4:44 Hurts Don’t It

Andy listened as the judge gave him full custody of the girls. He heard Cara on the other side of the room start to cry. He did feel a little bad for her. She had been a wonderful mother while they were together.

She had also allowed her boyfriend to hurt their girls. For that, he couldn’t forgive her.

She cried even harder when the judge declared her as unfit and charged her with child endangerment for allowing the abuse to happen. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail. She would see her again after she was released to set up visitation on the condition that she completes the parenting classes while in jail.

Andy left the court room and saw his dad sitting with the girls. He smiled and held out his arms when Nakusa ran to him.

He scooped her up and hugged her close. “Are you ready to go home with Daddy?”

He looked at his fathers. “Will you join us for lunch?”

His dad shook his head telling him that he should spend some time alone with the girls and they would talk later.

Shelby looked at her dad. “Is Mommy coming home with us?”

Andy looked at his fathers hoping they would stay while he talked to the kids. They all sat down on the benches. 

“Your mommy is going away for a little while. The judge wants her to go to school and learn how to be a really good mommy like she used to be.”

Shelby sat quietly and listened to everything that her dad was saying. She was thinking about it then looked at her dad. “Is Carter going to school too?”

Andy shook his head. “You won’t ever see Carter again.”

Shelby was happy with that answer. She looked up at her dad and smiled. “Good. I don’t like him. He was a big, mean, poopy head.”