Chapter 30
Ihadn’t intended to stop by the Bishop’s office, but questions gnawed at me like the winter frost fast approaching.
“Financial support for acolytes,” I muttered under my breath, stepping into the polished hallway.
My collar felt heavier than usual. A weight I didn’t recognize at first, and then I did: the dread of responsibility.
Bishop Matthews’s office smelled the same, a strange surgical precision of clean as always. Lemon polish and old wood, but today there was also another scent I didn’t recognize.
He rose from behind his desk, his gold ring glinting and his onyx gemmed cane at his side. “Father Jedidiah,” he said, smooth, clipped, and polite. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Your Excellency,” I said, settling into the chair he gestured toward. I kept my words to the point. “I have some questions regarding support for acolytes…things like legal guidance or financial aid. Hypothetical situations, of course. Just…brainstorming.”
He smiled a little too knowingly, like it didn’t touch his eyes. “Hypothetical, you say?”
“Yes,” I said carefully. “Say someone were trying to regain custody of a child…would the Church have channels to provide discreet assistance for them? What about abusive home life situations?”
Matthews’s gaze sharpened, just a fraction.
He didn’t say yes or no.
Just tilted his head, watching me. “Some children are safer where stability exists, Father. Emotion cannot create a reason to separate safety.”
My stomach twisted. The words were innocuous. And yet, something in the way he said them made my chest tighten to a strange extent.
“Family lawyers?” I said. “Discreet ones? What if there is equal stability? Safety not being a concern, of course.”
“Certainly,” he replied, leaning back. His hands steepled on the black gem of his cane. “But there are costs, of course. And some cases require…leverage.”
The word stuck to my tongue. “Leverage, your grace?”
He smiled faintly. “Evidence. Proof of reform. Stability of the child. All of it matters when a child’s welfare is at stake.
As does your earlier Question regarding abusive home situations.
However, I do hope these aren’t linked, as that is certainly not a stable home life to be caught in the line of abuse. ”
I nodded tightly, keeping my tone calm. “Hypothetically. If someone had the means to provide all of those…guidance, support?”
“Correct,” he said evenly. “And if a priest were involved…” His eyes lingered on me, cold and assessing. “One must be careful. Influence can be misread as coercion of the courts to win favor.”
I shifted uncomfortably in the hard wooden seat. The conversation had drifted somewhere else, but I didn’t know how or why. Everything he said felt like it was meant to warn me.
I noticed movement at the far corner, startling me. I jerked backward.
A small child toddled near the far corner of the office. He had dark blonde hair, round cheeks, and wobbling tiny legs.
I looked at the Bishop, who simply smiled.
The child picked up a wooden toy, dropped it, and glanced at me with wide, innocent eyes. Bishop Matthews’s gaze flicked to the boy and back to me, nothing more or less.
“Who is this, Bishop? Is this…your child?” I said before I could stop myself.
The Bishop waved me off with a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, Father Franklin. I am simply a safe space for a friend until they retrieve him.”
I didn’t think the Bishop had friends.
“What’s your name, little guy?”
The toddler blinked at me and pointed to themselves.
“Me? Me Teetee!”
His smile was infectious, and I found myself nodding and laughing along with the little life.
“Go run along and play now, Tee,” Matthews said softly.
The little one tugged at my heartstrings for Sayuri, missing her child and unable to see them. That was why I was here. I needed to ensure I could get Sayuri’s child back to her.
The boy’s stare held mine. There wasn’t any fear there. Just that pure, piercing curiosity only a toddler could manage.
“Who…you?” the little one said.
I found myself crouching without thinking. He reached for my finger, and the touch was warm, insistent, and familiar in a way that made my chest ache.
“I’m Father Franklin,” I said aloud, but I leaned closer. “You can call me, Jed.”
Matthews’s lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t intervene, but he watched us interact, patient, yet unreadable.
I stood again, my heart feeling strange.
“He’s…under temporary care?” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
“Yes. For now,” Matthews said smoothly. “Children often remain where they are most…useful.”
The word clanged against my brain like a bell I didn’t want to hear.
I swallowed. “I see…um..back to my question. If someone regained custody, would there be obstacles they’d need to endure?”
Matthews’s eyes met mine. Calm and somewhat dangerous in the quietest way. “There are always obstacles. Some women are not suited for motherhood. As some men aren’t. Sex equals a child, not love, and thus there are many lives left waiting in the balance for a resolution of those actions.”
The sentence didn’t need explanation. It was a rejection of my task. I failed to see the bottom line, and he would not help me find legal aid for Sayuri to secure her son.
“I’m only asking about legal avenues,” I said, forcing composure and refusing to give up.
“Of course,” he replied, but the edge in his gaze said more than words.
Tee toddled closer, curious, and still unafraid. He slapped the black jewel on the Bishop’s cane, and my stomach tightened, waiting for him to be punished.
But he wasn’t.
Matthews leaned slightly forward, his voice deceptively light.
“You recognize power. That will suit you well as an adult. For now, you need to fear it and understand the implications of testing that authority. Understand?”
Tee nodded and walked away.
“Father Jedidiah…be careful where your sympathies lead you. Misplaced devotion can cost someone something precious.” Bishop Matthews said to me.
The toddler babbled behind me. Innocent and untouched by the weight of everything swirling in this room.
The words spoken were a dismissal, not a formal kickout.
I stepped toward the door, adjusting my collar.
“Is there anything I can offer to aid this situation? Any possible way to get lawyers involved without sensing nepotism or breach of power?”
Bishop Matthews didn’t look at me when he responded, and I felt my soul deflate at the answer.
“When you took your vows and promised to uphold the safety of your flock, you did not promise to meddle and use your title to gain favor among others. The only thing you can offer, Father Jedidiah, is your silence.”