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He was quiet for a moment. He stared outside the window, and I didn’t know if he was ever going to say anything. I didn’t speak either, allowing him this time to process what had been said and his feelings towards any of this. I wasn’t really used to dealing with an emotional Adam. He had always been so in control and neutral the bulk of the time I had known him. The only time I had seen anything else was during sex or when his father would compliment him. Then, he would glow with pride as if he was an abused dog happy that his owner had shown him a scrap of love.
It was sad, and plenty of times, I felt pity for him. Not exactly the best emotion to have with someone you were supposed to be in love with. There was nothing wrong with feeling pity for someone; it made us human. But when it was towards the person you love, the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with, it shouldn’t be pity you feel. It should be sadness, hurt, anger towards the one causing the person you love to feel that way. Sympathy and empathy. Never pity.
When he finally spoke, he did so without turning his head to look at me, “I’ll drop my custody suit.”
And that was not what I had been expecting for him to say. I felt a tidal wave of hope flooding my chest. Was he being serious? Could I actually have Jeremy without having to worry about him coming for us. Even if we won the custody battle, I knew another suit could be filed. It could turn into an endless merry-go-round of court battles, and that was something I didn’t want to have to deal with in my life. I would because it was for Jeremy, but that didn’t mean I was going to be happy about it.
If Adam did drop the custody suit it would mean he would relinquish his parental rights to Jeremy. He would never be able to try and get custody again. We all could go our separate ways and try to find some semblance of peace and happiness. And I wanted that more than anything, but not just for myself, for Adam as well. He did deserve to find happiness and love. Despite everything we had been through, I had loved him at one point. I had wanted to build that family with him. And I truly hope he will find someone to do that with.
“You’ll terminate your parental rights?” I asked, because I needed to hear him say it, and then I needed him to do it.
He flinched slightly at my wording, but he needed to hear it. He needed to understand that was what he would be doing. He took a shaky breath in before he turned to look at me.
“I do love him, but I don’t think I would be able to look at him and not see Liam. To look at him and not feel hurt and betrayed. To not resent him for all of this. And it’s not fair to any child to feel resentment from their father. I love him enough to not put him through that. So I will sign the paperwork to terminate my rights to him today and go back home.”
“Thank you,” I said with a teary-eyed smile.
“I’m not doing this for you. I can’t sit here and wish you well. I can’t sit here and tell you I want you to be happy. I am doing this for myself and for Jeremy. I love him enough to let him go and hopefully, find happiness in his life. I’m doing this so I don’t turn into my father. If I didn't love him, I would throw everything I have at you and Liam just to watch you both get destroyed. Don’t think for a second that I am doing this for you,” he said with an edge that I could see he was just barely controlling his rage.
I didn’t call him out on it; he was entitled to his anger. And I truly didn’t care what his reasoning was. As long as he was going to give me my son, I was happy.
“I understand. And on behalf of Jeremy, I thank you. Once the papers are signed, we won’t have any reason to be in contact. I’m going to stay out here so you won’t have to worry about running into me or anything like that.”
There would be no reason for me to go back to Miami. I certainly wasn’t going to be visiting my parents any time soon. I had spoken with my mom, and she was trying to come around to the truth. I knew it was going to take some time though, and that was fine. My dad was not an easy man to live with, and I couldn’t fault her for that.
“I’ll have them signed today,” was all he said before he stood and gave me one last look before he walked out of the cafe.
This was not how I ever pictured our relationship or friendship ending. But maybe it was for the best. We would both get a clean slate, and we wouldn’t end up killing each other either in court or outside of it. We could both move on and find love and happiness. I was already on my way to having that with Liam. And he was going to be over the moon excited to not have one more custody battle on our hands. Now we just needed to deal with his fight for Christian, and the four of us could be a proper family.
Liam
Iwalkedintothecourt house not really knowing what to expect. I had been watching the boys while Jasmine went and spoke with Adam alone. I wasn't too happy with the idea of her doing so on her own, but she made valid arguments that were hard to go against. If I had gone, it would be a show of alpha male dominance, and that wasn’t going to be helpful at all. Still, I hated knowing that I wouldn’t be able to be there to offer any support or negotiate.
Apparently, it was a good thing I hadn’t gone, because Alvin had called to inform me that we were being requested by Judge Allen to meet within his chambers right away. I had no idea what this was going to be about, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified. I had left the boys with the babysitter and promised to be back as soon as possible. Jillian was a sweet older woman, and she had no problem with the short notice.
After getting cleared through security, I made my way towards Judge Allen’s chambers. Waiting for me outside of them was Alvin. He didn’t look too confident and certain himself as to what all of this was about, and it was doing nothing to ease my own fears.
“Do you know anything?” I asked, skipping all social pleasantries.
“No one has told me anything, just that it was urgent and to meet here. He’s ready for us.”
“Let’s get this over with then I guess,” I said as I took a deep breath in. Whatever was going to happen on the other side of these doors was going to change my life. I just wish I knew if it was for the better or not.
Alvin went and knocked on the thicken wooden door, and it seemed to echo all around us. After a moment a deep male voice spoke from the other side that I recognized as Judge Allen. Alvin reached and turned the knob and opened the door, holding it open for myself to enter first with him right behind me. For a second I felt like he was trying to sacrifice me to the lion’s den first.
The second the door was closed, the Judge spoke, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice. Please take a seat, and we can begin.” He gestured to the two free chairs across from his massive desk, and we both moved to take our spot. I couldn’t figure out if this was going to be a good or a bad thing that we were sitting down for this conversation.
“A situation has come up that I was made aware of this morning that will affect your custody hearing. Miss. Hemming was arrested for driving under the influence last night.”
Holy shit. There had been a few close calls in the past with her, but she had never been arrested. There had been times where she was going to drive, but someone or myself had been able to get the keys from her. She had never driven drunk before. At least not to my knowledge. What she had done during our time apart I didn’t know. Apparently, she had grown more bold with her drinking.
“Do you know if she will get bail or was she released?” I asked. I didn’t really know which I was rooting for.
“She was remanded and is waiting for her bail to be posted. She blew three times the legal limit. She crashed into a house. No one was hurt, but there was significant damage to the house,” Judge Allen answered.
“Jesus. Everyone is okay?”
This was worse than I had expected. She hadn’t been pulled over; she crashed into someone’s house. She could have killed herself, or someone else in the house. She got extremely lucky tonight.
