20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Jon was pacing the hallway of the courthouse while waiting for the social worker, Cece Wright, to bring Megan to the family court hallway. They'd found a nice couple, Mark and Rene Asberry, who'd agreed to foster Megan. They had another foster child, Miles, who was deaf, and they'd been model foster parents to the boy, both learning sign language at their own expense.

When Cece approached them to ask about taking another foster child, they said they'd take her on a trial basis. Jon was immediately worried about the fact they'd put a condition on fostering the girl, but Cece had told him she believed they were being prudent by taking the child on a trial basis to see what having the girl in their home would entail, especially since they already had Miles. Cece was confident the couple would come through for the child in the end.

The police had been able to track down Megan's family, finding her parents had been killed months prior in an auto accident, and the girl had been given to her grandmother for custody. Unfortunately, the woman had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and she found herself slipping fast, such that she didn't trust herself to provide the child with the care the girl deserved.

The grandmother had taken Megan to the firehouse under the Commonwealth's safe haven laws, and she was horribly upset when the police tracked her down. The woman explained there was no other family, and she didn't want the child to be neglected at her hand because she was already suffering severely due to her disease.

After the investigation and interview with the woman and a few of her friends who knew the dire situation but were unwilling to assist with the little girl, the Commonwealth Attorney declined prosecuting the grandmother, citing evidence the child was in excellent health and well-being when she was dropped off. He concluded the child's grandmother did what she believed was the best thing for the minor.

Jon agreed, but it was still a tragedy. Thankfully, the grandmother was lucid enough to make the child a ward of the state so she could be placed with a foster family without any pending custody issues.

When he heard a giggle, Jon turned to see Megan walking down the hallway with her hand in Cece's. She looked adorable in a purple dress with a white pinafore apron over it. Her hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head, and in Jon's opinion, she looked like every happy thought he'd ever had in his life.

The Asberry's had gone to meet and spend time with her at the group home for children with special needs where she was temporarily staying. Jon had gone to meet his client, too, and he had high hopes for a match.

Jon knelt in front of her. "Hello, Angel. How are you?" he asked her as she wrapped her arms around his neck for a hug.

"You're funny, Mr. Jon. I'm fine. Do you think I look okay to meet the judge?" the little girl asked before twirling in front of him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I think you look lovely, sweetheart. Why don't you and Miss Cece go take a seat. The Asberry's should be here any minute." Jon glanced at his watch to see they were due in the courtroom in fifteen minutes, and the couple was late.

The worry in him ticked up because he hadn't met the husband and wife in person, only judging them based on a phone interview and the documentation and recommendation from Cece, who was also the social worker assigned to Miles.

"They're the perfect couple to take her, Jon. They've worked miracles with Miles, and his challenges are far worse than Megan's." Jon had believed the woman, but the later the Asberry's were, the more worried he'd become.

The three of them sat in the hallway until a bailiff called their case, along with six others. Jon took his cell from Megan, because she'd been playing a game on it, and led the little girl into the courtroom, placing her in the chair next to him because they were the first up, according to the docket.

"All rise," the bailiff demanded. Jon stood and took Megan's hand to help her stand next to him though she could barely see over the table.

"The Honorable Barry Mattucik presiding." The judge walked in and took a seat, signaling for everyone to sit down.

"First case," the judge ordered as he pulled glasses onto his large face, glancing around the courtroom before his eyes settled on Jon. The judge then glanced at the little girl with the big brown eyes sitting next to him. The man smiled at Jon and turned back to the bailiff.

"Family Court Case Docket ending in 67734. Custodial Hearing, In Re Megan Doe."

Jon rose from his seat. "Good morning, Your Honor. It seems the potential foster family had an emergency that kept them from appearing this morning. I'd like to ask for this court's indulgence to allow us to appear in the afternoon session regarding the temporary custody of Megan Doe. The family should be able to appear by then." Jon hoped he was being honest.

"Granted. Mr. Wells. They'd better be here this afternoon, first after the lunch break. Next case." The judge gave Jon a stern look.

Jon led Megan out of the courtroom, praying the family would show up soon. He hated to think they weren't what he'd been led to believe. "How about we go to the café around the corner and get some hot chocolate and a muffin?" he offered as Cece caught up to them.

"Jon, I've got calls into the Asberry's, and I've got one of the interns going to their house to see what's going on. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned to have Megan with me for the rest of the day, and I need to go downstairs to the juvenile holding center to pick up my next case for a ten-thirty hearing.

"The boy's thirteen and he's had a hard road, Jon. He's difficult to deal with, and it's made him hard to place. He has a newbie lawyer from the public defender's office, but he needs someone… He needs you, Jon. Will you represent him? He's a graffiti expert right now, but he has the potential to be a very talented artist, trust me. You can change his life." Jon recognized a seasoned manipulator. He knew several of them, including his own dear mother.

Jon could easily see what she was trying to do, and he knew in his heart she was only looking out for a kid who likely just needed a break. From casual conversation, he knew Cece Wright had two sons who were in grad school, one for his PhD in Psychology, and the other for his master's in City Planning.

Cece was the type of woman who'd done everything so her sons didn't turn into street kids, just like she did with every kid whose file crossed her desk. Jon admired her tenacity, and he knew in his heart it was a losing battle trying to turn her down.

Jon thought back to the beginning of his career when he had so much to prove to his father and Sherman Langley so as not to be just another spoiled, rich kid sucking off the family teat. He fought every battle as if it was his last, and Jon Wells got results.

He was known as a pit bull among his fellow divorce lawyers, seeing the fear in their eyes when he walked into a courtroom. It was a big boost to Jon's ego.

The day he began taking cases involving children in need of parents and homes, everything seemed to start changing inside him. Every case seemed to chip away a little more at his determination to be the hard-core fighter he'd been early in his career.

He was convinced the callous and Machiavellian scrapper he'd once been tapped out for good when he met his cowboy, and he was half-pissed about it. The other half was grateful.

When he found himself in love with Mickey and the Moran-Collins family in Holloway, he should have known the ruthless divorce attorney he'd been would be forced to the back of his heart.

Compassion and empathy had taken the place of the joy of brought by collecting large settlements for his clients while putting the screws to the other guy for sport. As far as his divorce practice was concerned, he'd been disgruntled with it for a while, and he had a hard time getting himself torqued up to do battle any longer.

Remembering where he was, Jon looked at Megan, that precious smile let him know he was in deep trouble. He cued up the game she'd been playing earlier and handed her the phone. "You sit here and play while I talk to Miss Cece, Angel." The child giggled and took the phone, not watching as Jon led Cece a few feet away.

"Okay. I'll represent your starving artist if you'll get the judge to let me call Audrey Langley to be the temporary guardian for Megan—just in case we can't get the Asberrys here in time for the hearing. She's the perfect person to take care of that little girl and get her out of that institution, and as it appears right now, we don't seem to have any other choices available, do we?

"Look, Cece, I'm gay. I doubt the judge would grant a gay man temporary custody of a four-year-old girl. I mean, I'd never do anything untoward, but caring for a child, boy or girl, isn't anything in which I have firsthand experience. You understand, right? You recommend temporary custody with Audrey, and we'll search for a permanent situation for that sweet girl, maybe even with Audrey?" Jon certainly hoped the woman would see that he was doing the best thing for the girl.

When Cece Wright laughed, Jon's senses perked up. Clearly, she was going to come at him from another angle. "Okay, so I'll advocate for your friend, who I've never met, to Mattucik, to be the temporary foster parent for Megan, and you'll represent my graffiti artist in front of Morrison? How about you take temporary custody of the boy to get him out of that hellhole of a group home where he lives after you get him released from detention?

"Those kids are becoming hardened criminals while they should still be playin' baseball and dominoes. That home has at least three boys I know are slingin' for the Disciples. I need to get this boy outta that environment, Jon. How about you take Terrence under your wing for, oh let's say three months, and then we'll revisit things?" The kind, loving social worker was bargaining like a seasoned mafia henchman.

Jon cursed his bad luck regarding the boy's judge when he reviewed the case file. Chandra Morrison was known as a "hangin' judge" in the hallways of the juvenile court system. She was tough as nails, and any kid unlucky enough to draw her to hear their case was already doomed.

Jon had appeared before her once with a shoplifting case—a teen girl from a good family suffering from the loss of a younger brother to leukemia. The judge had sentenced the fifteen-year-old to six months in a detention facility and a year's probation with two-hundred hours of community service at a homeless shelter.

The parents had decided it wasn't good enough, and they'd appealed the verdict. Their new lawyer told them Jon had gotten the girl the best deal available. There were no appealable issues, so they were stuck with Morrison's sentence, but the appeal itself wasn't to Judge Morrison's liking. It wasn't to Jon's either.

Jon glanced at Cece. "How the hell did he end up drawing Morrison? She wants to make an example of every kid that appears in her courtroom."

"Bad luck, I'm afraid." Cece shook her head.

"I'm going to file a motion to continue, based on retention of new counsel and hope we draw another judge. She'll be hard on the boy, and it sounds like the kid has some redeeming qualities. I'll be back."

Jon took the file with him and left Megan and his phone with Cece. At the clerks' office, he signed into a public terminal to fill out some paperwork in hopes of getting the young man another chance with a more empathetic judge.

After he hit the send button and signed off the terminal, Jon heard raucous laughter behind him, turning to see Morrison's clerk at her desk. She glanced up and motioned him over.

"Mr. Wells, you know she'll never grant a change of venue. Just go in and face her head on. She likes you." Mary Katherine Reilly had worked for another judge that Jon had a good relationship with before the man had retired, and Jon was a bit relieved she'd taken a job with Chandra Morrison.

"Look, the kid isn't a first-timer at the table, but he needs a break. How about just giving me a chance to get to know him for a week or so? I can better represent him if I know him." Jon was nearly begging, trying to support his motion for a continuance which was all he was really hoping to achieve. The change of venue was like asking for the moon and accepting a streetlight. It could have been better.

Mary Katherine looked around. "Okay, Jon, but you won't get many chances like this. I'll give you a month. Keep him out of trouble." He nodded and took off back down the hallway.

Jon stopped at a pay phone and called Audrey's cell, getting her voicemail. He hung up and tried her office line. "Hi, you've reached Audrey Langley. I'm out of the office this week. Please contact my secretary at extension 6636 if you have an emergency. Thank you." Audrey being away surprised him. She hadn't mentioned she was out of the office when he and Mickey had seen her on Saturday, and he had no idea where she'd gone.

He went back to the bench where he'd left Megan and Cece. He noticed there was another person with them, and Jon wasn't surprised to see a young, black teen with a disgruntled look on his face.

Cece smiled at him. "Jon Wells, this is Terrence Reynolds. Terrence, this is your attorney, Mr. Wells. Shake hands, baby." The boy extended his hand without a smile.

Jon greeted him and looked at Megan, not sure what to do about her. "Any news about the Asberrys?"

"Changed their minds. Their adoption of Miles was approved, and apparently, they were only going to take that sweet child as a backup. We're back to square one. Where's your friend, Audrey?"

Terrence had moved down to take a seat next to Megan. She'd offered him the phone to play the game, and the two of them seemed to be getting along. "Can we step over here?"

Cece nodded. "You sweet babies stay right there while Mr. Jon and I have a talk. We'll go get some lunch in a few minutes, okay?" They glanced up before going back to the game.

"Where's Miss Langley?" Cece asked.

Jon exhaled. "Apparently, she's taking some time off and not answering any of her phones. Can't we get another family for Megan? I mean, she's so sweet. There must be someone available to take her in, just for a couple of weeks?"

Cece pulled him closer. "You, of all people, know we don't get a second chance at this, Jonathon. I'm gonna recommend you as the temporary guardian of Megan, and then I'm going to call my boss and tell him you've volunteered to take Terrence into your custody from the group home, and the detention center, until his trial. You're the only one in their corner, Jon. How could you let those sweet babies go back to the group homes?" To add insult to injury, she pointed to the children on that bench. The guilt was squeezing his windpipe closed.

Cece opened her large tote bag and pulled out a crumpled file, handing Jon some less-than-pristine papers. "Fill these out and date them for last week."

The tone in her voice made him afraid to deny her, so he glanced through the stapled document, seeing it was an application to become a foster parent. "Is this legal?" The irony of the question wasn't lost on Jon, but he sat on a bench and pulled out a pen anyway.

"Eh? It borders on unethical, but if you were so inclined to think about applying to become a foster parent last week, it's within the realm of possibility if I just happened to find the paperwork on my desk this morning. You see, Jon, there comes a time when we all stretch our definition of the law, based on the looks on the faces of two children who desperately need a chance at a better life than what they're facing." She pointed toward the bench, again.

He glanced over at the two children, one white with some intellectual challenges, and perhaps some physical, and one black with challenges for overcoming the environmental factors that shaped his upbringing to that point. Jon thought about his parents and how they'd loved and nurtured him, and as he looked at Megan and Terrence, he knew all they needed was the same chance.

He wasn't ready for parenthood, not really, but he knew life threw tests one didn't expect. Clearly, Jon was looking at his next ones, and they were two beautiful human beings who just needed someone to give them love.

Before Jon knew what was happening, he had Megan Doe and Terrence Reynolds as his new foster kids. The three of them were in his car at a stoplight on the way to the condo when he sent Mickey an SOS text.

You love me, right? Well, I really need you. Can you come to Richmond?

Jon pulled into his parking space in the condo garage, seeing the two kids in the back seat didn't appear thrilled to be with him. He needed to say something. "Okay, so, we're going to be living together for some time. You can call me Jon. I'm new to parenting, but I'll do my best. If I really mess something up, I'd like it if you'd tell me and give me a chance to make things right." He glanced at two unhappy faces in the rearview mirror.

"Is this where we're gonna stay?" Megan asked Terrence.

"I think so. Let's get you outta that seat belt. You hungry? I'm starvin'."

Jon was happy the two of them were talking. He prayed he had something to offer besides brie and prosciutto, because he hadn't been to the grocery store since the weekend before when Mickey visited. From where he stood looking at the situation objectively, he was the worst foster parent in the world.

Jon felt someone's gaze on him, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Megan with her little hands resting on the bed next to him. She was in one of Jon's T-shirts because there wasn't time to pick up her clothes after court.

Cece had to get to another appointment, but she'd promised to drop off Megan and Terrence's things from their respective residences as soon as she had time. He hadn't told Megan what happened with the Asberry's because he didn't want to see the disappointment on her beautiful little face that another adult had abandoned her.

"Hi, Angel." Jon grinned when he saw a bit of jam on her chin after she climbed up on the bed to sit next to him.

"Terry made me toast. I like your jelly. There's a man in there who came in with a key. He talks funny." Jon knew it could only be Mickey. He'd given him the key before he left on Sunday night, begging him to use it anytime he could get away.

Jon hopped up from his bed adjusting his sleep pants and T-shirt, in dire need of the bathroom before his bladder ruptured. As he headed toward the ensuite bathroom, he turned to the girl. "Stay there, Meggie. I'll be right back."

After he quickly did his morning business, he walked out of the bathroom to see the child still sitting on the bed with a shy smile on her face. She was the most beautiful little girl he'd ever seen in his life.

"Let's go see who the man is." He picked her up and carried her downstairs, not surprised to see his boyfriend sitting at the counter with Terrence giving him the evil eye. When Mickey caught Jon's gaze, he laughed.

"Finally. I was afraid this kid was gonna kick my aaa…rear. Thank ya for comin' around, counselor. You called, and I'm here. Who's this pretty girl?" Jon placed Megan on the counter.

"This is Megan, a client, and this is Terry, another client. I truly appreciate you coming to help me out, my love." Jon kissed Mickey gently on his lips.

"Oh, fuck, no," Terrence muttered. Jon exhaled, knowing he'd have to call Cece because he wasn't about to dismiss his boyfriend because the kid was homophobic.

Mickey pulled away and looked at the boy. "What exactly has you pissed off, young man, if I can ask?"

Megan crawled over the counter to Terry and pulled on his T-shirt until he picked her up. He held her on his lap, but Jon could see the boy was itching for a fight. "You know, right, we're not gonna hurt either one of you. We love each other, and we only want to help the two of you." Maybe Jon's assurance that they weren't in danger would defuse the situation a bit.

Megan turned Terry's face to hers, and she smiled that smile Jon had seen at the courthouse the previous day. It was the one that sucked him in. "They're not bad, Terry. They want to take care of us, and we need somebody to take care of us, right?" The little girl tilted her curl-covered head and batted her eyes at the boy. Jon couldn't tell if she knew the power the look held or if it was just luck.

Mickey's low chuckle brought Jon comfort. "Why, we wouldn't hurt a fly, Little Bit. I'm a cowboy, so it's not in my nature to hurt anything or anybody." Mickey response as he stared at the little girl with his lopsided grin gave Jon's heart wings.

Later, Mickey settled his things into Jon's room, and after the cowboy made pancakes and bacon for the group, Jon knew for a fact Mickey had won over the pair. He'd promised them a trip to the Circle C to meet Ryan and Rocky, along with riding lessons and baby calves to bottle feed, which brought a great laugh from Megan.

The next weekend was the weekend of the wedding, but Mickey promised they'd have a great time, and Jon knew in his heart the man he loved meant exactly what he'd promised.

Having two new people in his life who were now his responsibility was totally unexpected, but like he'd told Mickey when he'd mentioned tracking down his parents, life went by much too fast. Living every day to the fullest was the only way to ensure a life wasn't wasted.

Jon was ready for anything that came his way—more or less. He loved Mickey, and he knew they'd have a wonderful life together. He'd fight for it every single day, and if it included a beautiful little girl and a teenage boy, then all the better.