Acceptable Behavior (24 page)

Alex knocked on the judge’s door.

A woman opened it.

“Come in,” the judge called. “Levi, I’m Judge Needham. This is Mrs. Adams from the Department of Children and Family Services. She’ll be sitting in on the interview today.” She glanced at Travis. “You men can go, now. I’ll return him to you when we’re done.”

Travis squeezed Levi’s hand and reluctantly released it. He left with Alex, and returned to the room where Mel and Sam waited with his parents.

Half an hour later, Mrs. Adams brought Levi to them with instructions that he needed to be taken out immediately. Dave offered to drive him to school, and after hugs all around, they left.

“Court is resuming.” Alex led them back into the courtroom and the trial picked up where it had left off the day before.

Kim testified on behalf of her and Dave, professing their love for Levi.

Colt expressed the concerns he’d had about Levi when he was under the care of his parents, and explained how the situation had turned around once Sam and Travis had taken responsibility for him.

Their final witness was Mrs. Lamb, Levi’s current teacher. She was sworn in and Alex asked her a few questions. She had nothing but a glowing report of the boy and his supportive family.

“Mrs. Lamb,” Alex asked his final question, “have you ever seen Levi’s grandparents at his school for any event?”

“Oh goodness, yes. They’re there for
every
event and program. Levi raves about them. He obviously loves them very much.”

Alex pointed to the Fieldings. “These grandparents, Mrs. Lamb? James and Marianne Fielding?”

She looked confused. “No, I’ve never seen those people before. I meant those grandparents.” She pointed to Kim in the gallery. “Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. They love Levi so much.”

Alex turned to the judge. “Nothing further, Your Honor.”

The judge turned to the Fielding’s lawyer. “Anything, Mr. Winston?”

“No, Your Honor.”

She dismissed Mrs. Lamb then turned back to Winston. “Would one of your clients like to make a final plea?”

Mrs. Fielding rose. “Your Honor, I’m sure anyone could dredge up a few people to come in and attest to their fitness as a parent. It’s obvious that’s what these men have done. And there’s no doubt the boy’s life is better now than it was before, when he was living with a drug-addicted mother. But just because something is
better
doesn’t make it good, or right. We are God-fearing, bible-reading Christians who firmly believe that homosexuality is wrong. And exposing that boy to their influence is dooming him to a life of full of sin and earthly temptations. It’s wrong in God’s eyes, and it’s wrong in our eyes. It’s simply unacceptable. We long to give the boy a proper home and raise him in a loving, Christian family. That’s all we want. We have the boy’s best interests at heart.” She looked down demurely then took her seat.

Travis clenched and unclenched his fists. He turned to Sam and whispered, “You want this? Because if not, I’ve got it.”

“If you know what you’re going to say then by all means, go for it.” Sam squeezed his arm.

The judge looked at Alex. “Mr. West? Who’s going to speak for the defendants?”

Travis rose. “I am, Your Honor. I guess this all boils down to my husband and I believing in a very different God than Mrs. Fielding described. We’re Christians as well, but we don’t fear the Lord, we embrace him. And he embraces our family every day of our lives. There’s nothing I can say to bigots who believe that homosexuality is a sin and I’m not going to debate that today. All I can tell you is that our household is filled with love, respect and support for one another. There’s nothing sinful, and we don’t have any more or less temptations than heterosexual people do. Melanie Madison has worked very hard to overcome her addictions and we’re blessed to have her in our lives. We support her efforts and feel that Levi’s life is enriched by having his mother close to him. We’ve surrounded him with loving, non-judgmental grandparents and friends who give us as much love and support to us as we do to them. If there’s been any unacceptable behavior brought to light here today, I trust you can see which table it’s coming from. And as for having
the boy’s
best interests at heart, well…” He looked at the Fieldings. “His name is Levi. I’ve yet to hear you use it. And I don’t see how someone who hasn’t spent five minutes alone with him in the past year or longer could really know what his best interests are.” He placed a hand over his heart, and turned back to the judge. “I know Levi. Sam knows Levi. And of course, his mother knows him well enough to understand that we can provide some of the things she can’t right now. Make no mistake about it, she’s not giving him up. She’s doing her best to make his life better. I love her for that. Sam loves her because she’s his twin sister and they have that kind of bond. Not having any siblings, it took me a while to figure that out. But I get it now, and I want that for my son. Levi is excited to have a brother or sister in the spring. Our family will be complete. We’re all looking forward to it.” He choked up. “Please don’t tear apart my family.” Travis sat down quickly, forcing back the tears.

Sam wrapped his arms around Travis and pressed his forehead against Trav’s temple.

The judge studied them for a moment, then collected her thoughts before she spoke. “Typically I would adjourn court and take a few days to make my ruling. I’m not going to do that to this family. I’ve put you through enough. I regret that I had to do it, but I was really interested to see if Mr. and Mrs. Fielding had any basis for their case other than pure hate and bigotry. I was sadly disappointed to discover they didn’t.”

She looked at the Fieldings. “Sir and Madam, you may come from a God-fearing, bible-thumping home, but that didn’t keep your son from selling drugs and ending up in prison for an extended amount of time, did it? I get the feeling you were looking for a do-over with your grandson and, folks, it just doesn’t work that way. The half hour I spent with Levi showed me what an intelligent, perceptive child he is. Growing up in the home where he is now, I can only imagine how empathetic and compassionate he’ll be as he gets older. The world needs more people like that, and I applaud these young people for wanting to provide that to their children. And personally, I’d rather pray to their God than yours, any day of the week.”

Travis and Sam exchanged hopeful glances. Alex gripped one of Travis’ hands under the table and they all held their breath.

“I’m hereby ruling in favor of the defendants in this case, and the petition for adoption by Dr. Travis Nelson and Mr. Sam Madison has been granted. There’s a six month waiting period during which time you’ll have to pass an inspection by the department of Children and Family Services, but I have no doubts you’ll breeze through that. The name change has been granted effective immediately, and your son is now Levi Aaron Madison-Nelson. Normally I would suggest that the parents be considerate toward the grandparents and offer them visitation. But in this case, gentlemen, I don’t blame you for keeping your son as far away as possible from such hateful, ignorant bigots. Court is dismissed.” She banged her gavel and stood, then reconsidered and looked back at the shocked Fieldings. “And by the way, I’d show you my tattoo if it was in a place that I could do so with decency. But it’s not, so I won’t.” She nodded her head and walked out.

Travis and Sam laughed, and soon everyone was hugging everyone else. It took Travis a minute to realize that Alex had removed his suit coat and was rolling up his sleeves so his tattooed arms were visible. Travis grinned and did the same thing.

When he turned around, he laughed, realizing Colt and Eddie had both done it as well.

The Fieldings and their lawyer pushed past them with shocked expressions as they stomped out.

Sam called, “If
my
chattoo was in a place I could show you with decency I would. But I can’t, so I won’t.”

His family laughed as they gathered around.

Mel ran a hand over Alex’s arm. “Holy guacamole! You’re all marked men! You should start a club or something.”

“Maybe we will,” Sam teased.

Eddie chuckled. “You’d be a probationary member, plebe. One tattoo does not a ‘marked man’ make.”

“Hey, I’m planning to get more. Lots more. My next one is going to be a sketch Mel’s doing of Travis.”

Eddie winced. “I don’t like to tattoo significant other’s faces, ’cause half the time the relationship doesn’t work out.”

Travis put an arm around Sam. “We’re going to make it, Eddie. No worries.”

Eddie leaned in to Sam. “Make sure it’s a small one, just in case I have to do a cover up.”

“No cover ups,” Travis insisted. “We made it over this hurdle, and we’ll make it over the next one.” He squeezed Sam’s hand. “We’re stronger together than we ever were apart.”

“Totally.” Sam leaned in for a kiss.

As it did so often when Sam kissed him, Travis’ heart soared.

Epilogue

“Breathe! Hee hee hee, hoo hoo hoo.” Sam held Mel’s hand as he coached her through the Lamaze childbirth technique.

She replied through gritted teeth, “Obviously I am breathing, or I’d be dead. And if you say ‘hee hee hoo hoo’ to me again, you might be dead, too.”

He grinned. “I know you don’t mean it, it’s just the pain talking.”

“No, I mean it.” She grimaced as another contraction hit her.

Travis clasped her other hand. “The epidural should have lasted longer. It’s too late to give you anything else now. You’re just gonna have to tough it out, babe.”

“Arrgh!” She yelled, and they both squeezed her hands.

“We’re almost there, Mel.” The OB doctor checked the baby’s position. “One or two more good contractions and I’ll have you push.”

“They’re all good ones!” she protested loudly, and panted through a few more.

“Here we go,” the doctor agreed. “I want you to push with the next one. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“Now,” she groaned, and pushed.

“Bear down, bear down,” the doctor coached.

“That’s it!” Sam watched a slimy little head appear.

“It’s coming!” Travis gaped as the rest of the body popped out.

The doctor plopped the infant on Mel’s stomach and picked up the scissors. “Who’s going to cut the cord?”

Sam smiled at Travis. “Do it together?”

Travis nodded, and put his hand over Sam’s as they snipped the child apart from its mother.

“Well?” Sam asked impatiently.

The doctor waggled his eyebrows. “It’s a girl.”

He gazed at Travis. “A girl!”

Travis grinned wildly. “We have a daughter.” He kissed Mel’s temple. “You did it. We have a daughter.”

She took some deep breaths. “Can I see her?”

“Just hang on.” The nurse cleaned the baby up. “One minute Apgar score is nine.”

“That’s good,” Travis said. He went to the bassinet and supervised the team of nurses.

“What’s Apgar?” a drowsy Mel asked.

Sam ticked the words off on his fingers. “Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration. The best score is ten.”

“Why isn’t she a ten?” Mel asked.

“Hold your horses.” The nurses continued to work on her. “Five minute Apgar is ten.” She brought the swaddled infant to Mel and handed her over.

“Oh, God! She’s pink and perfect and beautiful. Look at all that straight, brown hair.”

Sam smiled at Travis. “Just like her daddy.”

Travis chuckled. “Finally. I thought I’d be surrounded by blue-eyed blonds forever.”

Mel placed a light kiss on the baby’s head and handed her to Sam. “Go see your daddy, sweet girl.”

The doctor said, “Are you ready to deliver the placenta? This will be a breeze by comparison.”

“Why not?” She took another breath and pushed to expel the afterbirth.

Sam showed the baby to Travis and they admired her together. “She’s beautiful.”

Travis gazed into his eyes. “You’re good with this, right? I know you were hesitant at first.”

Grinning, Sam turned his back. “Don’t even think of taking away my baby. This is my girl. My buddy. We’re gonna have so much fun.”

Travis laughed and kissed his cheek.

Mel was leaning back, resting again. “Does your buddy have a name?”

Sam gazed at Travis. “We’re going to call her Lilah. Lilah Renee Madison-Nelson.”

A tear streamed down Mel’s cheek. “Aw. Mom’s name was Delilah.”

Travis nodded. “And my mom’s middle name is Renee. We’re honoring them both.”

She yawned. “You didn’t want to honor the person who did all the work?”

Travis brushed back Mel’s hair. “We thought about it, we really did. We just decided that might have been confusing.”

Sam leaned in. “But if you really want us to, we’ll call the next one you have Melanie.”

Her eyes popped. “Screw you, man. First chance I get I’m having my tubes tied. Be happy with what you’ve got.”

“We’re very happy.” Sam leaned down and kissed Mel’s forehead.

Travis moved behind him and wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist. He kissed his husband’s cheek and smiled down at their sleeping daughter. “If I was any happier, I might just float away.”

Also available from Pride Publishing:

Kansas City Heat: Fahey’s Flaw

Jenna Byrnes

Excerpt

Chapter One

“It’s your fault I’m gay, you know. That’s what Mom says, anyway.”

Wynn Fahey rubbed the three-day beard growth on his chin and considered his son’s comment. Several replies came to mind but he’d promised his ex-wife never to knock her in front of the kid. She’d obviously forgotten their agreement. “Yeah, well, I’m sure that’s Derrick talking. He’s got a low threshold comfort level for people who are different than him.”

He’s a homophobic asshole.
Wynn’s opinions about Sydney’s second husband were also best kept to himself. Since Connor had come out as gay, both Syd and Derrick had struggled with the news. Wynn found their discomfort a bit funny and definitely ironic.