Sharing the Sheets (18 page)

I was familiar with the court building when I entered and already knew where to go. I pushed the stroller carrying little Mark as my sister followed. When I pushed through the door labeled ROOM 1602, I saw Mark seated with his lawyer and Regina sitting behind him. He stared at us, probably hoping to sneak a peek at his son, I thought, striding to my seat.

“Don't remove the blanket, and make sure he stays quiet,” I whispered into my sister's ear.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Janet Thomas,” the bailiff announced.

The judge took her seat and greeted us. “Good morning, my good folks. Let's see what we have here.” She looked over some papers in front of her.

Both lawyers stood up to address the judge. “Good morning, Your Honor,” they said in unison.

“Okay, I see we have an order of paternity.” She continued to look through the papers before her.

“Yes, Mr. Sands has executed the request. The results were sent directly to you, Your Honor,” Mark's lawyer informed the judge.

“Yes, yes, I see that. I do have the results. Mr. Mark Sands.” She looked to him as he stood up.

“You are the father by 99.9 percent certainty. Now, are you seeking joint custody at this time?”

Mark looked to his lawyer then back at the judge. “Yes, at this moment.”

“Does that mean you will be filing for full custody in the future?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Mark answered.

“We would like to request of the court a temporary joint custody with an immediate unsupervised visit starting today. My client has yet to meet his son, Your Honor,” Mark's lawyer interjected.

The judge grabbed a pen and wrote something down on the paper in front of her before looking up to address us. “Okay, I grant the visitation immediately after this hearing in the family room down the hall for two hours.”

I finally stood up and whispered into my lawyer's ear, “Object to the visit. I don't want his visitation unsupervised.”

My lawyer did as he was told and objected to the visitation.

“Ms. Sutton, is there a reason you would not like an unsupervised visit? There's no abuse charges in this case.”

“I think by me being there it would be a better transition. As his mother, I just want the best for my son,” I answered.

“From all the statements before me, I don't think it matters if you are there or not. From the looks of it here your sister has been the only mother he's known since you gave birth to him. What's best for your son, you clearly proved that you aren't by my standard, which is also the court's. Your sister along with both opposing lawyers will supervise the visit today. Moving forward, all visitation will not require your presence.”

“But—”

The judge banged her gavel to silence me.

“Mr. Sands, I grant you three weekly unsupervised visits for five hours each until your next hearing. Mr. Chapel, you and your client will produce a schedule for the next month after the visitation today. Ms. Sutton, you are not to contact Mr. Sands for any reason. If you need to address any issues, please address his lawyer and vice versa. If either of you chose not to abide by these restrictions, you both will be back in my courtroom facing my wrath. Do all sides understand?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“Great, see you in a month.” The judge slammed her gavel down and turned to the bailiff to discuss the next court date.

I was infuriated. I was sure the judge was going to allow me to be there. I provided all the affidavits to show the judge I was setting up a home for little Mark. I gave documents of the new house I bought out in New Jersey. The private nurse and nanny I hired to be around while little Mark was in my care. I didn't get it. It sure as hell wasn't supposed to go down this way.

“Ms. Sutton, please follow me.” The bailiff escorted me to a secluded room where I sat for two hours while my sister introduced my son to his father. It all backfired on me and now this verdict from the judge cut into me a little deeper.

I paced the floor, played games on my phone, spoke to several clients to pass the time. Finally the same bailiff walked in with my lawyer and Mark's lawyer. Where was little Mark? I looked and saw little Mark on Regina's lap with Mark smiling beside her outside in the hallway as the doors closed behind the lawyers. They looked happy. All of them.

“Ms. Sutton, please have a seat.”

I preferred not to. My skin was on fire with anger. “No, thank you.”

“We have scheduled visits for the next month. We just need your signature on the dotted line,” Mark's lawyer stated pushing in front of me.

“No, fucking way! I see you forgot to mention to the judge how unfit his girlfriend was! I do not want her near or caring for my son. She has an addiction sleeping with random men and bringing them into their home.”

My lawyer tried to calm me down; then the bailiff walked in. “Is there a problem in here?”

“Yes, can we see the judge in chambers please?”

The bailiff picked up the phone in the room and spoke into the receiver covering his mouth. After a few minutes, we were all led into the judge's chambers.

“This can't be good.” The judge put her robe on and sat at the desk. We all took a seat in front of her.

“I don't want his girlfriend around my son,” I blurted out.

The judge stared at me. “Calm down, Ms. . . .”

“Sutton.” I rolled my eyes.

“Ms. Sutton, what is your reasoning?”

“She's a sex addict and allows prostitutes in the same home as Mark.” I exposed Regina's dirty secret.

“How might you know that?”

“Because, she's told me.”

“Was this after or before you told her you had a son by Mr. Sands?”

I had to lay it on thick. I swore to fire my lawyer as soon as we left the judge because it was obvious I was fighting with no help. “I didn't want my son to be in those circumstances. Mark works all the time and I knew she would be the one looking after him. How do I know she wouldn't bring some stranger into her house when my son is there? I was scared, wouldn't you be?”

Just then Mark and Regina walked into the room.

“Your Honor, can we say a few words, please?”

I didn't know what to say or do. I was uncomfortable.

“Mr. Sands, and who might this be?”

“This is my future wife, Regina Clay. We will be married soon.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Clay. I've been told you have an addiction? Is this true?”

Regina's eyes widened and her face turned red. “No addiction, just decisions I choose not to make anymore. Without going into detail I was unfaithful to Mark and have since changed my ways. When I first learned about this I was mad and resented Amanda. Now, I can't even think about that resentment because she has given us, Mark, something I will never be able to provide him.”

“You can't have kids?” the judge asked.

“Correct. I would have to have a surrogate carry our child.”

“Your Honor, may I speak?” Mark grabbed Regina's hand then continued, “We have been through a lot lately and with all of this out in the open, it's put everything in perspective for us.”

I stifled myself with curses in my mind.
Don't tell me she's falling for this bullshit!

“What's that, Mr. Sands?”

“After meeting with my son, it was unbelievable that I missed out on his first months of his life. I don't want to miss anything else. Regina and I have agreed to counseling on a weekly basis to ensure our impending marriage will be honest and a great home for little Mark to be a part of.”

He turned my stomach while I listened to his pathetic plea in front of the judge.

“Your Honor, I can't be certain she will stick to not being a whore!”

“Ms. Sutton, please refrain from using that sort of language. You're a lawyer, please respect my chambers.”

“Your Honor, I can undoubtly tell you I trust Regina and that's more than I can say about Amanda, honestly.”

Regina squeezed Mark's hand as if to tell him to ease up.

“Everyone out of my chambers except for the lawyers,” she said.

I stormed out the judge's chambers with every intention of grabbing little Mark and heading straight out the building. But when I looked back the bailiff was standing outside the judge's chambers.
Fuck!
I cursed silently.
This was supposed to be easy!
I kept thinking. Regina and Mark stood close to the bailiff opposite where little Mark was. My sister sat on the bench with me and had little Mark on her lap. He was squirming around stretching his hands out, then went into a sure fit kicking and crying.

Mark looked to the bailiff as if asking if he could take the child to help soothe him. The bailiff gestured to go ahead.

I wanted to jump up and snatch little Mark right out his hand, but as soon as his son into his arms he stopped. He calmed immediately. At that exact moment my anger and frustration dissipated. I saw the bond already formed in such a short time between the two of them. There was love, genuine love. The love I'd been searching for. I realized I would never have that kind of love if I continued with my games. Looking at Regina playing and making little Mark laugh I knew what I was doing wasn't going to help the situation for him. For the first time in my life choosing to do the right thing without any malice behind it was easier to swallow. I stood up and walked over to the bailiff. “Tell my lawyer to give him whatever he wants.” I turned around and walked toward the staircase to exit the building.

There were no tears, no remorse of what I'd done to Mark and Regina. I felt walking out would tell them I was done with the games. I had to do right by my son even if it meant giving him up to Mark and Regina. He deserved to be loved, genuinely.

The day was finally here. Our wedding day. After all the drama with Amanda we needed this more than ever. We had made a united front ensuring Amanda's half-truths and chaos couldn't affect our relationship again. When I took a stand that night by forcing her out of our home it all became clear. If Mark and I allowed her to take control she would forever play her games with our lives more than she already was.

I had to come to terms and respected that Mark had a child with this woman, but I sure as hell wasn't going to allow her to dictate our future moving forward. Yes, she had to be in our lives, but we weren't going to be a part of her schemes. When Mark received joint custody it was made clear there would be no contact with us by her; everything had to go through our lawyers. When she left the courthouse and allowed us to take little Mark, she did the right thing. The judge wasn't shocked and granted him immediate custody until Mark and I were legally married and told me to file for adoption. I didn't want Amanda to be pulled away from little Mark, but maybe it was the best thing to do.

“Regina, it's time.” Mema entered my suite with the happiest smile on her face.

I wore an off-white, simple off-the-shoulder full-length dress with a small train. My hair was pinned up with a fresh floral headpiece created from the garden. My face was covered slightly with netting.

Mark spared no expense on making sure this day was perfect for me. He rented out an entire house overlooking the beach at one of the ritziest resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There was a butler on call at all times, a chef to prepare anything we wanted to eat; we didn't have to alter anything. They made sure everything was perfect from sunrise to sundown.

“Are you ready?” Mema asked again.

I checked my hair, makeup, and gown in the full-length mirror in front of me.

“You look absolutely gorgeous!” Mema complimented me.

I blushed. “Thanks, Mema. Where's little Mark?”

“Mark wanted his son at his side at the altar. I hope you don't mind.”

“Not at all. I'm committing myself to the both of them today and wouldn't have it any other way.” A joyful tear dropped from my eye.

“Don't cry, it's everything you wanted, everything you deserve. Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go get you married!”

She was so happy and I was just happy she was by my side. “I love you, Mema, I do.” I hugged her so tight.

“I love you too, Regina, unconditionally.” She unwrapped her arms and pointed to the open French doors. There was a white tent preventing Mark from seeing me when I walked over the threshold. I took my spot and waited.

I snuck a little peek when Mema walked through the tent onto the beach. The beach was set up beautifully. Colored flowers littered each side of the aisle I was to walk down. There were no chairs set up for guests because there were none. I decided the only people who should be there would be our family: Mema, little Mark, and us. There was even a stage set up with a live band. I figured it was for my grand entrance.

As I stood there waiting there were no nerves plaguing me, no worries that Amanda would somehow ruin everything, there was just peace and pure happiness. I was about to marry the man of my dreams. Suddenly, I heard the music. The tent was opened and I made my descent to the beach as the band played the traditional bridal song. When I stepped onto the beach the music changed. I was brought to tears when I heard John Legend singing “All of Me” as I walked down the aisle to both Marks.
Damn, my makeup is going to look like a mess!

For some reason I didn't care as long as they were in my life forever.