Before And After the Divorce - 4. The Hearing and Some Drastic Changes

The rest of the weekend went quietly. No more peeking from me. No more threats from Tim. Other than the threat of broken arms, I had a good time. I hadn't spent this much time with Dominic in a long time. I had to call out for personal reasons from the store both Friday and Saturday nights. Monday and Tuesday from the construction job. But depending on how the hearing goes, I may have to give up the store job. At this point, I want to have to give up that job, that will mean I get custody of Dominic. At least temporarily.

The Hearing

Dominic came along for the ride, but he'll remain out in the hall with Tim unless and until the judge wishes to ask him anything. We talked with him about how to answer any questions. Be honest. If the judge asks about mommy, tell him you think she's unstable. We had to describe exactly what that meant, but once he understood that he was fine with it.

"Who is here representing the state?"

"I am your honor. Tomas Anderssen, director of the Department of Child Protective Services."

"And I understand the current custodial parent is unavailable. Who is representing her interests?"

"I am, your honor. Max Sneed, Attorney at law."

"OK. Mr. Anderssen, go ahead."

"The child's father, Dylan Pastore, was visiting on Saturday, a regular visit per the original custody agreement. At one point the child indicated that his mother had grabbed him tightly by the upper arms, picked him up and yelled into his face. Upon further investigation, his caseworker, Alice Freeman, recognized the bruises present had multiple patterns, indicating the abuse was not a one-time occurrence. The mother, Lacy Trentino, later admitted to hurting the child. Mr. Pastore then left with Tim Marshall, another social worker employed by DCPS, and the child. Ms. Freeman's conclusions were confirmed yesterday after a visit by DCPS's on-call physician."

"Thank you. Mr. Sneed?"

"I was contacted Saturday evening and subsequently conferred with my client. She did not deny causing the child's bruises and had been admitted to Mercy Hospital's behavioral unit for psychiatric observation. Over the course of that visit, it was discovered Ms. Trentino has a brain tumor. Her doctors believe this is the cause of her recent actions."

That shocked me. I missed a little of what followed, but I heard the final point.

"What is Ms. Trentino's prognosis?"

"Unfortunately, sir, the tumor is inoperable, but the doctors have concluded it may be reduced with treatment. At this point in time it is not considered immediately terminal."

"I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Sneed. Do the doctors have an idea of her life expectancy?"

"In a sense, your honor. Anywhere from a year to perhaps as much as ten years, depending on the speed of growth. They've only examined her once and don't have much data on that growth, so it's a fairly open-ended estimate."

"Mr. Anderssen, I assume that is Mr. Pastore sitting with you?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Mr. Pastore, it appears you may need a break. Do you wish one?"

(Through tears) "Y-yes. P-p-please y-your hon-honor."

"Court shall be in recess for one half hour. We will pick it back up at 10:00. Dismissed."

"My God, Mr. Anderssen. How do I tell Dominic?"

"He's seven?"

"Yes."

"Be gentle but tell him the truth. His mother is sick, she has a growth inside her head and the doctors are going to do everything they can to take care of her. I wouldn't say anything about her dying unless he specifically asks. He may not know enough to question that."

"I need to sit here for a few minutes. This is quite a shock."

"That is understandable. I'll be back before 10:00. I have some phone calls to make."

The director leaves. Alice asks if I need something to drink. I didn't even notice the pitcher of water on the table in front of me. She pours me a glass and I drink some. After a few minutes, we go out into the hall to see Dominic.

"Hi daddy. Mr. Tim said that was his boss that walked out a few minutes ago. Is the hearing over?"

"No, Dominic. Daddy heard some distressing news and needed a break."

"What kind of news?"

"Your mommy has a growth inside of her head that probably made her do and say the things she has."

"Do they have to operate?"

"They don't expect to right now. They'll be treating her in other ways."

"Like giving her medicine?"

"Yes."

"OK. Do we have to keep waiting?"

"Yes, the judge will come back at 10:00 and we'll continue talking about what to do."

"Will you stay with me until then?"

"Yes. Of course."

Just before 10:00, Mr. Sneed requested a moment alone with Mr. Anderssen and me. I have to step away from Dominic for a minute. Neither one of us is happy about that.

"I phoned the hospital again. Your ex-wife had another CT scan this morning."

"And?"

"And the results were not promising. The tumor has increased in size by approximately two millimeters from the original scan roughly 24 hours ago. It is now 22 mm. A little under one inch."

"So how does that change their prognosis?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pastore. But after another thirty days at the current rate, the tumor will be over three inches in diameter. At that point it will be sufficiently large enough for her to be near death."

"What happened to a year?"

"Sorry, Mr. Pastore. That was their best guess based on a single data point. Even with aggressive treatment, it's probably no more than two months."

"I guess my next stop after the hearing is the hospital."

"That would be wise. We should get back in."

I tell Dominic I'll be back in a little while, then we'll go see mommy.

"Do you feel that we can continue, Mr. Pastore?"

"Yes, your honor. Badly shaken, but I'm holding it together."

"Mr. Anderssen, are there any specific requests that the state wishes to make? Witnesses?"

"Yes, your honor, but I think we need to hear again from Mr. Sneed. He recently received additional information."

"Very well. Mr. Sneed?"

"Thank you, your honor. During the recess I contacted the hospital again. Apparently, Ms. Trentino's cancer is growing at a much faster rate than the doctors initially felt. They now put her life expectancy at one to two months."

"Oh, my. Do they expect a return home from the hospital before then?"

"I didn't ask that your honor."

"Very well. That sheds a whole new light on the situation. Mr. Pastore, are you prepared to take immediate custody of your son? And is your domicile fit for a child?"

"I am ready your honor, but my apartment is not. If it is acceptable to all parties, I could move into my old apartment and stay with Dominic. That would also impact him the least."

"I agree. He'll have enough to deal with once you complete the unfortunate duty of informing him of this latest development. Therefore, I grant permanent custody of the minor child Dominic Pastore to his father, Dylan Pastore, who will reside at the child's current address. I also grant unlimited visitation by his mother, Lacy Trentino, for the remainder of her life, unless her condition improves dramatically. If that is to be the case, we can revisit the visitation at that time. Does anybody have anything else to add? (a pause) No, then we are adjourned. Best of luck to you Mr. Pastore."

"Thank you, your honor."

After we leave the courtroom, Tim, Alice, and Tomas have a short chat while I sit with Dominic and tell him I'll be living at his place now. He's happy about that. I don't have the heart to burst his balloon right away.

"Dylan?"

"Yes, Tim."

"I'll take you and Dominic back to the motel so you can gather your things. Here is the key Alice got from Lacy. Damn, I'm really sorry..."

He caught my look and changed in mid-stream.

"I won't get to see you guys again. It's been a pleasure being with you."

"Same here."

"Can you come to visit, Mr. Tim?"

"You know what, Dominic? I think I can do that. I will do that. But we'll let your daddy get settled back in with you first. Maybe in a week or two. Dylan, here's my card, call if you need anything."

"Same goes for me." Alice says, handing me her card as well.

"OK. See you later." Dominic says.

"Thanks for all you've done Alice. Don't be a stranger."

After we get back to the motel, we take the booster seat out of Tim's car and put it into the back seat of my truck. Then we go back into the room and gather up our belongings.

"I'll take care of checking out. Good luck Dylan. So long Dominic."

"Thanks for everything. Bye." "Bye, Mr. Tim."

As I'm driving away with Dominic, I check on his hunger status.

"You hungry, buddy?"

"No. Not yet. Breakfast was pretty big."

"OK. We'll run by my apartment for a little while so I can get some more things, then we'll take you to see mommy."

"Can I help you pack?"

"Sure."

So that's what we do. It takes a little longer to pack what I need with Dominic's help, but I don't mind. It just puts off the terrible discussion we need to have. I'd love to push that off forever, but obviously that isn't possible. After that, we head to the hospital to visit Lacy. When we get to her room, I lean in to give he a little kiss on the cheek and whisper 'he doesn't know the bad news yet.' She nods. Dominic climbs up and gives her a big hug.

"I hope the doctors can fix you soon mommy. I like you when you aren't acting crazy."

"Haha. Yes, I love you when I'm not acting crazy. Were you a good boy for daddy?"

"I think so. Was I daddy?"

"The best."

"Mr. Sneed dropped by already. I'm glad things turned out the way they did. At the original custody hearing I made you out to be a monster. I was afraid they wouldn't give you custody."

"Yeah, the result was good, the path there, not so much. So, we need to talk about some details. It's been a while since I helped take care of him."

"I was thinking about that since I've been here, so I made a list. Take a look and see if think there's anything else you need to know right now."

"OK. Doctor, school, daycare, friends, likes and dislikes, etc. Looks pretty complete. This will make his transition a lot easier."

"Good. Do you know when, um, you'll give him details?"

"Yes. After we get settled in back home, we'll have a talk."

"About what daddy?"

"Just how things are going to go for us going forward."

(Sadly) "Oh. You're going to give me more rules."

"No. I'll try to stick closely to what mommy has been doing, that way it's easier for you to adjust to me being back again."

"OK."

"What are you going to do about your jobs?"

"I'll have to give up the supermarket. Not knowing how things were going to flesh out, I took today and tomorrow off from Jensen's. Dominic can resume his normal schedule on Wednesday. I didn't want to push it, especially not knowing how the hearing was going to turn out."

"I knew there was only one of two ways it was going to go."

"You knew?"

That question had two meanings.

"Yes. You'll want to check the bottom right desk drawer, that's where I kept important papers, bills, insurance, things like that."

I got the hidden meaning there as well. Her will. Mentioning insurance, she must have bumped up her life insurance when she suspected or knew what was wrong with her. Fortunately, she has a short-term babysitter's info on her notes. I'll arrange an evening so I can come back, and we can talk about more sensitive things without Dominic hearing.

We spent a little more time with Lacy and then headed home. It's weird thinking of that place as home again, but that's what it is. I'll have to take the rest of my stuff out of my apartment on Saturday. Thankfully it came furnished, so I won't have to figure out what to do with a lot of what's there. I'll probably lose my security deposit, leaving without thirty days' notice, but that's a minor inconvenience. I hate to think it, but without alimony and child support, I'll be alright financially, even moving back in here.

Next up - "Transitions of More Than One Kind"