Just when we thought things were calming down, I received another unexpected phone call.
“Hello, may I speak with Dr. Daniel Currie, please?” the strange voice on the end of the line asked.
“He’s at work now, may I take a message?” I replied.
“What about Dr. Brandon O’Hara?” the voice asked next.
“He’s also at work,” I stated. “May I take a message?”
“To whom am I speaking?” the voice asked again. I was beginning to get annoyed.
“I’m Daniel’s father,” I replied. “I live here too.”
“Then I will leave a message with you,” the voice finally agreed. “My name is Thomas Dalsgaard, Esquire. I was a close personal friend of Kirsten Kennedy and settled her estate. I have just received a communiqué from the late Mrs. Kennedy’s family in Copenhagen about taking custody of her son, Elliot. They’ve only recently learned of his father’s death and that Elliot is now in the care of the individuals I’ve requested to speak with.”
“That is correct,” I replied, “but we were unaware that Mrs. Kennedy had any living relatives. I’m certain this news will be of interest to both of them.”
“I am positive it will be, so I will need one of them to contact me about this matter as quickly as they are able,” he responded. “They can reach me at my office at 555-726-2666. I think it would be in their best interest to not delay doing this, if they hope to have any chance of retaining custody of the young man.”
“Thank you and I will relay your message to them,” I answered. “I expect you’ll be receiving a call back from them before the end of the day.”
“Thank you for your kind assistance with this matter, Sir. Good day.” he added, before he hung up.
As soon as that call was disconnected, I called Danny’s cell phone and left a message.
“Danny, it’s dad. Call me as soon as you can. It’s kind of an emergency.”
I hung up and waited for him to return my call. About fifteen minutes later, the phone rang.
“Dad, it’s Danny. What’s wrong?” he wanted to know.
“I just received a call from an attorney claiming he’s received some correspondence from Elliot’s mother’s relatives in Denmark,” I told him. “He says they are inquiring about taking custody of Elliot and he says he needs to speak with you or Brandon as soon as possible. I’m afraid it sounds as if they might want to take custody of Elliot.”
“Damn, I don’t like the sound of that,” Danny stated. “I’ll call him back right away and see what’s up. What’s the contact information?” I gave it to him.
“I was afraid this might happen eventually,” Danny admitted, “although I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. We’ll talk this over with Elliot too and then do whatever is best for him.”
“I knew that’s what you’d say,” I agreed. “Just let me know what you find out.”
“I will, Dad, and thanks,” Danny added, before hanging up.
Danny immediately called the number I’d given him.
“Law offices of Anderson, Dalsgaard, Jones and Weber,” the receptionist answered.
“Hello. I’m returning a call from Mr. Thomas Dalsgaard,” Danny stated.
“May I ask who’s calling?” she responded, so Danny gave her his name. “Please hold and I’ll see if he’s available.”
Danny stayed on the line, while he waited to be connected. He was mildly annoyed by the music being played, which was provided so he wouldn’t think he’d been disconnected. He thought it was too upbeat and cheery, considering the dire reason he was calling. After a brief delay, a man picked up.
“Dr. Currie, this is Thomas Dalsgaard. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly,” he stated.
“Well, my father said it was urgent and concerned Elliot,” Danny replied. “Something about a letter from his mother’s relatives.”
“Yes, that is correct,” the lawyer confirmed. “I received a communiqué from Mrs. Kennedy’s uncle. In it he states that he is planning to arrive in this country on the nineteenth of this month and expects to take custody of the boy at that time. He is planning to return to Denmark with him.”
“Whoa! That’s just a few days from now!” Danny exclaimed. “Not only that, but he’s making demands, so this isn’t just an inquiry into Elliot’s status.”
“That is the way the letter is worded,” the lawyer confirmed.
“Okay, then I’ll need you to contact my lawyer and transmit a copy of that letter to him, so he can advise me of my options,” Danny informed him.
He then he gave Mr. Dalsgaard all of Uncle Steve’s information.
“I will do that immediately,” Mr. Dalsgaard agreed.
Danny hung up and called Uncle Steve’s office. Even though he felt this was an emergency, Danny had to hold for a couple of minutes, until he was connected.
“Uncle Steve, it’s Danny. Have you heard that Brandon and I have taken in a boy?” he asked.
“I have,” Steve confirmed. “Your father mentioned it the last time we spoke.”
“I’m glad he told you,” Danny agreed, “but we’ve run into a snag.”
“What type of snag?” Steve asked. “I take it this must be of a legal nature concerning custody of the boy? Has someone raised objections because you and Brandon are gay?”
“No, it’s not that, but we may lose custody,” Danny confirmed. “I just got a call from Elliot’s mother’s former lawyer. He claims that Elliot’s mother’s uncle from Denmark sent him a letter stating he will be here on the nineteenth to pick Elliot up. He’s planning to take Elliot back to Denmark with him. I gave the lawyer your information and told him he should contact you and fax a copy of the letter to your office.”
“That’s fine, Danny. Just don’t panic,” Steve told him. “I will get in touch with the other lawyer and go over the letter. Once I’ve heard what the other attorney has to say and have had an opportunity to study the letter, I’ll let you know what you’re facing. Just stay calm.”
“I know and thanks, Uncle Steve,” Danny agreed. “I’d hate to lose custody of Elliot, especially now. He’s been making good progress lately and I’d hate to see that negated by creating more upheaval in his life.”
“I understand, Danny, and we’ll take care of this,” Steve assured him, before he hung up.
Danny waited until he got home from the hospital to pull Brandon aside, so he could tell him about what was happening. He knew this was going to be a tough conversation, because Brandon had begun to dote on Elliot like a mother hen and was as attached to the boy, as any new parent would be.
“Brandon, Dad got an interesting call from a lawyer today who used to represent Elliot’s mother,” Danny explained. “Apparently, she has family living in Denmark and they want to take Elliot.”
“What! Why are they just coming forward now?” Brandon wanted to know. “His father died almost a month ago!”
“I spoke with the lawyer and he mentioned that they just found out about Elliot’s Dad,” Danny explained. “I had him send the letter to Uncle Steve and he’s going to look into this and see what our options are.”
“Well that’s simple. They can’t have him?” Brandon choked out, emotionally. “Elliot’s never mentioned them, so does he even know who they are? We can’t just let them take him to another country to live with strangers.”
“Brand, they’re his family. If they press the issue, I don’t know what we’ll be able to do. That’s why I called Uncle Steve, as soon as I got off the phone with the other lawyer,” Danny stated. “I know you’ve grown attached to Elliot and so have I, but we need to do what’s in his best interest. Let’s give Uncle Steve time to look into it, before we get too upset.”
Danny moved closer to Brandon and wrapped his arms around him. He knew his partner was upset and wanted to calm him down. Slowly, Brandon began to respond.
“I know you’re right,” Brandon acknowledged, “but after all he’s been through it’s just not fair this has to happen. He’s finally starting to act like a normal kid again and I don’t want him to suddenly regress. We can’t just let them take him now, he’s our son.”
Brandon began to choke up again, so Danny tightened his embrace. He continued to hold him until Brandon eventually calmed down.
“Look, let’s let the lawyers do their jobs and see what happens,” Danny suggested. “Right now you need to calm down, for Elliot’s sake. If he sees you this upset, think how it’s going to make him feel. Dad’s handled a lot of adoptions and had to deal with other relatives, so let’s go talk to Pop and Dad, so we can hear what they have to say.”
Brandon took a moment to regain control of his emotions, and then they came and sat down with Jake and me, so the four of us could talk this out. Over the next few minutes, we went over what Danny had done already and then I thought of something else.
“Did you call your Aunt Sally and let her know what was going on?” I asked.
“No, I hadn’t thought about that,” Danny replied. “I take it you think I should?”
“Actually, I do,” I confirmed. “Elliot is technically a ward of the state and under Sally’s jurisdiction. He’s been placed with you, as foster parents, but I think anything pertaining to his legal status will need to go through her. You need to call her and tell her what you know.”
“Okay, I can do that,” Danny agreed. “Do you think it would be all right to call her at home? I’m sure she’s probably left work already.”
“Yes, in this case I don’t think she’ll mind,” I informed him.
Danny took out his phone an immediately dialed her number.
“Aunt Sally, this is Danny,” he began. “Something’s come up and I thought you should know about it.”
“Is there a problem?” she asked. “I hope nothing has happened.”
“Oh, no, Aunt Sally,” Danny began, “nothing has happened on this end, it’s just that we’ve heard from Elliot’s mother’s lawyer. He received a letter from her Danish uncle and he thinks he’s coming over here to take custody of Elliot.”
“Not unless it’s been cleared by my office,” she stated, forcefully. “I don’t care if he is related. What I care about is that he’s fit to handle the responsibility of raising a child. What have you done so far?”
“Well, I’ve called Uncle Steve and he’s going to handle working with the other lawyer for us,” Danny explained. “He’s going to speak with him and see what information he can provide and then he’ll look at the letter the uncle sent. He said he’d get back to me after he’s had a chance to make his calls and let me know where things stand.”
“I’m glad you are letting Steve handle this,” Sally confirmed. “That was a wise move on your part. Once you hear back from him, give me a call and tell me what he says. I’m going to stay on top of this situation and nothing will happen without my approval.”
“Thank you, Aunt Sally,” Danny stated. “That makes me feel a lot better now.”
The call ended shortly thereafter and Danny explained to Brandon, Jake and me what she’d said. At least it gave us another ally who would be looking out for our interests too, as well as Elliot’s.
We were all nervous wrecks at dinner, but we didn’t want to say anything and risk upsetting Elliot until we had a better handle on things. We all tried to make everything seem as normal as possible, but I’m not sure how effective we were. Elliot didn’t seem suspicious, but I was convinced he sensed something was wrong. He just didn’t know if it had to do anything with him.
Later that evening, Steve called Danny back on his cell phone.
“Danny, I have some news for you,” he began. “Elliot’s great-uncle will be here on the nineteenth, but he’d like to speak with Elliot before then. He just wants to have a conversation with the boy, so he can introduce himself and get to know his nephew. The uncle speaks English fairly well, but he does have a very thick accent. I just need to know if you’d mind if I gave him your number?”
“No, I don’t mind. Go ahead, Uncle Steve. You can give him our home number,” Danny agreed, “and we’ll prepare Elliot for his call. Do you know when we should expect it?”
“No, but I’ll get that information from him and then pass it on to you, after I call to give him your phone number,” Steve answered. “Would it be all right if I tried to set it up for tomorrow around this time?
“That would be fine,” Danny agreed. “Thanks, Uncle Steve. You’re the best.”
When Danny hung up, he went to find Brandon, Jake and me again, so he could tell us what he’d discovered. Once he’d filled us in, Brandon and Danny went to find Elliot, so they could break the news to him. They found their foster son in the family room and took him to their room to chat.
“Elliot, I got some news today and I really don’t know how to break it to you, so I’m just going to get to the point. We’ve learned that your mother has relatives that live in Denmark and they’re interested in raising you,” Danny told him. “They’d like to speak with you first, so they can introduce themselves and see how you’re doing. They’ll be calling sometime in the next couple of days.”
Elliot looked confused and slightly panicked.
“You said I wouldn’t have to leave you,” he began, and he started to tense up. “Please don’t make me go.”
“Elliot, we’re not going to let you go anywhere, unless you decide it’s what you want,” Brandon replied, trying to reassure him.
“Did you know your mother had relatives in Europe?” Danny asked next.
“Yes, my dad mentioned them a few times,” Elliot confirmed, “but they never came to visit or anything. I’ve never met them and I don’t even think they speak English.”
“I understand your uncle does speak English,” Danny informed him, “and he’s the one who’s going to call to speak with you.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Elliot whined, while looking very concerned. “I don’t want him trying to convince me to come live with him. He’s a total stranger. What would I do over there? I can’t even speak Spanish, and I’ve been taking that in school, so how am I going to get by in Danish?”
Danny and Brandon sat down on either side of their son. Reassuringly, Brandon put his arm around Elliot’s shoulder.
“As of right now, you’re not going anywhere,” Danny told him. “Your uncle just wants to call so he can ask how you’re doing. Just talk to him and be honest about how you feel.”
“I don’t like the way this sounds,” Elliot responded. “You said he wants me to live there, so how am I supposed to talk him out of that? I want to stay here with you. You said we were a family.”
That being said, Elliot pulled away and stormed out of the room.
When I heard a door slam upstairs, I jumped up and headed to Danny and Brandon room to discover what had happened. Jesse had reacted the same way, but I told him to stay downstairs. When he said he wanted to see if it was Elliot who had done that, I told him there was nothing he could do, so he should stay put. I suggested it would be best for him to let things calm down first, before he went upstairs.
When I reached Danny and Brandon’s room, they both looked upset. They quickly told me about their conversation with Elliot and how he had reacted. They asked if I thought they should go talk to him again, but I suggested it would be best to leave him alone and let him come to terms with it on his own. They could go find him later and make sure he was all right, but for now it was best to give him a little time alone.
Steve called back a short time later and confirmed we would be receiving a call the very next evening. Danny and Brandon then sat down and determined how they wanted to handle the call and ran their thoughts by me. I agreed with what they mentioned and didn’t see any problems with what they had planned to do. I did warn them that if Elliot’s relatives wanted to push the issue, it could end up being decided in the courts.
Everyone seemed to be on edge for the rest of the evening and the whole next day. I’m sure there was a myriad of thoughts going through their minds, with each of them trying to think of a way to prevent this from happening. However, no one came up with any miraculous plan, so things were going to go ahead as they agreed.
All through dinner, Danny and Brandon were on edge, and it continued as they waited for the call. The phone rang almost exactly on the agreed upon time. At least one thing was obvious – the caller was very punctual.
“Hello,” Danny answered.
“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Daniel Currie,” the voice said.
“This is he,” Danny responded.
“Good Evening. My name is Soren Hagen, Elliot Kennedy’s great-uncle,” he informed Danny. “My wife and I only recently learned about his father’s death, and as we are the closest living relatives, we want Elliot to come live with us.”
“Well, Mr. Hagen, I understand your concern and interest in this matter,” Danny replied, “but we have discussed this matter with Elliot and he is not eager to move to another country, especially one where he doesn’t know anyone or speak the language. Unless you convince him otherwise and can prove to us that this would be in Elliot’s best interest, we are willing to fight this in the courts to keep it from happening.”
“We’re his family and he will learn the language,” Mr. Hagen said. “I am certain he will be perfectly happy, after a period of adjustment.”
“That might be the case if he was motivated, but after all he’s been through I’m not sure such a radical change would be so easy for him to adjust to,” Danny challenged. “From what he’s told us, he certainly hasn’t shown any interest in leaving the country.”
“May I speak with the boy then, to hear what he has to say?” Mr. Hagen requested.
“Certainly. If you’ll wait a moment then I’ll go get him for you,” Danny replied.
He set down the phone and then walked into the other room to find Elliot.
“Elliot, your great uncle is on the phone and would like to speak with you,” Danny informed him.
“Do I have to talk to him?” Elliot replied.
“I think you owe him at least that much of a courtesy. After all, he is your closest living relative and that has to account for something,” Danny answered.
Reluctantly, Elliot got up and walked over to the phone.
“Hello,” he said.
“Elliot, this is your great-uncle, Soren Hagen. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Elliot answered politely, but curtly.
“I am happy to hear that. I would like to meet you, if you don’t mind,” Mr. Hagen stated.
“I’d like to meet you too,” Elliot said, “but I don’t want to come live with you.”
“Why is that? Mr. Hagen asked.
“Because I’m an American and everything I know is here,” Elliot answered. “I don’t want to move to another country to live with people I don’t know.”
Mr. Hagen didn’t respond, but Elliot could hear him speaking to someone in the background in a strange sounding language.
“I’m sorry for the delay,” Mr. Hagen said a short time later, “but your Great-Aunt Gretta wanted to know what we were discussing. I stopped to share our conversation.”
“She doesn’t speak English?” Elliot asked.
“No, I am sorry. She does not,” Mr. Hagen answered.
“So if you weren’t home, I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to, would I?” Elliot asked next. “What would I do when you were at work or what if there was some kind of emergency?”
“Everything will be fine. Once you learn Danish you will be able to speak with her.” Mr. Hagen answered, but Elliot wasn’t moved by that argument.
“Who knows how long that would take,” Elliot replied. “What would I do whenever you weren’t around then?”
Mr. Hagen did not respond immediately.
“Yes, I see that would be a problem,” Mr. Hagen finally agreed, after a short pause, “but I am certain we will work something out.”
“I was wondering, what type of job do you have?” Elliot asked, switching gears.
“I am in the Danish National Air Squadron,” Mr. Hagen replied. “I used to fly helicopters, and still do on occasion, just not as frequently as I used to.”
“Sounds like fun,” Elliot answered, without much enthusiasm.
“I enjoy it,” Mr. Hagen told him.
“If you’re in the Air Force, doesn’t that mean you go away for weeks at a time?” Elliot pressed.
“Here, my unit is part of the Navy, and yes, I do have to go away sometimes,” Mr. Hagen agreed. “However, as I said, we will work something out. We can discuss this further when I arrive.”
“So you’re coming here then?” Elliot asked, somewhat startled.
“Yes, I will be coming to visit on the nineteenth day of this month.” Mr. Hagen said next. “Will that meet with your approval?”
“But that’s only a couple of days from now!” Elliot stated, as a slight chill ran up his spine.
“Yes, this is true,” Mr. Hagen confirmed, “but I am anxious to meet you and make sure you are all right after your ordeal.”
“I’m fine,” Elliot insisted. “It’s been a few weeks now and I’m settled here.”
“That may be, but I would still prefer to see that for myself,” Mr. Hagen informed him. “Would that be all right for you?”
“I guess so,” Elliot answered
“Excellent!” Mr. Hagen concurred. “Very well, my boy, I will see you in a few days. Now, will you put Mr. Currie back on the phone?”
Elliot didn’t answer him, but called out instead.
“Danny, he wants to talk to you again.” Danny came back and took the phone.
“This is Danny,” he stated.
Mr. Hagen then told Danny about his travel arrangements, including when he would arrive on our doorstep. After hearing him out, Danny agreed his plans would be acceptable.
Once he hung up, Danny and Brandon went to find Elliot. They discovered him in the family room, alone. He was sitting at the piano, in the dark.
“Well, what did you think?” Danny asked him.
“I think I’d hate living there, but he wasn’t listening,” Elliot said. “His wife doesn’t even speak a word of English. He had to speak gibberish to her just to let her know what we were talking about.”
“Well, if you move there,” Brandon stated, “I’m sure you’d pick up the language in no time.”
“That’s not the point,” Elliot responded, forcefully. “Haven’t I been through enough? If he wanted to help me, then why doesn’t he leave me alone and not take me away from my country? If I go over there, I’ll be like one of those foreign exchange students we have at school, except I’ll be the one standing out instead.
“His wife doesn’t speak any English,” he continued, “and Uncle Soren is in the Navy. He is gone for weeks at a time, so what will I do? I’ll go nuts talking to myself.”
“Well, you’ll just have to try your hardest to learn Danish then,” Danny told him.
Elliot’s shoulders sagged.
“It sounded awful. All I could think about were those old movies about the Vikings,” Elliot whined.
“Yeah, that is one of the countries the Vikings came from,” Danny agreed.
“Great! They’ll be coming to get me in one of those wooden boats with the dragon’s head on the front,” Elliot scoffed, sarcastically. “I can picture the horns on their helmets already.”
Danny and Brandon had to choke back their laughter.
“Better work on your upper arm strength then,” Brandon teased. “You’ll probably have to man the oars and row.”
Elliot was not amused.
“And you’d better hope your Aunt isn’t a big fat lady,” Danny added, “because if she is and starts to sing, it will be all over for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elliot asked, with a frown.
“Well, you must know the old expression that ‘it’s not over until the fat lady sings,’ like in the opera,” Danny explained.
“Real funny,” Elliot groaned.
Danny and Brandon walked behind Elliot and place their hands on his shoulder.
“Elliot, we’re only teasing you. You need to relax a little,” Danny told him. “If you meet with your uncle and decide you don’t want to go, then we’ll fight it out in the court, if we have to. We won’t give up easily.”
“Really? You promise?” Elliot asked.
He was looking hopeful for the first time since hearing about his uncle’s letter.
“Absolutely. You have to remember there’s a lot more people on your side, not just Brandon and me,” Danny assured him. “You also have your grandfather, Papa Jake, Uncle Steve and Aunt Sally too. We’ll do everything we can to keep you here, if that’s what you want.”
After hearing this, Elliot gave each of them a hug, but this time he held on just a little longer than usual.
The timing of this unexpected visit couldn’t be worse. Mr. Hagen would be showing up the weekend before Thanksgiving, which would throw a monkey wrench into a bunch of other things we had to attend to. Now, we’d have to fit in a visit from our Danish sailor and we weren’t even sure how long he’d be staying.
I was just hoping his appearance wouldn’t ruin our holiday. If Mr. Hagen decides he wants to try to take Elliot back with him, it would put a serious damper on our holiday spirit. With so many other family members coming home we can’t just cancel our plans. We are committed to it. I’d hate to spoil the holiday for them, so this is quite a dilemma.
There were just two days until Mr. Hagen arrived and everyone was walking around the house like they were stepping on eggshells. No one wanted to say anything about it, but it was the dark cloud looming over our heads and basically the only thing on anyone’s mind. The closer we got to his arrival time, the tenser the situation became. We all felt like over-stretched rubber bands, ready to snap at any second.
Elliot was a bundle of nerves and emotions. Even though Danny and Brandon had promised they’d fight to keep him here, he was still afraid something would go wrong and he’d end up spending the rest of his teenage years in Copenhagen. He started spending a lot of time by himself. The stress had shaken him to the core. He even feared that if we asked him about his feelings, he wouldn’t be able to hold back his pent up emotions and would breakdown.
Seeing how Elliot was reacting, Jesse offered to have Elliot sleep with him the final two nights before his uncle arrived. He hoped that might offer him some comfort. After some coaxing, Elliot agreed, but Jesse wondered if it did much good. He said Elliot tossed and turned throughout the night. He was also moaning, and we suspected that was the result of bad dreams he was having. Jesse didn’t get much sleep, but he was just as determined as the rest of us to not turn his back on Elliot in his time of need.
It was torture for each of us as the final few hours, and then the final few minutes counted down. How this would end, none of us knew for certain.