I’m not sure what I did to deserve Emerson and his family, but whatever it was? I’m so fucking glad I did it. We’re all waiting for Lorenzo to come back out. Waiting is the worst part of all of this. He finally comes back out with a bunch of papers.
“Okay. So it looks like I was right. He’s asking for a DNA test, we need to get that done. We can do it here since Giovanna is licensed to do swabs and blood draws for DNA testing. I’ve called her to come meet us here. We need her to sign some papers for this. I was originally going to say we should go to Lucciola Memorial. But I don’t want to leave the property unless we have to.”
“Do you think he’d try to kidnap River?”
“Yes.”
That one word has me in a panic.
“We have the gates locked and the guys know not to let anyone we don’t know onto the property. And I asked your mama not to leave the main property. Not even to go to the campgrounds. We can’t monitor those as well as we can for the property,” Celestino says to Emerson as he joins us.
“Is that all really necessary?” I ask as my voice shakes.
“We’ve learned to overdo protection measures when it comes to things like this. Our family has gone through a lot, and each time we learn where the holes are in our security. No one wants to take the chance that hecouldcome here.”
I nod as I listen to Celestino. Again, the only real relief I have is having the Lake Renegade family here to help us.
A few minutes later, Giovanna comes into the clubhouse. She comes over and hugs me and Emerson.
“We’ll take care of this. I got permission from Lucciola Memorial to get the swab sample from you and River. It’s painless and fast. Eden is bringing River here so we can do his real quick. And then he can go back and play with the kids.”
Just as she’s explaining things, River comes running in. The first person he runs to is Emerson. I used to think that something like that would make me sad. But it doesn’t, it makes me happy that he knows he can trust him. Giovanna tells him what she’s going to do. And he giggles as she’s doing it.
“It tickles.” He laughs.
We all laugh and he gives us a hug before running back out with Eden. I love that he doesn’t understand what’s going on. And I hope we can keep it that way.
“Okay, your turn,” she says to me as I open my mouth.
“How long will the test take?” Emerson asks.
“That depends on if Palmer sent his sample in. But if he’s done his already, we should have the results tomorrow or the next day. Paternity is usually the fastest, and I’ve already talked to our lab. They’re ready for us. So I’ll get this to the hospital now,” Giovanna tells him as she’s signing the papers that her brother’s putting in front of her.
“And I’ll go to court with you. Just in case they ask about the samples.”
“Thank you so much,” I say as I hug her again.
Emerson
Of course we already knew that Palmer was River’s bio dad. And today we’re going to court to see what the judge says about Palmer’s petition. He wants full custody and to change River’s last name. Just as we thought. He’s a fucking shitbag to even ask for any kind of custody of my son. Who does shit like this? Oh wait, I know, selfish shitbags.
Lorenzo said the hardest part to today is not knowing the connection between Palmer and the judge. We know they’re not related and he’s not a family friend of the Beaumonts. But they have some kind of connection to each other. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten a court date so fast. I just hope that this judge is still fair to us. If not, this is going to be the first of many court dates.
“We should get going,” I say to Sawyer as she comes out of the bathroom.
“I’m so scared.”
“I know, but it’s going to be alright.”
“I hope so,” she whispers.
My parents are staying with River while we go to the courthouse. Everyone is quiet on the drive to the city. I know we’re all hoping this goes well and that the judge doesn’t make this harder on Sawyer.
“Okay, when we get into the courtroom, we need to make sure none of us have any kind of outburst. I have a feeling Palmer is going to lie and this lawyer is going to try anything he can. And there’s the fact that we don’t know what the judge is like,” Lorenzo says to us while we’re parking.
“I can’t promise that. This is my son and I can’t lose him,” Sawyer says as she takes a deep breath.
“I know, and you won’t. I promise you that.”
