CHAPTER 10
Cash
Three days later
I’m on cloud nine in my office just thinking about how I can clear out my schedule and get home to Mary and Mikey before five.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Come in,” I say, expecting my two thirty but instead see Bunny standing there in the doorway.
“Mr. Guy. This just came via Federal Express. It looks serious and is marked urgent.”
I want to tell Bunny nothing regarding business is that serious anymore. I’ve got Mary and Mikey at home and that’s the only thing that’s really important to me right now. The business stuff is just business. But I don’t say that. “Sure. Thank you. Let me take a look,” I say.
Bunny hands me the envelope and exits my office.
“Now let’s see just what could be so serious,” I say as I open it and pull out the contents.
I read the first line and then the second. I reach for the envelope and check the address.
I put the address in Google to confirm it’s who the letter says it is. I look at the FedEx receipt to verify the package did in fact ship out of that city.
And then for the first time in a long time I realize there’s a situation that I’m going to have a difficult time solving.
The letter is from Mikey’s grandparents. The same ones who didn’t contest my adopting him not that long ago.
Well, it says they seem to have had a change of heart.
I read through the letter again but this time all three pages. It’s rubbish.
Mikey’s parents were not only clients of mine but some of my very best friends. When they died in a tragic skiing accident I adopted Mikey, not only because I was his godfather but because it was the right thing to do. His parents had helped me get going when I first started out and had no clients. They referred friends to me who referred actors and politicians and before I knew it I had more business than I could ever handle.
I loved his parents and I never hesitated to make Mikey my son after tragedy struck.
But apparently Mikey’s parents made a will at one time or another. A will that doesn’t mention my name. I’m guessing it’s old, probably made on or around the time they were married, but the letter doesn’t state a date. It just states that I’m not in it and his family is. The grandparents think it’s their right to raise their own grandson.
I’m not sure about whose “right” it is but I know what is right. What is right is for Mikey to stay with me. His grandparents are nearly eighty years old and have no immediate family down the line with his parent’s passing. I certainly don’t question their love for their grandchild, one who I’m not even sure they’ve ever seen face to face, but I question the logic of them raising Mikey versus me doing the job.
I’m more cut out for it especially since Mary came into my life.
I go to put the pages back inside the envelope and when I do I see some more documents that got wedged against the side of the envelope. I missed them on the first pass.
“What in the world is this?”
What they are are pictures of me and Mary. They appear to be surveillance pictures taken by a private eye. Why in the world?
Then I see exactly why. They think we’re out messing around living it up and not paying attention to Mikey. Why in the world would they even think such a thing? And who isn’t allowed to go out for a nice night out once in awhile? Especially considering my sister was watching Mikey and she can always get through to me.
And there’s another note. I read it quickly and then feel completely disgusted.
I see what this is. They don’t like Mary. They don’t come out and say it but they mention her as “the woman in the enclosed photographs” on multiple occasions. And their mentions are not kind.
What do they have against her? They don’t even know her. They don’t even know me for that matter.
I shake off the strange grudge they’re holding against the both of us and immediately consider what I have in my arsenal to fight back.
I was the one who set up Mikey’s 529 college savings plan. I’m the administrator and the trustee, specifically named so by his parents. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they wanted me to become his father in the event of an emergency. It’s better than nothing though and does show a pattern of trust and guardianship, just like me being Mikey’s godfather does.
But the court may not see it that way. A good lawyer can swing the case either way, but the key is in this part of Colorado there’s a lot of money floating around. Even though I’ve got literally a billion dollars and cash and real estate it may not be enough. Mikey’s grandparents will have a similar level of wealth and a good attorney can easily spin the case due to the family connection. Juries often go for blood relatives over those who aren’t, no matter how high the argument is stacked against the family and for the friend. And that’s how they’ll try and paint it. I’m just a “friend” who is getting older and saw it as a good chance to finally be a dad. They’ll probably say Mary and I both schemed and connived and came up with it. Instant family they’ll say. I hate that I can think of these things so quickly, but it’s my job. When I structure wealth management portfolios I always have to take into consideration inheritances and courts. It’s just that this time I never thought I’d be the one who could be facing them down.
But this would never go to jury. It’s highly unlikely. They’ll use their influence to finagle child services to take Mikey from me. At least that’s an angle they could use. I need to think of something quick, and not just for me, but for Mikey.
It’s not in his best interests to bond with one family and then get pulled away. I see the way he cuddles up to Mary’s chest and I know how he feels when he lies on mine. How I can feel his little heart beating against my chest and realize just how tiny he really is.
Mikey knows when he’s on my chest he’s safe and I’m going to make sure it stays that way.
He may not be able to walk and talk yet, but he feels. And the power of human touch especially at this age goes a tremendous way into shaping a child. Children that are held and loved develop much better than those that don’t. I’ve seen the studies, not that I needed to be show.
I love my little guy and I’d have him in my arms all day long if I could. Except of course those times when they’re occupied by Mary that is.
My phone lights up and I see that it’s Mary calling. I take a big breath and blow it out before answering. I want to sound positive and upbeat. I’ll figure this out on my own without troubling her.
“Hello beautiful,” I say.
“Cash, what is this? What are they doing?”
“What’s wrong, baby? What are you talking about?”
“I just received a package at your house. It was addressed in my name and everything so I went ahead and opened it.”
Oh no they didn’t.
“It says…It says I’m a terrible person and I shouldn’t be around Mikey anymore.”
“I’m coming home right now. Don’t go anywhere,” I say. “Actually, stay on the line with me.”
I jump up from my desk and bolt toward the door.
I give Bunny the hand signal that I’m done for the day. Business can wait.
I’ve got to set things straight with the people who really matter most to me.