A Family for Christmas (16 page)

“A second or two? I think we can accommodate that,” the judge said, looking at her watch.

Ed sat down. “One-word answers if at all possible. Don't volunteer anything.”

“One-word answers,” Trent repeated, then he turned to Maggie. “I'm sorry, Mag.”

Maggie squeezed his forearm. “Don't be so pessimistic. The Lord's got it covered. I promise. Just tell the truth.”

Trent stood, and seconds later was swearing to tell the truth with his hand on the book Maggie put so much store in. He looked over at her, and she smiled reassuringly. He thought it was ironic that she'd been worried about being the weak link in their case, and it had turned out to be him.

“Did you tell Ms. Morresey that you'd refused to adopt for five years and that your wife left over your unreasonable stand?”

“Your Honor,” Ed said, “the use of the word
unreasonable
is rather inflammatory.”

“Consider it ignored,” the judge said, sounding annoyed. “Mr. Osborne?”

Trent glanced at Maggie. He didn't remember, but he must have told her exactly that. “Yes,” he answered.

“And had you any intention of taking your wife back until your brother died?”

“No,” Trent said through gritted teeth.

“No more questions,” Wright said, and sat down.

Trent blinked.
That was it? Was the case going so badly that Wright didn't think he needed to push him, after all?

In a fog, Trent stood and returned to his place. He felt sick to his stomach and his skin was clammy. They were going to lose the kids. And it was all his fault.

“…call Royce Osborne to the stand,” Wright was saying when Trent managed to focus on the proceedings again. Royce looked much less like a grandfather than a potential father. He approached the stand with a confident spring in his step, his hair nowhere near as gray as it had been at their last meeting in Florida. Had he actually dyed his hair to appear younger?

Wright questioned him about his plans for the children and the adjustments he and his wife were willing to make to accommodate them. He asked about Mike. Royce spoke fondly of how hard Mike had worked to become a success. Trent felt Maggie take his hand and unfold it out of its clenched fist, and he knew she was remembering the remark one of his parents had made about Mike having been an auto mechanic. Royce mentioned that his son had become involved in a fanatical church, and added that Trent and Maggie were now being sucked in by the same cult. Ed, meanwhile, scribbled furiously.

Then the questions turned to the subject of Trent. His father said Trent had been distant as a boy, never returning the love his parents gave freely. An image of his mother pushing him away when he'd mussed
her hair with an enthusiastic little-boy hug pierced Trent's heart all over again.

The pressure of Maggie's grip on his hand pulled him out of his painful remembrance because it was suddenly uncomfortably tight. Trent twisted in his seat to look at her and was surprised to see love and fury in her usually serene eyes. Lifting their clasped hands to his lips, he kissed her fingers. “Thank you,” he mouthed, touched beyond measure that she would be angry for him when he was probably going to be the reason she lost the children she'd come to love as her own. He looked away from the love in her eyes, afraid he'd soon see it fade if things got worse.

Ed, he noticed, was still jotting down the odd word to trigger his memory during cross-examination. Then he surprised Trent by reserving the right to question Royce later. The judge called a fifteen-minute recess and left the bench.

“He looked too good up there,” Ed said during the short break. “We've still got our side of him as a father to tell, but I wanted him off the stand. Your mother's next. No matter what she says, we have that letter she sent to Sarah. That has to make her look pretty bad.”

When court resumed, Trent stared down at the table, then closed his eyes as his mother walked forward.
Please, Jesus. If You're real. If You really do intervene in people's lives, let us keep the kids. Tell me what You want me to do to make it right and I'll do it.

Maggie watched as Albertine settled into the witness chair. She still had faith that everything would
turn out fine, but she was angry for Trent's sake. Albertine looked cool in an ice-blue suit, her blond hair in a youthful style that took years off her looks. She smiled sweetly and made all the appropriate declarations about her good intentions. She told the judge that she only wanted a chance to give her beloved grandchildren a wonderful life, and that Trent and Maggie would be welcome to see them occasionally if their marriage survived. She expressed worry that the children were being brought up in an unhealthy environment with guardians who had just recently been estranged to the point of divorce. Albertine also blamed Trent and Maggie for the estrangement from Michael that had kept the elder Osbornes from knowing the children. That was something she said she wanted desperately to change.

“Your witness, counselor,” Wright said with a smug smile directed at all three of them. Maggie wished the judge had been able to see the gesture. Maybe it would make her as mad as it did Maggie.

“Oh, I'm going to eat this guy for lunch,” Ed muttered as he stood.

“Aren't you concerned about the impact four children will have on your social life, Mrs. Osborne?” Ed asked.

“There'll be changes, of course,” she said with a beatific smile. “But the sacrifice will be worth it. Children are our future, after all.”

“So the number of children doesn't worry you at all.”

“We intend to hire a full-time nanny to help out,
but the day-to-day rearing will be our responsibility. Bedtimes. Playing in the yard. That sort of thing.”

She smiled, and Maggie wondered how long she'd practiced looking so loving.

“We've already installed playground equipment for them. Money is no object for us, after all. The children will attend all the best schools and have every advantage we can give them.”

Ed turned away and returned to the table. “Are you saying that you can do more financially for them than my clients?”

“We are more established than my son could possibly be at his age.”

“Your Honor, both the elder Osbornes have mentioned their financial position as if it were an issue here. I'd like to place into evidence the financial statement of Trent and Maggie Osborne. To summarize, it shows that they have every resource available to them that Royce Osborne has. Plus, they have youth on their side.”

Then he handed Albertine the letter. “Mrs. Osborne, do you recognize this letter?”

She went a little pale, then she nodded and said, “Yes.” But she quickly shook off her shock, sat a little straighter, visibly pulling herself together.

“Is that your handwriting all the way through?” Ed asked.

“Ahem. Yes. Yes, it is.”

Ed reached out for it and for a second Albertine resisted returning it to the lawyer. “I'd like to place this into evidence, as well. Would you like to summarize
the note for the court?” Ed asked Trent's mother.

“It was a letter I sent my daughter-in-law. But you have to understand,” she said, turning to speak directly to the judge, “Sarah just kept having children. My son was incapable of handling that much responsibility. He was special, you see, Your Honor. He worked hard, as my husband mentioned, but at a menial job. He was slow, and Sarah took advantage of him from the beginning.”

“You didn't approve of your daughter-in-law, did you? Didn't you, in fact, try to buy Sarah out of Mike's life?”

“Your Honor,” Wright called out. “What does Mrs. Osborne's opinion of her late daughter-in-law have to do with this matter?”

“I allowed you to explore the near breakup of the current custodial parents' marriage. I think we can indulge counsel in this.”

“Did you try to pay Sarah to drop out of Michael's life?” Ed asked again.

“She knew we had money. She saw him as a meal ticket.”

“Is that a yes, Mrs. Osborne?”

“Yes!”

Ed picked up the letter. “Back to the number of children you want the court to place in your care. Do you recognize the phrase ‘Only dogs have more than two children'?”

“I was trying to shock some sense into her. She was dragging my son down. They were living in a wreck of a home that we'd heard he had to spend
every waking hour trying to repair. She had no business increasing his burden. But that has nothing to do with the children. They are all still precious parts of him—Michael, I mean.”

“I thought she saw him as a meal ticket? Yet, we know she had his four children and lived with him and them in what you yourself just called a wreck of a house.”

“In the beginning she must have thought we would continue to support him.”

“But you weren't supporting him by the time they married. Michael no longer lived in your house by then, did he?”

“No.”

“Michael, the son you describe as
slow,
owned a successful foreign car repair business that was profiting him over a hundred-thousand dollars a year by the time of his death. When was the last time you even saw your son, Mrs Osborne?”

“Several years ago, I'm afraid. Michael misunderstood what we tried to do to protect him from Sarah. We attended his wedding, but Trent and Maggie had painted us in the worst possible light by then. Michael always listened to Trent.”

Ed approached the table where Maggie and Trent sat Trent leaned forward and signaled to him. Ed bent over and listened as Trent whispered in his ear. With a scowl, and without turning around to face the judge, Ed said, “No more questions at this time, Your Honor.”

“The plaintiff rests,” the other lawyer called out.

Ed schooled his features into a bland mask and
turned to face Judge Golden. “A short recess, Your Honor?”

The judge checked her watch. “Let's do an hour for lunch. Then you can present your case, Mr. Hanson.”

The judge left, and Ed turned to them. “What's this all about, Trent?”

“You're still going to need the kids and Nancy, aren't you?” Trent asked. He knew his tone clearly showed the strain this was having on him.

Ed nodded. “I still have all of Michael's records to present to show that he was indeed in full control of his life and faculties and that your parents were way off-base about you and Sarah controlling him. But I won't guarantee anything. I think it's better to err on the side of caution, so we're going to have to bring the kids in. Your parents are just so darn cool under fire. They've thought of a noble explanation for every rotten trick they've pulled over the years. I think the judge may see through them, but I can't be sure. And I don't want to chance it.”

“Put me back on the stand after you give her all the paperwork. I don't want those kids exposed to this, or those two sitting there looking so sure of themselves. That'll scare them to death, and I'm worried about the strain on Nancy, too. Suppose she has another heart attack over this. The kids have lost enough.”

“You'll get your chance. You need to give some explanation of the adoption thing. But Trent, we're still going to have to call Mickey and Rachel.”

Trent turned to her. “Mag, take the kids to lunch.
Ed and I need to talk. I'll see you back here when court reconvenes.”

“Talk? Talk about what?” she asked.

“You'll see. Don't you worry. They aren't going to get our kids. Please, go to lunch. I won't be able to do this any other way. And I know now what I have to do. It's way past time. Ed?” Trent stood and walked out of the courtroom.

Looking more than slightly rattled, Ed gathered his papers and followed Trent up the aisle.

Maggie just stared after them, wondering what on earth was going on.

T
he hour lunch break with the children went quickly and served to turn up any latent jittery nerves Maggie had about the custody suit. She found it was easier to tell others that they could trust in the Lord, than it was to do it one hundred percent of the time herself. Doubts seemed to creep in at the worst of times. And seeing the children—youngest to oldest—frightened by the tension they sensed in the adults in their lives and by the strange surroundings had undone some of her confidence. She was worried. Suppose it was part of the Lord's far-reaching plan to let the children go to their grandparents…

Maggie knew that with the Lord's help she would survive but Trent didn't have the Lord to rely on. She tried to pray for him and for her own restored peace while walking back to the courtroom, but an image of the way he'd looked at her before leaving kept
intruding. His had been an expression full of loss and grim resolve. What was he up to?

She walked into the courtroom alone to find that Trent wasn't there yet, but Ed was. So were her inlaws, who shot her twin venomous looks.

“Where is Trent and what's going on?” she asked Ed.

“I'm not at liberty to say, but Trent will be here in a minute.” Ed didn't look at her, but continued to scratch out words and rewrite them on his everpresent yellow legal pad.

Maggie sat down, and seconds later Trent strode in, a look of iron-willed determination on his face. If he'd timed it any closer, he would have been late— and now they had no time to talk. Maggie wondered if he'd planned it that way, because the judge entered just as he reached his seat.

“Is the defense ready?” Judge Golden asked.

Ed, looking strained, glanced at Trent.

Trent nodded sharply and clenched his jaw even more tightly. “Let's end this now,” he said grimly.

“Yes, we're ready to proceed, Your Honor. First, as Michael and Sarah are not present to set the record straight, I would like to place in evidence several more documents. Michael's school records showing clearly that he was an intelligent child who was severely learning disabled—a disability that was pointed out to his parents when he was in fourth grade. All help for him was rejected by his parents—”

“Objection, Your Honor!” Wright shouted.

“Counsel is well within his rights to refute testimony
presented by the plaintiff. Although I have yet to understand why she did so, it was your client who introduced her son's intellect into the record.”

“I think I can answer that with my next document,” Ed said as the other attorney sat back down, looking disgruntled. “The wills of Sarah and Michael in which Trent and Maggie Osborne are named guardians of the children. You will see a letter expressing their wish that Michael's parents be kept out of their children's lives. By making my late client appear to have been unduly influenced by his older brother and unable to make these sorts of decisions for himself, this document would lose all impact.

“Which brings me to the other two documents.” Ed sighed. “I had hoped to avoid using this avenue of defense, but I know Michael would want his instructions for his children taken seriously by the court. What I hope Your Honor will see here is evidence of the skewed view Royce and Albertine Osborne have always taken of those less highly placed on the social scale—like Sarah Merritt. It was this influence that Michael feared most for his children. Authenticated by the District Attorney and notarized as such, I give you Michael Osborne's arrest record, both juvenile and adult—possession of a controlled substance, DUI, resisting arrest. As you see, I could go on but there's no need, because you will also note that there are no more arrests after the date of the second document—Trent and Maggie Osborne's marriage license. Less than a week later, Michael met Sarah Merritt and her influence began to change his life. So, yes, Sarah greatly influenced Michael, but it was an influence
that turned him from an angry, misdirected young man into a respected citizen of this county.”

The judge accepted all the documents with a nod. “Do you intend to call witnesses?”

“Trenton Osborne,” Ed said.

Trent stood and walked stiffly to the witness chair, his demeanor quite different from his earlier panic when called by Jason Wright. This was the Trent who had successfully built and run a high-tech firm in a cutthroat field. It was also a Trent who looked as if he'd lost his last friend, or was about to. Maggie felt sweat break out over her entire body. Whatever he was about to reveal, she suddenly knew it would have a negative effect on their relationship.

The judge reminded Trent that he was still under oath, then Ed asked his first question. “Your father testifed that you were a cold, unloving son. How would you characterize your parents?”

“Your Honor, I—” the other lawyer cut in.

“Mr. Wright, I would like to get this matter settled today,” the judge responded. “You introduced the kind of boy Trenton Osborne was. I see no problem hearing his view of his parents at the same point in time. Answer the question, Mr. Osborne.”

“They're the ones who were cold and unloving to me. I never understood until I was twelve. I overheard them planning to send me away to boarding school. That's what my parents think is a good education. They were rarely around. We were raised by staff—a series of nannies and housekeepers. I can't believe they'll be different with Mike's kids. What hurt about being sent away was that they wanted me out of the
picture because…,” Trent hesitated and looked straight at his parents. “Because they were sorry they'd adopted me.”

Maggie gasped, and Trent looked over at her, his aching heart reflected in his eyes. Luckily, her sharp intake of breath was drowned out by Albertine Osborne's excited flurry of words to her husband. Maggie looked over at them, seeing utter shock written in their expressions.

“Until this day you never let them know that you'd overheard them talking, did you?” Ed asked.

“No. I was afraid they'd give up all pretense that I was part of their family, and that I'd lose Mike completely. Later, well, I guess I always worried that his feelings toward me would change, so I kept silent.”

“Is this why you were so against adoption?” Ed asked.

“Back then I thought that was why they didn't love me, but I've seen others adopt through the years and love their children. I realized it was they who didn't know how to love. Neither me nor Michael, who was actually their biological son. So, no, that isn't the reason. I'd actually decided against fathering children at all by the time I graduated from college. Then I met Maggie. I decided that loving her as much as I did, I could love children of that love. But no children came, and in time I started thinking that because I'd never been loved as a child, I wouldn't know how to give love to one. I didn't want to hurt children the way I'd been hurt. But we couldn't get pregnant, so I just kept my fears hidden. Then she wanted to adopt
and I refused. It was an excuse—a way to run from my fear without admitting to it.”

Maggie ached for Trent. He'd borne this pain as a child alone, feeling unloved and trying to preserve the only love he'd ever known—that of his brother.

But then other thoughts occurred to her. Fine. He hadn't trusted his parents enough to tell them what he knew, but what about her? He hadn't trusted her either. And he'd had a reason, however painful, for his stand on adoption. Had he told her, they might have been able to work through their problems. But he hadn't trusted her, and he'd let his fears tear their marriage apart. He'd let her shoulder all the blame even after they'd reconciled.

As Maggie fought to keep the anger from showing on her face, the judge's voice called her back to the proceedings. “Mr. Osborne, I'm confused,” Judge Golden said. “So I'm going to take the liberty of asking you a direct question. Why, if you never wanted children at all, are you fighting to keep four of them?”

Trent answered without a moment's hesitation. “After Mike and Sarah died, I took on raising the kids because I didn't want my parents to get them. At first I was afraid that I'd scar them for life, but I was wrong. I can't imagine how much it would hurt to lose those kids. I love Mike's children as much as if they were my own.”

He shook his head. “No, that's not quite right. Maybe I love them more because they're part of Mike. They're all I have left of him. The worst part of being sent away to school when I was a kid was
losing Mike. Losing him permanently was devastating. He was a wonderful, funny, talented man. My best friend. That's how I want his children to remember him. Not slow—as if he needed a keeper. And Sarah—sweet, patient, kind Sarah. She deserves to be remembered this way and not as a gold digger, the way my parents always saw her. Because she wasn't. She loved my brother. Deeply.”

The judge nodded. “Mr. Hanson, I'd like to see the children before you proceed with any further witnesses.”

“But your honor,” Trent protested.

Winifred Golden's slight smile to him was kind. “I'm well aware of all the pre-trial motions, and that you and your wife wanted to keep the children safely out of this. I also see that two of them are tentatively scheduled as well as their maternal grandmother. I understand and agree with your reasons for trying to protect them. I do, however, prefer to meet the children whose lives my decisions will affect. I like to find a nonthreatening way for them to have their say in where they live, if at all possible. I've seen the home studies and now I'd like to talk with them. Relax. I don't look nearly as scary without the black robes. We will reconvene in an hour.”

Looking like a deer caught in the glare of headlights, Trent stared at Judge Golden when she hammered her gavel down and stood to leave. Maggie felt the same profound sense of shock descend on her. Nothing in this day had happened the way she'd thought it would. And now these revelations about Trent left her emotions stirred up and confused.
Where, she wondered, did she even start trying to unravel years of half truths in order to build a relationship with a husband she'd never really known?

But on the upside, Maggie realized that all her nervousness had dissipated. She wasn't even fazed by the thought of the interview the judge was about to conduct with the children. She was once again completely able to trust in the Lord where they were concerned. The Lord would see to it that the children remained with them. Perhaps they would walk through fire, not only in court, but also in its aftermath.

Trent walked back to the table, his heart in his throat. Maggie was furious. Maybe even beyond furious. But she'd masked it quickly for the judge's benefit. He'd watched her as closely as he could, and he'd seen the moment she'd realized that he'd let her accept all the blame for the divorce. “How angry are you?” he asked once seated.

She looked straight ahead, refusing to meet his eyes. “I don't think here is the place to get into a discussion of how angry I am. Much better done later in private and after I've had some time.”

“Some time? Some time for what? To calm down? To—”

“Later means later,” she said through gritted teeth, her expression a facade of neutrality.

“Can you a least tell me if you think I did the right thing? Do you think I gave us a better chance?”

“The judge seemed to be leaning our way, don't you think?” Maggie asked, leaning forward to see
past him to Ed where Trent imagined she was directing her question.

“I think she may have had their number all along. I've never seen her smile before. I'm sorry, Trent. If I'd read her correctly before I let you get up there and…”

Trent nodded, still watching Maggie closely when she turned to stare at him with open fury in her brown eyes.

“In other words,” she said, “if Ed had realized that we had more than a fighting chance, you wouldn't have needed to bare your soul. And I never would have known any of what you said on the stand. I guess for once I have something to thank your parents for. I'd have gone on for years, blaming myself for all of our problems every time I remembered our time apart!” Maggie stood. “I need some air,” she snapped, checking her wristwatch. “I'll make sure I'm back on time.”

This time it was Maggie who timed her entry back into the courtroom to perfection. She no sooner resumed her seat than Judge Golden returned.

“All rise,” the bailiff said, and called the court to order.

“As I said earlier, I want to get this over with,” Judge Golden began. “Will counsel please approach the bench.”

Trent longed to grasp hold of Maggie's hand, but he knew he was on his own. He hoped not forever. Elbows on the table, he clasped his hands together and leaned his chin atop his knuckles. Ed Hanson nodded repeatedly as did Wright.
Please God. Please
let this be good,
he begged the God he'd been turning to more and more often these days.

Ed pivoted toward them, his face impassive as he returned to their table.

“Mr. Wright, have you anything to add on summation?” Judge Golden asked.

Wright took a few steps backward and waxed poetic for several minutes about his clients, their pain, their good intentions and their ability to carry them to fruition.

Trent, meanwhile, saw Ed begin to once again scribble notes furiously. “What's going on? Isn't she going to let you call Maggie? Aren't you going to object?”

Ed shielded his mouth with his hand. “Not yet,” he whispered. “I don't think it's necessary. I think we've won. If not, she's given us the perfect opening for an appeal.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wright,” Golden said, when Wright took his seat. “I've never been particularly fond of the idea of keeping grandparents from seeing their grandchildren, and I often order visitation. I have even terminated parental rights in favor of those of grandparents for the good of the children. But this isn't going to be one of those cases.