Homecoming

*35*

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It's a Legal Matter, Baby

Brian

Another day, another bucket load of dollars into the pocket of my fucking lawyer. We're back here in the court and the judge isn't even trying to hide the fact that she's less than happy to see us here. In fact, she's making it pretty clear that she's pissed.

She's agreed to hold an informal meeting in her chambers due to the 'urgency of the case'. So there's the judge, Sam – the guy who handled the custody facilitation meeting, Linds and her lawyer, Ms. Hershell, Justin, Gus and I.

Ms. H. has got her shark look firmly in place, Lindsay's lawyer looks like she's got a bad smell under her nose (she's probably regretting ever getting involved – I know to my cost that some clients just aren't worth the grief), Justin is all sweet little blond WASP on the surface, and seething with frustration underneath and my poor Sonnyboy is sitting on his Dus's knee, hanging on like his life depends on it.

Meanwhile, Linds is alternating between sniveling into a tissue and giving what she thinks are surreptitious glares at the three of us – especially Justin. Bet she blames him for us being here. Well, in some ways she may be right, because without him I mightn't have had the balls to do what I know was the right thing – blocking any chance Mel might have had of getting access to Gus and fucking with his head any more than she has already.

I don't want permanent custody of Gus. I honestly believe that he needs to be with Linds. She's been the one constant in his life since he's been born, and I think he needs that consistency to continue; the last thing I want is my Sonnyboy to grow up questioning why, if she loved him, his mother would have suddenly given him away. But right now I don't trust Lindsay; and what's worse, I don't think Gus trusts her either. More than anything the poor fucking kid needs to feel safe and secure right now, and judging by the way he's burrowing his face into his Dus's neck like he's planning never to be pried loose, we're the ones who make him feel that way.

I don't really want him here because I think this is going to get ugly, but the judge ignores all Lindsay's ploys for attention and focuses on Gus right off.

 

*****
 

Justin

Lindsay is pissing me off like you wouldn't believe, and I really want to tear into her, but I can't do that with Gus here. So I bite my tongue like a good little WASP boy and concentrate on trying to keep calm and positive so that Gus won't get any more anxious than he is already. He's holding onto me really tightly, and at the same time, he's kind of stretched his foot over so that it's resting on Brian's thigh, like he needs to have some kind of physical contact with Brian as well. Brian has his hand over it and every now and again he gives the foot a little squeeze. I'm not sure he even knows that he's doing it, but the judge notices because I see her smiling at him.

Sam, the facilitator guy, leans forward and says something to her. She nods and, switching the smile to Gus, says in a soft warm kind of voice that is really different from what I'd expected, "So, Gus. Did you have a good time with your Daddy yesterday?"

He turns his head a little and kind of peeks at her over his shoulder while he nods shyly.

"I understand it was your Daddy's birthday. Did you have cake?"

This time the nod is more vigorous and he turns around to face her properly.

Brian gives another squeeze to his foot and reaches out to ruffle his hair. "Gus made the cake," he announces and he's seriously kidding himself if he thinks that everyone in the room doesn't pick up on the whole "proud Dad" thing.

The judge smiles and says, "Well. That was very clever."

"Dus helped," Gus ventures.

"Did he? Well, I'm sure you two had fun making the cake."

Gus nods enthusiastically this time, and starts to tell her how he designed the decorations, and why he chose the things he did to put on the cake.

It's all kind of hard to follow but the judge nods in the right places and then, when he finally runs down a little, says, "Would you like to stay with your Daddy for a little longer? For a few more days, perhaps?"

Gus looks a little anxious. "And Dus?" he asks.

I can't help but give him a little hug.

"Yes," the judge smiles at us both. "And your Dus."

Gus looks thoughtful. "And not Moma?" he asks.

"He means Ms. Marcus," Lindsay's lawyer leaps in to clarify.

"No, not Moma," the judge confirms. "Not even your Mommy. Just Daddy and Dus. Would you like that, Gus?"

Gus smiles; the sweet Kinney smile that hardly anyone but Gus and I ever gets to see on the older Kinney, and looking up at her through his ridiculously long thick lashes, whispers, "Yes." Then he quickly adds, "Please."

Not six years old yet, and already he knows how to use his looks to charm and beguile. Fuck knows what he's going to be like when he's older.

The judge turns her smile on me. "Mr. Taylor, I don't wish in any way to exclude you from these discussions, but since Gus has made his views quite clear, perhaps he'd be happier waiting elsewhere while we work out the details."

She sees my hesitation and goes on, "I could have an officer of the court watch him if you'd prefer."

I share a look with Brian. He looks torn and I feel the same. On the one hand, I really do want to get Gus out of here before Linds starts venting any of her spite. As it is, she's started to butt in a couple of times, and only her lawyer's reminders have kept her quiet. But on the other hand, I feel like I kind of need to stay and protect Brian. I know that's dumb, but it's how I feel.

But it all works out okay.

The judge presses a buzzer on her desk and a young woman comes in. Gay as I am, even I have to admit she's a real stunner – tall, with long, long legs and shiny dark hair that's cut beautifully to fall naturally around an amazing face, all cheekbones and dark eyes above a generous mouth that looks as if it's made for laughter.

She smiles at Gus as if he's the only one in the room, and he smiles right back at her. I can hardly blame him. It's almost like a reverse Brian Kinney effect. Brian can make straight guys think about bending a little, and this woman makes even gays and little boys take notice.

"Hi, Gus," she says. "I'm Jenny. Would you like to come sit with me for a little while?"

After checking with his Dad to make sure it's okay, and extracting a promise that neither Brian nor I will leave without him, Gus goes off with her happily enough. As they leave the room I hear him tell her, "I made my Daddy's birthday cake."

So that leaves Brian and me to deal with the judge. And with Lindsay who doesn't look all that thrilled that I'm still here.

"Now," the judge says, getting down to business. "We're here because Mr. Kinney has notified the court that he wishes to file an Emergency Custody Order for Gus. Mr. Kinney, perhaps you'd like to explain why you felt that was necessary."

Beside me, I feel Brian's tension. It's almost matched by the sheer malevolence that's radiating from Lindsay. Brian looks at me for a moment and then gives me a sharp little nod, as if he's reassured by that look that he's doing the right thing.

 

*****
 

Brian

I take a deep breath and take the plunge. This isn't going to be pretty, boys and girls.

"I'm concerned that Lindsay is in a situation where, to get agreement over the other child she has with Ms. Marcus, she'll trade off access to Gus. I don't think Gus wants, or needs to see Melanie … Ms. Marcus … at the moment. I think it will only upset him just when he's starting to feel some security again."

I take another steadying breath and try to think of this as a pitch. I can do this.

"We have ownership on the new house now and can move in there immediately. Gus has seen the house and he's already picked out his room, so he will have his own space and it's not that far from the school he's supposed to start at this week.

"We …we're not expecting that this will be a permanent arrangement, but until things are a little more settled, Justin and I both feel that we can offer him the best chance of stability at the moment."

Okay. That wasn't too fucking "aggressive". Ms. H. warned me about that; read me the fucking riot act in fact. Threatened to take my remaining ball if I didn't keep calm and not come across as being vindictive or a bully. Which means that I can't just come out and say that I'm not going to fucking stand aside anymore and let Linds use Gus as a pawn in the fucked up games she plays with Melanie.

The judge nods, and then turns to Lindsay who is concentrating her glare on me now.

But the judge is giving Lindsay an equally dirty look – she's looking at her like Linds just farted noisily in church. And her tone of voice matches the look. She might have been sweet as sugar syrup with Gus, but now she's pure vinegar.

"In what way, Ms. Petersen, was my ruling that Ms. Marcus was to have no contact with Gus except with the approval of, and under the supervision of, this court in any way unclear?"

Lindsay's lawyer goes to say something, but the judge cuts her off. "This is an informal meeting. I would appreciate a response from Ms. Petersen herself."

"You don't understand," Lindsay snivels.

By the look on his face, this little play for sympathy just makes Justin want to slap her, and a glance at the judge makes me think she maybe feels the same way.

"She will only let me see Jenny if I let her see Gus," Lindsay wails.

The judge simply shrugs. "The situation with your daughter is an unfortunate one that needs to be sorted out through your lawyers – possibly in the Canadian courts since Ms. Marcus is likely to be granted citizenship following her marriage.

"What you need to recognize and accept, however, is that decisions about when and where or even if, Ms. Marcus sees Gus are no longer solely yours to make."

"But Gus is mine," Lindsay wails louder.

"And Mr. Kinney's," the judge says dryly. "And to some extent Mr. Taylor's also. "Even more crucially," she says in a voice that makes me think of glaciers and ice floes, "Gus is currently subject to a number of rulings by the courts, which include my own ruling that Ms. Marcus be given only court-supervised access to Gus, and an injunction issued by Judge Davies in the form of a temporary restraining order prohibiting Ms. Marcus from in any way approaching, or attempting to contact, either Gus, Mr. Kinney or Mr. Taylor. Are you asserting that you were unaware of either of these rulings?"

Lindsay glances at her lawyer and then shakes her head.

The judge nods, as if she's glad Lindsay at least had enough sense not to try to deny that she knew about all this shit.

Then she asks, even more icily, "Do you have any explanation why you were prepared to assist Ms. Marcus in flouting both the temporary restraining order, and my ruling?"

At that Lindsay pauses in her sniveling to glare at Justin. "If Justin had just let us …" she starts.

But again the judge cuts her off. "Mr. Taylor seems to have acted entirely appropriately, in accordance with these various rulings. And I believe he also acted in Gus' best interests."

She sits back for a moment and looks at Lindsay who's still sniffling into a tissue, and then delivers the body blow. "I'm not in any way convinced, Ms. Petersen that you had even considered whether seeing Ms. Marcus was in Gus' best interests. Everything that you've said so far indicates that you have only been concerned with your own interests – even if those were being pursued at Gus' expense."

Lindsay really does start crying then, all the while protesting that we just don't understand, and wailing about how Melanie will never let her see JR, and all that shit. But she's also getting angry, because all her wailing and whining isn't cutting any ice with anyone in this room except maybe her lawyer, who is doing her best to persuade her to try to control herself.

What's interesting, though, is that for once, I'm not feeling my usual "how can I make it better?" reaction to Lindsay's performance.

Maybe that's because this time she's just gone too fucking far. Or maybe it's because in some weird-assed way I do actually feel more responsible for Gus since I found out that legally I still have my paternal rights. Ever since I signed that damned bit of paper I've kind of felt powerless, so it was easier just to let Mel and Lindsay do whatever. I mean, they were going to anyway, so why fight it? I tried over the whole Canada thing and Linds just threw all my attempts to stay out of their way while they were the parents back in my face; she effectively told me that I'd pretty much neglected Gus. Like I had any fucking choice. I wouldn't have had to worry about getting testicular cancer, that's for sure. Mel would have had both my balls years ago if I'd been there every fucking weekend, demanding to spend time with my Sonnyboy and all that shit.

But things are different now. They just are; and all I know is that this time I have to really be the kind of father that I think Gus deserves. Or at least try to be. And that means that Lindsay's needs and wants are going to have to take a backseat to what Gus needs, and what Gus wants.

She's not going to like that. She'll probably never fucking forgive me. But that's just too fucking bad, because my Sonnyboy has to come first.

 

*****
 

Justin

Lindsay doesn't seem to realize it, but everything she's doing or saying is just hammering more nails into her own coffin at the moment.

The judge is obviously pissed, Sam doesn't look too sympathetic, her lawyer looks like she wishes she were somewhere else, Ms. Hershell looks like she wants to give Linds an award for just handing us everything we need on a platter, Brian, for once, seems immune, and I'm just taking notes on how harsh and unattractive her face looks when all of the "sweet little blonde girl" bullshit is swept aside.

Finally, though, the judge seems to figure she's heard enough. After a look at Sam, who's another one who doesn't seem at all impressed by Lindsay's performance, she says, "Well, it's quite clear to me that at the moment Gus is going to be better off with his father."

Lindsay gets up and starts to say something, but while her lawyer is trying to get her to sit down again and shut up, the judge simply says, "Ms. Petersen, I've asked you for an explanation of your decision to flout my previous rulings, and the only justification you can come up with is that you believed it was acceptable to trade access to Gus for access to your other child. This being the case, it seems quite clear that, since you're so willing to ignore rulings by the Pennsylvania Courts, you certainly can't be trusted to keep the custody agreements that have been reached. So I am awarding a temporary custody order to Mr. Kinney and Mr. Taylor. They are both to have legal status as Gus' guardians for the next month. At that time we will review.

"You will be permitted …" another glance at Sam, and he talks quietly into her ear for a moment, before she goes on, "two one hour visits per week, which will be supervised either by Mr. Kinney, Mr. Taylor, or by an officer of this court should you prefer. At no time will you have unsupervised access to Gus, since I believe that you are a possible flight risk."

Lindsay's really angry now; she's leaning over the judge's desk, trying to say something about, "You can't do this", but she's so angry she can hardly get the words out.

Her lawyer's nearly having conniptions.

The judge stands up and says very quietly, but with that kind of absolute authority that just cuts through every other sound, "Ms. Petersen, I suggest that you calm down and listen to your lawyer. Any further instance of you questioning my authority and, informal hearing or not, I will have you cited on contempt of court charges. Is that clear?"

Lindsay's lawyer makes all the right noises and Linds finally sits down. She can't seem to believe what's happened.

What the fuck did she think?

That the courts would just turn a blind eye to her behavior?

Or that they wouldn't find out because after we'd gone through all this shit with the court just to be sure that we can see Gus regularly, we'd then just stand aside and let her ignore everything that had been agreed so she could get a deal with Melanie over JR?

I so don't think so.

If that's what she really believed then she's even more fucked in the head than I thought.

Anyway, the judge leaves now, and Sam kind of takes over.

He tells us that there will be paperwork we need to sign, and that it will be ready in half an hour. Then he gives a quick glance at Lindsay and says, "I think that it would be best if you took Gus for a walk while the paperwork is being prepared, and Ms. Petersen can have a little time to collect her thoughts. "If she's calm enough, perhaps we can then allow her a few minutes to say 'goodbye' to Gus for now." He doesn't raise his voice or anything, but there's no mistaking the threat in that "if she's calm enough".

Clearly, if he doesn't believe that Lindsay is calm enough to behave herself he's not planning on letting her anywhere near Gus.

Meanwhile, Lindsay's lawyer is jabbering in her ear, and Ms. Hershell is standing up, and saying something about staying around long enough to look over the paperwork before we sign.

Fuck!

How did this happen?

In about half an hour we're going to have full time custody of Gus for at least a month.

I can't believe it.

Part of me is terrified and part of me is so excited I kind of want to start dancing around.

And Brian …

Brian just looks kind of shell-shocked.

I reach out and touch his hand, and he stares at me for a moment and then gives one of his tongue in cheek smirks and says, "Well, Dus, I guess we'd better get things moving. We've got a shitload of work to get through today if we're going to get the house ready to live in sometime in the next couple of days."

I bump against his arm with my shoulder, and grin at him.

Then we go to find Gus.

On the way out I catch Lindsay glaring at us both, but when she catches my eye her eyes become really cold and hard.

Fuck!

Like Brian said to me one time, we seem to have made a real enemy here today.

But I can't see that we really had any other choice. Linds is just totally out of control and not thinking clearly, and it's Gus's emotional well-being that's at stake here.

Maybe she needs some counseling or something so she can see that.

Meanwhile, all we can do is try to do our best for Gus. Because he's the one who really counts.



Author's Note: The title of this one comes from an old song by the Who. I thought this part at least was kind of appropriate:

I told you why I changed my mind
I got bored by playing with time
I know you thought you had me nailed
But I've freed my head from your garden rails

Now it's a legal matter, baby
You got me on the run
It's a legal matter, baby
A legal matter from now on

It's a Legal Matter: Pete Townsend
 

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