Family Ties

 

 Family Ties

 

So, while Claudette was occupied with her plans on destruction and mayhem aimed at her friends, they were going about their lives in a normal everyday fashion. They were busy with ordinary things, dealing with old family issues that had recently resurfaced, and simply "living" without a clue about what she was up to. Mainly because they hadn't gotten together as a group since the last time at Alexis' house when they planned this year's vacation getaway, and Claudette began to put her own plans in motion.  That was several weeks ago.

Of course they had all spoke to each other several times a week since then, as was their custom. They were after all...best friends and that's what best friends do. Bonnie had dropped by one weekend to show off her new grand baby, and Alexis had met her for drinks one evening and they'd laughed and chatted about a shopping trip to buy a few new things for their trip. All of this took place as if nothing was amiss.

She had not purposefully avoided Helena, but it just turned out that they'd had minimal contact mostly because Helena was dealing with another of Myranda's crises. Which was fine with her. And Claudette had played her role to perfection; never once in the past several weeks had she let anything slip, or allowed her true feelings to surface while in their presence or talking on the phone. Her poker face was set, and to her friends (and her own family) she was nothing less than her usual self.

Bonnie Powell was still gaga over the birth of her newest grand baby. Her daughter Kaycee was exhibiting serious signs of postpartum depression but baby Sterling was flourishing as a newborn. This presented a whole new set of problems on the horizon that Bonnie would have to eventually deal with. Alexis Martin was now officially disentangled from the Vanderberry-Merrick murder case, and her entertainment/special occasion planning business was back on track after the hiccup it suffered from the murder case fallout. And Helena Clayton was preparing to go back into the courts for permanent custody of her grandchildren.

Although Myranda Rice (Helena's former drug addict daughter) was showing signs of remarkable progress in her twelve step program, she still had a long way to go. Helena and her husband were resolved not to allow Palmer Rice's parents/stepparents get custody of Sasha, Kirk and Trey. Both of Palmer's parents had remarried. Steve and Macey Palmer were living a laid back retired lifestyle and three young children did not fit into it. Linda (Palmer's mother) and her husband Barry Major still worked part time and lived a less than sedate lifestyle. They owned a business together that involved a lot of traveling and "entertaining" so neither did they seem a good choice for raising these kids.

But, all eight people were set on making it difficult and were not willing to concede to the other. There had been a lot of name calling,finger pointing and blame assignment from all sides. Financially, either couple could handle it. Everyone was prosperous and financially stable, but of course since Helena and Stanford were the maternal grandparent they automatically assumed they would be the beer suited. And since they also had the best legal connections; they'd probably assumed correct.

It would come down to that of course; the best legal team would win the case for custody. Sadly...no one of the eight adults pursuing this would be considering the children and what was best for them. It had already started out as a pissing contest, and it would end up an enormous ego trip for the "winning" couple and a tremendously tragic outcome for Sasha, Kirk and Trey Rice. No one thought about or considered for a hot minute that these precious children had already suffered enough. They had witnessed and stood by helplessly while their mother went through her own private hell.They had heard whispers about them as a family at school, and at friends houses during sleepovers.

Palmer, Myranda, Sasha, Kirk and Trey Rice. Happier times from the past.

Neither did these grown folks who all thought they knew what was best dream that children could perceive and understand more than they received credit for. It was all about them and in the end the children would be the biggest losers.