After a night of peace and rest in the motel room, there was a knock at the door the next morning. It was a lady from child protective services. I’m assuming the officers who helped me had reported the situation to this division, probably as a requirement because of the baby and they knew I had no money to buy necessities for him.
The lady was very understanding about the whole situation, as I’m sure she had dealt with a ton of similar cases. She explained, I would be appearing in court alongside the Hartman’s within a couple days and that the judge would decide Cameron’s outcome and I should call someone to come and be with me since I was alone.
The only person I could contact was Mom, who much to my surprise agreed to come and be with me during the court process. Mom was scared of the Hartman’s since facing them during the situation of signing over my inheritance. Which I can’t blame her.
Facing the Hartman’s on Court Day
Walking into the courtroom was scary. Jesse, Janice, and Leon were seated on the right side of the courtroom, while Mom and I proceeded to take seats on the left side. The lady from child protective services was there with Cameron. I recall looking across the aisle at the Hartman’s and they just glared at me and Mom.
I was the first to be called to the witness stand. After being sworn in I was instructed to take a seat on the stand beside the judge. There was no other parties in the courtroom that day, just us. So maybe the judge was a magistrate, I’m not sure. But he was the one asking me the questions, not an attorney or a defense or any situation like I had imagined. The police officers were not even there. Just the judge asking me questions, about what happened.
He only asked me about three questions, with the last question being, “Do you love Jesse”? Well of course, even with everything I had been through, I wouldn’t have married him if I didn’t love him (at the time). So I responded with, “yes”. The judge threw his hands up, smacked the gavel on the desk and yelled, “dismissed”. That was the end of it. I was shocked, wondering what in the world had just happened.
The child protective services lady, got up and handed Cameron straight to Jesse and the Hartman’s. The judge got up and left the courtroom, everyone was getting up and leaving. I remember thinking to myself, wait, I have more to say. But it was over. The Hartman’s were leaving with Cameron in their arms.
Nothing Had Changed
I walked outside with Mom. She wished me luck and said goodbye. There I was, dumbfounded. I had been instructed to take my things with me before leaving the motel room, so I had my things with me. With no where else to go, I reluctantly headed back to the Hartman’s house.
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