Chapter 13 - The Court Did Not Need a Villain
Our divorce took eleven months.
There was no dramatic courtroom where a judge declared Caroline evil.
Family law did not need that.
It needed facts.
Caroline was not June’s legal parent because the adoption had never been finalized.
That did not automatically make four years of relationship meaningless.
Nor did it automatically create custodial rights equivalent to mine.
The legal questions were handled under applicable law, with June’s welfare central.
The hose incident mattered.
The coaching mattered.
The documentation campaign mattered.
So did Caroline’s genuine history of caregiving.
Reality was uncomfortable enough to contain all of those truths at once.
June initially had no direct contact with Caroline while professionals evaluated safety.
Later, structured therapeutic contact was considered.
Slowly.
Not because I owed Caroline access.
Because June had loved her.
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Children do not stop having attachments because adults discover betrayal.
That was another thing I had to learn.
