by Claire Adams
“Ms. Gaston, you indicated in your petition that Mr. Gaston is a neglectful father who is rarely home and who doesn’t have a vested interest in raising a healthy teenager,” the judge said, as she pulled the petition from the stack of papers and began reading from it. “You said, and I quote, that Blake Gaston works overnight shifts on a regular basis and leaves the minor child at home without supervision. He pays no child support and has not contributed to the college fund for said minor.”
“That’s unfair!” Nina cried from the bench behind Blake. “My dad does everything to help me! He’s the one who made me focus on getting my grades up! He was the one who met with my teachers! Mom didn’t even show up!”
“Miss Gaston!” the judge said, as she rapped her gavel on the desk. “You will remain quiet, or I’ll have you removed from the courtroom immediately!”
“It’s not fair,” Nina muttered under her breath.
“Ms. Fowler, are you one of the teachers that Mr. Gaston met with?” the judge asked.
“I am,” I nodded. I could see Remy out of the corner of my eye and knew that if looks could kill, I’d have been dead 10 minutes ago. “Mr. Gaston met with me when Nina’s grades dropped, and we worked out a plan to get them back up.”
“And was that plan successful?” the judge asked.
“Very much so, Your Honor,” I said. “Nina’s History grade now puts her in the top 10 percent of the sophomore class.”
“I see,” the judge nodded. She was silent for a long time as she read through the papers in front of her and consulted her notes. Then she looked up at the courtroom and said, “I’d like to speak to Nina in my chambers with the lawyers for both parties. Now.”
“Your Honor!” Remy protested.
“Ms. Gaston, I suggest you remain seated and not say another word,” the judge said, looking down at her. Remy sunk back in her chair and dropped her gaze to the floor as Nina and the lawyers followed the judge into her chambers.
I looked over at Emily, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. Remy sat at her table, staring straight ahead and fuming silently.
The judge and the lawyers returned after 15 minutes. When I saw Nina looking down at the floor as she followed them back into the courtroom, my heart sunk.
We’d lost the case.
All eyes were on the judge as she sat down and pulled out a paper from the stack in front of her. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I waited for her to tell us her decision.
“Mr. and Mrs. Gaston, it is obvious to me that you both love your daughter a great deal and that you want what is best for her,” she said, looking back and forth at Remy and I. “However, I don’t think parents always offer the most accurate assessment of what is best for their children, and after having listened to Nina, I believe that her feelings also need to be considered as I render my decision.”
The judge shifted her gaze to Nina, and all eyes followed. Nina refused to lift her head and look at either her mother or I, and I felt the weight of what was about to be said pushing down on me. The judge was going to give custody to Remy, and I was going to have to deal with the loss the best I could.
“Mrs. Gaston, I believe that you have tried to act in the best interests of your daughter and ensure that she is safe and well cared for,” the judge continued. “And Mr. Gaston, I believe that you also love your daughter and want what’s best for her.”
I swallowed hard as I nodded, my eyes never leaving the judge.
“After having heard Nina’s opinion on what’s best for her, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the minor child to award temporary full custody to her father, Blake Gaston, and allow her to live with him full-time,” the judge said. Remy gasped and rose up out of her seat to protest, but was pulled back down by her lawyer and silenced. “Mr. Gaston has provided a stable, secure environment in which Nina feels safe and loved, and in which she has thrived over the past six months. Mrs. Gaston, you travel a great deal, and Nina has indicated that you and she have had a strained relationship for some time, and that she feels you both would benefit from joint counseling sessions to help improve your connection.”
“But he made her run away!” Remy yelled, unable to remain silent.
“Silence, Mrs. Gaston, or I’ll have you cited for contempt,” the judge warned with a stern look. “As I was about to say, Nina has explained her rationale for running away and taken responsibility for what happened with Ms. Fowler, though I still think that as an adult, she should have exercised better judgment.”
The judge looked toward the back of the room and singled out Emily, who ducked her head and nodded in agreement.
“I believe that you have both raised a daughter who has a good head on her shoulders despite her immature way of coping with the prospect of losing time with her father,” the judge continued. “I am ordering a year of co-counseling sessions for Nina and you, Mrs. Gaston, and I am appointing a mediator to help you and Mr. Gaston come up with a reasonable visitation schedule. Therefore it is decided that Mr. Gaston will have temporary full custody of the minor, Nina Marie Gaston, for one year, at which time, if the parties have not established a mutually agreeable solution, I will issue a final ruling on this matter. Court is adjourned.”
The judge rapped her gavel on the bench, and we all rose and watched her leave the courtroom. I stood next to my lawyer, stunned that I’d been awarded custody.
“Dad, we did it!” Nina cried, as she ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. I hugged her tightly and then remembered Remy was still in the room.
“Go hug your mother, Punkin,” I whispered. Nina looked up at me with a scowl, and I shook my head. “We won. You can be kind.”
She nodded and slowly walked over to where her mother stood with her lawyer. Nina stared at Remy for a moment, and then reached out and hugged her. I couldn’t hear what she said, but when Remy pulled away, she smiled weakly and nodded before turning and leaving the courtroom.
I turned and looked toward the back of the room where Emily had been sitting, but her seat was now empty. As happy as I was that I now had Nina, there was a heaviness in my heart.
I’d lost Emily.
Chapter Forty-Four
Epilogue
I was in the backyard, putting new sod in along the back fence when Nina came running out of the house holding her phone and yelling, “Dad! Dad! Phone for you! It’s Gramps!”
“Why didn’t he call me on my phone?” I asked, as I pulled off a dirt-covered work glove and took the phone from her.
“This is your phone, Dad,” Nina laughed.
“Hey Pop, what’s up?” I said, as I watched Nina unroll a length of sod and then walk on it with her bare feet. I pulled the phone away and yelled at her, “Hey, get off that! You’re gonna kill the grass before it even has a chance!”
“Blake, what’s going on over there?” my dad asked.
“Nina’s messing with the sod, Pop,” I said. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to let you know that your mother said we’ll be ready around 4 today,” he replied. “She’s firing up the grill and says you might want to bring a few extra six-packs.”
“Gotcha,” I said. “Anything else we need?”
“Nope, I think you mother’s taken care of everything else,” he said. “Well, except for what you need to bring.”
“Yeah, I got it,” I said, as I watched Nina carefully roll up the sod she’d unrolled and put it back on the pile.
“You sure you’re okay with this, son?” my dad asked.
“Never been surer of anything in my life,” I said with a grin that I was sure he could hear even if he couldn’t see it.
“All right, then we’ll be ready for you this afternoon!” my dad said before hanging up.
“Everything ready?” Nina asked, as I handed the phone back to her.
“So they say,” I nodded, as I pulled on the work glove and grabbed the rake I’d dropped on the lawn. “I just need to finish this before we go.”
&nbs
p; “You’re crazy, old man,” Nina sighed then giggled. “You know that, right?”
“So, I’ve been told,” I grinned, as I pulled the rake through the dark earth before spreading a layer of fertilizer on top of it and then mixing it in.
I watched as Nina ran back to the house and up the stairs. It had been a relatively quiet summer compared to the dramatic spring we’d had. Nina had moved in with me the day that the judge had awarded me full custody, and Remy and I had hammered out a visitation schedule that had kept the hard feelings to a minimum. Nina and Remy had been attending counseling sessions on a weekly basis, and while Nina said nothing much had changed, I begged to differ. Remy had softened since the hearing, and she was spending more time trying to get to know Nina rather than control her. It would be a long road to travel to get to a place where they had a relationship like mine and Nina’s, but I could see progress every time Nina came home from a session.
I finished aerating the section I’d been working on and decided it was time to call it a day. I covered the sod with a plastic tarp and put the tools in the garage before heading into the house to take a shower.
I smiled when I walked into the kitchen and saw Nina sitting at the counter cutting up potatoes while Emily washed dishes at the sink. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Hey! You’re sweaty and dirty!” she cried, as I kissed the top of her head. “I’m all ready for the barbecue; don’t make me have to clean up again!”
“I’m not that dirty,” I laughed, as I pulled back and saw that I’d left a smudge of mud on her cheek. I reached out to wipe it away but only made it worse. I laughed, “Okay, maybe I am.”
“Dad! Stop getting Emily dirty!” Nina cried, as she shot me a death stare, then picked up a towel and crossed the kitchen to come to Emily’s rescue. Nina wiped the dirt off of Emily’s cheek, then turned and flicked the towel at me shouting, “Go get cleaned up, old man!”
“Hey, hey, hey!” I laughingly protested. “I’m not that old.”
“Well, old or not, go get cleaned up,” Emily laughed, as she turned back to the sink. “Your mother will kill you if we’re late again!”
I headed back to the bathroom to shower and change, feeling happier than I had in a very long time. Emily and I had begun patching things up after the hearing, and while it hadn’t been easy, we’d managed to find a way to make things work. After school was out, she’d signed a summer lease on a house just down the street from mine and stayed with Nina on the nights I was working. We’d talked about moving in together, but she was hesitant to do anything that would cause any more problems at school now that she’d completed all of the requirements of the probation set by the school board. Instead, she’d begun looking for a house that she could buy on my block.
Nina, Emily, and I had spent numerous off days touring houses and talking about how Emily might be able to renovate one of them to meet her needs. Nina focused on making the home Howard-friendly, while Emily thought about how to accommodate her frequent guests - us. She’d put an offer on a house three doors down from mine, but someone else had come in with a higher offer at the last minute. Emily was disappointed, but remained optimistic.
Today we were headed to my parents’ for a barbecue and their annual domino tournament. I was excited to bring Emily to the gathering for the first time and have her meet the rest of the Gaston family, and Nina was excited to be able to bring her new boyfriend, Brandon, to the gathering, despite the fact that I was still on the fence as to whether I liked him or not.
Emily assured me that he was a good student and a nice young man, but I didn’t like the idea of my daughter dating any high school boy at all. After all, I knew what they were like. Every time Brandon came by to pick Nina up for a date, I’d give him the third degree about where they were going and when they’d be back. If Emily was around, she’d smile and intervene to give the boy a break, but I wanted him to fear me enough to ensure that my daughter arrived home safe and sound — and on time.
I had just finished shaving when Emily entered the bathroom and gave me the once-over.
“Mmm, you look very good, Mr. Gaston,” she said with a smile as she walked toward the mirror. She looked beautiful in a blue summer sundress with her long blonde hair spilling across her shoulders. I turned, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her deeply. She rested her palms on my chest as we kissed and I quickly felt myself approaching the point of no return, as I always did when she touched me. Emily pulled back a little and whispered, “You smell amazing. Better get ready, big guy, or I’m going to be the one making us late today.”
I grinned suggestively at her as I put my hand on the edge of the towel I had tucked around my waist. She laughed loudly and shook her head as she moved away.
“What? Suddenly I’m chopped liver?” I pouted.
“Oh, I think you know you’re not,” she laughed. “But do you want to explain to your mother why you made us late again?
“No, I don’t think I do,” I grumbled
It didn’t take me long to get dressed, and by the time I joined Emily and Nina in the living room, Brandon had arrived and was pacing nervously behind the couch. We shook hands, and as he looked to Nina for reassurance, I pulled him toward me and slapped him on the back saying, “Son, it’s all good. Relax.”
“Yes, sir,” he nodded solemnly, before letting go of my hand and taking Nina’s. I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Emily slipped her hand in mind and pushed me toward the door.
“Got everything, Dad?” Nina called, as we walked toward the truck.
“Yep!” I replied.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m sure!” I said, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Now will you let it go?”
“Okay, okay,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender. “Just trying to be helpful. Don’t shoot the messenger.”
I chuckled as I slid into the driver’s seat and stuck the key in the ignition. Emily shot me a questioning look from the passenger seat, but I just shook my head and waved her off. As we pulled out of the driveway, I was Jake and Kathy standing in their front yard smiling and waving. I offered a quick wave and a smile before I put the truck in drive.
“You’ve got some really nice neighbors,” Emily commented, as she smiled and waved. “We should invite them over for dinner sometime.”
“Uh, yeah,” I said looking away. “Sure.”
“Do you not like them, Blake?” she asked.
“Long story,” I said, glancing up at the rear view mirror and then back at the road in front of me. “I’ll explain later.”
When we arrived at my parents’ house, the driveway was empty, but cars lined the street. When we got out and began to unload the food and beer from the back of the truck, Brian and his friends came rushing out the front door and swept it all inside without a word.
“That’s weird,” Emily said, watching the posse of guys move back into the house.
“C’mon, let’s go around back and see what my dad’s cooked up,” I said, as I reached out and took her hand.
We walked around the side of the house, and as I flipped open the side gate, I could hear voices chattering excitedly. I held tight to Emily’s hand as we rounded the corner. She gasped when she saw the crowd of people standing around my parents’ backyard, sipping cocktails and looking around expectantly.
“Blake, what’s going on?” Emily asked, looking up at me and then back at the crowd. “Why are all of these — Mother? Daddy? Becca? KO? What are you doing here?”
“Ellie and Alan came to see us and asked us to come to the barbecue,” my mother said in a stilted voice. “We knew you might not want to see us, but we wanted to make an effort to see you.”
“But why here? Why now?” Emily asked.
“I think Blake can explain better than we can,” her father stepped forward and hugged her quickly before backing away again.
“Blake, what’s going on?” Emily asked, obviousl
y confused by the entire scene. I nodded at my brother and when he hit play on his phone the first lines of Elvis singing one of the greatest love songs ever filtered through the patio speakers.
“Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can’t help…falling in love with you.”
“Emily, I wanted everyone here today because I wanted the to hear me say how much I love you,” I said, as I faced her and took both her hands. “I’ve known you were someone special from the first time I laid eyes on you.”
“You mean when I lectured you about how you needed to help Nina improve her grades or the time I burned my house down and you rescued me?” Emily said with a wry grin, and the crowd laughed.
“I mean when you could have collapsed, and you didn’t; you took care of Howard, and you found a way to push forward despite losing everything,” I said, looking into her eyes. “You are strong and smart, and you inspire me to be a better person.”
“Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? For I can’t help…falling in love with you.”
“I love you, too, Blake,” Emily said, smiling warmly up at me.
“So, I thought it would be a good idea to have everyone we love here today,” I said, taking a deep breath.
“Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can’t help falling in love with you.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small blue box I’d been carrying for months as I dropped to one knee and said, “Emily Fowler, will you do me the great honor of agreeing to be my wife?”
I flipped the box open to reveal a simple round diamond set in a platinum band. Emily gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she looked at the ring and then back at me in utter shock. I plucked the ring out of the box and held it out as an offering as I waited for her reply.
There were tears in her eyes as she nodded, and then she held out her hand so that I could put the ring on her finger. As I slid the ring on her finger, she whispered, “Oh Blake, yes. Yes, I’ll marry you!”