RESOLUTION
"It's time for a resolution," his boss said to him.
Ben looked up and nodded. "I have full legal authority to do what I must?" he asked.
"Full legal authority," his boss replied. "The meeting has been called. Do what you must."
"Does somebody want to tell me what the hell we're doing here?" Adam Chandler demanded in the Buchanan's living room.
"Well don't ask me," Asa Buchanan replied. "As far as I'm concerned this whole situation is resolved."
"Don't count on it," JR Chandler snapped. "I will get my son back."
"He's my son," Kevin Buchanan told him. "I don't know why we're listening to this."
"For the same reason we are," Tad Martin said walking into the room, his son Jamie and Babe Keri coming in behind him.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Asa demanded. "I thought they were locked up!"
"The police are outside," Tad said. "Apparently some judge ordered us brought here."
"Where's my son, where's James?" Babe demanded.
"Stop calling him that!" JR shouted.
"What's going on?" a voice asked from the doorway.
Everyone looked to see Bianca Montgomery standing in the doorway.
"Bianca?" Babe whispered.
"Who called me here?" Bianca asked.
"None of us," Kevin said. "Who called this meeting?"
Kevin looked over and saw Kelly walk into the room. He sighed, it must have been her, she wanted to give Ace away for months now. Kevin would probably have to stop her.
"Kelly, did you do this?" he asked. "Call all of us together here?"
"No," Kelly said. "I got a call telling me to come here. What's going on?"
"Who's idea was all this?" David Hayward demanded.
"It's gotta be somebody with a vested interest in what happens to that little boy, that's for sure," Krystal Keri put in. "But why call all of us here?"
"Because here is where Ace currently is," Ben said walking in the room.
Everyone looked at the tall blonde young man who had just walked in. He was dressed casually with a firm look on his face.
"Who are you?" Adam asked.
"My name is Ben," he said. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "And I've been given full discretion by the court to decide where the baby goes next. Anybody who's not sure is more than welcome to look over the court order."
Everybody began talking at once until Ben put his fingers in his mouth and blew a loud whistle to shut everyone up!
"Okay, now that that's done," Ben said. "Here's how it's going to work, I've been brought up on everything that's happened when it comes to baby Ace, and let me tell you that's the first piece of news I have, the baby's name is Ace. That's what's on his birth certificate, that's the name given to him out of love and that's the name that's his. Now on to the rest of it."
He turned to the Chandlers. "JR, I have no doubt that you love your son, but you have done inexcusable things in the name of that love. You drugged your wife, framed your brother for it, nearly getting him killed. When you found out that Bess wasn't yours you tried to run away with her anyway, though that I concede was done out of terrible grief and sadness and denial. You have gone out of your way to become just as bad as your father, and make no mistake about it Adam; you are a horrible father and man. The fact that Liza has disappeared with your daughter is obviously smart on her part and if you were to have any part in raising this boy he could be doomed from the beginning. However…"
He turned to Babe and Jamie. "From what I understand, JR was nothing like his father until you. You lied to him, cheated on him and made him doubt everything about himself, so naturally, his self had to change, at least that's what he thought. Then you turn your attention to his brother and, rather than stepping forward and telling everybody the truth, you kidnapped this boy. Not only making JR think his son was dead, but making the adoptive parents, who'd done nothing wrong in this situation, wonder what had happened to the child they loved. This is after you kept a daughter you knew wasn't yours for months. If you were to have a child you'd raise him around them!" He pointed at David and Krystal. "The mother who started this lie in the first place, and the father who…well his sins are too numerous to list and who isn't even a little sorry. At least you and your mother have the decency to pretend to be sorry."
"I am sorry," Babe said.
"You're always sorry," Ben continued. "Sorry to have stolen Bianca's child and kept it from her for months, sorry to make Kevin and Kelly terrified as to what might have happened to the child they grew to love, sorry to have cheated on JR, always sorry, yet you never improve."
Then he turned to Jamie and Tad. "You two, Jamie, you have a good heart, but a weak head, you have yet to finish growing up yourself, which is okay for someone your age without a child. The idea to kidnap Ace was your idea. All this over the love of your brother's wife! A woman you think you've fallen in love with after one night of sex. Maybe you are, but that still doesn't excuse what you've done. And Tad, you claim to love JR like a son, yet you let him think his son was dead because you don't approve of the way he's turned out, partially because you lied to him. If you had told him the truth he might have turned on Babe, but he still would have trusted you. He might still have listened to you about how to deal with Babe, but instead you lied and sided with one son over the other. What if baby Ace grows up and has a child and you don't approve of the way he raises it. Will you let him think his child is dead? These decisions aren't for you to make."
He turned to the Buchanan's. "Asa, you are bitter old man who probably should have died of heart failure, or heart lacking, a long time ago, you are so much like Adam Chandler that it's scary there's more than like you out there. You have no compassion for those whose child was stolen and given to your family. Giving it back might be the right thing to do, but you don't care, you just care about what you want." He turned to Kevin. "You're very similar, except…I think you're a good father who loves his son, but you're not willing to let him go, and a father has to be willing to do that." He turned to Kelly and his gaze softened. "Kelly, you are the parent here who was willing to give up Ace for his own good, but you let your emotions lead where your brain should take some of the slack. On Babe and Jamie's word alone you decided JR wasn't good enough to be a father. You never met him, knew nothing about him and made that decision all on your own. This is after you got a baby through dubious circumstances. I understand that you thought the mother gave him up willingly, and you were grieving at the time, but that doesn't make it right."
"All of you have done nothing but thought about what you want when it comes to baby Ace," Ben told them. "I believe you all love him, but so far, none of you are good enough to parent him. However, I believe that people can change for the better. So I want to give all of you that chance. You will all make amends with those you have hurt; become better people and you will all have a place in that child's life. His name is Ace, because that's the name he was born with, and the name those who loved him like their own gave him, and that should be honored. However, none of you will have custody of Ace until you demonstrate that you love him enough to give him up, or to share him, or to compromise. Until you have convinced me that you've changed. Now, I know you'll all go call your lawyers and your politician friends and try to overturn this ruling that gives me this authority, but that's just wasting time you could be spending making yourselves better people for Ace."
"Wait a minute," Kevin said. "Where's Ace going to stay in the meantime?"
Ben turned to Bianca. "You have kindness and compassion that is greater than anything I've ever seen," he told her. "And now that you have the Cambias fortune you certainly have the means, so I was wondering if you would take custody of baby Ace while his final placement is decided."
Bianca's eyes couldn't have gotten wider with surgery! This was totally unexpected and nothing she'd even considered!
"I…well…I guess if the choices are either me or foster care…of course!" Bianca stammered. "I'll take care of him until the court makes a final decision!"
"Thank you," Ben said. "All the parents have visitation, however, grandparents, aunts, uncles, none of you are to approach Ace. I'll know if you do and if you do, you will be barred from Ace's life forever. Kevin, Kelly, Babe and JR are the only ones in this room allowed to visit Ace. No variation allowed. Is anybody here unclear about this?"
Everyone stood in silence at Ben's declaration. He turned to Kelly and Kevin. "If you two would please get some of Ace's things we'll be bringing Ace to Bianca's house immediately."