Chapter 41

Shaw

       I wasn't sure if I was ready for today. I was up almost all night thinking about the possible outcomes. Chances were Kendra would win the case and I would never see my kids again. Or I would win and she would continue hating me for no reason.

       But if I had a choice between losing my relationship with Kendra or my relationship with my kids...

       I'd have to choose losing Kendra.

       Kendra was my best friend for the longest of times. When I broke up with her because I came out, she didn't get mad at me. She told me she would always be there for me no matter what. Before Holden came back from boarding school, so was the first person I would turn to for help.

       And now she was trying to take away my kids from me when I hadn't done a single thing wrong.

       I didn't think if we would ever be okay after today.

       There was a knock on the door while Holden and I were getting ready to leave so I opened the door to see Heidi standing there. "Hey," she said. "Ready for today?"

       "Nope," I said. "Because no matter what happens, I'm losing someone today."

       "Maybe Kendra will have a sense of reasoning some time soon," Holden said and as much as I wanted that to be true, I couldn't no for sure. She did a complete one-eighty and I didn't see herself going back to normal any time soon.

       The three of us left the house to head to the courthouse but almost immediately after we were heading through the village, Dad walked up to us. "Well, it's nice to see two of my children talking and hanging out," he said. "We have an emergency."

       "Well, the emergency is going to have to wait," I said.

       Dad raised an eyebrow. "Do you need a refresher on what the definition of an emergency is? Here let me tell you."

       I stopped Dad before he could continue. "I'm aware of what an emergency is. We're in the middle of one right now. Custody hearing. Kendra's fighting for full custody."

       "Are you serious?" Dad asked. "What did you do?"

       "Nothing except for drinking," I said. "But I never drank when the kids were over and it was a very short-lived thing. Holden could vouch for me. She's trying to use me being arrested twice this year as an excuse even though she was the first to know that I was only protecting Julian. What's this emergency anyway?"

       "Roman," Dad said. "The rest of his family moved here and I had the pleasure of bumping into his parents. Let's just say their just as pleasant as Roman. They're not happy their daughter was killed and stupidly told me that their son is planning on revenge and they can't wait for it to be delivered."

       "Wait," Holden said. "Why would they tell a complete stranger that?"

       "I don't know," Dad said. "They seem to pride themselves over revenge and vendettas, so all I had to do was pretend like I would have done the same thing if someone messed with my children."

       "You are doing the same thing," I pointed out.

       Dad shrugged, knowing he was right. "Well, I guess I'll handle the situation myself with the twins."

       "Can you please just leave them out of this?" I asked.

       "I can," Dad said. "Will I? No. Now go on, head to the court house. I promise you I won't put the twins in any danger."

       "Do promises ever mean anything to you?" I asked.

       "Wow, you could have a lot more faith in your father," Dad said before patting my shoulder. "Good luck with the custody hearing. I'm going to go handle things with Roman and don't worry, the twins will possibly be left out of it."

       Knowing my dad, they weren't going to be left out of it.

       Dad walked off so the three of us continued heading to the courthouse. I really hoped this thing with Roman would end soon. And for him not to do anything during the custody hearing.

       I got very nervous when we got to the courthouse. I got even more nervous when I saw Kendra. And she wasn't alone. Along with her was her lawyer and Hugh.

       I hated Hugh.

       When the hearing began, Kendra's lawyer was the first to talk on behald of Kendra. And no surprise, she started bringing up my past. Every single part of it, even the ones that weren't on police records.

       Meaning Kendra told her every single detail about me to make me look like a bad father.

       There was no way we were keeping joint custody.

       However, Heidi fought back amazingly. She knew exactly what to say to prove all of that was in my past and how it couldn't define me, especially since I was nothing like that when Kendra decided to stop me from seeing the kids.

       Heidi also made sure to focus on the positive things going on in my life; my healthy marriage, my steady job, my home. She was doing her absolute best and even if I lost the battle, I definitely owed her big time. And she also brought up the fact how the kids didn't want either of their parents to have full custody. They wanted to see both of their parents.

       The judge had to talk to some members of the court to decide what the decision should be. In the meantime, we had to wait in another room for the decision to be made. Once we got into the room, I pulled Heidi into a hug. "Thank you for your help," I said. "I might actually have a chance. A small chance, but a chance."

       "You're welcome," Heidi said. "I would never want you to lose your kids."

       "Even though I'm probably going to," I said.

       "Hey, you've got to be positive," Holden said. "Heidi did make a lot of excellent points and it's not like the court is only going to take whatever Kendra's lawyer said in consideration."

       I sure hoped he was right.

       We were called back into the meeting room, waiting for the judge to walk in. When she did and sat across from us, my heart started beating harder. Please don't be full custody, please don't be full custody.

       "I understand the current arrangement is joint cusody," the judge said. "After much discussion, the court has decided that the arrangement will remain joint custody."

       I released a sigh of relief. I was going to be able to see my kids again.

       "However," the judge continued, "the children will stay with Mr. Thomas-Eaton most of the time."

       Wait.

       What?

       Did I hear right?

       "You can't be serious," Hugh said. "Kendra is the most amazing mother ever."

       "Ms. Herring violated the terms of the previous arrangement," the judge said. "And it was completely unjustified. This was the court's decision and it's non-negotiable unless Mr. Thomas-Eaton agrees for the children to continue staying with Ms. Herring most of the time."

       I had the power to make things go back to normal. I could see the kids every other weekend or when Kendra was busy like how we had it before.

       So why didn't I?

       "I'd like to have them stay with me majority of the time," I said.

       "As you wish," the judge said.

       When we left the courtroom, Hugh thought it would be a good idea to verbally attack me. It didn't bother me at all.

       "I hope you're happy," Hugh said. "Taking her kids away."

       "She's still going to see the kids," I pointed out. "She's the one who was trying to take them away from me and be completely happy doing it. I wouldn't have seen them at all."

       "This isn't over, I hope you know that," Hugh said.

       Kendra rested her hand on Hugh's shoulder. "It's fine," she said in a soft voice before looking at me. "I'll drop the kids off at your house."

       She didn't even wait for me to reply before she walked away with Hugh.

       "Is this real?" I asked. "Am I actually going to see my kids again?"

       "You are," Heidi said with a smile.

       I couldn't help but pull her into another hug. "Thank you again. I owe you big time."

       "Hey, I'm your sister," Heidi said. "I'll always be here to help you out. Now you should probably head home to be there for when Kendra drops them off."

        I nod. "Thank you, Heidi. Really."

        Holden and I left the courthouse to head home and I couldn't wait for Mercy, Lucian, and Catiel to show up. I did feel a bit bad that Kendra wouldn't have them most of the time like she used to but I had been deprived of seeing my own kids for so long.

       Besides, maybe if things got better between me and Kendra, I'd let them stay with her a majority of the time again. I just needed to spend some time with them.

       When we got home, I tried unlocking the door only to find out that it was already unlocked. "That's odd," I said. "You locked the door, right?"

        "I think so," Holden said. "But then again I thought I had breakfast today but I'm starving and there's no way I could be this hungry if I ate breakfast."

       "No, you did eat breakfast," I said as I opened the door.

       "Really?" Holden asked. "The joy of memory l--" He stopped when we saw the sight in front of us.

       Our home was completely trashed.

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:O

lol it's 2 in the morning oops. then again i'm a night owl and i'm currently bingng a tv show.

i wish i could post a gif but i'm not writing on my laptop because of my stupid space bar :(