Chapter 9 - The Grandparent Petition Was Already Drafted
My parents had not merely consulted a lawyer.
A draft petition for grandparent visitation existed before Rosie’s birthday.
It was not filed.
Their attorney had apparently advised them that relocation alone did not make me unfit and that courts give substantial weight to a fit parent’s decisions.
The draft emphasized:
Megan’s death.
Their long relationship with Rosie.
Regular caregiving.
Emotional bond.
Nothing extraordinary.
Then a handwritten note from my father appeared in the attorney packet they later produced:
Need proof Nathan is unstable / temper?
Their lawyer had written beside it:
Do NOT manufacture conflict. Court considers actual evidence.
That sentence should have ended everything.
Instead my parents took it as a problem to solve.
Mom later claimed they never intended to seek custody.
Only guaranteed contact.
I believed her.
That still did not excuse what happened.
They feared the move.
They wanted leverage.
Bethany offered a method.
Make Rosie upset.
Record Nathan’s response.
Use the footage to pressure him privately or, if necessary, show counsel.
The plan was not to injure Rosie significantly.
That became their defense.
Which required them to say aloud:
We intended only minor distress to a four-year-old.
My mother could barely finish the sentence.
Then investigators recovered one last video fragment.
Before I returned from the garage, Bethany walked past Daniel’s phone and said to Mom:
“Once he goes off, he can’t pretend we’re the problem.”
That line became the key to Part 10.
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Because the birthday “joke” had never really been about toughening Rosie up.
Rosie’s sensitivity was simply the vulnerability Bethany knew would make me react.
