Page 85 of Stone Rules

An hour later, when we’re unpacking her suitcase in our bedroom, my phone rings. I look at the screen and answer it. “Hey, John, do you have anything for me?”

“Yeah, but you might not like it.”

I’m thankful Charlie is busy hanging her clothes in the closet. I’m not even sure she heard my phone ring. “Tell me,” I say, sitting on the bed.

“The papers are all legit. But the attorney he used to prepare them is an ambulance chaser. It looks to me like this guy is after money, Ethan. Everything points to it. It even states that if he’s awarded full custody, he intends to sue not only for the maximum child support allowed by law, but punitive damages as well.”

“Punitive damages?”

“He claims Charlie fraudulently withheld information about the pregnancy from him and that he has suffered emotional trauma as a result.”

“That’s bullshit, John,” I whisper into the phone so I don’t alarm Charlie. “They hooked up one time, in the storeroom of a bar. They were drunk. All she knew was his first name. There would have been no way to contact him even if she wanted to.” I realize how that makes Charlie sound, so I add, “Uh . . . Charlie and I were on a break at the time.”

“Hey, no explanation necessary,” he says. “But Thompson claims she knew who he was and how to contact him. He claims she deliberately withheld this from him.”

“He’s lying, John. But I guess we’ve no way to prove that, do we?”

“Exactly. And I was able to contact a buddy of mine who is an expert on family law.” He pauses. “This is the part you might not want to hear.”

“Oh? Because everything else you’ve told me is all peaches and fucking cream?”

“I’m sorry, man. But someone has to break the news,” he says, sympathetically.

“I know, just lay it all out on the table.”

“Well, I guess his lawyer is smart enough to know they can’t force Charlie to take a paternity test if she refuses. So they’ve given her up to one week after the birth to have the baby tested. But, Ethan, honestly, the best way to get this guy off your back if you really think he’s not the father, is to go ahead and have her take the test now.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. Tell me the ramifications if we don’t.”

“If she doesn’t do the test, he could argue she is continuing to withhold information. He could argue she is trying to keep him from the unborn child. He could sue her, and maybe even you, for more pain and suffering. In addition, as the potential father, he has every right to try and gain access to medical records associated with the pregnancy. Tests. Ultrasounds. Due dates. Whatever.

“Not that it’ll be easy for him,” he says. “He’ll have to get a judge to sign an order. But if his attorney is good, he’ll know exactly who to use for an order like that.”

“Shit.” I rest my elbows on my knees and stare at the carpet.

“Ethan, be straight with me. What are the chances he’s the father?”

I blow out a deep sigh into the phone. “About fifty-fifty.”

“Whoa,” he says. “That’s a little too close for comfort.”

“Tell me about it.”

“You said she’s your fiancée, so I’m assuming you love her and you really want this child, am I right?”

“It goes without saying.”

“I think the lesser of two evils is to wait on the test until after the baby is born.”

“And let him have access to her records?” I argue.

“Yes. Think about it, Ethan. If the test comes back showing him as the likely father, he’ll have more ammunition, more rights, more reason to be in your life. Right now, he’s just apotentialfather.”

“Okay, so we hold off on the test. What else can we do?”

“It’s what youshouldn’tdo,” he warns.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

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