Reason To Doubt

3. Making Aquaintances

Landon Casey

"You know Sim could help if you need her to, L." Mike; a good friend of mine offered.

His wife Simone happened to be a great lawyer, whom I might need for this custody battle.

Walking around the pool table, I lifted my stick and got into position to shoot another solid in.

"Just say the word." He shrugged.

" I don't doubt it...I'm just not sure if it's the right thing to do, you know?" Hesitance laced my tone as I spoke.

"Part of me wants to take her to court but that'll be another fight." I explained.

Requesting full custody of Layton would only give Amber more reason to act like a damn nut.

"Are you willing to get in the ring?" Twisting my face up, I gave Mike a look of disapproval.

He threw his hands up and shook his head.

"What the fuck kind of question is that?! That's my daughter man, of course I am." I couldn't believe that he even asked that.

"That should be enough then. All I'm saying is, you're worried about her feelings when this is about Layton. She's what matters so you have to do what's best for her. If you having full custody is what's best, then it's done." His words were nothing more than true.

"Lay loves when she's around though and I don't want to take that from her." I sighed.

It was a tough battle no matter how I looked at it.

If I did what I thought was best, it could still end up hurting Layton.

Fortunately for me, she's still young so she doesn't understand the specifics of what's going on.

But, what she did know was that she saw Daddy more than she saw Mommy.

She also knew that Mommy didn't come through every time she promised she would.

And like any child would be, Layton was sad and disappointed.

None of that mattered once she came back around though.

Layton was just happy to see her and it seemed as if everything was back to normal.

"I can't imagine how tough this is for you man...especially with a kid involved. These kind of decisions are hard on not only the parent but the child as well. Whatever you decide, I'm here to back you." Mike comforted as he took his turn, missing his shot.

"Appreciate you, Mike. But...your ass is over in this game. Last one." I bragged in a joking manner as I hit in my last ball.

He chuckled, placing his pool stick on the table.

"I'm more of a soccer man anyway." He claimed as we shared a dap.

"I'm sure you are." I laughed as I put my stick back on the holder.

"How long is Layton staying with her?" His question reminded me that I needed to call and check up on her.