Life After Heart Break

I Won

Ever since that night Sevyn took me home, I had been thinking of a way that I could thank him. A simple thank-you should have been enough, but he actually took me home and stayed with me all night to make sure I was okay the next day. On top of all of that, he took care of my animals while I slept in. Sevyn was genuinely a good person, but I couldn't get past my heartbreak. Hendrix did me wrong, and now I was trying to fight back.

Today was my first hearing to try to get shared custody of my babies, and I didn't know how it was going to go. The good thing was that Jennifer had a friend who was a family court lawyer, and she got her to agree to help for free. I had the money to pay, but since I was a friend of Jen, she said I was a friend of hers. Heather was a wonderful person to be around, full of life like Jennifer and Becca. The only difference was that she was married to a criminal defense lawyer with four girls.

"You ready for this?"

"Truly... Hell no. You don't know Hendrix as I do. He has his ways, and he will do whatever it takes to win. I'm mad at myself for not seeing that early in my life, but we were teens in love and made a baby. It wasn't until I had my second child that I started to see the change in him. The thing I don't understand is how he has so much money now, working as a construction worker. I didn't have that much money... I mean, it was like thirty thousand at the most."

Heather hummed, as if she wanted to tell me something, but instead she walked us into the courtroom where Hendrix and his new wife stood. She was pregnant and trying her best to show me her belly as if I cared. I had already given the devil three children, and all I wanted was to see them and let them know that I loved all three.

"All rise, Family Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Clara Jones presiding... You all can sit now, and if you have a council, they can appoint themselves."

"Good Morning, Judge Jones. I'm Mai Hoàng, and I'm representing Mr. Roberts and this custody case. May I start by saying that Ms. Roberts has been absent from the children's lives for about a year now. She hasn't cared for them financially..."

"How could she if all her rights as a parent had been revoked from her? Mr. Roberts had full custody, taking all of her rights as a mother away. However, his statements were false. Ms. Roberts does not have a drinking problem, and she's not mentally unstable. For the last 9 months, she has worked at Clark's Real Estate, which she is now a partner of. She has maintained a high standard of living and more. Ms. Roberts rose from the ashes, if I may say so, into a beautiful phoenix, and she deserves to be in her children's lives."

"Mrs. Davison, I'm sure everything you are saying is true, but there were proven facts that your client was unstable, and just because she has a job and is upholding it doesn't mean she is stable enough to be in her children's lives." She spoke as I glared at the woman. I was in shock that his lawyer was the woman he was married to. It all made sense to me now. How could he afford a lawyer and do everything he did? Only she had enough sense to hire one of her friends for the divorce. However, I couldn't let this go on as I tapped my lawyer's shoulder and whispered that his lawyer was his wife.

"Your Honor, may my client and I approach the bench?"

"No, I think I have heard enough of this, and after looking over the file of what happened at Ms. Roberts' divorce hearing disgusts me. There was no evidence that any of them was ever relevant, nor should she have lost everything. It should have been a 50/50 split. I'm rewarding Ms. Robert with joint custody." I couldn't believe it. She didn't even want to listen to anymore and saw through everything they were trying to do, but I could see that it upset Hendrix and his current wife.

I didn't care because I could finally see my babies and hold them in my arms. It had been a year and seven months since I last saw them, and I was afraid they had forgotten who I was. My baby girl was two now, and she was barely a year old when we divorced. She probably thought that witch was her mom. I was happy and scared at the same time.

"The children will remain in Mr. Robert's care, but every other week there Mother will have them. Normally, I would do the weekend, but you live in the same city and district as your oldest school... Are they here today?"

"No, Your Honor, they are with the babysitter."

"Then may sure they see their Mother today. You can pick a safe exchange place. It can be at her work, a grocery store, the mall, or anywhere you like. It needs to be soon, as in today. I'm ordering you to let the children see their Mother today."

"Yes, your Honor," Hendrix spoke, looking over at me with an evil look. I felt like he had something up his sleeve, and I was scared to think about what, as I listened to the judge set a time for us to meet. After we left, I made sure to call Jennifer, thanking her for talking to her friend who helped me out a great deal today. Without her, I didn't think I would stand a chance. He had his wife there to tell all the wrongs about why I shouldn't see my children, when the real reason was that he was doing this because he could.

"Hell Yeah, My Girl Got Her Babies Back!"

"I did, and I'm so damn happy. I can't wait we are supposed to meet at the park across the street from where we used to stay in an hour. Do you mind if I borrow your car?"

"Girl, you have the money. When are you going to buy one of your own? There's no reason you shouldn't have a car yet, but until then, you can borrow mine whenever you like. Go, girl, you have a meeting to see your babies."

*

*

*

After months, I really thought that Asia and I were getting somewhere, especially after that night at the club. I upset my little cousin because I had to leave her party early, but I made it up to her, and she loved it. Today I was back at making Asia smile. Jennifer called, sharing that she had shared custody of her kids and that she was meeting her ex at the park across the street from her old home. So, I had to do something that would make her smile more, like leaving her something at her apartment.

At the time, I was giving her space because I wanted her to come to me. I was backing off the chase since it was time for her to start showing a little interest in me, which I knew was there by the way she looked at me. We were going to be good together, that much I knew. "Have you told her who you are yet?"

"Why must you come into my home asking me questions that don't concern you?"

"But they do big brother. They do, because I don't want you to be falling for this girl who doesn't know who she is getting involved with. We are not normal people. We kill, cut people apart, and more. How do you know she wants to be a part of all of that?"

"Kiran, I know you mean well, but when that time comes, I'll make sure she knows the real me. Right now, I'm focusing on getting to know her, and then I will tell her about what we do when the right moment comes. You make it sound like our lives are bad. We do more than kill Ran. We run businesses... legit businesses. Not all of our money is dirty money, and why aren't you at school? I know you had classes today, and if you came here to tell me that you dropped out. I'll beat your ass... So, I'm going to ask you again. Why are you here?" My little brother sighed and took a seat beside me. I knew what he was thinking about: our parents and why our mom did what she did.

The answer was I couldn't tell him. She knew our grandfather wouldn't have blamed her for his death, but she wanted us to believe that he would. I was still trying to figure that out myself, but I couldn't waste all my time thinking about it. I know it seemed like I didn't care because I did. The s**t cut me like a thin piece of glass, but there was nothing I could do, and I definitely couldn't bring them back.

"What did Grandpa say? I know you are becoming our next Don soon, which means I'm about to lose my big brother. You're the only one who understands me. Quinton says he does, but he looks at me funny every time we're in the same room...."

"Quinton is a jackass. Don't worry about him or what he thinks of you, Kiran. We are all different; not one person in this world is alike. Even if you were straight, you would have been different than us. I care nothing about your sexuality, but I do care about you as my little brother. However, no one better not f**k with you because I will kill their asses. That's not the reason you came here today. Who is he, and do I need to kill his ass for breaking my little brother's heart?"

I wasn't like our dad and brother, who looked at Kiran as if he were a virus. He was who he was, and he was open about it, which our dad hated. When we had a family function, he didn't want him tagging along because he didn't want our allies to know that he had a bi son, but our grandfather never allowed it. He didn't see any of us differently.

"It's nothing like that because I don't have a new boyfriend, also I don't have classes today. You're falling off your game of looking after us... I saw the girl you liked today, and if I was dirty, I would take her from you. She's cute, but you need to tell her. You said she went through a divorce because her husband was being fake. You're the same for lying to her about who you really are. Sevyn, I've never seen you this interested in a woman before. It was always hit-and-quit with you. I like this side of you. She's bringing out the person I always knew you were. At one point, it seemed like you were going to be like him."

"I could never be like him, even if I married someone I was arranged to marry. I believe in being true; it's the way things are supposed to be. I hear what you are saying, and I will tell her when the time is right. At this moment, she is still figuring things out for herself. She had everything taken away from her. A man who stole everything that she thought she was worth. I'm helping her rebuild that and letting her see that she is worthy of love again. I don't know too much about love, but what I saw between Mom and Dad, I'm learning." My brother smiled as my doorbell rang.