I hated when people referred to Lucas as the ‘child.’ He wasn’t a child, he was our son. Our. Son. He was Lucas.
“Pardon me, Miss Meyer,” Trisha cut in, “I really appreciate the interest your clients have shown in Lucas, but Cassandra and Joshua have now reached the final stage of the adoption. I expect Lucas to go and live with them by the end of the month when the Sorensons leave the state.”
Go Trisha! Go!
The buttoned-up lawyer responded. “And yet, the child spent Christmas with my clients. As I understand it, there was a setback in the proceedings.”
Curtis started to rev his engine. “A couple of facts had to be verified by Social Services. Nothing unusual. We believe Mrs. Roberts and the case worker in D.C. are now satisfied… so is the judge.”
Meyer had kept her eyes set on Trisha. “We believe,” she repeated, “that there were some concerns about how transparent the MacBrides have been regarding their relationship. Mr. MacBride was engaged with another woman barely a week before the adoption started.” Josh’s fist curled tightly on the table. “And then there is the potentially more egregious matter of his divorce filing, merely a month before.”
Curtis took a curt tone. “Once again, all concerns have been assuaged.” He now addressed Trisha directly. “Mrs. Robert, my clients do not have to justify themselves or discuss their private life with people they barely know and—”
Trisha waved a hand as a peacemaking gesture. “Ms. Meyer, I don’t know what point you’re trying to make, but please make it quickly.”
Meyer gave a tight smile. “My clients are deeply concerned for Lucas. They believe the MacBrides have no intention of providing the stable family environment the child so desperately needs. Their newfound marital happiness is a mere front to facilitate the adoption process.”
Josh moved his arm from the back of my seat and he rested both forearms on the table. The power move attracted everyone’s attention.
“Get to the point now,” he said, “When you have, I’ll enlighten Mrs. Roberts about how your clients seriously compromised Lucas’s well-being during their unsupervised access to our son by discussing the adoption with him and trying to influence him.”
Meyer flinched but she went on anyway, “Before making such allegations, Mr. MacBride, we would like to share with Social Services and your lawyer some disturbing information.”
I tried to catch Andrea’s gaze. For one moment, I succeeded, but the connection didn’t last. She was doing her hand-wringing thing again. I nearly missed Meyer opening the folder in front of her, extracting several sheets of paper and handing them around the table. A stack of them landed between Josh and me.
My brain struggled to make sense of what lay before me.
“Are you spying on my wife?” Josh’s question hit coldly at Meyer.
“Hardly. These photos are in the public domain. They can be found on any search engine with ‘Cassie O’Malley’ as the keyword.”
I managed to stop my hands shaking and flick through the ‘evidence.’ It wasn’t just the article from the blog Josh had shown me, but many more of them and the same photos over and over again. I didn’t dare look at Josh.
As if she hadn’t done enough damage, Meyer spoke again, “We have reason to believe Mrs. MacBride has been involved with this… musician for the past six months. We can share with you a widely available video showing the two of them performing together in September when the MacBrides had already applied for adoption.”
“That’s just a song, a stupid song,” I cried out. “And these pictures are taken out of context. He has paparazzi following him everywhere. It’s L.A. for God’s—”
“—Cassie!” Josh interrupted. “Don’t.”
I turned sideways. He’d cocked his head forward, his jaw locked, a sure sign he was close to snap.
But I wasn’t done yet. There was only one person here who might hear me out. “Andrea, please, listen to me.” I extended my hand flat over the table. I so wanted to reach her. “You don’t want to become Lucas’s mom because of a lie.” I pointed at the photos. “The only truth is that we love him and would do anything to make him happy. Anything. You have to believe me.”
She ignored me, not even giving me the benefit of a word or a look. The only reaction I got was from her husband. “Leave my wife alone. She’s a good woman who’s always been devoted to her family.”
“Which family?” Josh’s question crashed between us. “Because from where I stand, your wife doesn’t have much of a track-record as a mother.”
“Please, stop. I beg you all. Stop fighting.” Trisha was waving again but her gesture was broader this time. She was watching me though with a silent ‘Is that true?’. I wanted to shout that I’d never been with another man than Josh. In my whole life. “This meeting is getting out of hand. Quite frankly, Ms. Meyer, I’m shocked by the lengths your clients are ready to go.”
“All we wanted was to draw your attention to the web of lies the MacBrides have skillfully weaved to portray themselves as a happy couple,” Meyer answered. “Because my clients care so much for the child, they want to provide him with a stable home. Mr. Loretti has a long-term position in a local company and Andrea Loretti is a stay-at-home wife. You can be assured she will not be touring the country year-in year-out dressed in a short denim skirt.”
“Watch your mouth.” Josh’s order felt like a real threat. My hand flew to his forearm. The muscles there were taut. He gave me a silent nod. “You’re out of line, Ms. Meyer.” His voice was sub-polar.
She returned to acknowledging only Trisha. “We ask you to give a closer look at this adoption in view of the information we have brought to your attention. We asked for this informal meeting as a sign of goodwill on our part. Hopefully, we can reach a compromise before we go to the judge.” She cleared her throat. “The Lorettis realize the MacBrides are Lucas’ birth parents and, should the judge opt for Lucas to stay in Kansas City, my clients would be ready to make some arrangements for the MacBrides to keep a connection with the child.”
My head swung back and forth between Meyer, Trisha and Curtis. It was like someone had pressed the fast-forward button. One minute I was about to get my son back, the next I’d have to beg to keep a ‘connection’ with him.
Curtis stepped in. “Mrs. Roberts, we ask you to disregard this meeting altogether. We don’t think any of the pseudo-facts brought up by Ms. Meyer and the Lorettis constitute a reason to re-consider Lucas’s adoption by Cassandra and Joshua.”
Trisha sighed. “I find the Lorettis’ approach under-handed, but I need to take a step back here.” I looked at her and I couldn’t keep the tears from welling up in the corner of my eyes. “In all good conscience, I’ll have to disclose these new facts to the judge.” Next, she addressed Curtis. “As birth parents, they could have applied for a joint custody. There have been several similar cases.”
Vince Loretti cleared his throat and we all looked at him. He’d turned awkward and kept shrugging his shoulders. When he talked, he didn’t sound like the moron he’d been to us so far. “Listen, we don’t want to cut off Lucas from you guys. We’re good, normal people and we’ve been married for fifteen years now. The boy likes you and my wife and I, um, we want to make him happy, so you could keep seeing him like you did before with his parents or Mrs. Sorenson.”