Law and Dating Part Deux

Previously on Law and Dating:
Penelope agrees to meet Cop's friend over a casual bowl of chili at Friend's house. We left off with footsteps coming up the walk.

Thursday 1915

It was just Cop. No cop friend yet. He was coming in his own car. Cop Friend arrives 2 minutes later. He walks in and we shake hands. He is probably 6'2 or 6'3". The first thing I notice is very faded Dad jeans. Oh my GOD--am I really this shallow? What the hell is wrong with me? I date/do men with fashion sense and they are all (and I emphasize ALL) frickin liars. Cop is on his break so we head to the table after some initial chit chat. I guzzle my beer. My friend begins to pummel Cop's Friend with questions. Kids, marriage, life. Cop laughs and comments that friend should be a cop. Cop's Friend tells us about his daughters--19, 23 and 26. Friend says, "you must have started young!" He replies that he did and he just turned 50 (we had gotten some bad intel on his age description from Cop). He explains that he was married 24 years. It comes up that the 26 year old was from a first marriage. He said he was young and his first wife was in trouble (pregnant and later some type of addiction issues). The marriage ended and he got custody in Kentucky. The ex moved to Illinois with the baby and would not let him see her. He tried to reason with his ex and her parents. He had rights and they would not listen. He told us the story that he and his Father drove to Illinois. He had a key to the ex's parents' home. His Dad had the car on the hard road. He had to walk down a long drive. He turned the key and opened the door. He forgot about the 2 little dogs. Miraculously, they did not bark. He walked to the baby's room. She was not in her crib. He crept down the hall to his ex's room. The baby was in bed with her. He picked up the baby and the ex never woke. He slipped out of the house and started to run. His daughter woke up and never cried. He said she just stared at him. He described her looking at him in the eyes as she bounced up and down while he ran to the car. I was speechless. They got past the state line and got the baby home safely. His phone was ringing as he walked in the door. It was his ex's Dad. In the end, he raised the little girl. Her mother (note lower case) only made an effort to see her 2 times in the last 25 years. I listen to this story and I feel really bad for focusing on his bad jeans.

To Be Continued...