Page 19 of Ex-SEAL Bad Boy

That stings.

Despite my best attempt not to, the tears start to flow.

Was he going to hold that over my head for the rest of my life? Better if I had drowned.

With a sniffle, I stand up straight and pull myself together. I cross my arms, trying to appear defiant. "OK, say what you have to say."

"Hypothetical question. If a woman was pregnant and had decided to give her baby up for adoption, should the biological father, who is no longer with the mother, be allowed to be first in line to adopt that child?" he asks.

It's a trick. Hypothetical questions are always a trick, asking you to give an answer with limited information. I refuse to be led into that situation.

"I don't know," I reply. "Impossible to say. What kind of man is the father? Why is she putting it up for adoption in the first place? Who else wants to adopt the child? It's not a cut and dried situation, and you know it."

"Fair enough," he says. "I didn't expect anything less."

I have no idea what this is all leading up to, but if this has anything to do with his family, it's going to be a firm no from me. It can't possibly be legit, can it?

"OK, so there is a guy my parents know," he begins to explain, "or actually quite a few people know. He was in a relationship with a young woman. It didn't end well. He later discovered she was pregnant with his child. She wants to give it up for adoption, but she's still angry with him, so she refuses to let him adopt the child.”

“He would be a great father and has all the resources to ensure the child is well cared for, but her desire to get back at her ex is apparently more important to her than her child's welfare."

So far, no problem, but I know there has to be more to the story.

"So why doesn't he fight for custody, you know, in court, like normal people?"

"That's the catch," he continues. "This guy is kind of a recluse. He doesn't like the publicity. Dragging this through court would damage his reputation, but more importantly, it would destroy this poor young woman. He's not a monster. He still has some feelings for her. He wants her to be able to move on."

"Great," I say, "but what does any of this have to do with you, or more importantly, me? I feel bad for the guy if he is as good as you say, and she's really a bitch, but how do you fit in?"

"That's where it gets tricky."

"Mm hm, yeah, that's what I thought, I'm outta here."

I begin walking away again.

"You promised you'd listen," he complains.

"Yes, but this already sounds wrong, and if this hurts your feelings, I'm sorry, but your family is dirty."

"You don't think I know that? It does bother me that after what we did together, after I opened up to you, you would think I would do anything that would violate my moral code."

"What is your moral code anyway?" I say, raising my voice, my anger bubbling to the surface.

"Listen, I've done things I'm not proud of, but being in the Navy taught me something. There is no black and white, everything is some shade of gray. Sometimes good people do bad things and vice-versa.”

“But I also learned that people are generally mostly good or mostly bad, and my goal is to make sure the mostly bad people don't take advantage of the mostly good people. My family, mostly bad, but every once in a while, even they are capable of doing a good thing."

As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. He still hasn't told me what role he has in this whole thing, but I'm willing to at least listen.

"This girl is dead set on making sure that a good, young, financially secure family adopts her baby. My role with a female partner would be to pose as said couple and legally adopt the baby. From there, we would then adopt out the child to the biological father."

I actually laugh out loud at that. "You can't expect me to believe that is legal."

"It is legal. The attorney handling this whole thing is an expert in child and family law. He's done this kind of thing before."

"It still doesn't sound ethical," I observe.

"How about if I take you to meet the father and let him explain it to you? You can ask as many questions as you want. If you still don't want to do this, I'll understand, but at least let him tell you his side of the story." He pauses.

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