firmly.
Mateo looked toward Julian. He didn’t cry. He didn’t raise his voice. In his quiet, four-year-old voice, he said:
“Daddy, you told me not to tell anybody about the lady because Mommy would get mad.”
The entire courtroom became still.
Julian’s expression changed instantly.
It was an unexpected statement from a young child, and I hadn’t even known that Julian had said anything like that to him.
The judge looked directly at Mateo. “Your dad asked you to keep that a secret?”
“Yes,” Mateo nodded. “He said if I told the judge I wanted to live with him, I’d get the car. And Mommy could visit us later.”
Sophia began quietly crying. “I don’t want a new mommy. I just want my mommy.”
Julian tried to respond, but his attorney placed a hand on his arm and encouraged him to remain seated while
