We'll be here, Marcus said. Naomi looked at him. Something moved in her expression. She opened her mouth, then seemed to decide against it. She gave Ava a quick kiss on the top of her head and was gone.
Marcus went back to the coolant flush. After a moment, Ava said without looking up, "She likes you." Marcus kept his eyes on the engine. "Do your homework, Ava." "I'm just saying," she said. "I know what you're saying," he said. A beat.
"Okay," she said and went back to the extra credit writeup. Marcus worked in silence for a moment and thought about the fact that he was being read with complete accuracy by an 8-year-old and decided this was simply something he was going to have to accept about his life. Now, that was Monday. Tuesday. Tuesday, Damen's lawyer called Naomi.
She told Marcus about it Wednesday morning. She'd stopped by the shop before her shift, 7:00 a.m. The son just upholding two coffees from the gas station on Route 9 because she'd remembered that he took his black. And she figured if she was going to tell him something that complicated his life, she could at least bring caffeine. "He's filing for visitation rights," she said. She sat on the bench where Ava usually sat in her dayshift scrubs hands wrapped around her cup.
His lawyer sent a letter yesterday. They're claiming She stopped, chose her words. They're claiming that I've been deliberately alienating Ava from her biological father by allowing a non-related male figure to take his place in her life. The shop was very quiet. Non-related male figure?
Marcus repeated. Yeah, Naomi said. That's me. That's you. She looked at her coffee.
Marcus, I want you to know that this is not your problem to carry. You didn't sign up for a custody battle. You came to a school event. What happens with Damian is my What does your lawyer say? Marcus said.
She looked up. I don't have a lawyer. You need one, he said. I know I need one, Marcus. I'm a nurse who works doubles to pay rent.
Lawyers cost. I know a man, Marcus said. He set down the wrench. She'd been holding. Gerald Watkins.
He's a member at my church, family law. He does some proono work for people in the community. He looked at her. I'll call him today. Naomi stared at him.
You don't have to do that. I know, he said. I'm going to do it anyway. Drink your coffee. She held his gaze for a moment.
Then she drank her coffee. Gerald Watkins agreed to take the consultation. That Friday evening, Marcus drove Naomi to the office because she'd told him she didn't need him to come and he'd said, "I know." and shown up anyway. And she'd stood at her front door looking at him with an expression he was starting to understand as her version of gratitude that had run too deep for her to translate into words. Gerald was 62, deliberate, and had the kind of calm that came from four decades of watching people at the worst points in their lives and still believing in the process.
He listened to Naomi explain the situation without interrupting. He asked three precise questions. Then he leaned back in his chair and looked at them both. The alienation claim is weak. He said Damian hasn't exercised any attempt at contact in over 5 years.
Courts don't look favorably on parents who disappear and then reappear, asserting rights primarily in response to social circumstances rather than genuine desire for relationship. He paused. What they're really doing is using the legal filing to apply pressure. It's a common tactic. File something, make the other party feel like they're in jeopardy.
See if they'll make a deal that benefits you. What kind of deal? Naomi asked. Hard to say without seeing the filing, but my guess. Gerald looked at his notes.
He wants something. Money or the ability to say publicly that he's involved or some combination. His lawyer is good enough to know this case has real weaknesses, but aggressive enough to try anyway. He looked at Marcus. You're the complicating factor from their perspective.
The optics of a man who has been a consistent presence in the child's life, who was invited to the school event by the mother, who the child has publicly identified as a father figure that actually strengthens Naomi's position, not weakens it. It shows stability. Marcus absorbed that. So Marcus being in the picture helps us," Naomi said slowly. "Marcus being in the picture as a stable involved presence?" "Yes," Gerald said carefully.
"As long as that involvement is genuine and consistent, not staged." He looked at both of them over his glasses. I have to ask the obvious question. What is the nature of your relationship? Because the answer affects my strategy. A silence settled over the office.
Naomi and Marcus didn't look at each other. Then Marcus said, "It's genuine and it's consistent. Whatever else it is, I can tell you those two things." Gerald looked at him for a moment. Then he wrote something down. "That's enough for me to work with," he said.
They drove back to Delwood in the dark without saying much. Marcus pulled up in front of the house. Naomi had her hand on the door handle, but she didn't open it immediately. That thing you said? She said in Gerald's office.