40. You don’t need to share blood to be a mother
FORTY
YOU DON’T NEED TO SHARE BLOOD TO BE A MOTHER
A fter the shit show of Lino’s ex-wife showing up at school, the lawsuit between them is expedited quickly. None of her demands are accepted by the judge. She doesn’t get the house or the kids. Not that it was her ultimate goal anyway. She was after money all along.
With her bad track record and that stunt she pulled, even her solicitor had trouble getting her out of paying a substantial fine the judge was requesting.
While the children are at Lino’s parents, we step out of the courthouse but she stops us.
“Wait!” Her heels clack on the marble floor.
Lino tenses and I squeeze his hand in a show of support, then we turn as a unit.
Her immaculate navy dress and pearls make her look like the perfect image of an outstanding citizen, but we all know what sort of devil she really is.
“What do you want?” Lino snarls. “I have nothing left to say to you.”
“I…” She hesitates but then squares her shoulders and gulps. “I was hoping we could find a better arrangement.”
The audacity of this woman. We just spent two hours establishing that she only gets to visit her children under the supervision of Lino and both his parents twice a month and already she wants more. That’s more than she deserves.
And if she thinks because she gets to spend one afternoon every two weeks with him that she will slither back into his life, I’ll be more than happy to remind her that won’t ever happen. After the school incident, we spent two full weeks comforting and reassuring Anton and Livia that their mother wouldn’t take them away, that they were safe.
Livia’s nightmares have started again and just for that, I could punch the awful woman in front of me. I know I don’t have any rights to them but I love them so much, seeing them suffer tears my heart to pieces every time I cuddle up to them and they cling to me like I’m going to disappear.
“We already found an arrangement, and it’s a generous one,” Lino finally tells her. “If you don’t bail out on them for the next six months, we will reconsider. Until then, do what you’re told for once in your miserable life.”
“You say ‘we’ like she matters,” she sneers, and my spine straightens. I’m about to call her out when Lino does it for me.
“She does. She’s my partner and twice the mother you’ll ever be.”
I blush and preen, my heart so full it might explode in my chest.
“I need money, Lino,” she pleads but he clenches his teeth and repeats the same thing he already told her before. “You’re not getting a cent from me.” He advances on her and she takes a step back, shrinking under his angry stare. “If you’re smart, you’ll follow the plan the judge set out. But you can disappear again for all I care. I’m done with you. Don’t give me a reason to cut you off from your children’s life.”
“You’re a fucking monster,” she yells but it falls flat. I squeeze Lino’s hand again, telling him without words that she’s wrong.
But he already knows.
He doesn’t answer her and we leave the cold building and go back to our house in weighted silence. This morning was heavy and I know that Lino is using all his energy to do right by his children, but it’s costing him. The bags under his eyes have turned blueish and his hands tremble on the steering wheel.
Once parked, before he can get out of the car, I stop him with a gentle hand on his muscular thigh. “My love, have you thought about what Dr Armand said?”
“Which part?” he asks.
“The anti-depressant part.”
His head tilts back on the headrest, his shoulders dropping as if weighted by lead. He simply nods, then takes my hand and interlaces our fingers. Lifting the back of my hand to his lips, he gives it a soft kiss and looks right into my soul as he thanks me again. “Thank you for not giving up on me, u mo sole .”