When Life Throws Curves (Mason Brothers Book #3)

Chapter 35

I hate when Eve has to deal with these frustrations and I’m not sure what I can really do to help, so I do the only thing I can and rub her back and try to understand. “Let’s just pretend that you let her change her name when the baby is born, what does that entail?”

“I don’t think she can. I don’t think we can change it.”

“Why not? Eden changed Joey’s name.”

Eve chuckled, “That’s the exact same thing she said to me, but Fletch adopted Joey, that’s why they could change his name. She was doing a name change because of adoption, not just because.”

I nod along, “So I’d need to adopt her to change her name?”

“I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of this, but Lizzie’s dad still has parental rights.”

“Hold the fuck up,” I move Eve off of me and turn to face her, “what do you mean he still has parental rights? I thought he was out of the picture.”

“He IS out of the picture. I haven’t talked to him since our divorce was finalized. He’s never paid a penny in child support and never contested my having full custody.”

“But?” I encourage her to continue before I blow a gasket.

“At the time when I was granted full custody, he was still legally her father and was supposed to pay child support. He just never has and I never took the time to fight him in court for it. Plus, I eventually got remarried and we didn’t need the child support. Even if I did fight for child support, I don’t think it would make a difference. Courts don’t strip rights away just because you don’t pay your child support.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t they for just ghosting your kid for their entire life and not showing a bit of interest in them?”

Eve winced, “I don’t know. You don’t get it, Damon, but taking all these steps never occurred to me because they never seemed worth it.”

“Until now?” I ask.

“Yeah, until now when I met a real man who actually wants to step up and make him hers. But in order to change her name, I’m almost positive that we’d either have to get him to sign his rights away or approve the change, I think.”

“Do you think that would be a problem?”

“You’re telling me that you’re actually considering this?”

“I don’t know, maybe? I mean if this is what Lizzie wants, I’d want to do everything I could to make that happen. If he hasn’t seen her in fourteen years, do you really think he’d say no to signing his rights away? You’d probably have a good case for abandonment”

“I don’t know, Damon. I haven’t even talked to him since the divorce. I know nothing about whether he’d try to be a douche or something.”

“What’s his name? You said like Jeremy or something?”

“Jeremiah Maxwell,” Eve confirms.

“You got the name of that PI that you used to find Toni still?”

“Damon,” I move from the bed to the dresser where I left my phone. Eve tries to follow me, but it takes her a bit longer to get off the bed with her pregnant belly. “Are you sure about this? It could open Pandora’s box.”

“What’s the worst that could happen? He says no?”

“The worst that could happen is him trying to get custody of her!” Eve raises her voice in fear. I walk back over to her and hug her.