Chapter 6 - Reclaiming Little Leo's Heart
At 5:30 PM, Dr. Miriam Vance and I arrived at the Lincoln Park Athletic Club, where Leo’s soccer team was finishing their post-practice scrimmage.
Julian and Evelyn were nowhere to be seen; Julian had hired an Uber driver to pick Leo up and bring him back to the penthouse so they wouldn't have to interrupt their afternoon drinks.
When Leo walked off the turf field carrying his gym bag, Dr. Vance and I stepped forward.
“Leo,” I called out softly.
Leo stopped, looking around nervously as if expecting Julian to jump out of the shadows.
“Mom... Dad said I wasn't allowed to see you without Evelyn present,” Leo whispered, his lower lip trembling.
Dr. Vance knelt down beside him, showing her certified court credentials. “Leo, I am Dr. Miriam Vance. I am an officer of the court, and right now, you are completely safe to talk with your mother.”
We sat in the private club lounge over hot chocolate and warm chocolate chip cookies.
For the first fifteen minutes, Leo was guarded, repeating the rehearsed scripts Julian had drilled into his head: “Mom is always working... Mom chose Seattle over us... Evelyn is our new family.”
Then, I pulled out my iPad.
I opened a private digital photo album titled “Letters to Leo.”
For four months in Seattle, every single night at 9:00 PM, I had recorded a short video for Leo: reading him bedtime stories, showing him the cranes building the high-rise, showing him the handmade wooden model airplane I had carved for his birthday, and showing the time-stamped text messages I had sent to Julian’s phone every single morning asking to FaceTime with Leo.
On the screen, every single message to Julian had been marked Delivered, followed by Julian’s replies:
“Leo is sleeping.”
“Leo doesn't want to talk tonight.”
“Stop bothering us with calls, Clara.”
Leo stared at the screen, tears welling in his wide eyes.
“You... you called every day?” Leo choked out, looking up at me. “Dad told me you never called once. He said you threw away my birthday drawing.”
I reached into my leather tote bag and pulled out a laminated piece of construction paper—a drawing Leo had made of a rocket ship with the words “Best Mom in the Universe.”
“I kept it in my hard hat every single day on the construction site, Leo,” I whispered, pulling my son into my arms. “I never stopped thinking about you. Not for one second.”
Leo buried his face in my chest, sobbing uncontrollably, his small arms wrapping tightly around my neck.
“Mommy... I want to go with you,” Leo wept. “Evelyn threw away all your pictures in the house. She yelled at me when I cried. Please don't leave me with them.”
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Dr. Vance stood up, her face filled with fierce, protective resolve.
“That is textbook coercive psychological abuse and parental alienation,” Dr. Vance stated, signing an emergency clinical custody affidavit. “Under Section 604 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, I am issuing an immediate protective clinical removal order. Leo remains in your sole custody effective immediately.”
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