“I know, he’ll need to figure out how to keep these two in your custody at all times.”
“Arianna is easy enough to keep custody of. Her doctors are all located here and are aware of her medical history. Carter was recently telling me that judges won’t split the kids.”
The man that I have spent more than half of my life with traded me in like I was nothing. He could come after my kids. I’m starting to find it difficult to breathe. Forget my marriage ending, it’s him coming after my kids that concerns me the most.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I ask my brother solemnly.
Cal wraps his big muscular arms around me and says, “We will get through this, like we got through everything else, Sis…Together.” My brother, he looks like he could be a bodyguard, but in reality, he is a giant teddy bear.
Since that day, my two brothers, Cal and Carter, along with our dad, have been my rock through it all.
What are you supposed to say to your daughter, who was a complete daddy’s girl, when she wants to know when he’s coming home? Or when she’s had a night of seizures and just wants her dad to hold her? Or to your son, who because of oppositional defiant disorder has trouble adjusting to people leaving and has been throwing things, yelling at you and arguing with everything you say and do in retaliation? To say I went off the deep end would be an understatement. Luckily for me, my brother, Carter, is a lawyer. He was willing to help me gain sole custody of the kids. One short week after the phone call with Chris, I was met at my front door by a man serving me not only divorce papers but custody papers as well.
“I know that you don’t like to play the medical-mom card or the medically-fragile-child card often, but in this case, we have to play it and play it hard. Chris wasn’t present when you were in the hospital with Ari. He doesn’t know what went down with her. He always got to step in and be the so-called hero. We can get testimonials from the doctors and staff members about his lack of presence there. You are the one all of those professionals saw,” Carter explains.
“Some of that isn’t fair, Carter. He had to work,” I explain.
“You want to talk about fair? Okay, tell me, what’s fair about your neck being messed up due to awkward sleeping positions for months on end, just to be able to give your daughter comfort? What’s fair about you raising the kids alone, dealing with all their medical issues, holding down a full-time job, keeping the house clean, and your sanity intact while he is living in Florida with his father, playing house and sleeping with someone young enough to be his daughter?” This is why Carter is one of the best lawyers in the area; he is ruthless, yet compassionate.
Chris didn’t waste any time getting our divorce hearing set up. Within the month, we were sitting in the courtroom. I remember the huge sigh of relief that washed over me when I heard the judge say, “Mr. Bradford, in order to obtain visitation rights to Garrett and Arianna, you will need to provide proof and medical documentation that the doctors, therapists, and pharmacies are set up for the times you are to have visits with the children near your home in Florida. In the meantime, you can set up visitations for here in Colorado to see your kids. We are well aware of the fact that you reside in Florida now. Just have your lawyer give Mia’s lawyer a heads-up.”
After the gavel bangs, Chris looks over at his new skank and says, “When God had your soul on the drawing board, he made it to link up with mine.”
His words to her pierce me like a thousand knives right through my heart, as I recall him standing in his tuxedo at the altar looking me in the eyes and telling me those exact same words when we said I DO. I also recall the moment he said it to me while he was holding our son when he was first born, then again when our daughter was born.
Chris’s voice snaps me out of those bitter memories. “Let me know when you get all of that set up, so I can arrange for their visits.”
I let out a small chuckle. “This isn’t my thing to set up. It’s yours. I have all of my stuff set up on my end.”
“You would use Mom-and-Pop pharmacies and stuff just so we can’t just look it up down there,” Chris says snidely.
“One of her medicines is a compound, and this pharmacy is the only pharmacy in a thirty-mile radius that does compounds. It’s easier for me to go locally to get her medicines.”
“Ugh! Anything to be a complete bitch,” Chris sneers.
“Have your new flavor set it up for you since God had you in mind when her soul was on the drawing board. Furthermore, unless your problems involve Garrett or Arianna, it’s not my problem anymore.”
“Divorcing you was the best move I ever made.”
“Finally, something we agree on.” I turn to walk away.
He calls after me, “You’ll never find another person like me Mia.”
I turn to face him. “I hope you’re right Chris. I wouldn’t be able to handle another one of you. See you around when you decide to visit the kids.” I turn and walk away and keep moving this time. My dad, Cal, and Carter surround me. I feel like I have bodyguards today.
Snapping out of all those bitter memories, I give myself a little pep talk. I spent months feeling sorry for myself, and for my babies. With the stress of trying to juggle doctor’s appointments, therapies, work, and just life in general, pity parties became my nightly ritual. No way in hell, even if I was ready to start dating again, would a man find out about my two kids and not make a run for it. Shaking my head as if I am trying to shake the bad vibes from it, I continue to try to focus on the task at hand—getting ready, because I let my best friends finally talk me into going out—I’m going to enjoy it for all it’s worth.
I stare into my closet searching for a cute outfit to wear. Pulling out my skinny jeans, I try to remember the last time I actually wore them. I guess one good thing that’s come from all this stress is that I’ve started losing those seventy-some odd pounds I had put on over the course of the last five years. Much to my surprise, they fit even better than they did when I first bought them. I start searching through my shirts as I do a little victory dance.
I hear the doorbell in the distance, the sound letting me know that my bestie is here. I quickly throw on a black tank and pull my favorite shirt on over it. It’s nothing special, just a simple red-and-black plaid shirt. I tie it in the front while stepping into my cowboy boots. One more flip of my hair, a quick look in the mirror and a prayer, and I am determined to enjoy myself tonight. Feeling better about myself than I have in a really long time, I jet downstairs to find my best friend, Brie, talking with my dad, while my two kids sit nearby.
“Dad, are you sure that this isn’t a problem?” I ask him as I approach the table.
“I wouldn’t have agreed to it, Boo-Boo, if I didn’t think I could handle it,” my dad says reassuringly.
“Uncle Cal is coming over in a little bit and we are going to have way more fun without you!” Garrett says excitedly. I know instantly that my dad told him that so that he wouldn’t be upset with me for stepping out for a few hours tonight.
“You have fun with Uncle Cal and behave.” I place a kiss on my son’s head and then move to place a kiss on Ari’s forehead. Brie and I make our way out of the house to the waiting Uber.