Page 100 of First Surrender
“I don’t want to hear a peep out of you guys when I turn on my lawyer voice,” Liv says from her side of the bar, meeting Natalie at their table. “Thea always makes fun of me.”
“I do not!” She scoots out of her row to come closer, hugging Liv tightly. It’s thanks to her that we obtained Liv as council in the first place. She was willing to travel here to Rollins from the coast to help us out and I’ll be forever grateful.
Liv’s smiling with her hand plastered to Thea’s stomach, rubbing gently.
There’s only one reason someone would do that, but Thea looks almost the same as she always does under her flowy skirt and sweater. I glance at Jesse and he nods his head with a smile.
“Congratulations,” I tell Thea sincerely as she slides back to Jesse.
“Thank you, Malec.” Her smile is just as sincere and I have to bite my tongue to resist telling them how eager I am about having a child now. But, that conversation can wait.
Natalie would smack me on the back of the head for sharing that information without consulting her.
When I turn to her, she’s looking at Thea’s stomach thoughtfully, but distantly. I intertwine our fingers and her eyes ping to mine. “You okay?” I ask her quietly.
“Yeah, I’m just ready to bring Dec home for good.”
“Me too.”
She smiles softly and I kiss her quickly as Judge Reisner enters the room. “Where’s the petitioner?” He says before he makes it to his chair. Declan Randolph isn’t here, yet.
“My client will be here, your honor. Car troubles.” Declan’s lawyer explains. I don’t believe him but Reisner gives us a ten-minute window anyway, giving Declan a chance to arrive.
Every passing minute is agony. Natalie’s feet tap impatiently while she puts on a brave face for Dec. He insisted on being here today. He made his choice, he knows he wants to stay with his sister no matter what.
Eight minutes after the original start time, Declan strolls through the doors and down the aisle to his seat without a care in the world. His usual posse follows close behind, taking up an audience in the rows parallel to us.
“Thank you for joining us Mr. Randolph, let’s begin.” Judge Reisner starts his breakdown of the facts, allowing the court reporter to fill in the necessary information before the lawyers begin their back and forth.
“Let’s cut to the chase,” Reisner interludes, throwing the normal procedure out the window. Even Liv looks surprised, waiting to hear what he has to say. “I’ve been made aware of multiple instances where Mr. Randolph has stepped out of line in the last few weeks. You’ve only just gotten out of jail and you’ve already been harassing your son at school and making passive threats.”
“Bullshit, claims,” Declan shouts out. “Your honor,” he adds as if that will soften the crudeness of his outburst.
“You trespassed at his school and his current home, you ran over his bike, and you’ve still not provided any concrete proof of residency or work. I’ve seen the video evidence. You are not a safe fit for your son. The biological parent isn’t always the best choice. Custody is granted to Natalie Halstead. The Order of Protection also stands, stay away from Declan Jr. My decision is final.” He pounds his gavel and the whole room is silent, absorbing the weight of his spontaneous speech.
“Thank you, your honor,” Liv says, jumping up from her seat to address him properly. In an instant, Natalie is grasping Dec around the shoulders, hugging him with all her strength.
I’m dumbfounded. That was almost too easy.
“We did it!” Natalie and Dec turn to me, hugging me tightly over the bar. I hold onto them while our wall of support cheers from behind us. That’s it, it’s over. Dec’s finally safe.
“Fuck you, this isn’t right!” Declan yells, pushing past his lawyer.
One giant step and I’m over the bar and putting myself between the crazy bastard andmyfamily. “Get out of here Declan, or I’ll throw your ass in jail,” I threaten.
“I’ll hold you in contempt, son!” Reisner bellows from his stand. He looks as pissed off as I probably do.
My job is to keep the peace but I’ve never been more prepared to fight. I’d enjoy knocking Declan Randolph on his ass but I’m in my right mind enough to keep Dec from witnessing it. He’s a bad man, but he’s still his father.
“We’re not done,” Declan looks at me briefly, but his gaze fully settles behind me. On Natalie.
I grab him by his shirt collar and pull him dangerously close. “Come near them and I’ll make sure you disappear,” I whisper in his ear just as two more deputies come into the room to back me up.
“Jackson, he’s doing this on purpose. Let him go.” Natalie says from behind me, tugging on the back of my shirt.
“We’ve got it from here, Sheriff. Stay with your family.” The two deputies escort the grinning Declan and his foot soldiers out while I try to regain my composure.
She’s right, he almost got exactly what he wanted, a spectacle with me at the center.