Chapter 9 - The Court Does Not Choose a Favorite
Aaron’s attorney, Denise Walker, refused to comfort him.
That was why he had hired her years earlier.
It was also why he had occasionally ignored her advice.
“You’re vulnerable,” Denise said.
Aaron sat in her office.
“How vulnerable?”
“The court is not likely to remove Lily from a stable home because you withheld letters.”
Aaron exhaled.
“But?”
“But the court will care that you repeatedly represented Natalie as an ongoing danger while failing to meaningfully reassess evidence of recovery.”
Aaron looked away.
Denise continued.
“And Victoria intercepting legal correspondence is serious.”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“I believe you.”
“Will the judge?”
“Probably, if the facts support it.”
Aaron hated the phrase.
If the facts support it.
The past week had taught him that feelings about truth were not truth.
“What does Natalie want?”
“Right now? Continued therapeutic contact, moving toward supervised community visits and eventually regular parenting time.”
“Overnights?”
“Not immediately.”
“Custody?”
“She isn’t asking to change primary custody now.”
Aaron blinked.
“Why not?”
Denise looked at him.
“Because contrary to what you have spent years telling yourself, her goal may actually be reunification rather than taking Lily from you.”
Aaron said nothing.
Meanwhile, Natalie sat in a different law office with her attorney, Marcus Green.
He asked the same question.
“Do you want to pursue shared custody?”
“Eventually?”
“Yes.”
“Now? No.”
“You could ask.”
“I don’t want the biggest thing I can legally ask for.”
Marcus nodded.
“What do you want?”
Natalie looked at a photograph from the supervised session.
“I want Lily to stop believing love means somebody disappears when another person arrives.”
The court appointed a guardian ad litem, attorney Susan Brooks, to represent Lily’s best interests.
Susan interviewed Aaron.
Then Natalie.
Then Victoria.
Finally Lily.
Lily entered Susan’s office suspiciously.
“Are you another therapist?”
“No.”
“Judge?”
“No.”
“Whose side are you on?”
Susan smiled.
“That’s a smart question.”
“What’s the answer?”
“Yours.”
Lily narrowed her eyes.
“Does that mean whatever I want?”
“No.”
“Then that’s not my side.”
Susan laughed.
“Fair point.”
She explained that adults would make legal decisions, but Lily’s feelings and experiences mattered.
Susan asked where Lily felt safe.
“Home.”
“With Aaron?”
“Yes.”
“With Victoria?”
Lily hesitated.
“Yes. But I’m mad.”
“With Natalie?”
“I only saw her once.”
“Did you feel unsafe?”
“No.”
“Do you want to see her again?”
“Yes.”
Susan asked what Lily wanted most.
Lily answered immediately.
“No more secrets.”
Susan wrote that down.
The second meeting with Natalie occurred the following Saturday.
This time they played at a park adjacent to Dr. Patel’s office.
Dr. Patel remained nearby.
Natalie pushed Lily on a swing.
Not too high.
Lily demanded higher.
“You used to hate high swings,” Natalie said.
“I’m seven now.”
“I’ve missed updates.”
The sentence could have become manipulative.
Natalie smiled instead.
“You’ll have to teach me.”
Lily considered.
“Favorite color?”
“Yours?”
“Green.”
Natalie pretended shock.
“It was purple.”
“That was when I was little.”
“Noted.”
“Favorite animal?”
“Dog?”
“Red panda.”
Natalie laughed.
“I’m failing.”
Lily laughed too.
Then she suddenly asked, “Are you going to take me away from Daddy?”
Natalie stopped the swing.
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I can promise I am not trying to remove him from your life.”
“That’s different.”
Natalie looked at her carefully.
“You’re right.”
She crouched.
“If a judge eventually says we can spend more time together, I will be happy. But I don’t want you to lose your home or your dad.”
“What about Victoria?”
Natalie hesitated.
“That depends partly on Victoria and your dad.”
“Do you want her gone?”
“No.”
Lily searched her face.
“You really don’t hate her.”
“I really don’t want to organize my life around hating her.”
That answer stayed with Lily.
At the family-court review two weeks later, Lily did not attend.
Susan did.
Aaron sat with Denise.
Natalie sat with Marcus.
Victoria sat separately with her own attorney because opening Aaron’s legal mail could potentially become an issue in the proceedings.
The judge reviewed treatment records, correspondence history and Dr. Patel’s preliminary report.
Then she looked directly at Aaron.
“Mr. Hayes, why were forty-three letters withheld?”
Aaron could have said because Natalie had once been unstable.
Because Lily was young.
Because his attorney had advised caution at earlier stages.
All were partially true.
None answered the question.
Aaron swallowed.
“Because I convinced myself protecting my daughter meant controlling what she was allowed to know.”
Natalie looked at him.
The judge asked, “Do you still believe that was appropriate?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
The judge ordered therapeutic reunification to continue.
If progress remained positive, Natalie would receive supervised community parenting time twice monthly.
A future review would consider expansion.
No overnights.
No abrupt custody shift.
No dramatic victory.
Structure.
Time.
Evidence.
When court ended, Natalie approached Aaron in the hallway.
“You surprised me.”
“Why?”
“You told the truth when lying would have helped you.”
Aaron looked at her.
“I’ve tried the other thing.”
Natalie almost smiled.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“It’s my sponsor.”
Aaron waited.
Natalie answered.
A woman’s voice spoke rapidly.
Natalie gripped the phone.
Then closed her eyes.
When she hung up, she looked terrified.
Aaron recognized that expression from years ago.
“What happened?”
Natalie whispered, “Someone from my old treatment group died last night.”
Aaron said nothing.
Natalie’s hands began shaking.
She had been sober for nearly five years.
But recovery was not a completed chapter.
It was still happening.
May you like
And the hardest test of Aaron’s new belief in her was about to begin before either of them was ready.
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