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Endings and Beginnings - Book 2
Chapter 2
“Tell me everything that you know?” Wilbur Davis asked learning over his desk staring into the dark eyes of the young woman seated across from him.
“What sort of things do you want to know?” She asked feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“Well first tell me about this contract that you signed. Do you have a copy of it?” He demanded. Rachel shook her head.
“I didn’t keep my copy. I didn’t see why I would need it.” She admitted feeling both stupid and small under the large man’s gaze.
“Well it was surrogate agreement. Those are void in the state of New York.” He muttered. “I need to know what else you agreed to besides just being a surrogate mother.”
“What do you mean void?” Rachel asked.
“The state of New York, where your contract was signed and where if I understand correctly the conception took place,” Rachel confirmed his assumption, so the man continued.” The state declared some time ago that surrogate parenting contracts are contrary to the public policy of the state and are void and unenforceable. A surrogate parenting contract can be written or oral. Yours was written. It’s any agreement whereby a surrogate agrees to artificial insemination or embryo implant and then to surrender or consent to the adoption of the child so conceived. In any dispute between the birth mother and the genetic father, the court is directed not to consider the surrogate contract as adverse to the birth mother's rights and it may award either party custody of the child.”
Rachel had no idea. She wondered if Justin did. She found herself struck by the cold clinical manner in which her attorney spoke. He made it seem so impersonal. It had been personal. She could still remember that afternoon in Ethan and Justin’s apartment. She had waited until she was a week late before buying the pregnancy test. Ethan had been out of town playing with some symphony, but Justin had been there. She and Justin had waited together both feeling nervous and excited. They had actually commiserated over their shared and individual fears concerning the outcome of the test. When the timer had gone off they had risen from the couch together, holding hands for support and walked into the small bathroom to check the results.
As long as she lived she would never forget the look of pure joy on Justin’s face or the light sparkling in his eyes when they’d both realized that she was pregnant. It was then that she had stopped feeling afraid or apprehensive about giving Ethan and Justin a child. She’d somehow known that they would move heaven and earth to protect the baby. She remembered hoping that one day her husband would give her that same exact look when she got pregnant with his child.
“Miss Gold?” Wilbur Davis’ voice called her out of her brother’s apartment and back to his office. “Do you understand what I just explained concerning surrogacy agreements?”
“So the fact that I was a surrogate and had nothing to do with my son these past two years—“
“We’re going to be spending a great deal of our energy explaining your lack of involvement and your sudden renewed interest in the welfare of this child.” The man cut her off. Rachel felt a wave of shame hearing the disapproval in his voice. “You agreed to carry a child for your brother and his lover.” The way the word dripped from Wilbur’s mouth caused Rachel’s skin to crawl. She nodded ignoring the little voice inside of her that was telling her to get up and leave.
“Now your brother is dead and you want the baby back.” He stated. She nodded again.
“I don’t approve of the people that Stephen’s father is associating with.” She defended.
“Tell me about your late brother.” The attorney opened an expensive looking pen and began taking notes.
“Well he was a musical genius. He was funny and smart. He was kind and generous. He was my brother and I would have done anything for him.” She said tears threatening her eyes.
“Is that why you chose to give him and his lover a child?” The distain in his voice when he said the word lover made her stomach turn once more. Looking up she realized that she really didn’t like this man.
“Justin. His partner was Justin Taylor.” She corrected firmly.
“I am well aware of his lover’s name Miss Gold please answer my question.” Rachel took a deep breath.
“He asked me to do this for them and I said yes.” She stated. He raised an eyebrow aware of her deception. She was already good at this. That was going to make his job easier.
“Very good, but his is my office not the witness stand so just answer the question.” He implored impatiently.
“He never said he wanted the child. He said he didn’t want to lose Justin.”
“So he used the baby to keep his lover?” The man asked his feelings for Ethan’s actions plain to hear.
“Yes.” She said meekly.
“You gave him a child he didn’t want to keep a man who didn’t want him?”
“Justin wanted him it was just that—“
“Yes?” He asked watching her neck flush with emotion.
“He, well, he wanted someone else more, or at least that was what my brother thought.” The man nodded rifling through his notes.
“This Kinney character.” She nodded. The man smirked. It had been a stupid and manipulative plan on the dead man’s part.
“How did Mr. Taylor feel about the child?” He asked.
“Oh, Justin was happy. He had always wanted children so he was excited. He came to the doctor visits whenever he could and was there when Stephen was born. He was so thrilled to be father.” Rachel remembered and felt a wave of guilt about her actions.
“So even though your brother didn’t want the child, his lover did?” Rachel nodded.
“And he was the donor?” She nodded again. “It was artificial insemination I presume?”
“Yes.” She looked down at her hands.
“So did you want the baby?” He asked. She looked up and laughed startled by the question.
“No. I didn’t. I thought it would be hard handing him over, but it wasn’t. I really never gave him much of a thought. Then a few weeks ago when Ethan died I called to check on him, on my son, and Justin.” She explained. “He was with this Brian Kinney. Two weeks after Ethan’s death and he’s back with that ….that …man.” Her anger returned in a fury..
“Did you ask Mr. Taylor about the nature of his renewed relationship with Mr. Kinney?” She heard the same distaste in the word relationship that she had noted before.
“No I did not.”
“Has Mr. Taylor ever denied you access to your child?” He was taking notes.
“No. He’s actually always encouraged it. I have always been issued an open invitation to spend time with Stephen.” Rachel wondered now if that invitation was still in place. She doubted it and with good reason. Mr. Davis looked up at her.
“Then why do you feel you need full custody?” He asked.
“Haven’t you been listening to me?” She asked back defensively. She didn’t like the way he was speaking to her. She was paying him to be on her side.
“Yes I have.” He stated without emotion. “Why are you doing this Miss Gold? I mean you didn’t want this baby, your brother didn’t want this baby, this Justin Taylor, the baby’s father, is with the only person in the whole wide wonderful world who really wanted it and now you suddenly decide you do want to take it away. I just find it odd. This action seems more about taking the child away from this man than it is about giving it back to you. Why? It’s important that you know your real reason. Because I can assure you that his attorney will discover that reason and make it blaringly obvious to the judge.” He paused watching her. Something wasn’t right here. This woman was grieving the loss of her son; she was grieving the loss of her brother. Wilbur Davis had no doubt that if Mr. Gold was alive today that Miss Gold would not be in his office.
“Because I don’t approve of Justin’s parenting.” She stated in frustration. She had already explained her concerns.
“Does he abuse the child? Refuse to feed it? Neglect it?” She shook her head. “Does the baby not receive proper medical care? “ He listed and she continued to shake her head.
“No he does all those things. As far as caring for Stephen he’s an excellent father.” She blurted out.
“When did his parenting become a concern?” He asked remaining calm.
“Well in the weeks following my brother’s death.” She stated quietly.
“During the weeks following the death of the man’s partner?” He clarified letting the woman hear how it was going to be rephrased in court.
“Well I don’t think he was too broken up over it. He went back to Kinney immediately.” She announced angrily.
“Is this really about Justin Taylor’s parenting skills or is this about trying to achieve your brother’s goal of keeping Mr. Taylor away from Mr. Kinney?” He asked. He watched her shift uncomfortably in her seat. He had hit close to the mark. He wondered if she even realized it. “If for instance I negotiated an agreement whereby Mr. Taylor agreed to never see Mr. Kinney again in exchange for you dropping the custody challenge, would that be enough?”
“This is about doing what is best for my son and if you don’t want to help me get him back I am sure that someone will. In our first meeting you said I had a good chance and now you are—“ Rachel hated that she had almost jumped at what he was suggesting. It was the best of both worlds. Justin would be away from Brian Kinney and Ken would come back to her. She could keep her brother’s wishes without having to become a mother to do it.
“I’m showing you what we are up against.” He concluded. “This is going to be ugly Miss Gold. You need to go through your closets and look at all your skeletons because I can guarantee you that Mr. Taylor’s attorney will. You need to realize that once you take his son away your relationship with that man will be forever changed. He will continue to be in your life but it will be very uncomfortable to say the least.” She looked at him in confusion.
“He will get some sort of visitation. He is the biological father. You might not get custody, but Mr. Taylor will have the right to see his son on a regular basis.” Rachel hadn’t thought of that.
“It is my experience that families who try to work these conflicts out without involving the court system seem to fair better in the end. I really must encourage you to try to work this out with Mr. Taylor before it turns into an adversarial situation.” Rachel nodded. She needed to talk to Ken. He had suggested this a week ago. She wondered if he would even speak to her.
“In the meantime can you give me some names of people who might be of assistance in throwing some doubt on Mr. Taylor’s fitness to parent your son?” He picked up his pen once more waiting for the names to give to his investigator.
Rachel paused as she tried to think of anyone and everyone that Ethan had ever mentioned from his time in Pittsburgh.
“Craig Taylor.” She stated. “He’s Justin’s father.” The attorney raised an eyebrow.
“Michael something or the other,” She offered. “Ethan said he was Brian Kinney’s best friend and has always hated Justin. He can also probably tell you all about Brian Kinney as well. I don’t want that man anywhere near my son.” The bitterness was evident in her tone.
“I already have my investigator looking into Kinney and his present and past relationship with Mr. Taylor. To be honest with you though, Mr. Kinney will not be a factor in my opinion. He and Mr. Taylor are not partners or joined legally. We have no proof that he is a consist part of your son’s world.”
The man continued writing. “We are focusing on Mr. Taylor’s character not Mr. Kinney’s.” He glanced up. “Anyone else?” She strained to think but came up blank.
“I can’t think of anyone else, but if I do I will let you know.” The man nodded and put down his pen. He rose and shook Rachel’s hand.
“We will get your son back Miss Gold. I suggest though between now and our next meeting that you decide whether or not you truly want him.” Rachel withdrew her hand angrily. If this man hadn’t come so highly recommended she would have walked out and never returned, but she needed him too much to walk away. She nodded curtly and left his office.
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“Justin? Carol Myers.” Justin immediately dropped what he was doing and steadied himself. He’d been waiting for this call all week.
“Hello Mrs. Myers.”
“Carol” She corrected.
“Carol. It was really nice meeting the other night.” He paused wondering if she had good or bad news for him.
“It was a pleasure meeting you as well. Your son is adorable.” Justin smiled. He loved hearing compliments about his boy.
“Thank you and I agree.”
“Justin I have to be honest with you, this case will be hard to win. We have a lot going against us. I went to dinner the other night planning on telling you no, but when I saw you with your son I just couldn’t. It is obvious that you love him and I plan on doing everything in my power to make sure you keep him.” Justin sighed with relief.
“Thank you, Carol. You don’t know what this means to us.” He was surprised he had managed to say anything around the lump in his throat. “What do we need to do?” He asked. Now that he had his General selected he was ready to jump into battle.
“Well as I said this is going to be tough. The documents Melanie drew up will help your case. She did an excellent job there. I really can’t believe that Ms. Gold signed them. It was a huge mistake on her part. She of course is going to have to prove that you are an unfit parent.” Justin felt his heart skip a beat. “Or that your sexuality will somehow negatively impact Stephen’s life.”
“I bust my ass for my son Carol. I don’t know what more I could do—“
“Justin I am sure that you do, but you are 22, single and gay. Those are the three factors that will be the hardest for us to over come. My investigator discovered that Mr. Davis, the man representing Ms. Gold, has an investigator snooping around in your past and also Mr. Kinney’s. We need to meet. If they are looking for skeletons I need to know what there is to find. “Justin dreaded those words. He wasn’t sure what upset him more the fact that he was going to have to relive his not so distant, but oh so painful past or that Brian was already being drug into this nightmare. Both of their lives would be splashed all over the papers once more.
“Ok.” Justin resigned himself.
“I am going to need some help with the footwork and Melanie has volunteered her services.” Justin smiled. “Do you think that we could meet at her home next Sunday?” She asked looking at her full calendar.
“Sure. I’ll tell Brian. What time?” He asked looking at his calendar as well.
“How about three?” She began writing.
“Three it is. I will see you then.” Justin assured her.
“Well I will probably see you before then. I will be at the dinner that they are having in your honor on that Saturday.” She was still looking at her calendar.
“Great, though it’s weird if you pay for a ticket, since all the money will be going to you.” He laughed and she joined in.
“Hopefully we’ll win and they can pay my fees and court costs.” Justin smiled.
“What are my chances?” He was almost afraid to ask but needed to know so he could be prepared.
“Justin I wish I could tell you. It all depends on the judge. If we get a homophobic asshole I’d say we don’t have a chance in hell, but if we get an open minded judge I’d say it’s 60-40 you.” It was worse than he thought. He tried to hide his fear and disappointment but she sensed it.
“I’ll do everything I can. Try not to think about what might happen. Let’s just do our jobs right now okay?”
“Okay.” He stated sadly. They hung up and he immediately dialed Brian to set up the meeting.
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The afternoon of the dinner was finally at hand. They had decided to start serving a four and end it at nine. Emmett and Teresa had been up at the Center since dawn’s early light hanging the children’s art work. Handprints and footprints led the attendees to the main dining area where Harry had enough food to feed an army waiting to be served. There were bright colored balloons and streamers with more handprints and footprints on the tablecloths and walls. Each napkin had a heart on it as did the t-shirts that were for sale at the ticket table. Across the front of the stage there was a huge banner with all the children’s names on it. It huge letters it said “Hearts and Hands Build Families”. It was perfect. Emmett couldn’t have been prouder. Deb and Jennifer had arrived earlier to help Harry set up. Jennifer had also been there to make sure the musicians knew where they were to set up and to insure that they had whatever they needed.
“It looks beautiful Emmett. I can’t wait to see Justin and Stephen’s faces. They will be so thrilled.” Emmett smiled and blushed.
“Oh it’s really nothing.” He said modestly looking around still overjoyed with how it had turned out.
“Bullshit. It’s wonderful. Good work.” Deb kissed him on the cheek.
“Look at this place.” Ted and Michael approached. “Has Justin seen it yet?” Ted asked. Emmett shook his head. He hasn’t arrived yet.
“He is going to flip.” Michael said. Ben turned to Jennifer.
“Do you want me over there so I can take up the tickets?” Jennifer quickly looked to Deb who nodded and went back to getting the serving line ready.
“Hey guys.” Melanie and Lindsay came over.
“Do we have a total yet?” Melanie asked. Ted smiled and looked to all the anxious faces.
“It looks like forty thousand if we sell all of our tickets and t-shirts today.” They were speechless. Jennifer stepped forward to everyone’s surprised and kissed the man on the cheek.
“Justin is so lucky to have all of you.” She had tears in her eyes as she looked to each of them. “If you’ll excuse me.” She went to wipe her eyes and gather her thoughts. It should have been Craig and she who had helped him. She had been able to scrape some money together to donate but as far as she knew all Craig had given was an ultimatum and the hundred and forty bucks for the tickets. Had he known what the tickets had been supporting she felt certain he would have refused to even give that.
“Stephen!!” Gus yelled rushing over to the door where Brian and Justin stood holding the boy. Justin’s face was frozen in shock. He smiled over at Emmett shaking his head.
“And they hired me as the Art Director? This is amazing!!” Justin called.
“Oh baby.” Emmett rushed over much like Gus. “Do you really like it?”
“I love it. I want the banner when you get finished. I am going to laminate it and use it for our Art Program slogan. It’s perfect.” Stephen was busting at the seams to get to Gus so Justin lowered him into the other boy’s arms before giving Emmett a loving hug.
“Thank you for all this hard work.” He pulled back tears in his eyes.
“I love you.” Emmett whispered. “I just wish I could make all of the rest of it go away.” Justin nodded understanding.
“Because of all of you I have a chance. It isn’t much of one, but it’s better than nothing.” He frowned and his concern furrowed Emmett’s brow.
“Well let’s go get the rest of the tears and hugs out of the way.” Brian’s sarcastic voice cut through the two men. They both looked at him and rolled their eyes.
“Can I take Stephen out on the swings?” Gus asked. Justin was about to refuse when Lindsay volunteered to go along and supervise. He smiled at her and conceded.
***********************************
The turn out was better than expected. Harry at one point had even worried about running out of food. In the end there was plenty. Justin spent the day receiving condolences on his loss and encouragement about the custody hearing. By nine o’clock he was dead on his feet as were all of his friends.
Max Collins had watched the man carefully all afternoon. It was obvious that Justin had been exposed to various social situations in his upbringing. He was the perfect country club boy all afternoon. He was charming and disarming. He was good at small talk and detailed discussions. He was everything that Max had ever wanted. He was beautiful, intelligent, charming, and talented. He continued to see Brian Kinney hovering about. He wondered what that was all about. Max was still connected to the Liberty grapevine enough to have heard that they had been a couple a few years back, but it was way too soon for any such relationship to have rekindled. Ethan Gold had been dead for a little over a month. Hardly enough time for a grieving man to recover and fall into the bed of his ex-lover, but still there had been a few looks that had disturbed Max that afternoon.
He made his way over to where Justin was standing talking to a woman who had to be his mother. He was almost there when he was suddenly intercepted.
“Max Collins, right?’ Brian Kinney placed his hand around the man’s shoulder and led him in another direction.
“Yes that’s right and you are Brian Kinney I believe.” Brian smiled and nodded his head still leading the man out of the dining hall. Once they were in the corridor Brian looked both ways before continuing.
“I just wanted you to know that I have enjoyed watching you this afternoon. It was quite a performance.” Max bit his bottom lip wondering what the man was talking about.
“I’m sorry I don’t believe—“
“Oh come now, you’re not going to waste our time playing stupid now are you?” Brian offered tersely.
“Mr. Kinney I have no idea what you are referring to.” He was about to pull away when he felt Brian’s hand tighten on his shoulder.
“He’s going through a lot right now. The last thing he needs is a horny boss trying to get in his pants. Do we understand each other?” Max felt a sudden wave of embarrassment and anger.
“Take your hands off of me.” He ordered. Brian complied but still managed to block the man’s progress.
“Just make sure you keep it professional Max.” He emphasized the man’s name. “Or I will make it personal.” He turned leaving Max standing in the corridor his mouth hanging open feeling utterly exposed. ‘So Brian Kinney is still in love with Justin Taylor,’ Max thought.
Brian was a good looking man but if the rumors where true, they had a history full of pain and heart break. He had no painful history with Justin. Max smirked thinking of Kinney’s overreaction to his occasional gaze and lingering looks. Smiling Max decided that he was up for the challenge.
Justin did have a great deal on his plate right now. He needed a boss who was also a friend. He needed someone supportive and understanding who would be there to lend a shoulder and if by some chance that shoulder led to a kiss so be it. He knew how to play this. He’d given up games a few years back, but it was like riding a bicycle. Once learned, you never forget.
