Chapter 10 - EMMA'S ROUTINE
The custody evaluator focused less on adultery than everyone expected.
Affair:
morally relevant to marriage.
Not automatically parenting incapacity.
Instead:
supervision.
Stability.
Communication.
Truthfulness around child arrangements.
Rachel had been Emma’s primary caregiver.
Daniel participated:
bedtime,
weekend outings,
doctor visits,
some daycare pickup.
He was not an absent father.
That complicated things.
Then the evaluator asked:
“What happened at the plaza?”
Daniel said:
“I made a terrible mistake.”
Finally.
No:
seconds.
No:
Rachel left too.
He admitted.
“I stopped paying attention.”
That helped.
Then:
“Why?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Madison.”
Simple.
Then the evaluator reviewed Emma’s secret visits.
Children can have relationships with grandparents.
Not inherently wrong.
The problem was concealment and false representations.
Then Emma herself provided nothing legal.
Two-year-old.
No interviewing for custody preference.
Good.
She played with:
Mommy.
Daddy.
Nana.
May you like
Bunny.
Adults had to stop turning every toddler action into evidence.
