by Ann, Natalie
Since he had arrived before Derek did, they didn’t pay any attention to him or the other people in the courtroom. That also worked to his benefit.
He watched as Derek looked at his watch and addressed the judge, “Can we assume she isn’t showing up and get on with it?” he snapped, agitation clearly evident.
The judge looked at Derek with disdain, frowned and stated, “There is still one minute left for the other party, or her legal representation to show. Until such time, have a seat,” she ordered him.
Another minute passed and the judge announced the case and asked if anyone was there to represent Beth Campbell.
Ryan Mathews stood up. He had been seated next to Mac the entire time, with his face turned away in hopes of not being recognized.
“Your honor, Ryan Mathews of Mathews and Mathews, representing Beth Campbell.”
***
The gasp could be heard in the courtroom. Even a few hours distance from Albany, where the Mathews firm was located, people knew and recognized his name.
“Approach the bench. You took your time making your presence known,” the judge said with a sly smirk.
Everyone knew plenty about the Mathews law firm and the clients they represented. Always defending the true victims, even if they were guilty of the crime, didn’t mean they were criminals. Most of their clients were on trial for self-defense, or unintentional crimes. The Mathews firm had a way of getting the clients lessor time served, if any at all, and preserving their client’s reputation in the process, often showing who the true victims were.
As a judge, she had seen her fair share of untrustworthy plaintiffs over the years. She could pick them out of the crowd and her judgment had never steered her wrong. She hadn’t liked Mr. Whitfield four years ago when she presided over the child support hearing and she liked him even less now.
At that time, Ms. Campbell had a lawyer appointed free of charge from a local not-for-profit. This time around she was coming in strong. She couldn’t help but wonder what Ms. Campbell had made of herself over the years. Seemed she landed on her feet just fine.
“Sorry, your Honor,” Counsel Mathews said, his lips twitching just a bit. She knew he would have done his homework and knew she was the judge that awarded Ms. Campbell the highest level of support before. “Just biding my time and gathering the rest of my information. I would like to request a meeting in your chambers, please, with both lawyers and Mr. Whitfield?”
“What is this about?” the judge asked.
“I assure you all questions will be answered at that time. I’m positive Mr. Whitfield would like his lawyer, and only his lawyer, present at that time.”
“Derek,” Derek’s wife whined. “What is going on?”
“I don’t know.” He looked helplessly at his own lawyer, who appeared to be nervously twitching in his seat since Ms. Campbell’s lawyer made his presence known.
“Counsel?” the judge addressed Mr. Whitfield’s attorney. “Is this acceptable?”
With a nod of his head, his attorney stood, as did Mr. Whitfield and another man, and approached the bench.
“Who are you?” Mr. Whitfield asked the other man. “Another attorney of Beth’s?”
A stupid question since the man with Counsel Mathews was dressed in jeans and polo shirt, the judge thought. Counsel Mathews answered, “Mac Malone, he is here on behalf of Ms. Campbell.” Mr. Whitfield’s poor excuse for an attorney accepted that answer without question, so the four men made their way to her chambers.
Once the door was shut she turned to address Counsel Mathews, “Present your information.”
He pulled out a thick legal envelope. “Inside this envelope is the history of Mr. Whitfield and his past relations. I called this private meeting assuming he wouldn’t want his wife to be privy to what was uncovered.”
Mr. Whitfield’s face turned red as he ripped the envelope out of Counsel Mathew’s hand. Opening it quickly he scanned the contents, some ten pages long detailing what looked to be every woman he had been with in the last twenty years.
“In exchange for that information to disappear from Ms. Campbell’s memory, Mr. Whitfield needs only to drop his visitation and custody case.”
Mr. Whitfield continued to scan the files as his attorney glanced over those pages that were handed to him. “A word with my client please?” Mr. Whitfield’s attorney asked and pulled him to the far corner. A few minutes later they returned and offered a compromise. “Mr. Whitfield has agreed to drop the case in return for updates on his child throughout the year.”
“No,” Mr. Malone stated plainly.
Counsel Mathews placed a hand on Mr. Malone’s chest. “No.” Then he pulled out a notarized statement.
The judge read the document from Ms. Campbell explaining the conversation Mr. Whitfield had with her when he handed over the check for ten thousand dollars, along with a copy of the cashed check to the judge. She glared at him. “I can’t make you drop this case. It’s within your legal right to proceed, but this won’t help your case at all.”
“If I’m paying support then I have a right to information on my child,” he demanded angrily. The judge raised an eyebrow at him, sensing he was getting desperate.
“Beth doesn’t need your money,” Mr. Malone informed him. “Zoe—that’s her name by the way—has never been your child. And she never will be.”
Counsel Mathews pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to Mr. Whitfield and his attorney to read. “Ms. Campbell is waiving her right to child support as of today. In agreement that you drop all attempts to contact her or her daughter.”
The judge reached for the document, scanned it and handed it to Mr. Whitfield’s attorney. “Looks like it’s a good deal all around. Ms. Campbell has already signed and notarized it, you need to fill in the rest and we are done here.”
Mr. Whitfield snatched the paper out of the judge’s hand, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him again. He grabbed the pen out of his lawyer’s hand and scribbled his name and handed it back. He turned to leave and stopped to address Mr. Malone, “Who’s Beth to you?”
“Mine.”
Same Name
Mac had been biding his time. He wanted Zoe and Beth in his home permanently, but again, he wasn’t pushing. Though, he had a date in his mind and was sticking to his game plan.
The last few months they had been making it work. Luckily Beth was gliding through her pregnancy with ease now, the dreaded sickness a thing of the past.
Zoe was finally excited to find out she was going to be having a baby brother. She hid her disappointment well, as well as a four-year-old could, but he knew she really wanted a little sister, one she could dress up like a doll.
They had been spending most of their time at Mac’s house. Beth would pack Zoe and herself up and stay from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. Then during the week Mac would try to stay at Beth’s house at least one night, two if he could swing it. However much it was working in her mind, and even his, it still wasn’t enough.
Now they were getting ready for Christmas—their first Christmas together. Starting with their first Christmas tree.
Zoe had been so thrilled when she saw the big tree Mac had cut down and placed in the living room. So much so, the first words out of her mouth were. “We need a really big star.” And of course he took her shopping to pick out the biggest and brightest star she could find.
With Zoe on his shoulders, he walked as close to the tree as he could so that she could place it on top. Once her little fingers released the glittering pink star, Mac stepped back and admired their work. Nothing at all resembling the perfectly adorned trees he had growing up, no, this one was much better.
This tree had a mixture of bright colors and crazy ornaments. Of course it did, since he let Zoe pick out each and every one.
Watching her jumping up and down with joy made his heart enlarge to the point of bursting. There was only one other thing left to do. “OK, ladies, a moment of your time before we can eat d
inner.”
“Yay,” Zoe cheered.
Mac’s eyes lit up and his grin grew wide at her excitement. He was surprised she had been able to contain it since he talked to her about his plans this morning. He had hoped she could keep the secret and so far she had managed, although, he knew better than to tell her any earlier than today.
Beth looked on, confused, just like he expected. She learned to accept that Zoe and Mac had a special bond now, one that included little secrets, like him taking her shopping to pick out the decorations for her bedroom at his house.
“Let’s all have a seat for a minute,” he suggested.
Zoe all but ran to the couch and hopped up, bouncing on her knees in her anticipation.
Once Beth was seated and comfortable, Mac walked over and picked up Zoe to place her on his lap. “Do you know what today is?” he asked Beth.
She smiled softly at him, and his heart started to knock against his chest. “December sixth.”
“Yes. But what else?” he inquired.
She honestly didn’t know, he realized, then winced, seeing his and Zoe’s matching grins. “Ah, Saturday?” she guessed again.
He took pity on her. “Six months ago today Zoe broke her arm.” He waited to see if she would catch on. She was slow, but she finally got it.
He had told her three months ago when he found out she was pregnant that he would take her to the courthouse and marry her if she said yes. Her only response was, “We haven’t even known each other six months yet.” At that time she had no clue when he replied with, “So that’s the magic number?”
She had thrown a few hints out the last two months, waiting for him to address their relationship, but he hadn’t. Even after everything was settled at last with Zoe’s custody battle, he was holding firm to the six-month date.
She knew he loved her. She knew he wanted to be with her. But she didn’t understand why he hadn’t brought anything else up since that one time, and he never let on.
Now, he watched the tears come into her eyes, understanding blooming. He shifted Zoe on his lap, reached for the end table and opened a drawer. Pulling out a ring box, he flipped the lid for her to see. A gorgeous princess cut diamond, set in platinum and surrounded by rubies.
“I picked it out, Mommy!” Zoe clapped her hands. “See, rubies like my ring.” She held out her finger for Beth to see the little ruby ring that Zoe was never without.
“Will you marry me?” he asked tenderly, his eyes starting to water, the jackhammer in his chest working full force.
“You know I will. I’ve been waiting for you to ask again,” she told him teary-eyed and sniffling a bit.
His heart burst open, bright lights, crazy sounds, and joyous songs ringing in his ears. It had been worth the stress of the last three months. “I’ve been waiting for the right time. I didn’t want to take the risk of you saying no,” he replied, fighting off his own urge to sniffle.
“She said yes, Dr. Mac,” Zoe exclaimed, bouncing on his lap, distracting him from the tears.
“Yes, she did.” He turned, slid the ring on Beth’s finger, leaned in for a kiss and then turned Zoe around to face him. Time to address another issue. “Now what do I need to do to get you to stop calling me Dr. Mac?” he asked in all seriousness.
She frowned and pursed her little lips. “What do you want me to call you?”
He looked at Beth, saw her nod and continued, “How about Daddy?”
Zoe tilted her head, concentrated for a minute and then replied, “But we don’t have the same name. Mommies and Daddies and babies all have the same name.”
“Then I guess we need to fix that.”
Epilogue
Mac refused to let his son be born outside of wedlock, and he also refused to let Zoe continue to call him Dr. Mac, so there was only one thing left to do.
Thanks to the Mathews’ legal connections, he was able to rectify both matters by early April, almost two months shy of the one-year anniversary of their chance meeting at the playground.
In a courthouse in Saratoga County, minutes after Zoe legally became his daughter he wed her mother with only Lucas, Brooke and their new son, Michael, as witnesses. They would have a more formal wedding and reception later in the summer, once Beth was fully recovered and both his children could be part of it.
He was even allowing his mother to attend that wedding, since she finally realized if she didn’t change her attitude she would be completely alone in the world. No children, no grandchildren and no husband. Goodbye to the perfect life she tried so hard to let everyone believe she had.
He delayed their return home as long as he could with a nice lunch and wedding photos—because even though they were going to have the big princess wedding Beth and Zoe had been talking about for months, he wanted photos of this wedding.
Princess dress or not, and Beth definitely wanted one, he was just happy to call her his wife. He finally pulled in his driveway shortly before dinner, where several cars were waiting. His sister and Lucas, Michael, Michelle, Thomas and Ryan Mathews, along with Cori and Jack, and Mitchell.
“What’s all this?” Beth asked when Mac came around and helped her out of the car. Heavily pregnant and due any time now, she still looked beautiful in her long white gown, hair perfectly arranged by Mitchell hours before.
“A surprise. For the two Malone girls in my life.” He grinned and winked at Zoe.
Zoe now wiggled around in her car seat, and started chanting, “Surprise, surprise. Daddy got us a surprise, Mommy!”
Mac led the three of them past the front door and around back, where they could hear the voices. On Mac’s deck there was a catered meal, nothing fancy, but a celebration for their nuptials.
But the biggest surprise of all, which had Zoe squealing and taking off in a run as fast as her little legs would carry her, regardless of her white and pink dress. There was a massive wooden playground structure recently installed that day, minus the monkey bars.
More Books
See where it all started in Road to Recovery –Book 1- buy here on Amazon
Being perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
After surviving a horrific car crash, Brooke Malone is ready to start over. Moving from her hometown of Burlington, Vermont, to Albany, New York, for a new job, her only goals are to focus on her career and her recovery. The last thing she wants is the distraction of a relationship. Least of all with a sexy more-than-perfect coworker who is adamant about needing to help her.
Lucas Mathews is any woman’s dream man. As a successful attorney, he could have any woman he wants. But he wants Brooke, the one woman who doesn’t seem interested. Can he win her over when all she wants to do is rebuild her life? Or will the secrets Brooke holds deep shatter any chance at happiness?
Road to Redemption—Book 2— buy here on Amazon
Relocating to Albany, New York, after the death of his wife, Dr. Jack Reynolds has decided he is better off alone. No worries, no headaches, no stress. The last thing he needs is the complication of a tiny redheaded nurse who has her sights set on making him see that life isn’t meant to be lonely.
Cori Summers thinks life is a bowl of cherries––covered in chocolate, that is. She’s fast moving, witty and the life of the party. Why can’t everyone smile throughout the day, just like her? Life is easier that way. No worries, no headaches and no stress.
Yes, opposites really do attract, but is Cori’s big personality enough to overcome all the obstacles that Jack is determined to put in her way?
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