Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(63)

“Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez,” the judge said. “Please wait outside in case we need to call you back in.”

Once she’d left, the judge took his time reading through his notes before he turned to Santino. “Mr. Guerrero, I want to hear from you. Specifically, in your own words, why are you insisting on filing for custody when your sister specifically said she didn’t want any of her family to have custody?”

“Your Honor, my wife and I have tried to have children and can’t. I want to adopt my sister’s baby. She belongs with family.”

“Is not Cris Guerrero family?”

“He’s not close family.”

“Are you saying that Mr. Guerrero is not a fit parent?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“And what do you base that on?”

“He lied to me on the phone. He told me he and his wife were going to adopt her.”

The judge looked at Cris. “Explanation?”

Dale had warned them not to lie, or at least not to say anything that could trip them up later.

Tilly handed it to Cris, he didn’t miss a beat. “Your Honor, Landry, Tilly, and I have known each other a long, long time. We’re partners, we all live together, and we’re a family. I love them, they love me. We can provide Katie with not just two, but three parents.”

The judge looked at Santino. “How long have you and your wife been married?”

“Seven years.”

“And is this your first marriage?”

Santino faltered. “No, sir. It’s my third and her second.”

The judge arched an eyebrow at them.

Tilly successfully held in her snort.

The judge looked at Cris. “How many times have you been married?”

“Legally, I haven’t. But I’ve been with Mr. LaCroux for over fifteen years, and with Mrs. LaCroux for over ten. They met because of me.”

Landry squeezed Tilly’s hand on her other side in an effort to stave off her laughing fit, which he rightfully suspected she was dangerously close to having.

The judge focused on her next. “Mrs. LaCroux, I’ll ask you the same question. How many times have you been married?”

She hoped her smile looked sweet. “Just once, to Landry.”

The judge focused on Landry. “And you?”

“The same. Only once, to Tilly. May I add something?”

“Certainly.”

“Our marriage came about not just out of love, but necessity. We were married before gay marriage was legal. I needed a way to make sure that, should anything happen to me, Cris would always be able to be by my side. Were our laws different, I would marry both of them. That might sound unconventional, but I am, after all, a native son of France.”

The judge laughed, to Tilly’s surprise, but Landry wasn’t done. “Our total net worth, your Honor, is considerable. Cris and I aren’t just partners. We’re also business partners in a major software firm, which was yet another reason why I married Tilly. I wanted to make sure, financially, that she was protected. I had to make the best choice I could to protect them both. Legally, Cris already had his protection for his share of our business. In other issues, such as medical ones, Tilly could make sure Cris’ rights were protected. In a perfect world there could be equity without the convoluted planning, but there you have it.”

“And am I correct in assuming that, with the birth mother’s death, you three wish to go forward with an official three-way adoption?”

“Yes, your Honor. That is our plan. We’d like that done as quickly as possible so we can prevent any further disruption in her life. Also, our primary residence, as well as our business headquarters, is in Florida, and we’d like to return and get her a pediatrician there as soon as possible.”

The judge looked at Santino. “Any other comments?”

“They’re gay, your honor. Or…bisexual, or…whatever they are. We can give the baby a stable, traditional home with a mother and a father. We don’t have some…perverted sex thing going on.”

The judge took off his glasses and leveled a hard gaze at the man. “For your information, my husband and I have raised three wonderful, beautiful children, who’ve gone on to be happy, productive adults. And we did it with their biological mother living with us as a co-parent, with her wife.”

Santino cringed back in his chair as his attorney stammered a last-ditch intervention. “Your Honor, we’d like time to have a home visit done by CPS as well before you rule on this issue. It’s only fair. Please?”

The judge glared at the attorney for a long, uncomfortable moment. “You have two weeks to come back here and give me a legally sound argument that doesn’t have any inference to an argument that reads anything remotely close to ‘gay people have cooties’ or ‘non-traditional three-parent families are less valid than a two-parent home.’ Do I make myself clear? If you can’t make a valid argument, citing legal precedents, beyond those two points, do not waste this court’s time. Understand?”

“Your Honor, her grandparents are here, and—”

“It’s my understanding from the counter-motion to quash the emergency order that the grandparents not only had little to no contact with the birth mother in the years leading up to the birth, but when the mother was pregnant and approached them for help, they turned her away. Correct?”