It’s been about a month since the courts placed Apollo in my care. It’s been going really well!

The orders are temporary and considered “emergency custody.” I really didn’t have high hopes this would last long as CPS has told me that reunification is always the goal.

We’ve been through this before about a year ago. Last time CPS didn’t take it to court, but everyone cooperated anyway. It only lasted a month or two.

This time, they did take us to court on January 28th and it was a circus. All I knew is that Apollo was moved to my care and that we had to go back March 3rd. I really thought that this hearing on the 3rd would be to determine if the orders should be reversed. Then I read the court orders more carefully.

It says the 3rd is PTC and that the case had issues and wasn’t ready for court on the 28th.

PTC stands for pretrial conference. There is still going to be a trial and we haven’t even gotten started! This means Apollo could be with me much longer. This will probably go on for months and I’m here for it.

The stars are beginning to align. I also filed for a protection order for myself on 2/23/26 and it was granted. This will go to court and I’ll get a 3 year DVO for myself. Then I got a letter in the mail the same day notifying me of a paternity test next month.

So since everything seems to be going in the direction where Apollo will be in my care for a while and I’m thinking of this as an audition when the day comes that custody will need to be litigated. I’ll fight tooth and nail that day, but the longer he’s with me the stronger the case that I’ll have.

So I’m starting a daddy blog to track my journey as a single dad.

While I am a single dad, I am fortunate to have a lot of familial help. Primarily, his Aunt Lala has taken on a role and without her I couldn’t be doing this. She gets him from daycare 3 days a week and takes care of him at night. She leaves out an outfit and diaper for me in the morning. My brother Joey is also great support. He watches him often when I’m sleeping.

I’m fortunate enough that CPS has hooked me up with a year of daycare.

It’s all going really well!

I’m very excited and I plan to document the full journey with pictures, his development, and my own development.