A Life Worth Cultivating
By Heidi H
Disclaimers-These are not my characters and I am making no money off of them.
Ratings Info-Sam/Donna, a life can take so many unimaginable twists and turns
Sequel to A Life Worth Not Giving Up
Donna looked around the apartment to make sure everything was in its place.
She didn’t want Sam to think she was sloppy and would be a bad mother. The
knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts and she went to answer it.
Sam was standing in the hallway, not looking pleased at all. She opened the
door and let him in. They both went into the kitchen and sat down. He was
first to speak.
Sam wanted to know why she hadn’t told him. Donna told him that he walked out
on her and their marriage before she could tell him. She told him that she
didn’t feel at all guilty for not involving him in the baby’s life because she
didn’t want him to be a part of its life and then walk out when things got too
inconvenient for him to deal with. Sam had tried to reason with her that he
wouldn’t walk out on the baby when times got tough. Donna laughed in his face
and told him to think back about what happened to them. Sam told her that if
need be, he would go through the courts to see the baby. He reminded her that
he was in a better position to raise a child with his soon to be wife, Laurie
and that they could provide the baby with the best life possible with all the
trappings. She told him that this was her child and there was no way in hell
that she was going to let someone else raise her child.
Sam told her to watch it because he would get some sort of resolution through
the court and she would do better to negotiate with him outside of the court
system. Donna told him to take his best shot and that she would make sure that
her lawyer crucified his soon to be wife, if he wanted to deal with things that
way.
After Sam left, Donna sat down in a chair and cried because what he had said
was true. Sam and Laurie were in a better position to raise a child. They had
gobs of money while she had to work everyday to support herself and her baby.
Yes, Sam was paying her spousal support, but she refused to touch his money.
Sam could afford the best lawyer in town while she was thumbing through the
phone book for someone who would agree to be paid on a weekly basis. Sam and
Laurie would be the picture of perfection while she was a single working mother
to be with no one to support her through this thing. For a fleeting moment
Donna thought about picking up and walking away. It was a tempting thought to
be able to forget about everything and everyone, but she couldn’t force her
child to make a life running from place to place and not knowing a solid and
stable home.
As luck turned out, Donna was able to find a lawyer who agreed to be paid
weekly. The lawyer believed that they had a strong case after Donna explained
everything from their marriage to the divorce to the baby. Her lawyer forbade
her to have any contact with Sam or former friends at the White House. The
lawyer also told her that things would most likely get down and dirty and to be
prepared for anything.
Donna took a deep breath and walked into the courtroom with her lawyer. She
saw Sam, Josh, CJ, and Toby sitting in the first row. She put one foot in
front of the other and held her head up high. No one was going to discourage
or scare her.
The trial was closed, but that didn’t stop the reporters from filling the
hallway outside the courtroom trying to get a quote or a statement. No one was
talking and that made the press try even harder.
The judge let Sam’s attorney go first because he brought the lawsuit. The
lawyer painted a picture that Sam and Laurie were a stable couple that could
provide the child with the best life possible while Donna was a single working
mother that couldn’t even support herself, let alone a child. Then the lawyer
started calling Josh, Toby, and CJ to the stand to back up Sam and Laurie’s
testimony that they would be the best parents for this child.
Then it was Donna’s turn. The lawyer painted the picture that Sam had walked
out on Donna when times got tough and that it wasn’t fair to this child to have
a father that had a history of leaving. Then the lawyer went after every one
of Sam’s witnesses. First up was Laurie. He used the fact that she was once a
call girl to undermine her authority and ability to be a good, stable, well
balanced mother. Then it was CJ, Josh, and Toby’s turns to be crucified. The
lawyer told her that they had made a sizable dent in Sam and Laurie’s case, but
was making no guarantees to what the judge could rule.
The judge entered the courtroom with the decision in her hand. Donna rested
her hands over her stomach and made a silent vow to this baby. Sam and Laurie
held hands and waited for the judge’s decision with baited breath.