by Ana Newfolk
“It is, Your Honor.”
“Would you care to explain why that is?”
“Your Honor, if I may, I believe Mr. James would do a much better job of explaining how he came to meet his sister.”
“Fair enough, Mr. James, if you’d like to carry on,” the judge said.
My hands were shaking, and I squeezed the pen I was holding so hard I thought it would snap. I explained that Lucy had tracked me down and appeared at my doorstep after she’d run away from home.
“Mr. James, it’s commendable of you to take in a runaway teenager, after all there are many places you could send them for help. My notes state you volunteer at such a place. Why not take her to the youth shelter?”
I froze. She was right. How many kids were out there in the same situation and would say anything to get themselves a warm place and some food.
I looked at Lucy, who was staring at me with so much trust it made my heart swell.
“You are right, Your Honor. In any other circumstances it would have been quite a dangerous thing to do, inviting a strange person into my home. I would like to share something that happened when I was fourteen—”
“I don’t see how that is of any relevance to what we’re doing here today, Your Honor,” the other lawyer said.
“Mr. Lewis, I will decide what is and what isn’t relevant here,” the judge said. “Mr. James, carry on, please.”
I took a deep breath and Isaac whispered, “You can do this,” behind me so only I could hear.
“When I was fourteen I found myself homeless, Your Honor. I didn’t know what to do, so I went to a place where I knew there would be lots of people around. I thought I’d be safe there. A boy who was only a couple of years older than me and who didn’t know me took me to a safe place. He shared his food with me and helped me. I wish he was here today to see the true impact he had on my life, but sadly he was all too young when he passed away.
“So yes, most people would have ignored the teenager on their doorstep that was still sporting bruises on her face from being beaten by her father. My father never laid a hand on me but he may as well have all those years ago.
“When I looked at Lucy, it was like looking at myself. Not to mention she had a photo of my birth certificate that stated my birth name, which I changed seven years ago. She wouldn’t have had access to that information if she wasn’t who she said she was.”
“Mr. Lewis, we have some serious accusations against your client. What do you have to say about that?”
The lawyer was about to speak when my dad interrupted.
“Your Honor, that man who is no longer my son decided long ago to put a black mark on our reputable family. Where I come from family and community are everything and he,” my dad said, pointing at me, “decided his lifestyle was more important than his family. Now he wants to take my daughter away from her home to teach her how to live a life of sin.”
I hadn’t had any doubt that my so-called lifestyle would be brought up by my parents in an attempt to make me look bad, but looking at the judge, who had been so far fairly devoid of emotion, gave me some hope.
“Mr. Moretti, in my courtroom we do not discriminate based on background, gender, or sexual orientation amongst a long list of other things. A person’s orientation has no bearing on their ability to do a job well or to raise a child, or indeed to anything they want to do. I will ignore what you have just said so we can move on, but trust me, if I hear another word from you on this…” she left her threat hanging before she carried on.
“Mr. Lewis, considering the claims against your client that he has neglected and abused his daughter, I want to know, why is it your client wants to fight his son for custody of Miss. Lopez?”
That was the million-dollar question I wanted the answer to. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear it from the proverbial horse’s mouth because Peter asked the judge if he could bring in Micah as a witness.
“Mr. Summers, you are aware this isn’t a trial.”
“I am, Your Honor. Deputy Chief Micah Nowac has additional information that may shed light on Mr. and Mrs. Moretti’s intentions.”
I hadn’t even noticed Micah coming into the courtroom but he was standing at the back making his way forward. He came to stand between Peter and Mr. Lewis before addressing the judge.
“Your Honor. Last night I was informed that Mr. James had been accused of kidnapping Miss. Lopez. I had never met Mr. James before but when I saw the file, I recognized some names on it.
“Thirteen years ago when I was a rookie officer I met this beautiful woman who had a gorgeous baby girl. I met her in hospital when I was asked to take her statement because she’d come in covered in bruises and with a broken arm.
“I didn’t get much from her and she decided not to press charges. Over the next few years I saw her on and off. She’d be on her way to work, or going to the park with her little girl. Those bruises were always there.
“It wasn’t until a few years later that we started a relationship. I knew she hadn’t left her girl’s father, but I hoped she could see that I could love her in a way she deserved.
“Sadly Valeria Lopez died of cancer. My point is, Your Honor. I’ve known Salvatore Moretti to be an abuser for a long time and I couldn’t convince Valeria to press charges against him or leave him for good. But today I can serve as a witness that he is not fit to be a parent. In fact, the only reason I believe he wants custody of Lucy is to get his hands on the trust fund her mom set up for her to receive when she goes to college.”
There was a collective gasp from the few people in the audience. I looked at my mom who was sitting quietly behind my dad. Her heavy makeup couldn’t disguise her reddening face and my dad looked like he could murder Micah.
“Mr. Summers, did your client know about this trust fund?” the judge asked.
“No, Your Honor. As stated earlier, Mr. James only met Miss. Lopez just over a week ago. And Miss. Lopez doesn’t know about the trust fund. This information came to light when I contacted Deputy Chief Nowac to clarify the accusations against Mr. James last night. Mr. James has been in unofficial police custody since and hasn’t been in contact with anyone. This can be verified.
“It is also disclosed in the application for custody that Mr. James does not require any financial support for himself or Miss. Lopez.”
“I think I’ve heard enough to make a decision, and I have a phone call to make to convince my daughter to host this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. Counselors, if you haven’t got anything else to add I am granting Mr. Max James full custody of Lucia Lopez until she is of age.
“Mr. Moretti you will be required to pay monthly child support to Mr. James until Miss. Lopez receives her trust fund.
“Mr. James, if you do not need the money I suggest donating it to a good cause to support homeless teenagers. I’m sure you can think of a charity or two.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Isaac
There was a hint of a smile on the judge’s face as she got up and left the room.
Max sat back on his chair in shock. Lucy, who’d remained silent and solid throughout the whole thing, jumped from her seat, and into Max’s arms.
I was too slow to warn Max his mom was on her way over to us while his dad very angrily talked at his lawyer.
“Massimiliano.”
Her voice was soft and unsure. Max turned to face her but didn’t let go of Lucy.
I was ready to intervene if the woman dared to speak anything out of turn. Veronica and Salvatore Moretti had done enough damage to Max and Lucy’s lives and I’d be damned if they would have the chance to do any more.
“I… I didn’t know.” She looked over at her husband who was still arguing with the lawyer.
“Spare the half-meant apology, Veronica,” Max spat.
She took a step back like she’d been slapped.
“You’re right,” Max said, “you didn’t know he had another woman until he brought his other child home, and you didn�
�t know he used to beat them so he wouldn’t turn his hand on you or me. But you know what? You knew that child was innocent and you still chose to ignore her existence like she was nothing but a stain on your carefully pressed clothes.”
He stood up and was now towering over her.
“Did your motherly instincts kick back in when you realized there was a payout at the end of it? How very Christian of you. I’m sure Father Thomas and all your church friends would be really proud of you.”
She just stood there, taking Max’s words in.
“What did they say when your perfectly behaved child stopped going to church? Did you tell them what happened? Or did you make up some story about your studious son who was going to be a big hotshot lawyer in the city?”
He let out a half laugh and turned to take my hand. I jumped over the partition to stand next to him.
“I actually have to thank you, and I probably need to thank that man over there too.” He pointed to his dad.
“I went to hell and back at a time in my life when most of my friends were playing video games and their only worry was who was going to host the next slumber party. I had to lie to survive and I became so good at lying that I carried on doing it even when I didn’t need to do it anymore, and to the people I loved the most in my life, but I’m going to change that and fix it all. Don’t contact us unless it’s through my lawyer.”
Veronica was speechless as she turned around to meet her husband. He didn’t even look our way as they left the courtroom.
I pulled Max into my arms for a hug.
“Baby, I am so damned proud of you.”
He kissed me briefly before saying, “I feel like I could sleep for a week but I want to celebrate.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
We turned to Fernando, Diogo, Micah, and Peter. “Hey, guys, do you want to get something to eat and celebrate?” I said.
There was a collective yes so we made a move to leave the courtroom.
Peter went to the judge’s chambers before joining us outside.
“So the judge is a family friend?” I asked.
“Yup, my future mother-in-law, and it looks like we’re hosting Thanksgiving this year.” He laughed.
Peter knew a bar not far from the courthouse that served meals at lunchtime. We were lucky it wasn’t very busy so we were able to put a few tables together to make sure we all fitted.
Everybody picked their seat and grabbed a menu. Max pulled our chairs together so they were touching. I couldn’t have agreed more with his idea. Diogo and Lucy were sitting next to each other, and even though Lucy was chatting to Micah, who I now knew she’d known since she was a baby, Diogo had a possessive hold on her hand.
“Look, baby,” I whispered in Max’s ear so he’d look at the teenagers.
For a moment I thought he was going to go all big brother on them but he smiled and then turned to me, giving me a light kiss on the lips. “They do make a really cute couple, don’t they?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded.
I looked around the rest of the table and realized that we hadn’t actually made any introductions. It didn’t seem necessary with Fernando and Peter who were busy chatting about legal stuff.
It took a ridiculous amount of time for everyone to decide what they wanted to eat. It felt like a true family get together and I hoped this would be the first of many.
Once the server left us, possibly to take some headache pills before putting our order through, Max got up.
“Can I have your attention, please?” Once everybody was looking at him he sat down again and took my hand.
“I feel like the last twenty-four hours have been a crazy rollercoaster, but before I say what I want to say I’d like to make sure we all know each other.” He laughed and looked at me. “Micah, this is Isaac, the guy whose strength and courage I’ve been stealing for the last week. I don’t think I could have done any of this without him.”
Then he introduced Fernando and Diogo. I didn’t miss how Micah looked at Fernando. From his statement earlier it seemed that Micah had been in love with Lucy’s mom but maybe he was also into men. I didn’t know if Fernando was gay but he was definitely oblivious to Micah’s gaze while he talked to Peter.
The food was delicious and after being awake for over twenty-four hours I felt that I could fall asleep right there in the restaurant, leaning against Max’s warm broad shoulders.
“So what happens now?” Fernando asked.
We all looked at Peter.
“Legally, it’s all about filing the right paperwork to make sure things like the child support payments are set up to the account Max wants them to go to, and ensuring Max is listed on all the important things that relate to Lucy, including the trust fund. It’s really just boring administration. The exciting stuff is over.”
“I can live without that kind of excitement,” Max said and I raised my glass in agreement.
“Lucy will go back to school now and work on catching up with what she missed, and I guess we’ll have to go shopping to make her room a little more personal,” Max said to her.
“What do you say, Lucy?”
“Hell yeah!” She high-fived Max.
“Max, I’ve gotta say I never pictured you as the kind of guy who’d attend a PTA evening before,” Peter said.
“Hey, I’m a male nurse. The moms are gonna love me.”
“As long as the dads keep their hands on the moms,” I added.
“Maybe not all the dads.” Max’s eyes on me were dark, piercing, and full of desire.
“No!” Lucy shouted with her hands covering her ears and her eyes shut.
There was a collective laugh from the adults and more groans from the teenagers.
“Oh fuck, damn, fuck…” I was trying to be quiet but with Max hitting my prostate with every thrust, I was not only losing control of my body, I was also losing control of my mind and my mouth.
“Shhh, baby, keep quiet, I can’t get the shower to run any louder,” Max said in my ear.
I wanted to direct my swearing at him but I couldn’t when everything he was making me feel was so damned good.
“Jesus Christ, you’re killing me.”
He withdrew from me and turned me around so my back was against the tiles. In a swift move he picked me up, so I wrapped my legs around his waist, and held on to his shoulders.
When he entered me again it was like the first time we’d been together, only better. The way Max moved inside me, the way he looked into my eyes, was like he knew me body and soul. I’d never thought I’d have this with another person because I didn’t think it could exist outside of fairy tales and Hallmark movies, but here we were.
“Max, I’m gonna come.” I bit into his neck, knowing I’d leave a small mark but I didn’t care. His neck was by far one of my favorite parts of his body, so much so that I was wondering how he’d hide his love bites when summer came, because he always had a few thanks to my small obsession.
He pushed my ass cheeks apart as though it would get him further inside me than he already was. He was all the way in. It was simultaneously too much and not enough to carry me over the edge.
“Come for me, baby,” he ordered as he changed the angle of his thrusts so that he increased the friction on my cock caused by our bodies pressing together.
Ropes of white cum spilled between us as I came as hard as I always did with Max. I took his mouth for a searing kiss and to drown out his sounds as he came deep inside me.
“I love you so much,” I said as I sucked on his lips, “but, babe, we’re going to have to make this shower bigger, and soundproof the walls.”
We turned the shower off and started drying each other. I wrapped a towel around my waist and sat on the counter, pulling Max to me so we could towel each other’s hair dry. He had a weird thing about my curly hair and loved when it was wet.
“Lucy has a school trip in December for a few days, how about we go hide in the Hamptons?” Max said.
“That
sounds like an excellent idea. We can do some window shopping, go for walks on the beach—” I said before he interrupted me with a kiss.
“Stay indoors and have sex all day.”
I chuckled. “Check out the local coffee shops.”
“Have sex in all the rooms.”
“No sex. You’re going to show me the Hamptons.” I went in for another kiss but he pulled back.
“But, baby…” he said, trapping his lower lip between his teeth, and drawing a pattern with his finger on my naked chest until he reached my nipple and pulled on it.
I slapped his hand away, grabbed his head with both hands, trapping him between my legs, and went for his bottom lip, sucking it until he started kissing me back.
“Fine. We can have sex in all the rooms but I also want to do some sightseeing and buy some Christmas presents.”
We didn’t need to be worried about the noise we’d made in our bathroom because Lucy was in her room listening to some music, despite talking on the phone with her headphones. We didn’t need to guess twice about who she was talking to.
Since the day Max got custody of Lucy everything had been perfect at home.
Lucy had loved going shopping for stuff for her room, even though she’d been quite shy initially, and didn’t want to fuss, or get anything too expensive.
Max and I agreed that buying something more expensive but of better quality was a good investment. His spare room had been sparsely furnished with the bed, bedside table, and a chest of drawers, so we bought an additional two-person couch, a desk, and chair.
Once those arrived we did an additional shopping expedition to buy all the little things Lucy wanted. Her room was her sanctuary in a way, and it now reflected her personality perfectly.
The relationship between Max and I was stronger than ever and having Lucy with us made it all better. She was a smart and kind young woman and it was a privilege to see her flourish without fear or having to remain invisible.
The one thing Max hadn’t done was talk to Joel about his past. I knew it was weighing heavy on him to keep the secret from his best friend, but I was running out of ways in which to encourage him.