It was Just a Little Thing

"That's really interesting." I said. "anything else that I should be made aware of?"

"When the meeting was over, she told me she was going to have to go before the Nursing board for a full review. She was being called in because of her conduct." Oliva said. "They will most likely end up putting her on six months' probation."

"How does it affect her work situation?" I asked.

"Since what they were doing was not at this location not much." Oliva said "It just means that I will have to monitor her and report anything questionable. Emma for the next six months will have the best dam daily reports on our patients in the whole organization. But if she does get probation, we will stick her on the graveyard shift for the duration."

I started to laugh Emma hated graveyards because it killed one's social life. I explained that my parents and I were trying to make this time special for Evie. We talked for a few minutes and I promised to take her out for dinner when I returned.

As we were eating supper my mother asked what I knew about Oliva. I said not much she's a single mother around my age who has a son about a year older than Evie. I don't even know if she was married or not.

Oliva and I kept in touch for the rest of the time we were away. On the day before we returned, I called the lawyer to ask him to get me access to my home so I could get my stuff. That's when I learned that Emma had moved out of the house taking what she wanted. She was now living full time with Ronald. We had come back a couple of days early so I could get some needed things done. So, on Friday morning we slipped back into Cape.

When I told my parents, they thought it was a hoot. As a result, they dropped me off at the house early that morning. Taking little Evie with them to our new home. The first thing I did was cut the lawn. Before I was done the neighbor was over with a cold beer. The only thing he had to say was it was a well-played move. Your marriage breakup made the local news. I called the locksmith to come out and rekey all the locks.

I spent the day cleaning up the mess that Emma had left behind. I called my mom and asked if there was anything she needed out of the house. She said no just the rest of yours and Evie's clothes. What was left I had decided would be sold with the house. I loaded up any canned goods and frozen food we had left and dropped it off at the food bank. Then came back to clean the fridge out. I took the stuff home and mom made me leave all the clothing in her laundry room. She wanted it all washed before we used it just in case something had been done to them. It was now about four pm, so I picked up my cellphone. Oliva picked up on the first ring.

"Hi Damen, your back," Oliva said. "When did you get back?

"This morning. I spent the day cleaning up the house to get it ready to put on the market." I said. "I was wondering if you and your son wanted to join Emma and me for supper."

"If he was home, we would love to but he's with my mother for the weekend but I'm free," Oliva said.

"Okay, then I will leave Evie with my mom and pick you at seven. Which place would you prefer to go to Outback or Red Lobster?"

"Red Lobster sounds great," she replied.

I got a bit dressed up for our dinner with a nice dress shirt, dress pants, and slip-on leather shoes. Because I had made a reservation, we got escorted right in.

We had a nice meal I learned a lot about her, she had never married and was basically raising her seven-year-old son on her own. Her father had been a fireman back in the days. My first day of work would be Sunday. No decision had been made about Emma and Ronald by the state. The general feeling was the longer it took the worse it would be. I told her what we had done with Evie as a family over the three weeks. Afterward, we went for a walk through downtown cape to check out the nightlife. It was about eleven when I pulled into my parent's place. Mom being a mom was still waiting up.

It was at work on Sunday afternoon when I got called to the office. I had a visitor that had wanted to talk to me. I figured I knew I who it was. I was right. It was my soon to be ex Emma Leigh.

"Mrs. Foster what can I do for you?" I said as I walked into the office just after turning on the voice recorder app on my cellphone.

"My names still Leigh, Damen," Emma responded.

"Well if that's true then I'm still nothing but a piece of shit to you." I replied, "so what do you want."

"Damen that's not true," Emma said trying to defuse things.

"Sorry that not what your conduct has shown is it?" I replied. "The first thing you did was shack up as soon as Evie and I went on our vacation. Witnesses say you moved in the next day. So much for guilt or remorse."

"I want to see Evie," Emma said.

"Check with your lawyer, I'm sure he can verify that I legally have no say in that anymore. Looks like your knocking at the wrong door." I replied. "after all I'm the one you were public proclaiming that I was abusing our child."

"I know that, but you can smooth the way," Emma said.

"Sorry I really don't think that Evie should be exposed at her age to anyone who is nothing but a slut." I said "Photographs show just how much you care about our daughter when you're in the arms of another. You can deal with my parents directly. So please leave Mrs. Foster and don't come back or I will go for a restraining order."

With that, I turned away and walked out. I told the man assigned to that position for the day to escort the whore out. I turned the app off and hit save. He later told me her face went white and as he escorted to her car she broke down. He said I told her that based on what I had heard about it all that Damen had no choice but to behave that way. After all, if you felt any responsibility at all during the last four weeks you would have done something to clear his name. Most of us who stepped in to help him in the investigation of what was going on consider your conduct unforgivable. Your nothing but a conniving greedy bitch who planned to take him for everything that meant anything to him.

I was working with the first responders on a medical call late Monday afternoon when my mother called. I let the call go to the answering service. We were helping get the older lady ready to transport to the hospital. When I got back to the station, I returned her call.

"Sorry, Mom I was out on a call and couldn't answer," I explained.

"I figured that I thought you should know the state was here just after I brought Evie home. They had talked to her directly at school today." She said. "They toured the home inspected her room. I showed them the transfer of parental rights and we talked about that with me for a while. I told them I have never seen my son be abusive to anyone."

"Thanks, mom that nice to know," I said.

"I hope you're not mad, but Emma's parents are here and staying for dinner." She said. "do you want us to wait for you."

"That's fine Mom please give them my love and tell them that I will be there as soon as I can," I replied. "Tell them they can have Evie whenever they want as long as Emma is not present. Explain it has to be that way until the court has settled everything."

I ended up staying late because one of the men on the evening shift could make it in till eight so I stayed so that we would not be short a man. I told him he could make up the hours to me later. I texted my mother not to wait and explained why.

I was just getting into my ford escape headed home when I received the phone call from Emma's Dad.

"Hi Dad, how was supper," I said.

"Great both my wife and I enjoyed it," Dad said. "Damen my wife and I want to thank you. Gracie told us what you told her. We are so sorry for what our daughter has done. We promise you, son, to keep your terms. Have you talked to her at all? We haven't since we got the copy of the divorce petition."

"She came by the station on Sunday demanding that I allow her to see Evie. I told her that was out of my hands that she would have to deal with my mother on that. Hell, I just remembered I recorded our conversation how about I text it to you." I said.

"Please do! I'd like to hear it." My second Dad said. So, I did.

I guess it went over well when he heard because he forwarded it to my parents, all of his children including Emma then sent back a text saying, 'The truth was explained well.'

It's a good thing I live in flyover country because I learned the next day that my wife and I were scheduled to see Judge Donald McDonald on Friday afternoon at one o'clock. The hardest most principled Judge the area has ever known. You had the right to be a bigot or an asshole in his court but if you did, he would treat you accordingly. Bottom line if you were a male it meant that your balls were hung out to dry. It was rumored but not proved that some of them never got them back. The man was a living legend here. It was said quite often that he made Judge Roy Bean look like a wimp.

My lawyer said when the Judge gets through with our case it's going to make the Friday the thirteenth look like a comedy. You had to mind your p's and q's and be ready to respond to his questions when he was ready or suffer the consequences. The Judge will not put up with slander or innuendo's he wants the facts. It's with that knowledge that we will present our defense.

We were all there at one as the Judge took to the bench. Emma's lawyer wanted to get visitation rights to see Evie in order to get that he had to get the surrender of my parental rights overturned.

My lawyer pointed out that I had voluntarily signed away my parental rights to my parents because of the accusations being made by my wife and her lover. Since the matter was still being investigated by the state medical board and child services. The question of whether or not my client was being abusive and mentally cruel to his only daughter was still in question. Until that question is properly addressed by the legal systems set up by the state. Every moment Mr. Damen Leigh spends alone with his daughter could be considered times of possible child endangerment.

Damen Leigh swallowed his pride and put the needs of his daughter Evie first. He has not been alone with the child since he became aware of the charges being made against him because of the situation his wife put him in. We have a recorded a conversation that was witnessed to. Damen explained that Emma Leigh would have to work it out with those who had the parental rights and that was his parents.

The judge asked to hear the conversation, so my lawyer took my phone and we had it played through the mikes sound system. It could be heard by all. Emma was not impressed that she had to hear it all over again. Then my lawyer presented a notarized statement from the witness that told the rest of the story after I had left. The judge asked to see the transfer of parental rights and my lawyer handed him a copy. A slight smile escaped his lips as he read it.

Turning towards my wife lawyer he spoke. "Is it true that it is, because his soon to be ex-wife, has accused him of mental cruelty, and emotional abuse that he has done what he felt he needed to do?"

My wife's lawyer said, "Yes but she was under a lot of emotional pressure at that time. Now that she is out of the relationship, she has regained her balance."

"Is this matter being investigated in the manner that it has been explained to me?"

"Yes, it is and no ruling or resolvent has come." My wife's lawyer stated.

"I'm going to read what the parental right surrender says." The judge said, "I voluntarily sign over my parental rights until the issues raised about my parenting skills have been resolved by the government agencies who are investigating it make a ruling, or until the court rules after receiving proof that I am not an abuser of any kind. As it stands there are two agencies investigating it right?"

"There's three the state medical board, child services, and the state Nursing Board." My lawyer explained.

"Brilliant. This is just one big mess. How long have these investigations been active?" Judge McDonald asked.

"About a month." My lawyer replied.

"It appears by the length of time that this is just not just the typical he said she said issue. Is that right? The judge asked.

"On page thirty-two the second and third paragraphs of Damen Leigh's divorce petition will explain why the three boards are still looking into it." My lawyer said.

We all watched as the judge got it out of the file and read it. His face took on the look of seriousness. He put the paperwork down. Looked over at my wife's lawyer.

"Let me make it clear the divorce can't be granted until all three investigations have ended. I will not interfere with an investigation that may lead to criminal charges being laid. It appears by what I have read that one party in the situation is here because of the possible criminal actions of others. I have to take that possibility of that into consideration. It may be that the complaints against one party by the other are bogus." Judge Donald McDonald stated.

"The signing away of Mr. Damen Leighs parental rights stands. I want to acknowledge the wisdom he is showing the court by what he has done. It takes a special kind of parent to put the needs of the child first. This is what he has done was for both the protection of the child and himself. Both the biological parents' conduct towards their child is in question because of the conduct of one. He thought it best to remove himself from the equation. Therefore, I must agree that until we see the reports from the state no final decisions can be made. Mrs. Emma Leigh's suit for visitation has to be against the child's other legal guardian which is not him. The court is dismissed." The judge said.

The look on Emma's face said it all. She did not like the fact that what I had done had been declared as legal. Emma was in a rage because she hated to lose. As we were leaving the courtroom, she approached me.

"Damen how did you figure it out? Emma asked.

I responded, "it was just a bunch of little things that did not add up between the time of Evie's accident to the barbeque at Oliva's. Remember the phone call I got that Sunday?"

Emma said, "yes why?"

"Just before that, I realized that your conduct was just like it was back in high school when you developed an interest in someone else," I said. "That phone call to me was in response to a text I had sent a few minutes earlier. By the time it was over you were already under investigation."

Her face went pure white. It had never dawned on her that she herself had given herself away. Until then she had felt that someone had told me.

"If you watch the little things, they eventually point out the whole story," I said with a smile. "With your details in reporting about your patients, you should have known that."

I didn't have to tell her that but man I sure enjoyed getting in the dig. It made her madder still because I had the biggest grin on my face.

After leaving the courtroom I slide into the men's washroom running into the judge. I said thank you to the judge for his ruling.

"It was a pleasure," Judge McDonald said. "It was so black and white once I had reviewed the facts. One question was it your lawyer who suggested you do that?"

"No, it was me," I said. "Knowing my wife as I do, I realized that she would do anything or say anything to make my situation worse. I saw myself put in a box that she thought she could control. A friend had told me that because of her profession she knew a lot of influenceable people who could affect the outcome of the situation. I did it to take myself out of it the only way I could."

"If you hadn't, she would have gotten not only visitation but custodial custody as well because of the seriousness of her charges against you." The judge said honestly. 'your preventative strike put an end to all that. I hope your name is cleared soon."

So, did I.

Saturday night at the fairgrounds they were holding a back to the sixties dance in one of the display buildings. I had picked up a pair of tickets. I called Oliva and asked her if she would like to go. She said she would love to but was having dinner with her parents first. Would you and Evie like to come? I said yes.

It was interesting it had been a long time since I was given the once over by an overprotective father. Evie and Oliva's son Terry were getting along quite well. Oliva's father came across as a bit of an ass.

I guess she noticed it because I overheard her telling her father to back off. I know Damen's a good honest man Oliva said. How in the hell do you know what kind of man he roared back? His ex-wife has accused him of all sorts of things everyone is whispering about it behind his back. Dad, Oliva said he works out of station number three.

He paused for a second then smiled and said well shit why didn't you tell me that. He humbly held out his hand and said it takes a certain type of man to be a fireman. I now know what the stories say about you is all bull shit. You're always welcome here. They offered to keep Evie for the night, but I explained she was due at the in-laws for the rest of the weekend. It led to me having to explain the whole situation.

The dance was a hoot. There is nothing more enjoyable than dancing to the oldies like twist and shout, all the beach boys' songs, and early rock and roll. Some of the do wob songs were her favorite because her mother who would play them as she grew up.

I escorted her to her door. As we were saying goodnight she leaned in and kissed me.

"Damen, I know it's too early, but I'm interested when you're ready." She said just before saying goodnight.

It was just after two in the morning when I walked into my parents' home. Once again, my mother was waiting. We talked about the night and how I enjoyed it before I headed off to bed.

The lawyers worked out the settling of the asset division and we put the house up for sale. Things were moving ahead slowly. It had been three months since the separation took place that it finally started to break. The state medical board had found Dr. Ronald Foster guilty of several violations of their ethics code. The primary was the altering of medical records for his own personal benefit. His attempt to destroy a man's life to take that man's wife was taken very seriously. His license to practice medicine in the state was taken away permanently.

Oliva called when she heard the news waking me from sleep. I was back on nights and had about two hours of sleep. As a result, I was wide away and too excited to go back to sleep. My mother was thrilled to death when I broke the news to her and dad. When I came out all dressed up my mother said whats up. I replied I'm going to see if the lady who stood beside me these last few months would like to go for lunch. My mom smiled and replied don't you think it's time we met Oliva.

It was just about twelve when I walked into the Chateau Nursing home in Cape. I was dressed semi-formally. The first person I got to see the receptionist who had lied to me a few months ago. Her face went white as I approached her counter just inside the main entrance.

"Would you contact Oliva Jones and inform her there's a gentleman here that would like to know if she is available to go for lunch," I asked.

I watched her pick up the phone calling Oliva's extension. I a few minutes later Oliva showed up wearing a huge smile. After greeting her I pulled her into my arms planting a full frontal kiss. Then hand in hand we went out. We went to Logan's Roadhouse for lunch.

"You know for a fact we are now the main center of attention for the gossip mills," Oliva said. "Emma has already found out from the queen of gossip the receptionist."

"That's her problem, now that I have been cleared, I'm not looking back," I replied. "Besides my new girlfriend may be getting tired of waiting for me to get off of my ass."