Free One Last Lie by Rob Kaufman Page B

again, the line of the law is muddled. There are so many gray areas.” She pushed the glasses further up her nose and frowned. “Connecticut doesn’t have hard and fast rules about these issues… yet. However, the more detailed your written and signed contracts, the more likely you can have the financial and personal relationship with your child that you’d like. Jason Deitrich is our assistant reproductive legal expert. He’s in a meeting right now, but if you two decide you want to do this, he’ll be the one to walk you through the steps.” She removed her glasses and looked at them. “With me behind him every step of the way.”
    Philip and Jonathan glanced at each other and then back to G. She waited for a response. Nothing.
    She leaned forward. “Okay, now for my personal take on this. You know I love you guys and want only the best for you in every way. If you want, and I mean really want a child without as many legal issues as I’ve already posed, you might want to consider surrogacy. That will allow us to work up specific legal documents.”
    “I know,” Jonathan said. He pulled himself up from the chair and walked to the window. The clouds had flattened a bit, with silvery gray lining their bottoms. Ominous. “Then the child would be ours.”
    “Well that defeats the purpose, doesn’t it G?” Philip asked. “We were doing this not only for us, but for Angela, too. She wants to be a mom and I don’t think we want to be full time dads.” He caught Jonathan’s subtle nod. “We’d like to bring another one of us into the world, make sure he’s taken care of, and spend lots of time enjoying and loving him. But I don’t think we have the time, patience, or aptitude to do it all day, every day.” He looked at Jonathan. “Do you agree, Jonny?”
    “Totally,” said Jonathan, turning away from the window and looking back toward them. “I lack the patience… Philip the aptitude.”
    Philip turned to G. “You see what I put up with, G?”
    “And you love it,” she replied, looking at her watch. “I have another meeting in five minutes, but let me add one more thing. I would get to know Angela a lot better before making any sort of decision. Philip, I know you were great friends in college, but a lot of time has passed since then. You might want to have a little background investigation done first. If all is clear, you should spend time with her. Get to know her better. Basically, you need to feel one hundred percent comfortable before having a child with her. Agreements are great to have and they’re crucial to the process. But in the end, it’s the people who make the difference between a wonderfully civil partnership and a horrific, unsettling mess.”
    G scribbled a note onto her pad, tore the page in half, and walked to the window where Jonathan stood. She handed him the slip of paper and kissed his cheek. “Here’s the name and number of the P.I. we use. He’s trustworthy, thorough, and doesn’t overcharge. Please use him and let me know what he finds out.”
    She held her arms out to Philip.
    “Love you, Love,” he said, hugging her tightly. “And thank you so much for this info.”
    “It’s my pleasure.” At the door, she flipped her eyeglasses closed and slid them back into her breast pocket. “You can use this room until 11:30, if you want. And please, e-mail me an invite for dinner. It’s been way too long.”
    She closed the door behind her, leaving Jonathan and Philip in a rare silence. Philip sat at the head of the long table. Jonathan slid the notepaper into his trouser pocket and sat at the other end.
    Slouching in his chair, feigning exhaustion from the information they’d received, Jonathan uttered the only sound he could think of: “Hmmmm…”
    “Hmmmm… back,” Philip replied.
    “Do you still want to do this?” Jonathan asked.
    “Yes, I do. And you?”
    “I do,” replied Jonathan. “As long as we’re one hundred percent comfortable with Angela.”