Chapter 55: Tying Up Loose Ends

July, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday morning, I took a break from working with Penny to call Jamie. His assistant put me right through to him.

"Why do I always find you in your office?" I asked.

"Because that's where lawyers spend all their time! Only TV lawyers spend all their time in court. Mostly, I spend my time doing research and writing legal documents. Business and tax law are the ones where you never, ever want to see the inside of a courtroom. Trust me on that one. What can I do for you?"

"I need some advice. I'm sure Jackie's filled you in on anything that you might have missed about my crazy life. You know Jennifer is pregnant, and that Elyse and I eventually plan to have some kids, right?"

"I do. And Jackie told me that you and Bethany are pretty close to getting engaged, plus you and Kara are going to have some kind of permanent relationship."

"That's why I'm calling. Bethany raised the question about 'common law' marriages and between that, and another conversation I had, I figured I needed to get some legal advice."

"Forget 'common law' marriages. They don't exist in Illinois, and haven't since 1905. I know that because there was a Bar Exam review on that topic. There's also a string of cases on this. Hang on a sec while I get my study notes."

He put the phone down and I heard the rustling of papers. About three minutes later, he was back.

"There's a super-important case from 1979, Hewitt v. Hewitt, and another one from 1983, Spafford v. Coats. Both of those cases helped establish Illinois cohabitation law. The bottom line in both cases is that, absent a written contract, none of the girls would have any claims against you, except child support. And the contracts can say pretty much anything and create any kind of situation you want, with one important exception. There can't be any mention of sex because the courts might view that as prostitution."

"Interesting. So what does that mean for me? Could I marry Bethany and have Kara as my wife, just without making any legal claims about marriage?"

"In Illinois, the answer appears to be yes. You should probably talk to an attorney who specializes in this stuff, but the key case there was Peirce v. Peirce. It didn't really address your exact issue, but between the three cases I cited, I don't think you could be charged with bigamy in Illinois so long as you didn't try to apply for two marriage licenses or try to file tax returns as if you were married to a woman who wasn't your legal wife."

"If I hear you right, then all I need to do is draw up some contracts?"

"You don't even need to do that. The girls should want you to, because Illinois would give them nothing if you split up. But I know you well enough that you would never, ever do that. So yes, have an attorney who deals with pre-nuptial agreements, divorce, child custody, alimony, and that kind of thing draw up some contracts. He or she will help you navigate, but for the most part, you and the girls can do whatever you think is right."

"Does your firm have someone like that?" I asked.

He chuckled, "No. They decided against bullet-proof glass and armed guards in the office!"

"Bullet-proof glass? Why?"

"Family law is dangerous, man! Ask Pete if he's had to deal with any domestic abuse cases. Cops will tell you that they'd rather go up against an armed robber than respond to a 'domestic disturbance'."

"What?! Why?"

"You can shoot the idiot armed robber and be done with it. When you arrest the abusive husband, the wife might decide to clock you with an iron skillet."

"You're kidding?"

"Isn't your friend Bethany studying to be a psychologist? Ask her. Abused spouses turn on cops. And lawyers. It's nuts. I can give you the name of a very good family law attorney. She's in a private practice and she's not going to give you any grief about your lifestyle."

"Thanks, Jamie!"

I heard him flipping through his Rolodex, and he gave me the name and number for Gwen Meyer. I thanked him and hung up and then dialed the number for her office.

"Gwen Meyer and Associates!" a bright, young, male voice greeted me.

"Hello. My name is Steve Adams, and I was referred to Ms. Meyer by Jamie Ferguson at Allen & Baker."

"My name is Jeremy. What can we do for you, Mr. Adams?"

"I need some advice, and likely some legal agreements drawn up between myself and some young women. Basically, support and custody agreements, that kind of thing."

"Did you say women, as in plural?" he asked, but his tone was one of clarification, not of concern.

"Yes."

"OK. Ms. Meyer has an opening on Thursday afternoon at 1:00pm. Would you be able to make that?"

I said that I would, and he took down my name and phone number, and after we hung up, I went back to work.

The rest of the day, as well as Tuesday and Wednesday, were typical — work, meals, karate, and some time with my friends. I did take the time on Wednesday night to call Stephie and wish her a happy birthday, and confirm the details for my trip to Georgia. She said that she and Red were really looking forward to seeing me and that LeAnn had been on her best behavior and Red was OK with her going to the race with us.

"You know, there's no guarantee that LeAnn is going to get what she seems to be asking for," I said.

"Do I detect a change in attitude?" Stephie asked.

"Maybe. This isn't a situation like with Emily, where I more or less agreed in advance. We'll see."

"You do remember that girls down here have access to their daddy's shotguns, right?" she laughed.

"Yeah, I remember Emily threatening to kidnap me on more than one occasion. LeAnn can, as you say, keep her britches on. We'll see what happens."

"OK, Yankee. I know that you think about stuff like this all careful-like. See you in a few weeks!"

"It'll be fun, Peaches!" I said, before saying goodbye and hanging up.

On Thursday morning, the newspaper reported that the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior had sunk in the harbor in Auckland, New Zealand, and at least one person had been killed. There was speculation that bombs had been set off on the ship, but the investigation was still underway. Nobody had claimed responsibility, but that didn't surprise me because I couldn't fathom a terrorist group attacking Greenpeace.

That afternoon, I walked to the Hyde Park offices of Gwen Meyer and Associates for my appointment. I was shown into her private office almost exactly at 1:00pm. She introduced herself and asked how she could help. I explained the rough outline of the situation with Jennifer, Josie, Elyse, Kara, and Bethany, and what I wanted. She took notes and asked a few questions, but didn't make any comments until I was done explaining.

"Well, I suppose there's a first for everything!" she said with a smile. "I don't believe I've ever seen a young man in his early twenties who not only intended to father children out of wedlock, but wanted to ensure that they were properly supported. That's commendable, and it's fairly easy to deal with because the law is very clear on support issues. Custody is a bit murkier, but drawing up an agreement will help if there's ever an issue which needs to be addressed by Family Court.

"The multiple-marriage scenario is a bit trickier. From what you've said, you're aware that you can never, under any circumstances, take any action that would imply that you are legally married to two women. In Illinois, unlike a state like Utah, you can actually tell people that both women are your wives and there are no legal problems. That said, you need to be careful with your tax forms and other government forms that ask about your spouse. Those can only ever have the name of someone you legally marry.

"You also seem to be aware that Illinois doesn't recognize so-called 'common law' marriages and hasn't for eighty years. And according to recent court cases, cohabitation — living together — doesn't establish any kind of relationship. Jamie seems to have given you a rough outline of how the courts deal with maintenance and support issues, so really, it's a matter of drawing up the equivalent of pre-nuptial agreements. I can give you some worksheets that will help you figure that out with the women involved. Where are you employed?"

"I run my own company. I control 90% of the stock right now, and will maintain at least 51% ownership going forward. Why?"

"I was concerned about benefits like pensions. Those are extremely tricky under Illinois law even in cases where you only marry one person. Sorting those out can take years of legal action because the law is unsettled in that area. You'll just need a proper will in your case. Do all of these young women intend to work?"

"Yes. Jennifer is an electrical engineer and works for a small company in the western suburbs. Josie works as a civil engineer for the city of Evanston. Elyse is in school, but she'll be the CFO of my company when she graduates. Kara, one of the women who'll be a wife, is planning to teach college Chemistry. If things work out the way I expect, my other wife, and the one who would be the legal one, will be a licensed clinical psychologist. If something odd happens, then the other woman is planning to be a trauma surgeon."

Ms. Meyer laughed, "I'm sorry for laughing, but this sounds like something straight out of Days of Our Lives or General Hospital!"

I nodded, "Or Dallas. The difference is, all of this is above board and all the girls know about each other."

"If you'll forgive my curiosity, this young woman, Kara, she's already agreed to be a wife, but not the legal one. And the other, uh, position, is open and there are two girls competing for it?"

I chuckled, "So it might seem to an outsider. In reality, I don't expect a competition, if you will. It's really up to Bethany at this point. She's the one who's training to be a clinical psychologist."

"And the other one is training to be a trauma surgeon? I'm impressed, I guess. It's all highly irregular, but not any more so than the gay and lesbian couples I assist. Your friends, Jennifer and Josie, need to come see me, or someone like me, right away. The law recognizes nothing about their relationship, so they, and probably you, need to get everything down in writing before your baby is born. The custody dispute there would be ugly. Josie would lose, no matter what, but she could make your lives difficult for a very long time."

"I just don't see that happening," I said.

"No, but you know it's possible or you wouldn't be here, would you?"

I smiled, "You're right, of course."

"Then you have a leg up on 99% of the population who don't even consider these things. Quite a few people refuse to consider the possibilities because they believe that they are preparing for failure."

"I used to think that way, but my close friends have disabused me of that foolish notion."

"Then you have very good friends. The fact that you called Jamie Ferguson shows you were at least thinking about the future."

"I just want to make sure my kids are properly taken care of, and the girls are as well."

Gwen opened a drawer and handed me five packets with worksheets and questionnaires — one for me and each of the girls, and one for Josie and Jennifer. She asked me to fill them out and drop them off with her assistant, and reminded me to have Josie and Jennifer call for an appointment. I asked if I could come with them, given the issue of the baby, and she agreed that was a good idea. We shook hands, and I got up to leave.

"Do you have evening and weekend hours? It'll be easier for Jennifer and Josie if you do."

"Yes. Just call Jeremy and he can make the arrangements. I don't have specific hours, but I'm flexible. He has my full schedule."

"Thanks. I'll be in touch soon."

I walked back to the house, tossed the stack of papers onto my desk in my study, and went back to work with Penny. The four of us were making good progress on the projects that we'd taken on, and we were close to being able to demonstrate the estimation and inventory software for Gerald Brown. Once that was finished, Cindi would start trying to sell it to other construction firms and then we'd go into a full-court press on the software for the law firm.

Dave and Julia had been spending time getting the Novell server and network set up, and I knew I'd have to spend time after normal hours to get up to speed because I really couldn't take any time away from my programming. Cindi was doing her best to learn Novell, as she'd be the one that had to support it in the long run. We were already running out of time to do everything that we had on our plate, and hiring someone was going to quickly become a priority.

First thing on Friday morning, I asked Julia and Elyse to come to my study/office to discuss the staffing situation. Julia immediately agreed that we were going to need at least one person, and possibly two, because Penny only had five more weeks to work and then she wouldn't really be available until the next Summer. We discussed having Penny work on Saturdays but even if Alice agreed to that plan, eight hours a week wouldn't accomplish a very much, and would likely interfere with her schoolwork.

"There aren't any IIT grads available, are there?" Elyse asked.

"Not according to Doctor Bauer," I said. "Wen, who I'd hire in a heartbeat, is going to be interning at Nuvatec for her Senior project like Dave and I did. Charlie is carrying an extra load in the Fall to make up for the class she failed, so even part-time isn't possible for her."

"What about asking Doctor Dalton? Maybe somebody at UofC is looking," Elyse said.

"I wonder about that," I said. "If a new grad hasn't found a job by now, what's wrong with them? People are dropping out of school to take jobs because the industry can't find enough grads. Heck, I had a couple of people approach me about jobs with Prime Computer in Boston when I was a Junior. I ignored them because I wanted to graduate."

"So what are you saying?" Elyse asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I suppose we should create a job description as we did in Scott's class, and figure out what we're looking for. Then we can talk to Doctor Bauer and Doctor Dalton and Beth. Maybe a grad student? Could we allow irregular hours?"

"I don't see why not," Julia said. "We're more or less always here. A grad student who wanted to work evenings, or weekends, or half-days, or whatever, would work just fine for programming to replace Penny. Well, you know what I mean — take on her tasks while she's in school. Help for Cindi would have to almost be full-time and regular hours."

"Does she need that yet?" I asked.

"She will," Julia said. "And we better have someone ready to go when she needs them or we'll fail. Remember all that planning stuff Scott had us do? That's what we're doing now."

"Can we afford it, Elyse?" I asked.

"The programmer is a no-brainer. We won't have Penny's salary to pay and Cindi's bringing in enough to make up the difference. Once we get the estimating software done, and if she can close a few more of these Novell deals with law firms, then we can afford the person we'll need to help her do installations."

"And to think I was planning this to be just me and Dave," I said.

"You said that we're at the right place and the right time," Julia said. "The explosion of personal computers is going to make us a ton of money, and a lot faster than we all thought."

"As long as we keep our focus and keep our customers happy," I said.

"I'll work with Dave and Cindi to draw up some job descriptions for everyone to review," Julia said.

"Good. I'll talk to Penny so she doesn't freak out."