COUNTY COURTHOUSE
"I really don't like this," Claire
says suddenly.
Jim puts down his pen and pauses
a minute over the yellow legal pad on the table in front of him. They have
been sitting in silence for quite awhile now, and although he hasn't been
planning on getting other work done while he waits with a client for a
ruling, he has been trying to organize some things. Now he shifts his attention
back to Claire.
"It's going to be all right," he
says.
"We don't know that."
Jim finds himself struggling for
a response, but thankfully -- perhaps -- he hears a voice calling out for
them to rise again. The judge files back into the courtroom and Jim feels
his own chest tightening a bit.
Claire shoots another glance over
at Diane and Eric. They both look nervous, too. That realization sends
a momentary wave of hope washing over Claire.
"I've come to a decision," the judge
begins. Her voice sounds to Claire as though it would be warm and comforting
-- much like Paula's -- outside of the courtroom. But now it sounds uncomfortably
authoritative.
"I'd like to remind you all that
this is merely a preliminary hearing," she continues. "All that is being
decided today is where Samantha will spend the weeks until the actual custody
hearing."
"Uh-oh," Diane mutters to Eric.
The judge focuses on them. "Ms. Bishop,
clearly you have made some mistakes in the past. But from the sounds of
it, you also recognize that. And it is true that the time you have spent
with your daughter in the last two years has been absolutely free of incident."
Diane gives Eric a sideways look.
What is that supposed to mean?
"And Mrs. Fisher, I understand that
you have been the victim of some very unfortunate circumstances. I'm truly
sorry for the loss of your husband."
Claire begins to breathe a sigh of
relief.
"However," come the next words, stopping
the sigh in its tracks, "Ms. Bishop is Samantha's biological mother, and
you have not adopted Samantha. Therefore, she does have a stronger claim
to custody."
Diane's eyes go wide as she hangs
on the next words. So close ...
"Therefore, I am awarding temporary
custody to Ms. Bishop."
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