Chapter Nine
The morning dawned sunny and clear. Jerry dragged himself from bed and got ready for the day. As he was having his first cup of coffee, he remembered that he had that appointment this afternoon in Lunenburg. The lawyer would want to see the marriage certificate and the separation agreement. His brief research online at school suggested that the divorce itself was trivial because he and Annabelle had been living apart for more than a year and there was a separation agreement for evidence. It was the custody arrangements for Michelle that he was worried about.
He dug out his fireproof document box and retrieved the papers. He put them in a large envelope in a separate section of his messenger bag. Michelle came down as he was doing that and then he got busy with the morning routine. Rose and Miriam came over together at the usual time and he was off to work, after collecting hugs and a good bye kiss from his daughter and his sweetheart.
He only had two more exams to supervise, one that morning and the last one the following Tuesday. As a newer teacher, though, his Thursday and Friday would be occupied with details about the graduation ceremony and the graduation dance. One of his close cousins, Jaclyn Mader, was president of the graduating class and she wanted everything to be just right. It amused most of the teachers that he seemed to be related to half the school, but there were times when he thought it would be better if he wasn't. He was not looking forward to the calls from his Aunt Ethel if Jaclyn wasn't completely happy with his decisions.
The exam went smoothly and he collected his papers for marking and put them into his bag. He stopped by the office to drop off the two completed marking sheets for the previous two exams. The principal was in his office, so he asked for and got permission to take the rest of the day off to attend to some personal business. He called his Mom to see if she was up to visitors, which she was and, “Oh, by the way if you want to bring Mitchie and Miriam by that would be good. Rose, too, if she wanted to come.”
He called Rose's and got the answering machine, so he called home. Rose picked up on the second ring.
"Hi, Rose. It's Jerry."
"Oh, hi Jerry. What's up?"
"I asked Tom if I could have the afternoon off and he said yes. I have an appointment in Lunenburg at four, so I called Mom to find out if she's up for visitors and she strongly suggested that I should bring Mitchie and Miriam along for a visit. You're welcome to come too."
"That sounds like fun. I'll leave a message for Jack to call Dotty's. Maybe he'll want to take me out for supper."
"Mom may want to cook."
"And maybe not. You'll be tied up until probably five or so. There's a good seafood place down by the government wharf. Maybe I can convince Dotty to come with us."
"I'll be home in about fifteen minutes. Do you think you can have Mitchie ready by then?"
"She's always ready for a ride in the car, you know that."
"Can you put Miriam on for a moment?"
"Sure can." Jerry heard her call to Miriam.
"Hello, Jerry." Miriam sounded slightly out of breath.
"Hello, Miriam. Mom invited us over for the afternoon. Rose suggested supper at a seafood place on the wharf afterward. Are you up to coming with me?"
"That would be marvellous. But don't you have to work?"
"I don't have anything except marking to do this afternoon, so I asked for the time off. I'll have to spend a few hours marking exams after Mitchie's in bed, but that's not a problem. I have until next Friday to turn in the Grade 11 physics marks."
"If you're sure." Miriam sounded a bit concerned.
"I'm sure. I'll see you in a few minutes." Jerry hung up the staff room phone and made his way to the car.
Everyone was waiting for him as he pulled into the driveway, so it was a matter of a few minutes before they were on their way.
Miriam enjoyed the drive through Chester and Mahone Bay on the way to Lunenburg. The houses all looked cheerful in the bright sunshine and the view of the three churches on the shore of Mahone Bay was special to see.
Dorothy lived in an older apartment building near the downtown and she welcomed them with fresh cake and tea. Dorothy took some more measurements of Michelle and said that she was growing so fast that she was going to need a new dress or two before long.
Jerry slipped away at 3:30 to make his appointment and arranged to meet everyone at the restaurant around half past five.
The law offices of Whynacht and Slaunwhite were well appointed but not overly ostentatious. It had obviously been a law office for a long time, judging by the bound books of case law in the barrister's bookcases lining the hallway. Some of the case books dated to 1847.
Lorne Whynacht shook his hand as he welcomed Jerry into his office. "So you need some help with the courts?"
Jerry started in. "Well, as I explained on the phone, I think it's time that I divorced my wife. She left me about four years ago and I'd like to be free to remarry. But we had a daughter who I've been looking after almost full time since she left us."
"We'll get into some details shortly. I hate to bring this up right away, but I want you to know what this will cost you. I'll also have to get a retainer from you before I agree to represent you."
"I expected that. I brought my cheque book."
"That's good then. You make it sound like there may be an actual custody hearing. Much of what I do is to negotiate with your wife's lawyer to try to stay out of the courts. If this is straightforward, you will be looking at about twenty hours of my time to make sure the paperwork is in order and that the custody agreement and property division agreement are drafted properly. If there are negotiations to be done, it usually pushes the time up to forty hours and a court appearance to argue in front of a judge can be as much as one hundred hours. I bill at $120 per hour, so it could run as high as $15,000 including expenses for a contested divorce." Then Lorne got a wry look, “Plus taxes of course.”
Jerry sat back. "That's a bit more than I was expecting."
Lorne smiled sympathetically. "That's the high end, but I wanted you to know what you might be getting into. Your wife will have similar expenses if she wishes to contest things."
Jerry said, "She'll probably be accessing Legal Aid."
Lorne nodded. "They are usually pretty reasonable to negotiate with. Their case management procedures don't usually let their clients be too unreasonable."
Jerry said, "So how much do you need today?"
Lorne said "I'll need enough for the first ten hours plus an advance on expenses. Call it $1,500. You can give the cheque to my secretary on the way out."
Jerry wrote a cheque and placed it on the edge of Lorne's desk. "Done. So what's the next step?" Jerry asked.
"Now we go over the timeline of the breakdown. I'd like you to start at the beginning and bring me up to today. If you have any documents, I'd like to see them as well."
Jerry told Lorne about the circumstances of the marriage, Michelle's birth and their subsequent abandonment by Annabelle. He presented the separation agreement that Annabelle had presented him with when she came down a month late for Michelle's first birthday. Lorne took copious notes.
"Well, with the separation agreement this looks pretty routine unless your wife wants to change the custody arrangements. I'd like you to find an address where we can send the papers to Annabelle. I do have a skip tracing service I can use, but it would cost you extra."
"I'm still in touch with her mother because of Michelle. I'll call her to ask. If not, I can wait until Annabelle shows up. She normally comes down in July to visit."
"Sooner would probably be better, especially if you want to remarry. It can take more than a year to finalize a contested divorce."
"So what are the next steps?" Jerry was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
"I'll get copies of what you brought with you. Then I'll draft up an affidavit to attach to the application for the divorce. We will ask the courts to continue the same custody arrangements as in the separation agreement as part of t
he divorce. But you have to remember that you cannot deny your wife access to her daughter. You'll have to come in to sign everything and then we file it with the Supreme Court in Bridgewater and send a copy to her. Then we wait for her response. She'll have up to the scheduled hearing date to respond which could be anything from thirty to ninety days from the date of filing. The Bridgewater court isn’t very busy but it’s almost summer vacation so they’ll probably set a date in late August or early September. If she fails to respond, then the court will issue their decision based on your application alone. If she does respond, we take it from there."
"No guarantees then."
"None, unfortunately. You control this side of the process, though. I can make recommendations, but ultimately the decisions are yours."
"Well, thank you for agreeing to represent me."
"You’re welcome. I hope that everything goes smoothly."
"Me too."
Lorne saw Jerry out to his secretary, who prepared a receipt and contract for him to sign. Then Jerry walked the two blocks over to the restaurant. He felt less anxious than when he went in, but he was still suffering from sticker shock at the potential costs.
"How did it go?" asked Dorothy when he joined them at their table.
"Pretty well, actually. Annabelle did me a favour with her insistence on a separation agreement. I think it's because she wanted to keep the car, even if I had to keep paying for it."
"So what happens next?" asked Rose.
"Lorne will draft an affidavit for me to sign and file it with the court in Bridgewater. Then we send a copy of everything to Annabelle and wait for her response. I'll have to give her mom a call to find out where she is so we can send her the copies." Jerry replied.
"How long will it take?" Dorothy asked.
"That depends on Annabelle and her lawyer. If they agree to everything, the court will issue a decree at the first hearing which could be as early as mid-August. If she fights it hard, it could take a year or more. The court's first priority is what's best for Mitchie." Jerry smiled at his daughter.
"I think that would be pretty obvious, don't you?" asked Rose.
"Obvious to us, but not necessarily to the judge." Jerry said. "That's why the separation agreement that Annabelle gave me is so important. She assigned what she called primary custody of Mitchie to me. What the court thinks that means isn't clear, but I hope that they agree it means sole custody which would give me the right to make decisions about Mitchie without consulting Annabelle but will allow her to spend time with Mitchie. I'm not willing to go for joint or shared custody."
"Mommy's nice to me, but I don't like her boyfriends." said Michelle.
"I know she's nice to you, squirt, but I don't like her boyfriends, either. Well, at least the ones she’s introduced us to so far. We should pray that she finds a really good boyfriend." Jerry assured Michelle.
The waitress came by as Jack joined them. Dorothy assured everyone that this was her treat, so order what you like. Rose and Jack tried to insist on paying their share, but Jerry reminded Jack that arguing with his Mom was like arguing with the tides. Jerry ordered a lobster tail with his crab cakes to share with Miriam. Miriam ordered poached Atlantic salmon with rice and asparagus. Jack ordered a carafe of white wine to share which Miriam tried and rather liked.
Jack and Rose tried to give Dorothy some money to cover dinner. She only took enough to cover the wine and gave the rest back. Jerry snickered at Jack who only smiled. Jack and Rose decided to drive back directly after supper, leaving the rest to walk back to Dorothy's apartment.
Miriam was struck by how pretty everything was. Jerry pointed out that downtown Lunenburg was a UNESCO heritage site because it looked very much like it did in the early 1800s, except for the paved streets and power lines. The buildings were painted in the bright colours that she loved and she wondered what the town would look like under a blanket of fog. When she mentioned that, Jerry promised to bring her to see it.
After seeing Dorothy safely home and a round of good bye hugs, they loaded up the car and headed home. Michelle fell asleep as the sun was setting in the west.
"Are you at ease with the lawyer and the divorce?" Miriam finally asked.
"I'm glad I finally started the process, but I'm nervous about the cost and Annabelle's reaction. I just got her car paid off and now I'm looking at up to eighteen thousand if she fights hard." Jerry had a hard look on his face.
"That's just money, though. You can always replace it. Eventually." Miriam said.
"I know. But it would be nice not to have to pinch pennies all the time." Jerry said.
"The Lord will provide. He's done well with me." Miriam said.
"But you are worse off than I am." Jerry said.
"Only for money. I have you and Michelle and Jack and Rose. The Lord has provided for me in a very good way." Michelle smiled tenderly at Jerry.
"When you put it that way, I'm incredibly rich. I'm just scared that all of this will result in losing Mitchie." Jerry said.
"All we can do is pray that things will work out the way He wants. I wish I could give you a better answer." Miriam said.
"He is always the only answer anyway." Jerry said. "Thanks for reminding me."
"You're welcome."
Miriam drank in the scenery as they approached the house. "There is so much beauty here. So much green." Jerry just smiled and kept driving.
Michelle woke up briefly and managed to use the washroom and change before climbing into bed. Miriam briefly considered sitting with Jerry for a while, but remembered that he had marking to do. Jerry asked her if she wanted to sit, but she reminded him he had work to do, so he just gave her a long kiss while she melted against him.
"Thank you for this afternoon." Miriam looked at Jerry looking at her.
"Thank you, too. Is it too early to speak of love?" Jerry asked.
"I don't think so, any more. I love you, Jerry." Miriam was blushing as she said it.
"I love you, too, Miriam. I think I’ve loved you for years." Jerry allowed her to see everything he was feeling.
"One more kiss and then you need to get some work done." Miriam stretched up for another long kiss.
"Good night, my love." Jerry murmured as he hugged her.
"Good night, heart of my heart." Miriam disentangled herself and squeezed Jerry's hands. "Thank you for a wonderful evening."
Jerry watched her disappear around Jan's house and returned to the kitchen and a small pile of marking.
Miriam was still quivering with excitement as she made herself some chamomile tea before bed. She brought a cup to Rose and sat. "Jerry told me he was in love with me tonight, so I told him that I felt the same."
"I think everyone here knew that on Sunday when we saw you two holding hands. But I think it's harder to say it than to feel it because you'd feel so stupid if the feelings weren't returned. But I think Jerry's loved you for a long time."
"I'm still worried that things will not work out between us."
"I wouldn't worry too much. Just enjoy yourselves."
"What if he wants more than kisses?"
"You'll know when it's right to do more. But I don't think Jerry will feel very good about anything more than hugs and kisses until you can get married."
Miriam looked relieved. "It feels so good to hold him. I'm afraid that I'll forget myself and go farther than I should."
Rose smiled. "Just make sure Jerry knows how you feel and share the responsibility with him. He'll understand."
"It feels strange talking to you about this."
"Thank you for trusting me enough to do it."
"You and Jack have been so good to me. Thank you so much."
"You have been so good for Jerry and Mitchie. They both seem more settled since you arrived. How could we not help you?"
Miriam finished her tea and said good night.
She changed into the Pocahontas nightgown. She would be getting something different tomorrow. She looked so young wearing i
t. She said her evening prayers and fell asleep smiling, thinking about Jerry’s kisses.
Jerry got about half of the marking finished before he started to make mistakes. He went upstairs and did his devotions before changing for bed. A round of special prayers including a couple for Lorne and Annabelle were sent up. Then he hugged a pillow to himself imagining it was Miriam and fell asleep remembering the smell of her shampoo.