Previously…
– After being threatened by Loretta, Natalie backtracked and lied that she had not actually seen Loretta at the Moriani home on the night it exploded.
– Claire walked in on Tim and Sonja kissing. She swiftly backed away, unaware that Tim quickly broke off the kiss and told Sonja that he’s not interested in her romantically.
– The preliminary hearing in the custody suit over Gabrielle began.

“Mr. Halston, I’ll have you begin,” the judge says. “Why should I grant temporary custody to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor today?”

A tense hush falls over the small group gathered in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing over Gabrielle’s custody. Travis and Rosie, who are seated behind the wooden respondents’ table with their attorney, Jaimie Thompson, quickly turn over their shoulders. Gabrielle sits in the front row, her little legs barely reaching the edge of the seat.

“I’ll take her,” Claire Fisher whispers, and she begins to gather the child’s things.

“Your Honor, Mr. Fisher and Ms. Jimenez agreed to bring Gabrielle to the courthouse today,” Jaimie Thompson says as she once again rises, “but they’d like to have one of her grandparents sit with her outside while the arguments proceed.”

The white-haired judge nods. “That’s fine by me.”

Across the aisle, at the other table, Molly Taylor looks on longingly as Claire quickly shuffles Gabrielle out the door at the back of the courtroom. Brent places a comforting hand on his ex-wife’s arm.

“Claire won’t go anywhere with her,” Elly Vanderbilt leans over to tell them quietly.

Their other attorney, Conrad Halston, waits for the door to close before he continues. “Your Honor, I’ll keep my remarks brief. Brent and Molly Taylor are the biological parents of Gabrielle Fisher. As you’ve seen in the paperwork that my co-counsel and I filed on their behalf, the DNA test results confirm that without a shadow of a doubt. And yes, there are instances in which biological parents don’t have custody. Sometimes they choose to relinquish it. Sometimes a court makes that decision. But neither of those scenarios is what happened here. This decision was made by a rogue doctor, who admitted as much in a letter before his death.”

Conrad steps out from behind the table, and his slow, confident footfalls punctuate his speech: “While the authorities have yet to determine why that doctor not only told Mr. and Mrs. Taylor that their child had died at birth, but that the child had been a boy, it’s clear that this was all part of a concerted effort to keep them away from their daughter. It’s now been two years. Travis Fisher and Rosie Jimenez decided to foster the little baby who was found abandoned outside the police station, and they’ve done a commendable job. No one is arguing otherwise. My clients don’t need to argue otherwise. This is not a hearing about Mr. Fisher and Ms. Jimenez being unfit guardians. It’s about Mr. and Mrs. Taylor — Brent and Molly — being the natural parents of a child who was stolen from them seconds after she was born.”

Molly and Brent huddle together closely. The pain of being told that their baby had died, and all the grief and agony that followed, show plainly on their faces.

“Gabrielle is a part of their family,” Conrad says. “She has two older brothers, Christian and Caleb, who are now young men thriving as students at King’s Bay University.” He pauses to gesture toward Christian, who sits just behind his parents with his grandmother.

At the opposite table, Travis shifts his weight toward his and Rosie’s attorney and says under his breath, “Caleb isn’t even here. You should mention that when you speak.” Jaimie nods in agreement.

Before Conrad can continue, however, the door at the back of the courtroom again opens. All heads swivel to see Christian’s twin brother standing there, flanked by Jasmine Knight.

“Sorry I’m late,” Caleb says, and both he and Jasmine scurry around the far side of the benches to slide in next to Christian and Paula.

“There’s Caleb now,” Conrad says, offering the judge a knowing tilt of his head. “Even with busy collegiate schedules, both Brent and Molly’s sons made the effort to be here today as their family requests the opportunity to spend time with the daughter and sister with whom they’ve already missed two entire years.”

Christian looks past his twin and mouths to Jasmine, “Thank you.” She simply bows her head at him, both recalling the surprisingly deep discussion about Caleb that they had recently.

“There goes that angle,” Travis whispers, turning forward again in his chair. Rosie reaches over and grasps his hand beneath the table as Conrad continues his argument.

—–

“You’re still here?” Natalie Bishop asks as she enters the kitchen of her home and finds her husband sitting at the round table by the bay window, reading something on his phone while he eats an English muffin.

Spencer Ragan looks up at her and sneers. “Yeah, I’m still here. I’m eating breakfast.”

“I can see that. But you’re usually at the office by the time I get back from dropping off Peter at school.”

“Tim is out because of the custody hearing today,” Spencer explains. “So I have to cover for him.”

Natalie tosses her Hermes bag onto the expansive marble-topped island. “By hanging around the house all morning?”

“By taking one of our authors out to dinner tonight.” He takes a large bite of the English muffin. “You know, actual work.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going out to dinner tonight.”

“I’m telling you now.”

“I have plans, Spencer.”

He rolls his eyes. “What kind of plans?”

“I have my book club!”

“I think me doing my job takes priority over you having wine with the moms from Peter’s school and talking for five minutes about some book Oprah is peddling,” he says.

Natalie reaches for her purse to retrieve her phone. “Maybe Bree is free. She could watch Peter.”

“Or I could do it,” Loretta Ragan announces as she swans into the kitchen. “I’m sure that young man would love an evening with his Mimi.”

Over the island, Natalie and Spencer lock eyes, their expressions conveying apprehension in a way that makes words unnecessary.

“Thanks, but I can probably move the dinner to tomorrow,” Spencer says before taking the final bite of the English muffin.

“Just let me know,” Natalie says. She grabs her purse. “I have to go get ready for yoga.”

Spencer finishes chewing as the sound of Natalie’s footsteps disappear up the stairs. Loretta pulls out a chair to join him at the table.

“I don’t know how she possibly does it,” Loretta says.

Spencer snickers. “Tell me about it. Life must be hard.”

Loretta glances behind herself to ensure that they are alone and then leans forward. “You know, you don’t have to continue this charade, Spencer.”

He wipes his fingers on his napkin. “What do you mean?”

“I could put an end to this farce of a marriage at any time,” she tells him. “Just say the word and you could be free of that wife of yours, with no trouble at all.”

—–

At the courthouse, Conrad returns to the table where Molly, Brent, and Elly are all seated.

“That was great,” Elly quietly tells her co-counsel. Meanwhile, Jaimie Thompson steps out from behind the other table in order to deliver her remarks on Travis and Rosie’s behalf.

“Your Honor, we’re here today to determine only who should care for Gabrielle Fisher in the period between this preliminary hearing and the conclusion of the custody trial, whenever that might be,” Jaimie begins. “In fact, the purpose of the upcoming trial is for both sides to present well prepared cases for why they should receive permanent custody of Gabrielle.”

Travis and Rosie trade nervous looks as they wait for their attorney to continue. Despite all the faith they have in her, today’s proceedings feel painfully out of their hands.

“The chief concern of the court, as well as everyone in this room, should be Gabrielle’s well being,” Jaimie says. “And there is no question that what is best for the child right now is to remain in the stable, loving home that she has known since she was only a few weeks old. My clients are fully sympathetic to the trauma that Brent and Molly Taylor have experienced; however, uprooting Gabrielle today would be prioritizing Mr. and Mrs. Taylor’s interests over Gabrielle’s.”

Across the aisle, Molly bites the insides of her cheeks, recalling Elly and Conrad’s advice not to appear annoyed or frustrated in front of the judge. But Brent offers her a knowing glance as Jaimie proceeds with her argument.

“Travis and Rosie have moved through the foster and adoption process,” she says, “and are close to finalizing their adoption of Gabrielle. That means they have two years’ worth of reports and ratings from the Department of Children, Youth, & Families, showing that they not only meet the standards for raising a child, but that they have exceeded expectations on multiple occasions. We’ve submitted these reports to the court and will be calling their case worker to testify at trial — but this is a home that has been thoroughly evaluated and determined to be not only safe, but beneficial to Gabrielle’s development.”

Jaimie turns back toward the table and appears to have concluded, but after a pause, she faces the judge’s bench again.

“Furthermore, the petitioners have failed to mention a crucial aspect of Gabrielle’s care,” she continues. Travis feels his body tensing, knowing what is coming, and Rosie presses her shoulder against him as she braces.

“Brent and Molly Taylor have been divorced for over a decade,” Jaimie says, “and they do not currently reside together. We’ve seen no plan as to what Gabrielle’s living situation would look like were the court to place her with them temporarily–“

“Objection,” Conrad says firmly, shooting to his feet. “My clients would be more than happy to discuss their living arrangements in depth, should the court require.”

The judge pauses, briefly looking down at this desk, and then states, “Overruled. This is relevant to my decision.”

“Your Honor,” Conrad replies.

“You’ll have an opportunity for rebuttal when the respondents are through,” the judge says, furrowing his brow, and even the hint of irritation is enough to get Conrad to sit back down.

“As I was saying,” Jaimie resumes her statement, “I can only speak on behalf of my clients and the information we have at present. Rosie and Travis have moved in with Rosie’s mother, Juanita Jimenez–” She gestures toward Juanita, seated in the row behind her daughter and Travis. “–who owns and lives in the very house in which Rosie grew up. Gabrielle therefore has the support of a live-in grandparent as well as the only mother and father she has ever known. To rip her out of that situation in the name of being fair to Brent and Molly Taylor — well, it wouldn’t be at all fair to Gabrielle, would it?”

With that, Jaimie returns to the table to join Travis and Rosie, who quietly commend her on a job well done. At the other table, Brent and Molly huddle with Elly and Conrad.

“You have to rebut that argument,” Brent tells Conrad. “I can — I can move into Molly’s house. There’s plenty of room.”

“Say that. That’s exactly what we’ll do,” Molly adds. “Please, Conrad. We need Gabrielle to come home with us today.”

—–

Later, in the hallway outside the courtroom, Rosie helps Gabrielle wriggle her arms into her pink jacket.

“You don’t mind taking her?” Claire asks. “I’m happy to stick with her, if you need to talk with the lawyer or anything.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Travis, who is standing nearby, says. “But I think what we both want right now is some time with Gabrielle. Better than sitting around waiting for the judge’s ruling.”

“A nice walk outside with Mommy and Daddy sounds fun, doesn’t it?” Rosie asks the little girl, who responds with an outsized nod.

“I’ll call you if the judge calls us back sooner than expected,” Claire tells them, and she watches as her son and daughter-in-law lead Gabrielle down the corridor and around the corner, each holding one of her tiny hands.

“I wish there were something more we could do for them,” a voice says, and Claire looks over to see Tim approaching her.

A tight wrap of discomfort closes in around her again. The image of him and Sonja kissing appears in her head, as it has every time that she has had to face Tim since; Claire feels a burning sense of shame at even caring about that kiss.

It’s none of your business, she reminds herself, and yet it hurts even to look at him, knowing how off-base she has been about their recent interactions.

“I wish there were,” she tells him. “But the best thing we can do is be here to support them.” Before he can even respond, she adds, “I should use the ladies’ room before court resumes.”

“Okay,” he says, but she hardly even waits for the word to make it out of his mouth before she is stepping away from him.

Besieged by confusion, Tim watches her go. He genuinely thought they’d been growing closer. Since their trip to Hawaii to track down Sonja, plus all the time they’ve spent together as Travis and Rosie face this custody battle, he really did feel closer to Claire than he had in a long, long time.

Then what happened to change that? he wonders.

—–

Spencer’s eyes go wide. “Are you seriously telling me you would have Peter’s mother… what… killed if I gave the okay?”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Loretta replies. She folds her hands on top of the table. “But this marriage — it’s gone on for far too long.”

“I don’t have much of a choice,” he says as he crumples up the paper napkin and drops it onto his crumb-laden plate. “The whole reason we got married in the first place is because I kidnapped Peter. If I try and divorce Natalie, what’s to say she won’t use that against me?”

Loretta sighs. “That was years ago. Besides, what if I told you I had much stronger leverage over Natalie?”

“What kind of leverage?” He hesitates before asking, “Does this have something to do with the way she came in here accusing you of being at that house where Rosie and Gabrielle were being held…?”

“Oh, I don’t know anything about all that.” Loretta swats her hand through the air dismissively. “Except that it’s even more proof that Natalie is out of her mind. She’s prone to these ridiculous flights of fancy. You can hardly trust her around Peter, isn’t that so?”

Spencer chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment. “She’s not a bad mother. Bad person, bad budgeter, sure. Bad mother? I don’t know.”

“I’ll remember to throw her a parade sometime, then.” Loretta presses her red lips together. “Spencer, you cannot spend your life tethered to this woman. And if you do… well, you’ll go broke before that happens, the way she spends money.”

“I know it isn’t ideal. But Peter’s my priority right now, and this arrangement is doing him a lot of good.”

“We’ll see to it that Peter receives the best care possible,” Loretta says, “but you shouldn’t sacrifice your life to make that happen. Don’t you want to find love — real love, like your father and I had?”

Immediately Spencer’s mind flashes to Elly Vanderbilt, but he swiftly brushes the thought aside, as if Loretta might somehow have a secret camera into his brain and realize what he is thinking about.

“There’s plenty of time left,” he says noncommittally.

“Well, this charade has gone on long enough,” Loretta says as she pushes out her chair. “Consider my offer, Spencer. I mean it.”

She rises and flounces out of the kitchen, her emerald green silk robe billowing in her wake. Spencer remains at the table, turning over Loretta’s proposition in his mind.

—–

Upstairs, Natalie finishes pulling her auburn hair into a ponytail. She smooths her black-and-gray camo-printed yoga outfit, consisting of a sports bra and high-waisted leggings, and gives herself a once-over in the mirror.

Not bad, she thinks as she straightens the ponytail.

She picks up her phone, but there is not yet any response from Bree. The more she thinks about it, the more Natalie reasons that the best course of action would be to bail on her book club and stay home with Peter herself.

“Like I’m going to leave him alone with that lunatic Loretta,” she mutters as she moves to the closet to find a medium-weight hoodie. Confronted by a veritable wall of clothing in the large walk-in closet, Natalie stops and thinks about Sonja Kahele, hidden away in that apartment only a few miles away. Natalie went to the trouble of tailing Tim there so that she could use Sonja’s whereabouts to her advantage — but thus far, she has not figured out exactly how to deploy the information. But having this leg up on Loretta means that Natalie could get ahead of her and finally neutralize the leverage that Loretta has been holding over her for so long.

“Don’t push me, you old bat,” she says under her breath before she focuses on rifling through the many hanging garments before her.

—–

About half-an-hour after the judge calls for a recess, everyone returns to the courtroom, ready to hear his ruling.

“Your rebuttal was great,” Brent tells Conrad as they settle back in behind the table.

Seated just behind them, Paula leans forward and says, “This is all going to work out. Then we can all start to heal. I just know it.”

Molly sits wordlessly, nervously picking at one of her cuticles.

“All rise,” the bailiff announces, and the sound of people standing sweeps through the courtroom. The judge once again takes his post at the bench.

Once everyone is sitting again, the judge addresses the courtroom.

“I’ve taken some time to think about the particulars of this case,” he says, “and I have to say: I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered such a complex custodial dispute in all my years as a judge. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, I have a great deal of sympathy for what you’ve been through and all the time that you’ve missed with Gabrielle. There is unfortunately nothing this court can decide that can give you that time back.”

Rosie flashes an uneasy look at Travis. Does this mean…?

“On the other hand, we have Mr. Fisher and Ms. Jimenez,” the judge continues. “By all accounts, you’ve been stellar guardians, and the very model of what the foster-to-adopt pipeline can and should be. It’s clear that Gabrielle has had a safe, loving home almost in spite of what she was subjected to at the start of her life.”

Travis squeezes Rosie’s hand beneath the table.

“But I also believe that Mr. and Mrs. Taylor deserve the opportunity to spend time and bond with their daughter,” the judge says.

Rosie looks over at Jaimie, hoping that the attorney will be able to offer some magical interpretation of what this means, but Jaimie’s reflection remains unflinching.

“However, I share the concerns raised by the respondents about Mr. and Mrs. Taylor’s living arrangements and the extra upheaval and uncertainty that would cause Gabrielle. Therefore, it is my ruling that Gabrielle is to remain with Mr. Fisher and Ms. Jimenez for the duration of this trial, with once-per-week supervised visitation for Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.”

He raps his gavel to underscore the ruling. Almost instantly, the courtroom goes into a buzz.

“Visitation is a good start,” Elly tells Brent and Molly, who nevertheless look crestfallen.

“She’s staying with us. She’s really staying with us,” Travis says, almost breathless, as he pulls Rosie close to him.

END OF EPISODE 1176

Did the judge make the correct decision?
Will visitation change things for Molly and Brent?
Should Spencer utilize Loretta’s assistance?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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