Main Attraction

Chapter 24

1 Year Later

This year has been one of the best in my entire life. Little Jean was born and she was an absolute treasure. Melody and Will have been taking their their jobs as big brother and sister very seriously. Will loves reading to her while Melody picks out most of her outfits. I do have to remind her sometimes that Jean is not a doll, but other than that they're perfect.

Reid and are better than ever. He's an A-plus dad. Whenever Jean cried in the middle of the night, he was up and with her before I could even open my eyes. We aren't married yet. We're still trying to plan a wedding but we have one more thing to deal with first.

"Please be seated. We are here to discuss the custody of Melody Vivian Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson has accused Miss. Ryan of being an unfit mother and is suing for full custody of Melody Stevenson. Miss. Ryan is countersuing for missed child support to the amount of ten thousand dollars, full custody of Melody Stevenson, and for Mr. Stevenson's parental rights to be terminated. Mr. Stevenson, you may present your evidence to the court."

Yes, we were still dealing with this shit. Brian had drawn the entire thing out leaving us in court and before a judge fighting this thing out. I think it was mostly to spite me. The fucker looked like a kid in a candy shop as he smirked at me from across the courtroom.

"Thank you, your honour." Brian's slime ball of a lawyer said, "We would like to present several occasions where Miss. Ryan was neglectful towards her duties as primary guardian which has resulted in Melody being injured. We would like to call Miss. Jenna Collins to the stand."

My fist tightened below the desk as I listened to the fucker speak. I knew exactly what Jenna was here for. She was the biggest gossip at our school. She loved a good secret and causing trouble. "Miss Collins. Can you please explain to the court the details of what happened on May twelfth of last year?"

"Yes, I was at the park with my daughter Julie. Melody was off playing by herself, left totally unsupervised. She was bullying my daughter while her mother was flirting with the new single dad paying no attention to Melody." I wanted nothing more than to get up out of my chair and slap her. Melody was telling her daughter off for breaking the fucking rules. I know, I was there and not drinking wine out of a travel mug like she always does.

"And this new dad was Reid Wilson? Miss. Ryan's current fiancé?" The lawyer confirmed with her before allowing her to continue with her story.

"Well, Olive did nothing to stop any of the bullying and didn't even notice that Melody was trying to show off like usual on the monkey bars where she then broke her arm. Then a complete stranger, Reid Wilson, had to step in because Olive clearly had no idea what to do in an emergency."

"Thank you, Miss. Collins. Now, after Reid and Olive got together, did you notice any neglect towards Melody?"

"Yes. Olive spent a lot of time with Reid's step-sister and her wife, they're musicians and hardly fit for being around children with their lifestyles. She stopped picking Melody from school and didn't even volunteer for the PTA." I didn't volunteer for the PTA because the PTA is filled with homophobic cows like her. Getting ahead of myself. "Her daughter Melody's language is terrible too. She even taught my sweet Julie swears. Obviously, she picked it up from Olive."

"Objection, speculation," Andrew called out.

"Sustained." The judge ruled before turning to Jenna, "Stick to what happened Miss. Collins."

"That's okay. I have no further questions." Brian's lawyer said.

The judge turned the witness over to us. Andrew stood from his desk, moving slowly across the courtroom, oozing confidence as he went. This is where Andrew truly excelled. "Miss. Collins. Did you, or did you not proposition Mr. Wilson when he first moved here?"