“I see your very important meeting got canceled,” Wilson said as he shut the door behind him, not wanting the other attorneys in the office to overhear their conversation.

“What meeting?”

“You remember. The meeting with a client that was so important that there was no way you could cancel it in order to go to the hearing,” he reminded her. “The hearing that you insisted was so damn important that it had to be done as soon as possible.”

“Oh that meeting,” Melanie said, getting over her shock at Wilson’s outburst. “I had a message waiting when I came in. Turns out that the client had to reschedule for tomorrow.”

“And you didn’t think that maybe you should go to the courthouse and let the judge hear your side of the case,” Wilson stated what he thought should have been the obvious. “Let her hear from you the reasons why you don’t think Brian Kinney should be allowed access to his son?”

“Honestly no,” Melanie admitted. “I had complete faith in you and you abilities in a courtroom and, with the things we had told you about Brian, Lindsay and I knew that you would have no problem in getting the judge to agree with us.”

“Well she didn’t.” At that pronouncement, Melanie went pale.

“What did you say?”

“I said that the judge didn’t see things your way, and considering what I found out, I can understand why,” Wilson told her, his anger at Melanie’s lack of disclosure coming out. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you took Gus away from Brian when he was still an infant and Lindsay had left him with Brian for the weekend?”

“I’m his mother,” Melanie argued. “I had every right to take Gus away from what I observed to be an unhealthy and dangerous situation.”

“You had no right to remove Gus from Me. Kinney’s home,” Wilson argued. “In fact, right no, you still have no right to do legally, but especially back then when you weren’t even with your partner. In a relationship I mean.”

“So?”

“So? That means that he could have charged you with kidnapping if he wanted, which his lawyer had told him is exactly what he should have done,” he told her coldly. “And he would have had a damn good case against you too.”

“I was only looking out for Gus and what was best for him and that’s to be as far away from his so-called father as possible,” Melanie defended, not liking the way her actions were being called into question. “And besides, that happened almost four years ago. What bearing does that have now?”

“About the same as Mr. Kinney’s promiscuity.”

“What?”

“Well, according to an affidavit which was entered into the court papers, Brian Kinney hasn’t had sex with anyone other than Justin Taylor for the past five months.” Mel couldn’t help herself. She snorted in disbelief.

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Wilson countered. “Brian gave an interesting little speech that had the judge very impressed with him.”

“What kind of speech because there is no way in hell that Brian Kinney would ever be faithful to one person, even if we are talking about Justin Taylor,” Melanie argued, barely containing the laughter that wanted to come out at the thought of Brian Kinney being monogamous.

“The kind of speech that basically said that because of his responsibilities, like Gus, he grew up and part of his growing up included realizing that he didn’t need anyone other than Justin,” Wilson continued. “He also impressed the judge because he admitted that he might screw up and trick, but as of now, he had no plans to do so.”

“Shit, Brian ‘Fuck anything with a dick’ Kinney monogamous. Hell must have truly frozen over.” Melanie was quiet for a few minutes and Wilson chose not to say anything, seeing that she was trying to process what he had just told her. After a few minutes had passed Melanie appeared to have finally digested what she had been told, although a large part of her didn’t believe it.

“What was the judge’s decision?” Melanie asked. “What did she say about the visitation?”

“Brian gets Gus every weekend, at least until the actual custody hearing, which is in two months,” Wilson rushed out when he noticed Melanie’s anger was about to surface again.

“Every weekend,” she said, loud enough that it made Wilson glad that he had already shut the door when he had come in. “That’s bullshit. There is no way in hell that I’m going to allow that asshole to have my son overnight every weekend.”

“Actually, it will be three nights,”” Wilson explained. “Judge Fox ordered that Brian pick up Gus Friday evenings from your home and then drop him off Monday morning at his school.”

“Fuck. How am I supposed to tell Lindsay that we have to let Brian have Gus every weekend?”

“I don’t know but you’ll have to think of something,” Wilson told her. “And then you will need to find yourself a damn good lawyer.”

“What do you mean find a good lawyer?” Melanie asked in confusion. “What about you? Why can’t you represent us?”

“I told you in the very beginning, in fact I stressed to both you and Lindsay, that the two of you had to be honest with me,” Wilson explained. “I told both of you that I needed to know everything there was that Brian and his lawyer could use again you. I told you on Monday when you came to me after being served that Mark Cavanaugh us one of the best family law attorneys in the city, if not the state. He had taken cases that no one wanted because there were considered un-winnable and he managed to do the impossible. And I have to tell you honestly, just with the information that I found out at the hearing, that this case is anything bit impossible to win for them.”

“So? What you’re telling me is you’re not going to take this case because of Brian’s lawyer?”

“No, that s not why I’m not willing to help you,” Wilson said. “I’m not willing to help you because I can’t trust you and Lindsay to tell me everything and I’m not willing to have as a client someone I can’t trust. If you want me to, I can give you the names of a couple of good family attorneys that might be able to help you, but I suggest you help yourself and tell whoever represents you everything you can.”

“And what are you going to tell the other partners about why you are no longer representing me?” Melanie asked. “It’s not going to look good that you suddenly decided that you didn’t want to represent me.”

“The other partners all no better than to ask me about this case, no matter the situation. And, on the extremely off chance that they even think about you finding another attorney, they all know my case load is heavy right now, so they’ll probably assume that I don’t have the time to take on another case, which is the truth. The only reason I had even told you I would help you was because you’re a co-worker. For what it’s worth, I do wish you luck. I’ve seen you and your partner with your son and you’re a great mom.

“Thanks. Now I just have to convince a judge of that.”

Later that day

Melanie took in the scene in front of her, quietly observing the scene before her. Lindsay was sitting on the floor, Annie in her lap, as she and Gus drew a picture. It was the first time since they had picked the little boy up from school on Monday that she had seen him with a smile on his face. In fact, he had taken to spending the time in his room, only coming out when he had to for dinner or school, and even then he didn’t say anything.

“Hey guys, looks like you two are having fun,” Melanie said, as she put down her briefcase and began to remove her coat. Her happiness at finally seeing Gus playing vanished at the same time the smile on his face did.

“Mommy, can I go play in my room now?”

“Sure you can honey,” Lindsay told him, not missing the tension that had suddenly appeared in the room at her wife’s arrival. Lindsay didn’t know what she could do about it either since she wasn’t sure of the cause. Sure, she had her suspicions, but the blonde woman didn’t like to think about them for fear of realizing that Brian’s accusations had merit. Lindsay watched in sadness as Gus ran around Melanie, who had leaned down to kiss him.

“Well, I see that Kinney still has our son brainwashed into thinking that I’m the biggest bitch around,” Mel stated without waiting to see if Gus was out of the room yet, but Lindsay saw him and the look on his face.

“Mel, please, don’t say stuff like that,” Lindsay begged her wife. “It’s one of the main reasons that Brian thinks we’re bad parents to Gus?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Keep your voice down,” Lindsay snapped, standing up, Annie still in her arms. Melanie reached for her daughter and Lindsay handed her over. “And what I mean is that you didn’t even wait until Gus was out of the room before you began bad-mouthing Brian. And this isn’t the first time either. I have to wonder what kind of effect it has had on Gus. You saw how he was when he realized you were in the room.”

“So now you’re saying that I have to watch what I say in my own fucking house because Brian Kinney might get offended,” Melanie sneered. “Just another way that that fucking asshole can control our lives. What’s next? Is he going to tell me when I can make love to my wife, or maybe he would just prefer it if I just disappeared from Gus’s life all together.”

“Mel, don’t be like that,” Lindsay pleaded. “You know Brian doesn’t think that it would be better if you disappeared.”

“Then why is he suing for custody of Gus?” Lindsay didn’t answer. Knowing that whatever she said, her wife would take it the wrong way. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Brian Kinney has finally done something that you can’t condone. Or is it that you don’t mind that Brian wants to be more of a father figure to Gus/ Maybe this way you and he can finally be that couple you’ve always dreamed about.”

“Christ Mel, not that again. You know this jealousy thing you have with Brian is getting really old. Especially because there’s no foundation for it. It’s completely irrational. I’m in love with you.”

“Irrational. You insisted the asshole be the father of our child, even after I told you how much I despised the idea.”

“Then why did you say yes to Brian being the father?”

“Because I loved the idea of you carrying our child more than I hated the fact that that asshole would be the father. And we all agreed that other than his sperm, he wasn’t going to have anything to do with Gus, but he still had to find a way to fuck up our lives.” By this point, Melanie’s voice was so loud that she was practically screaming. Annie could feel her mother’s anger and began to cry, which only upset Melanie more. She tried to quiet her daughter but she didn’t have any success. “Fuck, see how angry he makes me. I can’t even hold my own daughter without her getting upset.”

“And I suppose you’re going to try and blame that on Brian, too.”

“That asshole is the reason I’m upset in the first place,” Mel continued to try and quiet Annie, finally having some success. At the same time, Melanie also calmed herself down, not wanting to fight anymore, especially since she had yet to break the news to her wife that Brian had won temporary joint custody of Gus. When the blonde noticed that Mel seemed better, she breathed a sign of relief.

“Mel, trust me, I do understand why you’re upset,” Lindsay said. “All I was trying to say was that no matter how we feel about Brian, we have to think of Gus and what this is doing to him. We can’t let our anger over everything show through to him.”

“I know,” Mel sighed. “It’s just that when it comes to Brian Kinney, I act before I think.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure you don’t do that anymore.” Lindsay watched as Melanie began to squirm and look away from her. “Mel, what’s going on?”

“Linds, I was just trying to do what I thought was best for Gus,” Mel said without really answering the question. “I mean, I figured once a judge heard about Brian’s lifestyle, that this case would be thrown out.”

“Mel, what did you do?”

“I tried to get the judge to revoke Brian’s parental right.”

“Mel,” Lindsay groaned. “Christ, I don’t know what to say. I’m sure it didn’t go over well with Brian. What did the judge say?”

“The judge refused. Brian apparently convinced her that he was some kind of changed man. She couldn’t help the snort that escaped. “He even went so far as to produce some kind of affidavit that he hasn’t even tricked in the past five months. Can you believe that? I can’t wait to see that thing.”

“Wait a minute,” Lindsay interrupted, stuck on something her wife had said. “Why does it sound as if you weren’t even at the hearing?” Again Melanie couldn’t meet her eyes. “Oh no, Mel. Tell me you at least showed up for this thing.”

“I can’t, okay?” Mel shouted, the frustration she had been feeling since she had found out what had happened in court finally coming out. “I fucked up and now that asshole has custody of Gus from Friday night until Monday morning. Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?”

“Oh Mel,” Lindsay cried. “How could you? You know how much Brian loves Gus. You had to know that he would fight you. It’s why we never told him that he still had his rights, knowing that he would use that to see Gus more often.”

“I fucked up, okay? I fucked up and now Gus is going to have to pay by spending his weekend with his whore of a father and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Maybe if we talk to Justin, he can help us reason with Brian,” Lindsay suggested, knowing that the young man had a lot more influence over Brian that anyone else. “Granted, it’s a long shot but maybe if Debbie backs us up he’ll see that leaving Gus with us is the right thing for everyone.”

“He was in the fucking courtroom with Brian,” Melanie screamed, having sat Annie in her playpen. “Admit it Linds, Justin is with Brian in this, most likely because he thinks that Brian will let him be more than a fuck that stayed too long. I don’t even want that little prick in this house anymore if he’s going to stick up for Brian.”

“Mel,” Lindsay was shocked, “you don’t mean that. This is Justin you’re talking about. You know, our baby brother.”

“Brian Kinney’s whore,” Melanie spat, grabbing her coat.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to get out of here before either of us says something we’re going to regret,” Melanie explained. “And I need to get some fresh air and cool off.”

“Mel, please, we have to talk about this.”

“I’m all talked out.” Lindsay watched helpless as Melanie grabbed her coat and left the house. Tears streamed down the blonde woman’s face as she realized that, no matter what she might want, there was no way things were going to go back to normal anytime soon. Lindsay went into the kitchen to make dinner, the act of cooking always something that had calmed her down. She never noticed the little boy who sat at the top of the stairs, his face tear streaked after listening to his mother’s fight and who wondered if his family was okay.