Page 74 of Like A Daydream
Roscoe jumps up in bed with him and wiggles his way along Andrew’s side, nudging his chin with his nose. He whines, and taps Andrew’s arm with his paw.
It’s going to be a long night.
Danielle:
Danielle has never been to court before, and she never thought she would have a reason to. Until today, that is. Harper is at the bookstore with Cara, taking the day off of school because she was just as nervous as Danielle had been for this hearing, and Danielle didn’t feel it was necessary for her to spend the whole day at school anxious.
She had met up with her parents earlier in the morning for coffee before they headed over to City Hall. They reassured her that everything would be fine, and that a judge wouldn’t just throw out a written will when it had been done properly, and notarized.
She heads up the stairs to family court, the brick building and high bell tower looking more intimidatingnow that she’s the one going inside. She’s driven by it more times than she can count, but actually stepping through the doors feels strange.
It’s quiet inside, people waiting on benches outside of the court room entrance. Some have children with them, some are whispering with lawyers. Her own lawyer is standing by the doorway, waiting for her. Her appointed time is in fifteen minutes.
Emerson’s parents stand, arms folded, talking in hushed whispers. Emerson’s mother looks her up and down, like she’s the scum of the earth, like she hadn’t spent as much time in her house growing up as in her own.
She knows that they want her to fail in adopting Harper so that they can swoop in like the heroes they pretend to be. She almost wishes that they were those people, that they wanted Harper because they thought they were the best option for her. If that were the case she would almost feel bad for fighting them on it.
But, it’s not the case, and she knows it. They’ve all but said it with how they’ve behaved towards her since Andrew’s been back in Raleigh.
It was like he had been an extra layer of protection around both of them, but now he’s gone,they decided they could take as many liberties as they wanted. Showing up at Danielle’s unannounced, even when she wasn’t home. Trying to pick Harper up from school, even though they weren’t on the approved pick up list, and criticizing Danielle’s every move, keeping track of when she was out of town, which she hadn’t been. And, when she had, Harper had come with her, and it was only ever to Saranac Lake, or sometimes they would go to Plattsburgh on the weekends.
Plattsburgh is a college town, so there is a lot of fun things to do there, and Danielle sometimes liked to go to Target, and to a bookstore that isn’t her own. It’s not like she had been dragging Harper between New York and Raleigh, or New York and literally anywhere else.
So, sue her.
Or don’t, since that’s probably another thing that’s crossed their mind as a back-up plan if they don’t get their way. Too bad she doesn’t know if she cares if they take her to the cleaners. They don’t know who she’s dating, or that as long as she has Harper, she really couldn’t care less if they took everything.
Not to brag, but her boyfriend’s contract averages five million dollars a year. They can have thebookstore, her house, her car, and leave her with nothing but the skin on her back and she would still end up fine.
It’s been torture, and Danielle can’t wait to get this hearing over with so Harper can permanently be hers. She had been legally hers since the funeral, but now she would be known as Harper’s mom.
“Ready?” her lawyer asks, glancing over at Emerson’s parents before looking back at Danielle. Danielle nods. “Hopefully, this is just a formality. Everyone in town knows you, and knows Harper and what’s best for her.”
“I hope you’re right,” Danielle says, handing her phone to her mom. “I don’t want to watch someone else raise her when Emerson wanted better for her.”
“At this point, I can’t see a judge taking her away from you.”
“Unless they paid him off,” Danielle mumbles, “they have the whole town in their pockets.”
“That’s illegal,” her lawyer says, “Judge Gallagher is a fair man. He knows you’ve been here for Harper when they were in Germany, he knows you’re fit to take care of her. It’s going to be fine.”
Fine probably wasn’t thebestword.
From almost the moment the proceedings started, Emerson’s parents ripped into her. Her character, her conduct, her fraternizing with a disgraced NHL player who had a reputation.
Everything they could possibly throw in the judge’s way for him to evaluate, they did.
When she emerges victorious at the end of the day, it’s all that she can do not to collapse on the courthouse stairs in tears.
She doesn’t even notice her mom slipping her phone back to her, too busy starting at the adoption papers, signed and official, in her hand. Erick is on the steps beside her, tugging her into a hug as his parents walk by, disgusted at the outcome, apparently.
Danielle doesn’t even look at them. She’s Harper’s mother.
No one can take her away. No one can even threaten it.
She doesn’t hear from Andrew, and heknewwhat today was. He had had a game, but she was sure that he would have called. There was no way he could have forgotten, especially when this had been equally important to him to know.
It’s not just that day she doesn’t hear from him.
