Senior Year

♡ eleven ♡

Sitting in the law office reminded me of my countless visits to the doctors office while pregnant with Noah, you sit in a silent waiting room, unsure of what is going to happen when you get called back, then when you do get called back, all the eyes in the waiting area turn to you. All of those eyes wondering what you needed a lawyer for or what kind of trouble you or a family member had gotten in. Not to mention, you never knew how the meeting would go, would you walk out feeling positive and upbeat, or would you leave with a sense of dread, knowing a case may not go the way you hoped it would.

"Angela Harden and family?" A secretary called, snapping me out of my thoughts as she glanced down at the file in her hands. My mom stood up and Grayson and I followed as the secretary down the hall. The office was quiet, muffled voices could be heard through closed doors for a brief moment as we passed by them, but it was otherwise still. The environment felt sterile, neutral in a way, as if they were attempting to not raise or lower your hopes on what they could achieve in the courtroom.

The secretary stopped at a door and knocked on the door before pushing it open, "Ms. Washington, I have the Harden family here."

"Ms. Washington is in charge of your case, she'll see you in here," the secretary smiled, stepping out of the way to allow us to enter the room.

We were met with a woman sitting behind a U-shaped desk. She had light blonde hair and rich brown eyes that stood out from her skin behind the blue-light glasses she wore. She smiled as she looked at my mom, Grayson, and myself. "You must be Angela Harden!" She smiled shaking Mom's hand. "I'm Georgia Washington, it is very nice to finally meet you, and I'm assuming you have Kennedy and Grayson here with you?"

"It's very nice meeting you as well, Ms. Washington, and yes this is my son, Grayson, and daughter, Kennedy," Mom replied before taking a seat in the chair that was in the middle, Grayson and I taking a seat on each side of her.

"As you know, I am handling the late Mr. And Mrs. Harden's will overseeing, but I am unaware of what else you know of, so if you could fill me in that would be wonderful."

Mom took in a deep breath before answering, "Well, we knew something was up when their father followed Kennedy and her boyfriend, Wyatt, home from the grocery store and then he approached her at our house. After that instance occured, he got in contact with me after about a week and we met for dinner, mind you I hadn't seen him in over fifteen years at this point, that is when he told me that both of his parents had passed away and they were leaving all of their money to our children and that he wanted to reclaim what he believed was his," Mom explained.

Ms. Washington nodded, "You're still legally married to Mr. Harden, correct?"

Mom nodded, "Yes, but that same evening I was also able to get him to sign the divorce papers, so not for much longer."

"The late Mr. And Mrs. Harden left money aside to cover all legal fees that happen to remain after their passing, and that includes both the lawsuit their son filed against your children and your divorce finalization," she informed us, writing notes down on a notepad to keep for reference.

"Will he be able to win this case?" Grayson asked, wanting an answer to the question all of us had be longing to ask since we'd arrived.

"Because of the explicit stating of the will, most likely not; however, I'm sure his lawyers will be scouring the document for any loopholes."

"What are the possible loopholes?" I asked, my mind reeling at the idea that our father could take the money his parents didn't leave for him because of a tiny loophole.

"Some could be related to the fact that you are still under the age of eighteen and therefore need someone to control the money until you turn eighteen, or you two are found to not be capable and or worthy of the money that is being handed to you, which is very broad and nobody is quite sure what that actually entails," Ms. Washington explained, trying to be as positive as possible, given the situation.