The Blind Date || Rini AU

34. Testify?

"Are you ready for this?" Ricky whispered.

"No," Nini murmured, glancing toward the door of the little office in which her child's future would be decided in just minutes.

"Me neither," Ricky admitted, grabbing ahold of her hand between their seat seats and giving it a light squeeze.

They were alone in the waiting room at the moment with Nini's hammering heartbeat being the only sound she could hear.

They waited in silence for a few moments longer before the doors swung open and three people in suits walked in: Scott the douche and his lawyer, both looking very smug.

"Scott's here," Nini whispered to Ricky, panicked.

He didn't say anything, but his shoulder stiffened and the features on his face hardened like he was trying to keep his temper in check. He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the door swinging open and Nini's lawyer walking in. He squeezed her hand and she let out a small sigh of relief.

After waiting a few more minutes, they all walked into the little office and sat across from each other. Mediation was supposed to be less threatening than a trial in court, but Nini still felt the pressure weighing heavily on her shoulders.

The mediator sat behind the desk in front of them, she was a thin woman with short dirty blonde hair falling just below her shoulders.

"Good morning everyone, my name is Jenn Reinders and I will be your mediator for this case," she said with a calming smile plastered on her face. "Now, we are here today in hopes of finding a peaceful solution to resolve the child custody disagreement between Nina Salazar-Roberts and Scott Bailey. It says here that, Nina you're fighting for full custody of your son, is that correct?

Nini nodded, "Just Nini is fine."

"Okay, I would like to begin by reminding you that everything you say here cannot be used against you if the case does end up going to court, so you may speak freely to one another. We are here to help, you should not feel target or prosecuted here," Jenn went on. "Now, I presume both of you have prepared an argument you'd like to present. Mr Bailey, would you like to go first?"

Scott stood up from his seat, clearing his throat, "Yes ma'am."

Underneath the table, Ricky put his hand on Nini's knee, caressing it in an attempt to soothe her.

"I understand that I've made mistakes in the past when it comes to my involvement in my son's upbringing so far. I was sixteen when he was born. I was just a kid myself, unprepared and unequipped to deal with the situation. I lacked a good relationship with Nina - my child's mother - and I believe that is where things started to go wrong. We didn't speak to each other and every conversation we had turned into an argument. I felt like I was being blamed for not being there like I wasn't "trying". Nini made it very difficult for me to be a part of Xavier's life from the very beginning."

The brunette had to hold back an eye roll. Everything he was saying was complete and utter bullshit, he'd never once tried since he was born.

"She'd get upset with me for the littlest things, like calling me out of the blue and demanding I babysit! It's not like I didn't want to see my son, I just couldn't change everything on a whim because she has a date!"

Nini was feeling the blood rush to her cheeks.

Scott went on for a solid ten minutes, belittling her and twisting her words so that it looked like she was the one forcing him away this entire time.

She hates this. She wasn't charismatic like him, she was just a single mom trying to do the best she could with what she had.

"... to conclude, I'd just like to say that I'm more than capable of providing for my son. I have money and I have a home for him with plenty of room and a backyard he can play in. I understand Nini has school and a job, which is great, but where is Xavier during this time? He spends most of his days at daycare, but if he were with me, he'd actually be with me. I'm a freelance artist so I do most of my work from home and my parents are more than willing to help if I have to be away."