This chapter is dedicated to fireflies7 - thank you for all your reads, comments and votes on all my stories. 

20 – Losing

Rena's POV

Just as expected, Tivon Goldstein filed a petition for change of custody as soon as the courts reopened on Monday morning, alleging child endangerment for leaving Noah alone in the apartment with Alyssa. At Noel's advice, my father had taken off work for the rest of the weekend and acted as main caregiver to his grandson since Marcus had not only called him, but child protection services, and they would have otherwise removed Noah from my care. That alone was an indication that my chances of winning in court this time around were more than slim.

The whole weekend, Noel, Pam and I had plotted out strategy and after due deliberation, they had decided that I couldn't even testify to present my side of the story. In a civil case, Tivon could pretty much ask me anything, and the risk that I self-incriminated myself was too high. That would be another strike against me since I couldn't even tell the judge about Charlotte's injuries when I dropped Noah off for his visit this past summer.

Kade was also taken out of the loop – he had presented himself as her physician and was bound by confidentiality. According to Noel, it would be impossible to prove that Ryan was abusive unless Charlotte came clean which was highly unlikely. I had maneuvered myself into a corner and the Parks had the upper hand. I would be lucky if I walked out of that courtroom without a new criminal charge.

Needless to say, the other side was in the best of spirits when the hearing commenced at three in the afternoon. Marcus was there as star witness and beamed at me as he strolled to the witness stand.

After being sworn in, he adjusted his tie and shot me a vicious glare before focusing on Tivon.

"Mr. Forrester, could you please state your full name and occupation for the record," Tivon said.

"Sure. Marcus Lamar Forrester. I'm the Deputy District Attorney for Cook County."

"And Mr. Forrester, what is your relationship to the respondent, Ms. Cooper?"

"She is friends with my daughter Patrice."

"And could you please tell us what happened this past Friday, February 14th?"

Marcus took a sip of water and shifted his body in his seat before continuing with his testimony which got me all fidgety.

"I got a phone call around six thirty from Patrice who asked me to bring Alyssa over to Ms. Cooper's apartment. The girls were planning a slumber party and wanted her to participate."

"Did that raise any red flags that Alyssa was meant to babysit?"

A small wrinkle appeared on Marcus's forehead. "I was a little leery at first since Patrice and Alyssa don't really have a close relationship due to their age gap, but Patrice had been away at college in Indiana and said that she wanted to spend some time with her little sister. With Alyssa recently taking interest in make-up, I thought they were just trying to be nice and do some girly stuff with her."

"Would you have allowed Alyssa to go over to Ms. Cooper's apartment if you had known she was meant to babysit a small toddler?" Tivon asked.

"Absolutely not." Marcus shook his head adamantly and I hated to say that I believed him. "Alyssa is ten and while I leave her alone with my son who is six for short periods of time when I run small errands, she is not suited as a night time babysitter for a one year old."

"And what happened next?" Tivon asked.

"Alyssa called me in tears around eleven. The child, Noah Cooper, was crying and she couldn't calm him. She was really upset and had no clue what to do. Ms. Cooper wasn't answering her phone and neither was Patrice, so she called me."

"And what did you do?"

"My wife and I went to the apartment to check on the child and our daughter. I tried to contact Ms. Cooper twice, but couldn't reach her. I knew her father worked for the Chicago PD and I was able to contact him. I also called Child Protection Services since I was concerned about the welfare of the child."

Coming from his mouth, it all sounded really bad. His face showed very little emotion and his tone was very objective. If I heard his testimony as an innocent bystander, I would think I was a terrible mother.

His demeanor did not change during cross-examination, he was his pleasant self, insisting that he was only worried about Noah and had no personal agenda. I couldn't tell if Judge Oaks was buying his bullshit, but judging from Ryan's gloating face, a possible new charge of child endangerment had been discussed between them. Marcus was probably just waiting for the outcome of the hearing to plot his next move.

To my surprise, he wasn't Tivon's only witness.

"Your Honor, the petitioners call Barnabas Williams."

I frowned as a huge dude walked in who I never met before. Come to think of it, I bumped into him in the shopping mall once, but that was months ago. Not sure what type of testimony he could offer. I would be in for a really bad surprise.

He hardly fit into the witness box, his big muscles almost bursting the seams of his suit.

"Mr. Williams, what is your occupation?" Tivon asked.

"I'm a licensed private investigator."

"And are the petitioners your clients?"

"Yes, Sir, they certainly are." He beamed at Ryan who looked like he won the lottery.

"And what were you contracted to do for the Parks?" Tivon inquired next.

"I have been running surveillance on Rena Cooper."

Noel took in a sharp breath next to me. "Did you know about this?" he muttered under his breath.

I could only shake my head, dumfounded what length Ryan and Charlotte would go through to get custody. This was insane.

"And did you work Ms. Cooper's case this past Friday, February 14th?"

The PI nodded. "Yep. I followed her and a friend to a party on Simpson Street."

"When did they get there?"

"Around eight."

"And did you see them leave?"

"The friend did just before midnight, but Ms. Cooper was still at the party when I went home at twelve thirty."

I glanced at Pam who sat frozen in her seat three rows behind me, her lips reduced to a thin line. Judging from her face, this was also bad for my criminal case.

"And Mr. Williams, what kind of party was it?"

"The usual college gig hosted by one of Northwestern's fraternities." Our eyes interlocked and for a second, I saw a flicker of sympathy. "Loud music, booze, the works."

I buried my face in my hands – if he saw me drinking, it was all over.

"Did you observe any drugs?" Tivon asked.

I gazed up at the judge who sat rigid in his seat, staring at me. I would get no more chances from him.

"Some of the kids were smoking weed in front of the house," the PI said.

"Objection," Noel hissed. "How could he possible know that those weren't regular cigarettes?"

"I rephrase for foundation," Tivon offered before Judge Oaks could rule on the objection.

"Mr. Williams, how did you know it was weed?"

"I was close enough to smell it." He shot Noel a nasty look. "When I was younger, I smoked stuff like that myself, so I have a certain degree of experience."

Noel let out a small huff but didn't object again.

"And did Ms. Cooper smoke weed as well?" Tivon continued with his questioning.

"I didn't see her," the PI admitted.

"What about alcohol?"

"I saw cups and beer kegs, but once again, I did not observe Ms. Cooper consuming alcohol. She was in the frat house the entire time and I didn't go in."

"Thanks, Mr. Williams. I have no further questions."

I zoomed out when Noel was starting on his cross examination, staring gloomily outside the window. This was it – the one slip up that Ryan had been waiting for and which would cost me my son and possibly my freedom. I knew it had been a stupid mistake, but didn't I pay enough already? How could he just get away with beating his wife and kids without any repercussions? Why didn't anyone ever expose him for the monster he was? It was so unfair.

Noel nudged me in my shoulder and I realized that the PI had finished his testimony and all eyes were on me.

"Ms. Cooper, is this what you want?" Judge Oaks asked, impatience laced in his voice.

My eyes darted around, I was totally lost.

Noel cleared his throat. "Your Honor wants to know if you are asserting your fifth amendment right to avoid self-incrimination and therefore, waive your testimony here today."

"Yes, yes I am." I realized that I was supposed to stand and jump on my feet.

"Very well." The judge sighed and scribbled something in his notebook. "You can sit down again, Ms. Cooper."

Like a scolded child, I retake my seat with my face burning.

"I have to admit, this case is highly disturbing. I really wanted to give the respondent the benefit of a doubt, but these new developments change everything." Judge Oaks sighed again, looking tired all of a sudden. "For the record, the refusal of the respondent to testify is at least a strong indicator that she violated her probation in some form. That alone doesn't make her an unfit parent, however, leaving her one year old son in the care of a ten year old child he doesn't even know was very poor judgment on her part. Therefore, I have no choice but to reward at least temporary custody to the petitioners, Ryan and Charlotte Parks."

Charlotte's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she squeezed Ryan's hand. She made me sick.

Noel was back on his feet, but Judge Oaks outstretched hand stopped him. "I know what you are going to say, Mr. Fallon, but so far, you have not presented any credible evidence of Mr. Park's abuse and quite frankly, I am sick and tired of hearing about it. If I trusted Mr. Cooper enough to supervise his daughter around Noah for the time being, I would keep him in the household, but we all know that the job of a police officer is very demanding and I doubt he will be able to do it."

His attention turned to Tivon. "Your clients will make arrangements for supervised visitation with the mother until we can have a full hearing on this case within the next thirty days."

Tivon shot Noel a triumphant look as he rose on his feet. "We also wish to amend our petition to include unfitness of the mother at this time."

I clutched my hand over my mouth not to scream as tears filled my eyes. If they got the judge to terminate my parental rights, they could adopt Noah and deny me visitation. Knowing Ryan, he would never allow me to see my son again.

My eyes found Charlotte who was watching me with this expression on her face I couldn't interpret. This last part seemed to be a total surprise to her as well.

"So noted, Mr. Goldstein. The child will be turned over to the petitioners tomorrow morning at nine am to give Ms. Cooper enough time to prepare Noah and get his things together as long as Mr. Cooper supervises. Otherwise, we'll do it tonight."

Noel and my father whispered something to each other before Noel agreed that this was acceptable. It hurt to be totally ignored and taken out of the loop. He should have fought harder, though I was not sure what he could have done to change the outcome.

Judge Oaks swung his gravel. "Then we are adjourned."

Chatter erupted as soon as he walked out of the courtroom. Ryan and Charlotte were both grinning from ear to ear as Tivon shook their hands. I couldn't even blame them. When the courtroom slowly emptied, I stayed frozen in my seat, unable to flinch a muscle. My heart ached and I felt utterly broken. If my probation officer had slapped handcuffs on me in that moment, I wouldn't have cared. My life had lost all purpose.

"Let's go, Rena."

Kade's words bounced off me. I was still unable to move.

"I lost, Kade." My voice sounded foreign to me, more like the crackle of a bird.

"This is not over." He tossed a dark look at the Parks who were just leaving. "If they think that I will just turn my godson over to them, they have something else coming."

Hope flared up. "What are you planning to do?"

He glanced around the courtroom. "Not here. Let's go home."

I slowly nodded, for the first time realizing I was not alone in this. When I was with Brent, I made the mistake of not asking for his help when I needed it the most. That wasn't something I would ever repeat. Whatever he decided, I would go along with his plan – even if that would get me in bigger trouble. In that moment, I put all my trust in my best friend.

So Rena lost custody. I think this chapter put things into a different perspective than it was in the beginning. With the evidence presented, the judge didn't have much of a choice other than to reward custody to Ryan and Charlotte.

We are only one chapter away from the present chapters at the jail. I will afterwards repost the already finished chapters before the conclusion of this story. Some of those might undergo major editing, but I'll let you know when the time comes. There are also two more major plot twists planned, so stay tuned.

I hope you're still enjoying this story. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next week