59

The seconds felt like minutes. The minutes felt like hours. Waiting felt tortuous. Even with the small conversations blooming here and there, Junior's friend group was pretty much silent. Not even his phone could occupy him enough. His heart was pounding, his mind was racing, and the smell of Shrek's bathroom mess somehow coming up the courthouse stairs wasn't helping.

"My belly feels so much better, donkey." Shrek said to Marvin.

"I hope so, or else we're smelling your biohazard for nothing." Marvin sighed.

"What did I miss?" The ogre asked.

"Well, the judge got mad at me for not knowing the chef, the kid, or the big guy that well. Like, I'm sorry if i'm too busy with my shrimpos to make new friends." Woody said.

"He got mad at me for saying hi to Marvin." Tony said, looking down at his feet with a frown.

"Basically what happened is they called a bunch of witnesses up, I told them to bring the kid up there to actually hear him out, his dad flipped out, and now the jury is discussing who is guilty and who is innocent." Marvin explained with another sigh.

"Ohhhh. Who's gonna win?" Shrek asked.

Marvin shrugged. "We don't know."

"Hopefully Chef PeePee does. I can't stand to see that poor little boy sad and scared any more!" Rose said.

"Me too, blonde donkey. I also hope that we go out for cheesecake after this." Shrek said.

Meanwhile, Chef PeePee was pacing around his assigned office alone, waiting for Brooklyn Guy to come. He said that he had to talk to someone real fast, but it'd been around 30 minutes already. Once Chef PeePee was about to give up on waiting, the door opened.

"Hey, PeePee. I'm back now." Brooklyn said.

"Finally! What took you so long?! Waiting here alone has been torture!" Chef PeePee exclaimed.

Brooklyn sighed. "I was talking with Simmons."

"Oh..." Chef PeePee mumbled. "How's he taking all this?"

"He feels really bad. He kinda just went along with everything and like a lot of people didn't bother to see the other side of the story." Brooklyn explained.

"Well I hope he's learned his lesson now." Chef PeePee said, slightly remorseful for the officer. He never got to make it up to the chef the way Marvin did. But now that the possibility of the chef winning was higher, he didn really care too much.

Bowser sat in his assigned office, slightly rocking back and forth. He thought this trial would be an easy sweep, but everything backfired. Especially Marvin. If Marvin hadn't opened his mouth, then Bowser would be homefree. Sure, he'd have some things to explain, but that'd be fine. There was no explaining anything now. All he could do was pray.

Meanwhile, Goodman was typing something in on his phone. "After this, you'll owe me 30 thousand dollars."

"For what?!" Bowser questioned.

"For my fee." Goodman responded.

"You said 25!" Bowser exclaimed.

"That was before the witnesses fucked you over, and before you made a fool of yourself. It'll be a miracle if they find you innocent." Goodman grumbled.

"But I am innocent!"

Goodman scoffed, and almost laughed. "Yeah, sure. I can tell that kid wasn't manipulated into anything, and that you're far from innocent . You're lucky that I'm on your side."

Bowser wanted to respond with a witty comeback, but his stressed mind couldn't think of anything. He leaned back in his chair and groaned loudly.

"And then, Ling Ling punch him in face, and she say "No eggroll for you." Then I get his eggroll instead and that's why we're married now." Jackie Chu explained to Marvin, Rose, and anyone else in the area that was eavesdropping.

"Interesting. That's very different from when Marvin and I got together." Rose told the asian man.

Everyone's conversations were then interrupted by Judge Pooby and the jury coming back inside the courtroom. The jury went back to their seats, while the sexy Judge Pooby went back to his seat. A few guards came up to him, said a few things, then walked out of the courtroom.

"Everyone, please take a seat while we gather the others back in here." The judge announced. Junior felt a weird feeling in his chest. Anxiousness. It was time, the time he'd been waiting for.

The verdict.

While Junior was spacing out, Chef PeePee was being brought inside the courtroom. He walked to the table he was previously sitting at, along with Brooklyn Guy. They both knew that they were about to hear the verdict as well, a full hour after the last witness was heard.

Bowser came in last with his lawyer. He didn't look anyone in the eye, instead staring at the table. Goodman was still on his phone on the way to his seat, but shut it off once he was seated. He looked tired, wanting to get this over with.

Judge Pooby cleared his throat, readying himself for his speech. "Ladies and gentlemen... and ogre and tiger, today you have all spectated and commented on the case of Fernando Strongbottom. Some think he is guilty of kidnapping Justin Jr along with abusing him, and others think that Justin Sr was the main culprit and the whole kidnapping thing was just a cover-up." Everyone knew The latter was true. It seemed that even Judge Pooby himself thought so too.

"But, it is up to the jury to decide. And they have decided that Fernando 'Chef PeePee' Strongbottom..." Judge Pooby paused for suspense. Junior leaned forward, as if that'd help him hear the future. His friends copied him. Rose held Marvin's hand tightly, both staring at the judge. Bowser gripped the table, and Goodman checked his watch. Chef PeePee glanced at Brooklyn, who glanced back with a slightly worried expression.

"...Is NOT guilty."

The witnesses gasped. Junior's heart dropped, but in a good way. He realized that he had been shaking the entire time. 'We did it... We did it!'

Chef PeePee felt as if his breath was sucked away. His eyes widened. He wanted to smile, to shout, to cheer, but now wasn't the right time. He looked over to Bowser, who looked distraught. His mouth was agape, and he looked like he had been shot and was still in shock.

"As for Justin 'Bowser' Reynolds Sr, you have been found guilty of child abuse, domestic abuse, and lying to the police. I have discussed this with the jury, and you are being sentenced to 40 years in maximum security prison." Judge Pooby banged his gavel, and motioned for the guards to take Bowser away. They approached him, and he tried to get away.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I-IM INNOCENT I TELL YOU!!! INNOCENT!!!" Bowser screamed, trying to get the guards off of him. Goodman inched himself away from the situation as the guards tried pulling Bowser out of the courtroom. They succeeded and got him right next to the door. He shouted and yelled in protest, but he knew it was over. He locked eyes with Junior, who was laughing at him. "I'M GOING TO GET YOU JUNIOR AND CHEF PEEPEE! AND DON'T THINK YOU'RE SAFE EITHER, MARVIN!!!"

Marvin shook slightly at the mention of his name, but kept his composure. Bowser grabbed the door, trying to keep himself from being pulled outside. He was sweating, struggling, even crying slightly. His plan failed, and now he was facing the consequences.

His life was over.

"MARK MY WORDS, I. WILL. GET. MY. REVENGE." With that, he was pulled outside the room, the doors slamming behind him.

The room was dead silent. Noises of his struggle were heard outside, but no one uttered a word inside. They all needed a moment to take it all in. Everything was about to change now, but luckily it would be for the better.

Finally.

Judge Pooby dismissed the court. Simmons and Brooklyn made sure the coast was clear outside before letting people leave. Goodman was the first to exit the building, getting into his Lamborghini and speeding away from the shitshow he just witnessed.

Chef PeePee was next to be escorted out, this time to go back to the police station and collect his things. Junior was told to meet him at the station, then that's when they'd get to see each other. The ginger watched them leave as he stood with Jeffy, Cody, Toad, Joseph, Marvin, Rose, and Judith.

"I'm so proud of you all for helping my little boy's friend out of this predicament! I did what I could on my part, but you all did excellent on yours." Judith beamed.

"Thank you so much, ma'am." Marvin thanked sheepishly.

"Well, I'm gonna head out for now. See you at home, Junior!" Toad said, giving the ginger a fist bump before strutting off. Cody said his goodbyes as well, then left with his mother.

All that was left now was Marvin's family, Junior, and Joseph. "We can give you boys a ride home if you want. Though, I don't know if there'll be room for Chef PeePee in the car." Marvin told the two best friends.

"Nah, it's fine dude. I can just walk to Junior's house. He needs time with his chef." Joseph said. "Besides, I might be able to hitch a ride with that tiger guy again."

"Alright, well, see you later then Joseph." Junior said, thankful for his friend's sacrifice. They dabbed each other up, then Joseph went down the stairs to catch up with Tony.

Marvin led his family and Junior down the elevator, then to the car. If Junior and Jeffy squeezed in, then Chef PeePee would be able to fit in the backseat. Marvin started the car and made his way to the police station.

They sat outside of the station for a while. Paperwork had to be done for Chef PeePee to leave the jail, but he didn't mind it. He was just glad to be free again, and even more happy to go home without any more worry.

He was happy that Junior wouldn't have to worry any longer as well. Poor kid had already suffered enough. He would still definitely need some time to get used to things, and probably therapy too, but who wouldn't after running away from their abusive father with their chef and later on their best friend then getting caught and having 3 days to convince people to tell the judge that said chef didn't kidnap you? That's what I thought, Bi-

Once Chef PeePee changed out of his jail outfit back into his chef's uniform, Brooklyn Guy walked him to the station's doors. Simmons apologized for the 1000th time, Chef PeePee accepted it for the 1000th time, then he walked out.

Junior hadn't been paying attention, instead talking to Jeffy about all the crazy stuff they wanted to do for the remainder of the weekend. Marvin wanted to object to some of the things they said, but Rose told him to let the kids have their fun.

The ginger boy laughed at something Jeffy had said. While leaning his head back, he caught a glimpse of someone walking towards the car. He didn't hesitate unbuckling himself, opening the door, and sprinting out to the man outside.

Chef PeePee.

The chef almost fell over from the force of Junior slamming Into him, but he kept himself up. Junior wrapped his arms around Chef PeePee and pulled him into a tight hug, which the chef reciprocated. He felt tears of happiness roll down his face, which he let fall. Junior opened one of his eyes and noticed this.

"Are you really crying?" He teased.

"N-no!" Chef PeePee said in a jokingly defensive tone. Junior raised a brow. "Okay, maybe a little." They both laughed before hugging each other again.

They eventually got into the car and drove home. There, everyone else in the house was waiting for them. Inside were some miscellaneous balloons, and a mediocre cake on the dining table that read "Happy Birthday!" Woody said that was the only one he could get on short notice.

Everyone sat down and got a slice of the cake. Junior called Cody over and in the meantime sat with Joseph, who had gotten a ride there before Junior showed up, Toad, and Chef PeePee.

"I've missed this place..." Chef PeePee mumbled to himself. He then witnessed Marvin sneaking green beans into his son's piece of cake, then that piece of cake along with the plate being thrown at the wall.

"Still miss it?" Junior asked, trying not to laugh.

"A little less now." Chef PeePee grumbled, taking another bite of cake.

"Hey, at least you shouldn't have to pick up after him. His dad will probably do that since he feels bad." Toad said.

Chef PeePee sighed with relief. His face then lit up. "I almost forgot to tell you this, Junior, but apparently the jury was actually done deciding the verdict within 30 minutes."

"Wow! That was fast." Joseph said.

"But if it only took 30 minutes, why were they still in there for another 30?" Junior asked, confused.

"Because they were still figuring out what they were going to do with you since you wouldn't have any parents left. That's why I signed some extra paperwork before leaving the police station." Chef PeePee said. Junior still didn't get what he was hinting at. Chef PeePee sighed. "The paperwork I signed was to adopt you, Junior."

Junior gasped loudly, a giant smile creeping onto his face. "Really?! You're gonna be my dad now?!"

"Yep, if that's okay with you, of course." Chef PeePee replied.

"YES! Yes it is!" Junior cheered, kicking his feet with joy. His friends cheered for him as well, being affected by Junior's infectious happiness. Neither Junior nor Chef PeePee have felt this happy in a long time.

Luckily, life was now looking up for them. Now that they had each other again.