Jacqueline Diamond – The Surprise Holiday Dad (страница 10)
“It will be eventually,” Geoff said. “We don’t have to carve anything in stone right now.”
“This visitation business,” Wade put in. “I don’t know my work schedule yet.”
“I can imagine your hours might be somewhat irregular,” the lawyer noted. “Perhaps you’d be willing to stipulate that you accept Dr. Cavill’s current babysitting arrangements.”
Adrienne could see Wade’s muscles tightening. “Is that a problem for you?” she asked him.
“I haven’t met the babysitter yet.”
How dare he question her choices? Adrienne gripped the pot in her lap. Peace offering or not, she was tempted to chuck it at Wade’s head.
Yet as Geoff had warned earlier, antagonizing the man was likely to backfire. She’d done research on the internet, hoping to find that Vicki’s will and Adrienne’s longtime care of Reggie put her in the driver’s seat. To her dismay, the articles she’d read had confirmed that Wade’s rights took precedence over hers.
She’d been shocked to discover that in California and many other states, even rapists could sue for child custody and/or visitation. Considering that Wade was the injured party here due to Vicki’s threats toward him, what chance was there that a court would side with Adrienne?
That didn’t mean she was giving up on maintaining primary custody. But she’d have to win over Wade with diplomacy, not temper tantrums.
“You should consider living arrangements,” Geoff persisted. “What about overnight visitation, for instance?”
“I’m sleeping on my father’s couch, so I can hardly take Reggie home with me.” Wade shook his head. “I’m not ready to work out a parenting plan. It sounds like a good idea for later, though.”
“I don’t mind if we play this by ear for a while.” In time, Adrienne thought, Wade might accept that staying with her was in his son’s best interest.
“To a certain extent, that may be necessary,” the lawyer said. “However—”
“What about this business of supervised visits?” Wade pressed. “I don’t see why I can’t spend time alone with my son.”
The attorney frowned. “You are a stranger to him.”
Wade leaned forward, storm clouds gathering in his expression. This could blow up in her face, Adrienne realized. Besides, she’d already considered the matter, so why quarrel about it?
She raised her hand in a stop gesture. “It’s fine with me if Wade wants to have private time with Reggie tomorrow evening. My office hours start at six, and he’s looking forward to assembling that toy police station with his dad.”
As she spoke, Wade nodded. It felt almost as if they were on the same side.
“Toy police station? Did I miss something?” Geoff asked.
She explained about Wade stopping by the birthday party. “They aren’t strangers anymore. I’m comfortable with an unsupervised visit. I’m sure my nephew will be fine.”
Wade’s pleased expression lasted only seconds before he broached another subject. “That sounds good, but won’t you be at the hospital all night? Does that mean I should sleep over?”
Adrienne hadn’t thought of that possibility and didn’t care for it. “His regular sitter, Mary Beth Ellroy, and her family are planning a celebration for Reggie—cake and a few small presents. If you could drop him off at her house around eight, that would be great. That’ll give you a chance to meet them, too.”
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