Chapter 9: Temporary Orders
The temporary orders hearing was brief and functional.
The attorney presented the timeline, the financial disparity in the piano decision, the recorded comparison between the children, and the immediate need for stable housing and support. Marcus’s counsel attempted to characterize the departure as impulsive and alienating. The magistrate listened, asked a few clarifying questions, and issued interim orders that kept primary physical care with me, established a temporary support amount, and set a limited, structured contact schedule for Marcus pending further review.
It was not a victory lap. It was a framework.
Afterward I sat in the car in the courthouse parking lot and read the order twice. Then I drove back to Dayton, picked Lily up from school, and took her for the inexpensive ice cream she had been talking about for days. We sat on a bench and ate it while the afternoon traffic moved past.
“Is the paper finished?” she asked.
“This part of the paper is finished. There will be more later. But the important part—about where you live and who takes care of you day to day—is clear for now.”
She licked a drip from her wrist.
May you like
“Okay.”
Children often accepted structural clarity more readily than adults. I was learning to stop explaining past the point she needed.
