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The others all take seats in front of us.
“Did you really need to bring your lawyers?” I nod toward Will and Zadie.
Before he can answer, Zadie says, “We aren’t his lawyers. We’re here for both of you.”
They arehissiblings. That’s a little hard for me to believe.
“So, I just want to get a few things straight,” Zadie says. “No one is upset about the baby, right? Am I understanding this correctly? Both of you want the baby?”
We both nod.
“Well, that’s good. So the problem is that Maggie, you’d like Declan to terminate any parental rights. Is that correct?”
I nod.
“No way in hell I’m doing that,” Declan mutters. I shoot a death-stare at him.
“Declan, you just want some sort of custody agreement? She’s entitled to child support.”
He shifts on the couch and then says, “Of course, I’ll pay child support.”
“I don’t want your money,” I seethe.
He doesn’t acknowledge me. “I don’t want a custody agreement. I just want to do this together.”
I scoff. He’s being so naïve right now. From the looks on the other’s faces, they know it too.
He turns to me and says, “Maggie, we’re friends. Best friends. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do this with.”
He has a small point. If I was going to co-parent with anyone, I’d want it to be him, but I don’t want to co-parent. The fact is we may have been friends, but he has ripped our friendship apart.
He continues. “Why do we even need to get the courts involved? Can’t we just do this together? I live across the hall. We can just...”
“You live across the hall?” Zadie interrupts. All of them are blinking in surprise.
“You have a place here in Washington?” Will asks, his brow furrowed.
“I bought the apartment across the hall from Maggie’s last year,” Declan shrugs. I didn’t realize that he’d bought it. As I’m watching the other’s reactions, it hits me how crazy that is – especially for Declan. He didn’t even have a rented place for years, living a truly nomadic life. I’m surprised he bought a place too, but I won’t get caught up on that right now.
“You lied to me,” I say.
“I didn’t.” He throws his hands up. “Maggie, you ripped up that contract. We had a conversation about all of this.”
He turns his eyes toward Will and Zadie. They exchange glances and then Zadie inhales deeply. “Maggie, you voided the contract. If you go to court, a judge is not going to uphold the it. There’s a very clear paper trail that you ended the agreement.”
I rub one of my eyes. I can’t believe this is happening. He was fine with our arrangement. He never expressed interest in keeping a baby if we were to get pregnant.
“Do I need to sue for paternity?” he asks.
I don’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Could it be someone else’s baby?” Zadie asks.
I shake my head. “No, it’s Declan’s.”
Elizabeth speaks next. “Maggie, if he sues for paternity, it’s going to be public record.”
Zadie and Will are nodding, confirming what Elizabeth has just said.
