And Now My Own Update

As most of you know by now (thank you again to my lovely April for updating the blog for me; you know I love you, right?), Hannah did not have to testify yesterday-thank you to whomever was Up There watching out for that sweet girl! It was very, very bizarre, I tell you that, the whole thing. It was like some kind of auction, with bidding and negotiations and a lot of back-and forth until a reasonable agreement was reached by all.

So this is where it stands now: In exchange for reduced bail (so he will most likely be getting out today or tomorrow), he agreed to waive the preliminary hearing, as well as agreed that when he is bound over to District Court, there will be a third felony charge as well (we were originally told there would be three charges, but for some reason they only charged him with the two; after talking with Hannah the prosecutor said there should, in fact, be three). He is on house arrest, only able to go to work and home, but as an added layer of protection there will be a No Contact Order in place that applies to all five of us. I was quite impressed with the fact that even though he is supposed to be only at work or home, the judge specified that the Monday and Friday AA meetings were "mine," as well as addressed his supporters in the courtroom by saying, very sternly, "I would not expect to hear of any kind of retaliation against the victim's mother, nor of any kind of third-party contact. There will be no messages relayed to her through the plaintiff via any of you." I thought his gesture was very kind, and there was one person in particular there whom could really cause problems-with any luck, this isn't going to happen now. (As an aside, I would hope that after having gone to the particular meeting for 6+ years, those people know me well enough to know that once I am not duty-bound to be on my best behavior, they had probably best keep their mouths shut. Just sayin').

He will go to his plea hearing in District Court on the 15th, at which he will likely plead Not Guilty. They will then set a trial date, but even HIS attorney is not anticipating it going to trial. Basically, for him to waive the hearing is a good thing for us for many reasons, not the least of which is that he is basically agreeing that there is probably enough evidence to bind him over to District, which is in effect an admission of guilt. There are whole lot of other steps that will need to be taken between the arraignment and the trial, even if a plea agreement is reached, and though I know the basics, I don't have the energy right this minute to go into it all. Instead, as things occur, I will update you all then.

The best part of this all was that Hannah didn't have to testify; we weren't thrilled about the whole getting out of jail issue, but in the long run, I think it was the best decision. Steve, Janet, Hannah, Jim and I all kind of conferred together and discussed it, and it feels like the right decision to all of us, as well as to the Prosecutor. With hope and just a little bit more luck, my girl will not have to testify at all, and wouldn't that be a blessing?

I did not go back to work yesterday afternoon, I was just-done. Even though I can ill afford it, it felt like the right decision for Hannah and I to just hang together and kind of process things. We went to have a snack, and by then the boys were home from school, and then we gathered up and went to Jacquie and Jim's house for pizza and cake for Hannah's birthday. It was lovely; they are so much like part of our family that it felt like a cozy warm blanket for us to be there. We ate too much and laughed a lot and had this oh-so-great chocolate ice cream cake that Jacquie had baked for Hannah, and it was a really good ending to the day. I think that even though the hearing was on her birthday, the good memories from the day are going to overshadow the bad ones, and what more could I ask for?

More, more, there is SO much more-feelings and perceptions and all sorts of different things, but I am just not up to it. I don't know if it is simply that now we really DO have a lull, the next worst thing is over with, whatever, but I am dragging. Physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, I am broke for the moment. I know that each one of you deserve a public thank you, and a huge smack on the lips, but please accept right now that all I have to offer is a simple, heartfelt thank you.