Chapter 1 Suburban Legends by. Taylor Swift #2
“Good Afternoon, Theodora.” My lawyer, Bill, made his way into his office. “I hope you didn’t have to wait too long.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.
My appointment was at 10:00 this morning, yet here we were at nearly 1:00 in the afternoon, only now meeting.
Bill was never the most punctual. In fact, every meeting I have had with him thus far started a minimum of an hour late.
I would have chosen a different lawyer to represent me if he wasn’t the best at custody law in the state.
I plastered on a fake smile. “No worries at all, I appreciate you meeting with me. You stated you had some updates you wanted to discuss?”
“Yes, Jason Whithers is still proceeding with the motion for full custody.”
Of course he was.
This time I did roll my eyes.
Jason was Violet’s father. At least according to blood.
In no other way did he act as her father.
He had met her one time when she was first born and quickly learned what it meant to be a parent and he was not happy with the reality.
I hadn’t heard from him until Violet was five. She was almost six.
Yep, we only heard from him for the first time last summer. I hadn’t even heard directly from him, but his lawyer.
Jason decided that after five years of no contact, no support, financial or physical, and no interest in our daughter, he wanted to be her father. And not just a present figure in her life, but he wanted full custody.
When I first received the papers I took them immediately to a lawyer friend of mine back in San Francisco. She proceeded to explain that Jason had a leg to stand on to at least gain partial custody if not majority.
I was a single mother with an unstable income who relied on her brother's life insurance to pay the majority of her bills. Not only did I have the money issues, I also had no familial support. Jackie was living here in Eugene and Kai was still in Grantsville.
On the other hand, Jason was making a solid income as a dentist, had his entire family living within a ten-mile radius and was apparently in a long-term relationship with his wife.
I had deduced that the push for custody had little to do with Violet and more to do with his new wife wanting a child.
That was the only thing that made sense as to why after all these years he wanted custody. His wife was the only thing that had changed in our dynamic. I truly believed that if it wasn’t for her, Jason would have never been pushing to finally be a father after six years.
Moving here to Eugene gave me the familial support I needed for the case and I may or may not have been put on Will’s payroll as an assistant to show some form of independent income.
Everything he was technically paying me was put into a college fund for Violet.
Both of these changes in addition to the lack of relationship between Jason and Violet made it much harder for him to get custody.
I sighed before responding, “I assumed he would. Or more, his wife wouldn’t let it go.”
Bill only nodded in response. While yes he was perpetually late to every one of our meetings, he was smart and we got along well. He agreed that Jason’s wife, Melody, wouldn’t let the custody case go.
“Well, while I agree with you, we still encounter the problem that there is a chance he could get partial custody.”
“Why? He doesn’t even know her and I fixed all of the things my last lawyer said I needed to,” I argued.
“It’s true, and those adjustments you’ve made will make it impossible for him to argue for sole physical and legal custody. However, partial custody is still a possibility.”
“Why?”
“Well, Theodora,” Bill sighed and leaned back into his chair.
“Judges like to place children in stable homes. Two-parent households. I think it’s ridiculous, but it’s the truth.
Mr. Whithers has that. He and his wife have been married for three years now.
You, on the other hand, are unable to provide a two-parent household for Violet. ”
Well, if that wasn’t a punch to the gut.
I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. He was right. I couldn’t provide that for Violet.
When I was younger, I was going on dates nearly every week once Jackie turned sixteen and could drive herself around. I had always wanted to find someone to love, someone to marry.
Hell, that belief is what got me pregnant in the first place.
I was a stupid twenty-three year old who had just lost her brother and best friend.
I wanted someone to comfort me, someone to tell me it would all be okay.
Jackie had started drinking and was going through her own grief, as was Kai.
I felt so alone and Jason made the feeling go away for a short time.
An extremely short time.
Since I found out I was pregnant, I hadn’t been out once. No dates, no hangouts, no parties, nothing. I had been one hundred percent Violet-focused one hundred percent of the time. I had to be. I had no one else to help me pick up the slack.
Once I knew the tears wouldn't flow, I sat back up to face this with my lawyer. “Well, what do we do now?” I hoped for a magical solution.
He looked at me for a moment before answering. “To be frank, besides you getting married, there is not much else we can do. He has the means and stability to prove he can be a parent, the judge will most likely give him partial custody.”
“Even though he has no relationship with her?”
“Even so.”
Bill and I discussed other options, but his next client was getting ancy for their meeting which was supposed to start an hour ago.
I swear this man had no understanding of time.
I wandered down the streets of Eugene too upset to drive, contemplating my options and weighing the pros and cons.