Terry stepped closer, keeping his tone practical. "Our job is to show a judge that you have a safe place, not to win some old fight with Michael Ventry. I'm bringing my family records, Lucy has the school plan, and Gregory is finishing his home evaluation." Sky glanced toward him. "You still think this is trouble."
"It is trouble," Terry answered. "Real trouble. But that doesn't mean you're the one causing it." She nodded, and after a moment asked whether she could finish painting the mountains on her practice tank while the adults did their paperwork.
Martha met the group that afternoon at a diner outside town, choosing a public place where nobody would mistake the meeting for a gathering of bikers plotting revenge. She wore a plain navy blazer, carried a briefcase with a broken clasp, and drank two cups of coffee while reading the file Lucy placed before her. When she finished, she turned to Sky. "Do you want to stay with these people?" she asked.
Sky glanced at Gregory. "I don't want to go back to the group home." Martha waited. "That isn't what I asked."
Sky drew a breath. "I want to keep seeing them," she said. "And I want to live somewhere that doesn't make me afraid to go to sleep. If Gregory's house is allowed, I'd like to try."
Martha nodded as if the careful wording mattered. "It does," she said. "Wanting a safe home isn't the same as agreeing to anything an adult suggests. You'll have a say in the plan, and you'll also have a right to tell someone if the plan stops working."
Martha explained the legal request in terms the girl could follow. She would seek an emergency review of Sky's proposed transfer, request access to relevant placement records, and ask the court to consider Gregory for a temporary supervised placement if he met the required conditions. The agency could object, and the court might decide the respite home should continue while further assessments were completed. Gregory could offer the stability of his own home and the support of friends; the club itself had no legal role as guardian. Sky listened, then asked the one question the others had been avoiding.
"Can Michael Ventry decide where I live?" she asked. "No," Martha said. "Not because he has an opinion, not because he hired an investigator, and not because he knew your brother. Only people with legal authority can make those decisions, subject to the court's review."
Sky seemed to breathe more easily, but Martha continued. "That doesn't mean his actions can't cause trouble. It means we respond to what he does through the proper process."