“In the case of Marcus-Peterson v Kinney, is everyone present?”

“Mitchell Wilson, you honor, for the plaintiffs, Melanie Marcus and Lindsay Peterson.”

“Mark Cavanaugh, for the defendant Brian Kinney, your honor.”

“Please be seated.” Judge Fox looked through the papers on her desk, describing what the hearing before her was about, although she had already read through them before she came in. “I see here that your clients, Mr. Wilson, are seeking to overturn an earlier ruling that enabled Mr. Kinney to retain his parental rights to the minor, Gus Kinney-Peterson. Is that correct?”

“Yes your honor.”

“On what grounds?”

“My clients want it on the record they believe that Mr. Kinney is an unfit role model for his son. Ms. Marcus also wishes to adopt the minor, Gus Kinney-Peterson, now that she is in a committed relationship with his biological mother, Lindsay Peterson. Also, I would like it on record that, before Ms. Peterson became pregnant, and during the time that she was pregnant, it was always the agreement that Mr. Kinney would sign away his rights to the child.”

“If that is the case, Ms. Wilson, why is Mr. Kinney listed on the birth certificate as father, not to mention why does the child have Mr. Kinney’s last name?”

“I don’t know, you honor. That is something that only my clients can answer.”

“And are your clients present, Mr. Wilson?” The attorney squirmed a bit.

“Unfortunately your honor, my clients had previous engagements that could not be changed on such short notice. Ms. Peterson is a manager of a major art gallery in the city and had to be present to supervise arrival of numerous pieces of art today. Ms. Marcus is an attorney at my law firm and had meetings with various clients today and also could not be called away.”

“And yet it appears that Mr. Kinney has managed to arrive for the hearing, and I believe he had even shorter notice than your clients, is that not true Mr. Cavanaugh?”

“Yes, your Honor,” Mark replied, standing. “Even though he is the owner of an up and coming advertising agency, and had in fact had a meeting that could net his agency a multi-million dollar contract, Mr. Kinney, as well as his partner Mr. Justin Taylor, both managed to rearrange their schedules to be here today. They felt it was in the best interest of the child to do so.”

“I see. Well, going over the papers that you presented to me, Mr. Wilson, I can’t see any real reason to overturn the previous ruling granting Mr. Kinney his parental rights. From everything I’ve read, Mr. Kinney has supported his son both before and after he had signed those papers, not to mention the fact that, regardless of whatever arrangements might have been made, he is listed on the child’s birth certificate as father, as well as the minor having his last name.”

“I understand your honor.”

“Now, as to the matter of visitation, I see that your clients are asking that Mr. Kinney only be allowed supervised visitation, once a week for one hour at a time, is that correct.”

“Yes your Honor.”

“Mr. Cavanaugh, I take it your client wishes to contest this?”

“Yes your Honor. Mr. Kinney would like be able to see his son on the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, or if possible, he would like to have his son both days. He would like the court to make an official ruling on visitation, at least for the duration of the custody hearing, so that the plaintiff’s will not be able to keep his son away from him, which is something that they have a history of doing.”

“Let’s save that for arguments. Mr. Wilson, what are your clients reasons for wanting to limit Mr. Kinney’s presence around the minor?”

“There are many reasons, your Honor. To begin with, they are afraid of the influence Mr. Kinney may hold over his son. The defendant is well-known within the homosexual community as being rather promiscuous. In fact, when the bars and backrooms of some of the various clubs along Liberty Avenue were close during the Mayoral Election by then Police Chief Stockwell, the defendant turned his own home, the home where his son has stayed, into a den of sex. And that is just one example.”

“Your Honor, we are talking about something that occurred almost two years ago, and Gus wasn’t present at the time so there was no influence over him,” Mark interrupted. “Besides, Mr. Kinney’s reputation along Liberty Avenue may be well known, but it is also outdated.”

“You’ll have your turn to state your case, Mr. Cavanaugh. Please continue Mr. Wilson.”

“As I was saying, Mr. Kinney has no shame in his sexual escapades. In fact, both Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson have gone to Mr. Kinney’s home and been exposed to his sexual antics. They are concerned that their son may too be subjected to said activities.”

“Is that their only concern Mr. Wilson?”

No your honor. They also believe that Mr. Kinney’s home is an unsuitable place for a child to spend time, let alone over night.”

“And why is that?”

“Mr. Kinney owns a loft apartment. One that has only one bedroom that is open for all too see. There is no privacy or separate room for the child. Also, my clients stated that, at times, Mr. Kinney’s home seems to have company coming at any time, many just entering his home without knocking, or not waiting for him to open the door.”

“I see, go on.”

“And last, my clients’ major concern is that Mr. Kinney may be poisoning their son’s mind against them and his younger sister. Just this past weekend, Mr. Kinney removed the minor from his own birthday party without letting anyone know, including my clients. And since his return Monday afternoon, my clients said that he has refused to leave his room, except to eat and go to school. They are afraid of what might happen if Mr. Kinney is allowed prolonged visitation.”

“It seems that your clients have valid concerns. Mr. Cavanaugh what does your client have to say?”

“First your honor, I would like to address the points that my opponent has brought up. In regards to Mr. Kinney’s sexual practices, while he will not deny that in the past he was promiscuous, he has never made a secret of this fact, he has never exposed his bedroom antics to his son. In fact, the one time that Ms. Peterson had brought his son over while he had someone there; he did not allow that person to be near the child. Mr. Kinney on the other hand has seen instances where Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus were, for lack of a better term, extremely affectionate in front of the minor.

“As for Mr. Kinney’s sexual partners now, I have an affidavit from Mr. Kinney stating that, as for the past five months, the only sexual partner he has had is Justin Taylor.” A gasp the gallery is the only response to that, but a warning look from the judge has Justin remain quiet.

“That certainly seems a change from the image that has been presented to me. Is there a reason for this seemingly out of character behavior, Mr. Kinney?”

“Your honor, I’ve done a lot of things in my life that, looking back now, I’m not proud of. My life has gone through a lot of changes in the past two years and one of those changes was getting Justin Taylor back in my life after I had lost him. And, with him by my side, I was able to see that I didn’t need to prove that I was the biggest stud in Pittsburgh, especially as long as I had him by my side. I won’t say that I won’t screw up and trick again, I would be lying if I said I could, but I have realized that, as long as Justin is with me, I don’t need anyone else.”

“Sounds like you discovered something very important, Mr. Kinney. Congratulations to both of you.”

“Thank you, your Honor.”

“Continue Mr. Cavanaugh.”

“As for MS. Peterson and Ms. Marcus being exposed to Mr. Kinney’s past sexual activities. In all instances, the only reason the Plaintiff’s were exposed to anything at all was that they barged into Mr. Kinney’s home, without knocking or calling ahead. In fact, both Plaintiffs have made it a point to interrupted Mr. Kinney in his home. They have made it a practice to arrive at his home, entering without having the courtesy of knocking, no matter the time, to ask for his help. In fact, it’s not just his home that they have barged into. I have witnesses that state that Ms. Marcus walked into the locker room of the Liberty Gym, an all male gym, searching for Mr. Kinney when she was having problems with Ms. Peterson. I also have an affidavit from the owner of a local Hollywood Tans Tanning Salon that states that Ms. Marcus threatened him with bodily harm if he didn’t tell him which room Mr. Kinney was in. This time it was because Ms. Marcus was upset because Ms. Peterson wanted to call off their wedding.

“As for Mr. Kinney’s apartment. Yes it is a loft. But, saying that his son has no privacy or a room to call his own isn’t correct. Mr. Kinney, with Mr. Taylor’s help, has constructed a room for his son. Also, Mr. Kinney is currently looking for a house that would allow his son to have greater freedom, including a backyard. And he has already taken steps to prevent people from just entering his home. Over the weekend, my client arranged to have the locks to his home changed, the only person having a key being Mr. Taylor, and myself. The lock on his door also is automatic, meaning that it locks upon closing. And he has arranged with his building manager to change the code to the front door of his building to prevent people from coming upstairs without being announced first.”

“What about the Plaintiff’s accusations of your client poisoning the minor’s mind against them? Not to mention his removing the child from his home without his mother’s knowledge?”

“Your Honor the day in question was this past Saturday and was the child’s party for his fourth birthday. My client and Mr. Taylor arrived at the Plaintiff’s home, only to find Gus wandering out front with no one watching him. When asked why he wasn’t with everyone else, my client was told by his son that no one wanted him and that they were all ‘acting like Annie was the one with the birthday and that no one loves me’ to quote Gus. In fact, I was present at Mr. Kinney’s home when Ms. Peterson called to ask if their son was there, and that was after my client had had him for over two hours. While my client understands that it would have been a good idea to inform either of the Plaintiffs that he was taking his son, his only concern at the time was making sure his son was okay.

“As for my client poisoning his son’s mind, nothing can be further from the truth. If anyone is guilty of trying to poison the child’s mind, it would be Ms. Marcus. I have spoken to the child, in the presence of both his father and Mr. Taylor, and was told that it was a common occurrence for Ms. Marcus to bad mouth my client in front of the child. I have also talked to others that have witnessed Ms. Marcus yelling about Mr. Kinney in front of his son, often using profanity to describe him. Studies have proven time and time again that that kind of negativity towards one parent is bound to affect the child. And from all of my research, things have only been getting worse since the birth of Ms. Marcus’s daughter, Annie Novatny. It appears that Mr. Kinney’s son is slowly, but surely, being pushed aside in favor of the new child.

“And I just want to state one more thing. While Mr. Kinney might have been wrong to take his son away from his home this past Saturday, there is no actual custody agreement in place and he does have a right to see his son. Ms. Marcus on the other hand removed the child from his father’s home when he was still an infant because she did not like the fact that Mr. Taylor had been left to baby-sit. While this might not seem like a major problem considering her relationship with the child’s biological mother, at the time, Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson were separated, thus Ms. Marcus had no legal rights to the child at the time and could have been charged with kidnapping. Something which Mr. Kinney refused to do, even though I told him otherwise.”

“Is that everything, Mr. Cavanaugh?”

“Yes your Honor. Thank you.”

“All right. I’ll take everything I’ve heard into consideration in my chambers. We’ll adjourn for thirty minutes and then I will make my decision.”

“All rise.”