Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“I’m so glad he decided to stay in San Francisco long-term.”
“I knew he’d like it here,” Lucky said. “I also knew it wouldn’t take him six months to figure that out.”
We shifted positions a bit, settling in. After a while, I told him, “Even after we find our own apartment and have more privacy, I still want to continue our date nights. I love having that time to really focus on each other.”
“Absolutely. We’re never giving up our Saturday nights.”
Chapter 15
On Monday morning, my entire household gathered in the living room for our trip to the courthouse in Los Angeles. I was wearing a gorgeous, light gray suit and new shoes that pinched my feet, and I’d just had a haircut a couple of days before. This was the best and most respectable I could possibly look. I wondered if it would make a difference.
Everyone else was just as dressed up. Normally, there’d be jokes about cleaning up well and lots of selfies, but instead the mood was somber. Even though we were trying so hard to think positive, there was still tension in the air.
It meant so much to me that they were all going to be there to show their support, and it more than made up for the fact that three people would be notably absent from my day in court. I’d written a letter to my parents a month before, coming out as bisexual, telling them about the custody hearing, and asking for their support. They’d never replied, which didn’t surprise me. I was sure I’d been disowned just like Lark had years before, now that I’d come out. I’d wanted to give them a chance to do the right thing for once, but that was the last time I’d be reaching out to them.
Kathy was going to be absent too, but again, I’d expected that. When I reached out to her, she’d replied to my email and said she wasn’t strong enough to face a custody hearing in person. But then, under the advice of my lawyers, she’d written a letter to the judge explaining why she’d selected me and not her parents to raise Owen. She’d been very candid about the verbal abuse she’d endured growing up, and she’d also called them out as racists and homophobes and said they’d be a negative influence on the child.
That letter had been part of a thick packet of documentation that had been forwarded to the court ahead of time. My lawyers had asked me to collect letters from former employers and college professors attesting to my character. I’d expected most of them to reply, “Logan who?” Instead, I’d been blown away by the glowing responses I’d received.
I was incredibly grateful for all the people in my corner. Lark and Hal and my found family had stepped up and had my back from day one. And Lucky had been absolutely astonishing.
At the moment, my amazing boyfriend was right beside me with a protective arm around my shoulders, as we waited for the cars that would take us to the airport. He’d been my rock throughout all of this. I’d heard you never really knew a person until you saw them in times of crisis. The custody case definitely qualified, and what it had revealed about Lucky was that he was unwaveringly strong and devoted. When he said he’d be there for me, he absolutely meant it. I couldn’t even imagine facing this—or anything else life might throw at me down the road—without him by my side.
At nine a.m. on the dot, I picked up Owen and Lucky grabbed his diaper bag, and we all went out to the three black town cars that had pulled up in front of our house. Some of our neighbors watched us curiously. It probably looked like we were on our way to a funeral. I wanted to tell them that wasn’t the case—this was a serious occasion but not a sad one, and it was going to be okay.
It had to be.
While Lucky and I went to the lead car, Yolanda, JoJo, and Eliot climbed into the one in the middle, and Hal and Kel piled into the third car with Lark and Dylan. Lucky’s dad was waiting for us in the passenger seat. Our car had been equipped with a baby seat, and once I got Owen strapped in, I sat down beside my son and smiled at him. He was dressed in a tiny button-down shirt, khaki pants, and a sweater vest, along with little red sneakers, and he was clutching his favorite toy—a stuffed alligator Federico Suarez had bought him on one of their weekly trips to the Academy of Sciences.
I was trying so hard to act like everything was normal, but Owen was watching me with wide eyes. I ran my hand over his blond head and told him, “I love you, kiddo, and we’re going to be just fine. You’ll see.”