Chapter 9 - Laura Came Back Into the Legal Picture
Laura did not demand custody when she learned Caleb had been thrown out.
That surprised everyone.
She contacted an Indiana family-law attorney and asked what lawful steps existed for rebuilding contact.
Because the old custody order had been issued years earlier in Ohio and everyone’s circumstances had changed, the lawyers first had to determine jurisdiction and obtain the relevant records.
Nothing happened overnight.
Caleb appreciated that.
He had spent enough of his childhood inside adults’ sudden decisions.
Laura requested structured contact.
Phone calls first.
Then, if Caleb wanted, in-person visits.
Grant objected.
He described Laura’s past addiction in detail.
Every relapse.
Every missed visit.
Every period of absence.
Most of it was true.
The problem was what he omitted.
Seven years of sobriety.
Stable employment at a rehabilitation clinic.
No criminal history.
Years of unsuccessful attempts at contact.
Grant’s lawyer eventually advised him that pretending Laura remained the same woman she had been a decade earlier would not help his credibility.
Monica heard part of that conversation.
That evening she asked Grant:
“Were you ever going to tell Caleb she recovered?”
Grant poured himself a drink.
“When he was older.”
“He’s fourteen.”
“When he could handle it.”
Monica laughed bitterly.
“You mean when he could hear it without blaming you.”
Grant slammed the glass down.
“You wanted him gone.”
Monica stared at him.
“Yes.”
She did not hide from it.
“I said something disgusting. I threw his bag outside. I’m going to have to answer for that.”
She stepped closer.
“But you let me believe his mother didn’t want him.”
Grant said nothing.
Monica finally understood why Caleb’s final sentence had turned Grant pale.
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Caleb had not merely discovered where Laura lived.
He had discovered that Grant’s identity as the abandoned, responsible father depended on everyone believing Laura had never tried to return.
