“I know.”
“Do yourself a favor and grow brass balls between now and the trial because you’re gonna need them.”
✯✯✯✯✯
I gripped Florrie’s hand as we stood in court. We had just been put through the ringer. The Fullers’ lawyer had just accused us of everything under the sun, from being thugs to mercenaries. And with not being married, he didn’t exactly paint us in a good light. The worst part was that the judge seemed to be buying into it. We knew this was coming, but we never really thought it would feel quite like this.
“After hearing both arguments, I would like to set up visitation between Reid and Mr. and Mrs. Fuller. Since they’re family, it makes sense that they should be brought together.”
“Your Honor,” our lawyer cut in. “We would ask that you listen to what Reid has to say about his living situation. After all, he’s a teenager and more than capable of understanding his living arrangements.”
The judge nodded. “I would agree, but I would like to hold off until he’s been given the time to get to know his aunt and uncle. At this time, I am granting visitation of two weekends a month for three months, to give Reid a chance to get to know his extended family. At that point, we will revisit the final custody arrangements.”
“Your honor, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller live in Utah. You can’t really expect Reid to fly out to Utah twice a month to visit strangers.”
“Let’s recess for one hour. In that time, you will come up with a solution for the visitation. If no solution can be agreed upon, I will make that decision on my own.”
He banged the gavel and I felt Florrie jump next to me. She slowly looked up at me, looking completely lost. I had nothing to give her at this point. There was nothing I could say or do that would make this better. Visitation would only lead to a permanent residence for Reid out in Utah. Like our lawyer said, even if the judge took Reid’s thoughts into consideration, that still wasn’t a promise that he would get to stay with us.
“Let’s go find a room that we can use,” the lawyer said, motioning for us to leave the courtroom.
We headed out in a daze, following the lawyer and barely hearing what he was saying. When we got to the room, both lawyers argued back and forth, while the Fullers stared at us pleadingly to give them what they needed. The woman looked like she was on the verge of tears. When I glanced at Florrie, she looked like she wanted to murder the couple.
If Reid went out to Utah, I knew she would lose her shit. But the only other option was that they move out here temporarily, and Rob had shown me their finances. They didn’t have the money to do that. They probably didn’t have the money to fly out here to begin with. It was going to put a strain on them if they had to keep coming out here, and that wasn’t something I could tolerate. I would never purposely put someone in a terrible financial position, not when they had done nothing to deserve it.
I pulled my phone out and stepped to the side, calling Cap. I had an idea, but even if it was approved, I knew Florrie would lose her shit over it. I was stuck in this terrible position between wanting to make Florrie happy and wanting to do what was best for Reid. I had a feeling that no matter what I did, I wasn’t going to come out on top. I hung up with Cap and made my way back over to the group that was arguing. We only had fifteen minutes left.
“Excuse me,” I said loudly, cutting through the loud voices. Everyone quieted and looked over to me. “I think I have a solution.”
“What are you doing?” Florrie hissed.
“Trust me,” I said quietly, hoping she would listen to me for one fucking minute. “Look, there’s no easy way for this to work. We have fifteen minutes before the judge makes up his own judgement about what’s going to happen to Reid. It’s not feasible for Reid to fly out to Utah twice a month. Frankly, he’s just a kid and flying back and forth is not only going to waste the time he could spend getting to know you, but it’s a place that he’s totally unfamiliar with. And you flying out here twice a month would strain your finances, I’m sure.”
The couple nodded, curious as to where I was going with this.
“What’s your suggestion?” their lawyer asked.
I took a deep breath and locked eyes with Florrie, pleading with her to hear me out and not jump to the worst conclusion. “My suggestion is that you come and live on the Reed Security property for the next three months.”
Florrie gasped next to me and the Fullers both looked shocked.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Florrie hissed.
“Look, this is the best solution for Reid. We currently have a couple of houses that are being finished up on the property. I’ve spoken with my boss and he’s agreed to let you live there rent free for the next three months. During that time, you would get to see Reid weekly, maybe even on a daily basis, and he would get to know you.”
Florrie’s fingers dug into my arm and I tensed when I felt the skin break.
“Would he get to stay overnight with us?” the woman asked.
“I would leave that up to Reid, if he’s comfortable with that. Look, what I’m trying to do is make this as easy as possible for Reid. I can’t see him being comfortable getting shipped off to live somewhere else for a weekend twice a month. We would be worried about him the whole time, and I’m sure at the
