“Having a court official assigned to your case will mean unscheduled visits to your residence, regardless of the date, holiday, or time of day, all to confirm that your relationship with Miss Mallorie is legitimate, and to ensure that your home is a good environment for the boy to grow and thrive in. There will be no second chances if my staff should find that you are not living up to your end of the bargain. There will also be strict penalties should the court find that your relationship is a hoax or scam, bent to claim custody of your son. Are we clear on that fact?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” he said, without batting an eyelash.
“And do you understand as well, Miss Mallorie?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” I said quietly.
“Good,” the judge said, tapping his gavel. “Then this case has been settled and will be revisited in six months in order to turn this joint custody into a permanent order.”
The court police officer walked over to the stand and reached his hand out to me, helping me down and across the floor to Luke. He stood in the middle of the floor and dismissed the judge, watching as everyone stood quietly until he left for his chambers. When he was gone, I watched Luke let out a deep breath, glancing over at Sarah who was beet red and clenching her jaw. I turned away, thinking about what the judge had said. I was ecstatic that Luke got to have his son, but I was completely jolted by the details of the court order. I forced a smile as Luke hugged me tightly and turned to his attorney, shaking her hand.
I walked through the gate and sat down on one of the benches, trying to wrap my head around the fact that this ordeal did not end for me today. Instead, this had become a binding contract, was signed and sealed by the emotions and wellbeing of a six-year-old boy. I took in a deep breath and looked up as Sarah pushed past, stopping in front of me, then turning abruptly and walking out of the courtroom. I looked up at Luke who chuckled and shook his head, obviously not yet thinking about the repercussions for me in this situation. I rubbed my hands over my face trying to gather myself and saw Luke staring over at me with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He still had no idea why I was freaking out the way that I was.
I had really thought that when all of this was done, I would be able to quietly break things off with him and go my own way. However, after hearing the judge’s orders, it was obvious that he had his own idea about how things were going to progress. This whole situation just went from complicated to impossible in about three seconds, and while everyone else was celebrating, I was stuck thinking of my future and where I would need to go from there. I was committed to helping Jake, that was no secret, but I didn’t realize until that moment just how committed I really needed to be. This was not a one-day venture. This was not even a one-month venture; this was going to take my undivided attention for quite some time.
“I know that was a shock,” Luke whispered, after walking over and bending down in front of me. “But let’s just take it in stride, okay? We will talk about everything, but right now I need you to look happy with the decision, settled, and in love. I need you to act like everything that was said was not a load of shit. We are still in the courthouse, and the judge can change his mind at any point.”
“All right,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, it was just a lot to take in.”
Luke smiled and ran his ha
nd over my cheek, and without thinking, I leaned into it and smiled. When I opened my eyes, he was smiling back at me, but that was quickly extinguished when the attorney walked up, telling us it was time to go. I nodded and took Luke’s hand, allowing him to help me up off the bench. As we walked from the courtroom, my chest with filled with a plethora of emotions and my thoughts running wild. Oh brother, what have I gotten myself into now?
Chapter Fifteen
Luke
As I walked out of the courtroom, my face was covered with a huge smile. I couldn’t believe, after everything, that I had gotten partial custody of my son. I was so excited that I could barely hear or see anything going on around me. Jake was my world, and ever since he was taken away, I’d felt lost and lonely without him. When the judge made his decision, it was like a piece of me, that I thought was lost forever, had come back and taken its rightful place back in my chest. I couldn’t thank Quinn enough, and I knew this was going to be more of a commitment than she had counted on, but I also knew that she loved Jake and when we were all together, we made the kind of family that the court was looking for. In my mind, things couldn’t have gone much better than that, and it was both surprising and exciting all at the same time.
As I walked into the hallway and took in a deep breath of air, I looked up to see Sarah taking Jake into her arms and looking over at me. As soon as our eyes met, her jaw clenched, and she walked quickly past her lawyer, across the hall, and straight up to me. She shifted Jake in her arms and slapped at his hand as he reached out to me. I smiled at him and reached over, ruffling his hair. She could be a bitch all she wanted, but she wasn’t going to be allowed to treat my son like that.
“Don’t look so sad, buddy,” I said, ignoring Sarah’s stare. “The judge just said that I can see you more often and you can even spend the night at my house.”
Jake smiled wide and laughed, clapping his hands together. Sarah shushed him and turned back to me, her eyes lively with fire and anger. She took a deep breath and stepped closer, speaking quietly, her anger undisguised.
“You think you are so cute,” she growled. “I know that you’re playing games with me; I’m not stupid.”
“Sarah,” I said, in a normal tone. “I know you’re still upset about our divorce even after all of this time, but I’m with Quinn now, and you are going to have to accept that and stop using our son as a way to get back at me.”
“Bullshit,” she said, her loud whisper turning the head of most everyone around us. “The court officials are never going to fall for this, not in a million years. You are a piece of shit who doesn’t care about anything other than making my life miserable.”
“Sarah,” I whispered. “I think you’ve gotten me mixed up with you. But unlike you, I don’t lie in a court of law to make myself look better. I don’t accuse people of serious crimes like abuse with nothing to back it up. I’m sorry that the judge saw right through your lies, but try to have some grace and compassion, as our son is watching you.”
With that, she stalked off, struggling to carry Jake through the courthouse. It was like she had forgotten that he was six, not six months, and her little frame wasn’t made to haul a half-grown human through the building. I chuckled at her as she struggled, finally putting Jake down and pulling him forward. I stood back for a moment just taking in the struggle before laughing and cupping my hands together.
“Oh, and Sarah,” I said loudly, watching her huff and puff as she turned around. “I’ll be picking my son up on Friday night to spend the weekend at my house.”
She rolled her eyes and snarled as I laughed at Jake, who was jumping up and down in excitement. His little face made everything worthwhile, and the fact that I could piss off Sarah to that extent just made things even better. I stood there and watched until Sarah and Jake were out of sight, then let out a deep breath, rubbing my hands together. I looked to each side of me expecting Quinn to be standing there, but when I didn’t see her, I turned around. She was by the courtroom doors nervously speaking to Amanda, a strained look on her face.
I took in a deep breath and made my way over to join the conversation, seeing that Quinn obviously needed some reassurance. I knew this was a lot for her to handle, but I also knew that she was going to be okay, and I felt at that moment that I needed her more than ever. I sauntered over to the conversation and stuck my hands in my pockets, looking up at both of the women with a smile on my face. Quinn’s face went from nervous to smiling and back to nervous, before Amanda stepped forward to talk to us.
“This is just the start of everything,” Amanda said, quietly looking around to make sure there were no prying ears. “Getting the judge’s approval was just the first step of the process; now you have to make him feel like he made the right decision. They don’t normally appoint someone for a case like this, but because your ex-wife accused you of abuse, and you didn’t stand up for yourself for so long, he wants to make sure that he is putting Jake in able hands. However, he wouldn’t have even allowed the attempt if he didn’t believe that you were a good enough man to raise a child. You guys need to understand that you’ll need to be completely committed to this cause. It will take a completely committed couple for you to get the court’s approval, and though that sounds easy, it may be harder than it seems.”
“We’ve got this,” I said, smiling.
“Do you?” Amanda took in a deep breath and pulled us to the side where no one else was standing. “This does not mean a couple of phone calls a week and maybe a lunch date here or there. This means that you guys will need to move in together immediately, start doing everything together, no dating life for either of you because if you get caught, it will be really bad. You have to act like a real couple all the time because you never know when the officials will show up at the house. This is a huge commitment for two people who barely spoke just a month ago. You have got to sink yourself into this in order to prove to these people that you are for real. They will not be easily tricked, and they are trained to look for these things. Don’t take on more than you can chew, though I am seeing that you may have already.”
I stood there smiling and nodding my head, watching Amanda’s face change to worry as she looked over at Quinn. I turned towards Quinn and realized that her face did not match mine. She looked nervous and questionable, and immediately I walked forward and put my arms around her, squeezing her tight. I knew this was a big deal for her; it was her life that would change the most, after all. Still, I needed her to be steadfast in her place in all of this, and I needed her to exude even more confidence than I had to. They were not only going to be watching me and her and how we interacted, but they would be watching how she mothered Jake, which was extremely important.