Live-In Position

by V. S. Tice

“Your Honor,” Dr. Bishop returned the greeting.

  The man, who I now realized was the judge, greeted Grace and both sets of attorneys.

  “Mr. Stryker, Mr. Teaus,” he greeted Collin’s lawyers and then moved on to Grace and her counsel.

  “Ms. Gold, Mr. Dygger.” The judge’s eyes landed on Victoria and me.

  “This must be Victoria.” He squatted down in front of her and smiled. “It’s quite a pleasure to meet you, young lady.” He put his hand out with a grin.

  Victoria looked up to me, and I nodded. She took his hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Your Honor.”

  He chuckled.

  “You can call me Mark, okay?” He rubbed her shoulder. His attention then landed on me. “Miss Ashwood, I presume?” His smile was still warm and friendly.

  “Yes, Your Honor.” I took his offered hand and shook lightly.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He turned to the group. “Counselors and their clients, to my chambers, please.” They all walked, single file, into the room and closed the large door behind them.

  I pulled out a book and started to read with Victoria. We sat in the hallway outside the Judge’s chambers for about an hour before the judge walked out, approaching us.

  “Mrs. Foster will be here in about ten minutes to speak with you, okay?” He looked to Victoria for an answer.

  She nodded.

  “You just answer her honestly. You aren’t in any trouble. You know that, right?”

  She nodded again.

  “Well, you are a smart little thing, aren’t you?”

  She smiled at his compliment as he walked back into his office. I could hear the voices from inside going back and forth.

  “Miss Bishop?” I looked up from the book we had started reading again. A short brown-haired woman in a gray wool suit and black-rimmed glasses approached. “Victoria?”

  “That’s me.” Victoria hopped off the bench.

  “I’m Mrs. Foster. It is very nice to meet you.”

  “You too.” Victoria shook her hand.

  “We are going to go right in here and talk, okay?”

  She nodded and then looked at me expectantly.

  “Aren’t you coming too?” I watched as she suddenly got nervous.

  I slid from the bench and knelt in front of her.

  “No, honey, not right now, but it will be okay. Just go in there and talk with Mrs. Foster for a little bit. I will be right here waiting for you, okay?”

  She looked at me suspiciously.

  “Nanny Swear?”

  I laughed lightly and smiled.

  “Nanny Swear.” I crossed my heart and kissed my fingers before holding my palm up toward her.

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly as she followed Mrs. Foster into the room across the hall.

  I sat on the bench for about twenty minutes before I started pacing the floor. Half an hour later, I heard a door open. I immediately looked to the door Victoria had gone into, but it was the judge’s door instead. The judge crossed the hall and entered the room with Mrs. Foster and Victoria. He was in there for ten to fifteen minutes before he exited. When Victoria didn’t exit with him, disappointment settled in.

  “Miss Ashwood?” My head snapped up. His face showed slight amusement.

  “Yes, Your Honor?”

  “Could you please join us for a moment?” He motioned for me to enter his chamber.

  “Uh…I promised Victoria I would be out here when she was finished,” I blurted out and then blushed at my stupidity. This was the judge for god’s sake!

  He chuckled.

  “I assure you, I will have you back before she knows it.”

  “Thank you.” I followed his motion for me to enter the room and was met by five pairs of eyes. Insecurity immediately set in.

  “Please have a seat, Miss Ashwood.”

  I walked toward Dr. Bishop’s side of the table. He stood quickly and pulled a chair out for me to sit.

  “Thank you,” I whispered and heard Grace snort in disgust.

  My eyes shot to her and narrowed. Oh, you will get yours, you skanky, good for nothing…

  “Miss Ashwood, is it correct that you are currently the caregiver to Victoria Bishop?”

  I nodded. “Yes sir.”

  “And you are the only woman in the home, correct?”

  “Mrs. Baker is there during the day, but I’m with Victoria the most, yes.”

  The judge nodded.

  “Dr. Bishop has stated you are the ‘mother figure’ for Victoria. Do you believe that to be true?”

  I froze. How the hell do I answer that?

  “Um…I care for Victoria and tend to her needs, but I don’t presume to be her mother or that figure in her life. She has a loving family filled with women.”

  Silence filled the room, and my mind went in its own direction.

  Not all of the women are that great and one tried to kill herself, but who am I to judge?

  “I just spoke, briefly, with Mrs. Foster.” The judge’s voice broke through the tense silence. “She is currently speaking with Victoria and has already covered a few areas that I feel are important.” He looked around the room.

  “Dr. Bishop, Victoria is comfortable and well taken care of in your home,” he nodded approvingly. “I don’t see any harm in her living with you.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Dr. Bishop responded.

  “However, it does seem you are often displaced in Victoria’s daily life.” The judge’s eye lingered for a few moments on Dr. Bishop. He seemed to nod slightly at the Judge’s silent warning.

  “Ms. Gold.”

  Grace sat up straighter, batting her eyelashes.

  “Victoria really doesn’t feel any connection to you or desire to live with you. Given the fact that you left her when she was about three years of age, she will need time to get familiar with you before I could allow you to take any type of custody of the child.”

  Grace’s face fell, and she shot a look of fury at her attorney.

  “Miss Ashwood, I assure you that you are the most prominent motherly figure in Victoria’s life. She has spoken non-stop about you since Mrs. Foster has been conversing with her.” The warmth of his words filled my chest. “Mrs. Foster also believes, from what she has learned through Victoria, that you are indeed a good figure for her to follow.”

  The judge cleared his throat.

  “Now, my final ruling in this matter today is that as long as Miss Ashwood resides with Dr. Bishop, as he assured us she would,” my eyes widened at the judge’s statement and reflexively glanced toward Dr. Bishop. His eyes were trained on the judge. I quickly pulled my attention back to him as well, “then Victoria will remain in Dr. Bishop’s full custody.” The judge took a drink of water.

  “Ms. Gold, you will have weekly visitation rights for six months. After six months, if your relationship with Victoria has improved, then we can negotiate a new custody arrangement.” He took a large breath.

  “Given that both parties cannot settle on one parenting plan for the child, I’ve taken both parenting plans and the best interest of the child into consideration.” He shuffled some papers and began again. “Grace shall have possession of the child beginning at 9:00 Saturday morning and ending at 6:00 Sunday evening. This arrangement will occur every weekend for six months. At that time we will reconvene to discuss the mother and child relationship.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Grace shouted. Her attorney hurried to quiet her. “Don’t you shush me!”

  “This is my final judgment.” The judge’s boisterous voice carried through the room and bounced off of the wooden paneled walls. The judge signed multiple papers lying on the table in front of him and then dismissed us. I rushed out the door to make sure I was there for Victoria.

  Thankfully, she wasn’t finished with Mrs. Foster yet so I sat back down on the bench and waited.

  Dr. Bishop said his goodbyes to his attorneys and to the judge before he sat next to me. It felt slightly
too close so I scooted away an inch.

  “You know I resigned,” I whispered.

  “I didn’t accept it.”

  “You can’t just –”

  “If you go, I could lose Victoria, and Victoria would lose you. It’s ridiculous for you to resign. I don’t accept your resignation.” He stood from the bench. I was about to argue, but the door opened and Victoria burst out.

  “You’re here!” She ran to me and jumped in my arms.

  “Are you okay?” Geesh, it’s not like she was being held captive.

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course I am. Look, I got stickers!”

  “Ooh, can I have that one?” I reached for the mermaid sticker.

  “Of course,” she answered.

  “I’m just teasing. You keep that one. You love mermaids.”

  “Good, ‘cause I wanted that one, but I got you this one!” She held up a sticker. “It’s a smiley.”

  “Well, thank you.” I kissed the top of her head.

  “Shall we?” Dr. Bishop motioned to the exit as he half smiled at us.

  “We shall,” Victoria responded.

  I laughed, walking by Dr. Bishop.

  “See what I mean about Victoria not being able to lose you.” His quiet voice was like smooth ribbons across my neck and in my ear. “We can’t lose you.”

  I glared at him. He smirked.

  “DO I HAVE to live with Grace?” Victoria asked me quietly a few days later.

  I knelt down to her.

  “No. You get to stay with your daddy.”

  “And you, right?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but you will be going to visit with your moth…with Grace every Saturday.”

  “Visit her where?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure, but it will most likely be where she lives, and she will have a room set up just for you. I just know it.” Victoria didn’t look happy about it. “It’s kind of cool. You’ll have two rooms.” I nudged her arm, trying to cheer her up.

  She smiled a little. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Well, give it a try and then we’ll see what you think, okay?” She nodded.

  The remainder of the evening was quiet until later in the night when more drama rose from the Bishops. It was about ten when the pounding started. I woke up next to Victoria, in her bed, the DVD menu playing over and over. Sitting up, I reached for the remote and pushed off. The pounding got louder so I climbed out of bed and left Victoria’s room. Halfway down the stairs, I heard the voices.

  “Collin, you’re my favorite!” Ilene slurred. “How can you choose that whore, Juliet, over me?”

  I continued down the stairs, and as my toe touched the cold marble of the first floor I caught sight of Ilene hanging onto Dr. Bishop. I stopped walking and waited for a moment, watching.

  “No one has chosen anyone over you.” He tried to pull her up straight and walk with her. He was having a difficult time so I walked quickly toward them and put my hand under her left arm. Dr. Bishop looked at me with surprise and slight nervousness.

  “Who are…oh, you’re the nanny!” She drawled out the last word. Mentally I cringed, knowing she wasn’t going to stop there. “Another live-in whore,” Ilene slurred. “Collin, really, you don’t need this trash working for you.”

  “That’s enough, Mother. You’re drunk and need to sleep this off.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Nonsense,” she exclaimed.

  “Oh, dear god!” Allison’s voice rang from the top of the staircase. “Throw her out, Collin! I don’t want her here,” Allison sobbed.

  Juliet appeared at Allison’s side and wrapped her arms around her.

  “Don’t touch me!” Allison recoiled on Juliet like a snake.

  Juliet looked shocked and hurt.

  “Just because you spread your legs for my father doesn’t change the fact you handed me off to that woman as if I were a bag of groceries!” Allison shouted at Juliet, who was slowly retreating from the assault.

  Connor appeared and put an arm around Allison. “Calm down, she was only trying to help.”

  “You can defend your mistress to everyone else, but do not defend her to me!”

  “That’s my girl,” Ilene shouted with pride.

  “Fuck you, Ilene! I’m not your girl! I don’t belong to anyone,” Allison sobbed hard and then disappeared, I assumed, back to her room.

  “I think I should go,” Juliet spoke quietly.

  “Yes, you should,” Ilene shouted out.

  “No, it’s fine. Let’s go back to bed.” Connor wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her along with him.

  I shook my head and tried not to laugh, but a snort slipped out. I could feel Dr. Bishop looking at me, but I refused to acknowledge it.

  We finally got Ilene up the stairs and into an unoccupied guestroom. She collapsed onto the bed and started snoring loudly. That was the last straw for me. I covered my mouth as another snort slipped out and hurried out of the room. I got to the hallway and bent at my waist, leaning against the wall. I kept my mouth covered, but my body was convulsing in silent amusement. At the sound of Dr. Bishop’s footsteps, I pushed from the wall and started walking quickly to my room. Still trying to fight the rising hysterics, I reached for the handle of my bedroom door. I fully intended to unleash as soon as I closed it behind me, but the feeling of his hand on my shoulder made me jump.

  I knew it was him. I could feel it. I turned and immediately met his eyes.

  “I apologize for what my mother said.” His tone was cool and calm. As collected as always.

  I simply nodded and bit the side of my mouth.

  “Are you alright?” He examined me, taking a step closer.

  All I could do was nod.

  “You look like you are in pain.”

  And that was it. I burst into laughter.

  “I’m fine, I’m so sorry.” Laughing harder, I hurried into my bedroom trying to shut the door, but Dr. Bishop was standing in the way.

  “Is there something amusing about this evening?”

  I tried to stop laughing because he was getting red in the face, but I just couldn’t help it.

  I shook my head no but screamed, “Yes!” snorting then laughing loudly. I covered my mouth again.

  The next thing I knew, he had shut my door and was inside the room with me. I thought he was going to yell at me. Instead, he started laughing. It was the first time I had ever heard Dr. Bishop laugh that hard. I mean it was true and real amusement.

  “I thought this stuff only happened on soap operas, Jerry Springer, and in trailer parks!” I fell onto one of the chairs in my living room area. Dr. Bishop leaned back against my bedroom door in an equally hysterical fit. We laughed for a good ten minutes until we were wiping tears from our eyes. Both of us started to gasp for air and calm down, but we had to keep fighting leftover chuckles.

  “Oh god,” I exhaled loudly and calmed myself down.

  “My family is insane,” Dr. Bishop breathed out as he regained his conservative composure.

  I straightened myself up in my chair.

  “Everyone’s family is insane.” I shrugged. He brought his eyes up to my face. “Some just hide it better than others.” I stood from the chair. “I’m sorry I…lost it.” I felt he deserved an apology for my outburst.

  “There is no need to apologize.”

  The intensity of his gaze was hitting the highest levels. I shifted uncomfortably from my left to my right foot.

  “The night has definitely not been dull.”

  “No, it really hasn’t.” I fidgeted uncomfortably. “Well, it’s getting late.”

  His eyes stayed on mine. I hadn’t realized he stepped toward me until his hand touched my cheek.

  “Yes, I guess it is.” The warmth of his breath reached my forehead right as he leaned in to kiss it. His lips lingered there for a moment and my eyes closed. I felt my body begin to warm. “Thank you for your assistance tonight.” His lips were no longer on my skin, the warmth of h
is hand was not on my cheek, and his tone was collected again. When I opened my eyes, he was exiting my room.

  “Good night, Miss Ashwood.” He closed the door behind him.

  THE NEXT MORNING, Victoria and I headed downstairs to the kitchen where we found Mrs. Baker, Connor, and Juliet.

  “Good morning,” Juliet’s sweet voice greeted us.

  “Good morning,” Victoria and I said in unison, causing everyone to laugh.

  Dr. Bishop’s entrance into the room quieted everyone’s merriment.

  “Is it handled?” Connor said quickly.

  Dr. Bishop nodded and sighed. His eyes turned toward Victoria.

  “When?” Connor asked.

  “She wants to start bonding immediately,” Dr. Bishop growled with his jaw tightly locked.

  “Oh dear,” Juliet sighed.

  Instinctively, I put an arm around Victoria and held her.

  “Victoria,” Dr. Bishop spoke gravely.

  “Yes, Daddy?” She looked at him.

  “Your mother will be here Saturday to pick you up.”

  I felt Victoria stiffen.

  “What?” She scowled at me. “I thought I didn’t have to live with her!” she shouted.

  “You don’t,” I said calmly as I rubbed her back.

  Dr. Bishop quickly knelt down in front of Victoria and looked up into her face.

  “You are only going to visit, for the night. You will be back the next afternoon, okay?”

  “I don’t want to go,” she whined.

  “I know, but she has the right –”

  “She wants to see you,” I cut Dr. Bishop off and pulled Victoria’s face to mine. “Remember what we talked about?” She nodded. “Well, now you have to go so you can tell me all about your other room.”

  She scrunched her face and pursed her lips.

  “I guess,” she huffed. “When do I have to go?”

  “Saturday morning,” Dr. Bishop stated in a grave tone.

  “That’s tomorrow!” Victoria cried out.

  “Well then, we better hurry and get you all packed.” I rubbed her back and tried to get her excited about the visit.