WHEN DESTINY WALKED INTO THE LOBBY OF THE hotel, she was surprised to find her mother waiting for her. “I thought you were going to the room,” Destiny said.
“Is everything all right between you and Daniel?” her mother asked, rushing toward her. “You two aren’t fighting, are you? He’s a good man, Destiny. Whatever he has done couldn’t be bad enough to make you overlook everything he did for you today.”
Destiny didn’t want to get into a deep discussion with her mother. “I’m tired, Mom,” she said, continuing on toward the elevators with her mother on her heels. “I thought you’d be in the room by now.”
Stepping on the elevator behind her, her mother said, “I was worried about you and Daniel. What happened when we went for that walk on the beach? Before we left, we were all getting along well and enjoying ourselves, but by the time we got back, everything had changed. What happened?”
Destiny took a deep breath. She’d known her mother long enough to know that she was not going to give up until she got the answers she was seeking. “Do we have to do this now?” she asked. “Can’t you at least wait until we get back to the room?”
Her mother frowned, but she didn’t say anything more as the elevator doors opened and they got off and headed to their room. The silence ended as soon as they entered the room and closed the door behind them. Her mother dropped down on the end of the bed. “Now tell me, what’s going on with you and Daniel?”
Destiny wiped her hands down her face. “The problem is not really me and Daniel. It’s Kenneth. When you-all went walking on the beach with the kids, he lit into me about what happened today and threatened to take custody of KJ and Kenae.”
“What are you talking about?” her mother asked. “Kenneth wants custody of the twins?”
Destiny sat next to her mother. “Yes, he does. Though he hasn’t come right out and said it until tonight, he’d been making noises. It started with his suggestion that the kids live with him during the school week. Now he’s using what happened today as an example of bad parenting on my part.”
Her mother began shaking her head. “I feared something like this might happen, but I thought, or hoped, that Daniel coming here and clearing everything up with the identity theft would put an end to it.”
“Well, Kenneth thinks there’s more to it than the identity theft.”
Her mother sighed. “And he’s right, but there is no way for him to know for sure. You’re right. Kenneth had to have been thinking of getting custody of the kids long before now. He’s just using this incident as an opportunity to do what he’s always wanted. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am.”
“Well, I can’t let him do it. I’m going to call Malcolm, the attorney, in the morning, so I can see where I stand legally.”
“That’s a good idea,” her mother said. “I just wish you hadn’t gotten involved in all of this in the first place. It really wasn’t worth it. I hope you see that.”
Since Destiny agreed with her mother’s assessment, she wasn’t offended by it. “I see it all right, Mom. I made a mistake, a big mistake, one I won’t make again, but it was a mistake. It shouldn’t be something that Kenneth can use to take my kids.”