Chapter 6
Jessi filed for temporary sole physical custody.
Not because Luca had slapped Fiona.
He had not.
Because he had minimized Wendy’s violence, knowingly allowed Fiona around her after promising otherwise, and appeared incapable of enforcing boundaries where his mother was concerned.
Luca’s attorney pushed back.
One isolated family incident should not eliminate a father from his child’s life.
Correct.
The family court did not automatically grant Jessi everything she requested.
Instead:
Fiona remained primarily with Jessi temporarily.
Luca received professionally supervised visits.
Wendy received no contact pending investigation.
The court ordered both parents to participate in a custody evaluation.
Luca was furious.
“You’re taking my daughter away because of my mother.”
Jessi answered:
“No. I’m asking the court to decide whether you can protect her from your mother.”
“I can.”
“You watched her hit Fiona.”
“I froze.”
“No.”
Luca looked at her.
“What?”
“You complained about the cake.”
Silence.
“You did not freeze. You made a choice.”
That sentence landed.
Then Luca made a mistake.
He said:
“If I had made a big deal out of one slap, Mom could lose everything.”
Jessi stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“No. What does she lose?”
“The centers.”
“Why would your mother hitting her granddaughter at a birthday party affect Little Harbor?”
He realized too late.
Because Wendy was not supposed to be physically correcting children anywhere connected to her ongoing childcare role.
And because the licensing agency was already monitoring whether the corrective agreement was genuine.
The birthday slap was not merely ugly publicity.
It was evidence.
Evidence that Wendy still believed hitting a child was discipline.
Evidence that Luca knew.
Evidence that the family arrangement described to regulators might be false.
Then the agency requested Little Harbor’s annual compliance certifications.
Each year Luca signed:
Founder consultant does not participate in direct supervision, discipline, staffing authority, or child-care decision-making.
Three certifications.
Three years.
Jessi’s attorney asked:
“Did Wendy participate?”
Jessi answered:
“I can prove staffing and childcare decisions in emails.”
The attorney nodded.
“And Luca certified otherwise.”
There was the emerging problem.
Luca’s passivity at the banquet was starting to look different.
May you like
Maybe he had been afraid of Wendy.
Maybe he also had reasons to need her behavior minimized.
