Chapter 54 - A New Beginning Part 1 of 5

Day 54 - Rolled 13 - Social Worker

Kaitlin was cleaning up, ready for the workday to end. She had so much to do at home. After two years of barely scraping by, this was an extremely busy and exciting month for her in spite of the horrible confrontation with Newt over the weekend.

Tonight they would celebrate Hailey's and Sam's first birthday. Then tomorrow, was Reese's graduation. His wedding was a short two weeks later and the following weekend she and Leroy would move into their new home. Then finally, she could file for divorce and retain custodial rights to Maddy and Ben with liberal visitation for Newt, especially for Ben. Surely Newt would agree to that.

Leroy had wanted her to file for divorce right away after that horrible day in her apartment. But there was no way she could until she was in her home. Newt was right, he could take her kids. His home was beautiful and spacious while she had too many people crammed into her tiny two bedroom apartment.

Newt had called the following day and profusely apologized for upsetting her, but she didn't dare tell him what really had happened. She was afraid he would use that against her. She had flashed back hard. Thank goodness Leroy was there.

She let out a sigh of relief when Newt told her he had decided to go back to Roaring Heights but would be in touch.

Then he asked to talk to Ben. The smile on Ben's face when she said his Dad wanted to talk to him was one she hadn't seen in a very long time and it broke her heart. Why couldn't she make him smile like that anymore?

Leroy had just about finished the renovation on his home so Reese and Brooke would be able to move into it as soon as they married with their little family of four. Brooke had even announced that she planned to adopt little Sam. She had never seen Reese happier.

Reese hadn't been too happy though when he learned his father has been over and had upset her. Leroy had to stop Reese from going after him.

Kaitlin had still been a bit of a mess when Brooke and Reese got back. They had barely missed running into Newt. She and Leroy had a long talk with him and explained everything, Brooke at his side supporting him.

After Newt left, Ben had come sulking back into the house and went straight to his room. Seeing Ben made Reese even madder.

As soon as she had been assured Reese wasn't going to do something stupid, Kaitlin went to talk to Ben. She found him crying on his bed. Kaitlin hadn't seen him cry for over a year. When she said his name he told her to go away, but she didn't.  Instead she sat down on the bed and put her hand on his back to comfort him, but he shrugged her off and told her to leave him alone. She removed her hand but stayed put.

Her heart was breaking because he was broken and she didn't know how to fix him. She was afraid of losing her little boy forever. "Ben," she said through her tears, "This has been hard for everyone and I'm sorry you have had to go through this. We left your Dad because we couldn't live together anymore. It was - danger - unhealthy. I tried, am still trying, to make things better for all of us. Is this just about the video game? What changed Ben?"

She was surprised when he turned over and finally spoke. "I HATE it here! The kids at school make fun of me. I want to live with Dad," he said vehemently.



This was the first she knew that he had trouble at school, but then he never did talk about any friends she realized - why hadn't that dawned on her before now? Was she so wrapped up in her own problems that she failed to see his? "Why do they make fun of you?" she asked softly.

He just stayed silent so she addressed his other statement. "You will be able to see Dad from time to time but he had to go back to Roaring Heights. Ben, you belong here, with me and your sisters. You will have your own room in our new house. We will fix it up however you want."

"I don't care," he said but not quite as angry as before.

Okay - maybe, she thought and continued talking. "Ben, just give it a chance, okay? You will be able to fish off the deck. I know how much you enjoy fishing," she said and was met with still more silence.

"Ben!" she said forcefully, "turn around here and look at me."  When he finally did, she put her arms around him and pulled him to her on the bed. Kaitlin hugged Ben tightly in spite of him not wanting her to. She didn't let go. Finally, she felt him begin to relent as one of his arms snaked around her. He started crying as she held on to him and rocked him back and forth like a baby. Her baby. Her little boy.

"It's going to be okay Ben. Just hang in there. I love you very much," she whispered over and over still crying herself.

After a few minutes, she finally released him and kissed him on the top of his head as he looked away embarrassed. Kaitlin got up and left him to his thoughts.

Since then, Ben had actually seemed better even though he still stayed in his room most of the time. She hoped the party tonight and Reese's graduation would help him feel a part of the family again. She planned to take extra care to include him and not allow him to go off by himself as he had done for so long.

When John brought the process server over to her in the salon, interrupting her musings, she thought he was a customer and started to ask if someone else would take him for her. Then he served her the divorce papers.

Kaitlin didn't know when Newt said he would ‘be in touch’ it meant having divorce papers delivered to her at work. When he left her hands were shaking. Everything had been falling into place and now this. She was afraid to open the envelope because she couldn't fight him, not yet.

Angie came over to ask what that was about. She looked at her boss and said “Fuck off Angie,” then turned around and walked out still wearing her smock. She needed to get to Leroy now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Leroy was at his house supervising the last of the renovations. They were planning a picnic there for after graduation which was just two days away. When Kaitlin drove up she was shocked at the transformation. It was the same but now it was a two story house. What was once a small bachelor pad had been converted into a two story home. Leroy was amazing. Then she remembered why she was here as she looked at the envelope sitting on the seat next to her.

When she walked inside her senses were immediately assaulted by 'new home' smells; paint, wood, new appliances. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. His bathroom had been knocked out and moved to where the kitchen once was and his bedroom was now a large kitchen. The open floor plan made the downstairs feel large where before it was very cozy. Much of the furniture was the same except for the dining room table.

Leroy smiled when he saw her and closed up the laptop. "Hey babe! Come to check out the house? The cleaning crew just left and I was finishing up some emails," then as she got closer he noticed she wasn't smiling back and that something must be wrong. "Oh no. Is Ben okay?"

Kaitlin felt horrible. Leroy was so excited and she was going to ruin it. Of course his first thought would be Ben. "He's fine," she said as she sat down. She pushed the envelope towards him. "I couldn't look. You tell me."

Leroy opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. He looked up at her when her realized what it was but didn't say anything and began to read. Kaitlin watched his expression change as he read. Finally he looked up again, apparently finished. "How bad is it?" she asked preparing for the worst.

"It could be worse," said Leroy, "He is suing for joint custody, not custody. He is offering to pay for healthcare and some additional child support as well even though he asked for joint custody. It's actually very generous. The worst part is, the kids would have to shuffle between Roaring Heights and Twinbrook on weekends and then for extended stays in the summer and on school breaks - until such time as he is, quote, able to relocate to Twinbrook.  Then he will split the weeks and do every other week."

“No! I can't. Maddy will be so afraid. I can't send her to him like that. I know Ben needs to see his father and I understand that, but I'm afraid I will lose him and he's only just getting better. I'm afraid Newt will try to get custody of Ben and then I will only see him every other weekend or however often he deems is enough. And he's moving here? Leroy….what am I going to do? Ben will say he wants to live with his father. Full time.”

Leroy got up and pulled her to him. “Don't worry, it's going to be okay Kate. You don't really have many options. You can try to get custody, but he will fight it. Do you really want that? You know he could have asked for custody but didn't. That's good. I will find a divorce lawyer and we can get some advice. Shea can tell me who she used for her divorce. Maybe they can do it or recommend someone else."

"You really think we can fight it?" asked Kate surprised.

"It will probably be really hard with Ben. He's old enough to voice an opinion. But really, Kate, do you want to drag this out in court and then lose? Think how hard that will be for Ben. Maybe if we can talk to Newt again, you can work it out without an attorney. He might compromise - joint with Ben but visitation with Maddy," suggested Leroy.

She knew Leroy was right. Court would be awful and could take months. She put her head on his shoulder and let him comfort her. "You are right," she conceded, "I mean before things got ugly he was trying to work out an arrangement. I know Newt's ready to get this over with as much as I am so if he thinks we can do it faster, then yes, maybe."

"Good!" said Leroy brightly sounding very much relieved, "So let's not worry about it this weekend. Hailey's birthday is tonight and tomorrow is graduation and our picnic. We aren't going to let this spoil it. Monday, we will talk to an attorney and you can try to call Newt. Regardless, you have a couple of weeks before you have to respond.

Let me make a couple of phone calls and get things started, then we can tour the house." He smiled at her when he started talking about his house obviously very proud of how it turned out. "Adding the second story worked out great. It's perfect for Reese, Brooke and their boys.”

 

 

After the tour they stood on the new upper deck looking out over the river. Kaitlin suddenly started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Leroy confused.

"Oh My God, Leroy!" said Kaitlin still laughing. "I told Angie to Fuck off before I left!" she managed to get out between breaths and laughed even harder, "I may not have a job anymore."

"I would have loved to see that!" then he joined in, the laughing cathartic for both of them.

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