new romantics - taylor swift and travis kelce

The moment you heard the news

-Taylors Pov-

"what do you mean he sued for custody? He doesn't have any. That was already settled in England" I rub my temple and head to the other room. I don't want Thea to hear any of this. That's the last thing she needs after what went down in London. She doesn't deserve to go through more shit like this.

"the matter was settled in England, but he can still sue you for custody in the States. And since your primary residence is in New York now, that's probably why he picked that city. We don't have any dates yet, it's all preliminary at this point. But per New York state laws, Thea has been assigned a child advocate lawyer and will need to meet with her as soon as possible" he tells me.

I ask him what kind of lawyer that is. And it's apparently something New York has that is a person who speaks on behalf of the child in family court cases. They don't take a stand on what's best for the child, they only express the child's wishes. Of course there are exceptions to that rule if the child can't express themselves, but that's how it works for the most part. I actually didn't even know that was a thing, but I like the concept of it. it's important to have someone in the courtroom who is being the child's voice. It's after all a matter of the child's best interest, not the parents. At least that's my opinion when it comes to custody cases, what's best for the child. After all the parents were the ones that chose to bring a child into the world, the child didn't choose it. therefore it should be about what the child wants and, more importantly, needs.

"Will Thea need to testify in court?" I ask and bite the inside of my cheek. I don't want to put her through that, but I might not have a choice. "no, not necessarily. They could ask for her testimony but that can be done in chambers with the judge. No one wants to subject a young child to open court unless you have to. That's also what the child advocate lawyer helps with, keeping the child from having to testify" he says and I'm a bit relieved.

"that's good at least. I don't want to subject her to that. the girl has been through too much" I say and rub my temple. This is a headache I didn't want. I was under the impression that the whole matter was settled, but I guess he can still sue apparently. Technically I think he could sue for a modification in the custody order in the UK too, to get some percentage of custody. It's. not like the matter was settled for all eternity with no chance of changing. I wish it was, but that's just not the case. A custody arrangement can always be adjusted.

"you have never told me the full story about what happened. It might be time. it could help your case if we got it into evidence. The most powerful way would be for you to testify it in court, but it could also be a written testimony" he says, and I get nauseous just with the thought of telling someone what went down. Sure I've told bits and pieces to people, but I never laid the whole story out there. It's been too painful, too raw. But if it can help me keep full custody, I'll have to bite the bullet and do it.

"I guess I can testify if you really need it. it was... he was drinking a lot. And there were bruises and yelling and gaslighting and... it's a long story" It's not something I can share properly over the phone. Some things just need to be said in person.

"how about we arrange a meeting then? I think it might be easier to do this in person" he says, and I agree with him. I don't want to talk about this at all, but it's better in person if I need to talk about it.

We hatch out a few details, among them that we will fly to new York today to meet with the child advocate lawyer sooner rather than later. It's better to just get it done and out of the way, maybe that way the trial will come sooner rather than later. The faster we can get this mess handled the better. I don't want to dwell longer in it than I absolutely have to.

Hanging up the phone I slide down against the wall and rest my head in my hands. I thought I was safe; I thought the matter was settled and that joe didn't care enough to try to fight it. after all he didn't even bother to show up at the first custody hearing. But now things are changing, and I have to do everything I can to protect my little girl. Even if that means opening wounds, I will rather leave closed.