10
Maeve
A few days had passed, and it was finally Friday when I was supposed to go to court to face Tyler. Alex had connected me with a lawyer he swore up and down was the best in the entire state. My parents helped pay his retainer and were appalled that their ex-son-in-law would even consider taking me to court.
I was also actively doing everything to avoid Christian. After waking up from sleeping in his lap, I had very scrambled memories of coming onto him that night and was horribly embarrassed. He left before I could apologize. I had shit going on, so I never texted him, and he never texted me. I guess the ignoring was going both ways, then.
There was a small knock on the door, and my mom stood in the doorway.
“Are you ready? The lawyer is meeting us at the courthouse.” I nodded, grabbing my black purse to match the somber black pantsuit I bought with her yesterday. “I’m sorry Dad couldn’t be here today, hunny. He had to work.”
I loved my parents. My dad worked hard to provide for us growing up. I often felt like I was a constant disappointment to them, though. They never shamed me for my choices, but getting pregnant before graduating from college wasn’t something they had wanted for me. They also hated Tyler. Well, they tolerated him, but they weren’t his biggest fans.
“Honey, come outside,” my mom’s voice rang from the driveway.
Standing outside were Tatum, Chels, and Gianna. I ran over to them.
“What are you guys doing here?” I exclaimed.
“We had to send you off to court in a good mood.” Tatum shoved a coffee in my hand.
“And a full belly.” Gianna passed me a croissant.
“And something for later to celebrate.” Chels handed me a mini bottle of champagne.
I felt the tears forming, and I knew I would start crying at any moment.
“You guys.” My voice broke as I reached for my friends and gave them the biggest hug that I could squeeze out of my body. “You are the bestest friends in the whole world. I’m so grateful for you.”
“Are the girls here?” Tatum asked, looking over my shoulder.
“It’s Tyler’s week, so they’re probably with his stay-at-home house husband.” I rolled my eyes.
“Come on, Maeve,” my mom called from the passenger side of the car.
“I’ll see you later at Tatum’s house.” We had made plans to all meet there this evening to debrief. After another big hug, I ran and jumped into the car, driving my mom and I to the courthouse downtown.
The courtroom was cold, and other broken families and their lawyers surrounded us. There was bright fluorescent lighting at the front where the judge sat behind his wooden bench. This was just family court, so most of what we needed to do was in front of the judge. There wasn’t a jury but an empty jury box, which they must have used in other criminal cases. The atmosphere, though, was palpable. There was a sense of dread between everyone, an uneasy calmness that blanketed the entire room. It was the worst part and what made my thoughts spiral.
“The case of Maeve Murphy and Tyler Kirkland, please approach the bench with your respective counsel.”
I walked over to the bench where the judge sat. My lawyer followed. The guy couldn’t have been any older than me, but by the way he kept his stoic composure each time our case kept getting pushed to the bottom of the docket, I knew he would handle all of this fine enough for me. I didn’t know it, but I kept convincing myself he was the best. Alex had set us up with someone he trusted, so I had to trust that I was in good hands.
My mind kept spiraling because these were my children we weretalking about. I was a good mom. I didn’t smoke or do drugs. I didn’t understand why he was doing this to me. As we walked toward the bench, I couldn’t help but glance at the father of my children. At one point in time, I thought I loved him. He cared for me. At least I thought he did.
I didn’t get why he was doing this to me. This power trip he was on had to stop. I just wasn’t totally convinced that even if I had the best lawyer in the entire world, it would stop Tyler from trying to fuck me over. He was always like this—extremely calculated and always put himself in a position of power.
My mom stayed outside the courtroom to wait for me as they only wanted to have those being represented and their lawyers in family court.
Tyler stood there with a lawyer I recognized from his law firm. I was sure he was doing most of the legwork.
“Tommy, I cannot wait to see you on the golf course this weekend,” Tyler told the judge.
Ah fuck. Of course he knew who the judge was. There had to be some sort of fucking rule for this. You shouldn’t be able to golf with the judge who was also deciding the fate of my children. I looked over at the lawyer, who already caught the little gesture back and forth between the two.
“If you two know each other personally, I assume there will be no reason for me to assume you cannot remain neutral on this case, Judge Perry?” Damn. Got him. Antonio, the lawyer representing me, would be good for me. I just needed to have faith that he knew what he was doing.
“Of course. There is no issue here.” The judge looked at Tyler and Antonio. I stared straight ahead because if I engaged in whatever “who has the biggest dick” match was happening among them, I would for sure start laughing.
“I looked at the provided paperwork between the two parties. It seems that you, Maeve Murphy, do not currently pay rent. You have a job that you are often tardy to according to your employees—” The judge began, and there was no way this would be a fair fight.
“Your honor, Maeve drives all the way to La Jolla to drop off her children at a daycare that Mr. Kirkland insists they attend, then she has to drive all the way downtown. During morning traffic and with drop-off times, she is sometimes late, but her employer has nothing but positive remarks for her work ethic,” my lawyer responded, and I wanted to high-five him. Yes, get ’em. Tell them I don’t suck as a human even though I am notoriously late to everything, so all of this was only partially true, but whatever, the judge didn’t need to know that.
“I will note that. I also will note that Ms. Murphy does not pay for the children’s healthcare and that the other party’s partner watches them during the day every other week as well as daycare pick-up occasionally on her weeks.”
“That isn’t fair. You offered. I told you my mom could pick them up, but you said Stephen could just grab them if I was stuck at work.” Tyler shot me a look, and Antonio grabbed my hand to settle me down. I was raging. What a fucking asshole. He was using everything he had against me.
“Mr. Kirkland, you are currently a lawyer, and your legal husband watches the children while you are at work. You provide healthcare for them, pay for their schooling, and split other expenses in half.” Wait…legal partner?
“You…you got married?” I looked over at Tyler, who didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to when I looked down and saw the ring on his finger. He was really pulling a power play. “I cannot believe you didn’t think this was important enough to tell me Monday or any other day that you saw me,” I huffed, and Antonio, yet again, silently requested that I shut up with his facial expressions.
Of course, he got married because Stephen would end up just like me, but they would take my kids with them. This judge was already up to Tyler’s game and falling right into the trap Tyler set out for him. Schmooze you up and then get whatever you want. In the end, the girls would get fucked, but Tyler’s too fucking wound up and narcissistic to see that.
“After reviewing all the facts, it is clear that—”
A moment of panic seeped through my veins. I had to do something quickly. These were my children we were talking about, and I felt like whatever the judge was about to say wouldn’t side well with me.
Think.
Think.
Fuck, I had no plan. I was shooting fucking blanks at this point. I looked down and watched the sweat roll off my palms. I was standing, yet my right leg couldn’t stop shaking. This was what the start of a panic attack must feel like. I very much felt like I was about to drown, and the water just kept rushing in.
“Ms. Murphy?” the judge asked, and I quickly snapped out of the panic I was experiencing as much as I could.
“Sorry, would you mind repeating it?” Tyler scoffed.
“I was just saying that it is clear that you are a fit mother, but I highly suggest before we meet again, that you look into getting a house for yourself. Settling down—”
“I have a boyfriend, and we are moving in together, so none of this is an issue.” Everyone stopped talking and stared at me. I swear I could hear a pin drop in the courtroom.
I was lying. Definitely one hundred percent lying, but I needed to put on whatever performance those acting classes taught me that my mother had taken me to when I was younger. Right now, I needed to channel my inner badass. I would figure out the logistics later, but I needed to save my children. If the judge wanted me to look more settled, I would be settled. Every feminist part of me wanted to rage at him and scream that I was a strong, independent woman who fiercely loved her children, but this courtroom didn’t give a flying fuck about that.
If they wanted me to play a doting wife or girlfriend, I could do that.
“That is new information.” Tyler’s smooth voice was the first to break the pause.
“You don’t tell me everything about you. The same goes for me.” I stared right into his lifeless eyes. I didn’t know how I ever found him physically attractive. He was slender and tall. He was extremely clean-cut too. Thankfully, the girls both got their long curly blond locks from me and generally looked like my side of the family.
“Right, so my client, Maeve Murphy, will be moving in with her boyfriend. She will be providing the stability that she needs for the household. Everything schedule-wise will remain the same,” Antonio added as Tyler and I continued our stare down.
“Custody schedule will remain the same. Ms. Murphy will need to provide proof of her living situation as well as being on time to her job and picking up the girls on time.” The judge was about to sign off on the document when I raised my hand.
“I just want to add that if his partner is allowed to pick up the girls, then the same would go for mine.” It was only fair that if Stephen got to pick the kids up from school, then I shouldn’t be punished for having my nonexistent partner pick them up too. I planned to hash the details out later, of course, but I needed to make sure the girls were taken care of, and I knew that it was sometimes impossible for me to get them after work, depending on traffic.
“That seems fair.” Both lawyers nodded their heads as the judge spoke. “We should go ahead and schedule a follow-up in six months.”
He banged his gavel and dismissed us, so we headed toward the exit. Tyler quickly walked away from the building with his lawyer without turning around once. When my mom saw me, she looked white as a ghost with fear.
“So?” She gave me a quick hug and pulled away so she faced me and Antonio.
“It was a win for Maeve. Everything went well. We will reassess when Maeve and her boyfriend move in with each other. Please consider having your partner pick the girls up versus your mother.” I nodded as my mom raised her eyebrow at me.
“I will. Thank you so much. Please send over your invoice, and we will reconvene in six months before the next date.” I shook his hand.
“Call me anytime you need me, and please tell Alex I said hello.” He left the courthouse just as my mom linked her arm in mine.
“Boyfriend?” she asked, her eyes narrowing at me. I sighed heavily as the warm, bright Southern California sun hit my face. I looked up at the sky and inhaled deeply, the faint smell of sea breeze wafting all around me.
“I’ll figure it out, Mom.” I finally turned to look at her as she grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a side hug.
“You always figure it out, honey. We’re a team.” I kissed her cheek as we walked toward the parking lot.
“Thanks for always being there.”
“That’s what family is for,” she offered as she opened the car door for me. Right before shutting it, she looked over at me. “Fuck Tyler. He sucks.”
“Mother!” My mom never swore. She was the Calvin Klein jean with a billowy blouse type of lady who wore pearls to church on Sunday. I knew she was trying to lighten the mood, and I hated to admit that it worked. Now, only to find myself a fake boyfriend who I trusted enough to move in with in the next six months. It was a completely feasible task…not.