“You need to breathe, son,” Buzz says in his soft Southern drawl. “I’d offer you a whiskey, but since you’re driving, a Cheerwine seems more appropriate.”
Cheerwine. The best cherry-flavored soft drink ever. “Yes, please.”
Buzz leans forward and picks up his desk phone and hits a button. Someone on the other end picks up and he rattles off an order: a glass of ice, Cheerwine times two, and a couple of Moon Pies.
Grinning, he turns back to me. “Those were always the best comfort foods for our family. I figure we could both use ‘em right now.”
“Thanks, Buzz,” I say, my shoulders shaking with a small laugh. “What else do I need to be prepared for?”
“Well, they’ll look at you—not just look, but their lawyers will scrutinize everything you do and bring that with them to court. They’ll want…no,need, to prove that you’re unfit because the law doesn’t favor a grandparent in cases like this. Not when the parents have assigned guardianship and laid it out in a will.”
“So I should, by all rights, be able to win this?”
“Not necessarily. Like I said, it depends on the judge you get and the case made by their lawyer.”
The study door creaks open, and a guy in his mid-twenties enters with our comfort items on a tray. He places everything down on the coffee table in front of us and leaves as stealthily as he entered.
“New intern,” Buzz says. “He’s working here a few hours a week for college credit.”
Buzz has always had a great reputation as a family friend, but as a lawyer, he is the man. The guy you do not want to see up against you when you walk into a court of law, which has always boded well for us in the times we’ve needed him most.
“He’s got a good teacher,” I say as I grab my Cheerwine and crack it open, pouring it over ice.
“Here’s to that,” Buzz says, holding his can in the air as we clink them. “So, when you know who your judge is we can make a plan, but for now you need to do things that show you are currently, and plan to be in the future, an active member of Duncan’s day-to-day life.”
“How can I do that when I’m on the road starting in August or September?” My coaches are aware of this very new situation and I know I’ll get some grace as we go into the new season, but this is starting to stress me out.
“Are you planning on still playing football?”
If he only knew how weighted that question was these days. “At the moment, it’s unclear. I’m processing things.”
Buzz nods in understanding. “Okay, let’s go on the basis that you stay playingpro ball. Get your family involved—your brother, mother. Your girlfriend?” The last part of the sentence comes out as a question, with Buzz’s hopeful eyes honing in on me.
“Girlfriend?”
“Or fiancée?”
“Fiancée?” Laughing, I shake my head and put down my drink, grabbing for the Moon Pie. I need the chocolatey goodness of marshmallow and graham cracker in my belly right now for this topic. I’m a guy who is not ashamed of the fact that he can eat his feelings. “How did I go from girlfriend to fiancée in a matter of two ticks?”
“Let’s be honest here,” Buzz says, sitting back in his chair as he peels open the wrapper encasing his Moon Pie. “It’ll look good to the courts if you’re showing signs of settling down. Showing plans to get married and provide Duncan with a family.”
“But,” I manage with my mouth full, “I have a family. My mom and my brother. No one questioned us when my dad left, did they?”
“Different circumstances, Levi. She’s your maternal momma. She had you, so she has rights. She is blood. You’re…not.”
That is obviously not what I want to hear, and I’m pretty sure it’s evidenced by the look on my face.
“What’s that look for?” Buzz inquires, raising his Moon Pie in the air. “’Cause in our house you can’t be in a bad mood with a Moon Pie.”
“It’s unfair. I’m the one Tom and Katie wanted Duncan to be with, whatever their reasons were, and to think that his grandmother could come along and take that custody from me is nuts.”
“If you really wantto do this, to step up and be a dad to this boy and help guide him, then you may need to do things so it looks as if.”
As Buzz puts his soda to his lips and eyes me, I let his words resonate. “As if?”
He nods, taking a swig. I wait for him to gather his thoughts and speak again.
“Unofficially, I’m going to give you the best advice I can because I love you guys and I consider the Porters to be family.” His face suddenly turns serious as he leans forward and sets his drink on the coffee table, placing the Moon Pie on the plate next to it. “Even if it’s not true, you need to paint a picture for the court that you are stable. You, Levi Porter, cannot and will not be rocked. You are able to provide for Duncan like nobody ever can or will—”
