I awoke unusually early in the morning, feeling the urge to visit the bathroom, and found Mom curled up at my side with one hand holding on to my shirt. Her face, a relaxed mask of contentment, was buried into the side of my chest as she slept peacefully.
I slowly and carefully extracted myself from her hold, not wanting to disturb her slumber. Though, it seemed like my mere absence was doing just that. As soon as I raised off the mattress and turned around, I could see her body stir and her face scrunch, as her hand slowly and aimlessly moved over the still warm patch of fabric my body had left behind.
At that moment, I did not yet understand what was happening. However, when I returned from the bathroom, it was obvious that Mom’s sleep had turned from peaceful to restless. She was now on her back, the blanket was kicked down to her knees, and her pillow had been pushed away. Her face was also still showing a slight frown. All of that only lasted until I got back into bed.
As soon as I lay back down next to her, she turned to wrap an arm around my stomach, pulling herself into me until she could rest her head on my shoulder. While I draped the covers over us, she also pushed one of her legs over my waist, laying herself half onto me. Before I could even think up a comment, the hand of her arm that had wrapped itself around my waist drifted upwards, until it came to a rest cupping my cheek.
“My beautiful boy.” she mumbled barely louder than a breath, clearly still half asleep, and her face relaxing. “Love you so much.”
And with that, she returned to her deep and steady breathing, signaling me that she was back in wonderland. I think I stared at the top of her head for a full minute before I realized that I was smiling happily. As I kissed the top of her head, to which she reacted by squeezing herself even tighter into me and releasing a contented sigh, I felt the urge to tell her that I loved her too. I was now believing them when they said it. And I felt more than just gratitude for them being part of my life again.
The day we all met up in court, so the judge could make the final divorce decree, held a few surprises with lasting consequences. I was mainly there to show support for Mom, so I was a little rattled when the judge suddenly spoke to me directly.
“Young man.” he said, after Mom’s lawyer had announced the new agreement and he had looked through the paperwork. “I have here a note from your parent’s counselor. It informs me that you were the one who took over all financial responsibilities for your mother and sister. Is that true?”
I blinked at him for a second, then, seeing Mom’s lawyer urgently waving her hand up and down, hastily stood up before answering him.
“Uh, yes ... your Honor ... I have a part time job and some extra income from my work as a software developer.”
“And, may I ask, that is enough to house and feed three people?” he continued with a skeptical glance at me.
That look he gave me bewildered me a little. I looked at Mom’s lawyer for guidance, though she just shrugged her shoulders, so I decided to speak up.
“Your Honor, between school and my jobs, I work roughly seventy-two hours per week. So ... yes, it’s enough.”
“Commendable.” he simply nodded, before signaling me to sit back down and turning his attention to Mom. “Mrs. Brown, was your son truly able to come up with enough money for all of your and your children’s needs?”
“Most of them, your Honor. Since my husband removed me from our joint accounts, and also removed us from his insurance plans, we had to give up our cars and make use of the free clinic instead of our family doctor. But he was able to cover most of everything else.” Mom explained, a little hesitant.
I hadn’t even thought about either of those things. Since they had moved in with me, we went everywhere together. At first because I couldn’t go alone, and then because they demanded to spend as much time as a family as possible. I had simply assumed it was a coincidence that we always used my Jeep. And after they never said a word about any problems regarding their health, I also never noticed their change of doctors.
“Hmm.” The judge hummed, seemingly in thought. “I see that you have both agreed on a mostly even division of assets. However, I see the need to make a few adjustments to that.”
I could see Aaron stiffen up at that before the judge continued with a louder, firmer, and official sounding voice.
“After reviewing the financial documents, the amount Mr. Brown is eligible for from the joint account between Mrs. Brown and their youngest child is set to $1,701.90, after deducting the outstanding taxation in the amount of $853.20. In addition to that, Mr. Brown will reimburse his son for twenty-five percent of the cost of living he had to pay on his own during the last four months.”
Mom’s head whipped around to look at me with wide eyes, though I had to work too hard to suppress an involuntary laugh to acknowledge her. Twenty-five percent of the living expenses for the past four months was equivalent to the living expenses of one month. In Numbers, that would be at least $2,400 Dollars, depending on what the judge constituted as living expenses. So, basically, Aaron wouldn’t receive shit from me! In fact, he already owed me money! But the judge wasn’t done yet.
“After reviewing the information I received from their marriage counselor, I award custody of their sole minor child to Mrs. Brown. Child support is set to $730 dollars per month until Timothy Brown turns eighteen or graduates high school. Further, Mrs. Brown is awarded maintenance in the amount of $970 dollars per month for the next twelve months, since she provided sufficient proof that her current qualifications no longer allow her to find employment that could sustain her and their child, and is now enrolled into a workforce qualification program.”
Now Mom was smiling brightly. Seeing her at that moment, I couldn’t help but notice how much all that stress must have really had weighed on her. With the stress gone from her face, and her body relaxing for the first time in months, she looked at least five years younger. Then the judge said the line that broke the spell again.
“The remainder of their estate will be split evenly, as per their agreement.”
With this, it was official. Mom would not get the house. The house would go on the market instead. I just hoped it wouldn’t be sold before John and I could make our move. Maybe I could persuade Mom to help with that timeframe, without letting her know what was happening in the background and ruining the surprise.
When the judge’s gavel hit the table, Mom and Aaron were both looking at me. Or, better yet, Mom was looking, Aaron was glaring.
Mom’s look communicated mostly relief, but also a little sadness. Probably about the finality of the divorce and the loss of the house. Meanwhile, Aaron’s glare let me instantly know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he would never be my Dad again. The slap the judge had handed out to him during his decree was the final nail in that coffin, after he had already blamed me for causing this whole mess in the first place. Now he must’ve been feeling like my continuous meddling had interfered with his plans.
Strangely enough, though, I didn’t feel much more than mild disappointment about the prospect of no longer having any hope for reconciliation with my father. I guess I had already come to terms with this possibility long ago.
Naturally, there was no celebration. The family did come together in John’s house, though. There was an excessive amount of alcohol consumed while I tried to stay away from Grandpa, as to not provoke any unnecessary arguments. A task that turned out to be tricky, however, as he was very eager to lighten Mom’s mood, while Mom would still insist on me being an integral part of every family event. Even this one.
I managed to slip into the kitchen with John for a few minutes, so we could converse about the progress of the money laundering. We decided on him talking with Mom as soon as the opportunity arose, to make sure she wouldn’t agree to any offer without consulting him first. Then John surprised me by suddenly wrapping me in a manly bearhug, holding it for several seconds.