After being told by CPS that I needed to move out of my house for my wife and daughters to be able to move back in, I didn't really know what I should do next. I knew I didn't want my family to have to live at my Mothers house. She lived in a 2 bedroom house that was barely big enough for them as it was.
I had a friend that I had done some remodeling work for that owned a couple of apartments. I asked him if he had anything open and he said he did. I told him that I was getting paid in a few days and I really needed to get out, could he work with me on the deposit? He agreed and allowed me to move in immediately
There goes the bill money
When I moved into my own apartment, I also moved out half of our income. We had just bought a used car and there was no way my wife was going to be able to afford it now. The way I figured it, she was about a thousand short every month as a result of my moving out, but what was I supposed to do? They said I had to leave for her to come back, so I did.
I lived in a little one bedroom apartment and cried myself to sleep every night, wondering what I was going to do about this whole thing and not having any real clue.
Christmas break
When my daughters Christmas break rolled around, I got a call from my wife asking me what I was going to do for Christmas. I sarcastically answered that I was going to go to my Mothers, then told her I was not doing anything but sitting there. She asked me if I had gotten anything for my daughters, and I told her I had gotten them one present apiece but since I hadn't known if I would see them I hadn't gotten more. She told me she was going to come over after her family Christmas party and bring the girls to see me to exchange gifts as they had gotten me something and wanted to give it to me.
My wife and daughters came over to see me, we exchanged gifts, laughed and had a good time. They went home and we didn't think anything else about it.
Dinner and a movie
A few days after Christmas my wife called me up and asked if I wanted to come over and watch a movie with the girls and eat dinner. She was making homemade chicken and mashed potatoes. I said that sounded great and I would be there.
I went to her house and had a great night. My youngest daughter was walking around with a little notepad acting like a waitress and we all had a great time.
The aftermath
When Christmas break was over, CPS showed up at my daughters school again to question them. Seems my Mother realized there was a chance we would see each other during Christmas and had filed yet another anonymous complaint with the agency. I had never taught my daughters to lie to anyone in authority, so when they were asked if they had seen me they just told them yes, not realizing that it was going to result in them being torn from our household.
Child custody hearing
Two days after my girls went back to school, I got a call from the friend of the court telling me I had to appear for a Temporary Child Custody hearing the next day. When I arrived at the hearing, my Mother was talking to the CPS worker as if they were best friends. My wife and I sat down at the table and the Hearing officer called things to order.
The very first question her asked was if it was true that my wife and kids had come over to my house during Christmas and if I had went to my wife's house for dinner and a movie. We both answered that it was true but pointed out that nothing had happened that would have been a concern.
The hearing officer told us that I had violated my parole order by having contact with my family, and that my wife had failed to protect my children by allowing them to have contact with me. My parole officer had effectively taken my rights as a father simply by signing a paper with no authority. Now the hearing officer was telling us that as a result, he was now going to take custody officially.
The Hearing Officer told us that our daughters were being picked up from the school as we spoke and that they were going to be placed with my Mother in the case of my daughters. My step daughter was going to be placed with her father in Ohio, never mind that she barely even knew him.
He had already made his decision before we even had the hearing.
Do this to get them back
My wife was crying and I was in shock as the Hearing Officer explained the requirements that would result in our having our custody returned. He had a list of classes and requirements that I barely heard at the time, but we received a written order after the hearing.
Come to find out, it didn't matter what we did, we were not going to get the girls back once they were taken.
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Please Read...
I will be continuing this narrative until I finish telling what happened. I want to be clear, my wife and I did argue, and I was drinking and using drugs when this whole thing happened, but I did not use in front of the children. They were not physically or sexually abused, and the arguments they heard were not physical, or really more aggressive than what you might see on T.V.
I do not claim to have been a saint, however, The CPS agency was aggressive in how they dealt with our case and had a predetermined outcome planned when they began the case against us. My Mother planned on having custody, and that is exactly what happened.
You can read the first chapter of this story --HERE-- and the second --HERE--