the battle - a single dad!charlie short story
when the letter from the court had come in the mail charlie had thought it was a joke. some sort of mean prank from some teenage fan who had looked far too deep into his past history and wanted to get at him somehow.
or maybe it was a joke from his brothers, teasingly making fun of him.
but then the phone had rang, and it had been a lovely woman from the family courts saying that her name was emma, and that she was going to do everything she could to help him.
and that’s how charlie found himself in a courtroom on a wednesday morning, margaux dressed in her best dress, him in a suit, and his family and owen filling the room all praying for the best results.
the judge began the trial, first calling on charlie to plead his case. he took a deep breath, glancing across the room to where margaux was sat next to a court official, before standing up.
“what is your name?” the judge asked.
“charles gillespie, sir.” charlie answered politely.
“mr gillespie, we are here today to discuss your daughter, margaux ivy gillespie. is that correct?” the judge checked and charlie nodded.
“the mother of the child, mrs callahan, claims that you have kept the child from her, and has asked the court for full custody. what are your thoughts on this?” the judge questioned.
“would you mind if i started at the beginning sir?” charlie checked. the judge gestured for him to continue.
“of course not. go ahead mr gillespie.” he said.
“thank you sir. it all started back in 2016. i was 17 years old at the time, and was in an on again, off again relationship with jane… sorry, i mean mrs callahan. she was 25 at the time. she fell pregnant and we decided to keep the child, then 9 months later she was born. the day after she was born we brought her home from the hospital, and the next morning i woke up to a note from mrs callahan saying that she wasn’t ready to be a mother and that she was leaving me to raise the baby alone.” charlie explained.
“and how old were you at this time?” the judge interrupted.
“i was 18 sir.” charlie answered. the judge scribbled something down before looking back up at charlie.
“continue.” he instructed.
“i moved back into my parents house with the baby, and have raised her alone ever since.” charlie finished.
“how old is the child now?” the judge questioned.
“she will be 6 years old in november sir.” charlie smiled slightly.
“6 years old…” the judge repeated. “do you have a wife, mr gillespie?”
“no sir, i am in a relationship with my partner, but we are not married.” charlie replied.
“is she here today?” the judge asked.
“he is, yes.” charlie said, emphasising the first word. the judge shot him an apologetic look.
“oh forgive me for assuming. would i be able to speak to him, by any chance?” he asked.
charlie’s lawyer nodded, motioning for owen to stand up and come to the front of the room.
“what is your name sir?” the judge asked, once owen was stood in front of him.
“owen joyner.” owen answered, his voice shaking slightly, and it took everything in charlie not to get up to comfort owen.
“mr joyner, how long have you been in a relationship with mr gillespie?” the judge questioned.
“a year and a half your honour.” owen replied. the judge nodded.
“and do you live together?”
“yes your honour.” owen smiled slightly.
“would you say that mr gillespie is a good parent?” the judge questioned. owen nodded quickly.
“the best parent i’ve ever seen, your honour. you could ask anyone, they’d all say the same thing.” he agreed.
“thank you mr joyner. you can take your seat.” the judge dismissed, and owen smiled.
“thank you your honour.” he said, before turning and heading back to his seat.
“i would like to hear from the mother of the child now.” the judge demanded, and jane stood up. “what is your name?”
“jane callahan sir.” jane answered, and charlie frowned slightly before his eyes landing on the wedding ring on jane’s hand.
“mrs callahan, is what mr gillespie said about the birth of your child and the proceedings of the next few days true?” the judge questioned. jane nodded.
“and at any point in the next 6 years of the child’s life did you try to contact mr gillespie, or provide support for the child in any way?” the judge asked, eyes narrowed. jane shook her head.
“so you abandoned the child, and did not try to get in contact until you filed for full custody of the child, is that correct?” the judge continued.
“yes sir, but i-“ jane tried but the judge cut her off yet again.
“then i’m not quite sure why you believe that i will be giving you the child if you have not made any effort yourself until this point.” he said, and charlie bit back a grin.
“can i please speak your honour?” jane questioned, her tone cold.
“if you must.” the judge replied.
“i believe that mr gillespie is an unfit father.” jane said. “he often engages in drugs.”
the judge turned his attention back to charlie.
“is that true mr gillespie?” he asked.
“not often sir, but yes.” charlie replied honestly.
“what drugs?” the judge questioned.
“only marijuana sir, which is legal in los angeles, which is where i live. and never around my daughter. only if i am away from her, or if she has already gone to bed.” charlie explained.
“i see.” the judge nodded, before turning back to jane. “as it is legal, i cannot made judgement on marijuana use. is there anything else?”
“he has an unstable career.” she suggested.
“what do you do mr gillespie?” the judge asked.
“i’m an actor.” charlie answered. the judge nodded.
“can you afford to provide food and shelter for your child?” he asked. charlie nodded quickly.
“absolutely sir.” the judge turned back to jane.
“anything else?” he questioned.
“he swears in front of her. and let’s her swear too.” jane tried.
“what language mr gillespie, or his child for that matter, may use is none of my business. if he wants to allow her to curse that is his own decision as a father, and is not illegal by any means. it sounds to me, mrs callahan, that you have no real reason behind your custody claim other than wanting to hurt mr gillespie, is that the case?” the judge raised an eyebrow. jane shook her head.
“i don’t believe you. this case is dismissed. mr gillespie retains full and sole custody of margaux ivy gillespie.” the judge decided, picking up the pieces of paper on his desk.
“wait! you didn’t ask the child what she wants.” jane interrupted. the judge glared at her, but nodded.
“very well. margaux sweetheart, could you stand up for me?” he said, his tone gentle.
margaux nodded, standing up from her seat.
“how old are you margaux?” he asked.
“five, but i’m gonna be six soon.” margaux grinned widely, showing off the gap in her teeth from where she had lost first tooth a few days prior.
“that’s exciting.” the judge smiled. “do you know why we’re here today margaux?”
“are you gonna take me away from my daddy?” she asked quietly.
“would you like to leave your daddy?” the judge questioned. margaux shook her head firmly.
“no, i wanna stay with daddy. and koa and papa and cruzy too.” she said quickly.
“our dogs.” charlie explained, when the judge glanced to him for clarification.
“can i ask you a question margaux?” the judge began, turning his attention back to margaux.
“do you know who that lady there is? the one with the red dress on.” he asked, pointing to jane. margaux nodded.
“what do you know about jane?” the judge questioned.
“i was in her tummy and then i was borned and she didn’t love me and daddy anymore so she went away, and daddy looked after me and gave me lots of hugs and makes me waffles.” margaux answered, and charlie couldn’t help but smile.
“would you like to live with jane?” the judge asked.
“no thank you.” margaux replied, pausing to listen to the court official next to her before speaking again. “i have to call you your honour.”
“that’s quite alright dear.” the judge laughed. “i think that settles it then. case dismissed.”
jane huffed, standing up and storming out, her lawyer following on her heels. charlie stood up from his chair, picking margaux up when she ran over to him.
“i get to stay with you daddy!” she grinned, the french words flowing off her tongue. “forever and ever.”
“i’m so glad.” charlie smiled, responding in english. “i love you too much to let you go.”
“can we get ice cream now?” margaux questioned.
“we definitely can.” charlie agreed, moving to join the rest of his family, thankful that everything had gone the way it was meant to.
