For the next several weeks, Sam and Santana were more than a little busy, getting the ball rolling on the case against Kyle and his claim for paternal rights to Antonia. There were many talks and phone calls with lawyers, and Santana was quickly advised to gather as much evidence as she could against Kyle's lack of support for Antonia and his lack of effort at being involved in her life, from the point of conception onward. Santana was able to remember, after some thought, that she had kept a journal during the time of her pregnancy. It had been a difficult time in her life; having lost friends, her father and abuela's support, and her boyfriend as well, she had had few people to turn to, and she had poured most of her thoughts and struggles into writing. Kyle's abandonment of her and refusal to acknowledge her baby as his own was detailed plainly there. She was able as well to pull up easily enough her banking transactions on line, and there was proof in that as well that no checks or payments from Kyle Lathrop had ever come her way.
She would have her mother's testimony both of the time during and immediately after her pregnancy, of how Santana had had no help or support with Antonia except from Maribel herself. She would have the written statements of Antonia's teachers that Kyle had been witnessed lurking on the school's playground during the child's recess period and trying to talk to her, which was considered trespassing. There was of course the fact that Kyle had not made any move to act as a father towards Antonia or to wish to acknowledge her or become involved in her life until it became obvious that she and Santana both were coming into money through Sam.
Sam assured her, and Santana tried to believe, that all of this would be sufficient for anyone to understand and believe that Kyle Lathrop should not have any rights to a four year old as a father, as he had not previously taken any opportunity to behave as one. But there were still niggling doubts that haunted her, sometimes keeping her lying awake at night with one hand resting protectively on her slowly growing stomach, the other clasped fast in Sam's for unspoken comfort. It was an undeniable fact that Kyle was Antonia's biological father, and Kyle had stated he was willing and had in fact gone through with taking a paternity test, which had positively identified him as Antonia's father. Santana knew that often in the court of law, biological ties were regarded as of the utmost concern. She had, when Sam had not been around to stop her, obsessively been looking through court cases in which parents' rights had either been upheld or terminated, and one thing she had become repeatedly upset about was that even in cases of abuse and neglect, often, courts had refused to terminate biological parents' rights without giving them chance after chance to prove themselves fit parents again.
She knew that by law, and as her lawyer would argue, Kyle had abandoned Antonia by refusing to acknowledge her as his child and refusing to provide his presence or support in her life for her first four years. But what if his claim that he was willing to do so now was all the judge would care about? What if Antonia's well being was cast down in favor of the rights Kyle had not wanted in the first place, before money had clouded his vision?
The night before the hearing was set for, Santana had lay awake in bed. She had been snappy and even teary for most of the day, to the point that Maribel had taken over childcare duties and told her to rest. But rest proved impossible, even when Sam had come in and began to rub her back in the way she usually found so soothing. She had reached back to grip his hand, fresh worries striking her.
What if the judge determined that Sam could not adopt Antonia, because of Kyle's "rights" as her father? How would Toni feel if Sam was the guardian of Stevie and the biological father of the new baby, but could not adopt her? What if she was forced into giving Kyle visitation with Toni? What if Toni was made to spend days with him, even weekends? How could she give her baby girl up to go spend even an hour, let alone a whole day and night, alone with the man who didn't even want her?
It wasn't until she felt something wet in the crook of her neck that she realized she had started to sob, and when Sam's arms closed around her, spooning her tightly from behind and kissing the back of her neck, she held onto his wrists, pulling him more tightly around her.
"He can't have her," she had choked out, sniffling. "Sam, he can't have her, I can't let him take her away from us."
"Baby, that will never happen," Sam had whispered, strong hands still so gentle as they rubbed up and down her arms. "She's ours and we know it, and it will be obvious to everyone else too. You've been a terrific mother to her, beyond what anyone else could do for her. You've raised her well and you've done it all by yourself. Kyle was never there and they'll see that, so why would anyone believe he really wants to be there now?"
"But what if they do?" she had insisted, her nails digging into his skin until she felt him flinch. "People are stupid, Sam, so damn stupid. What if they believe him over me?"
"We paid too much money for a lawyer who's too good for that to happen," Sam had told her, squeezing her back, though more gently. "It's going to be okay, Tana. She's your girl, yours and mine now too, and no one is going to do away with that. No one is going to take our girl away and give her to anyone but us, not for one day."
But despite all logic that told her this was most likely the truth, it had taken Santana most of the night to be able to relax her tired brain enough to come anywhere close to sleep. And in the morning her frantic fears had started up all over again. What if…what IF?
88
The morning of the hearing seemed entirely too soon for Santana. She took care to dress as professionally and modestly as she could manage, fretting even as she did so that she would be judged by the judge, literally, for being pregnant for the second time without yet being married. What if that made him think that she somehow wasn't fit as Antonia's mother? What if he thought that she really was probably the kind of girl who slept around, the kind of girl that Kyle would have had legitimate doubts about when she accused him of fathering her child?
It was ridiculous to worry about that, she knew; even if she was the most promiscuous person alive, the fact remained that Kyle was Antonia's father, biologically, and he had had sex with Santana and then refused to even take a paternity test in order to make a show of responsibility. But what if she got some old, white, uptight judge who couldn't look past her dark skin and slight belly bump in how he saw her?
She was more than willing to give a testimony, as was her mother, Sam, and a number of others in Antonia's life that were ready to vouch for her current well being without Kyle trying to weasel his way into the picture. But Mr. Dover, their lawyer, had indicated that given their passion and the level of emotion they felt towards Kyle and his actions, it might be best if he were to simply lay out the facts without her testimony. Santana had a suspicion that he thought she might lose the proper lady act and start cursing on stand if she were pushed too far.
She was relieved when she saw that the judge in question was not in fact a man at all, nor was she very old. She was a woman in perhaps her late forties or early fifties, her dark hair carefully styled- and maybe, just maybe, she was a mother herself.
Both Maribel and Sam were with her for support, sitting directly behind her, and when she occasionally felt the strong touch of her fiancé and the gentle caress of her mother on her shoulder or back, it gave her strength. She did all she could not to even glance in Kyle's direction, not wanting her focus to be diverted to him for a single moment more than was needed. She knew already that not interrupting with her own objections when he spoke in the future would be difficult enough.
Their lawyer, Mr. Dover, presented his opening statement simply enough; Santana was aware of its basic wording, but hearing him present her story, and that of her daughter, so simply, in such a factual manner, was somehow strange, like hearing a story about someone other than herself. It was a little embarrassing too, as she had not expected, because she knew that the story was hers, that everyone present and listening knew it was about her, and what might they think of her, knowing all of this about her when she didn't know the first thing about most of them?
"Santana Lopez was only seventeen years old when she found herself pregnant with the child whom is now her four year old daughter, Antonia Lopez. Although Ms. Lopez was young, frightened, and certainly not having planned or expected the circumstances in which she found herself, she nevertheless acted with maturity, responsibility, and determination beyond her years. For the past four years, with the help and support of only her mother, Maribel, Ms. Lopez has raised Antonia Lopez with skill, careful guidance, and most importantly, with great love and concern for her and what would serve her daughter best. Ms. Lopez has always been employed throughout her pregnancy and throughout her time raising her daughter, and she has lived without the financial support of her mother or any other from the time she was nineteen years old. Ms. Lopez has never been on welfare, has a clear criminal record, and graduated from high school with a remarkable GPA, despite attending while still pregnant with her child. Ms. Lopez's care for her daughter has never raised any concerns, and all those who know the child, including her dentist, doctor, and teachers, all affirm that Antonia Lopez is healthy, happy, thriving, and very much bonded to her mother. She has met all her developmental milestones, and in all aspects Ms. Lopez has proven herself to be an excellent mother to her child."
He paused, giving a smile first to Santana, then to the judge, before looking rather pointedly at Kyle's strained face across from him.
"The same, unfortunately, could not be said of the defendant, Kyle Lathrop. From the time of his daughter's conception, Mr. Lathrop has not only failed to provide for his daughter, as Ms. Lopez always has done, but has in fact from the time of her conception failed even to acknowledge the possibility that she was his biological child. Mr. Lathrop refused a pregnancy test at the time of his child's conception, despite knowing that he had engaged in sexual relationships with Ms. Lopez and she had correctly named him to be the father. Despite Ms. Lopez's efforts to involve Mr. Lathrop in the life of their mutually conceived child, for the first four years of Antonia's life, and for the entirety of Ms. Lopez's pregnancy, Mr. Lathrop has refused all contact and all support of her, both emotionally and financially. In this hearing, you will be provided with proof that Mr. Lathrop did not make any effort to support, become acquainted with, or even acknowledge Antonia Lopez to be his daughter for the past five years. Only now, when Antonia is four years old and her mother wishes to marry a man of considerable financial means, does he decide to acknowledge and provide a presence in this child's life. Ms. Lopez's fiancé, Mr. Samuel Evans, is very involved with and bonded to Antonia, and he is well able and willing to provide for her. Mr. Evans is also not only willing but eager to adopt Antonia as his own child. Today, I am certain through the evidence presented that you will come to believe, as Ms. Lopez, Mr. Evans, and the child herself, Antonia Lopez, do, that Mr. Lathrop's rights as a father are nonexistent, given his history of behavior towards the child in question."
As he sat, momentarily resting his case, Santana released a breath she hadn't quite realized she had been holding. She definitely agreed with Mr. Dover and thought that he had presented himself well; hopefully the judge would too. But what was Kyle's lawyer going to say to refute him?
Kyle's lawyer, Mr. Owings, was more slow to stand, smoothing down his collar. He looked deliberately at Santana, as well as Sam and Maribel behind her, his eyes narrowed as though in judgment, and Santana had to press her lips into a thin line as he turned back to the judge, addressing him with obvious arrogance in his tone.
"Who among us has not made mistakes when we were young and foolish, missteps that in hindsight, we would love to go back and change? Kyle Lathrop was himself only eighteen years old when presented with the possibility of becoming a father before he had even graduated high school. He was a young man who had plans for his life, dreams for his future, and when presented with the possibility of the death of those plans and dreams, he panicked and shied away from the opportunity he was offered, the opportunity to know and acknowledge his child. Was Mr. Lathrop's choice, at eighteen years of age, selfish and perhaps unadmirable? Yes, it was. But was a choice made when a youth is not yet of legal age to even drink alcohol meant to be a choice that will haunt and punish him for the remainder of his life? Kyle Lathrop has grown and matured in the four years between eighteen and twenty-two, as all of us do, and he deeply regrets his earlier behavior and choice to distance himself from his daughter. Mr. Lathrop wishes to take on his responsibilities, to do right by his only child and be a father to her, to know her and be able to provide for her, as only a father can for his daughter. Mr. Lathrop is not seeking to take away the rights of Ms. Lopez, nor is he seeking to cause any harm to Antonia Lopez, or to deny her a healthy bond with the man who is to be her stepfather. All Mr. Lathrop wants is a chance to make a bad decision right, to be able to have his rights as a father. Is that something so difficult to understand?"
Listening to this, Santana clinched her fists in her lap, wanting nothing more than to stand up and shout her own responses about just what it was that Mr. Lathrop truly wanted, which was not at all the chance to be a father to a little girl he had dismissed long ago. She wanted to tell everyone present how he had tried to manipulate his child, how he had frightened her and invaded her privacy and told her information inappropriate for a little girl to have to think through on her own, before she was ready. She wanted to tell everyone exactly what she thought of him, but she felt Sam's hand squeeze her shoulder, steadying her, and she swallowed back her angry words, merely lifting her chin instead to settle herself.
Mr. Dover gave her a reassuring smile, as though to tell her he had it all covered, as the defense called Kyle Lathrop to the stand. Santana chewed her inner cheek, barely containing herself as Kyle was asked questions by his own lawyer, presenting himself in the light of a confused young man who wanted nothing more than to be a responsible father to a child that, as Kyle portrayed it, he had been denied the opportunity to get to know. She came pretty close to interjecting her own objections before the defense rested, and her own lawyer stood to cross examine Kyle.
"You admit that for the past four years, you have had no contact with Ms. Lopez and her daughter until early this year," he began, and Santana smirked, noticing and appreciating the slight stress he put on the words "her daughter." "What was it, Mr. Lathrop, that drew your attention to Santana and her child at that time?"
"Well, we were in a diner together, same time, same place," Kyle answered, giving an easy shrug, seeming confident that the truth, in this instance, was harmless. "I recognized Santana and saw Toni with her, figured she was her daughter. Our daughter. She was a real cute kid, and I realized then that I wanted to know her, that I wanted to be involved. That I had made a mistake, and it was time to make it right."
"So you ran into Ms. Lopez and her daughter by chance," Mr. Dover said slowly, again putting slight emphasis on the phrase "her daughter" as well as on the word chance when he spoke. "You made no effort to get in touch with her over the years, had no curiosity about the child that she had long before claimed to be yours. In fact, Mr. Lathrop, you went out of your way to avoid any contact with Ms. Lopez and her daughter, isn't that right?"
"As I said," Kyle replied, his voice somewhat tighter than before, his expression flat, "I did run into her by chance, yes, but once I saw Toni for myself and realized what I was missing out on, and the mistake I had made, I wanted to make things right. She's my daughter, and I should be taking ownership of that."
"But Mr. Lathrop, as Ms. Lopez has presented, and as you yourself have admitted in your testimony, you previously felt that Antonia Lopez could not be your biological child. What made you decide, upon a single meeting, that your former girlfriend's child, whom you had at one point been so certain could not be yours, could in fact be your child after all?" Mr. Dover pressed, and Santana raised an eyebrow, wanting to hear this answer herself. How was Kyle going to wiggle out of that one?
She could tell from Kyle's hesitation before he responded, as well as the way he glanced at his lawyer as though wanting him to supply him with an answer, that he wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"Well, I didn't know it then," he said finally. "Not for sure, I hadn't taken a paternity test at that point or anything like that. But I started to wonder some time soon after that."
"When exactly was it that you started to wonder, Mr. Lathrop?" Mr. Dover persisted, eyebrows raising to mirror Santana's. "You were so certain before that Antonia Lopez could not possibly be your child, so certain that you refused to support her or her mother in any manner during Ms. Lopez's pregnancy and for the first four years of Antonia's life. You were so certain, and yet something changed your mind? How could you be so absolutely positive at one point in time, and then change your mind a few years later?"
"Objection, argumentative," Kyle's lawyer broke in, but the judge waived him off, allowing for the questioning to continue. Again Kyle seemed to struggle with his response.
"I was never totally certain that she wasn't my child," he admitted finally, resentment coloring his tone if not his expression. "There was the possibility. When I had better evidence, I was willing to do my part. Isn't that what's important now, that I'm willing to step up and support my child? To be her father?"
Again Santana had to bite the inside of her cheeks to keep from shouting out at him, and she dug her nails into her palms. How could he think that anyone would take him seriously? How could he not realize that the time for him to be Antonia's father had come years ago, not now, when she had a father in Sam who was more than just willing, but actually anxious to play that role?
"So you weren't certain," Mr. Dover let each word be uttered slowly, hanging in the air like a judgment. "You weren't certain that Antonia Lopez was not your child, you knew there was a possibility that she was, and that Santana Lopez was telling you that she was. And yet, you refused to take a paternity test. You refused financial, emotional, and parental support of both her and her mother. Mr. Lathrop, if you knew, as you just admitted, that there was a chance that you had fathered Ms. Lopez's child, why is it that you did not acknowledge that possibility and take the appropriate measures to determine whether she was your equal responsibility?"
Kyle was quicker to answer this time, and much more tight lipped in his answer.
"As I have already stated, I was young at the time, and I made mistakes in my judgment and my choices. I've learned from that, and I'm willing to make up for them now. Both for Santana's sake, and my daughter's."
Seeming to change his tactic, Mr. Dover switched the direction of his questioning. "When was it, Mr. Lathrop, that you changed your mind about wanting a relationship with Antonia?"
"When I saw her in the diner, it got me thinking about it, and what I could have missed out on," Kyle answered, seeming more at ease with this new question. "I guess it was about then."
"And yet, you did nothing to personally contact Ms. Lopez at that time, or shortly after it," Mr. Dover stated, not asking so much as telling him and the judge this. "In fact, at the time that you saw Ms. Lopez in the diner, you created such a disturbance that she and Mr. Evans, her fiancé, complained to management that you were disturbing their dinner and upsetting the children who were present with your language. If you had started to "wonder" then, as you put it, about pursuing a relationship with Antonia Lopez, what did it take for you to actually begin to do so?"
"Well, I saw her again a few weeks later, at a baseball game," Kyle stated, shrugging his shoulders and shooting what looked to Santana and Sam both like a very fake smile. "And it seemed to me like that was a sign. To go so many years without seeing her or Santana, and then to see her twice in such a short time? So I guess it was around then that I started doing some thinking and reassessing and realizing where I had gone wrong. That was when I decided that I should begin a relationship with my daughter."
"So you just happened to be at that game, huh?" Mr. Dover asked, and Kyle nodded, his tone almost belligerent.
"Yes, I happened to be. Is that a crime?"
"Let's cut to the chase here, Mr. Lathrop," Mr. Dover rolled his eyes, allowing his lips to quirk into a knowing smirk. "I have witnesses present now, Mr. Lathrop, that would testify that you not only always watch the New York Yankees games, but also were well aware and present during the time of Sam Evans's first game and subsequent filmed interview, which both Santana and Antonia Lopez were present during as well. So let me ask you, now that you're aware of this- did you witness Sam Evans' first game with the New York Yankees, and the interview with himself, Santana, and her daughter after the game?"
Santana started to smile, barely stopping herself from wiggling in her seat with a burst of glee. She knew exactly where this was going.
"Well, yeah, I saw it," Kyle said defensively, putting one hand palm up as though in surrender. "I saw her, and I heard her calling that guy her father, the same guy that was in the diner with her, and I thought, what if he's not? How's that fair to that little girl, to lie to her like that?"
"And so you made sure you were present at the following Yankees game," Mr. Dover stated, and as Santana had hoped, Kyle took the bait.
"Yeah, I did. Like I said, I was starting to rethink things."
"It's interesting how you tend to "rethink" things immediately after you heard an interview in which it was mentioned exactly what kind of money that Ms. Lopez and her younger daughter were now involved in," Mr. Dover stated dryly, even as Kyle's lawyer barked out his objections and Mr. Dover rephrased his question. "Mr. Lathrop, are you familiar with the names Yasmine Torrance and Parker Denton?"
Santana thought she saw a flicker of something cross over Kyle's face even as he shook his head, his expression neutral. "No, I don't know those people."
"I suppose you wouldn't," Mr. Lathrop's voice was dry again. "Those people, Mr. Lathrop, happen to be the children of Kelly Torrance and Olivia Denton, two women who have in 2014 and 2015 declared you to be the father of Yasmine Torrance and Parker Denton. Are you familiar, Mr. Lathrop, with the names of the women who are the mothers of those children?"
Santana's breath caught, and she couldn't resist turning around to shoot an excited look towards her mother and Sam. Her mother shared her broad grin, and Sam appeared dumbfounded. If this was true, then they had this case in the bag. There was no way that a man who already had refused to support two other children would be ordered a custody arrangement, or any parental rights at all, to Toni.
Kyle didn't answer right off. He looked almost as stunned as Sam did, perhaps because he had not expected this to come out in the open. His mouth opened, and he looked to his lawyer again as though expecting him to give an answer. But the other man, Santana noticed with an even greater surge of glee, looked even more blown away than Kyle did and had put his head down, shaking it as though in disgust. He wasn't trying to voice objections anymore, and when Kyle finally responded, Santana couldn't keep from snorting in muffled laughter.
"I didn't take a paternity test for one of them, so I don't know that's true."
Santana covered her mouth with her hands, but she was pretty sure that she was grinning through her cupped hands. She didn't even have to pay attention to the rest of the proceedings from that point on- she knew already that whatever closing act stunts Kyle's lawyer might try to pull, whatever fancy talk he might give about mistakes and epiphanies, Kyle was sunk. Toni was hers and only hers, and if she had sole custody and rights to her, then soon, she would be able to be legally Sam's too.
The rest of the proceedings seemed to pass in a blur. Ever meticulous, Mr. Dover pounded his case into the ground with his presentation of witnesses, written evidence, and a closing summary that made it more than abundantly clear that Kyle was not only a serial child abandoner, but also was now interested in responsibility for Antonia only due to his understanding that Antonia was now involved with a man who was of considerable financial means. And when Kyle's lawyer had finished his rather half hearted summary, not even bothering to look in Kyle's direction, it took less than ten minutes total for the judge to deliberate and come to a verdict.
The legal wording did nothing to conceal to Santana and Sam the bottom line of his declaration- that Kyle Lathrop had no legal or parental rights to the minor child Antonia Cristina Lopez, due to his abandonment of parental duty in not one, a minimum of two different cases. From this day forward, Santana had sole custody and rights to her child, and that left her legally free for adoption. Furthermore, Kyle was sentenced to a rather hefty fine and retroactive child support for not only Antonia, but also Yasmine Torrance, whom he had also been proven to have fathered and abandoned.
It all seemed a blur to Santana. Dignified or not, entirely forgetting both the current setting she was in and her pregnancy, she let out an excited whoop and scrambled to her feet, arms flailing as she grasped in her excitement for her mother and Sam. Sam was there and ready, lifting her up under her arms as though she were no bigger or heavier than Toni and pulling her into an awkward but enthusiastic embrace. She could hear her mother laughing and cheering, her arms going around them both, and for that moment, Santana simply basked in the glow of what she knew now to be their success.