“Not at this time, Your Honor.”
“Okay at this time the court will hear from Dana Parker, the social worker that was assigned to this case.” Te woman in question made her way to the stand, not glancing at either party, although both attorneys and their clients already knew what her report said. They had received a copy of the previous week.”
“Ms. Parker, before I have Misters Cavanaugh and Stevenson ask you anything, I would like you to give your report so that it can be entered into the court’s records.”
“Certainly, your honor. I was assigned by the Department of Child Welfare in order to discern what would be in the best interests of the minor child, Gus Kinney-Peterson because of a custodial suit between his biological parents, Brian Kinney and Lindsay Peterson. At that time, Ms. Peterson and her partner, Melanie Marcus, had custody of Gus during the week while Mr. Kinney would take him from Friday evening to Monday morning. I made one home visit to both parties while they had Gus to determine the situation prior to the events of October 23rd. I also made another visit to each home after that incident. Both of those visits were unscheduled. When I visited the home of Misses Peterson and Marcus, I found both women in their backyard, playing with their young daughter. Gus was upstairs alone. I saw that the Marcus-Peterson home was nicely furnished and clean. Gus had his own room on the second floor opposite his mothers.
"I observed the interaction between the family members and noticed tenseness between Ms. Marcus and Gus. He was withdrawn and quiet, only speaking when asked questions and then only saying as little as possible. I questioned Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson about their home and the relationship they had with Mr. Kinney. I noticed that, while Ms. Peterson tried to take care in what she was saying, Ms. Marcus had no such problem. She stated in quite a bit of detail what she thought of Mr. Kinney and his bid for custody of his son, the entire time while Gus was in the room.
“After the incident of October 23rd, when Gus was left alone because Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus forgot he was home, the tension I had noticed on my previous visit had magnified, even with Gus no longer living at the home, although both women did make a point of telling me that they loved both of their children equally.
“I questioned both Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson on their home and the way they were treating Gus while he was home. They both stated that they were doing their best to be more attentive to Gus and his needs and to make sure that he knew how much they loved him. I inquired about Ms. Marcus bringing home work from her office, which had been stated as being one of the reasons behind what had happened in October. She stated that she still brought home work from the office, choosing to do it home so that she could be with her family. She told me that, during that time, Ms. Peterson, if she was home, would take care of both children or that Gus would often play in his room when he was living with them. I also asked Ms. Peterson about her work habits when at home, where I was informed that because of the nature of her work Ms. Peterson was required to do it on site. She said that she cut back her hours where she could but that there were times where she had to work into the night and wouldn’t get home until after Gus was in bed. I also made inquiries about the children’s daycare. I was told that their daughter often spent the day with her father, Michael Novotny, at his store while Gus spent the day at the daycare center provided by the Gay and Lesbian Center.
“Now in regards to my visitations with Mr. Kinney. The first time I visited was at Mr. Kinney’s former home. At that time, Mr. Kinney owned a loft with only one bedroom, an open one at that. I mention this because I had read in the case files that Misses Peterson and Marcus were stating that they believed it to be a place unfit for a child. What I found instead was that Mr. Kinney had made a small room for his son to sleep in. He and Mr. Taylor had set up a grouping of silk screens that walled off a section of Mr. Kinney’s home and furnished it into a comfortable room for Gus. When I arrived I found Misters Kinney and Taylor playing a game with Gus on the computer. Unlike the times when I visited him with his mothers, I found Gus to be very animated around his father and Mr. Taylor. He was smiling and laughing.
“The next time I visited, Mr. Kinney had moved into his new home and Mr. Taylor was now living with him. In this home, Gus had his own room. The room was filled with toys and had been decorated with various murals that Mr. Taylor had done on the walls. When I asked Gus how he liked living with his father and Mr. Taylor, he said that he liked living with his daddy because ‘he wants him around and he loves him.’
“Like I had done with Misses Marcus and Peterson, I inquired about their jobs and if they brought home work from their offices. They both admitted that they did but that they waited until after Gus went to bed to actually do any work, preferring to spend the time making sure that Gus knew that he was more important than their jobs. Mr. Taylor also informed me that, on the occasions that he had to leave town for his job in California, he made sure to always call Gus so that he knew that he was thinking about him. Gus confirmed that his fathers didn’t work while he was up.
“I also inquired about where Gus spent his days while his father was working. Mr. Kinney informed me that he didn’t want to disrupt Gus’ routine anymore than it already was so he had decided to keep Gus at the daycare center that Misses Peterson and Marcus had had him in. I also inquired about the hours that Mr. Kinney put in at his advertising agency, he informed me that he made sure that he was out of his office no later than 5:30 and that he had cut back on his out of town meetings.
“At this time, Ms. Parker, I would like you to inform the court at your recommendation as to who should gain custody of the minor child, Gus Peterson-Kinney.” Judge Fox asked the social worker.
“Your Honor, the Department of Social Services recommends that custody of the minor child, Gus Peterson-Kinney be given to his father, Brian Kinney with visitation rights for Lindsay Peterson and Melanie Marcus to be up to the discretion of the court.”
“Thank you, Ms. Parker. Council may now ask questions of this witness. Mr. Cavanaugh, you may proceed.”
“Your Honor, I have no questions at this time,” Mark said, believing that the social worker’s report already stated everything that needed to be said for his case. He wanted to wait to see what Melanie and Lindsay’s attorney would try before deciding if he needed to ask anything else.
“Alright. Then Mr. Stevenson, you may proceed with any questions you may have.”
“Ms. Parker, you said that you believed it would be in the best interests of the child that custody be given to Mr. Kinney. Given Ms. Kinney’s sexual past and history of drug usage, why is that?”
“I saw no evidence supporting those things. What I saw was a man who wanted nothing more than to take care of his son.”
“Ms. Parker, have you ever recommended someone is granted custody of their child only to find out later that they were the abusive parent?”
“Not that I have been made aware of. I like to think that I can read people accurately.”
“Have you ever heard of any cases where the Department of Social Services was incorrect in their reports?”
“There have been cases, I’m sure.”
“Is it not possible that the reason that you didn’t see the evidence of Mr. Kinney’s drug use was because he knew that you were coming to do your required visit, so didn’t want to take the chance? That he wanted you to believe that the care of his child had made him give up what, until that point, have been a major point of his life?”
“It’s possible, I guess, although…”
“Now, Ms. Parker, you stated that when you made your visit to my clients’ home, that Gus was alone in his room while they were playing with their daughters, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Did you find this unusual?”
“Not really, although I did find the way that Gus seemed to insulate himself from his mothers when he did join us in their living room troubling.”
“Did you witness my clients abusing their son? Ignore him as Mr. Kinney has asserted?”
“No, I saw no evidence of abuse in the household. And no, when I was present neither Ms. Peterson or Ms. Marcus seemed to ignore Gus.”
“Now, in regards to the events of October 23rd, the night that Gus was left alone at his home, were you present at the home when my clients returned home?”
“No, I had already left the home after giving Mr. Kinney permission to take Gus home with him instead of placing him in temporary foster care.”
“But if you hadn’t talk to my clients before making the decision to allow Gus to go home with Mr. Kinney, how was the situation obvious?”
“The fact that Gus was home alone made the situation obvious.” Stevenson looked down at his notes, realizing that he couldn’t rattle the social worker. He silently cursed his clients, once again, for their lack of honesty in regards to the facts behind the case. He understood, finally, what had made their previous lawyer drop them as clients, even with him being a co-worker of Melanie Marcus. He knew, that considering what had been disclosed in the courtroom that day, their was a good chance that the only thing he could fight for was a liberal visitation schedule for his clients.
“I have no more questions for this witness, your Honor.”
“Mr. Cavanaugh, did you want to cross-examine the witness?’
“No, your Honor.” Mark sat down, positive that he had stated his case. He felt that the only thing that could work against them would be if the judge wanted to talk to Gus and the young boy said something that would make her question his relationship with his father. That was a scenario that Mark didn’t envision happening, though, so he wasn’t that worried about it. Brian had already told him that he spoken to Gus about living with him and Justin and he told Mark that Gus wanted to do just that.
“All, right,” Judge Fox stated, “at this time, with the permission from council, I would like to speak to Gus.”
“Your Honor, Gus is just across the street with an associate of my clients. She is just waiting for a call and she can bring him right over.”
“I think this would be a good time to call for lunch. Court will resume in an hour, at which time I would like council to be present in my chambers with Gus.”
“All rise,” the bailiff called. The people in the courtroom watched as Judge Fox left the courtroom. Justin joined Brian and Mark, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist. The couple saw Melanie and Lindsay talking with their own attorney and could see by the looks on their faces that they were not happy.
“Well, that was the easy part,” Mark commented, shutting his briefcase. Brian stifled a laugh while Justin just looked at him in disbelief.
“Easy?” Justin repeated. “That was easy?”
“As opposed to waiting for the judge to actually make her decision, yes,” Mark told both of them. “Trust me that can be nerve-wracking.”
“I’m just glad that it’s almost over,” Justin said.
“What do you think our chances are?” Brian wanted to know. “What are the odds that the judge will give us custody?”
“I think we made our case, not to mention that social services recommended that you gain custody of Gus. That’s going to go a long way in our favor,” Mark explained. “At this point, the only thing that could go wrong, in my mind, is if Gus says something to the judge but I don’t see that happening. That little boy loves you, and Justin, and, in my opinion, is flourishing under your care. You’ve turned into a damn good father, Brian.”
“Brian,” Lindsay said, interrupting the three men’s conversation, “I was wondering if it would be alright if Mel and I went with you to get Gus. We would really love to see him.”
“Who’s taking care of Annie?” Brian asked, not answering her.
“We left her with Debbie,” Lindsay answered. “We didn’t want to bring her to the courthouse. We weren’t sure how she would behave, especially since we wouldn’t be able to take care of her. Besides, Debbie loves spending time with her granddaughter.”
“She feels the same way about spending time with Gus,” Brian agreed. He looked over at Melanie and had to fight back a flinch at the look she was shooting his way. ‘If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under right now, if not cremated.’
“About lunch, Brian?” Lindsay drew his attention away from the brunette woman.
“Does your wife promise to be on her best behavior?”
“”She doesn’t want to fight in front of Gus,” Lindsay told him. “He’s already been through so much; we don’t want to hurt him anymore than we already have.”
“I’m sure Gus would love to spend some time with his mommies,” Brian said. Lindsay smiled at the brunet. “Why don’t you meet us outside? He’s over in the park with Cynthia. We can all go over and get him.”
“Thanks Brian.” Lindsay gave him a quick hug before returning to Melanie’s side. He watched as Lindsay said something to her and saw Melanie shoot him a small nod. He turned his attention back to Justin and Mark.
“So, Mark, what do you say? Want to join us for what will probably be an interesting lunch?”
“Not today, Brian. I’m going to go see if I can talk Tonya into going to lunch with me. Take advantage of being in the same building with my wife.” Brian and Justin laughed and watched as Mark made his way out of the courtroom. Melanie and Lindsay, along with their lawyer, had already left the room and the men were pretty sure that the women were making their way to the park across the street to see Gus. It would be the first time that all four people would be together with Gus since shortly after Gus had moved in with Brian and Justin.
Brian and Justin made their way out of the courtroom, taking the elevator down to the ground floor. They walked out of the courthouse itself and saw Melanie and Lindsay waiting for them.
“Thanks for this, Brian,” Lindsay said again. “I hate the fact that I’m missing him grow up.”
“Well, we all know who you can blame for that, don’t we?” Melanie sneered, saying something for the first time since the court went on a break.
“Mel, please,” Lindsay pleaded with her wife. “Please don’t start. Why can’t we all just get along, for Gus’ sake?”
“I still don’t see why we even need to answer to this asshole,” Melanie said. “Fuck, Linds, how can you even think of being so nice to the bastard? He’s fucking trying to take away our son. Shit, he already conned the social worker so that she thinks he walks on water and our own god damn attorney says that there’s a damn good chance that that judge will actually give custody of Gus to the son of a bitch. Tell me, why the fuck should we be nice to him?”
“Because he’s the one who gets to decide whether or not we get to have lunch with our son,” Lindsay told her. “Do you really want Gus to see you fighting with his father? Let him see that nothing’s changed since this whole thing started? Is that the impression you want to give him?”
“Fine,” Melanie said, although the expression on her face showed everyone that she was anything but happy with having to deal with Brian.
“Daddy, Jussin,” a small voice shouted, stopping any arguing that might have gone on. The two couples turned towards the park where they watched Gus, with Cynthia’s help, carefully cross the street. Brian smiled as he bent down and picked up the little boy. He thought again of how much things had changed since the night when Lindsay and Melanie had first asked him to be the sperm donor for their child. Back then, he didn’t think there would be any way that he would want to be a part of his son’s life but now he wouldn’t change a thing. He just hoped that he would be able to keep his family together.