After drop-off, my son’s teacher asked, “Why is your son absent today?”

Naelli told me that Maya seemed different in the recent sessions. She was taking more responsibility for what happened instead of making excuses or blaming other people for her choices. Theo still acted uncomfortable during the visits but he was starting to warm up to his mom a little bit.

He would answer her questions about school and sometimes even smile at something she said. I had mixed feelings about Maya being more involved in Theo’s life again. Part of me was still furious about what she did and wanted to keep her away from him forever.

But I knew I had to focus on what was actually best for Theo, not on my anger. If having a relationship with his mom was good for him I needed to support that, even if it was hard for me. Uncle Mike’s construction company had to deal with a separate civil case that state labor regulators brought against them.

The company decided to plead no contest to multiple labor violations instead of fighting it in court. They got hit with a $75,000 fine and had to operate under government monitoring for 2 years. The company also had to create and follow strict age verification and safety rules for every single worker they hired.

Uncle Mike managed to keep his business running but barely. The other families whose kids worked there were filing their own lawsuits to get money for damages. I thought about doing the same thing but Roxanna told me to wait until after the criminal case was completely finished.

The 3-month review hearing happened in family court with both sides presenting updates. The judge looked through compliance reports from CPS, therapy progress notes from Sophia, and paperwork showing that Maya completed her parenting classes and was going to counseling. The judge decided to extend my sole physical custody of Theo for another 3 months but the judge also said Maya could increase her supervised visits from 2 hours per week to 4 hours per week because Theo seemed more comfortable with her now.

Maya’s attorney stood up and asked the judge to allow unsupervised visitation. The judge said no and explained that more progress needed to happen first. The judge also wanted to hear what Theo thought about spending unsupervised time with his mom before making that decision.

Theo and I started building new routines at home that made both of us feel safer. Every day after school we did homework together at the kitchen table where I could see him and help if he needed it. I put a list on the refrigerator with names and numbers of people who were not allowed to contact Theo under any circumstances.

We came up with a safety word that Theo could use if he ever felt uncomfortable or unsafe, even if he was with someone he knew. We practiced different scenarios like what to do if someone tried to pick him up from the school without permission or if anyone contacted him in a way that felt wrong. Going through these practice situations helped Theo feel more in control.

He knew exactly what steps to take if something bad happened again. The routines also helped me worry less because I knew Theo had concrete tools to protect himself. Derek and Uncle Mike went to court 7 weeks after I found Theo at that construction site and formally accepted their plea deals.

Derek got three years of probation, mandatory counseling sessions, 200 hours of community service, and a permanent ban from any job that involved supervising children. Uncle Mike got two years of probation, big fines that I didn’t know the exact amount of, mandatory training about following labor laws, and a rule that he could never employ anyone under 18 years old. Both of them had to pay parts of Theo’s therapy costs as payback for what they did.

The sentences felt too light to me and I wanted them to face harder consequences for hurting my son. But Roxanna explained that first-time offenders who plead guilty usually get deals like this instead of jail time. At least they had criminal records now and couldn’t do this to another kid.

Hassan reached out again and invited me to join the district’s school safety advisory committee. The committee had parents, school administrators, and security staff who all worked together on making student protection better. I said yes to joining because I found that putting my anger into preventing future problems helped me deal with what happened.

Theo’s teacher also started coordinating with me about ways to support Theo in class without making it obvious to the other kids. She gave him extra time on assignments when he was having a rough day and let him take breaks if he needed to step out of the classroom for a minute. On a quiet Tuesday evening 7 weeks after I found Theo at that construction site we sat at the kitchen table working on a model dinosaur together.

Theo had picked it out using reward points he earned in therapy for making progress. He talked about his day at the school and told me about a funny thing that happened at lunch. Then he looked up from the tiny plastic bones he was connecting and asked if we could go to the natural history museum on the weekend.

I said yes and watched him carefully fit the pieces together with his small hands. Life wasn’t fixed and probably never would be completely. Theo still woke up with nightmares sometimes and I still felt anxious whenever he was out of my sight for too long.

We still had therapy appointments and legal meetings on the calendar. But right now in this exact moment Theo was safe and healing and home where he belonged. The school systems that failed us were getting better and the people who hurt him were facing real consequences.

We were building a new normal that felt more secure than before. It wasn’t a perfect ending but it was a real one and that was enough. So yeah that’s the whole thing—nothing fancy just life being weird again.