Chapter 1 - The Practice Papers
The silence in the courtroom felt like ice water poured over an open wound.
Judge Eleanor Vance peered over her glasses, her sharp gaze cutting straight through Julian's manufactured composure.
Beside him, Melissa’s manicured fingers jerked violently away from the edge of the mahogany defense table.
"Leo, sweetheart," my attorney, Sarah Lindqvist, said in the softest, most even tone she could muster.
"When did you see Dad and Melissa practicing Mom's name?"
Leo tucked his chin into the worn fur of his stuffed rabbit and shifted his weight from one sneaker to the other.
"Last Saturday," Leo whispered, his little voice echoing in the cavernous room. "I woke up to get apple juice from the big fridge. They were sitting at the kitchen table with lots of blue papers and a bright light box."
Julian shot out of his leather chair so fast his knees slammed against the table, rattling a glass carafe of water.
"Your Honor, this is preposterous!" Julian barked, his voice rising in an octave I had never heard him use in public. "My son is being coached! Audrey has been poisoning his mind ever since I filed for separation!"
"Mr. Collins, sit down immediately or the bailiff will assist you," Judge Vance warned, her gavel hovering an inch above its sounding block.
"Do not address this court or your child in that tone again."
Julian sank back down, but his jaw was working frantically, a vein throbbing along his right temple like a trapped worm.
I sat frozen in my chair, one trembling hand pressed against the tight, aching dome of my eight-month belly.
My baby kicked hard against my ribs, as if reacting to the sudden surge of adrenaline flooding through my bloodstream.
"Leo," Sarah asked gently, "did you hear what they said while they were writing?"
Leo looked toward Julian with wide, frightened eyes, then quickly dropped his gaze back to the rabbit's frayed ears.
"Daddy told Melissa she had to make the 'A' loop bigger, just like Mommy does when she signs school permission slips," Leo mumbled.
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"And Melissa laughed and said nobody would care once the baby came because Mommy would be too tired to notice anything."
Melissa gasped softly, slapping a hand over her mouth as two court reporters typed furiously at their stations.
