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“I am assuming he doesn’t know. Did you do a paternity test?” Alvin asked without any judgement. I suspect he had probably heard it all before and nothing really surprised him.
“Two years ago I did it without Adam knowing. I took his DNA from a glass he drank out of before he went to work. It’s not like I was trying to trap him or anything. The timing lined up with Jeremy being his. We weren’t exclusive, but I always used protection. Even with Adam, we used a condom. I figured one of the condoms must have been defective, and the odds were even more in Adam’s favor versus some one-night stand. Everything pointed to Adam,” I quickly explained.
“Okay. Did Adam sign the birth certificate?” he asked, and again, there was no judgement, and it was really helping me to feel more comfortable with him.
“He did.”
“And please don’t take offense to this next question, but do you know who Jeremy’s biological father is?”
“I do. There was only one other man that I was with within that time frame. He has no idea that Jeremy is his or that there was even a possibility. Like I said, I’ve always used protection. The odds were all pointing in Adam’s direction.”
“Alright,” he started as he sat back in his chair. “Adam not being the biological father, though, it complicates things, doesn’t take away his rights. He signed Jeremy’s birth certificate. He has been raising him for his whole life. Providing financial help, emotional support, etc. He does still have rights to Jeremy.”
“Okay, so what are my options?” I was gonna need to make a decision, but there was no way I could do that without all of the information. Hopefully, one of those options wouldn’t be too bad.
“There are a few ways we can handle this. The first being we can not reveal the paternity results. We can proceed as normal, and Adam is none the wiser. The next option is a bit more complicated. We can release to the court that there is a question of paternity and demand a DNA test. Once the test is complete and the results come back, that is when things could grow to be complicated. Adam could either wish to wash his hands of Jeremy and have his name removed from his birth certificate, and you would receive full custody.”
Well that sounded great, but I had no idea if Adam would do that. He might be willing to wash his hands compared to wanting to continue to fight and raise Jeremy. At the same time, he might choose to keep fighting because he wants to save face. It was hard to know just how he would react.
“On the other side of the coin, he could continue to pursue full custody. The court will ask that the biological father is made aware of the child. The biological father could either sign his rights away, he could join you in your fight for sole custody, or he could file for his own custody, and it becomes a three-way fight for sole custody. Which does happen more so than you think. It all depends on who the father is and what type of man that he is.”
And that was the question. I had no idea how Liam would react to all of this. I would hope he would join me and not fight against me. At the same time, I didn’t know how I felt about having joint custody with Liam. I had gone into this with the hope that I would fight for sole custody. Joint would be a massive difference, especially with a man that I barely knew.
“No matter what I tell you, it stays between us?” I asked, needing to hear that confirmation one last time.
“Completely. I give you my word.”
I took a deep breath in before I finally said the words out loud, “Jeremy’s biological father is Liam.”
Alvin’s calm and neutral face morphed into instant shock. He didn’t stand a chance at even schooling his features. It was definitely not a statement he had been expecting to hear.
“I’m sorry. Liam Mitchell is Jeremy’s father?” he asked, and I could tell he was hoping that I was referring to someone else.
“It was one night four years ago. We met at a conference, and neither one of us ever expected to see the other again. Cut to four years later, and he is sitting in the pew at my wedding that never happened. Turns out Liam is my father’s best friend, like from childhood best friend.”
“Which you knew?”
“Nope. Neither one of us knew the connection. My father doesn’t believe in hanging family photos. He only displays accomplishments. I knew he had a best friend from growing up that he was still in contact with, but I didn’t know his name. And he had no idea who I was.”
“Alright,” he said, before he paused, and I knew he was trying to get his mind wrapped around all of this. “You discover you are pregnant and you assume it’s Adam’s. But once you discovered the truth, why didn’t you reach out to Liam? Surely, he would have been easy to locate. Or even now? You are working as a nanny for him. You and Jeremy are around him and living in his property. He is paying for your legal fees.”
Now there was a hint of judgment in his voice, but I couldn’t fault him for that. This was a terrible position that I was putting him in. Liam was also his client, and he would have to go and meet with him and not be able to tell him about this other child that he has.
“I know. I am well aware of what a terrible person that makes me. I was young when I discovered the truth, and I panicked. I didn’t know if Liam would try and take Jeremy from me. I put my head in the sand and pretended like nothing was different. Now, I am spending time with him, and each day that goes by, I feel like shit because I haven’t told him. Again though, I don’t know how he will react, and I am not going to lose my son to anyone.”
“I can understand how he would look and feel intimidating to you. And I can’t discuss any private details. However, I can tell you that Liam wouldn’t try and take Jeremy from you. He firmly believes that every child deserves to have two parents in their lives. That as long as both parents are good and stable people, then there is no reason to keep a child from them. I think deep down, you know that.”
I did know that, but it didn’t take the fear away. “What do you think I should do? What do you feel is the best course of action to ensure Jeremy stays with me?”
At the end of the day, I was here for Jeremy. I had to make sure he stayed with me, and I would do whatever it took to make that happen.
“My professional opinion would be to tell Liam the truth. He is a huge asset for you to have on your side. And knowing he is the father might be enough to push Adam to drop his suit. Afterwards, you and Liam could work out your own custody agreement. Either through the courts or outside of it. I would highly recommend telling Liam the truth and fighting this together.”
I suspected he was going to say that. Fuck. Now I really had no idea what I was going to do.
Liam
IpulleduptoJillian’s home where the boys were. I had plans of going back to the office to get some work done, but after that mess of a court hearing, I just needed a mental break. I wasn’t going to be able to focus on work anyways, so I might as well enjoy the beautiful day with Christian. I knew Jeremy was going to be here as well. Jasmine had her own meeting with Alvin that she needed to handle, and I had said to drop him off at Jillian’s. The last thing she needed was for Jeremy to overhear anything a three-year-old little boy didn’t need to hear.
