Page 85 of Baby Blue
“Well, first off, I want to make sure nobody ruins this baby’s life by giving her back to my daughter. Cindy gave her away once, and she’ll do it again,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the young woman sitting in front of her, glaring. “And I’m hoping her daddy will see his way clear to letting me at least visit with her. I’d like that. I don’t know what family he’s got, but no kid can have too many grandmas and grandpas, I don’t think.”
Casey turned to the judge. “I think I’m finished here.”
“Mr. Baker?”
“No, sir, but I’d like to thank Mr.Casey for requesting that Ms.Bingham be allowed to speak her mind. It’s been quite enlightening,” Glen said, unable to keep from chuckling a little.
“Very well. Fifteen-minute recess, and then I’ll render my decision.” With that, the judge disappeared into chambers, leaving the rest of them sitting there.
“Come with me,” Glen whispered and took off out the courtroom door. Blue had to jog just a little to catch up. The attorney ducked into a stairwell and stopped on the landing.
“Well?” Blue asked.
“If he rules against you, there’s a serious problem. Did you get a load of that woman? That was priceless!” Glen said, laughing.
Blue wasn’t laughing. It wasn’t over, and he knew it. Anything could happen and with his luck, it could still go badly. “If I win, do you think I could give Cindy’s mother visitation?”
“Sure,” Glen said, his laughter finally calming. “I think that would be good. He’s going to give Cindy some kind of visitation, I’m sure, but it’ll be supervised. He won’t want her to be alone with the baby.”
“Good. That would be okay with me,” Blue said, his hands still shaking. “Can I see her? Just for a minute?”
The eyes that met his were sympathetic. “Sure. No reason why not. Come on. You visit with her. I’m going out front to tell Anne she can go on home. I won’t be needing her again.”
Blue opened the door to the holding room and the social worker’s head turned. “Hey, Indigo, look who’s here!”
“Hey, baby! You okay?” At Blue’s voice, Indigo turned toward him and held out her hands. He picked her up and kissed her cheek. “You being a good girl?”
“She’s being a very good girl. Over yet?” the social worker asked. Blue shook his head as he gazed down at the baby, her tiny hands busy with a toy. She was oblivious to the tension around her, and he was thankful for that.
The door opened and Glen stuck his head in. “We’ve got to go back for the judge’s decision. Someone will be out pretty soon,” Glen said in the social worker’s direction, then turned back to Blue. “Come on, Brent. Time to hear what he’s decided.”
They’d no more than sat down when the judge stepped into the courtroom and they had to stand. “You may be seated,” he told them, then looked from Blue to Cindy and back to Blue. “I want to thank you all for your patience today. Deciding the fateof a child is something I take very, very seriously, so I hope you understand that the decision I’m about to render was made with great care and consideration.”
Blue held his breath. How could one person have the ability to snatch his precious daughter from him? He wasn’t a praying person, but for the first time in his life, he found himself asking whatever or whoever was in charge of the universe to please help him and if not, to help Indigo no matter what happened. “I’ve listened to both sides. MissHammond,” JudgeHargrove said, “I’m not sure what you were thinking in leaving a six-month-old infant in a basket on a porch, but I would hope you’d never do anything that careless again. After that, I’m surprised you’d have the nerve to come and ask for custody.” Blue wasn’t surprised when Cindy burst into tears. “Mr.Wallace,” the judge said, and Blue sat up tall and looked him straight in the eye. “I was astounded when Ms.Newsome gave her testimony. To see you sitting here, a fully functioning member of society, holding down a good job and raising a baby with minimal help, is a wonder to me, considering your background. I can see why you’d never want your child to go through what you went through. In this courtroom today I’ve heard more than one person say that they’re proud of you, and I want you to know that I am also. You’ve beaten the odds. You’re not in jail, you’re not on drugs, and you’re raising a little girl that the social worker has reported to be happy, healthy, and well cared for. You’re to be commended for rising above your raising and doing what needs to be done.” Blue nodded with respect to the judge. “Here is my ruling. The infant IndigoDarling Wallace will remain in the custody of her father, BrentAlan Wallace, who will be her sole custodial parent.” Blue let out the breath he’d been holding and didn’t try to stop the tears that streamed down his face. “As for the mother, CynthiaDenise Hammond, MissHammond is granted two hours of supervised visitation per month with herdaughter. When the child is five years old, this will be revisited by the courts to see if it needs to be changed. Mr.Wallace?”
“Yes, sir,” Blue said, almost unable to speak.
“I think it would be in the child’s best interest if she were able to see her grandmother, Ms.Bingham. I’m not going to rule on that, nor am I going to set some kind of visitation. From what I’ve seen, you’re a decent, reasonable man. I think the two of you can work out something between you.”
“Yes, YourHonor. Thank you, YourHonor,” Blue said quietly.
“Thank you all for coming. Family court is dismissed.” Without another word, the judge stood and made his way back to his chambers.
“Glen?” Blue said.
“Yeah?”
“Can I hug you?”
The attorney began to laugh and embraced Blue in a bear hug. “We did it. She’s safe.” He pressed Blue back with his hands on the younger man’s shoulders and looked into his face. “Thank you for letting me be a part of this. I haven’t handled family law in years, and it’s been a pleasure working with you. Write me a song, wouldja?” Glen asked and laughed.
“I’ll do that! ‘Ode To a Barrister!’” Blue said, laughing.
“That’ll work! Come on. Let’s go get your daughter,” Glen said as he headed down the aisle and out the courtroom doors with Blue right on his heels.
Blue pulled up in front of Anne’s and parked. “Well, little girl,” he told the baby, “let’s go in and tell your mommy what happened.” That made Blue chuckle a little, but he had every intention of having Indigo call her just that.
He opened the door and found Anne lying on the sofa, sobbing. She was crying so hard that she didn’t even hear him come in, and he stood for a moment and thought about her softness, the heart of gold in her chest, and the light in her eyes when he called her name. Blue knew he was blessed to know her, to have her, and to call her his. Before he could speak a word, Indigo yelled, “Ba-ba-ba ya-ya ma!”
