“I wanted to let you know Paul has asked the courts to amend Oscar’s custody order,” Laura said gently. “He wants regular, unsupervised access to Oscar.”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “That’s crazy. He lives on the other side of the country. How would that work?”
“I know this is upsetting,” Laura said. “But unless there’s a good reason for Oscar not to see him, we need to do our best to make it work. Why don’t we have a meeting as soon as possible to discuss our next steps?”
Chloe leaned against the building, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “When can we talk?”
“Is Monday afternoon at 2pm doable for you?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Chloe agreed. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“You’re welcome. Try not to worry too much,” Laura reassured her. “We’ll work through this together.”
“I know we will. It just came as a shock, that’s all. I’ll call you on Monday. “
After she’d ended the call, Chloe closed her eyes for a moment, trying to process the news. The thought of Paul re-entering their lives was overwhelming. She remembered all the lies and the arguments. How could she ever trust Paul, especially with the most important person in her life.
“Chloe?”
Liam’s voice brought her back to the here and now. He was standing a few feet away, concern etched on his face.
“Is everything all right?”
She managed a weak smile. “Not really. Paul wants to have regular, unsupervised visits with Oscar.”
Liam’s eyes widened. “After all this time?”
She nodded, biting her lip to keep her emotions in check. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. Oscar hasn’t spent any time with him since we left.”
Liam stepped closer. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just being here helps,” she admitted softly. “I might need someone to talk to once I’ve talked to my lawyer.”
He held her hand, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. “Call me when you want to talk. It doesn’t matter what the time is.”
She looked into his eyes, grateful for his support. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“What did your lawyer say?”
“Not to worry until I’ve spoken to her, but it’s hard.” Chloe found a tissue and wiped the tears off her face. When Liamopened his arms, she stepped into his embrace and held him tight. “I don’t want Oscar to be hurt. Paul let us down so often that we forgot what a real relationship should be like.”
Liam’s arms tightened around her. “I can only imagine how stressed you must be.”
She gently squeezed Liam’s waist before stepping away. “When I married Paul, I never imagined my life would be like this. At least nothing will happen immediately. It’ll give me time to get Oscar used to the idea of seeing his dad again.”
Liam brushed a lock of hair off her face. “Do you think he’ll want to see Paul?”
Chloe nodded. “Whenever he’s asked questions about his dad, I’ve always answered them. He was too young to understand what happened, so he still sees Paul as his superhero.” With a shaky breath, she pulled another tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “We’d better go back into the library before Oscar wonders where we are.”
Liam held her hand in his. “It’ll be all right, Chloe.”
She hoped so, because right now, she was preparing for the worst.
Laughter filledthe evening air as children in Halloween costumes darted from house to house. Pumpkins flickered on doorsteps, their carved faces glowing warmly in the early evening light. Everywhere Liam looked, children were enjoying the effort the community had made to make Halloween a safe and happy experience.
As he walked to the next house with Oscar and Chloe, he adjusted the collar of his makeshift pirate costume. It was a last-minute costume, pulled together to match Oscar’s enthusiasticinsistence that they all dress up. Trixie trotted happily beside him, a bandana tied around her neck to complete her pirate dog look.
“Come on, Liam! We have to get to Mrs. Thompson’s house before she runs out of candy,” Oscar exclaimed, tugging at Liam’s hand. He was wearing an impressive dinosaur costume Chloe had made. With an oversized hat shaped like a dinosaur’s head, a wide tail, and pointy claw mittens, he was the cutest T-Rex Liam had ever seen.
