“Alex is awesome,” he tells me. “He tracked down Polly’s psychologist and convinced her to provide a copy of her diagnosis letter that mentions Polly’s lies, as long as it wouldn’t be used in court. He emailed it to me, keeping the original copy in case Polly destroyed the one I had. We also found that Warrick Sanders is impotent, and he’s currently running against this guy who’s a real family man.”
I gasp.
“That’s why they wanted Lily?” I ask, furious. “That’s disgusting!”
“That’s what I said,” Ethan agrees. “Anyway, I confronted Polly on Friday. She told me everything they’d investigated about me, and showed me the statements from her family – they really hate me, by the way – and offered me a deal. She said if I signed over custody now, they’d pay me and I’d get whatever visitation rights I wanted. I told her to get fucked.”
“Good,” I say. I’m absolutely outraged. How did I not know about any of this? I’m impressed with Ethan, though; it’s a mark of how much stronger he’s gotten that he can face Polly down and fight her. “I guess she didn’t like that.”
“No.” Ethan grins. “And she hated it when I told her I’d take the case to court just to draw it out until after the election.”
I laugh.
“Anyway,” Ethan continues. “I gave her the psychologist’s letter, and threatened to post it online or take it to the papers. It would hurt her, but it would hurt her husband more, especially with the elections around the corner. We came to an agreement.”
“What sort of agreement?” I ask.
“She and Sanders drop the case, for a start,” Ethan says. “Also, she’s allowed visitation, but she’s not allowed in my home. She has to run every visit by me first, and I don’t want to speak to her in person. I don’t want to see her other than when I drop Lily off or pick her up. I’ll allow Lily to visit her home. I also sent her message yesterday and stipulated that Lily has the right to refuse to do anything; that means, if she’s not comfortable having her picture taken for the paper, which Sanders will try to arrange, then it doesn’t happen.” Ethan shrugs. “It might be petty banning Polly from my home, but it made me feel better.”
“Honestly, she’s lucky she got anything,” I say. “If I were you, I would have told her to fuck off, and she’s not allowed to see Lily at all.”
Ethan gives me a small smile.
“Lily doesn’t know about any of this,” he says. “And I don’t want her to. She still wants to get to know Polly, and that’s okay. I think she’ll be suspicious when her mom stops coming to our home but, when she’s older, I’ll sit down with her and explain what happened. Right now, I’m okay with her hanging out with her mom, and I don’t think Polly will hurt her.” He gives me a thoughtful look. “Right before she left…Polly thanked me for fighting. Said she didn’t want custody, and she was glad she didn’t have to fight for it anymore. It felt like that was real.” He snorts and shrugs. “Though, who knows. I’m not letting my guard down, anyway.”
“I think you’ve done the right thing,” I say quietly. “You’re right, Lily is still the most important person in all this, and she deserves to be allowed to see her mom, even if her mom is a piece of shit that doesn’t deserve Lily.”
That surprises a laugh out of Ethan, and I grin. I thought I hated Polly before but now, hearing this story, the woman is lucky she isn’t standing in front of me right now. I’m glad, though, to know that Polly will never be around here again. This house is Ethan’s place, and he doesn’t need his past to creep in and bring him down. I laugh softly to myself. From what Ethan’s saying, however, he’s finally conquered that past.
“I’m proud of you, Ethan,” I say.
“Thanks,” he responds, smiling at me.
Then I reach out and punch him, hard in the shoulder. He yelps and rubs it, glaring at me.
“What was that for?” he complains.
“Lots of things; do you want a list?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “For snooping in my phone, for jumping to conclusions, for not telling me what was happening with Polly… I know several lawyers, Ethan. I could have spoken to any of them about your rights. Any one of them would jump at the chance to help. You know one of the lawyers; remember Valeria Griffin, an old friend of mine?”
Ethan opens his mouth to reply and then closes it, staring dumbly at me.
“I…forgot about her,” he says blankly. “I was so concerned about how to afford a lawyer, and I forgot you have friends who could help.”
I roll my eyes. “Seriously, Ethan. At the very least, hearing about your rights and possibilities could have taken a lot of stress off, you idiot. Next time, try to remember that you’re not alone, okay?” I look him in the eye. “I told you this before, but get it through your thick head. You have so many friends that would help you if you would only ask. I would do anything for you. You don’t have to take so much on yourself.”
Ethan clears his throat and looks away.
“Don’t be a hypocrite,” he says roughly. “You keep trying to take on all my burdens, which is why I got so stressed when I saw you were putting that job off.”
I can’t help but laugh. Really, the two of us are a foolish pair, aren’t we? We try to do what we can for each other, and forget that working together would make things so much easier. I shift closer to Ethan and lay my head on his shoulder, smiling fondly. His hand finds mine and clasp it.
“How about, from now on, we just talk about what’s worrying us,” I suggest. “We’re pretty awesome on our own, but we can do so much better together.”
“I don’t know,” Ethan says teasingly. “I did trick Polly into backing down by myself.”
I snort and shake my head.
“You’re such an idiot,” I say.