ᴄʜʀɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴀᴄʀᴏꜱꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇʟᴇɴᴀ, 'ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ꜱᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴏʟᴇ ᴄᴜꜱᴛᴏᴅʏ ᴛʜᴀɴ ꜱᴇʟᴇɴᴀ.'
☆
Selena and Chris nodded to one another in the city hall's hall, the two were setting up for a hearing on the custody of their three kids. selena and chris were both upset that it had come down to this but it was needed to be done. especially since chris was going to be out of the country for some time again filming.
they both sat down at the desks in front of the judge.
"today, august 11th we are here today to decide sole custody of chris evans and selena gomez's youngest son 16 year old hunter james evans. we will be hearing both sides and will come to a mutual decision. Ok? let's have a clean hearing today." the judge spoke. this was his 5th of the day and the other 4 had been very nasty.
selena took the stand first, nervous as ever- she was ready to make her case.
the first question was "what is the relationship with your youngest hunter?" her lawyer asked.
"he is my baby, my youngest. hunter and i have been attached at the hip ever since he was young because of how much time i had spent with him. day in and day out, i was there. he is the most incredibly heartwarming, kind and hardest working kid i have ever met. he makes everything that chris and i go through worth it. as all my kids. nothing makes me happiest than when i am with them."
the second question was, "is there currently an agreement for you and chris on how you will raise hunter?"
"currently-- there is." she paused unsure of how she was going to answer the pre-laid-out answers by her lawyer.
"judge, if i may re answer?" she looked at the judge for confirmation. "you may" he spoke.
"chris and i have jobs that take us from place to place. because of those said jobs- we have never been able to come up with an formal agreement because of how unpredictable those jobs can be. Yet, i do know that i will be the sole parent in this case." she paused and looked at chris who was unshocked. "like i stated, i have been with my kids from day one. i was never allowed or was able to do what i wanted with my job. allowing me to raise them myself. with chris going from place to place as he has since the twins were born- he's never been there as much as we would like. yes, that is the sacrifice we have made as a family but i would of expected a little more effort. however, with whatever decision you make your honor- we will work diligently to honor that decision i can tell you that much."
the judge took her answer and nodded, "so you have always been the sole caregiver" he asked. selena nodded.
"that is all." the judge said and shuffled some pages.
selena left the stand and sat down. watching chris the whole way.
he stood up and went to the stand.
his lawyer stood up and asked him point-blank, "who do you think should have full custody?"
ᴄʜʀɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴀᴄʀᴏꜱꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇʟᴇɴᴀ, "ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ꜱᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴏʟᴇ ᴄᴜꜱᴛᴏᴅʏ ᴛʜᴀɴ ꜱᴇʟᴇɴᴀ."
the judge looked between them and saw a gazing of pure love leave from chris. this was the cleanest court case he had in all of his years and one where it was obvious the two loved one another.
selenas breath hitched in her throat. what had been all the back and forth prior? chris didn't want sole custody after all?
"that is all ladies and gentlemen." the judge spoke.
"on this day, august 11th- selena gomez has been granted full custody of hunter james evans. the case is dismissed." the judge spoke and they all stood up.
chris and selena looked at one another as chris strode out.
selena was confused.
↓
chris and selena got out of their separate cars and walked into the house that they once shared together. hunter was currently staying with the stans and would be back home tomorrow morning.
selena took off her heels, loosened her shirt, and made her way to the kitchen.
all you could hear was the breathing.
chris followed her unsure of what to say. selena stopped turned around and looked at chris.
selena broke down in tears as reality was giving her a check.
chris grabbed ahold of selena rubbed her back, soothing her.
"im sorry." he said into her hair.
"why didnt you say from the beginning that you wanted me to have full custody?" she demanded.
"because i knew that if i did so, it would of hurt you and him because it would look like i wasn't trying. " he said. they embraced one another.
"becuase like you said today, i didn't try hard enough to raise the kids. i wasn't here enough and i wasn't there enough for you." he said beginning to stifle a cry.
"oh sweetie, chris honey-" she stopped because hearing him say that broke her heart. even though it was true- the fact that he was admitting it made her even sadder.
"i will always love you and the kids. always." he said as she looked back up at him. he kissed her forehead before letting go and walking out. as soon as the door shut, she fell to her knees and sobbed.
as much as he hurt her then, he hurt her more now than ever. she was terrified of the future without chris at her side. even when he was away, he was still her husband and the decisions for the family were made together at times.
now she was alone in all of this.
she didnt know if she could do it herself.
☆