Chapter 8 - GARRICK’S FIRST STORY
Garrick gave sworn answers through counsel.
He admitted:
He had sex with Ainsley once during our separation.
He knew pregnancy timing made paternity possible.
He took a DNA test after Sorrel’s birth.
He received the result.
Then he refused to say what it showed.
Privacy privilege? Genetic result not testimonial privilege. He could invoke relevance objections but court might compel. His attorney sought protective order.
Then Garrick said something else:
“Ainsley and I agreed Bramwell would remain Sorrel’s father regardless of genetics.”
Did they?
Maybe.
He produced one message.
GARRICK:
Whatever the report says, Bram is raising him.
AINSLEY:
That is not entirely your decision.
GARRICK:
It’s what he chose.
AINSLEY:
Without knowing your name.
There.
Not an agreement.
Then Garrick claimed he never told Mother Sorrel was not blood.
Mother’s statement contradicted.
Garrick:
“I told her Ainsley had been with someone else.”
True.
He omitted:
himself.
Mother assumed unrelated man.
Then:
“Did you correct her when she said Sorrel wasn’t Mercer blood?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to expose Ainsley.”
Convenient.
Ainsley was dead for eighteen months.
He still did not correct.
Then:
“Why tell Sorrel they wanted him gone before morning?”
Garrick said:
“I was angry with Bramwell for bringing him after Mom had asked for a smaller adult-only camp.”
That was false.
Invitation included children.
We had copies.
Then:
“I meant Bramwell and Sorrel should leave before breakfast.”
Why?
“To stop conflict.”
He had helped create conflict.
Then the most revealing answer:
“Did you believe Sorrel was entitled to the same family relationship as the other grandchildren?”
He paused.
“My brother raised him. Yes.”
“Did you behave that way?”
“No.”
There.
Then:
“Why?”
Another pause.
“Because looking at him reminded me of what I did.”
That was the first honest thing he said.
Sorrel was not the mistake.
Garrick’s shame was.
He had treated the child as evidence.
Then court ordered limited disclosure of the old DNA test because Garrick’s own testimony placed it at issue and Sorrel’s medical background was relevant.
The lab requested ten business days.
No instant result.
Good.
Then Mother’s visitation lawyer tried to separate:
Whatever Garrick did, Eudora had her own relationship with Sorrel.
True.
They produced photographs.
Mother teaching him to fish.
Mother at preschool graduation.
Mother holding him after Ainsley’s funeral.
I hated seeing them.
Because they were real.
She had held my son while I could barely stand.
Then later she collapsed his tent and called him less real.
May you like
Both existed.
The court would not let me choose only one set of photographs.
