It had been a good week and Brian was looking forward to having Gus for another full weekend. The week had flown by without a word from Mel and Linds regarding Gus. Like he told Justin, he doubted Lindsay could be surprised a second time by showing up at school. As he drove home he allowed his mind to wander, allowing the hamsters to take over.
After many late night sessions with his hamsters, he'd realized that Lindsay had mastered the skills of devious and conniving down to an art. She was excellent at using her knowledge of his past and manipulating the vulnerability he felt at being a father and using it to her advantage. She knew he had a terrible childhood that resulted in the great reluctance on his part in becoming her sperm donor, but she repeatedly cajoled him into donating his sperm so she could have his child. He'd come to accept that there were several layers of deception under that request; a lifetime tie to him, her own financial security, and at the bottom was a child that she could use to keep him in her life. He was successful, good looking, and not very interested in having children. To her that had been the perfect combination, exploiting him on multiple levels. Since he wasn't all that interested in parenting, she could encourage him to be a part of the child's life with the unspoken expectation that he would fight the suggestion since he had convinced himself that he would make a terrible parent. This would put her in a superior position with the child as she could explain that his/her father was "too busy or chose not to be a part of his life" and she would gain the favored parent status. On the other side of the coin, she could and did push Brian to support said child since he was biologically tied to it and he wouldn't want any child of his to live with the deprivation he experienced during his own childhood.
What neither of them had expected was Brian bonding with Gus and as he got older realizing that he was probably one of the most important people in his life. While originally he had fought visits with Gusand spent time away following his own pursuits, somewhere along the line Brian's feelings had changed. Perhaps it was Gus' unconditional love and eagerness to spend time with his father or perhaps it was that Brian was trying to ensure his son had a better childhood than he did. To Brian, Gus was literally a lifesaver, being the reason he stopped drinking. While Brian was still struggling trying to figure out what his life would look like post drinking, he knew it had to include spending a good deal of time with Gus.
Brian arrived home just as his thoughts came to the foregone conclusion that he couldn't leave tomorrow's pick up of Gus to chance. Regardless of how nice it had been not to have Lindsay asking about his plans for the weekend, verifying when and what time he would pick up and drop off Gus as well as trying to encourage him to spend more time with him, he knew she was most likely busy planning some retaliation to push him into changing his mind regarding the financial arrangement he'd devised. He would call Kera in the morning.
As he thought of Kera, he thought of Molly, Justin's sister which in turn made his mind jump to Justin. He found the quick connecting circle fascinating as he had never had connections to so many people outside a professional business relationship. Realizing he was tired, he quickly looked through his mail that he'd grabbed on the way into his home, and verified that there was nothing urgent. He put on the alarm, undressed, and got ready for bed. His last thought before he fell asleep was the realization that he and Gus had not decided what they would do for the weekend.
When he arrived at his office the next morning, he opened his email and listened to his messages. He wanted to complete a few projects before he left in the afternoon. His work day would be very short, since would be attending an AA meeting in the afternoon and then picking up Gus right after school. As he looked at his to do list, he quickly came to the decision that he would probably need to bring Gus to the office so he could complete the work he needed for Monday. He would rather complete it today than having to worry about it over the weekend.
He walked to the break room and made himself a mug of coffee. After placing several sugar packets in it, he tentatively tasted it, shaking his head slightly. As he was shaking his head, Ted came in to prepare his own cup of coffee.
"What's up, Brian? The coffee isn't to your taste?"
"I distinctly remember a Keurig in your office. Why are you here making coffee?" Brian asked.
"No reason. I just thought I would have a change of pace. And... I saw you walk in. How was the art show? Did you find anything you liked?"
It struck Brian that Ted and he were engaged in small talk, something new for them. Usually, their interactions were professional in nature. However, he had been sharing updates on his sobriety, Gus' situation and he remembered mentioning that he had to leave early yesterday so he could hit an early meeting as he was attending an art show.
Brian smiled at the realization that the conversation didn't feel awkward and he was actually really happy that Ted was asking about the more mundane things in his life.
"It was good. Turns out that his sister works at the law firm that I'm using to handle the legal things with Gus. She reminded me that I had admired a piece of his work when I went there. It's a small world."
"It is at that," Ted said, agreeing with his boss. He would have liked to say more about his discoveries in life when he stopped using but decided that Brian would not appreciate the reference to his own alcohol use at work.
Brian took another sip of his coffee and said, "Stop by my office in a bit. I need to go over some numbers from the Aveeno account with you and my day is very short. I have a meeting at 1:00 and then I have to pick up Gus from school. I have a feeling I'll have to bring him back here for a bit before we actually start our weekend."
"Sure thing," Ted said and left the break room so he could review the Aveeno file and work on his own projects.
Brian responded to a few emails and then placed a call to Beroes law firm.
"Beroes law firm. This is Molly. How may I direct your call?"
"Hi Molly, This is Brian Kinney. Is Kera available?"
"Hi Brian. Let me check. I think I saw her going toward the break room."
"That would be appreciated. I really don't want to leave a message," Brian said, acknowledging that he was probably receiving a little extra effort since Molly had met him. He wasn't going to argue with her extra effort as his concern was very time-sensitive.
Molly placed Brian on hold and a few moments later came back on, "I'll connect you now. Have a nice day."
"This is Kera. How may I help you?"
"Kera, this is Brian Kinney. I wanted to know if there was any update on the restraining order situation. It's Friday and I have to pick Gus up again. I surprised Lindsay by going to his school last week, but I doubt it would be that easy again."
"I'm glad you called. I was planning on contacting you within the hour. I did some additional research into the situation. Restraining orders are specifically issued when someone who reports abuse against the victim tries to legally forbid their interaction with the accused. A restraining order is served but that is only the first step. A few days after the order is served, there is a hearing before a judge where the person requesting the order has to prove there is a history of physical or emotional abuse. When I reviewed the court records, there is no evidence that you were notified of the hearing. That information is presented in the court recordings.
Ms. Melaine Marcus represented the case and provided inaccurate information regarding your location. Since you were not served, you failed to show up, and the courts only had her word."
"That conniving bitch!!!" Brian said as he once again wished Lindsay wasn't involved with Melanie. It seemed to Brian that Melanie was almost more interested in his money than Lindsay. When he cut off their slush fund, Melanie was trying to find legal recourse and Lindsay resorted to using Gus as a pawn.
Kera was used to clients cursing and wasn't offended. She waited until she was certain he wasn't going to say anything else before continuing. "I filed a petition two days ago regarding the hearing and spoke with the judge late yesterday. Since there was no record of you being served, the judge granted a hearing."
"When is it? I'll be there," Brian said, happy that it appeared that he had chosen a lawyer who didn't need to be directed what to do.
"Ms. Marcus is being served as we speak. We have a court appointment at 2:00 this afternoon. We should also meet beforehand. In these situations, the law moves rather quickly in order to protect the vulnerable," Kera said.
"Of course, I will be there."
"We can meet at my office at noon and then go to the Civil Court Building. That should be sufficient time to review the information and drive to the Courts," Kera said.
"I'll be there," Brian said and hung up the phone.
Looking at the clock, he realized it was already 9:30 and it would take half an hour to get to Kera's office. He had a lot to do before he left for the meeting. He could always take his work home, but there were several things that couldn't wait.
Scrolling down his phone contact list, he located Justin's number and hit the button for it.
Justin looked at the caller ID, immediately answering the call. Part of volunteering to be a sponsor was agreeing to be contacted at any time. Drinking had no rules that stated crises could only occur between the hours of 9:00 to 5:00. He remembered several times when he had called his sponsor, Jeremy at 2:00 in the morning, and Jeremy had willingly been there for him. Sponsorship needed to be unconditional.
"Hi, Brian. Everything okay?" Justin asked, not wasting time with small talk. He placed the paintbrush he was holding on the tray next to his canvas and wiped his hand on a rag that he kept on the table.
"I have to go to meet with Kera at noon so we can prepare for the court at 2:00. Evidently, a restraining order also gives some protection to the person being restrained. There is supposed to be a hearing where evidence of harm is submitted. Since I wasn't informed of the hearing, I had no opportunity to defend myself. We have a hearing today to remedy that situation," Brian said, quickly explaining the reason for the unusual call.
"No worries. I can come by your place about 7:30 again and we can have our own meeting." Justin mentally calculated how he could rearrange his plans for the evening. He had planned to go to dinner with his mother, but he could offer to meet her for lunch instead.
Brian felt a sense of calm wash over him at Justin's quick solution, but then he experienced feelings of guilt. "Justin, I really appreciate your offer, but you don't have to change your life just because mine is a land mine," Brian said. There was a reason why he never put himself in a situation where he asked for help. He never wanted to feel like he owed anyone a favor, but more importantly, he didn't feel that he was worth doing things for. He wasn't used to people offering to help him. It felt both good and uncomfortable at the same time.
"That is exactly why I'm coming over. Landmines are dangerous and people get hurt. But we aren't talking analogies here, we're talking about your life and your continued sobriety. Gus is the reason you started your sobriety journey. This is a huge deal. While your legal access to him has already been verified, if his mothers put roadblocks and obstacles in your way, making it difficult for you to see him, then it can be hard to stay on course."
Brian didn't want to argue the point as he was relieved that Justin had volunteered to help, yet again. "Okay. Thank you. I have to go and figure out how to get Gus picked up since I haven't mastered my magical powers of being two places at once yet," Brian said, already feeling a sense of relief that he would not be alone tonight to fight off his demons.
Brian called the school.
"Hello. Ballantine Elementary. This is Karen. How may I direct your call?"
"I'd like to speak with the principal. This is Brian Kinney, Gus Peterson's father."
"One moment please. I'll connect you."
"Principal Lenger's office. How may I assist you?"
Brian ran his hand through his hair, exacerbated by the multiple steps needed to talk to someone in charge. He didn't have time for this run around. "I'd like to speak with Principal Lenger. It is an urgent matter."
"May I ask who is calling?"
"Brian Kinney. I'm Gus Peterson's father."
"I'll see if he is available."
A few moments later, he was connected.
"Mr. Kinney. How can I help you today?"
"I was in your office a few weeks ago regarding Gus and his school fees.
"Yes. I remember. We don't have any upcoming field trips. Is there another problem?"
"Last week I contacted you last week regarding my picking him up after school."
"That sounds familiar. Hold on for a moment while I look up his file."
The principal logged into the school system and noted there was an incident with Gus' mother when she came to the school last week and couldn't find Gus. He remembered the situation.
"I see that there were some concerns with the pickup on Friday. Is there going to be a repeat of last week?" The principal asked, hating this part of his job. He just wished that parents could be more civil when it came to custody issues. Children should not be treated as chattel.
"I won't go into all the details, I just need to know if I can designate a different person to pick him up today and how would I go about that?"
The principal still had the file open on the computer and read the section regarding approved pickups.
"Mr. Kinney. It says in his file that you, Ms. Melanie Marcus, Ms. Lindsay Peterson, and Ms. Debbie Novotny are all approved to pick up Gus."
"Today, I will be sending Debbie Novotny to pick up Gus. Please let him know of the change."
"It will be taken care of. Thank you for notifying us of the change." Mr. Lenger felt sorry for Gus. It seemed that there were a lot of changes in his life that his parents couldn't even agree on who was picking him up from school. He knew that parents didn't always get along and often used their children as pawns in their disagreements. Curious, he opened another tab on Gus' record to review his grades. He was relieved to see that Gus' marks were excellent and he was involved in several after school activities, including photography and soccer. Perhaps, he was one of the lucky ones who was unaffected by his parent's unhappiness. He decided to tell Gus himself of the change for pick up this afternoon. That would give him an opportunity to feel out the child and he could offer his support if needed.
Mr. Lenger looked at Gus' schedule and saw he was in the gym this period. Looking at the time, he realized the class was almost over and the students would be changing back into the school clothes. His next class was lunch, an ideal time to talk to the young man. He notified the gym teacher to send Gus to his office at the end of class and directed him to bring his lunch with him.
"Carla, Gus Peterson will be coming in a few minutes. Please bring him into my office. He is supposed to bring his lunch so could you please make sure he has a drink as well," Mr. Lenger said as he stepped out of his office and informed his administrative assistant.
"I'll take care of it," Carla said. It wasn't unusual for a child to be asked to come down to the principal's office, but it was a little unusual for Mr. Lenger to see them at lunch. She didn't know all the children as it was a large school, but she hoped Gus would not be in trouble. She doubted he was as Mr. Lenger wanted to ensure he had his lunch with him. That was not typical protocol for a child who had done something wrong.
A few minutes later a boy came into the office holding his small cooler lunch bag.
"Gus Peterson?" Carla asked.
"Yes," Gus said, trying to figure out why he was called to the principal's office.
"Do you have a drink with you?" Carla asked.
"Bottled water"
Carla got up and walked around the desk. "I'll take you to him."
"Okay," Gus said.
Mr. Lenger motioned for Gus to sit and said, "Thank you, Carla."
"You're not in any trouble. I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. You can use the little side table by the chair to place your lunch. Go ahead and eat. "
Gus wasn't sure what to make of the meeting but found his anxiety went down when the principal said he wasn't in trouble. He carefully placed his lunch cooler on the table and took out a peanut butter sandwich, taking a small bite. He placed his water bottle on the table and unscrewed the top.
"As I said, Gus, you aren't in any trouble. I received a call from your father a little while ago and he asked me to tell you that Debbie Novotny will be picking you up this afternoon. Last week, he called and asked me to tell you that he would be picking you up. We've also had a few other conversations recently. I asked you here to check on you. It seems that there might be a lot of changes going on at home," Mr. Lenger said. He knew that many students had parents that were in the midst of separation or divorce and the children were often caught in the middle. Giving the child a chance to speak freely often helped lessen their anxiety.
"Cool Grandma Debbie is picking me up," Gus said as he took another bite of his sandwich.
Mr. Lenger looked at Gus and was pleased to see that he didn't seem upset that a different person was picking him up.
"That's cool that you talked to my dad. He is spending more time with me. Last week we went to the art museum and the week before we went to the Incline. We went to the grocery store and bought food to make burgers. We're learning how to cook."
"I see," Mr. Lenger said. He tried to keep his face in a neutral expression, but he was concerned for Gus. It sounded very much like a divorce situation where the noncustodial parent was trying to win over the child."
Gus looked at Mr. Lenger and said, "He even had me take a special test to prove he was my dad. That was a little weird since everybody tells me that I look just like a miniature Brian. I've heard the story of how my moms wanted a baby and asked Dad to help a gazillion times." Gus put down his sandwich on the napkin and drank some water to wash it down. He pulled out a bag of chips from the cooler bag and ripped it open, taking out a few.
As he listened to Gus, Mr. Lenger was a little confused. "Your moms wanted a baby," he stated, just to verify that he heard correctly.
"Yeah. They're lesbians and Dad is mom's friend. They've known each other like forever. Momma doesn't like Dad too much, but since he is my Dad, I guess she doesn't have a choice."
He remembered seeing an incident report in the file when he was talking to Mr. Kinney. Evidently, there had been an incident last week where Gus's mother had come to the school to pick him up only to find that his father had already made arrangements to do so. As he talked to Gus, things were becoming a little clearer. There was not a typical divorce situation where there was a noncustodial parent trying to gain favor with their child. Instead, something had definitely occurred where the parents raising him were trying to stop the noncustodial parent from access. He didn't want to pry in families' private business so wasn't going to ask Gus for more information.
"It sounds like your dad and you have a great time together."
"Yeah we do. He's got this new friend who is teaching me all about photography. Dad told me that he wants to spend every weekend with me which is awesome. He's going to buy all my clothes and soccer gear too. Now, I won't have to ask the moms for stuff and have them tell me they can't afford it. He just wants me to be happy." Gus smiled as he thought of their recent weekend adventures and wondered where they would go this weekend. He hoped that Auntie Em would be coming over to help them cook again.
"You are a lucky young man. It sounds like you have a lot of people who care about you," said Mr. Lenger.
"I do. And it's so cool that Dad is able to spend so much time with me now. But things got a little weird when that happened. My moms got a restraining order for Dad to stay away from them. I'm not really sure what that means, but that is why he had to pick me up at school and drop me off at Grandma Deb's last week. He said he can't come to my house."
"Do you feel safe with your father?" Mr Lenger asked as the hairs on his neck stood up at the mention of a restraining order. He looked at Gus who did not show any sign of distress at the mention of the restraining order or any of the topics they had spoken about. He was smiling and appeared really happy that he was spending time with his father. However, he knew that children oftentimes tried to protect a parent that was abusing them, so he needed to be sure. As a mandated reporter he knew it was his responsibility to ensure all the children's safety.
"Sure. Why wouldn't I? At Sunday dinner last week,..... That's at grandma Debbie's house. Anyway, at Sunday Dinner Grandma Debbie asked my moms about the restraining order and they said it was because Dad refused to give them any more money for me. They said if he won't give them money, then he can't see me" Gus took another bite of his sandwich and another drink from his water bottle.
"I don't really know why Dad was giving them money since Mom always told me to ask Dad to buy me stuff. My moms said Dad wouldn't be seeing me anymore since he wasn't giving them money anymore, but Dad told me he was going to buy me whatever I needed. So, I don't see what the problem is. Dad buys everything and moms don't have to worry about shopping for me. Parents are weird." Gus upended the bag of chips to get the last of them out of the corners. His dad always told him that was really gross as he didn't know where the bag had been and a bunch of people could have touched it, but he wasn't worried about it. Sometimes his Dad had weird rules too.
Mr. Lenger listened to Gus as he shared what he thought of his parents and their disagreements. Unfortunately, financial arguments were also pretty common among families, especially ones that are involved in legal disputes. However, this one was a little unusual. These arguments often involved nonpayment of child support, but it didn't appear that Gus' father was not willing to support him. This went along with his father's request to be notified of any school activities or costs.
"Well, it sounds like you have great parents who care about your well-being. I'll let the staff know that your Grandma will be picking you up this afternoon." Looking at the clock he realized that the next period had started. "I'll give you a pass to your next class. Have a great weekend, Gus."
Gus put all his empty water bottle in his lunch box and looked around for a trash can to throw away his empty chip bag. He spotted one by Mr. Lenger's desk and got up to throw it away. "I don't know what me and Dad are going to do, but I'm sure it will be fun." Gus reached out for the pass and said, "Bye, Mr. Lenger." as he walked out the door.
Mr. Lenger watched Gus walk out the door and smiled. At least this child was happy and confident that his parents loved him.
Brian's last call was to Debbie. He called the diner, thinking that she would likely be there.
"Liberty Diner," a male voice answered.
"Kiki, is Deb working today? This is Brian Kinney." Brian asked, recognizing the voice.
"No hon, she doesn't work today," Kiki said.
"Okay, Thanks." Brian hung up and called her home, hoping she was there. She'd cut back on working and often volunteered at the Vic Grassi house on her days off.
"Hello," Debbie said as she placed the damp towel she used to quickly dry her hands on the handle of the stove.
"Debbie. Can you pick up Gus this afternoon from school?"
"Brian, honey are you okay? Nothing has happened, has it?" She asked solicitously.
"No, I'm fine. I just have to go to court. Seems that in her haste to stop me from seeing my son, Melanie forgot the little tidbit about me needing to be served. We have a hearing at 2:00 today and I need to be there. I don't trust Lindsay to pick him up and then deliver him to me."
"I see," Debbie said with a frown on her face. She hated that Brian and the girls were using Gus as a pawn, but knew that Gus would be the one to really suffer if he couldn't see his father.
"Sure, I'll pick him up. Hopefully, the three of you will get this sorted out quickly."
"I'll pick him up on my way home from the courthouse. Since the restraining order is against Mel and Linds, there shouldn't be any problem," Brian said.
"Okay. I'll see you later this afternoon."
Deb hung up, realizing she had no idea what time Gus got out of school. She quickly called Brian back.
"Kinney," Brian answered.
‘Hon, you didn't tell me what time I needed to be there." Deb said.
"2:45. That way you will be in the front of the line. I'm sure Linds will not even consider that I sent you to pick him up. She'll probably just think that since I can't pick him up at school and the restraining order is still in place, she'll have no problem getting him," Brian explained his reasoning to Debbie. "I've notified the school that you will be picking him up and he knows to look for you. He shouldn't be going with Lindsay."
‘You take care, sweetie. I'll pick up Gus. Don't you worry about him."
"Thanks, Maw," Brian said, using the familiar affectation as he hung up the phone for the umpteenth time this morning.
It was after 10:30 by the time he'd finished arranging his schedule for the afternoon. He had to leave in an hour and he had a full day's work to complete. He pressed the buzzer for Cynthia and asked her to come into his office.
She walked in and sat down in one of his blue client chairs as she waited for more directions from her boss.
"I've got to leave in an hour and probably won't be back until later this afternoon, if at all. I need you to research these two companies, looking at their current ads and noting areas of improvement. I have a call with Jameson at 11:00 to discuss some changes they wanted to their summer campaign that I need you to take. Sean Jameson likes to talk and I need to leave by 11:30. I also have a 1:00 with Aveeno. Ted was looking at the numbers earlier. Get with him before the meeting." Brian looked at his Trello list on his computer, verifying that he'd addressed all the things he'd planned on completing before his day got shot to hell. "Hopefully, I'll be done by..." Brian stopped in mid-sentence as he quickly calculated the time it would take to complete the various tasks that he had on his plate. "4:30 or 5:00. Maybe earlier, but not much. Any questions?"
Cynthia looked at her list and nodded her head in agreement. "No, pretty straightforward. I assume that you are not reachable by phone?" she asked, wanting to ask what was so critical that he would drop everything in the office, but accepting she wouldn't ask.
"After 3:00, you can call me, Brian said, revisiting his earlier calculations.
"Okay, Boss. I better get started," Cynthia said as she got up and walked toward her office.
Brian opened his email, responding to ones that were straightforward. He had every confidence in Kera's abilities and really was not worried about the upcoming hearing.
He arrived at Kera's a little before noon, surprised that the traffic was so light. He decided that he must have really just hit a lucky streak. They talked for a little while, Kera verifying that there was no history of abuse between Brian and Gus' mothers.
When Brian and Kera walked into the courtroom, Brian was surprised to see Lindsay there, thinking she would be at the school to pick up Gus. He wasn't going to question her presence since this meeting was about the three of them, not Gus.
When the judge came into the room, everyone rose and the judge sat down. The judge motioned for everyone to be seated and he picked up the papers lying on his desk. Briefly, he read the information and spoke.
"Ms. Marcus, these documents state that you filed a restraining order against Mr, Kinney 6 days ago and presented the court with evidence regarding harassment. Is that correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Mr. Kinney, the court documents show that you were not aware of the proceedings. Is that correct?"
"Yes sir. I only found out about the restraining order when I was served with the document."
"I see." The judge directed his face toward Melanie. "Ms. Marcus, as a lawyer you should know that the person receiving the order has to be provided an opportunity to provide their side of the situation. Please explain to the court why you proceeded with the order without notifying Mr. Kinney?"
"According to the law, if a person is in imminent danger, they can have those requirements waived. I felt that our son was in imminent danger if he spent time with his father and therefore this situation meets the letter of the law," Melanie said a Cheshire cat smile on her face. She had hoped she would have an opportunity to bring up Brian's sobriety as a reason to forbid his seeing Gus and the judge had given her the perfect opportunity.
The judge said, "Let me be sure I understand you, Ms. Marcus. You were afraid for your son so you petitioned the court for a restraining order against Mr. Kinney between you and your wife."
"Yes your honor," Melanie stated, feeling that the hearing was going just as she planned.
"Ms. Marcus, is there a history of violence or abuse between Mr. Kinney and you and your wife?"
"No sir," Melanie answered.
"Ms. Marcus. It is very obvious to this court that your petition does not meet the requirements for a restraining order between you and Mr.Kinney. You stated that the fear is for your son, not yourselves. Since the restraining order does not meet the state's guidelines, I have canceled the order." the judge banged his gavel, dismissing the case.
"But your honor. We feel that our son is in imminent danger and need to have a restraining order to protect him," Melanie stated before the judge could call the next case.
"This is highly unusual, but I will grant your request to present evidence to support his statement. We always want to protect our children."
"It has come to our attention that Mr. Kinney is an alcoholic and we feel that his continued presence in our son's life could be detrimental."
Kera stood up and spoke, "Your honor, Mr. Kinney has been attending AA meetings for almost 3 months and it is only in the last week that Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson filed this petition. Mr. Kinney recently informed Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson that he would no longer be providing them with direct financial support for their son. He stated that he would be purchasing all of his clothing and providing for his school activities as well as recreational pursuits directly instead of funneling the money through his mothers. It was only after this decision that Ms. Marcus and Ms. Kinney deemed Mr. Kinney a threat."
Kera gathered her copied receipts from the last three months that Brian had provided as proof of his financial contributions. She brought them to the bench and handed them to the bailiff.
"Your honor, a restraining order is not about finances, but about safety. It is my client's assumption that the only imminent danger, in this case, is to the coiffeurs of Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson."
The judge carefully reviewed the papers, finding the records very informative.
"Ms. Marcus, can you provide an example of Mr. Kinney's imminent threat to your son? I would need proof of verbal or physical abuse in order to issue a new order."
"No, your honor, but...."
"That will be all, Counselor. A restraining order will not be issued for either party. Ms. Marcus, you will be responsible for court costs as it appears your interpretation of the law is self-serving and not based on the actual intent of the law itself. I suggest that if money is at the root of this dispute, you enlist the family court to settle the issue." The judge banged his gavel a second time and he said, "Dismissed."
Brian shook Kera's hand as she returned to the area where he was seated. "Thank you."
"I don't think we are done, yet. I imagine there will be another attempt by his mothers to address the financial side of things. Let me know if and when that happens. Have a good weekend," Kera said as she gathered her paperwork. They walked out of the courtroom and left the building together.
As Brian walked to his car, he was relieved that the courts had canceled the restraining order, but as Kera said she did not think they were done with the legal issues as Gus' mothers would most likely bring the financial issues to family court. He had no issue with supporting Gus; he just had an issue with supporting his mothers when they had good-paying jobs and should be able to meet their expenses. He decided that he would use the guidance from AA, taking each day as it unfolded and avoid trying to plan his life. He had no control over what Mel and Linds did and right now his energies were on picking up his son and having a great weekend.
When he started his car up, he saw the clock read 3:00 p.m.. Calculating the time it would take to get to Debbie's, he determined that he would arrive about the same time she would. Deciding that Debbie and Gus always had fun adventures and he loved spending time with her, he drove toward the office instead of Deb's house. He could still get a few hours of solid work in and then be able to devote the remainder of the weekend to Gus.
After arriving at the office, he placed his briefcase on the desk and took out a few files that he planned on working on over the weekend. Before he started reviewing them, he asked Cynthia to come in for an update on the Jameson call as well as the 1:00 meeting with Aveeno. She updated him on both accounts as well as the research from one of the companies he had asked her to review. Brian thanked her and went to work on the files. He completed his own work as well as reviewed the emails Cynthia had sent him about 5:30. He looked at his "To Do" list one more time, determining that he had reached a reasonable stopping place. There was always work to be done, but he was learning that relaxation and pursuit of other things were just as important to his life as the money coming in from his business. He made the decision to leave his briefcase at work, an unusual occurrence. If he really felt the need to work, he would have to make a conscious decision to drive to the office to get his files.
Driving to Debbie's he realized he was really looking forward to another weekend with Gus. This was the third full weekend they had planned on spending together. He's had such a busy week that they had not talked about their plans. Previous to his sobriety, his plans always included going to Woody's or Babylon, and he didn't need to think about them. Now, he had Gus on the weekends and planning was a part of his new life. However, he did not feel the need to plan every moment of their time together. He was not going to be "one of those parents" as Gus referred to the non-custodial parents of some of his friends.
When he parked his car in front of Debbie's house, he saw Lindsay's car in the driveway. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he quickly chastised himself for not picking up Gus right after court. At least her car was still here, so he hoped that meant Gus was still with Debbie.
He walked into the house where he found Debbie and Lindsay sitting on the couch, but there was no sign of Gus.
"Where's Gus?" he asked in a firm voice.
Gus came out of the kitchen holding a plate with cut-up apples. "Hi, Dad. I told Grandma I was getting hungry but I hoped that we would cook some dinner again, so I didn't want a big snack. Can we go to the store and buy more hamburger meat? Those burgers were yummy."
Brian could feel the adrenaline stop pumping through his body as he heard and saw his son. "We can definitely do that, but we might want to grab something for now and plan on cooking tomorrow. It would be at least an hour and a half before dinner if we went to the store first."
"Brian... I had no idea that ...." Lindsay started to explain.
"I don't need any excuses. I just have one question for you. With the restraining order still in place and all of us in court, how were you planning on picking Gus up from school?" Brian asked, curious about Lindsay's answer, but also planning to use the information, if needed, for any future negotiations in court.
"Mel said the hearing would only last 30 minutes; that would have given me time to pick up Gus from school. But as you know, you told the school to have Debbie pick him up."
"We didn't leave the hearing until 3:00. You didn't even have a contingency plan for picking him up. I called Debbie because I wanted to ensure that someone was there for him."
"I got to the school about 3:30 and didn't see him and went inside to see if the teachers had taken him to the aftercare program. They will take a child there if no one has picked the child up. They won't leave the children unsupervised," Lindsay said, attempting to defend her actions.
"I see. So you just hoped that the hearing would end on time, but your plan was to let Gus be taken to aftercare without a word to him about why you might be late?" Brian said, chastising Lindsay for her laissez-faire attitude.
"But, I ...."
"Save it for someone who cares. Despite the restraining order being lifted, I will be picking him up from school on Fridays. I don't trust that you and your she-wolf won't try to thwart my access to my son," Brian said, informing Lindsay of his intentions. Looking at Gus who was sitting at the table quietly eating his apple, he recognized that he was angry. He was angry at Lindsay and Melanie for filing false reports to keep him from his son. He was angry at Lindsay for taking advantage of their friendship. He was angry that he was placed in a position to fight for what was rightfully his; access to his son. Lastly, he was angry at Lindsay for showing up at Debbie's and bringing this legal mess up in front of Gus. No child should have to hear their parents argue about whose turn it is to pick up their child or who should be allowed to see the child.
"Gus, finish your apple and put your plate in the sink. Thank you Debbie for picking him up. I appreciate you rearranging your day to help me out. If it is okay with you, I'll drop him off right before Sunday dinner," Brian said, continuing to ignore Lindsay.
Debbie could feel the tension and anger in Brian's voice. She didn't like to see Brian and Lindsay at such odds between them but understood why Brian was angry. She had spoken to Brian last week, deciding that she believed his version of events. After talking to Gus on the way home from school as well as listening to him last Sunday, she knew the girls were weaving tales of woe.
"I'm proud of you, Brian. Now take that gorgeous boy somewhere he can eat. Unlike you, he doesn't have ridiculous rules about eating carbs. I'll see you Sunday."
Turning toward Lindsay, she said, "The three of you need to figure this out. Gus is a child, not an object to be used in your disagreements. It's obvious to me that he loves spending time with his father. I would think that you would encourage it instead of putting up roadblocks." She picked up the remote to her TV. "My favorite QVC show is coming on in 5 minutes." She turned toward the TV and clicked on the remote, tuning into the shopping channel.
"I'm ready, Dad," Gus said.
"Bye, Debbie," Brian said as he opened the door.
"Bye, Grandma," Gus said as he followed his father to his car.
"Where do you want to eat dinner?" Brian asked as they walked down the short walkway in front of Debbie's house.
"I guess I am hungry. Would the diner be okay? It probably would take a long time if we picked up the stuff to make burgers. Maybe we can go shopping after we eat."
"Not tonight. Justin is coming over at about 7:30. We can go shopping in the morning," Brian said.
Gus smiled widely. "Justin is coming over. That is awesome. We can talk about what we're going to do tomorrow," he said as he practically bounced to the car.
"Justin is coming so we can have another meeting. I usually try to go to a meeting at noon on Fridays, but today I had to go to court. I promise he won't be there every week."
"I don't mind if he's there every week. I like him."
"I like him too. He's helped me a lot. But Gus, I don't want to take advantage of his friendship. He has a life too." Brian got in the car and waited until Gus put his backpack on the floor in the back seat and sat down to put on his seat belt.
"Dad. He said that he doesn't mind spending time with us," Gus reminded Brian. "Dad, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Brian pulled away from the curb and turned the car toward the diner.
"Why do Mom and Momma get mad when you said you wouldn't give them money?"
TBC