Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 30 - #TeamSullivan

They walked into the little office and sat across from each other like two firing squads from opposite sides of a battlefield. Mediation was supposed to be less threatening than a trial in court, but Cat still felt the pressure weighing heavily on her shoulders.

The mediator sat at the end of the table. She was a thin woman with severe features and thick glasses. Her thick red hair, a few shades darker than Cat's, was in a sleek up-do, which only made her sharp cheekbones pop even more. She introduced herself as Monica Yates and Cat's immediate impression was that she was a lot nicer than she seemed at a glance.

"Now, we are here in hopes of finding a peaceful solution to resolve the child custody disagreement between Catherine Logan and James Knightley. It says here that, Catherine, you're filing for full custody of your son, is that correct?" Monica began, giving the two parties and their respective lawyers a long look.

"Yes," Cat murmured.

"I would like to begin by reminding you everything you say here cannot be used against you if the case does end up going to court, so you are free to speak freely to one another. We are here to help, and you should not be feeling targeted, or prosecuted," Monica went on. "Now, I presume both of you have prepared an argument you'd like to present. Mr. Knightley, would you like to go first?"

James stood up between his two lawyers. Every time Cat looked over at him, she caught him staring right back at her with an expression on his face that was unreadable.

He cleared his throat.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

Underneath the table, Nick put his hand on Cat's knee. She looked at him, wishing he wouldn't appear so tense and unapproachable. The sunglasses he wore, hiding his eyes from view, surely didn't help make him seem like the sweet, caring guy that was so good to her son.

"I understand that I've made mistakes in the past when it comes to my involvement – or lack thereof – in my son's upbringing so far. I was sixteen when my son was born. I was just a kid myself, unprepared and unequipped to deal with the situation. I lacked a good relationship with Cat – with my child's mother – and I believe that is where things started to go wrong. We didn't speak to each other, and every conversation we had turned into an argument. I felt like I was being blamed for not being there, like— like I wasn't trying—"

"You weren't trying! You haven't tried once since he was born!" Cat cut in before she could stop herself.

"Please wait your turn, Catherine, let him speak," Monica told her. Sullivan placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from jumping to her feet.

"As I was saying," James went on, and Cat wondered if she was the only one that could hear the venom in his voice as he spoke. "Cat made it very difficult for me to be a part of my son's life from the very beginning. She's been condescending and argumentative. She'd get upset with me for the littlest of things, like calling me out of the blue and demanding I babysit, like she didn't even give a damn about my plans! It's not like I didn't want to see my son! I couldn't just change everything on a whim because she had a date!"

Cat was feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. If she heard him say my son or my child one more time, she was surely going to lose it.

James went on like that for a solid ten minutes, belittling her and twisting everything around so that it looked like she was the one forcing James to stay away all of this time. Cat hated this so much. She hated how helpless she was feeling right now, like no matter what she said he'd always manage to find a way to get the last word in. She wasn't charismatic or charming, she was just a single mom trying to do the best she could with what she had, which really wasn't a whole lot.