2018 (17):
Esme was doing 3 different projects at once for Marvel, her cameo for Black Panther, her film as the White Force, and her role in Infinity War and since she is still a minor (literally the only minor in the MCU), she wasn't on set a whole lot and the Russos decided to film as much as they could before her trial of her parents. They were actually fighting to get Esme back since she became famous for her roles in acting. She didn't remember what they looked like and she didn't really care. Sat next to her dad and their lawyer, Phil Lawson as she looked across the room to the man and woman who claim to be her parents. As Esme was playing with the promise ring on her hand from Justin when Robert looked over and said,
"Baby Girl, we got this. we have enough evidence to keep you here with me." He kissed her head as the plaintiff called out,
"All Rise!" The jury, gallery and the 2 sides stood up as Judge Ramsey walked up to his desk and said,
"We are here today about the custody of Miss Esme Downey, who is under the care of Mr. Robert Downey Junior." We are going to get through the opening arguments and witnesses then we will go into recess because Mr. and Miss Downey have work commitments. Now, Mr. Lawson, Begin." Phil stood up and unbuttoned his suit as he spoke.
"Robert Downey Junior has been the adoptive father of Esme since 2003. He has cared and loved for this young woman since she was 2 years old. Her birth parents, John and Mary Nakamura were the ones who left Esme in an alley in California when she was 2 years old, not even potty trained. When Robert fought for Esme, they gave up all parental rights to Robert so he and his wife, Susan can adopt her. The minute she started acting and becoming famous for her roles in John Wick and as a superhero in the MCU, they have been wanting her back not as a daughter but for money. I have seen what they are like and if I have any say in this, I firmly believe that Esme would be in better hands of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Downey Junior." The Nakamura's lawyer then stood up and said,
"The kid should be with her birth parents and not in the public light, making millions on such a meaningless job. She was taken from her birth parents at such a young age that she doesn't know what is right and wrong. She never had a choice on whether or not she wanted to be adopted or if she wanted to be back home with her parents. Nothing was a choice to her but she was forced to live with an ex convict. A man who went to prison for narcotics, he has been seen drunk and high more times than we seen him sober." He turned and looked out to the jury. "And you want to let this child, who has her whole life ahead of her live with the man who would most likely relapse?" Esme could feel the tears pool. Yes, her father made mistakes but he cleaned up as soon as he found Esme and fought for her. She didn't want her mom and dad to give up custody of her, especially in the middle of filming for White Force and Infinity War.
"Miss Downey, please step up to the witnesses stand." Judge Ramsey said, and Esme did so. When she got there, she sworn on the Bible and sat down as Phil said,
"Please state your name for public record."
"Esme Juneau Downey."
"And who are your parents?"
"Robert Downey Junior and Susan Downey."
"Can you recall anything leading up to your adoption case, Miss Downey?"
"I was about 2 years old. I don't remember exactly why I was left in that alley but I remember Robert walking up to me and sitting with me. Then he brought me home to sleep and took me to the police asking if there was a way to take me in. They said no and so he fought for me in court." Esme said, not looking at her birth parents.
"And can you tell the jury what a day in the life living with Mr. Downey?"
"My dad always made sure we were all ready for the day before he even got ready. He made sure we were fed, dressed and groomed before my mom even came down the stairs to make coffee. He made sure homework was done and always found time to be with us even if he was working on many projects. He was the one who told me I can do whatever I want if I put my mind to it. He helped me get a jump start in my dreams in the acting world even though I was perfectly okay with just being a stunt woman."
"What do you remember about your birth parents?"
"Not a lot. I remember there was never a time I got a hug or a kiss goodnight. There was one time I was shoved down the stairs and I got caught on a nail. I was in the hospital for 3 days before they sent me home with medications I only took if they remembered that they had a daughter." Tears began to flow as she began remembering some of the things they did to her. Tom was right, she was basically a baby at that time. It wasn't fair for her to go though what she did at such a young age. She gently wiped her cheeks as Phil handed her a tissue.
"Is there anything that you want to tell the jury before I hand the questioning off to Mrs. Grasson?"
"My father, Robert, has been an amazing dad, doing what he can to not only raise his son from one of his other marriages, but also adopting and raising me and raising 2 small children after that. He has dealt with so much because of me and I want everyone to know I can't imaging a better dad than him. Make use of it as you will." Phil sat down as Mrs. Grasson stood up and began asking,
"You have been calling Mr. Downey, dad all day. Why is that?"
"I have always thought about the difference between a dad and a father. A father is someone who helps in the process of conceiving a child, and will probably pay child support or what not. A dad is someone who is there for when you need him. If you're stranded on a high way, he will ask for your location and will come looking for you. He's someone who will help you when you're sick or upset or if you're like me, with anxiety. He is there all through the highs and lows and will help you do your homework even if he doesn't understand it. He's helped me through out my career as not only an actress but a model too and helped me make sense of this crazy world. That's what a dad is. yes, I may have a biological father but I have a dad who loves me more than life itself." Esme could have sworn that some of the jury were in tears.
"Would you consider going back to your birth parents, Mr and Mrs Nakamura?"
"No. I may not remember exactly what went on when I was just 2 years old but I do know that I would never live with anyone that didn't make me feel loved or safe at home."
"Even if they apologized for what they have done to-"
"OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!" Phil called out, startling Esme in her seat.
"On what grounds, Mr. Lawson?" The Judge asked.
"Using compassion to sway Miss Downey."
"I can answer the question, she's not asking anything wrong." Esme said. The judge nodded at Esme to continue. "I would accept their apology but I wouldn't go back to them. I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Nakamura, but the day you left your 2 year old daughter in an alley in the middle of the night, is the day you lost a daughter. I will never claim the name Nakamura as I have and always will be a Downey." She looked right at her birth parents. "I'm sorry, I truly am but you lost a daughter on May 21st, 2003." It was then that Mrs. Grasson said that she didn't have any more questions for Esme and the Judge had paused the trial for a few days.
~~~
3 months later, It was the day that decided whether or not Esme was going to stay with Robert or going to go back to her birth parents. She was on a time crunch and didn't have time to change out of her White Force costume she she showed up to court in her superhero costume covered in dirt and fake blood with her dad right behind her in his Toney Stark outfit. When they sat down, Phil asked,
"How much time do we have before you have to be on set?"
"An hour for me, but Esme has to be back in 30 minutes. How fast can we do the closing and verdict?" Robert said.
"It depends on the Jury, really."
"Look, I need to know before I get back to set cause I don't know if I can bring my A-Game with this looming over my head." Esme said. Phil nodded and went up to the plaintiff and spoke with them as the Nakamuras walked in with confidence that they were going to win. Esme was tapping her foot as she felt her chest tighten. Her anxiety was rising every minute that passed and she didn't know who would have custody of her. Her dad looked over and kissed the top of her head and whispered,
"Everything will be okay baby girl. Just take deep breaths and focus on my voice okay. We got this, we can win." Esme nodded and the tears pool her eyes, trying to calm down but she didn't want to go back to her birth parents. She found out more of their secrets in trial and even though it seemed like Robert was going to win, Esme couldn't shake the feeling that she would have to live with her birth parents and have to give up her job that she loved so much. when they heard, 'All Rise.' They did as the judge said,
"As you may know, I'm Judge Amelia Ramsey, overseeing the Custody of Esme Downey. Today, each side will be giving their closing argument and for the sake of time, the verdict will also be announced so that Miss and Mr. Downey can get back to their jobs. Mrs. Grasson, you may begin." She walked to the middle of the room and spoke.
"The Nakamuras deserve their daughter back as they have given birth to her in 2001. Yes, they made a mistake of leaving her in that alley but what parent hasn't made that mistake? I was left in a grocery store but you don't see me in the middle of a custody battle with 2 sets of parents fighting for me. Esme should be with her birth parents who have been looking for her and want her to be their family again." She sat down as Phil stood up and spoke.
"I have been a lawyer for about 25 years now. I offered the first time around to help Robert fight for Esme but he told me this. 'Phil, you're a fantastic lawyer but I need to fight for her on my own.' Robert Downey Junior, a washed-up actor who was just getting clean from substance abuse, who also had no prior knowledge of law of any kind, fought for this little girl back in 2003, and won. Then, over the years, I watched him raise Esme as his own and have more kids. I saw him as a dad every child deserved. I fought long and hard for Robert to keep Esme. I've never seen kid so happy about watching her dad working and wanting to be like him. Esme should be under custody of the people who have loved her as their own and raised her as such. I move that The Nakamuras give up all parental rights of Esme and should be given to Robert Downey Junior and Susan Downey." Phil sat back down as they waited for the Jury to come up with the verdict. Esme checked her phone and saw they had about 20 minutes before she had to be back on set. Finally, one of the jurors stood up and said,
"The state of Georgia would like to state for the record that the Nakamuras will lose all parental Rights to Esme Downey and Esme Downey will stay with her legal parents, Robert Downey Junior and Susan Downey." The gallery (which was filled with the MCU cast, some of who have flown in form all over the world to watch this case in person) screamed and cheered as Esme felt the way Robert did when he won Esme the first time. She was floored and she started sobbing, ruining the face makeup as Ty came bursting though the gates and gave Esme a hug. She was then passed on to Tom and Then Justing caught her just before she tripped and he picked her up and kissed her with passion that was almost too good to be real. When they let go of each other, Robert came up to Esme with his wife and the three of them hugged while the Russos called out,
"Party people! Let's rock and roll, we got scenes to shoot and a win to celebrate!" Causing all of the MCU cast to walk back to set, with a second win under their belt.
~~~BBC RADIO 1 SHOW~~~
Just after the release of White Force and Black Panther, she finally got a break fro acting and stunts and was asked by Ali Plumb to go onto the BBC Radio 1 Show for an interview based on her White Force role. When she got in and met him, they sat down and he said into the microphone,
"Hey, guys, welcome to the BBC Radio one show and today I have the wonderfully talented Esme Downey, who plays Melani Jayce AKA The White Force and is the daughter of Robert Downey Junior. How are you doing Esme." She smiled for the first time in a while.
"I'm really, really good." She said.
"Now, i'm going to ask you a couple questions about your movie and then maybe about the win you won last week. So, how did the White Force come to be?"
"I literally wrote this character and her backstory when I was 12 years old while my dad was filming Iron Man 3 and it was so much fun cause it was something that wasn't even in the comics and Kevin Feige just wanted me to be a part of the MCU."
"Are there any spoilers that you can-"
"Nuh-uh nope! Pump the brakes!" Esme pointed her finger at Ali and continued, "I'm not about to be thrown under the same bus as my best friend Tom Holland, so do not ask me for ANY spoilers other wise they would hire the Marvel snipers again." They bother laughed as he said,
"All right, well, let's move on then. So recently, you were in the middle of a custody battle between your mum and dad, the Downey's and your birth parents. So, how did that go?"
"It was a rough three months and it was in the middle of me filming White Force, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War all at the same time and since I'm a minor and was running around like a headless chicken, I would literally show up in court in my costume and makeup for that day's shoot like 90 percent of the time." She laughed agin and he asked,
"Did you really?"
"Yeah and the judge who was over seeing the case was really chill about it."
"Well, how did you react when you won the case?"
"I remember I was still sitting and I was hardcore sobbing and it ruined my make up cause I had to be back on set within 30 minutes but it was probably the best feeling, knowing that my dad, RDJ would get to keep custody of me forever." She smiled at the memory of her parents crying when they had won the case.