“It is very clear,” Mr. Faulds said. “The restrictions are tight.”
“Why does that matter?” she asked.
For an hour, she and her new lawyer had sat in her bedroom trying to figure things out. With him perched on one of her kitchen stools and her on the edge of the bed, this was no cookie meeting either.
JD’s people still loitered in her living room. This impromptu consultation couldn’t be more bizarre. Mr. Faulds seemed like a decent person. What did she know about lawyers? At least she’d picked him herself.
Damn, her back was aching. If she didn’t move soon, she’d be immobile for the rest of the day. Propping her hands on the mattress behind her, she tried to lever the pressure from her spine.
“It matters a great deal because there are penalties if you reveal the identity of your child’s father.”
“They can sue me for whatever they want. I don’t have anything to give.” Billionaire moguls sure didn’t need her measly savings. “And I have no intention of telling anyone who the father is.”
“You don’t have family?” They’d already discussed that. Apparently, this guy was thorough to the point of driving her crazy. “Friends? A boyfriend?”
“No one knows, not even my OB.”
His attention returned to the document in his lap. “Child support is generous.”
“I’ve told them we don’t need that much. I’m not looking to score here. JD and I were a one-night deal. This is not about money.”
“That may be the case, but have you read the visitation clauses?”
Had she read them? Maybe. Did that mean she got all the legalese? No.
“What about visitation?”
“Marjorie Dawes, Jamison’s mother, lives in Boston. Did you think about that?”
“Did I think about it? Please just tell me what—”
“If you have to send the children across the country once a month, who will cover the cost? An adult will have to travel with them when they’re young. If Jamison is unavailable, do you propose his mother, a woman in her fifties, should make the trip every month for the next twenty years?”
Was that her problem? “What do you suggest?”
“That visitation be based here in Seattle.”
“I don’t understand. Wouldn’t she still have to make the trip back and forth?”
“That’s up to them,” he said. “Either way, the children should remain in this state for regular weekend visitation. How would you feel if Dawes hired a chaperone? A third, unrelated party? Someone you’ve never met? Perhaps someone he’s never met.”
Concern moved her head in a shake. “I don’t want them with a stranger.”
“He’d have to put that guardian under a gag order too. While he’s limiting information and exercising control, you are just another of his employees. His children have no choice, and you are not asserting yourself for their benefit. Someone has to focus on their welfare.”
Interesting point. “And if I’m not allowed to tell anyone who their father is, how do I explain third-party chaperones and cross-country flights?”
“Perhaps in private jets with unchecked pilots?”
Okay, now the guy was freaking her out. Could be that he’d seen the zeros on his retainer check and wanted more, but she couldn’t deny his points were valid.
“We need more certainty.”
“Exactly. Let’s get rid of those unknown values by being specific.”
“It’s still a lot to ask of his mother, every month until the kids are…”
By the time they were in their teens, they’d be able to fly themselves. Though she didn’t have a lot of faith in the safety of that.
“Dawes has no permanent base. You aren’t making this demand of his mother, he is. If he values his time with his children, there’s no reason he should miss regular visitation. If he fails to appear, it’s him who is putting the pressure on his mother to be here. And you should meet her.”
Shock widened her eyes. “His mother?”
“It’s inevitable.”
“Meeting my one-night stand’s mother?”
“If she has an active role in your children’s lives, your paths will cross. You will have to hand the children off to her. Meeting now allows us to add any stipulations before the contracts are signed.”
“Andrews wants it done today.”
Mr. Faulds smiled. “No, Ms. Hampton. No ink will touch paper today. Their urgency alone should be enough of a concern for us to slow this down. Your children aren’t going anywhere.”
Andrews would regret the decision to provide her with counsel. Maybe Faulds planned to gouge her for whatever he could get, but she wouldn’t object to being thorough.
“No.” Her hand moved to her bump. “But there is a deadline.”
“Not exactly. You said in your email to Mr. Dawes that you were happy to raise the children without his input.”
“Yes.”
“And that you plan to omit him from the birth certificate.”
“Yes. I don’t want my children at risk and it’s my choice to have them. No one else’s.”
“So technically…” he said, his eyes meeting hers with a kind of knowing, “whatever we give them by way of visitation is a gift. You are not obliged to give Mr. Dawes any kind of access.”
“I don’t want this to get dirty. At the end of the day, he is their father, and it’s not my place to damage or deny that relationship.”
“That’s exactly what he’s asking you to do. He wants this to remain a secret and you are giving him the means to do that. You are yielding to him when you hold all the cards. Why?”
“If this gets to court, it will get messy.”
Not that it wasn’t already chaos. Chaos… it’s just mathematics.
“Ideally, we don’t want to end up in front of a judge.”
She clicked back to the moment. “Hmm?”
“I was saying we don’t want to end up in front of a judge.”
“No, we don’t. Because, no offense to you, but JD would throw a helluva lot more money at this than I can.” And maybe he’d find a way to take the twins from her completely. “You’re right. We don’t want to rush this.”
“At this stage, we need time to ruminate. To redline this draft and counter their proposal. This is the first inning, Ms. Hampton. It’s not unusual for these things to go back and forth for a while, sometimes years.”
“We don’t have years. And Andrews says he’s only in town today.”
“Did you know the man he brought with him is a notary?”
“No, we weren’t introduced.”
“Don’t allow yourself to be dismissed or intimidated. We’ll get this right, Ms. Hampton. Find a way to make everyone happy.”
“Andrews won’t like delays.”
“Their terms are specific. That puts us in a strong position.”
“How so?”
“This contract lays out everything they want. What’s the harm in ensuring you get what’s best for your children?”
Nothing. This guy was good.
“Okay,” she said, groaning as she boosted herself up. Mr. Faulds was gentleman enough to take her arms to help put her on her feet. “Let’s go tell them the good news.”