Chapter 9 - The Draft Agreement
Naomi walked me through every page.
The temporary stipulation proposed:
No finding that either parent was unfit.
No permanent custody determination.
Six-month informal separation.
Perry’s primary weekday residence with Constance.
Both parents retain joint legal custody.
Constance receives delegated school/medical authority.
Winslet:
Alternating weekends Thursday–Monday.
Wednesday dinner.
Additional time by agreement.
Reid:
Tuesday/Thursday evenings.
One overnight weekly at Constance’s home.
Alternating weekends opposite Winslet.
Essentially:
Perry lived with Grandma.
Parents visited around work.
Why?
The memo said:
Stability during parental transition.
What transition?
A marital separation Reid had not disclosed.
Then after six months:
Review.
Potential divorce filing.
Potential custody petition.
No guarantee status quo controls future court outcome.
But practically, courts often consider stability and established caregiving arrangements.
Reid knew that.
Comment to attorney:
If Perry is thriving at Mom’s for six months, Winslet can’t realistically demand an abrupt change without looking self-interested.
There.
Not legally guaranteed.
Strategically useful.
Then another:
She’ll never agree if we call it custody before the meeting.
I stared.
There was no misunderstanding.
Then Martin Vale, the attorney who drafted, gave his own statement later.
He believed Reid had already discussed separation with me.
Reid told him:
“Winslet understands the concept; she hates custody language.”
False.
Vale emailed me documents.
I did not read beyond first pages.
My mistake.
But not consent.
Then Friday appointment.
The plan:
We sit.
Vale explains.
I sign.
Could I have refused once he said custody?
Yes.
Of course.
So why conceal until table?
Pressure.
I would already be there.
Notary.
Reid.
Constance.
Perry likely at school.
A pile of “routine” papers.
Make refusal feel explosive.
That was the mechanism.
No forged signature.
No magical legal trap.
Social pressure.
Legal paperwork.
Status quo.
May you like
And a husband who thought springing separation on his wife in a signing room was somehow less destructive than telling her at the kitchen table.
Chapter Ten was ready.
