Part 5. Christmas 2003
By the time Itsuki Gonzales was twelve years old he was receiving national recognition as a prodigy on the piano, but Seth kept him humble and grounded. He would take Itsuki with him as he volunteered at various area Food Banks, helping those in need.
“Did you notice the one thing all Food Bank have in common?”, he asked his son at the end of the day.
“Not really dad, what is it?”
“It’s the faces. Did you see the glow in their beautiful faces when they were finally able to provide for their families? You helped put the glow of hope back in their faces. Don’t ever forget that.”
Mary was attending Graduate School at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to obtain her Masters of Fine Arts degree. After two years at the University of Washington Annie got married to Steve Johnson who she met at the UW and went to live and work in Paris for a few years. They both however kept tabs on their little brothers’ career path which was being managed full time by their father Seth. But with worldwide recognition came scrutiny. During the Holidays a lawsuit was filed claiming legal guardianship over the minor child Itsuki by a distant relative of his late step father Haru Tanaka.
In the Seattle office of Seth’s longtime friend and attorney Charlotte Jenks, they were in deep discussion.
“C’mon Charlie, this can’t be serious.”
“Well Seth, they did officially file a lawsuit suing for custody.”
“How can they win? I’m Itsu’s biological father.”
“But according to Japanese law what you have is referred to as shinken meaning legal custody.”
“Okay, then why the lawsuit?”
“They are suing for kangoken, or physical custody.”
“You’re kidding me, right? They can separate the two custody’s?”
“Yeah, they can over there.”
“So, what’s their end game and why haven’t we heard from them before now?
“I don’t know. I’ll certainly investigate. Just so you know, I got a text from Itsuki wanting to talk with me privately. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure, it is. He’s just outside in your waiting room talking with your paralegal.”
The drive home with Seth was a silent one until he switched on the radio to a 24-hour Christmas music station. Itsuki could tell things were weighing heavy on Seth’s mind.
“Are you okay dad?”
“Yeah pal, how are you doing?”
“I’m okay too.”
“What we need is a couple of Big Macs and some retail therapy,” he said with a smile and a wink.
“Yeah dad, more Christmas shopping!”
“Alderwood Mall, here we come!” as they laughed and started to sing along with the music, the First Noel, the angels did say. . .
to be continued