“I have no other witnesses at this time.”

“Alright. You may call your first witness, Mr. Stevenson.”

“Thank you, your Honor. At this time I would like to call Melanie Marcus to the stand.” Melanie made her way up to the front of the courtroom, shooting Brian a venomous look as she passed him.

“Ms. Marcus, please state your relationship to Lindsay and Gus Peterson.”

“Lindsay is my wife and Gus is our son.”

“Are you the biological mother or is Ms. Peterson?”

“Lindsay had Gus using Brian’s sperm, but I’m his mother also. That was always part of the arrangement.”

“And what was the original part Mr. Kinney was supposed to play in Gus’ life?”

“He was just supposed to be a sperm donor. It was never anyone’s intention that he have an actual role in Gus’ life.”

“If that was the case, why did it take so long for Mr. Kinney to sign over his parental rights? I would have assumed that if he wasn’t to have anything to do with Gus he would have been more than happy to sign the papers.”

“We hadn’t gotten around to having him sign the papers; we didn’t see the need to rush, knowing that Brian didn’t want to be a big part of his son’s life.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Gus got sick and we had to take him to the hospital. The admitting nurse refused to let me go back with Lindsay and Gus because I wasn’t related to him legally or biologically. It made us realize that we needed to get Brian to sign the papers if I wanted any claim to Gus.”

“And what happened when you asked Mr. Kinney to sign over those rights?”

“He refused to. He said that he was Gus’ father and that he wasn’t willing to give up his son.” The anger she still felt over Brian’s refusal was apparent to everyone in the courtroom.

“But you don’t believe that?”

“Brian Kinney doesn’t do anything for anyone other than himself. I admit it, we don’t get along. I don’t like him and he doesn’t like me. If it wasn’t for Lindsay and Gus, we would have nothing to do with each other. Brian didn’t sign over his rights because he didn’t want me to be an official parent to Gus.”

“So you’re saying that Brian didn’t sign over his parental rights just to annoy you? That sounds a little extreme.”

“That’s Brian for you. He doesn’t do anything halfway. He pushes people until he gets the results that he wants, no matter the consequences.”

“Can you give the court an example?”

“The Bris is an example. He just came barging into our home, interrupting the ceremony. He caused a big scene until he forced Lindsay into saying that we wouldn’t go through with it. I had never been so embarrassed. Lindsay knew how important it was for me, as the non-biological parent, to have this ceremony. Of cementing my bond with Gus.”

“And Mr. Kinney prevented you from having this bond?”

“Yes, and because of that my family does not fully acknowledge him as my son.”

“Okay. Now Justin Taylor and Brian Kinney have both testified that you removed Gus from Mr. Kinney’s care without his approval when Gus was only a few months old. Can you tell us your side of that story?”

“Lindsay and I were having some problems and I had moved out. I was living with my sister at the time but had to go out of town for business. I had returned home to find a message on my answering machine telling me that Lindsay had to go out of town for a conference and that she had left Gus in Brian’s care. I immediately went over there to make sure that Gus was okay because I didn’t trust Brian to take care of him.”

“Did you think that Brian was going to hurt Gus?”

“Not intentionally, but I knew that he had never cared for a child before.”

“What happened when you got there?”

“I walked into the loft and found Justin about to give Gus a bottle, without testing it first. I grabbed the bottle out of his hand and that’s when Brian walked in. I told him that he couldn’t be a part time father and that fatherhood meant putting aside his needs and taking care of his son. I then told him to give me his keys so that I could get Gus’s car seat. I refused to leave my son there.”

“Did you threaten to break into Mr. Kinney’s car?”

“I might have. I really don’t remember what I said.”

“Okay, getting back to the issue of Mr. Kinney’s parental rights, when did he finally sign them over?”

“It was a couple of weeks after the incident at the loft. Lindsay and I were still apart and she was having trouble paying the bills so she and a friend of hers, who was also gay, decided to get married. Brian and I didn’t like that idea and had tried to talk Lindsay out of it, but she wouldn’t budge. One day Brian had called and told me to meet him at the house, that there was a problem with Gus. When I got there, it turned out that there was no problem. He said that, if Lindsay and I would get back together, he would sign over his rights to Gus.”

“So that reinforced your opinion that he was just holding back his signing as a way to hurt you.”

“Yes. Even thought we did get back together, and Brian did sign over his rights, he did it to make sure he got his way, which was to make sure that Lindsay didn’t do something that he didn’t like.”

“Now, Mr. Kinney has insinuated that since your daughter Annie Novotny-Marcus was born, you have pushed Gus aside and begun to ignore him.”

“That isn’t true. Yes, we have paid more attention to Annie, but that’s just because she’s still an infant and needs Lindsay and me more than Gus does. He’s older and more independent. Gus just doesn’t understand that he has to share our affections now with his little sister.”

“So it’s just sibling jealousy that is making Gus act out?”

“Yes. It doesn’t help that Brian is encouraging Gus’ actions.”

“And why would Mr. Kinney do that?”

“Because he likes the fact that it’s causing problems between Lindsay and me. Brian’s permissive attitude towards Gus’ tantrums only provides Gus with proof that if he misbehaves, he will be rewarded.”

“What about the assertions that you and Ms. Peterson often leave Gus with baby-sitters whenever you go do something, while at the same time taking Annie with you?”

“We leave Gus with friends because that’s what he wants. He would only get bored when we’re out since there are usually no other children. We take Annie with us because she is still young and we can easily distract her with toys. She doesn’t cry and is usually well behaved.”

“What happened the day of Gus’ birthday? When Mr. Kinney and Mr. Taylor removed him from your home?”

“Lindsay was in the kitchen getting the food together. I was in the backyard with our friends who had already arrived. Gus was seated next to me. Everyone was relaxing and having a good time. Everyone was fighting for a chance to hold Annie. When Gus got up and walked away I just assumed that he had gone inside with Lindsay. The children that we had invited for the party wouldn’t be arriving for awhile and I figured he was just going inside to play. I didn’t think anything of it when he didn’t come back outside, thinking he was just playing with his toys. It wasn’t until Lindsay went inside to get him because the kids were showing up that we realized he was gone. We looked everywhere for him. Someone suggested we call Brian, I can’t remember who, because he and Justin hadn’t arrived yet either. That’s when we found out that Brian had him.”

“What was your reaction to finding out that Mr. Kinney had taken your son?”

“I went ballistic. I couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to take Gus without even telling anyone. He told us that he had found Gus wandering around out front, but that couldn’t have been true. Gus knows better than to go out that way without one of us present.”

“What do you think happened?”

“I think Brian came and found Gus inside playing and instead of joining the party, he just decided to take Gus with him then. Gus loves his father so he would have had no problem going with him.”

“Ms. Marcus, what is your opinion of Brian Kinney?”

“I think he’s a narcissistic person who wants nothing more than to have everyone cater to him. He does nothing for anyone unless he can get something out of it. I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone other than himself. He uses people for his own pleasure. Even those people closest to him have been hurt by his thoughtless actions. He uses sex, drugs and alcohol as if they were a recreational pastime. I don’t think there is a gay man in Pittsburgh that he hasn’t had sex with and quite a few straight ones also. He used his home to have orgies after the backrooms in the clubs along Liberty Avenue were closed down. He’s had tricks coming at all times of the day and night. He even tricks at work, so much so that he got sued for sexual harassment. I still don’t know how he got out of that one. Lindsay has walked in on him when he is with one of his tricks and his not ashamed of them. In fact, Brian takes great pride in the fact that he could, and has gotten, any man that he wants. He doesn’t believe in monogamy, no matter what he says now and I don’t think he even understands the word commitment.”

“Are you afraid of the influence Mr. Kinney has over his son?”

“I’m very afraid of his influence. Gus looks up to his father. He wants to imitate him. I’m also scared of what one of Brian’s tricks might do to Gus if he’s in the house. Brian isn’t known for his safe choices in sex partners.”

“What about Mr. Kinney’s assertion that he is now monogamous, having only Mr. Taylor as a sex partner?”

“Like I said a minute ago, that might be true for now, but I don’t see it as a long term thing. Brian isn’t capable of that kind of commitment. If anything, if he is truly monogamous, it’s only so that the courts might rule in his favor.”

“What do you think will happen if Mr. Kinney gains full custody of his son?”

“I think that once the novelty of having his son around full-time wears off, Brian will try and give that responsibility to someone else. Whether it is Justin, Lindsay or I.”

“Thank you Ms. Marcus.”

“Your witness, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Mark looked down at his notes quickly before turning his attention to Melanie. “Ms. Marcus, how long have you and Ms. Peterson been together?”

“We’ve been together for about ten years.”

“And when the two of you decided to have children, why did you choose Brian Kinney to be the father?”

“I wasn’t able to have children at that time so it would have to have been Lindsay that would carry the baby and she insisted that Brian be the father.”

“And what did you want?”

“I wanted an anonymous donor from the sperm bank.”

“So it must have angered you when Ms. Peterson insisted on my client being the donor?”

“We fought about it, but in the end I decided that having a child with Lindsay was more important than who the father would be. It helped that everyone agreed that Brian would sign over his parental rights to the child as soon as he was born.”

“What role was my client to have in his son’s life?”

“He wasn’t going to have any role. He was only supposed to be the donor, but he couldn’t even do that right.”

“Ms. Marcus, if Mr. Kinney was only supposed to be a donor and have no part in his son’s life, why did you insist he make out a life insurance policy for a million dollars?”

“Considering his lifestyle, I wanted to make sure that Gus would be protected if something would ever happen to Brian.”

“But you just said that Mr. Kinney was supposed to sign over his parental rights and wasn’t going to be a parent to his son. Why should he then be held responsible for his financial security? If he had signed over his parental rights, no court in this country would have made him financially responsible for Gus, so why did you expect him to take care of his son?” Melanie looked over at Lindsay who frowned at her wife. She didn’t know what to say to the question. “Ms. Marcus, would you like me to restate the question?”

“Even though Brian was signing over his rights, Lindsay and I both thought it would be a good idea to make sure that Gus would be taken care of in case something happened to Brian. Like I said, with his lifestyle we didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Is this because you and Ms. Peterson knew that, no matter what the three of you had agreed to prior to Gus’ birth, my client would want to help make sure that Gus wanted for nothing. That he was taken care of, even if it meant giving you and Ms. Peterson money?”

“Of course not. We never asked Brian for any money. He gave it to us willingly?”

“What about when you asked for him to pay for Gus’ schooling over the summer?”

“I had to take extra time off of work because of the problems with my pregnancy and we couldn’t afford the tuition for Gus’ preschool. We figured that, since Brian wanted to become more involved with Gus’ life, that he should help pay for Gus’ school, but he refused.”

“Mr. Kinney testified earlier that he only refused to give you and Ms. Peterson a check. That he, in fact, asked for the information and he would send the school a check. Information that you refused to give him. Why was this?”

“We looked over our finances and decided that we didn’t need his help after all, especially since he didn’t seem to be too willing to give it.”

“I see. Ms. Marcus, you stated that you didn’t think that my client’s promiscuous lifestyle would be a good influence on his son. As far as you know, other than the times that he has already stated in his own testimony, has Mr. Kinney ever subjected Gus to his sexual partners?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Ms. Marcus, you and Ms. Peterson take pride in the fact that the two of you are in a committed relationship. You even had a ceremony stating that, correct?”

“Yes. Lindsay and I love each and have no problem letting others know that. We don’t need someone else in our beds. That’s something that Brian has never been able to say.”

“Ms. Marcus, who is Marianne MacDonald?” Again, Melanie looked over at Lindsay, who paled. Without turning to face Mark, Melanie answered.

“She’s a woman I met at a baby shower that Lindsay and I had thrown for some friends of ours.”

“And isn’t it true that after that party ended, you got together with Ms. MacDonald and had sex with her?”

“Yes, but it didn’t mean anything. I realized right away that I had messed up and went back to Lindsay. I had never meant for anything to happen.”

“Then how did you end up in bed with her?”

“Lindsay and I had had an argument and I needed to talk to someone. Marianne had given me her number so I called her to see if she wanted to meet up and get a drink. Things just got out of hand. I never meant for it to go as far as it did.”

“What was Ms. Peterson’s reaction when she discovered your infidelity?”

“She wasn’t happy about it. We tried to work things out but couldn’t. I ended up moving in with my sister.”

“During your separation, how much time did you spend with Gus? Other than the time you took him from his father’s custody?”

“That was the only time I saw him. Things were tense between Lindsay and I and we couldn’t really be in the same room together.”

“Isn’t it true that, when you moved out of the home that you shared with Ms. Peterson, you gave her no help financially, even though at that time she was not employed?” Melanie squirmed in her seat.

“Yes, but that was because I couldn’t afford it. I had to give my sister money for letting me stay with her, plus my own living expenses. I just didn’t have anything else. Besides, Lindsay told me that Brian was helping her with some of the bills, like Gus’s baby-sitter, so I didn’t worry about it.”

“Even though you knew that Mr. Kinney was suspended from work for part of that time and not drawing a salary?”

“Yes.”

“Ms. Marcus, you stated earlier that Mr. Kinney did everything he could to get between you and Lindsay, but isn’t it true that he signed over his parental rights to get you and Ms. Peterson back together?”

“Yes.”

“And why did he do that?”

“He said he wanted his son raised in a home with two loving parents.”

“At the time, isn’t it true that Ms. Peterson was engaged to a fellow teacher by the name of Gui DePruie and that one of the conditions for Brian to sign over his rights was for that engagement to be called off?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me then, Ms. Marcus, if Ms. Peterson was so ready to move on with her life with someone new, why would my client be so willing to sign over his parental rights to someone you say he hates? Could it have been the fact that the marriage was to be nothing more than a sham? That Ms. Peterson was marrying Mr. DePruie so that he could obtain his green card and stay in this country?” Melanie looked between Brian and Lindsay, the blonde wearing a guilty look upon her face. Their attorney didn’t look too happy either, the two women having not told him about what had happened with Gui, not thinking that Brian would bring it up.

“Yes.”

“Ms. Marcus, how did you discover the relationship between Ms. Peterson and Mr. DePruie?”

“I had called her house to talk to her about getting some things that I had left there and got the answering machine. It had both of them on it.”

“And what did you do then?”

“I went looking for Brian to see if he knew what was going on?”

“Isn’t it true that you tracked my client down to the Liberty Gym, an all-male gym, and confronted him in the locker room, having no concern not only for my client’s privacy but also the other men that were changing there.”

“Yes, but I was angry and hurt and I wasn’t thinking.”

“So you felt you had the right to barge in on my client when he was in no position to defend himself. Ms. Marcus, the night of the Leather Ball, when you removed Gus from his father’s care, did you call his home before you arrived to see how things were going?”

“No. I wanted to see for myself that things were okay. I wasn’t going to just take his word for it.”

“Is that why you didn’t even have the courtesy of knocking on the front door? Why you just barged into his home, because you wanted to make sure things were okay? Even though it was after midnight?”

“Yes. And I’m glad I did.”

“Because Mr. Taylor was about to feed Gus a bottle that he hadn’t tested, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me Ms. Marcus, how did you know that Mr. Taylor hadn’t tested it? Did you see him heat it up? Take it out of the microwave or anything?”

“No.”

“Did you test it yourself to see if it was too hot?”

“No.”

“So for all you knew at the time, the bottle could have been just fine and you were overreacting?”

“But I wasn’t. Justin hadn’t tested the bottle. He even admitted it.”

“But this was after Mr. Kinney had arrived home and you had already yelled at Mr. Taylor for not testing the bottle, correct.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you insist that Mr. Kinney allow you to remove his son from his care?”

“Because I didn’t think he was the right person to care for Gus. He had already proven that he was more than willing to put his desire to have sex above his son.”

“That’s interesting, considering you just told us that the reason you and Ms. Peterson weren’t together at that time was because you had sex with someone else. It appears that there isn’t much difference between you and Mr. Kinney in regards to that.”

“What I did was a mistake. A one time thing. Brian has sex with anyone he can.”

“Ms. Marcus, you’re a lawyer correct? Do you consider yourself a good one?”

“Yes.”

“Then why is it that, when it comes to Mr. Kinney, you feel the need to break the law?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“What I mean, Ms. Marcus, is that when you removed Gus from my client’s care without his or Ms. Peterson’s permission, you committed a felony. Namely kidnapping.”

“Gus is my son. I can’t kidnap my own son.”

“But the truth of the matter was that you had no rights to Gus. Mr. Kinney had not signed over his parental rights to you at that time, nor were you and Ms. Peterson together. Combine that with the threat of breaking into my client’s jeep and that is a felony.”

“I was just looking out for Gus.”

“And the reason you threatened bodily injury to Robert Blasdale at the Tremont Avenue Hollywood Tans so that he would tell you which tanning booth Mr. Kinney was in? Whose interest was that for?”

“I was upset. Lindsay had just told me that she wanted to call off our wedding because things were going wrong. I went to Brian because I thought he could help.”

“So because your partner was going to break off your wedding, you went to the one person who you have admitted to hating, wanting his help, threatening someone until you could find him? Ms. Marcus, you certainly seem to go to extremes when you’re upset. How can the court be sure that you wouldn’t do something extreme if Gus does something to upset you?”

“Objection your Honor. There is no proof that either of my clients have done anything to harm their son.”

“Sustained. Your next question, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

“All right. Ms. Marcus, can you please tell the courts who Leda Davidson is?”

“An ex-lover of mine.”

“Isn’t it true that shortly after your commitment ceremony with Ms. Peterson that Ms. Davidson joined the two of you in your bed?”

“Yes, but that only happened a few times and then Lindsay and I realized that we didn’t want Leda in our bed with us. It got to be too much.”

“And where exactly was your son at this time?”

“In his room.”

“So unlike Mr. Kinney, who limited his sexual activities and partners for times when his son was not present, you and Ms. Peterson had no problem in bringing someone else into your bed when he was home. Tell me, Ms. Marcus, just who exactly was the bad influence over your son?”

“Gus wasn’t present when we were together. He had his own room, which he didn’t have at Brian’s loft. There was no influence over Gus.”

“How convenient for you. Ms. Marcus, how do you refer to Mr. Kinney?”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, what do you normally call him? Do you insult him often, that kind of thing?”

“Usually I call him an asshole or something along those lines.”

“And have you done this in your son’s presence?”

“Yes. Occasionally.”

“And how do you think that might have affected Gus? How do you think he might have felt hearing one of his mothers calling his father names?”

“Gus is too young to think anything of it. Besides, he knows how much I love him and that the way I feel about his father has no reflection on how I feel about him.”

“Then I guess it would surprise you that Gus has asked several people why his momma didn’t like him or his daddy?” Melanie looked stricken. “That Gus had, in fact, overhead you any number of times calling his father names.”

“I love my son and I’m sorry if I hurt him by calling Brian what I had. I didn’t mean it, well the hurting Gus part, and I promise to do better. I’m getting help and am working on the problems I have with Brian. I swear, if we get Gus back, things will be better.”

“A case of too little, too late wouldn’t you say?” Melanie didn’t say anything when it became obvious that it wasn’t really a question.

“Ms. Marcus, why do you leave your son so often in the care of others while taking your daughter out with you and Ms. Peterson?”

“I already said, because we can keep Annie busy while Gus likes to run around.”

“Has he always been like that? I mean, when he was Annie’s age?”

“No, he was a quiet baby.”

“So why didn’t you have him at your wedding to Ms. Peterson? Wasn’t he about the same age as Annie is now?”

“Lindsay and I knew we would be too busy to keep an eye on Gus and, with the crowd, we weren’t sure how he would react.”

“Even though both Mr. Taylor and Debbie Novotny volunteered to watch him for you?”

“Yes. Like I said, we didn’t know how he would react to the crowds.”

“If you didn’t know how Gus would react to crowds why did you and Ms. Peterson, over my clients wishes, bring him to a party when he was only a few months old. A party his father was holding for Michael Novotny’s birthday where you both knew that heavy drinking and drugs, as well as sex, would be taking place?”

“Gus was only a few months old and we didn’t feel comfortable leaving him alone, but it only shows how Brian can act around his son.”

“Didn’t Mr. Kinney ask you to leave Gus with a sitter? Even when you showed up at his home with his son, didn’t my client ask you to take him home, even if it meant that you would miss the party, thus not exposing him to the things that would be taking place in his home?”

“I don’t remember, it was a long time ago.”

“How convenient for you. Your honor, I have no further questions at this time for this witness.”