Page 63 of Exposed

“Even their daughter, the baby’s mom, doesn’t want anything to do with them. She knows they’d be bad for Simon. Can we get her to testify against them? She wants me to have full custody.”

“I can work on that. She has to be willing to share on the stand.”

Hmm. The gears in my head turn, and Simon starts fussing. I pick him up and hold his chest to mine, running my hand over his little back.

“If she’s not willing, maybe I can talk with her,” I suggest while I soothe Simon.

“You don’t have contact with Miss Truman?” She asks.

“No. We had one night together. I’ve not talked to her before or since that night about a year ago.”

“Okay. Let me see what I can do. Ready for the good news?” He asks.

“Yes.” I need hope in this situation.

“Judges usually favor children being with their biological mother or father. We can make a case that you have full custody. Maybe we can add visitation rights for the grandparents to see Simon something like one month every summer or one weekend every month. Time with the grandparents is something families even without custody battles do. If we give them something, they may settle.”

“Not happening, ma’am.”

I don’t know Simon’s grandparents, but if Hollie doesn’t trust them, I don’t either.

“Very well. Do you have any evidence to prove that the Trumans would be unfit caregivers for Simon?”

“Nothing concrete,” I scrub a hand down my face. I have a bad feeling about them, but that wouldn’t hold up in court. I’m beyond frustrated that I have to fight to keep my son.

“Excuse the personal question, but are you married?” She asks.

What the hell?

“No, ma’am.”

“Some of the judges look at married couples, which offers the child a father and mother, with more favor than single parents. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s reality.”

Simon burped loudly while Anna was talking, and I want to make sure I heard her right.

“Are you saying if I’m married, I have a better chance at winning against the Trumans?” I clarify.

“If you’re wanting full custody, that would help. Since that’s not the case, we’ll have to see if we can find evidence for the Trumans being ill-suited guardians.”

I blow out a deep breath.Sure, let me go out and grab a wife so I can win this custody battle.Crap. This is a mess.

“Let me try to contact Hollie, and I or my assistant will get back to you if there’s anything new.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for your help.”

I hang up, and Pepper is standing at my doorway, staring at me.

“How much of that did you hear?” I ask.

“If you get married, it’ll help you win the case to keep Simon?” She asks.

“That, or we find evidence that the Trumans would be horrible parents for Simon.”

“Let’s do both and cover all of our bases,” she claps her hands together.

“You’ve got someone for me to marry?” I ask, raising one eyebrow at her.

“Come on, rocket man. You’re not that awful. We can find someone who doesn’t mind getting hitched to you,” she smiles slyly with a hand on her hip.

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