Chapter 38: Feud Between a Princess and Her Frog
"Thanks for meeting with us Raymond," I say as we sit at the kitchen island in his and Alisa's apartment. Raymond has a notepad and stacks of legal documents and books. He even has a tape recorder out to document the session. Alisa brings over a tray to snacks and lemonade. Mason puts his arm around my waist, giving me the silent support I need. Tiana and Naveen sit next to me, their eyes still red and raw from their confession to their son. It actually surprised me how accepting Brendan was of what Tiana told him, but I guess when you have a neglectful mother and an abusive nanny, you're willing to go to anyone who will give you love and affection.
"It's no problem," Raymond says, slipping his reading glasses on.
"Now let me get this straight," he says. "You two conceived your son back in September of 2009?"
"Yes..." Naveen says, turning bright red. "We can assume that it was just after Tia...Tiana's birthday."
Tiana also blushes very hard and the two look away from each other in embarrassment.
"Please excuse me, I know this is personal but I have to go over all the details and get a sense of the timeline."
Both parents nod.
"So when did you suspect you were pregnant Tiana?"
"I think it was around Halloween. I was eating a lot of chocolate and anything sweet. I spent a lot of my tip money on anything with sugar in it. I also had dizzy spells and did throw up quite a few times. My mama suspected that I might be carrying a baby and I took a test to confirm it."
"Alright, and when did you tell Naveen?"
"A couple of days later," Tiana says. "It took that long for me to process it myself. It was very overwhelming and I kept thinking about the future."
"Tiana, you did not want to give up Brendan, correct?"
"Right," Tiana says. "I was going to keep him regardless of whether Naveen was going to help me or not. I just knew I wouldn't have the heart to give my baby to anyone else. But I was scared."
"Of course you would be and how did you react Naveen?"
Naveen swallows at Tiana looks at him with a sort of sharp and discontent look.
"Not well..." he admits. "I was definitely surprised and also very worried. I almost wanted to accuse her of lying to me or that it was a mistake but I didn't really say anything until..."
"Until I told him I was keeping the baby no matter what he said," Tiana interrupts. "I told him that I would like for him to be supportive even if it scared him, it scared me obviously. At the time, I was in no way ready to raise an infant, working two waitressing jobs, but my mama said that she would be there every step of the way and I could tell that she was happy to be getting a grandchild."
"And what did you think after that Naveen?" Raymond asks.
"To be honest...I was worried about what my parents would say."
Tiana rolls her eyes and shifts away from Naveen. She pours herself some more lemonade to hide her frustration. It's clear she still hated him for abandoning her and she'll probably never forgive him for it, but the two have made some progress in terms of liking and respecting each other again.
"Your parents are definitely a key component here. Your parents are quite wealthy correct?"
Naveen nods. "My dad's a successful business man and my mom a stock broker and at the time, they were paying for everything for me. I didn't have a job and was basically free-loading."
"That's for sure," Tiana says, taking another sip of lemonade. I shoot Tiana a sharp look, warning her to keep quiet.
"So yes, I was concerned because they wanted to keep that smart, successful image and a son who wanted to be a musician and was dating a waitress was not considered 'ideal' in their eyes. They are also very traditional so having a child out of wedlock was not great either."
I can hear Tiana grinding her teeth in frustration.
"But at the time, I knew I loved Tiana and I wanted to protect her and the baby."
"When did they find out?"
"Around my sixth month," Tiana says.
"Yes, they came to the restaurant Tiana was working at and saw her baby bump and... all hell broke loose."
Tia sucks in a sharp breath. "They practically humiliated me in front of the entire restaurant. I thought that this was the worst moment of my life. Eventually, Naveen managed to take the confrontation outside..."
"And what happened?" Raymond asks.
"My parents screamed every sort of phrase they could at us. Calling me an embarrassment, that I shamed the family and they called Tia things that I won't repeat. Then they turned their anger on Tiana asking her why she didn't use contraception or even terminate the pregnancy..."
"But I stood my ground," Tiana says fiercely. "I told them I didn't give a damn about their reputation, that this was my baby and not theirs. I told them I wasn't even going to let them near the baby and I was going to raise it no matter what they said."
"They then turned back to me," Naveen says. "And they gave me an ultimatum, either I convince Tia to give up the baby or they'd cut me off completely."
Naveen's dark eyes tear up and he slouches a bit. This is clearly embarrassing for him and I know he doesn't want to Tiana to hear it again.
"And what did you say?" Raymond says.
"I...I told them I'd try to convince her to give our baby up..."
I hear Alisa gasp slightly. It was not the answer she expected and I can tell that this will color her opinion of him. I can also tell that she wants to shout at him and ask him why he would do that, but this is important documentation for court so she has to keep her opinions to herself. Naveen looks down at his shoes and basically tries to shrink into the background a bit... but he has to own up to what he did. Yes, he made a big mistake and yes, it cost him Tiana and most of her respect for him, but we've all made bad mistakes, more than out fair share it seems and we need to own them. We need to become resilient and learn from them, change ourselves for the better...
"After he said that, I lost it!" Tiana grumbles. "I shouted and screamed obscenities at him, telling him that we were over and he would never have contact with our baby and neither would his parents. After that, I left him and his parents standing there in the parking lot and I thought that was the end of it."
"But it wasn't," Naveen groans in guilt.
"Your parents procured a lawyer to have both your parental rights revoked?" Raymond asks.
Naveen nods. "Their reasoning was that I was unemployed, no fit at all to be a father and I couldn't provide child support."
"And for Tiana?"
"She was working two jobs, she would be unable to be there for her child..."
"Much like how Brendan's mother is right now," I mutter to myself.
"And you and your mother tried to fight the courts right, Tiana?"
"Yes," she answers. "My mother mortgaged our house to try and pay for a lawyer, but..."
Tiana breaks down into tears. She holds her hands over her eyes in embarrassment and grief. She can't believe she lost her son because she couldn't afford to pay someone to fight for him. The justice system can be used in really twisted ways sometimes. My stomach turns in anger, wishing I could've helped Tiana back then. I couldn't imagine having the baby I'm carrying, ripped away from me after it is born. The thought kills me. My mother almost went through the same thing with me, giving me to my dad for her "protection!" Thankfully, she followed her heart and... fell into a magical portal... Obviously, Tiana didn't have that option and ended up suffering a lot for it.
"We lost the case, but I still refused to sign the paper that gave away my parental rights," Tiana whispers. "But my pregnancy got complicated in the last few months... I went into labour like I was supposed to, but he was in breech position so they had to do a cesarean... and while I was under... Those bastards you call parents forged my signature and had my baby taken away!" Tiana breaks down even further. She puts her head on the counter of the island and continues to sob in what feels like agony.
I can see that Naveen actually wants to hug Tiana. He keeps leaning in, putting his arm out and then retracts it repeatedly, changing his mind. I give him a look to just give her a comforting hug.
Reluctantly, he puts his arm around her... Tia at first bolts up in shock and attempts to slap Naveen across the face, clearly she still has a lot of rage built up inside her, despite their close moment when reuniting with Brendan. I can see the anger in her eyes. Five years of pain from having her child taken away and five years of aggravation towards the man she thought she loved so much who in the end betrayed her... I can't imagine her pain. She looks at Naveen with fury in her eyes until she notices he was just trying to comfort her so she back off.
"Stay away from me!" Tiana practically growls. "You did this to me! I don't need your sympathy! Where was it five years ago?!"
"I'm sorry Tia...Tiana, I know that will never make up for what I did, but I am sorry..."
Tiana stares at Naveen for a long few moments, her eyebrows scrunched together in deep concentration and rage. She scans his face, looking for the wimpy and cowardly man she hated so passionately, but she doesn't see it. Instead, she sees a man who's also been beaten down and heartbroken by the loss of their child and is willing to bury the hatchet in order to get him back. He seems to want to do anything to make it up to her. He knows he hurt her, the guilt on his face is very clear, but he tries to show some strength and compassion to the woman he once loved...
Tiana takes a few deep breaths, calming herself just enough. I hand her a few napkins to wipe her eyes and Alisa gets Tiana some water. She drinks it slowly as if stalling before speaking to Naveen.
"I know you're sorry Naveen, but it doesn't make me hate you any less for what you've done."
"That's fair," Naveen says. "I know you'll never forgive me, but I will do anything to try and make it up to you...In fact, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to help you move past this. Till my dying breath... That is guaranteed..."
Tiana stares at him for a long while. She's looking for a reason to yell at him further but is finding none. His sincerity is genuine, his sadness, real and his regret, very deep.
"I'll let you try," Tiana mutters before turning back to Raymond. Alisa has found her way to him and has her arms wrapped around his neck, leaning on him in a sort of awkward hug. Raymond readjusts and looks at his notes. He clears his throat.
"So what's the next step?" I ask, trying to bring the conversation back to the point.
Raymond scrolls through his notes and circles important details.
"We need to build a case..." he says. "And it will not be easy by any means. Crystal, you have call child services, but Brendan's current mother can easily just fire...Olga, did you say her name was? and get a new nanny. We have to prove that Ms. Gallahger is neglectful and is not worthy of raising the child,"
"Easier said than done," I say. "She's managing partner of one of the top law firms in New York."
"I'm well aware," Raymond says. "That's why we'll have to bring in a few more lawyers to help us. I can probably get the best in our firm."
"Wait, you're not a lawyer?" Tiana asks.
Raymond shakes his head. "Not yet, I'm only a temp right now. I'm working on my Juris Doctor Degree and then I have to pass the Bar Examination, but this case will definitely help me gain experience and good connections with the firm."
"At least more than one person will be benefitting from this," I say.
"And then we'll have to prove to a judge that you guys are good parents, which means you have to have steady jobs and the stable home environment and then there's always the question of split custody..." Raymond trails off as he looks at Tiana and Naveen, who look at each other in confusion and nervously. The two had not even talked about sharing custody, they had only been determined to get their son back. The questions hover in the room like some kind of aura. Is Tiana willing to allow Naveen to see their son? What about the restaurant? Who will get main custody? What about Naveen's parents? It makes me a little nervous about what the answers to those questions might be. I wonder what will happen with this custody case. Even with the anger and hatred, Tiana feels towards Naveen, I know she wouldn't cut her son off from his father...not completely anyways. She knows what it's like not to grow up with a father and she has seen everyone around her do the same... Is she willing to deprive her son of a father? The two already seem to be bonding over music, will she sever that tie? Does she think Naveen will be a good father? All the questions linger, making the air very heavy around us. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife.
"Have we discussed custody at any point?" Raymond
"No," Tiana squeaks.
"Well...I can walk you through the options later on if you'd like, there's more than one way you both can see Brendan."
"O-Okay," Tiana swallows.
"We also need to file forgery charges against the parents to even consider custody," Raymond goes on. "It should be pretty open-shut with handwriting comparisons and both of your sworn statements, but we will have to bring them to court."
A lump appears in Naveen's throat.
"You mean... we're going to have to see my parents?"
"That's the plan," Raymond says with a confused look. "Is that a problem
"Yes... it is," Naveen says. "If you think your dad is bad Crystal, you haven't met my parents."