TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (30 page)

“That’s a good friend,” he says, his low voice a rumble in the room.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Barbara asks, pointing to a small couch.

Charity and I sit down next to each other as Barbara takes an armchair across from us.
 
Michael stands at the fireplace again, a small tumbler of an amber liquid in his hand.
 
Ice tinkles gently inside as his hand moves.

A clock ticks loudly somewhere. Charity and I both jump when a loud cuckoo bird starts squawking.

“Holy … moley,” she half-whispers.

I don’t say out loud what I’m thinking, that the dang thing almost made me pee.

“So, you are
interested
… in putting your
child
… up for
adoption
,” Michael says.
 
He reminds me of an actor making a very important speech in a movie.

“Yes, sir, I am.” Charity bobble-head nods for a full fifteen seconds.
 
I know why she’s doing it, too.
 
I can’t help but nod right along with her.
 
Michael is like Darth Vader or something.
 
I swear he’s reading our minds right now. No wonder Barbara was crying.
 
I’d probably cry every day if I lived in this house.

“And can you tell me
why
you’ve made this very important decision?
 
What has motivated you to choose
this
option and not the others?”

“Others?” Charity squeaks.
 
She recovers before he has time to answer.
 
“Um … yes, I can tell you.”
 
She sits up straighter.
 
“But before I do, let’s get one thing straight, okay?”

He lifts an eyebrow in response.

“I’m not here to be judged by you, okay?
 
I’m the one doing the judging.
 
I’m not going to give my baby up to just anyone.
 
So if you don’t want to be a father, you can just save us all the trouble right now and say so and I’ll be on my way.
 
With my friend.”
 
Charity reaches out blindly, and I take her hand, holding it tight against my leg.

I am so proud of her I could do a cheer.
 
Instead, I just stare at the emotions moving across Michael’s face.
 
I see surprise, resistance, and then a cool grace.
 
Man, he’s good.

He nods and closes his eyes for a split second before going back to staring.
 
“Fair enough.
 
Although I think it would be unrealistic to assume we are not also making assessments of our own.
 
Adopting a child is a very important decision. Raising a child even more so. It requires careful consideration by all parties concerned.”

“Agreed,” Charity says.
 
“I totally think we’re on the same page there.”

“Good.”
 
He steps around the chair next to Barbara and sits down.
 
“Charity, tell us your story.”

Charity sits up straighter and lifts her chin.
 
“Well, I’m sixteen, a junior in high school.
 
I skipped kindergarten, so I’m ahead a year.
 
I take all honors courses and I have a three point five GPA.
 
I think my DNA is pretty good.
 
I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I definitely don’t do drugs.
 
I did one time have unprotected sex, though, and believe me, I’ve learned that lesson.”

A ghost of a smile appears on his face and then disappears just as quickly.
 
“Do you have family?”

“I live with my grandpa.
 
Both of my parents were in the military and lost their lives in the Middle East.”

My mouth drops open and I gasp a little.
 
I had no idea, and it’s clear neither did Barbara.
 
I choke on a bit of drool that gets sucked into my windpipe.

Charity pats me on the back as she continues.
 
“I don’t tell a lot of people my business, so if you could keep that to yourselves, that would be great.”

“Everything we discuss will be kept in confidence,” says Michael.
 
“Our condolences to you and your grandfather.”

“Yes,” agrees Barbara.
 
“Our sympathies.
 
My goodness.
 
Did this happen a long time ago?”

“A few years ago, yeah.
 
But I’m okay.
 
Thanks.”

“And the father of
your
child …” Michael asks, “… is he in the picture?”

Charity snorts.
 
“No.
 
He knows about the baby but he’s not interested in raising it.”

“So you’ve discussed adoption with him?” Michael asks.

“Actually, I tried to discuss it with him but he won’t talk to me.
 
He wants to pretend I don’t exist and that
this
never happened.”
 
She points to her belly.

Michael looks over at Barbara.
 
She looks down into her lap for a moment and then looks up.
 
“Obviously there are some details we need to verify before we can be absolutely assured that it will be legally valid.”

“That’s normal, right?” I ask.
 
“There’s always a mother and father and both have to give up the baby, so no big deal. Just get him to sign a paper.”

Michael puts his drink down on the table in front of him and stays there with his arms resting on his thighs.
 
“Charity, this is the stumbling block that I see in this process.
 
You want to give your baby to a loving family for adoption. Barbara and I have been searching for a child for going on five years now.
 
In fact, I gave up about six months ago, but Barbara kept pressing forward.”
 
He reaches out to her and she takes his hand.
 
He turns back to us.
 
“We have had our hopes up and then dashed too many times to count.
 
We’ve had money stolen from us.
 
We’ve had people try to blackmail us and bribe us and … well, I don’t want to dwell on the unfortunate things we’ve dealt with.
 
You get the idea.”

“That sounds terrible,” Charity says.

“Who would do that with a baby involved?” I ask, horrified at the very idea.

“You have no idea,” Michael says, sitting back again and letting his wife’s hand go.
 
“As you can imagine, we … or I … have gotten to the point that I just don’t think it can happen. That God has determined for whatever reason that we are just not meant to be parents.”

“I don’t believe that,” says Barbara.

“Neither do I,” says Charity.
 
“I don’t know you that well, but my gut tells me that you’re good people and that you’d make great parents for my baby.”

Michael puts his elbows on the chair arms and steeples his fingers together.
 
“So what are your terms?
 
What are you looking for in this arrangement?”

“Do you have to sound so cold, honey?” Barbara asks.
 
She looks embarrassed.

He glances at her and drops his hands.
 
“Forgive me, but we can’t just dance around the details.
 
It’s better to know up front if we can do what you want us to do.”

“That makes sense,” I say, trying to smooth over the awkward moment.

Charity shrugs.
 
“I just want my baby to be happy and healthy.
 
So that means … I want to know you aren’t criminals and you don’t hurt kids or other people.”
 
She grimaces and her shoulders go up around her ears as she sinks down into her seat.
 
“Like with a police background check?”

“Done.”
 
Michael nods.
 
“What else?”

Charity sits up straighter. “Well, I don’t need to be involved if you don’t want me to be, but maybe if you could agree to tell him when he’s eighteen, if he wants to know, who I am?
 
That might be nice.”

Barbara sits forward.
 
“We’ve talked about this a lot.
 
And actually…” She looks to her husband who nods her on. “…We’d like you to visit when you want.
 
I mean, not every day probably, but maybe we can get together once a month or something kind of regular. You can be like … an aunt or a godmother or something.
 
And when the baby is older and can understand, we’ll tell him.
 
We’ll tell him the truth.
 
All of it.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.
 
These people are really nice.
 
It’s almost too good to be true.
 
Words come flying out of my mouth before I can stop them. “What’s the catch?”

Everyone looks at me.
 
Charity seems surprised.
 
Michael, angry.
 
Barbara, confused.

“Sorry, that came out wrong.
 
I’m just wondering … it’s not usually this easy.” I look at the wall behind Michael, unable to face their judgment.

“You aren’t wrong to say that, don’t feel bad,” Michael says, not sounding angry like I expected him to. “There will be legal fees, which we will pay.
 
Court fees as well.
 
The background check is a good idea.
 
That, again, will be our expense.
 
After we have the baby in our custody and he’s legally ours, we will pay for his medical costs and so on.
 
But all of this hinges on the baby’s father.
 
If he won’t surrender his rights without requiring payment, it cannot go forward.
 
We want a child more than anything in the world, but we will not pay for one.
 
That’s illegal and we don’t believe it’s the right way to start a life together.”

We all look to Charity.

“I guess I have my work cut out for me.”
 
She looks down at her phone.
 
“I’m going to call him right now.”
 
She gets up and walks out of the room before we can stop her.
 
I can hear her in the foyer talking in a low voice just a few seconds later.

“So, how did you and Charity become friends?” Michael asks.

I give up on trying to listen in on her conversation and answer his question. “We met at a fast food place.”

“Do you work there?”

“No. I was drinking a glass of water and she was having lunch.
 
I guess we bonded over swollen ankles.”

Michael smiles for the first time and it makes me feel a little faint.
 
He’s really handsome when he’s happy.
 
He reminds me of …

I point at him.
 
“Did you ever play sports … somewhere?”

“UCLA.
 
Running back.
 
It’s been a while.”
 
He smiles again.
 
So does Barbara.

“That’s where we met,” she says.
 
“I was a statistician for the team.”

My mouth drops open.
 
“I
knew
it!
 
I’ve seen pictures of you on campus!”

“Those days are far behind me.
 
I’m in real estate now.”

I look around the room.
 
“This place is nice.”

“Thank you.
 
But Barbara deserves all the credit.
 
She has an eye for details.”

She looks over at him and smiles.
 
“This place has good bones.
 
You can do anything when you have the right foundation.”

Charity comes back into the room.
 
“Well, I told him what I want to do.
 
He said he doesn’t care and he’ll sign whatever we want.”

Barbara’s hand goes up to her mouth and her eyes fill up with tears. She looks back and forth between her husband and Charity.
 
Suddenly I feel like I’m intruding on a moment I shouldn’t be a part of.

Michael stands.
 
“Well, we still have a long way to go, but I think we’ve done all we can for tonight.
 
Who’s in the mood for some chicken Cordon Bleu?”

I raise my hand and my belly grumbles.

Charity helps me to my feet.
 
“I am,” she says.
 
“I’m starving.”

The four of us move into the dining room for one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten.
 
Apparently, along with being a math whiz and an interior designer, Barbara is also a gourmet cook.
 
And all that baby food she was buying … well, that was for taste tests, so she could learn how to make her own gourmet baby food here at home.
 
She has big plans for mommyhood, and I couldn’t be happier for her and my friend Charity.
 
Michael warmed up after the appetizers and gave us the rundown on how he was going to teach his son how to throw a football as soon as he’s able to hold one. Charity could not stop bragging about her baby’s new parents, all the way back to my place.

No one’s home, so I go up to my room and get into my pjs.
 
As I lie in bed thinking about our evening, I can’t help but be a tiny bit jealous.
 
Of everyone.
 
Teagan, Quin, Charity … I wish I had people standing around me telling me how much they love having me in their lives.
 
But I can hardly blame anyone but myself that this isn’t happening to me.
 
I haven’t offered anything to anyone.
 
I’ve been focusing on myself and my situation instead of asking others what I can do for them.
 
Colin’s been nice, but I’m pretty sure he just feels sorry for me.
 
He’s trying to make me feel better.
 
I think he has a protective heart.
 
Maybe I’m taking the spot left empty by his sister or his mother in a way.
 
Even that makes me sad, to think that I’m just a substitute for someone better, someone more wanted.
 
Charlie used to want me.
 
I swear, he used to love me.
 
I could feel it when he told me.