders.

I made a few changes to what I wanted to accomplish with the governor on Monday. I arranged via Thomas a change in venue and change in participants.

"Thanks so much for seeing us, Governor Goldbeard-Patel. I know that listening to individual requests is quite rare for you."

"Yes, well, there are special circumstances." I knew her voice the moment she spoke. This was the 'friend' who rang me to tell me that the police were on their way.

"These are special circumstances." I laid the photos on the table. The governor examined them.

"It's clear that Alaina Grant used undue influence to gain custody and restraining orders. I'm going to order those documents null and void as of now."

That was a relief for me. I really didn't want to have any more trouble with the law. One day in that cell was plenty.

"It is also clear that I'm going to have to have a few words with these gentlemen about the affair. What they have done is unacceptable, a demotion should teach them an important lesson."

"Alaina, why? Why did you do all of this?"

"You never gave me the option to have custody."

"When you left my house, you said you wanted to explore a range of lovers...or something like that. I thought Catherine would have cramped your style and, frankly I'd really rather not have my daughter exposed to a parade of lovers."

"You are trying to replace me with that blond hussy of yours."

I sighed, "Alaina, no matter what happens between us, Catherine is our daughter. Nothing will ever change that. I've never expected Catherine to forget you and think of Shannon as her mom. Shannon is a lovely lady, but not a replacement mom for Catherine."

Alaina suddenly burst into tears. "It's all gone. I have no money. I won't have a house soon."

"What? What happened to your settlement?" She did get a fair share of money when she left.

"This guy rang. He was selling shares in the Landgraab Investment Agency. I remember when I was a wee girl, daddy used to sell those shares."

"Oh god, Alaina. Your daddy was a con man. Everyone in Sunset Valley knew better than to buy anything recommended by Jared Frio." Except my ex-wife. No wonder she's been a bit off her rocker lately.

"Alaina, I wish you had just told me that things were a bit tough." I shook my head. "You will always be Catherine's mom. And, in spite of everything, you are still my friend."

Alaina still wouldn't look at me.

"Next time, if you really can't come to me, try talking to Brooke. We can find a way to help. For starters, I'll transfer 10,000 Simoleons to your account."

"Really?"

"Truly."

The governor interrupted us about then. "Catherine, who do you want to live with?"

"I choose?"

"You seem old enough to me to pick who you want to live with. Your mom or your dad."

Catherine looked back and forth a couple of times. I must admit my heart was in throat. It was time for her to pick. "I think. I think, I want to stay with ... dad. As long as I can regularly visit mom."

"Course you can. Go over and spend the night any time if you want to and your mom agrees."

"Mom?"

"It's okay honey. If you want to come over from time to time, just ring to make sure I know you're coming."

Catherine was so happy to finally get a say in her future. I'm pretty happy that we are to the bottom of the issue and that Alaina isn't going to disappear one day taking our daughter with her.

I waited till the governor was gone. "Hey, Alaina, what's with this red head? We couldn't work out why you'd go for him."

"Oh Travis? He's just the sweetest guy. I really like him, he's been around my place a couple of nights now."

"Well, I wish you all the best if you really like him." And I wish this Travis guy even more luck if he stays with my ex.