Custody

Part 2

Brian sat across the desk from his lawyer. Tom Gabriel was an excellent attorney, just the man to have on his side in this custody shit. Alan was looking through papers and then he glanced up at Brian and held his gaze.

"This is going to be dicey," Tom said.

"How so?"

"You gave up your parental rights of your own free will. Getting them back is going to be tricky."

"But things have changed," Brian protested. "I have changed."

"That may be so, but unless you can show that there are new circumstances affecting the welfare of your son, I don't think you stand a chance."

"What about the kidnapping and how Melanie handled it?" Brian asked. He didn't like the sound of this at all.

"That will carry some weight, but not as much as you might think. She'll argue that she did what she thought best. That the outcome went the wrong way was not entirely her fault."

"What about the fact that Lindsay and Melanie are no longer a couple? I gave up my rights to help them stay together."

"You did?"

"Yes, even though I didn't say it in so many words."

"We can certainly use that to our advantage. Can anyone corroborate that?"

"Justin."

"Your partner?"

"Yes, in fact he sort of showed me the way."

"Okay," Tom said slowly. "I think we may have a shot. Let's go ahead then."

"Good," Brian said standing and shaking Tom's hand.

"I'll let you know when they schedule us in court."

"Thanks," Brian said as he left the office. This was going to be a lot harder than he had thought.

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Weeks went by and Gus seemed to be doing better. He would go on the slides if someone was standing at the bottom waiting for him. The nightmares seemed to be disappearing. He would go for a week or more without having one. The therapist was a little concerned that he wouldn't talk about his time in Sicily, but it was almost like that period no longer existed in Gus' mind.

Things were sort of back to normal until one day all the participants got their notification to appear in court for the petitioning of Brian Kinney to restore his rights as the legal father of Gus Marcus-Peterson.

Melanie went ballistic when she read the document. She had steadfastly refused to meet with Brian's lawyer in spite of repeated requests. She had simply stated that she was the legal parent of Gus and she had no intention of sharing that or relinquishing it to an asshole like Brian Kinney. When she had heard no more for Brian for a while she had assumed he had given up, but apparently not.

Her tirade to Lindsay on the phone did little to convince Lindsay to be on her side. That was especially true after Melanie reminded her that Brian had been her last choice as Gus' father and that she had always known he was an unscrupulous bastard. Lindsay had hung up on Melanie at that point knowing she would never convince the woman otherwise.

Thus the combatants headed for court one fall day.

After preliminary statements from both lawyers the judge gave some directions to all the participants. She told them that this would be an informal setting and that she would direct most of the questioning. "I understand that attempts to reach an agreement about this matter were turned down by Ms Marcus. Is that correct?" Judge Andrea Whittaker asked having finished setting up the guidelines for the conduct of the case.

"Yes, your honor," Melanie replied.

"May I ask why?" the judge said frowning.

Melanie sighed and then began to answer the judge's question. "It's a long standing problem between Mr. Kinney and myself that led to that decision," Melanie began. "I never wanted him to be the father of our child, but Lindsay insisted and I was forced to allow him into our lives."

"But you must have realized that having a child fathered by Mr. Kinney placed him squarely in your lives for many years to come," the judge continued.

"Not necessarily."

"How so, Ms Marcus?"

"Mr. Kinney is a promiscuous, philandering, uncaring … person," Melanie said choosing her words very carefully and avoiding calling Brian the asshole that she knew he was. "When he agreed to be the father of our baby, he said he wanted no part in the child's life. The extent of his involvement came in a paper cup."

"Is that correct, Mr. Kinney?" the judge asked.

Brian nodded. "At the time I was not the least bit interested in being a father. I was happy to help Lindsay, but the baby would be theirs."

"That's very direct," the judge observed. "So what are we doing here?"

"Things have changed," Brian said simply.

"I guess that's what we're going to find out about."

"I hope so," Brian muttered.

"So, Mr. Kinney, why don't you tell me what has changed?"

"I have a much more active role in my son's life. I see him almost every weekend and every couple of weeks he sleeps over at the loft."

"And this never happened before?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Brian glanced at Lindsay who shrugged and then at Melanie who glared at him. That glare sealed her fate. "Gus' mothers are no longer together," Brian said evenly.

"Is that correct, Ms Marcus?"

"Yes," Melanie spat out.

"Then I guess that does change things somewhat," the judge observed.

"There's also the fact the Ms Marcus has a child of her own now," Brian added.

"And you're not the father, Mr. Kinney?"

"Christ no!" Brian's face contorted in disgust at the thought. "Excuse me, your honor," Brian hastily added realizing what he had said.

The judge gave him a withering look, but then asked, "And how have you seen this change the dynamic with your son?"

"Ms Marcus has much less time for Gus. Her life is completely wrapped up in her daughter," Brian said.

"Objection, your honor," Melanie's lawyer said. Melanie was clutching her lawyer's arm practically rising out of her chair with the need to refute what Brian was saying.

"I will hear your client's version of these affairs in a moment, Mr. Kingston. Continue, Mr. Kinney."

"You may know that Gus was recently kidnapped." The judge nodded very familiar with the high profile case. "As it turned out it was because of one of Ms Marcus' legal clients that my son was kidnapped."

"Ms Marcus can hardly be held responsible for the actions of a gangster family," Mr. Kingston interrupted.

"Perhaps not, but they were out to get her to throw the case, if I remember correctly," Judge Whittaker stated. "How did this affect matters with your son?"

"When we finally found him, without any help from Ms Marcus I might add, she refused to accompany us to Europe so that Gus would have his legal guardians with him. Luckily we were able to get him back without her help."

"And why did you refuse to accompany them, Ms Marcus?" the judge asked.

"I had a daughter of barely nine months of age. I was still nursing her. I could hardly leave her with strangers while I rushed off to Europe," Melanie said trying to defend herself.

"Perhaps not, but did you make any effort to help?" Brian's lawyer asked.

Melanie glared at Tom Gabriel and refused to answer.

"Is that all, Mr. Kinney?"

"When we brought Gus back he refused to go to Ms Marcus. He seems very reserved and strained around her. It's like he knows she didn't protect him," Brian added.

"That's an out and out lie," Melanie screamed. "Gus has gotten used to me. He kisses me and hugs me. You can't prove that he doesn't love me!"

"Mr. Kinney did not say that Gus does not love you. Please sit down and restrain yourself. This kind of outburst is not helping your case."

Melanie slumped back into her seat shaking her head. Her lawyer whispered something in her ear and she nodded looking calmer.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Kinney?"

Brian had been instructed by his lawyer to make a final statement about why he was needed in Gus' life and why he wanted Gus in his. "I just want to add, your honor, that Gus needs a father and I am prepared to act in that capacity. I might not have been ready to be his father when he was born, but I certainly am now. I know Lindsay will always give me access to my son, but I would like to have some legal standing in the matter. After the experience with the kidnapping and not being a legal guardian for Gus when we tried to bring him back, I began to understand how difficult that lack of authority can be. I never want to be in that position again."

"Thank you, Mr. Kinney. Frankly, I have no reason to believe that you should not have legal standing as Gus' father. You're not trying to deny Ms Marcus' rights to her son, are you?"

"No, your honor," Brian said. "Although I wouldn't mind," Brian whispered to his lawyer.

"Did you say something, Mr. Kinney?" the judge asked with a frown. Brian shook his head. He better keep his mouth shut when things seemed to be going his way. "Why are you so adamant that Mr. Kinney's rights not be reinstated, Ms Marcus?"

"Because he's a complete ass…" Melanie bit off the word she wanted to use. "Mr. Kinney is a complete egotist," she rephrased. "He leads a hedonistic, narcissistic and totally promiscuous lifestyle. He would be a bad influence on any child."

"Is that true, Mr. Kinney?"

"It used to be," Brian admitted, "but I have changed my lifestyle. I have a partner and a … relationship."

"Did you know this, Ms Marcus?"

"So he says," Melanie scoffed.

"And does Gus get along with your partner?"

"Yes, he loves Justin, probably more than he loves Melanie."

"How can you say such a thing, you…?" Melanie looked ready to explode.

"Ms Marcus, control yourself," the judge admonished.

"Sorry, your honor, but that simply is not true."

"I rarely see this level of animosity between two people who want custody of the same child, and you're not even the biological parents. I would like to find some common ground, an amicable way of settling this."

"Not if it involves Kinney getting his rights back. I don't want him having any part in Gus' life."

"You don't get to make that determination, Ms Marcus. I do."

Melanie looked at the floor. She really needed to control her temper.

"I think we have covered most of the background of this case. Tomorrow I will allow the participants to take the stand and be cross examined. If you have any character witnesses or other information, please have them here at the ready. As soon as that is complete I will speak with the child. As the custodial parent, Ms Peterson, please have the child here when I request it."

"Yes, your honor," Lindsay replied.

"This court stands in recess," the judge proclaimed getting up to leave.

"I think that went well, Brian," Tom said as the judge disappeared into her chambers. "You handled yourself very well. And Melanie's outbursts only serve to give the judge a bad impression of her and her claims."

"I didn't think it would be quite so easy to push Melanie's buttons," Brian smirked watching the animated whispers passing between Melanie and her lawyer. "She's shitting a brick right now."

"Don't gloat, Brian. This is far from over."

"They look like they're cooking something up," Brian said watching the interaction between the lawyer and Melanie.

"I'm sure they have a strategy all mapped out."

"They're going to try to crucify me, aren't they?"

"In all likelihood."

"What can we do?"

"We tell the truth and have witnesses who can refute anything they say. Lindsay and Justin will probably be the most important ones."

Melanie stood and shook her lawyer's hand. As she started out of the courtroom she stopped at Brian's table. "You really are one fucking son of a bitch. I can't believe what you said about me. Gus loves me. I'm his mother."

"And I'm his father," Brian retorted.

"That remains to be seen." With that Melanie strode from the courtroom.

Lindsay came up beside Brian. "I hate it when she gets like that."

"How the fuck did you put up with her all those years?"

"Believe it or not we loved each other."

"Do you think she'll bring up the Sam Auerbach thing?" Brian asked.

"I don't know, but she's capable of anything when she's cornered."

"Fuck!"