Where We Are
Chapter Fourteen
'What's going on? Mark, why are you here? And Jen...' Carol's voice trailed off as confusion washed over her.
The five adults were now sitting in the kitchen after Susan had set Rachel up in the living room with the remote and the tub of ice cream that she and Carol had now abandoned. They were all grouped around the small table, Doug and Mark at either end, leaning against the wall, Jen next to Mark and Susan next to Doug, with Carol in the middle, facing Mark and Jen with her questions.
'We have something to tell you' Mark said slowly, glancing at Jen, who nodded.
Every kind of horrible thought ran through Carol's mind. An accident, a death? What?
'A letter came for you yesterday morning. I hope you don't mind but I opened it' Mark continued. Carol nodded, waiting for more.
'Who was it from?' she asked, not even bothered that Mark had opened her private letter.
Mark glanced at Jen again, who pressed her lips into a hard line and looked down at her knees.
'Well, that's why we came here. I wanted to tell you in person because it's not something you should hear over the phone. Jen came with me so she could explain' Mark told her.
Again Carol nodded, waiting.
'It was from Wilson and Clark Attorney. Tag is suing you' Mark said in one breath, as if the faster he said it, the less it would hurt. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
Carol stared at her friend, stunned into silence, not believing that John would do that.
'I only left yesterday...How? When?' she breathed, too shocked to speak louder. Susan took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
'I'm guessing it was after you left my place. He must have realized you'd run and went straight to the Attorney's office. The letter arrived in the ER yesterday morning. When I had read it, I called Jen to get her advice before I spoke to you' Mark explained.
Carol nodded, still dazed. Everyone was silent for several long minutes. Then Carol asked the inevitable question.
'What's he suing me for?'
This time, Jen spoke up. 'A divorce. He wants everything, the house, the car...' she trailed off.
Carol nodded sensing there was more so Jen kept talking.
'He's also trying to sue you for taking Zach out of the state of Illinois without his consent.'
'That's ridiculous! I can take my son where ever the hell I please!' Carol shouted.
Jen laid a hand on Carol's and nodded in agreement. 'I know and it's sure to fall through because there's no law saying that you can't. I talked to his lawyers this morning while I was waiting for Mark. They said they tried to explain to Tag that pursuing the case would be useless but Tag insisted, so they included it in the letter to keep him happy. But they all know that nothing will come of it' Jen explained.
Carol nodded, slowly, breathing deeply. Okay, it was fine. The divorce would have happened regardless so that didn't bother her much. When she looked up at Mark and Jen though, she knew she was still missing some of the vital information.
'What else?' she asked simply, looking from one to the other.
Jen looked at Mark and he nodded, then ran a hand over his almost bald head while taking a deep breath.
'He wants full custody of Zach' he admitted finally.
Everyone stopped breathing, all eyes focused on Carol, waiting...
'No' she whispered, 'No, no, no, no, NO!' her voice got louder and louder with every 'No' she said until she was finally on her feet, shouting. Susan and Mark both jumped up and tried to soothe her but Carol pushed them away.
'He's not taking my son!' she shouted.
'It's not going to happen, Carol. Right, Mark?' Susan said, looking over to him. Mark looked at Jen, knowing Carol needed to hear the legal end of things.
'Carol, please sit down and listen' Jen requested and Carol sat. Well, she kind of flopped into her chair, looked inconsolable and devastated.
'Now, I know this is a shock, but we'll fight this and we'll win' Jen told the shocked nurse.
Carol looked up. 'We?' she asked.
Jen nodded. 'I'll represent you, if you want me to.'
Carol just nodded in response.
'Now, this is not exactly my area of expertise but I do know that a lot of judges favour the mother. Taking that and adding in the fact that Tag has been abusive towards you, I think there's very little chance of him winning. But we do have to consider it a possibility. He's already stated that he won't even settle for visitation rights, which probably won't help him either, going in all guns blazing. Is there a chance that we can try to negotiate visitations?' she asked Carol.
Carol shook her head furiously. 'He is never going to lay a finger on my son ever again' she said. Though she said in quietly, it was as final as if she had screamed in.
Jen nodded. She didn't want to have to say what was on her mind but she knew that Carol had to consider all sides of this.
'Carol, you do know that this isn't going to be easy, right? On you or on Zach. Custody battles can get very ugly. Are you sure you want to put Zach through that?' she asked.
Carol looked up at Jen, a fierce determination set in her brown eyes now. 'Would you hand Rachel over to Mark without a fight if he'd hit you? Hit you so hard that he broke bones? Terrified you so much you couldn't even go back to your own home? Scared you out of going to work. Forced you out of the state? Knowing that at any moment, he might lash out again and not at you this time. I know you two have gone through this, custody settlements, a divorce. But you weren't terrified out of your mind that the next person to knock the door would be him, that it could happen again, that it could be your child next. I've lost everything. My marriage, my home, my pride. I will not lose Zach, too.'
Silence followed Carol's speech. Now they all knew exactly how Carol was feeling, and they all vowed silently to stand by her and make sure that she wouldn't lose the only thing she had left, the most important thing in the world to her.
At that exact moment, the front door burst open and two little voices accompanied by a woman's laugh could be heard from the living room.
'Zach!' Rachel shouted, jumping off the couch and running to hug her little friend.
'Rachel!' Zach shouted back, his eye's alight with excitement, grinning from ear to ear.
'What are you doing here, Rachel?' Chloe asked.
'I came with my mom and dad. They're in there' Rachel said, pointing over her shoulder. Chloe headed towards the kitchen.
Carol stood up again as she entered, smiling at Mark, Jen and Doug, who had so far remained silent since Mark and Jen had arrived.
'What's going on?' Chloe asked.
Unable to bear it any more, Carol shoved past Chloe and into the living room. She scooped Zach up into her arms and without even looking at Susie or Rachel, climbed the stairs, entered the guest room and locked the door behind her.
...
'Carol' came a soft voice through the door.
Zach was sitting on the bed, playing with one of the toys from Carol's bag. Carol was sitting on the floor, leaning against the door and watching her son play silently. Tears stains marked both her cheeks but she was no longer crying. Everything that had bothered her since the night before seemed, somehow, irrelevant now. All she could focus on was the upcoming battle to keep her baby, her reason for living. Nothing else matter anymore, not even Doug's sudden reappearance into her life.
'Please, let me in' Doug pleaded through the wooden door.
He was not the first person to try to get her to open the door but for some reason, Carol heard something different in his voice, something sincere, as if nothing would make him happier than for her to open the door. She didn't remember making the decision to stand up and unlock the door but suddenly she was sitting beside her son on the bed and Doug was kneeling before her, his hands laid gently on her knees.
'It's not going to happen, Carol. Zach is going nowhere. I promise you that' he said.
'How can you promise that?' she whispered, wiping away fresh tears.
'I know a lawyer. She's the best in the whole District of Columbia, and Maryland and Virginia states. She'll help. She can co-counsel with Jen. I won't let Zach be taken away from you' Doug promised her.
Carol looked Doug straight in the eyes and knew he truly believed every word he had just said, but she couldn't find any comfort in them at all. Tears clouded her eyes again and she wiped them away quickly.
'He's all I have left, Doug' she whispered, running her fingers through her son's curls, like she always did.
'He's the most important thing you have left' Doug corrected, 'You still have Mark and Susan...and me. I'm not going anywhere either.'
Carol nodded and wiped away more tears. 'Thank you' she whispered, 'And I'm sorry. Maybe that's what my thoughts were trying to tell me back in Chicago. I was thinking about you because I knew I'd need your help.'
Doug smiled slightly, comforted by her words. 'You have nothing to be sorry for. And I'm glad your thoughts led you to me.' He moved to sit on the bed next to her, and leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead.
Zach looked up at the two adults with curiosity. He didn't know why his mommy was so sad but he was glad that the strange man was there to make her feel better.
AN: I didn't even bother to proof read this, so I apologise for any typos. I have to go to work tomorrow (dreading that!) and it's after 2am so I'm just too tired. So enjoy...(typos included, ha)