drifted off to sleep that night, she hoped that next month would be different.
Pilar Graham, as she still called herself professionally, sat in her office, staring intensely at a file on her desk, making notes to herself, when her secretary buzzed her on the intercom, and she answered it quickly.
"The Robinsons are here."
"Thanks. Send them in." Pilar stood up, clearly expecting them, as her secretary ushered in a serious-looking couple. The woman was somewhere in her late thirties, with neat midlength dark hair, the man was tall and spare, not expensively dressed, and slightly older.
They'd been referred by another attorney, and she'd been studying their case all morning before she met them.
"Hello, I'm Pilar Graham." She shook their hands, and invited them to sit down, and they both declined tea or coffee.
They looked nervous and seemed anxious to get down to business.
"I've been reading your files all morning," Pilar said quietly.
She looked serious and mature and intelligent, the kind of person they could have confidence in. But they knew her reputation, too, which was why they had come to see her. She was reputed to be a killer in the courtroom.
"Do you think there's anything you can do?" Emily Robinson looked at Pilar unhappily, and the attorney could see all the anguish lurking there, and she wondered if she could help her.
"I hope I can help, but to be honest, I'm not sure yet. I have to study it more. I want to talk to some colleagues about this case, in confidence, of course. I'm afraid this is the first time I've ever dealt with a surrogate situation. The laws are a little gray in some areas, and they vary incredibly from state to state. It certainly isn't an easy situation, as you know, and I just don't have the answers." Lloyd Robinson had made an arrangement with a seventeen-year-old girl, who lived in the mountains near Riverside, to have his baby. She had already had two illegitimate children before, and she was more than willing to have this one. He knew of her through a school where he'd worked, but no longer did. Everything had been handled by artificial insemination through a local doctor. He had paid her five thousand dollars for it, enough to move to Riverside the following year, live decently and go to college, which was what she said she wanted. Without the money he had paid, she had no hope of that, and she'd be stuck in the mountains forever.
It had been a foolish thing to do, they knew now-she was young, unstable, and her parents had raised hell with the local authorities when they finally found out. Lloyd had faced criminal charges, all of which were dropped. But the court had taken a dim view of his choice of a mother. For a while there had been a vague possibility of charges of statutory rape, but Lloyd had been able to prove that there had never actually been sexual contact. But in any case, in the end the girl, Michelle, had refused to give up the baby. By the time it was born, she had married a local boy, and he was adamant too.
And by the time Pilar was talking to the Robinsons, Michelle was pregnant again, with her husband's child. Lloyd Robinson's child was a year old by then, and the courts hadn't even allowed him visitation.
They had explained that, as a "donor," he had no rights. They felt that he had had undue influence on a minor, and they had placed a restraining order on him in lieu of further action. The Robinsons were distraught about it.
They acted as though it were a child they knew and loved who had been stolen from them. The baby was a little girl and they kept calling her Jeanne Marie. They had named her after both their mothers, although Michelle called her something entirely different and as Pilar looked at them, she had the feeling that the Robinsons lived in a dream world.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to adopt a child, even in a private adoption?"
"It might have been," Emily said sadly, "but we wanted his child. I'm the one who can't have
Pilar Graham, as she still called herself professionally, sat in her office, staring intensely at a file on her desk, making notes to herself, when her secretary buzzed her on the intercom, and she answered it quickly.
"The Robinsons are here."
"Thanks. Send them in." Pilar stood up, clearly expecting them, as her secretary ushered in a serious-looking couple. The woman was somewhere in her late thirties, with neat midlength dark hair, the man was tall and spare, not expensively dressed, and slightly older.
They'd been referred by another attorney, and she'd been studying their case all morning before she met them.
"Hello, I'm Pilar Graham." She shook their hands, and invited them to sit down, and they both declined tea or coffee.
They looked nervous and seemed anxious to get down to business.
"I've been reading your files all morning," Pilar said quietly.
She looked serious and mature and intelligent, the kind of person they could have confidence in. But they knew her reputation, too, which was why they had come to see her. She was reputed to be a killer in the courtroom.
"Do you think there's anything you can do?" Emily Robinson looked at Pilar unhappily, and the attorney could see all the anguish lurking there, and she wondered if she could help her.
"I hope I can help, but to be honest, I'm not sure yet. I have to study it more. I want to talk to some colleagues about this case, in confidence, of course. I'm afraid this is the first time I've ever dealt with a surrogate situation. The laws are a little gray in some areas, and they vary incredibly from state to state. It certainly isn't an easy situation, as you know, and I just don't have the answers." Lloyd Robinson had made an arrangement with a seventeen-year-old girl, who lived in the mountains near Riverside, to have his baby. She had already had two illegitimate children before, and she was more than willing to have this one. He knew of her through a school where he'd worked, but no longer did. Everything had been handled by artificial insemination through a local doctor. He had paid her five thousand dollars for it, enough to move to Riverside the following year, live decently and go to college, which was what she said she wanted. Without the money he had paid, she had no hope of that, and she'd be stuck in the mountains forever.
It had been a foolish thing to do, they knew now-she was young, unstable, and her parents had raised hell with the local authorities when they finally found out. Lloyd had faced criminal charges, all of which were dropped. But the court had taken a dim view of his choice of a mother. For a while there had been a vague possibility of charges of statutory rape, but Lloyd had been able to prove that there had never actually been sexual contact. But in any case, in the end the girl, Michelle, had refused to give up the baby. By the time it was born, she had married a local boy, and he was adamant too.
And by the time Pilar was talking to the Robinsons, Michelle was pregnant again, with her husband's child. Lloyd Robinson's child was a year old by then, and the courts hadn't even allowed him visitation.
They had explained that, as a "donor," he had no rights. They felt that he had had undue influence on a minor, and they had placed a restraining order on him in lieu of further action. The Robinsons were distraught about it.
They acted as though it were a child they knew and loved who had been stolen from them. The baby was a little girl and they kept calling her Jeanne Marie. They had named her after both their mothers, although Michelle called her something entirely different and as Pilar looked at them, she had the feeling that the Robinsons lived in a dream world.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to adopt a child, even in a private adoption?"
"It might have been," Emily said sadly, "but we wanted his child. I'm the one who can't have
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