Chapter 34 - Court Hearing

Jon checked his jacket and tie in the mirror one last time before heading over to Shawn's room. He hadn't heard from the kid all morning. For all he knew, Shawn wasn't even awake.

He should have known. Shawn wasn't just awake; he'd clearly been awake for hours. His room was clean, his bed was made, his shelves were empty, and two large duffel bags sat at the foot of his bed.

Jon swallowed. He figured there was less than an even chance that Chet would show up to court, and even if he did, they wouldn't grant him reunification on the spot. But he couldn't bring himself to say any of that.

Shawn himself stood in front of his own mirror. He was already dressed up in his suit—pants, shirt, vest, jacket. He fumbled with his tie, having managed to tie it into a knot that didn't seem physically impossible.

"Give you a hand?" Jon asked.

Shawn glanced over at him and laughed, easy and comfortable. "Yeah," he said. "I swear I used to know how to do this."

"Here." Jon stood beside him in the mirror and untied his own tie, then tied it slowly, letting Shawn follow each of his steps.

Shawn grinned as he finished and tightened the knot, and with his eyes focused on the tie, Jon's mind suddenly flashed forward.

Shawn's prom.

His high school graduation. College graduation.

His wedding day.

Jon would have given anything, anything...

"You okay?"

Jon's eyes snapped up to Shawn's. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat with effort. "You look good, Hunter."

"Thanks. And . . . thanks for everything, man. Really."

He wanted to say something. Anything. But if he spoke, he was going to lose it, so he just nodded.

"Getting emotional on me, Jon?" Shawn laughed. "You're not gonna have a chance to miss me, you know. I'll still see you at school. And I'll come visit you. My dad goes out of town a lot, maybe I can stay over sometime."

"Yeah." One way or another, today was going to be unimaginably painful. Still, he couldn't figure out what to say to make it any better. So he said the only thing he could think. "I love you, Shawn."

Shawn's smile dimmed for just a second. "I love you too, Jon," he said for the first time, and he held out his arms.

Jon stepped into them, resting his face in Shawn's hair. He held the boy loosely, afraid if he really embraced him, Shawn would be able to feel the shaking in his limbs.

Shawn picked up a piece of paper from his bed—his testimony, which he'd rewritten in his best handwriting. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Jon asked, almost chuckling to himself, because Shawn had never been the one to ask him that.

It would have been a short drive to the court house, but traffic was heavy. They had left the apartment early, but they arrived a few minutes late, and there were a few security checkpoints on the way in.

Shawn went into the court room ahead of Jon, scanned the room, and said, "He's probably just running late."

Jon swallowed hard, taking note of who was there. The judge sat at the front, and Jon recognized Shawn's social worker with a couple of other women, who he assumed were other social workers. A couple of police officers stood at entry points, and a man in a suit sat on the opposite side from where they'd come in. Jon wondered if he was Chet's lawyer.

Ashley sat on their side of the room. She stood when they came in. Shawn greeted her with a big grin. She smiled back at him, but when Shawn looked away, she gave Jon a worried look.

The judge looked around the room and cleared his throat, looking right at Shawn. "Shawn Hunter?"

"Yes, sir. I mean, your honor."

"Good to see you again, son."

"Hopefully it'll be the last time."

The judge frowned, looking over at the empty seat where Chet was supposed to be.

Then the door to the courtroom opened, and an officer stepped in and approached the bench, whispering something to the judge. The judge nodded and smiled, then looked over at Shawn. "Your father is making his way through security now."

Shawn's grin brightened the room. Ashley's hand slipped into Jon's.

Chet made his way into the room a few minutes later ("I'm here! Don't go startin' without me!"), and the court session began. Jon's pulse pounded in his ears, so hard it hurt, and he squeezed Ashley's hand through the recounting of the history of Chet's neglect and abandonment, the suspicion of physical abuse, the drug charges, and Jon's care of Shawn. They also talked a little about Shawn's accident and his current status of health.

"Mr. Hunter," the judge said, "the conditions of reunification with your son were that you complete eight sessions of parental training classes, and six sessions of therapy. Our records show that you have not completed these."

"Ah, no, your honor, sir," Chet said. "But I went to two classes, and that social worker there, she found me a good therapist, so I'm all set."

The judge gave him a disapproving look. "This session is to determine whether to extend reunification services for another six months, in order to offer more time for Chet Hunter to complete these requirements. Before I give any ruling on this, I understand Shawn Hunter would like to make a statement."

Shawn shot up out of his seat. "Y-yes, your honor."

"You have the floor, son."

Shawn opened his hand and smoothed out the paper—it had been so neat when they'd left the house, but he'd probably crumpled it while trying to hide his nervousness when he came into the courtroom.

Shawn cleared his throat. "Living with Jon this past year, I've learned a lot of things about family. But the most important thing I know about family is that they never give up on you. I'm finally old enough to notice how hard a single parent had to work to support a family. My dad has kept me alive and healthy through thick and thin, and he always comes through for me in the end. Even if it meant selling blood plasma or doing odd jobs to make ends meet, he made sure I was taken care of."

The judge had folded his hands and was looking down at the bench, nodding. Jon squeezed Ashley's hand tighter, trying to keep his face neutral, and her thumb stroked the back of his hand.

"When I was in second grade, I wanted nothing more than to learn how to ride a two wheeler. We didn't have the money to buy one, so my dad took me to Toys R Us and taught me how to ride a bike in the aisles." Shawn sniffed, took a deep breath, and went on. "When I was in fifth grade and couldn't afford a Nintendo like my friends, he filled the evenings by telling me stories. When I was in sixth grade, and he couldn't send me to summer camp, he dug out his old skateboard and took me to the skate park, and he rigged up a sprinkler system for me to play in, so I wouldn't . . . so I wouldn't feel left out . . ." His eyes began to water.

Ashley let go of Jon's hand. He looked over at her, and she nodded toward Shawn. Jon pulled in a breath, and he stood beside the kid.

Shawn looked over at Jon, who nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. Shawn coughed a couple of times and looked down at the paper. "Uh, o-over the years, we've come across a lot of people who have worried about me because of where I lived or what I wore. I'm the first to admit we were poor, in more ways than one. But my father always had his own ways of showing how much he cared about me. When my mother left us, he searched the whole country to bring her back to me. And this Christmas, when I was in the hospital after a bad accident, he came to see me and celebrate with me. He brought me my favorite candy, he watched movies and played games with me, and he made me believe I could overcome anything. Today, I am fully healed from all of my injuries."

Jon's eyes wandered from the judge, to the police, to the social workers, to Chet's lawyer, to Chet. Every one of them seemed to be on the edge of their seat, fully compelled.

Shawn's voice became more confident. He stood up straighter, shrugging off Jon's hand. "The most important thing I've learned this year is that making a mistake isn't the end. My dad has made some mistakes, like every dad does, but they haven't stopped him from loving me, any more than the mistakes I've made have stopped me from loving him. There's nothing he wouldn't do for me, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Because that's what family means."

Shawn lowered the paper, but the attention was still on him. Jon sat down, waiting for Shawn to do the same.

But Shawn's voice only grew in confidence. "The time we've spent away from each other this year is just another chapter in the story of our family. But your Honor, I hope... having heard these things, you consider ending our separation. It's been a long time, and I'm ready to go home to my dad. He's a good man, and he's my hero." Shawn smiled in Chet's direction. "He always has been."

One of the social workers was the first to start clapping, tears in her eyes, and the others joined in shortly after. Even the police officers did, and Jon couldn't refuse without looking insensitive. Shawn beamed over at Chet, who seemed to be avoiding his eyes, his face flushed but smiling.

Jon looked over at Ashley. She was just watching him. Her face betrayed nothing, but he knew she understood everything he was feeling—all the pain and terror and joy.

Finally, the judge called the courtroom to order, and he looked right at Shawn. "You really love your dad, son."

"Yes, your honor."

The judge smiled broadly. "Under the circumstances, I'm willing to grant reunification on a probationary basis."

Shawn didn't wait to hear the rest. The judge went on, but he leapt into the air and raced back to hug Jon and Ashley at the same time. "We did it!" he whispered, and Jon held on tightly, despite his arms and legs and every part of him having gone numb.

"I-I wanna say something, your Honor."

Shawn let go of Jon and sat, turning to face Chet, his grin unfazed.

The judge nodded. "Yes, Mr. Hunter."

Chet shifted his weight where he stood, looking down at his hands. "My boy—he's a good boy. And I been listenin' to him, and uh, come to realize...Well. He don't know it, but he's lyin' to ya."

"What?" Shawn stood straight up, leaning over the guard rail. "No!"

The courtroom burst into whispered chatter, and the judge banged his gavel and looked right at Shawn. "Order," he said firmly, then looked back to Chet. "Chet Hunter."

"I ain't the man he thinks I am. I ain't never once, uh, sold blood or done odd jobs to make ends meet. He has, though. Those years we din't have enough for a bike or summer camp, we din't have enough to put food on the table either. And...that's my fault, your Honor. Weren't no mistake neither, just bad choices. Choices I reckon I'd make again."

Shawn's face had gone completely pale. "Dad..."

"But that man—" Chet pointed at Jon— "that man's done more for my boy 'n I've ever done. Heck, Shawnie got himself hit by a car an' he still looks healthier 'n he ever did with me. Pulled up his GPA by almost two points over the last couple years."

"Dad, no! I need you!"

"Order, son," the judge said, but his heart wasn't in it.

"You tell that parenting class I'll be droppin' out," Chet said. "Let's be honest, I was never gonna finish it anyways. Never gonna go to that therapy, neither."

"Stop!" Shawn pulled himself over the guard rail before anyone could stop him and ran over to Chet, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him over the rail on his side. The court room burst to life, lawyers and social workers talking over each other, the judge banging his gavel over and over, but Jon only had eyes for Shawn. "Dad...you can't..."

"Shawnie, listen. You go with Teach. And you be a good boy, you hear me?"

"Da-ad." Shawn burst into tears, and he clung on for dear life.

Chet untangled himself from Shawn and stepped back. "I love you, Shawn," he said. "I'm no good to you. That's why I gotta do this."

"Don't leave me again!"

But Chet didn't look back. He left the courtroom, his lawyer chasing him and a police officer escorting him.

And Shawn dropped to his knees on the floor of the courtroom, sobbing.

Jon had heard Shawn cry before. Had seen a lot of high schoolers cry over the years. This was nothing like he'd ever seen in his life. Shawn was curled in on himself, all but screaming, and the judge had given up trying to silence him.

It was pure instinct. Jon jumped over the guard rail and raced over to the kid.

He took the last couple of steps more closely and knelt beside him. "Shawn," he whispered, placing a hesitant hand on Shawn's back.

Shawn shouted and threw back Jon's hand, and Jon stepped back, hands raised in surrender.

Ashley came up beside him a moment later, kneeling beside Shawn. "Hey," she whispered, and slowly, she brought her hand up to the back of his arm. Shawn didn't pull a way, but it took him a long moment to face her. She opened her arms, and he melted into them. A minute later, she helped him to his feet, guiding him out of the courtroom.

Jon swallowed and turned to follow them out, when the judge called, "Jonathan Turner."

Jon faced the bench. "Yes, your honor."

"Is it true, what Chet Hunter said?"

Jon took a deep breath. "Yes, your honor."

"You're willing to house him for another term?"

"I am."

"And to consider permanency?"

"Absolutely."

"We'll meet again in six months." He nodded toward the back door. "Go take care of your boy."

"Yes, your honor. Thank you."

He didn't know what else to say. He didn't even know what to feel. But he knew what to do.

He raced out of the courtroom.