13
Alex tugs at the knot in his tie and looks around the courtroom. Aside from a bailiff and the woman who will be recording the proceedings, there are only Ben and himself present. For a moment, he thinks perhaps she’s not going to show and the nightmare will be over, then the door swings open and he hears the familiar tap-tap-tap of her heels on the floor tiles. His stomach clenches, despite the anti-nausea tablet, and Ben squeezes his knee under the table.
When he looks over, his parents are standing with an older man in a dark grey suit. Alex isn’t surprised to see his father, but the sight of the lawyer sends another icy stab through his gut. Joseph Sheppard. He’s on the Parish Council - or had been anyway - and had been one of the group to officiate at Alex’s teenage punishment, personally stripping Alex of his clothing and suggesting he be beaten. The rest of the council members overruled the beating, but Alex knows he has a reputation for being stubborn, cold, and vicious. He’s also very good at what he does. Hopefully Ben is better. Please let Ben be better.
“Don’t look at them, keep your eyes on me.” Ben’s voice is low, so they can’t hear him. “Do you know the lawyer?”
“Yeah, Joseph Sheppard, he’s bad news Ben.” Alex gives a hurried, whispered explanation of who the man is. Ben makes notes and taps something on the screen of his phone. Before Ben can say anything more, the bailiff asks them to stand and a small, dark haired woman enters the room and takes her place. She reads over the papers in front of her for a few minutes then looks up and addresses the room.
“Mr Larsen? Am I correct in understanding that you and,” she reads the paper in front of her again, “Mr Davis are partners?”
“We’re legally married, Judge,” Ben replies.
“And you don’t wish to bring in independent representation?”
“No ma’am.”
Judge Martin nods and makes a note.
“Fine, Mr Sheppard, tell me what this is all about.”
Joseph Sheppard stands, buttoning his jacket as he does so, and clears his throat.
“Judge Martin, my clients, Janice and Robert Davis are petitioning to have a restraining order vacated and to see their ten-month-old granddaughter.”
“Explain the restraining order to me please.”
“Following a family disagreement five years ago, Mr Davis and Mr Larsen chose to take out a restraining order. My clients did not raise an objection at the time, thinking it best to let things settle down and have respected the order to date. It expires in seven weeks and we are simply asking that the expiration date be brought forward in order to facilitate visitation with their grandchild, who until until four months ago, they knew nothing about.”
Alex slumps back in his chair. Sheppard has made it sound so … reasonable. As if they had simply had a minor argument over where to have dinner one night. As if he and Ben are being deliberately cruel in keeping them from Lucy. Judge Martin frowns at him and clears her throat.
“And why did they not know about the child’s birth?”
“Judge,” Ben stands, a folder in his hand, “If I may approach, I have a copy here of the restraining order my husband and I have against Mr and Mrs Davis, with the reasons laid out. This was not a simple differing of opinions. In fact, it was the culmination of many years of abuse…” Sheppard leaps to his feet, trying to speak but Ben ignores him, “and it was no easy decision for my husband, Mr Davis, to make.”
“Why did you have a restraining order against your parents?” Judge Martin asks, looking at Alex. He blushes, unable to speak. “Mr Davis, please answer so it can be recorded.”
“Ju …” Ben begins to speak but she holds her hand up, silencing him and gives Alex a pointed look.
“My ...uh… parents, especially my mother, well she doesn’t approve of my … life.” Alex rubs his palms against his thighs and tries to calm his breathing; his heart is pounding and he’s sure everyone can hear it. “She … uh … that is … they think homosexuality is a sin. When uh Ben and I got married they wouldn’t come to the wedding and when we decided to have a family, to have our first child, my mother wanted to stop us. She made threats.”
The judge frowns and looks at Sheppard.
“Judge, my clients’ do not approve of homosexuality on religious grounds and they did not approve of Mr Davis and Mr Larsen’s marriage or of the fact that they were intending to have a child through the intermediary of their daughter in law, Claire Davis, their older son’s wife.”
“And now they approve?”
“Judge, we are several years down the track and Mr Davis’ younger daughter is his biological daughter …”
“Also with his,” Judge Martin consults her papers, “sister in law? By IVF I assume?”
She turns to Alex, who nods and wishes he could curl up under the table and hide.
“Yes. She is therefore my client’s biological granddaughter. My clients are in their seventies and feel they should be allowed to know what is likely their only grandchild and to be a part of her life.”
Alex’s mouth drops open. Be a part of her life? What the hell? He leans toward Ben, ready to protest but Ben just places his hand over his and shakes his head.
“And the other child?” Judge Martin asks.
Other child? She has a name, Alex thinks.
“I beg your pardon Mr Davis?”
He looks up, confused, to find everyone looking at him. Oh God, did he say that out loud? He clears his throat.
“I said she has a name. Alison, we call her Ally. And our baby’s name is Lucy.” He knows he sounds petulant, but these are his children dammit, not nameless entities to just be passed around a courtroom.
“Noted,” the judge says. “I don’t see a petition here for visitation with Alison Davis-Larsen.”
There’s movement from the other table and when Alex turns, his father is leaning toward Sheppard, tapping a finger on the table. His mother is unable to hide her fury as she tugs at the cross around her neck.
“Your honor, the older child,” Collins glares at Alex, “is not my client’s grandchild, so is…”
“In the eyes of the law, she is,” Judge Martin looks at the group over the top of her glasses. “Mr Davis and Mr Larsen are married and I see from this paperwork that both are legal parents of both children. Both children are therefore your clients’ legal grandchildren.”
Alex is unsure how he feels about that statement. He’s happy to hear the judge validate his family but he can’t shake the sense of unease niggling at him.
“Judge,” Ben begins but she holds her hand up, silencing him.
After a moment of silence, the judge shuffles her papers and looks up.
“This is clearly a complicated case that requires more than a simple meeting. I’m going to suggest we schedule a full hearing, so I can read the background to the situation and I would like a chance to hear from both sides in full as well as from other involved parties …”
Ben stands.
“Judge Martin, I think if we …”
“Mr Larsen, I understand you want to present your side of this and that is why I am going get the bailiff to set a full hearing time for us and you and your husband will have a chance. As will Mr and Mrs Davis. In the meantime,” she leans forward and Alex has a flash of clarity, knows what she’s going to say and fights the panic threatening to overwhelm him, “I am going to vacate the restraining order and allow Mr and Mrs Davis to see both of their granddaughters for two hours a week, confined to the local area of San Capistrano as a trial run. ”
Chaos erupts. Ben is on his feet, protesting and Alex can hear his father demanding to know why they have to have both girls. He cradles his head in his hands trying not to cry. The sound of the gavel crashing against the desk silences them all.
“Mr Sheppard am I to assume that the only interest your clients have in this case is to lord it over their son that they are biologically related to one of his daughters? Or did they want to be grandparents? Because if it’s the latter, then surely they wish to spend time with both children?”
Hopeful, Alex peers up through his bangs.
“Of course, your honor,” Collins says in a strained voice. “My clients will be happy to spend time with both children.”
The sound from Alex’s mother suggests she is anything but happy but she doesn’t protest further. Judge Martin turns to Ben, who is still standing.
“Mr Larsen, I believe I made myself clear about you being able to present your case when I see you again in,” she consults the bailiff and the agenda he’s holding, “two and a half weeks. If there is any change someone will inform you and I expect to be informed should you find some sort of middle ground during the coming two weeks. That will be all.”
The bailiff orders them to stand as she leaves, and the door is still swinging shut behind her when Alex’s knees give out and he sinks to his chair.
“Ben?” He looks up, desperate for reassurance but instead of Ben’s eyes, it’s his mother’s that meet his.
“We will pick them up on Saturday afternoon at two,” she says, hatred and disgust unhidden by triumph in her eyes. “Have them ready.”
On that she turns and stalks from the room, her husband and lawyer trailing behind her.
Ben sits next to him, takes his hand.
“I feel sick.”
“I know, baby. So do I.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to fight her.”
Alex nods and Ben puts his hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer.
“We’re going to fight her and we’re going to win, okay?”
✽ ✽ ✽
Half a mile from the house, Ben pulls the car over to the side of the road. By the time he makes it to the other side, Alex is out, on his knees, vomiting in the gutter. Ben leans forward to hold the long hair back from his face and tries to sound comforting as he rubs his back. Finally, Alex drops back against the car, face white, dragging his hand across his mouth.
“You’ll ruin your suit,” Ben says, crouching in front of him.
“I knew it would be bad, I tried to tell you.”
Ben flushes in shame at the reproach he can see in his eyes.
“Alex, I…”
“She’s going to try and take Lucy away, Ben. I just know it.”
Ben pulls him into his arms.
“No, she won’t. There’s no way the judge will allow that, and I promise, baby, neither will I.”
“Ben, you don’t know her like I do. You don’t know Sheppard. She’s pissed, she’s not going to give up until she has Lucy. Even if it means she has to have Ally as well.”
“Alex, look at me,” Ben commands, tilting the younger man’s head up, “I won’t let her. Okay? I won’t let her.”
✽ ✽ ✽