Still

Court

The first Monday in May, I found myself sitting in a courthouse with Rory, Honor, and my parents.

"How do you feel?" Dad asked

"I don't think I've ever been more nervous" I told him.

"Well the good thing about owning a multi billion dollar company" dad said. "You can afford a pretty damn good lawyer"

"That's not gonna make a difference if the judge thinks that the girls are better off with Abigail" 

"Who else is testifying for you?" Honor asked.

"Everyone. Even Finn and Rosemary flew in from Australia" I said. Not very surprisingly fun and Rosemary ended up together. What was surprising was when they moved to Australia. 

Rory squeezed my hand. Unless I let go first, she hadn't let go of my hand the entire morning. 

——

"Mr Huntzberger, where are your children right now?"

"Preschool" I said

"It's your day to face them, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"So if you're here, who's going to pick them up?"

"If I'm not out of here in time, my girlfriend will get them and bring them to my house" I said. That was something that Rory offered to do when she heard that I was gonna get a babysitter just in case I couldn't pick them up. The girls knew Rory well, they were comfortable with her, plus she'd come with me to pick them up a few times before so the teachers knew her.

"How long have you been with your girlfriend?"

"A little less than a year" I said

"And have your children met this woman?"

"They have"

"Do they get along?" He asked. "Your kids and your girlfriend?"

"They get along very well" 

"Do the children like her?"

"They love her" I said

"That's good" he said. "Can I ask...does she ever spend the night at your house?"

"Not when the girls are there"

"So you've never spent the night together when you had your kids with you?"

"No"

"And what happens if you're granted full custody today? Surely that'll change things"

"My daughters are my number one priority. Their happiness and comfort is more important to me than anything else. I'm not gonna do anything that makes them uncomfortable, and if that means that certain things in my relationship have to change, so be it"

"And your girlfriend is ok with that?"

"She understands" I said. Rory and I had talked about it. Of course we would likely get to a point where Rory could spend the night at my place while the girls were there, but since we weren't there yet, we knew that if I got full custody that sleepovers would be less frequent until we did get to that point.

After a few more questions about Rory, he moved on to other things. "Mr Huntzberger, do you drink alcohol?"

"Occasionally, if I'm at a nice dinner, or out with friends" I said. "Never when I'm with my kids"

"Ok. And do you keep alcohol in the house?"

"Not usually"

"Not usually?"