Page 73 of Baby Blue
“No. It has to happen, so get used to the idea. Oh, and I’m sending you for a paternity test.”
Blue shook his head. “I’ve got the money. I’ll pay for it.”
“No.” For the first time ever, Blue thought he was seeing Glen’s composure weaken. “I’m sick and tired of people playing with children’s lives. This stops here. I’m sending you for the test.”
The question Blue dreaded most was right on his lips and it had to come out. “What if the testing shows she’s not mine?”
“At the very least, you’ll still be granted joint custody or a very lenient visitation. Is there any doubt in your mind that you’re her father?”
“No.” That had never been something Blue had thought much about. Hell, she looked just like him, the little stinker! Still, he knew it was a possibility. “You know, I may not be her biological father, but no matter what, I’m her daddy.”
He was surprised to see Glen’s eyes redden. “Yes. You are. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let you two be separated. She deserves to have someone who loves her as much as you do.”
“Nobody else will ever love her as much as I do. Nobody,” Blue whispered through tears. And it as true.
Nobody ever would.
The court date was set, and it was like a giant ball of flames looming on the horizon, threatening to burn down everything Blue had built for himself and his child. That same ball of flames lived in the pit of his stomach, and half the time he couldn’t even swallow. Anne fretted over him and the kids tried to tempt him, but he just couldn’t eat.
He couldn’t sleep either. Exhausted and nerves frayed, he worked hard every day to keep going like he always had, but it was difficult. Nothing was the same with that big bundle of raging destruction hanging over his head.
The night before the custody hearing, Blue lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Anne wasn’t in any better shape. “What will I do if they find in favor of her?” Blue asked her in a whisper.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” she said, her fingers wandering through the little patch of hair on his chest. “I don’t know what any of us will do.”
The next morning, he seemed almost like he was watching a play, like someone else was acting in it and he was just a spectator. It was beyond surreal, knowing as he dressed her that it might be the last time. Glen had told him to make sure he packed up things for her because if the court found in Cindy’s favor, there was a good chance they’d award her custody immediately and she could leave the courthouse with the baby. He’d also said he wasn’t going to let that happen, but Blue knew all too well that it had happened to dads in the past and it could again.
Anne drove separately in case she needed to leave for any reason, especially since she’d have to spend hours just sitting in the hallway. They’d been assured there would be an uninvolved social worker at the courthouse to watch her while they were in the courtroom, so they carried her things into the building as they went in. The woman took Indigo from Blue, but he reached for her and said, “Let me have her for just a second.” When Anne started to follow him out, he shook his head. “No. Just me and her.”
When the door closed behind him and he found himself alone with his little girl in the hallway, he sat down on one of the benches and sat her on his lap facing him. Bouncing her just a little on his knees, he smiled down at her. “Indigo?” he said, and she looked up into his face. “I want you to remember this, please? Just know that Daddy loves you more than anything in this world, my little angel. Every time you hear Hank sing that song on the radio, I want you to remember that it’s your song. You may not remember me, but I hope you remember that song.” He leaned down to her and kissed her forehead, taking in that baby smell, the one he’d grown to adore. When he took herback into the room for the social worker to watch her, his heart screamed as he acknowledged silently that it might be the last time he ever touched her.
Since the proceedings were regarding a minor child and confidentiality was required, he, Cindy, their attorneys, the court stenographer, and the judge were the only ones allowed in the courtroom. Everyone else had to wait outside until they were called. He knew Anne was fretting out in the hallway, but there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
Glen accompanied him into the courtroom, but Cindy and her attorney were already there, having entered through another door. In seconds, the judge and the court reporter were there, and everyone stood until the judge told them they could sit.
Cindy’s attorney went first, and Blue steeled himself for what was about to happen. After the judge had her swear her oath, Cindy sat in the witness box and her attorney approached to ask her questions. “State your full name for the court, please.”
“Cynthia Denise Holland.”
“And Ms.Holland, the infant child, IndigoDarling Wallace?is she your child?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And did you, on April twenty-eighth of this year, leave her in a basket on the front porch of one BrentAlan Wallace?”
“Yes, sir, I did.”
“Can you state for the court why you did this?”
Cindy shifted in her chair and looked a little uncomfortable. “I was going to California to work and I didn’t have enough money to take her with me.”
The attorney paced away from her and then back. “Did you have any intention of abandoning her?”
“No! Absolutely not! I left her with Blue because I?”
“I’m sorry, but could you explain to the court who Blue is?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Brent. We all call him Blue because of his eyes,” she said and smiled.
