Those Fateful Days

Chapter II

When Rose's parents had finally shown up at the hospital, Charlotte had already been allowed to see the newborn baby. As they were discussing what to do about the child being motherless, and soon to be fatherless, they were notified by the police that Jasper had been found. He was found asleep at a friend's house, still covered in Rose's blood, as if it wasn't even a big deal. The more Charlotte talked to Mr. and Mrs. Wittman, the more she realized that they really didn't want anything to do with their own grandson. Upon, this realization, she started the process of gaining custody of her best friend's new born baby boy. She went to the courthouse and filed the right paperwork, before visiting the Wittman's at their home, where they were currently taking care of Dorian until they could fine a proper home for him. Charlotte took a calming breath as she walked up the stairs to their front door, "You can do this Charlotte Ann Hughes, they don't want the baby anyway, they're just waiting for someone to take it off their hands...." 

She raised her hand to the doorbell, but before she could even ring it a maid opened it and greeted her. "Mr. and Mrs. Wittman have been expecting you for sometime now Miss Hughes." The maid stepped back out of the door way to allow Charlotte entrance as she thanked her. Charlotte looked around the large foyer of the house as the maid took her coat from her and hung it up. "If you'll follow me this way ma'am, they're expecting you in the sitting room." She quickly turned her attention towards the maid who was already going into another room, without another glance in her direction. "Can you, um, tell me why they would be expecting me I didn't give them any warning that I was coming over for a visit?" 

She stumbled over her own feet as she hurried to catch up to the well dressed woman that was leading her through what seemed like a maze of rooms. "All I know Ms. Hughes is that they have been waiting for you to come and ask for complete custody of their only grandchild," she paused as she stepped up to a set of closed doors, " Now, if you'll just go in the sitting room they'll give you all the answers that you want." The maid quickly turned on her heels and headed of in the opposite direction as Charlotte opened one of the doors and entered what looked like an over-spaced family room. The Wittmans stood to quickly greet their deceased daughter's friend, Mrs. Wittman was the first person to speak as she pulled Charlotte into a gentle hug, "We hope that you have been well since we last saw you at the hospital," she pauses trying to remember the young lady's name who is standing in front of her and her husband, "Charlotte." As she finally pulls away, Mr. Wittman takes Charlotte's hand in his and shakes it strongly. "I know that what happened, came as a shock , to us all but there is someone else who is involved besides us." He gestures for Charlotte to take a seat in the armchair as him and his wife sit down together on the couch. 

"You know Charlotte, that me and Alissa are both unable to give our whole attention to one Dorian's size," he leans forward, looking her straight in the eye, "We also know that you really want to raise him because Rose was like a sister to you." When he pauses this time Charlotte decides that if she wants to talk she might as well hurry and get her two-sense in, "If you want me to be perfectly honest about it Mr. Wittman, then I will." She leans forward in her chair mocking his position he had just took to talk to her, "I want Dorian because I know that Rose wasn't given the attention she should have been when she was growing up, and I know that you and Mrs. Wittman neither one want anything to do with him because he looks more like Jasper than he does Rose. Now, if you really care about him, you'll sign the papers I have for you and by the end of the week I'll have custody of him. I'm not saying that you can't see him, or anything like that, I'm just saying I'm more willing to give him the attention and love that he's going to want and need as he grows. Here's the papers," she stood up as she layed them down on the table, "All I'm asking is that you make the right decision, not for me, but for your grandson who's upstairs. Just give me a call when you decide." She gives them both a polite smile before she turns to leave the room. When she walks out, she bumps into the same maid who had lead her throught the house and to the Wittmans, "Do you mind showing me how to get out of here?" 

The maid just nods her head politely and begins to show Charlotte back to the front of the house. Before she leaves the house completely thought the maid says one more thing that surprises her, "I think you're completely in the right for wanting custody of Dorian Miss Hughes. I've been here for years now and they don't even act like they're married anymore." The maid turns quickly and leaves before Charlotte has the chance to ask what she means by that. As she made her way back to her car, she couldn't help but wonder if she did the right thing by being so forward wwith Rose's parents. But instead of dwelling on it and regretting her decision she just shrugged it off and decided that if she thought about it too much she would only end up going back in the house and apologizing for being so straight forward. What Charlotte didn't expect was to get a call two days later, almost exactly two months after Rose's death, from her lawyer saying that the Wittmans had dropped off the paperwork and had signed away all of their rights to their only daughter's son. 

"I can't believe this," Charlotte was still on the phone with her lawyer who was just as shocked as she was, "I mean, I expected them to agree but to waver all their rights and decide to never want to see him again?" She sighed into the phone loudly, before Mr. Lockhart her lawyer answered, "I know this is just as much a shock to me as it is to you Charlotte, maybe when you go to pick the child up next Monday, you can get some answers from them. But for now I'm going to have to go and finish up having all of this filed." After hanging up with him, Charlotte decided that if she was going to have a two month old child in her house, that she was going to make it feel like this was the home he always belonged in.

 

A/N: Sorry if I'm not too good as of yet...I'm new at writing something like this and I would appreciate feedback of any kind...>___>