Read Online Mixed Blessings by Danielle Steel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Danielle Steel
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with murder one. Who did this one kill?"
"No one." Pilar smiled at the memory of their days as public defenders. Their other partner, Bruce Hemmings, had worked at the public defender's office too. He and Alice had gotten married years before, and they had two children. Pilar and Alice had always been good friends, although Pilar didn't confide in her as extensively as she did in Marina. But for the past ten years she had been wonderful to work with. "This isn't a murder beef," Pilar said with a pensive smile, beckoning her to come in and sit down. "It's just so damn strange." She briefly explained the case to her as Alice shook her head in wonder.
"Don't even try to make new law on this. I can tell you right now, the best you'll get from any judge is visitation. Don't you remember? Ted Murphy had a case like this last year, the surrogate refused to turn over the child at the last minute. It went all the way to the State Supreme Court, and the father still only got technical joint custody, the mother got physical, and he got visitation."
"I remember it, but these people were so . . ." She hated to say it, but they had been pathetic.
"The only case I've read about where the judge wasn't sympathetic to the surrogate was when she was implanted with a donor egg from the potentially adopting mother. In that case, I can't remember where it was, but I could look it up for you," she said seriously, "the judge ruled that there was no blood relation to the surrogate, that the sperm and the egg were donated by the adopting parents. And she gave the kid to them. But in this case, you don't have those circumstances going for you, and the guy was a real fool to make a deal with a minor."
"I know. But sometimes people do crazy stuff when they're desperate to have kids."
"Tell me about it." Alice sat back in the chair and groaned.
"For two years I took hormones that I thought were going to kill me. They made me so damn sick, I felt like I was having chemotherapy instead of hormones to have a baby." Then she smiled up at her associate, looking young as she shrugged her shoulders. "But I got two great kids out of it, so I guess it was worth it." And the Robinsons had gotten nothing. A baby they pretended to call Jeanne Marie, whom they had never seen, and maybe never would.
"Why do people go to those lengths, Ah? Sometimes you can't help but wonder. I know, your boys are great . . . but if you hadn't had kids, would that have been so awful?"
"Yeah"-she said softly-"to me . . . and to Bruce too. We knew we wanted a family." She threw a leg over the arm of the chair as she looked earnestly at her longtime friend. "Most people aren't as brave as you are," Alice said quietly. She had always admired Pilar for her certainty and her convictions.
"I'm not brave. . . . How can you say a thing like that?"
"Yes, you are. You knew you didn't want kids, so you built your life in a way that worked for you, and you never had them. Most people would be too afraid that that wasn't the right' thing to do, so they'd have them anyway, and secretly hate them. You have no idea how many mothers I meet at boy scouts, at karate classes, at school, who really don't like their kids and never should have had them."
"My parents were like that. I guess that's what's always made me so sure. I never wanted a child of mine to go through what I did. I always felt like an outsider, an intruder, a terrible imposition on two people who had more important things to do than talk to a little girl, or maybe even love her." It was heavy stuff, but she had talked about it before. It wasn't a startling revelation, but it saddened Alice anyway. And it made her sad, too, to know that Pilar had intentionally deprived herself of children, which Alice felt was one of the few things in life that really mattered.
"You'd never have been that kind of parent, Pilar. Maybe now that you've married Brad, you should rethink your options."
"Oh, please . . . at my age?"
"No one." Pilar smiled at the memory of their days as public defenders. Their other partner, Bruce Hemmings, had worked at the public defender's office too. He and Alice had gotten married years before, and they had two children. Pilar and Alice had always been good friends, although Pilar didn't confide in her as extensively as she did in Marina. But for the past ten years she had been wonderful to work with. "This isn't a murder beef," Pilar said with a pensive smile, beckoning her to come in and sit down. "It's just so damn strange." She briefly explained the case to her as Alice shook her head in wonder.
"Don't even try to make new law on this. I can tell you right now, the best you'll get from any judge is visitation. Don't you remember? Ted Murphy had a case like this last year, the surrogate refused to turn over the child at the last minute. It went all the way to the State Supreme Court, and the father still only got technical joint custody, the mother got physical, and he got visitation."
"I remember it, but these people were so . . ." She hated to say it, but they had been pathetic.
"The only case I've read about where the judge wasn't sympathetic to the surrogate was when she was implanted with a donor egg from the potentially adopting mother. In that case, I can't remember where it was, but I could look it up for you," she said seriously, "the judge ruled that there was no blood relation to the surrogate, that the sperm and the egg were donated by the adopting parents. And she gave the kid to them. But in this case, you don't have those circumstances going for you, and the guy was a real fool to make a deal with a minor."
"I know. But sometimes people do crazy stuff when they're desperate to have kids."
"Tell me about it." Alice sat back in the chair and groaned.
"For two years I took hormones that I thought were going to kill me. They made me so damn sick, I felt like I was having chemotherapy instead of hormones to have a baby." Then she smiled up at her associate, looking young as she shrugged her shoulders. "But I got two great kids out of it, so I guess it was worth it." And the Robinsons had gotten nothing. A baby they pretended to call Jeanne Marie, whom they had never seen, and maybe never would.
"Why do people go to those lengths, Ah? Sometimes you can't help but wonder. I know, your boys are great . . . but if you hadn't had kids, would that have been so awful?"
"Yeah"-she said softly-"to me . . . and to Bruce too. We knew we wanted a family." She threw a leg over the arm of the chair as she looked earnestly at her longtime friend. "Most people aren't as brave as you are," Alice said quietly. She had always admired Pilar for her certainty and her convictions.
"I'm not brave. . . . How can you say a thing like that?"
"Yes, you are. You knew you didn't want kids, so you built your life in a way that worked for you, and you never had them. Most people would be too afraid that that wasn't the right' thing to do, so they'd have them anyway, and secretly hate them. You have no idea how many mothers I meet at boy scouts, at karate classes, at school, who really don't like their kids and never should have had them."
"My parents were like that. I guess that's what's always made me so sure. I never wanted a child of mine to go through what I did. I always felt like an outsider, an intruder, a terrible imposition on two people who had more important things to do than talk to a little girl, or maybe even love her." It was heavy stuff, but she had talked about it before. It wasn't a startling revelation, but it saddened Alice anyway. And it made her sad, too, to know that Pilar had intentionally deprived herself of children, which Alice felt was one of the few things in life that really mattered.
"You'd never have been that kind of parent, Pilar. Maybe now that you've married Brad, you should rethink your options."
"Oh, please . . . at my age?"
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