Free My Real by Mallory Grant Page B

secrets from the two of us. I was serious when I said I want something more for us.”
    “Okay,” she smiles at me. “How did it go?”
    “He feels I have an air tight case against Jessica to get full custody of Emerson. I have kept a journal of everything that has happened since I caught her cheating on me.” Just then, the waiter comes up, delivers our drinks, and takes our orders for dinner. I continue after she walks away. “He is having papers drawn up for both a mutual consent divorce and a fault grounds divorce.”
    “Why both?” She questions while pouring the oil and herbs onto her plate for her bread.
    “We’re hoping she decides to sign the mutual consent papers, because it takes the least amount of time. She will get joint custody. He said he’ll have the fault grounds papers drawn up so that if she decides to be a pain about signing, I’ll go for full custody.”
    “You said yesterday that you thought you’d get full custody no matter what,” Bailey says as she puts bread on each of our plates.
    “I’m thinking she is going to give me full custody. She never wants to have Emerson anyway. That’s what happened yesterday morning,” I explain as I take a drink of my beer. I glance back at Bailey, and she has a worried look on her face. I continue, “It was her weekend with Emerson, but she found something more interesting to do so she dropped Em off. It happens all the time.”
    The waiter delivers our dinners. I continue to watch Bailey while we wait for the waiter to leave again.
    “That’s really sad. Does Emerson realize it yet?” Bailey asks as she starts to cut her fettuccine. I watch her.
    “No, thank goodness. It’ll work out better for Jessica if she can just schedule visits every once in a while.” I point toward her dinner plate and laugh. “You still cut your pasta? What kind of Italian are you?” I ask as I push her spoon toward her. “You’re supposed to twirl it.”
    “I’m a messy eater. If I don’t cut it, I end up wearing the sauce. This is just safer,” she answers then sticks her tongue out at me. After a second she gets serious again. “It might be better for Emerson to live in just one house. I see it all the time with kids at school. When they are shuffled from house to house, there isn’t enough stability for them to thrive. Where does Emerson go while you’re both at work?”
    “Right now she is in daycare all day, and then I generally pick her up Monday through Wednesday nights, Jessica gets her after work Thursday and Friday, then we alternate weekends. Another thing my lawyer told me to think about was to tell Jessica I wouldn’t file for child support if she gave me full custody. “
    “Do you think she’d go for something like that?”
    “It’s a possibility, but I have to figure out if I can afford it. Daycare costs an arm and a leg, and I’m not sure I can afford all of the bills on my own and full time daycare. It would get easier once school starts, because she’ll be in Kindergarten so it would just be before and after school care then. But, I have the next three months of summer to think about it.”
    “I can watch her,” Bailey offers immediately. “My only plan this summer is a one week grad class. It’ll save you a ton of money,” she pauses with a grimace and looks like she wants to take back her offer. “I don’t know if it will cause a problem between you and Jessica if I watch her though.”
    I watch her as she continues to explain the pros and cons of her watching Emerson for the summer. I think it’s a perfect situation. Emerson would have a great place to go every day with someone who really loves her. There is no doubt in my mind that she loves my little girl already. While my finances aren’t bad at all, it would be nice to save some money away for a rainy day. And the best reason of all is that I would get to see Bailey every day. Win. Win. Win.
    “I am not worried about Jessica at all. Are you sure you are