Chapter 29
Jalen sat in the passenger seat of Rohan’s car. They were headed to meet Meila, the family lawyer that Rohan had contacted. He’d told Jalen they were old friends and that she was one of the best he knew. So, if he trusted her, then Jalen would put her trust in Meila too.
She hadn’t wanted to have the initial meeting in her apartment because she didn’t want to worry her sisters about what was going on.
She’d told Kodi about it, and the teenager had been pissed, to say the least. Jalen wasn’t quite ready to tell the others yet.
She didn’t want to worry them. She hadn’t wanted to worry Kodi either, but her little sister had known something was wrong, and Jalen knew she wasn’t going to not tell her.
She had thought they would meet at Rohan’s house; however, Meila hadn’t wanted to meet there. They were going to his office instead. Since it was a Saturday, there would be no one there. She’d asked him to go with her for moral support, and that had been when the location was chosen.
They’d stopped and gotten donuts and juice for the three of them since the meeting was at nine-thirty that morning.
Once they pulled into the parking lot, another car was already there. Jalen figured it was Meila by the rental tags on the car. Rohan pulled into the space beside it, turning to her. He took her hand in his, bringing it up to his lips and placing a chaste kiss on it.
He said nothing, and she didn’t need him to. His actions were enough, and she liked the fact that he always seemed to read her, relax her, and calm her down with slight gestures.
They got out of the vehicle, and a moment later, so did the occupant of the rental.
Jalen didn’t know what she’d imagined, but this woman was gorgeous.
Her skin was the color of rich coffee beans, and she had this aura about her that told Jalen if someone were to get on her bad side, they wouldn’t like it and probably wouldn’t get back on her good side.
“Baby, this is Meila. Meila, this is my girlfriend, Jalen,” Rohan introduced.
“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for coming here,” Jalen said, shaking the other woman’s hand.
“You as well. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just see what we can do to make this come out in your favor.”
Jalen took the box of donuts from Rohan so that he could unlock the front door.
He deactivated the alarm and held the door open for both of them to walk in.
He attempted to take the box away from her, but Jalen moved it out of his reach.
She was fine carrying it while he carried the bag with the drinks.
Once he’d locked the door back, she followed Rohan down the hall, Meila behind her, to a conference room.
He turned on the lights, and she set the box down in the middle of the table.
She took a seat, eager to get down to business.
She wanted to know how good a chance her mother actually had of taking the twins from her.
She also knew they had some information to look over that Vega sent to Rohan. He’d been a big help over the last week and an additional support system. He’d called or texted Jalen every day since he’d found out what Valerie was attempting to do, and she appreciated it.
Meila sat across from her, pulling out a tablet from her bag, along with a pen and a pair of glasses. Rohan joined them at the table a few minutes later with plates, cups, and a laptop.
Reaching into her purse, Jalen pulled out the custody documentation that she had, along with the timeline she’d started with the help of Ms. Ella, a neighbor she used to have, of her mother’s infrequent visits when she first petitioned for legal custody.
“Okay, let’s get started,” Meila said once they were all seated. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask to begin with.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” Jalen responded.
“First, when did the summons say you were supposed to appear in court?”
“April twenty-fourth.”
“That’s exactly thirty days, and she didn’t even attempt mediation,” Meila spoke, and Jalen figured she was speaking more to herself. “They aren’t wasting any time. Alright, how many children do you currently have custody of?”
“All five of my sisters. But my little sister Kodi will be eighteen this summer and going off to college.” Jalen didn’t know if that was relevant, but figured it couldn’t hurt for Meila to know.
“Okay, and Rohan said you were fighting another woman for custody. I’m assuming it’s your mother,” Meila said.
“It is. She’s decided that she wants to separate us to fulfill some sort of fantasy family she wants.”
“So, she doesn’t want custody of all the children?”
Jalen shook her head. “No, just the youngest two. Nathan and Omari.”
“And how long have you had custody of your sisters?”
“Over five years.”
This caused Meila to look up at Jalen from where she was taking notes on her tablet. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-four.”
Meila placed her pen down. “So, you’ve had custody since you were what, nineteen?” Jalen nodded. “Wow. That isn’t an easy thing to do. Especially when you’re petitioning for so many kids.”
“I had some help. We used to have a neighbor, Ms. Ella. She’d retired from child services by the time we moved into the apartment next to her.
She saw the way my mother was, and when I told her I wanted to gain custody of my sisters, she helped me with everything, even advocated to the court for me, and told them she’d be there to help me with whatever I needed. ”
“That was nice of her,” Meila stated. “We may need to call her as a character witness.”
“You can’t,” Jalen responded. “She passed away two years ago.”
Jalen felt Rohan place his hand on her knee and rub circles on it with his thumb. She didn’t talk about Ms. Ella often. Not even with her sisters unless it was Christmas, Ms. Ella’s birthday, or Mother’s Day. The latter of the two, they would place flowers on her grave.
“I have all the timelines of Valerie, my egg donor’s, pop-ins, and how long she’d be gone. We started getting it together the year before my eighteenth birthday and continued to do so as we went through the custody process. Though she didn’t bother to show up for it.”
“Okay, that will help show that she was an inconsistent parent when you received custody. How often has she been around lately?”
“Before her drop-in at Mikal’s birthday, we hadn’t seen her for over a year, and then it was only Kodi, Landon, and me who saw her.
I try to keep her away from the younger three because it just crushes Mikal when she leaves.
I don’t think the twins quite comprehend what’s happening during those times, though. ”
“I’m going to assume that Nathan and Omari are the twins. How old are they?” Meila asked, getting back to taking notes.
“Yes, and they turned six in October.”
Again, Meila stopped and looked up at her. “So, you’ve had custody of them almost their entire lives.”
“Legally, yes. But Valerie stayed maybe four months after they were born before she was gone again, and I took care of them. It was then I decided I wanted custody so we wouldn’t have to keep going through that.”
“This woman is a narcissistic whore,” Meila said, placing her pen down. “She wants to tear away two children from the only parent they’ve known. I honestly don’t care what her reason is or how she tries to spin it; she’s being a selfish bitch.”
Rohan chuckled. “There’s the Meila I know. I almost thought you were going to keep it professional the entire time.”
“Shut up, Rohan,” Meila shot back before her attention returned to Jalen. “Okay, moving on. The court will ask for your employment history.”
Jalen nodded. “I’m an LPN. I’ve been at the same hospital for almost three years, and I work in the children’s wing. I’m currently finishing up school to become an RN.”
“Do you work days or nights?” Meila questioned, pen poised to write again.
“I rotate. Typically, every month, but sometimes more depending on demand.”
“Who watches the children when you’re working?”
“When I work during the day during the school year, they’re at school. Over the summer, Kodi watches them unless she’s busy; then I hire a babysitter. And when I work nights, Kodi watches them.”
“And when Kodi goes off to college. Who will watch them at night then?”
“I’ll hire a babysitter,” Jalen told her with a shrug. The one she used now during the day, when Kodi had plans, also babysat some nights as well, so Kodi could go out with her friends.
“Landon can watch the others for a few hours if she needs to,” Rohan stated. “But Mom and I will help too.”
“How old is Landon?” Meila questioned, still taking notes.
“She’ll be fifteen in April,” Jalen responded.
“And Mikal?”
“She just turned eleven.”
“Okay. I think I have everything I need at the moment. Rohan, you want to show us what you have?”
While he connected the laptop to the screen in the conference room, Jalen poured herself some orange juice and grabbed a donut. Meila did the same.
When the information came up on the screen, there were a ton of pictures.
Each of them was time-stamped, and there were different men in several of the pictures.
Vega had even gone as far as pointing out which one was Valerie’s actual husband.
It was clear from the photographs that she was seeing the other two men on the side.
Vega had also included information on all three men, and Jalen felt sorry for them because they seemed to be decent men. They just had the misfortune of Valerie wanting to sink her claws into them because they were well off.
Vega had also tracked some of her movements over the years while she was missing in action in their lives.
They looked over everything that Vega sent, and Meila chuckled once they’d gotten to the end. Jalen looked over at the other woman.
“Oh, I’m going to eat this bitch alive in court. I think we have a solid case with her being absent as much as she has, but having this as an ace if we need it will be perfect.”
Jalen let out an inaudible sigh of relief. She believed Meila. The look in the older woman’s eyes let her know she was not joking.
Once they’d finished their donuts and packed everything away, they headed out of the building. Rohan set the alarm and locked up behind them.
“I’ll be back in two weeks, and we’ll do a mock hearing. These aren’t typically needed in these types of cases, but I want to cover it just in case Valerie throws something out of left field at us,” Meila stated as they reached their vehicles.
“Okay,” Jalen responded with a nod. “Thank you again for coming.”
“It’s no problem. Las Cruces is only a skip and a jump from here.”
“You’re from New Mexico?” Jalen questioned.
“I am, but don’t worry. I’m licensed to practice in Arizona,” Meila responded.
“Meila and her sister are originally from Arizona,” Rohan supplied.
“That was a lifetime ago,” Meila responded.
“I’ll see you both in a couple of weeks.
” She got into her rental, only to roll her window down and hand Jalen a business card.
“No need for us to communicate through that one over there.” She inclined her head towards Rohan before backing out of the spot.
Jalen and Rohan got into his car, and he pulled out as well.
“You want to have an early lunch since a donut can’t really be considered a proper breakfast?” Rohan asked, and Jalen looked at the clock, finding that it was a little after eleven.
“Yeah, we can do that,” she replied with a smile as she leaned back in her seat, feeling better about the hearing to come.