🤷🏼‍♀️

jordyn dolan

one month later

We were all here at the courthouse for Grayson and Vivian to fight over custody of their child River.

"It's going to work out fine." Ethan put his hand on Grayson's back while he was carrying River.

We all stood outside of the courtroom as we waited for our turn to go in. It was almost silent as we waited. Lisa and Sean were here as well since Grayson needed all of the support he could get.

Vivian was down the hallway a little bit with her parents and her new baby daddy, he's literally here. The room was extremely tense when we first saw them two together.

"I'm just nervous." He looked at River as she was looking around the hallway. "She was such a good mother before all of this happened."

"And then she left her daughter all alone." Ethan whispered back a bit frustrated. "That's abuse. You want the best for her, don't you?"

"Yeah, but she needs a mom."

"Grayson. You know what's best, okay?" I stopped Ethan. I knew he was just freaking Grayson out. "You know what's best for you and you know what's best for River. Stick with your gut, alright?" I lightly smiled and he nodded.

Ethan looked over at me. "Are you-" He wasn't happy. He pulled me away from the small huddle. "He's going to share custody with her now."

"No he's not. He knows what's best." I nodded and put my hand on his chest. "He's a smart guy."

Ethan muttered under his breath and walked back towards the ground. I lightly laughed and shook my head. Sometimes he's such a kid who gets mad when they don't get their way.

I walked back over to the others and River started to rub her eyes again. We've been here for over an hour, waiting for our time to go in, sure just so tired.

"Hey guys." Grayson's lawyer walked up to us. "They're ready for us."

Grayson took a deep breath and we all walked in behind them. Vivian and her party followed in behind us.

"Do you mind taking her?" Grayson asked Ethan and he nodded. River was now held in Ethan's arms.

Grayson and his lawyer sat at the table that was in front of a small fence that blocked us off from them. Vivian and her lawyer sat on the other side.

"Daddy?" River reached for Grayson, but was too far. He immediately turned around to her.

"It's okay baby, I'm right here." He lightly smiled.

As soon as everyone found a seat, the guard began to speak with a strong, serious voice.

"All rise."

Everyone's conversation immediately stopped and everyone stood to their feet. For me, it took a little bit longer than everyone else. My belly is not made for this standing and sitting charade.

The judge began to walk up to his seat and told us to sit down. We followed his orders as he began to speak again.

"This is the custody over River Dolan with parents Vivian and Grayson Dolan." He looked down at his paper. "Are you two still married?" He scanned over the both of them.

"Yes, your honor. We're requesting a divorce." Grayson said confidently.

"And you each want full and complete custody over your shared three year old daughter?"

"Yes, your honor." He nodded his head. "I believe I'm the best option for her in the long haul."

"Hmm." The judge said and looked over the paper again. "Uh, Vivian Dolan," He looked down to her and her lawyer. "Would you mind explaining your reasoning on why you deserve to have full custody instead of your soon to be ex-husband?"

Vivian's lawyer stood up and began to walk around the room, explaining Vivian's side of the story.

"Vivian believes that her daughter needs a mother to be in her life. To be there through everything. This situation that spiraled Mr. Dolan out of control was just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" I scoffed to Ethan.

"Vivian juggles her day time job as well as taking care of her daughter while Grayson-"

"Objection!" Grayson's lawyer stood up. "Your honor, my client does everything he can to take care of his daughter, just as much as his partner."

The judge just waved Grayson's lawyer off and Vivian's continued to talk. This was turning out to be a bunch of bullshit.

"While Grayson is hanging out, late hours with his brother."

"What the f-" I heard Grayson starting to angrily whisper.

"Your honor!" Grayson's lawyer yelled again. "There is no proof."

The judge continued to look at Grayson's. He motioned for his to continue talking. As he was about to say something, Grayson put his hand of his lawyer's arm. Grayson stood up and started to speak.

"For the past few months, every single evening I come home and greet our babysitter. I make sure River is fed, I watch TV with her and I tuck her into bed, all before Vivian gets home. She just told me that she had a lot of work going on, but she's been sleeping with someone else."

"Objection!" Vivian's lawyer stood up. "This isn't some affair case." The judge waved him off and Grayson continued to talk.

"Just last month, I found out about all of this and needed space away from her. I knew River would be fine with her because Vivian's her mother, but I was wrong. I came back maybe a week later and I found out that Vivian left River who is three years old alone for a whole day. She wasn't able to get any food, any water and barely any entertainment."

"There's no proof!" Vivian jumped up.

"The guy you're having an affair on is literally right there." He pointed to her baby daddy and he slouched in his seat. "Don't try to beat around the truth, Vivian."

"Do you have proof, Mr. Dolan?" The judge asked and he looked to the ground then to his lawyer.

"We do." His lawyer stood up. "We have their daughter."

Everyone's eyes turned to River, who was still in Ethan's arms. The judge nodded his head and Ethan stood up with River. He walked past Grayson and Vivian, towards the judge. He walked around the giant podium and placed her in the judge's lap.

"Hi, River." He smiled and she was sort of nervous. She nervously waved back. "Do you remember what happened with your mom and dad? Did your mom leave you alone?"

She slowly nodded her and bit her thumb. Grayson slightly turned to us and smiled.

"What did your mom say to you when she left?" He asked gently.

"She-uhm-" She was scared.

"C'mon baby." Grayson whispered and lightly tapped on the table.

"She went to a friend's."

"A friend's? Do you know what friend?"

"Daddy's." She didn't look at Grayson. She looked directly at Vivian's baby daddy.

But everyone turned their head's to Grayson. He was just as confused and shook his head.

"Which father were you referring to, Vivian?" The judge looked at her. "Was it Grayson?"

"No." She looked down and shook her head. "I went to go visit the father of my new baby, the man I've been having an affair with. I left her for a day without any parental supervision." She confessed.

The judge nodded his head and handed River back to Ethan. He walked back over to me and let out a sigh of relief.

"Can I ask something?" Grayson stood up and asked the judge. He nodded. Grayson walked over to Vivian's table and stood right in front of it. "What do you want?" He crossed his arms.

"Excuse me?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"You heard me. What do you want?"

"A family."

"With me? Or with him?" He looked to her baby daddy who had his arms crossed as well.

"I want River."

"Vivian. Do you want to start fresh with someone else?"

She gulped and paused for a few seconds. She slowly nodded her head.

"You want to leave River and I so you can start on your new family?"

She nodded again. Grayson turned around to the judge and nodded once to him.

"This might've been the easiest case." The judge said as Grayson was walking back to his chair. "Grayson Dolan, you officially have full and complete custody over River Dolan." He hit the gavel on the desk and he immediately turned around to us.

He picked River up from Ethan's lap and squeezed her tight. River wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled cheekily.

"Are you happy about that?" He asked her and she nodded.

"More play dates at Uncle Ethan and Aunt Jordyn's!"

We all laughed. We were all so happy for Grayson.

"C-can I say goodbye?" Vivian walked up to us with tears in her eyes. Grayson looked at all of us and we didn't know what to say. "I won't touch her." She added and Grayson nodded.

They walked off to a corner of the courtroom. Vivian said what she wanted to say while Grayson held her.

"I can't believe she said that." I crossed my arms and said to everyone. "That's just so low." I shook my head.

Grayson walked back to us and handed River to Lisa while he gathered his things up from the table next to his lawyer.

I saw Vivian starting to walk out of the courtroom with her new baby daddy and I ran up to her, more like waddled to her and grabbed her arm. I pulled her behind a corner, outside of the room.

"You know what you did was really shitty." I wasn't going to be nice about it. "Not just on Grayson, but on River. When you had her, you promised to always be there for her and now you're running away to be with some random man. Do you realize how fucked up that is?"

"I was a terrible mother to her." A tear fell down her cheek.

"And you think you're going to be a better mom to that one?" I pointed to her belly. "You need to get your act together and don't go around having affairs with other guys because you get bored. When stuff gets hard you can't just ignore your child and start over. I honestly don't care if you do and don't have a shit life, but I care if you fuck up your child. Don't do it again, got it?"

She nodded her head quickly. I turned back around and walked back in the courthouse. I stood next to Ethan while he placed his arm around my shoulder.

"You okay?" He whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, really good." I smiled.

Some people aren't always how they appear. I always thought Vivian was the perfect girl for Grayson. I always thought she was caring and loyal, but after all of this...

It's crazy how stuff like this can really show someone's true colors. Thankfully I know that I found the right person. I fucking know I found the right person.

It's rare to end up with your high school sweetheart. And even if people do, there tends to be a divorce with a couple years. I know that Ethan and I are in for the long haul, hell we've been through too much.

I know Ethan loves me. I know Ethan cares for me. I know Ethan would do literally any possible thing for me. I know Ethan is going to love the absolute shit out of these two little babies I'm gonna pop out in a little more than four months.

I know I love Ethan.