Chapter 11

Heath woke the next morning to the feel of his wife snuggled up against him. Unlike the day before, there was nothing between them. He knew he needed to get up and order a cup of hot water. She may not have realized it, but he’d packed her ginger tea. There was no way he was going to allow Debbie to go through morning sickness if he could keep it at bay. Carefully, he slipped out of her embrace and left the bed. Picking up his cell phone from the nightstand, he walked to the front room. He picked up the house phone and dialed room service. “Yeah, this is Heath Gladstone in the honeymoon suite. I need a pot of hot water. No, no coffee or tea, just the hot water. Could you also bring two glasses of orange juice, and two western omelets and bacon with toast and strawberry jam? But I need the juice and food about half an hour after the hot water. Thank you.”

He hung up and looked. It was just after eight, but he knew from personal experience Bernie would be in the office already. More importantly, his secretary wouldn’t be. So he dialed the number only the mayor and town council were supposed to have. But Bernie knew he had it, and that he only used it in an emergency. While this wasn’t really an emergency, he was sure that once Bernie heard the situation, he’d be okay with it. Sure enough, the man answered. “City Attorney.”

“Bernie, it’s Heath. Sorry to call you first thing.”

“Heath, I thought you were in Denver on your honeymoon. You aren’t calling me to ask for a divorce already, are you?”

Heath laughed. “No, but my request concerns Debbie. I’m sure you heard the noise her old man was making.”

Bernie sighed. “Yes, I think by now thanks to your wedding, the whole town knows you got the girl pregnant. I thought you were smarter than that, kid.”

“Attorney-Client privilege in effect?”

He heard Bernie get up and the door to his office close. “It is now.”

“I’m not the baby’s sperm donor.”

“I see. What do you need from me?”

“Answers, first off. Would it be legal for Debbie to name me as the father on the birth certificate, even though we both know I’m not his biological father?”

“Heath, what are you playing at, son? You’re throwing your whole life away for a girl you never even kissed until her daddy kicked her out of the house.”

“I’m not playing and I know what I’m doing. Just answer the question.”

Bernie laughed. “You sounded a bit like your old man there, Heath.”

“Answers Bernie, please.”

“Honestly kid, I don’t know. Top of my head, I don’t think it will matter. When someone adopts a child through closed adoption, they revise the birth certificate to include their names. So I don’t think it would be illegal. I’ll check if you really want me to.”

“I do. Thank you. Second question. If the biological father isn’t on the birth certificate, does he still have legal rights as the biological father?”

“Is he in the picture, the baby daddy?”

“No, she called him and told him she was pregnant and he told her it wasn’t his. The bastard told her she couldn’t prove it was his, and the only responsibility he’d take was paying for half an abortion.”

“So, a real dickhead, huh?”

“That’s an understatement, and I don’t want him to ever come back and claim the baby down the road.”

“Well, a simple blood or DNA test would give him parental rights unless he’d signed them away.”

“How would he go about doing that?”

“I have a form he’d have to sign in the presence of a notary, then we’d have to file a copy with the state department of records. Simple enough.”

“Can you get me the form?”

“Sure, but I need his name.”

“Nicolas Nash.”

“Ah hell, she fell for the paranormal sleaze.”

“I don’t know if it was a fall for him kind of thing, but you know she lived an extremely sheltered existence.”

“Well, that’s an understatement.”

“Yeah, well, she had started to sort of rebel after the whole incident with Mysti and our family thing. She was working on music down by the bridge and he convinced her he could help her be better. Then he told her she couldn’t play with passion because she’d never experienced it. Kept at her until she let him show her passion. Only apparently, he was a Wham Bam thank you ma’am, kind of guy.”

“Good grief, Heath. That girl just has no luck, has she?”

“Nope; worse, he used no protection, told her she couldn’t get pregnant the first time.”

“Yeah, a real sleaze. I know you’re trying to keep this quiet, but you need to tell Lucas when you get back.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you that. But let me say this, Lucas needs to know. That’s all I can say. But make sure you get that form signed first. Where are you staying and I’ll fax the form to you? I’ll have a notary that travels to call you and meet you at his place today. Do you have his address? I can get his social from paperwork I have here.”

“Yeah. Hold on.” Heath got his wallet out of the pants still hanging on the bedroom door from last night and read the address of his mother’s house that Mysti had gotten for him. While he was rattling it off, there was a knock on the door. Heath yanked the pants on and pulled another bill out of his wallet. He opened the door and pointed to the table where last night’s dishes still sat. The room service porter quickly cleared the table and sat the insulated pot and two coffee cups on the table. “The rest of your breakfast will be up in half an hour, as you requested.”

“Thanks.” Heath slipped him the tip and shut the door behind him.

“I’ll have the form to you in about an hour. Pick it up from the office center in the hotel. Make sure he signs it with his full name and only with the Notary there. Then he won’t have a legal right to the child. Are you sure that’s what you want, Heath? I mean, you both are awfully young.”

“I know, Bernie, but it’s what I’m supposed to do. Don’t ask how I know, I just do.”

Bernie laughed. “First, you sound like your old man, and now you sound like your mystical cousin.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a Gladstone through and through, Bernie; I’m surprised you ever doubted it.”

“I really haven’t, kid. My secretary just came in, so I’m going to go. Expect your form in an hour.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank me after you get the bill, kid.”

“I’m good for it.”

“I know. Later.”

“Bye.”

Heath pocketed his phone and then grabbed a tea bag out of his travel bag and dropped it in the cup. Then he poured water over it and left it to steep. While he went and climbed back in the bed with Debbie and reached out to stroke her cheek. She moaned and snuggled close to him. Her eyes popped open when she felt the denim of his jeans against her hip as she’d tried to roll onto him. “Why are you wearing clothes?”