Growing Love

30

I'm about to pass the hell out. The last time I was this nerves, was my wedding day. But sitting here in this courtroom, I feel like this place is about to shallow me up whole. "Carter, just breath. Everything is going to be okay." I listened to Erin, our lawyer. The passed few months, Val has been speaking with him about the case. He said we have a guaranteed shot at winning, but I don't know. The Harrisons wouldn't fight a battle if they knew they would lose. Then again, neither would we. I turned behind me and see everyone sitting there with Nick. That is, except Katherina, Andrew and Richard. They said they would come together, but they were running late. I could tell the others were nerves too, but they wanted to look strong. I don't know if it was for me, or for themselves.

"We will now begin. Please turn off all cellphones. No eating or drinking inside the courtroom. No talking while the court is in session. Anyone who disrupts will be asked to leave." I looked to Jenny and Freddy while the officer spoked. They gave me weird looks, but Marcus and Izzy backed me up. "Judge Robert now presiding." The court started like a normal one, we were explained the basic rules and guidelines. He explained that he will make his decision upon hearing both sides, and so forth.

"Let us begin. Mr. McClain, you have filed for a 'non-parental custody petition' in the case of Nicholas McClain, is that correct?"

"Yes your honor." We didn't have to get up. Each side sat with their lawyer. I have just been trying really hard not to look to my right and see them. Because lord knows I will snap.

"It says here the child was given your last name upon birth, but you are not his biological father. Were are the child's actual birth parents?" He looked up from the forms, to look between us and the Harrisons.

"Your honor, if I may?" It was the first time I have heard their lawyer speak. I willed myself to hold back as I turned to look. He was a man who looked to be in his late thirties. He had this almost arrogant look to him. Nothing like Erin, who seemed to be able to calm you down with his words alone. "Katherina Harrison is the daughter of my clients, and the mother of Nicholas. While she was pregnant, she strongly believed the child was Mr. McClain's son. So when the child was born, she gave him the last name of the man she thought was his biological father."

"I see. And it turned out that a Richard Prize was the biological father? Why didn't they just decide to take Nicholas back when they learned that Mr. McClain was not the actual father?" The judge was looking calmly at both sides. A poker face from years of doing this on his face.

"My clients tried your honor. Countless times in fact. But mr. McClain refused to return Nicholas to them." The lawyer spoke for them, as Erin did most of the speaking for me too. But the sight of a crying Mrs. Harrison was horrifying. Her makeup was smeared under her eyes, and her overly worked on face didn't help the situation. But you could still tell her tears weren't real. She wasn't sad, she was pissed.

"You're honor, I object." We looked to Erin. "I have here a letter from Ms. Katherina Harrison. She gave this to Carter the day they meet to discuss the child's D.N.A results. Once Carter learned he was not the father, he noticed the conditions the child was living in. He agreed to take custody of the child. We even have the form Ms. Katherina signed giving up her rights to Nicholas." He gave the papers to the officer, who then gave them to the judge. He looked them over before looking to the Harrisons.

"These forms show that she was aware of the results, but still agreed to give Nicholas to Mr. McClain. Why now do you wish to take custody of him?" We turned to the Harrisons. They still seemed to look calm, but not as much.

"Your honor, my client's daughter was mentally unstable when she meet with Mr. McClain." Katherina was right. They were planning to throw her under the bus, and make it seem like she was crazy or something. "We have documents here from the doctors she was seeing. The stress of pregnancy, and Mr. McClain not agreeing to meet with her sooner was getting to her. And apparently, his leaving without seeing the results was what helped drive her over the edge." That son of a bitch was bringing that into this?! The judge looked over the 'documents' from the doctors and looked up at us.

"Mr. McClain. Why do you wish to keep Nicholas if he is not yours?" He has two biological family members who seem to want him back, why should I allow you to have custody? How would being under your care benefit the child more so, than with his own biological family? " I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I didn't back down. Erin told me to relax, and just answer the judge honestly. I was prepared for this. I knew they might ask something like this. I sat up as straight as possible, and looked straight at the judge

"Your honor, to put it simply. He is my son. The Harrisons brought up my leaving. That was for a year, by the time I returned, Nick was already a few months old, almost one years old actually. The living conditions he was in was something you never want to see for a child. I will admit, Katherina didn't seem stable, but not to the extent her parents want to make it seem. But that isn't the only reason I took Nick. I loved him the moment I held him. Since then, I have been the one who raised him. A long with my family. I have taken him to the doctors when he's sick, held him when he cried, feed him, clothed him, loved him. If the Harrisons truly wanted him from the start, they would not have allowed him to live in that condition for a whole year. I visited her for less than an hour, and I took action. They didn't." I sat back down, and took a huge breath of air. I thought I was going to pass out again.

The court continued like that for a while. Our lawyers each answered all his questions, and presented our own evidence and documents to the judge. I was sending silent thanks to Val throughout all of this. Every piece of evidence she got was helping us out more and more. The Harrisons and their lawyer even started to get nerves, but tried to remain calm.

"Your honor, that man isn't even biological related to Nicholas! They are his grandparents, they want to raise him in place of their daughter." Their lawyer was still pushing, but Mrs. Harrison was starting to lose her composure. From passed experiences with her, she was always the one to lose herself first. While we could tell she was lying, it didn't look like the judge could. I think I even saw his eyes soften at the sight of the tear stained woman. This isn't good.

"Your honor!" We all turned to the back of the courtroom. The judge banged his gavel and called for order. I didn't even know they were here.

"Young lady court is in session!" The officer was getting ready to escort them out. But they were quick to respond.

"I know sir, but if you would please allow it? I am Katherina Harrison." It was silent for a moment while he thought it over. Standing behind her were Andrew and Richard, and they both sent me reassuring looks. They were here to help us.

"I'll allow it. Hopefully you can shed some light on all this young lady." He motioned for her to step forward. She walked up to the small podium, ignoring her parents as she did. "Ms. Harrison why now do you wish to participate in this case?" She cleared her throat, and looked nervously at the judge.

"The decision for this custody battle was all made by my parents. Even when Richard and I both made the decision to allow Carter full custody of Nicholas." She turned to Richard. He moved to stand behind the small gate separating the people watching the case, and us. The judge motioned for him to stand next to Katherina. Thankfully this judge is being lenient.

"Your honor, I am Richard Prize, Nicholas' biological father. I will admit I wanted Nicholas back at first, I even got into an argument with Carter about it." More like a fight, but we'll keep that as a need to know. "When I saw Nicholas, and the kind of life he was living, I knew I couldn't take him away from that. He had a huge family who loved him, parents who adored him. They are able to give him a life I will never be able to. They are good to him, so I agreed to give up on trying to take him from them. Carter even agreed to let me visit him, and have Nick know I am his father if he ever decided to know." I decision I am sure I made correctly. Richard's a good man, I'm aware of that now.

"I see. We will take a short recess while I make my final decision." With that we were given a short break. I used that time to hold my son. He was quietly sitting in Ethan's arms this whole time. He smiled the second he was in my arms. It's the only way he was allowed to be here.

"Dada!" He had no idea where he was, or how hard it was for me to stay calm just holding him in front of the Harrisons. I love him so much. Dear god, I can't lose him too.