Twilight belongs to the ridiculously talented Stephenie Meyer.
A Father's Hope belongs to me.
Thanks to twimom817 for beta'ing and making this look pretty.
Chapter Eleven
Not long after the first of the year, I filed an order to show cause in King County Family Court and an emergent order. Unfortunately the judge who handled the case found my situation to be non- emergent and suggested we file a motion package. We were scheduled for a February 11th preliminary hearing date.
Mr. Christianson said that we would have to prove that Irina was served with court papers through the mail. Papers were sent to her both in Bahrain and her last known address in California.
Other than Bella seeing the pictures of Chloe on Facebook with her new school uniform on, we had no information as to where she was going to school. Irina proved useless in providing any information as she was still avoiding my calls. I finally ended up contacting the United States Department of State which made contact with the embassy in Bahrain. I was told that a representative from the embassy would be making home visits to check on Chloe's well- being. Through them we were able to get a few photos and finally find out where she was going to school.
Winter melted into spring and phone calls with Chloe remained few and far between. She always begged me to fly to Bahrain to get her but I'd been threatened by Irina's father on more than one occasion if I even set foot in the country I'd be arrested for attempted kidnapping.
"Doesn't he realize that kidnapping is exactly what his daughter did?" Bella huffed.
"Baby, in her father's eyes, I'm probably the one who cheated and did everything wrong. He probably thinks that I don't want Chloe and that's why Irina went back to Bahrain."
"It's just so unfair, Edward. If Irina is filling her father's head with bullshit how are we to know what she's filling Chloe's head with?" Bella asked, frustrated.
One day in early May, I received a phone call from my lawyer saying that we had a court date in California on June 21st. He said that the judge had ruled that California would keep jurisdiction over the case because Chloe was born in the State of California. Mr. Christianson also mentioned that the court was having problems locating the lawyer that Irina had supposedly obtained.
A few days after we received the court date, Irina called begging me to call off my legal action against her.
"Please, Edward …" Irina begged.
"No, Irina. You violated the custody agreement. YOU are in the wrong here. You were supposed to bring Chloe back nine months ago and you failed to do so. You've sacrificed Chloe's education and happiness for your own selfish needs; you've kept her from me and my family. You've put us through hell these last few months and I'm done. I'll do whatever it takes to protect Chloe."
"But, Edward …"
"No Irina! I'll see you in court on the 21st of June."
Our new house closed on June 18th and we were handed the keys. Bella and I had made arrangements to move that weekend. Her apartment was all packed up and ready to go. We had purchased new furniture for the house; a new bedroom set for Bella and me, a living room and dining room set as well as a new bedroom set for Chloe. Thank goodness my mom had connections and could get it all at cost.
My birthday was the day before we had to be in court, but because we had to fly to California that day, we decided to postpone celebrating until the following weekend. I felt awful leaving when Bella had a house full of boxes to unpack.
"Leave these … I'll help you unpack when I get home."
"Edward … don't worry about it. Just focus on telling the judge the truth so you can get Chloe back."
Bella drove my mom, dad and me to the airport. I wished so badly that she could have come with me, but she couldn't and my lawyer thought it would be best if Bella wasn't there.
"I love you so much, Edward. Call me when you get there, okay?"
"I will," I nodded. "I love you too, Bella. Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?"
I pulled her into my arms one last time and kissed her sweetly, resting my forehead against hers.
"I'll miss you, baby."
"Miss you too, Edward. Now go …"
The next morning, we walked into the County Courthouse and when the bailiff called our case number, I followed Mr. Christianson up to the front of the courtroom and we took our seats. Irina was nowhere to be found.
The judge called for court to come to order and my lawyer stood when the judge asked him to explain.
"Your Honor, Ms. Denali is in contempt of her custody agreement with Mr. Cullen. It clearly states that Ms. Denali has custody of the child during the school year. Two and a half months during the summer and every other holiday she is to be in Mr. Cullen's custody. The order also states that if the child is to be removed from the country, Ms. Denali needs to have written consent from Mr. Cullen. Ms. Denali only had Mr. Cullen's consent to take his daughter out of the country for approximately four weeks. She has been there for approximately ten MONTHS your Honor."
The judge turned to look at the Defense Attorney.
"Mr. White, does your client dispute this fact?"
"Your Honor, my client simply took her daughter to her home country. She hadn't been home to visit in several years. Mr. and Mrs. Hassan, Ms. Denali's parents deserve to see their granddaughter. They deserve to get to know her. Ms. Denali is a student, and has been attending classes to become a flight attendant and then she hopes to attend school to become an airline pilot. These classes are costly, and the flight from Bahrain to the United States is very expensive. Ms. Denali simply can't afford to do both, and it's imperative that the child remain with her mother as it's the best place for her."
"Mr. White, according to the paperwork I have in front of me, Ms. Denali was asked by Mr. Cullen several times to enroll their child in school. According to the embassy, Ms. Denali didn't register her daughter until January. Can you tell me why Ms. Denali failed to enroll her prior to January?" the judge asked.
"Your Honor, Ms. Denali's family employs someone to homeschool her daughter."
"I object, your Honor. With all due respect, the embassy was unable to find any records confirming that Mr. Cullen and Ms. Denali's daughter was homeschooled. I would also like to point out your Honor that this is not the first incident of Ms. Denali taking her daughter to Bahrain and not returning home as promised."
The judge called a recess and when he came back he spoke directly to Irina's attorney.
"Mr. White, I'd like to hear Ms. Denali's take on all this. I'd like to reconvene in thirty days, and if your client fails to appear she will be held in contempt of court and that won't bode well for the custody aspect of this case."
I could feel the anger rising in my chest; mixed with the ache of not seeing my daughter for ten long months it was more than I could bear. Irina had given me so many excuses as to why she couldn't bring my daughter home, and all of them were empty; merely lies that slipped so easily from her mouth. Chloe was the one Irina was really hurting. Each time I talked to my little girl she begged to come home to me; my hands were tied, I had to leave it up to the judicial system, and I hoped with everything I had that they did the right thing.
So we returned to Seattle, frustrated that we were unable to get an order for Irina to return Chloe to the States at the very least.
"I didn't expect to come home with her but damn, I at least hoped we'd have an idea of when she'd come home," I huffed.
"Edward … from what you and your parents have said, the judge doesn't sound like he's too happy with Irina. She didn't show up to court and now he's ordered for her to show up. She could do some jail time if she pisses off the judge enough."
"Bella … I don't want harm to come to Irina, I just want Chloe back. I want her to be safe and happy. I want her to be in school. Is that too much to ask?"
"Of course not, Edward," Bella cooed. "I know you want those things, baby. Just hang in there. Give Mr. Christianson everything you possibly can and fight this thing."
"Bella …" I breathed. "I can't thank you enough … for everything. You've been here for me when you didn't have to be and God … I just …"
"Shh … Edward you don't have to thank me. I'm here because I want to be. I love you and Chloe. It's killing me that you can't be with her because I know how much you want that, baby. God, you're such a good dad, Edward. You deserve to be with her, and she deserves to be with you. You can give her stability where Irina can't."
"You're a part of that stability, Bella. Chloe can count on you. You're so good with her, she loves you and looks up to you. I wish Irina was half as involved with her as you are."
I pulled Bella into my arms and kissed her, hoping that she was feeling all of the emotion I was trying to pour into it. I picked her up, cradling her in my arms and carried her up to our bedroom. I made love to her as the light from the sunset poured through our windows. We stayed in our little bubble for the rest of the evening, losing ourselves in each other over and over again until we were too exhausted to move.
I didn't get the outcome I wanted from my day in court but I still had a lot to be thankful for; a gorgeous new home, a beautiful and loving girlfriend and a fiercely loyal family. The only thing missing was Chloe and I hoped beyond all hope that I'd have her back soon.
A/N: Thank you all again for reading. I hope that you are all enjoying a safe and Happy Holiday. Although tomorrow is Christmas, I will still be posting Chapter Twelve, and just to finish out the story, I'll also post the Epilogue. Until then ...