Our Daughter- A DEMPEO Story.

Patrick

Patrick sat on the bench outside of Family Court.

His grey pleated suit on. The last time he had worn that suit was for a movie premier. Now he was sitting Minnesota, outside a judge's office, in hopes of pleading his case.

It had been 3 days ago since he had seen Ellen. When she walked out.

He knew that telling her would hurt her. But he needed to tell her. She needed to know.

"Hi, Mr. Dempsey, you can come in" The judge's assistant told him.

1 hour later

Patrick walked out of the building.

"Hey Buddy!" He shouted out loud. Patrick grabbed his phone. Darby was on FaceTime.

"We won!" Darby answered as he was packing his soccer gear.

"Good! I am so happy for you! How many goals did you score today?" His phone close to his face so that Darby couldn't see the background.

"Only 2, hey where are you? When are you coming home?" Darby asked concerned.

"Um, I'll probably be home tomorrow" He said pensively.

"Okay, I'll tell mom!"

"Hey can I go over to Jakes?" Darby asked.

"Yeah, just text your mom, will they take you home?" Patrick questioned.

"Yeah"

"Okay buddy, thats good, listen I have to go but I am proud of you, okay? A wave of happiness washed over him.

"Yeah, thanks Dad, later!" Darby finished the call

Patrick let out a sigh.

Out of his kids with Jillian, Darby was the most like him. Kind, respectful, and thoughtful.

"So now you have my number?" Grace asked as she walked towards him.

Patrick turned around.

"The judge gave it to me" He said in a serious tone.

They walked over to a bench.

"He said I needed to put together a really good case, and If I can have you on my side, the better" Patrick crossed his arms. He turned to look at Grace.

"I will only help, if I see you have her best interest" She replied defensively.

"I know, you can't tell me anything, but... can I ask how she is doing" He grabbed his hands as he asked hesitantly.

"She's good" Grace responded redundantly.

"She will now have a check up every 6 months to make sure her body is good but the doctor said she got lucky!" She added.

"Okay, good" He said quietly.

The next morning, Patrick left back to California. He sat on the plane feeling hopeful. Even if Ellen wasn't at his side, he will fight. He didn't want to uproot her from her life, he just simply wanted to see if she was alright.

"Maybe, she lives in a nice house?"

"Or maybe, she plays Piano?" Patrick asked himself on his seat before the plane took off.

"He will make sure she is okay, then he will step away" He reassured himself.

A couple of weeks later, Patrick had hired the best family defense attorneys he could. Everything had to be kept quite so the whole process was getting pretty expensive.

"What is this?" Jillian asked as Patrick got home. Her hands on her hips. Flushed face.

He had just walked in from the garage.

"You are divorcing me?" She asked as she slammed the paper receipts on the kitchen counter.

"I know how this must look but, let me explain and...." Patrick said softly as he got closer to her.

She took a wide stance.

"Explain what Patrick" She raised her voice.

"If it weren't for the boys upstairs right now..."She aggressively ran her hands through her head.

"It's not a divorce, I...." Patrick stepped forward.

Patrick spent the next hour trying to explain to Jillian about Emma. Without going into too much details.

"You've know this whole time, you have a daughter and you didn't say anything?" Her face was ravaged with despair.

"I chose you, and the kids" He said brokenly. His voice heavy with emotion. Patrick walked over to the counter and leaned.

"Like that's supposed to make it better?" She was shaking with anger.

"What about when this leaks into the press?

"What about the kids? And their friends?"

"We will plastered on the front page all because you couldn't keep it on your fingers with some..." Rage rushed through her.  She grabbed the receipts and through them at Patrick"

She walked away.

Patrick was left in the kitchen thinking. His heart flooded with sadness and grief. He stood up and walked outside.