Page 19 of Shaded Amethysts
The lawyer cut him off again. He sounded astounded as he said, “Are you telling me this small child was able to climb out of a hole in the ice on his own?”
“No, Pepper grabbed him before he sank into the water,” Grant started.
Before he could continue, the attorney asked, “Oh, you have a friend named Pepper? Is she here at this proceeding today?”
The man paused and dramatically searched the room as if he was truly looking for Pepper, even though we all knew he wasn’t.
“No, Pepper is a dog,” Grant clarified.
The attorney’s eyes widened with disdain. “So, you left the fate of this sweet, innocent little boy in the hands––err, paws––of a dog? I guess we’re all lucky that particular dog happened to be so heroic, since the two of you were indisposed when Scout needed you. No further questions, Your Honor.”
With that, the attorney turned with a flourish and headed back to his seat.
I had to force myself to refrain from beating my head against the desk in frustration. If this case didn’t make a complete turnaround, my best friend was going to lose her son.
15
Avery
The opposing legal counsel had presented a rock-solid case that had brought Grant and Molly’s stellar parenting skills into question. Our only hope at this point was to attack Scout’s birth mother’s character to make her seem like an unfit mother.
Grant’s team of attorneys had been digging for weeks, but hadn’t been able to come up with anything more damning than a couple of unpaid parking tickets against Angie.
As we sat at the table waiting for the day’s session to start, I remembered Grant mentioning that the woman had a haggard appearance that made her look like she had aged a decade in the months since he’d seen her.
At the time, I had assumed the grief over missing Scout had caused the premature aging. Court was being called to order when the idea hit me. I grabbed the yellow legal pad on our table and scribbled frantically on it.Demand alcohol and drug tests!
I shoved the suggestion toward Walter, our side’s lead counsel. He glanced down at the paper before quickly brushing it aside as if he was shooing a bug out of the way.
Walter questioned Angie from numerous different angles, but couldn’t seem to find a chink in the calm, collected woman’s armor. The only notable thing hedidn’task her about was her drug or alcohol usage. I couldn’t help but wonder if this omission was because I had suggested it.
Despite Walter’s best efforts to rattle her, the woman came off sounding like a responsible, caring person, who made a mistake in giving up her son, due to postpartum depression––which she had now completely recovered from.
When Walter finally sat back down, I was left with very little doubt in my mind that we had lost this case. Our best hope now was that we would get a custody arrangement with as much visitation as the original agreement had offered.
Even though I’d fully been expecting it, the judge’s verdict completely knocked the wind out of me. The room seemed to swirl before me as the stern woman said, “I believe it is in the child’s best interest to be placed in the custody of his birth mother at her permanent residence in California. The child’s father and stepmother will be granted supervised visits at a mutually-agreeable location for eight hours once per quarter.”
Molly sagged against me and emitted a quiet sob. Guilt churned in my gut as I realized I had forced the issue and lost Molly and Grant most of the concessions that had formerly been agreed upon. They would have been much better off, if they had ignored me and signed the original agreement.
The eye daggers Grant was shooting in my direction as I hugged my friend let me know that was precisely what he was thinking, as well. When I shifted uncomfortably under his steady, angry gaze, Molly turned and lunged into his arms.
Not wasting any time, Angie stood and walked to the back of the courtroom where Molly’s parents were holding the little boy. For a moment, it looked like Molly’s mom might make a run for it with her grandson, but when her husband placed a hand on her shoulder, she nodded solemnly and handed the little boy over to the other woman.
Molly began wailing in Grant’s arms, “Noooo! Noooo! This can’t be happening…”
Scout looked confused by the entire exchange. The woman holding him was a stranger to him. Soon, his chubby little face crumpled, and he let out a desperate, high-pitched cry. He reached for his grandmother, who held her palm over her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
Scout’s new guardian scurried out of the courtroom with the screeching little boy in tow, not even pausing to offer Grant and Molly a chance to say goodbye.
Proving that, even in the midst of a devastating crisis, she was a mother first, Molly retrieved the diaper bag at her feet and handed it to me. “She’ll need this.”
I nodded my understanding before racing after Angie and Scout. They were already outside and climbing into a rental car parked on the street when I caught up to them and called out the woman’s name to stop her.
After handing the packed diaper bag to her, I frowned and asked, “Don’t you need a car seat for him?”
She tossed the bag into the back seat and climbed behind the wheel of the car before settling Scout in her lap.
“Oh, we’re not going far,” she responded breezily before slamming the door and practically squealing the car’s tires in her haste to get away.
