Juked (28 page)

“L
et’s go over what’s likely to happen in court today.”

Doug, my attorney, stops the idle chitchat and gets down to business. I feel like I’ve been taking deep breaths all morning, mostly because I feel like I can’t breathe at all. The pressure on my chest is unbearable.

Daniel squeezes my hand and puts his arm around me, rubbing his other hand up and down my arm. He made good on his promise to call in a personal day today. This, after he basically held me all night long. I tried to get a good night’s sleep, but instead I was restless and cried out several times. Daniel kept holding me, murmuring encouraging words into my ear in a soothing voice. I feel bad that I kept him from resting well, but more than that, I’m grateful he was there to get me through a tough night.

He was still there this morning when my alarm went off. He was already up, had coffee made, and had even gotten a suit from his apartment so he could help me get the baby ready to go this morning. When he’d said he was all in last night, apparently he wasn’t kidding.

When Chance first saw Daniel this morning, he was wary, like he couldn’t figure out if he knew Daniel or not. I could see that made Daniel sad, but that’s the reality when you pull out of an infant’s life. Their memory span isn’t that long, so they forget. However, after about ten minutes of observation, Chance seemed to make the connection.

We watched his facial expression change and him throw his beloved red washcloth on the floor. He squealed and crawled as fast as he could until Daniel scooped him up in his arms, at which point Chance covered Daniel’s face with slobbery baby kisses. I can’t be sure, but I think I saw a couple of Daniel’s tears mixed in with the slobber.

“The hearing shouldn’t be long today,” Doug says. “First thing he’ll probably do is appoint the attorney ad litem, so be prepared for those costs.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Daniel says. “I’ll cover whatever fees need to be paid.”

Doug nods. “I appreciate that, but I want to make sure you’re clear on how it works, Mr. Zavaro. Just because you get involved financially doesn’t mean you have a voice in the proceedings. The judge doesn’t care who pays.”

“I don’t care if I have a voice,” Daniel says, “as long as Quincy has the financial means to make sure her voice is heard.”

“I’ll do my best to make sure that happens.”

“Do we get to choose who Chance’s attorney will be? How does that work?”

“The judge will assign the ad litem,” Doug says, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. The benches in the hallway are extremely uncomfortable so he’s been changing position a lot. “It will probably be a woman by the name of Mildred Hansen. At least, I’m hoping so. She is well regarded in family court.”

“Is she any good?” I ask, hoping she’ll be able to see through Erik’s game, and I’ll have some sort of a shot at keeping custody.

“She’s the best.” He waves at someone walking by. “I’ve never seen her make a recommendation I’ve disagreed with, and I’ve never seen this judge rule against her recommendation.”

“Okay, this is good,” Daniel says, looking me in the eye. “She’ll come in and see what a great job you’re doing with Chance. This is really good, babe.”

“I hope so,” I say. “But an aunt fighting for custody over a parent? My odds still aren’t great.”

“Well, that’s the thing about family court,” Doug says, stretching out his legs in front of him. I can’t imagine how he sits on these benches day in and day out. “Family court balances the parent’s rights with the best interests of the child. It’s true you have very few rights, but Chance has as many as the father does. Maybe more. That’s where it works for you.”

“Will the judge decide to move him today?”

“Oh no,” Doug says with a wave of his hand. “That is extremely unlikely. The paternity test came back, yes, but the ad litem still has to do her part—home visits and family interviews. The judge will probably order visitation.”

“Like overnights?” Daniel asks. I can hear in his voice the thought makes him cringe.

“He could, but considering the baby’s age, it’ll probably be a couple hours a day, several times a week, to start.” I could handle visitation like that. I’d worry the whole time, but I could handle it. “A lot of things have changed over the years. The courts recognize that a baby bonded with a loving parental figure can’t just be ripped away from that person. They have to start bonding with someone else first, or it can be detrimental to the child’s well-being.”

I relax and lean into Daniel. He continues to squeeze my hand. “I wish I could talk to Erik, ya know? I wish there was a way to convince him how hard it is to raise a child so he would understand this isn’t something you do for fun.”

“You probably won’t get a chance to talk to him, but we can bring it up during mediation,” Doug says and looks at his watch. “That’s the last thing that will probably be done today.”

“What, mediation?” Daniel asks.

There’s so much to know with custody cases like this. It’s not nearly as cut and dried as I thought it would be. No wonder it costs so much money.

“No, we won’t do mediation today,” Doug clarifies. “We’ll schedule it after the judge orders it, so you’ll have a better time line on what to expect. Most custody hearings are resolved in mediation. It saves the court a lot of time if everyone can come to an agreement.”

I feel slightly better about the whole situation. I’m still scared. The judge can technically do whatever he wants, but to know what the protocol is means I have time to pull together more resources and decide what I absolutely will not negotiate and would go to trial to fight for. This is good. I keep telling myself that. This is good.

Daniel and Doug continue to chat as we wait for our case to be called. The docket is full today, and Doug had warned us it could be a bit of a wait. I feel like I can breathe better after this conversation, but my nerves are still out of control, so much so that I barely register the
click
of high heels until they are standing right in front of me.

“Ms. Watson?”

The woman in the heels is pretty, possibly in her fifties. The way she carries herself screams middle age. Her dark hair is pulled up in a fancy chignon, and her pale blue suit is paired with nude heels. I find her slightly intimidating.

“Yes?” I’m not sure what a fancy woman like her would want with me. She looks like she should be lunching at a country club, not standing in the dingy hall of a courtroom.

“My name is Rosemary Cope,” she says and extends her hand for me to shake. “I’m Erik’s mother.”

I turn cold. Doug immediately stands. “Mrs. Cope,” he says. “I’m Doug Linus, Ms. Watson’s attorney.”

“Oh good,” she says. “I’m glad you’re here. That makes this so much easier. May I sit?” She gestures to the bench perpendicular to us. There’s just enough space for her to sit next to Daniel.

I look at Doug. He shrugs, putting the decision squarely on my shoulders. Do I want to talk to Erik’s mother, or do I want to wait to get into the courtroom?

Frankly, I’m afraid of what will happen in that courtroom. So I nod. She smoothes her skirt as she sits and crosses her feet at the ankles.

“First things first,” she says without wasting any time. “How is my grandson?”

I look at Daniel for reassurance. I’m not sure why she wants to talk to me, but at least she’s asking about his well-being. Erik didn’t even do that.

“He’s, well, he’s wonderful.” I smile as I think about the toothy grin my sweet baby boy gave me this morning. “He’s eleven months old, and he’s just the most wonderful, loving baby. A real flirt.”

“Is he meeting all his milestones?” she asks leaning forward and putting one elbow on her knee.

I nod. “He’s been crawling for a while and is pulling himself up on everything. I can tell he really wants to walk. He gets this look of concentration on his face, like he’s thinking about it, but he hasn’t gone for it yet.”

“Good. Erik’s brother was a little developmentally behind until grade school, so make sure you watch those milestones carefully.”

“I will. The pediatrician says he’s right on track.”

“Excellent,” she says. I look at Daniel, confused. I’m not sure what’s with all the questions, but I don’t get the feeling she’s gathering information. If Doug thought this was about discrediting me, he would have intervened already. “Does he have allergies?”

“Maybe a few. Not bad.”

“Be aware Erik had severe allergies as a baby. He was on medicine for it by the time he was six months old. It was really scary during yellow pollen season. You know when I’m talking about?”

Everyone in Houston knows when the pollen falls. It literally turns cars yellowish-green, and if it rains, it turns into yellow-green puddles on the ground.

“He had severe attacks during that time, so keep an eye on the baby.”

“Mom!” Erik bellows at Rosemary, rushing up. She stands and puts her hands on her hips. “What are you doing here? How did you find out about the hearing? Why are you talking to Quincy?”

“Erik Francis Cope, you stop right there,” she says quietly, but she means business. He immediately closes his mouth and looks down. “How do you think I felt when Vicki Dixon called me this morning and told me I have a
grandson
I know nothing about?”

He whips his head back up. “How did Vicki Dixon find out?”

She crosses her arms. “From the sports section of the Chronicle.”

For once, I’m glad the newspaper is in my business. Well, I think I’m glad. It depends on what happens during this conversation, but I’m fairly certain at this point she’s not here to support her son.

“Vicki’s husband Jack read all about it and questioned her. She, of course, picked up the phone and called me first thing this morning. Do you know how humiliating it was to not even know my own grandson’s name? What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Erik says sheepishly. “I was trying to surprise you for your birthday.”

“You
what
?” She shrieks so loudly several conversations stop around us, as people look over to see what the noise is all about. Daniel hides his face behind my neck and stifles a laugh, but I’m too engrossed in what’s happening in front of me to elbow him and make him stop.

Erik shoves his hands in his pocket and rocks on his heels. “You said the other day you wanted to be a grandma, so I thought I’d surprise you with your grandbaby.”

She drops her head to her chest in exasperation. “Tell me you did not try to sue this woman for custody so you could give me a child as a birthday present.”

He opens his mouth to answer and then shuts it. Apparently his surprise isn’t going over as well as he had anticipated.

“Erik, where do you live?” she asks him.

“In an apartment,” he answers.

“And how many friends live with you?”

“Three.”

“Where do you plan on the baby sleeping? In a closet?”

“I figured I’d put him in my room.”

“In your bed with you?”

Erik looks at me. “I thought he had a crib or something.”

“Erik,” she says. “Quincy wouldn’t be providing any of that. It would be your responsibility to get him a crib, clothes, food, diapers—everything a baby needs. How do you plan on paying for all that while you’re in school?”

“Um….” He looks around like he’s thinking really hard. “I guess I thought you’d help me when you found out about him.”

“No, my dear,” she says, shaking her head. “You must have thought I was kidding the many times this was discussed in high school. If you are old enough to make a baby, and you think you’re old enough to raise a baby, you are old enough to pay for one.” He chews on his bottom lip. Rosemary puts her hands on his cheeks, smiling at him. “My dear, sweet, stupid, stupid boy. I love that you want me to be happy all the time, but this is not the way to go about doing it.”

His grin is self-deprecating. “Once you said it out loud, it sounded kind of dumb.”

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to find your attorney and tell him we’re dropping the custody suit. We have a lot to talk about and sort out, but from what I’ve read in the papers, Quincy is doing just fine raising the baby. I’m assuming you still want custody of him?” she asks me. I nod enthusiastically, squeezing Daniel’s hand probably harder than I should. Good thing he doesn’t use his hands at his job. “Then it’s settled. So go,” she says, turning Erik around and giving him a shove. “Talk to him before the case gets called. We wouldn’t want to make the judge angry because of a last-minute change of plans.”

Doug stands up. “I’ll get word to the clerk the case is about to be dropped so they can start the process.”

“I’m very sorry about my son,” Rosemary says, lightly touching my arm. “He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

“I understood that a few weeks ago, when he said he wanted to give Chance to you as a birthday present.” I can’t help taking a dig at Erik.

“His uncle, my brother-in-law, is the exact same way,” she says, watching him pull out his phone, presumably to call his attorney. “Smart as a whip with numbers and business models. Truly gifted. But when it comes to interpersonal relationship things, they aren’t all there.”