And yet, for one terrible second, that was exactly what I saw.
Two frightened two-year-old boys standing on my front porch in pajamas.
A garbage bag full of clothes beside them.
Their mother walking back to her car.
George crying.
Jeffrey staring silently through the window long after she had driven away.
Ten years.
Ten years of birthdays.
Parent-teacher conferences.
Flu nights.
Soccer games.
Broken glasses.
Science projects.
Christmas mornings.
Bad dreams.
First-day-of-school photographs.
Ten years during which Vanessa had not been there for any of it.
And now she wanted full custody.
The judge lowered his glasses and studied the documents in front of him.
“Mrs. Ellis,” he said carefully, “the court does recognize the extraordinary role you have played in these children’s lives.”
Extraordinary role.
I hated how temporary those words sounded.
“But,” he continued, “the court must also consider whether reunification with a biological parent is now possible and whether any change would be in the children’s best interests.”
