Ryker by Jeneveir Evans
Chapter 1
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.
~Wade Boggs~
Jace
September 9th, 1999
Glancing at my phone I checked the time as I got off my bike, I was afraid that I was running late because I left work later than I intended. I wasn’t comfortable leaving my helmet on my seat so I carried it with me as I strode into Mr. Jerik’s office. I had a five-thirty appointment scheduled with him. I’d asked Amy to make me his last client of the day. When I entered the receptionist area, I was directed to Amy’s office. She was Mr. Jerik’s administrative assistant. As I walked into the office, she glanced up at me and smiled.
“Hey, Jace. Let me ring, Mr. Jerik. I think he’s ready for you.”
I nodded and decided to stand instead of taking a seat. I listened as she let him know I was here, then she stood, opened the door, and announced me. She pulled the door closed behind her.
“Mr. Davis, it’s nice to meet you,” Mr. Jerik remarked as he stood up behind his desk.
I made my way over to him and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, sir.”
“Please have a seat.” His eyes roamed over my face. “I must say, it is very obvious that Viper is your father.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I look a little bit like him.”
“It’s quite uncanny, actually,” he murmured as he studied me.
If people knew Dad, it was always this way when they met me. They couldn’t get over how much I looked like him. My Gran said every time she looked at me she had to stop herself from calling me Cole. I thought it was kinda cool to know that I’ll look damn good as I age. It was actually flattering to my ego. I may be a man, but I wasn’t blind. Women watched Dad wherever he went. If he’d ever shown the least bit of interest, they would have flocked to him in droves.
But Dad loved my moms and as far as he was concerned, there were no other women in his world, at least none that he noticed. That is what I wanted for myself one day. A love like my parents have. After the shit that had gone on with Zoey, I now know I won’t accept anything less either. I want a woman who will think about me as much as I think about her. A woman who wants to know the man I am. A woman who wants to know me inside out.
“What can I help you with, Mr. Davis?” Mr. Jerik asked.
“Please call me Jace.”
He tilted his head at my request.
“What I want to discuss, I don’t want anyone else to know anything about it.”
“No one else will know, that I can assure you.”
“Good.” I blew out a breath and decided to just go for it. “I found out recently that I’m going to be a dad. The mother of my child wanted an abortion. I convinced her to carry my baby.”
“I take it you want the baby.”
“Yes, sir. I do. Because of some things that happened to her during her childhood, Maureen doesn’t want children. She’d told me that when we spent some time together. While I hadn’t planned on having a child this soon, when she told me she was pregnant I knew I had to find a way to convince her to have my baby.
“I revere family, that is something Dad taught all of us kids. I offered Maureen forty thousand dollars and my truck to give birth to my child, but there were stipulations. I want to get everything down on paper and do this legally. For that sum of money, she has agreed to sign away her rights as my daughter’s parent.
“What stipulations did you make?”
I watched as he wrote notes about what I had told him so far. I knew I could trust the man. Dad wouldn’t have used him as his lawyer if the man was untrustworthy.
“Besides what I’ve already mentioned, for my part, I pay her rent, utilities and any bills concerning the baby that her insurance doesn’t cover. For her part, she has agreed not to smoke pot or do any type of drug unless it is something the doctor prescribes. She also has to use the doctor I chose, which is Dr. Suzette Adams. She is to be drug tested at each appointment. I already know she smoked pot twice before she knew she was pregnant. She says she hasn’t done any other drugs since she found out she was pregnant and I believe her.
“Mr. Jerik, Maureen isn’t a bad woman. We both knew we were just together for sex. I’m sorry if that offends you, sir. One thing I found during our time together, and since then, is that she does appear to be honest. When she saw Doc on Monday, she told her things that neither Doc nor I would have known if she had chosen not to mention it. She was always upfront with me during our time together.
“Yet, this is my child. I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“Is that it?”
“No, sir, it’s not. Other than me, she is to sleep with no other man during her pregnancy. I also told her part of the agreement was for me to live with her until my daughter is born.”
“And that’s everything?”
“Yes, sir. It is.”
“I take it you want the paperwork done as soon as possible?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, I believe I have everything I need.”
“Mr. Jerik, what are your fees?” I needed to know how deep in the pocket this was going to hit me.
“I’m on retainer for the MC.”
“No, sir. This doesn’t go through the MC at all. I’ll pay my own bill.”
“I’m not cheap, Jace.”
“I didn’t figure you were. Let me know how much I have to put down and how much the total will be.”
“I’ll require a thousand dollars down and the balance will be one thousand due on the date of your visit. When would you like me to have the paperwork ready?”
“Next week if possible. I’ll go ahead and pay the full amount now.” Hell, I might as well pay it now and not in front of Maureen later.
“If that’s what you wish to do. Ask Amy to schedule you in at five-thirty next Wednesday. Everything will be ready by then.”
I nodded as I stood up. I reached across his desk with my hand extended. He stood and shook my hand.
“I appreciate the help, Mr. Jerik.”
“It has been nice meeting you, young man. Your parents raised you right.”
I smiled at him. “Yeah, Dad and Moms didn’t let us get away with much.”
“It’s rather refreshing.”
I grinned and left his office. I stopped by Amy’s desk to pay and make my next appointment.
“Amy, I don’t want anything said to anyone that I was here, understand? I know you’ll be the one typing up the paperwork, I want this kept quiet.”
“Jace, you don’t have to worry about that. Like with the MC, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to work here. Whatever it is Mr. Jerik is doing for you, it stays in this office.”
“Good to know. He told me to let you know to schedule me for next Wednesday at five-thirty.”
While she was jotting that down, I pulled my checkbook out and wrote a check for the amount due. I gave her the check and she wrote me a receipt. As she handed it to me, she studied my face.
“Jace, I know I don’t have the right to ask, but I consider you a friend. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s all good. It will soon be great.”
“That’s good.”
I flashed her a smile and she fanned herself.
“Damn, that smile is killer.”
I shook my head as I laughed at her. I was still laughing when I got on my bike and headed toward Maureen’s duplex.
~*~
September 15th, 1999
I pulled my bike up and parked it beside Maureen’s car. She got out as soon as I came to a stop.
“Hey, don’t close your door yet. I want to leave my helmet in your car.”
“Alright,” she said quietly.
I snapped my head around and looked at her. “Is something wrong?”
“No, Jace. Well, yeah, kinda.”
“What?”
“Jace, this man is going to think I’m the worst person in the world because I’m giving up my child.”
“No, he won’t. Maureen, not wanting children doesn’t make you a bad person. Look at it this way, you’re not giving up your child, you’re giving me my child.”
“I’m hardly giving it to you.”
I shrugged. “Maureen, women are paid surrogates every day. Nothing wrong with that.”
“You’re sure?” She raised her eyes to mine to try to read what was in them.
“I’m totally sure.”
She sighed and her body visibly relaxed when she saw that I meant what I said.
“Okay. Let’s go do this,” she murmured.
I kept my hand on her back as we walked toward the entrance of the office and held open the door for her. I did all the simple things that Dad had taught us boys to do for a woman. He’d told all of us boys that women weren’t the weaker sex. He’d said that they were strong as fuck and usually more intelligent than most men.
He let us know that it wouldn’t have mattered if they were, in fact, weaker. He’d explained that a man needed to treat a woman with respect and courtesy, to cherish a woman. It didn’t matter if she was our woman or not, if we were with her, then we treated her good. All of us boys had taken his lessons to heart. Hell, we all wanted to be just like our old man.
After being shown into Amy’s office, we took a seat while she let Mr. Jerik know we were there. I saw her glance unobtrusively at Maureen a few times and I had to bite back a grin. She now knew why we were here. She was probably wondering what the hell had happened, but I wasn’t telling her. It wasn’t anyone else’s business but mine.
We waited about fifteen minutes before Amy showed us to a conference room. Once inside, I shook Mr. Jerik’s hand and introduced Maureen. He indicated for us to take a seat. He had Maureen sit on one side of the table and me on the other side with him at the head. That made me a little curious.
“Ms. Perry, I take it you know why we are here today?” he asked her.
“Yes.”
“Here is your copy of the agreement and, Mr. Davis, here is your copy.”
Holy shit. I stared at the pile of papers that was in front of me. There had to be at least twenty.
“Christ, there’s a lot,” I muttered.
“There are indeed,” he replied. “Now I’m going to go through the document with you.”
He spent the next thirty minutes using legal words that at times I caught myself wondering what the hell he had just said. I glanced at Maureen and noticed she looked like how I was feeling. Confused.
After he was through, he looked at both of us and inquired, “Do you have any questions on what I just went over?”
“Uh, Mr. Jerik. Would you paraphrase what you just said to us without us needing to get a law degree to understand?” I asked him.
I caught a slight smile on his face before he began speaking, “Yes, I will. Ms. Perry, what this document states is that you will be the gestational carrier for Mr. Davis’s child. During this time, you will go to the doctor of his choosing, Dr. Suzette Adams. You will not take any drugs that are not prescribed to you from your regular medical doctor or Dr. Adams. If at any time you are prescribed any medication by your regular physician or any other physician, you will immediately contact Dr. Adams to make her aware of this.
“You have agreed that you will not have sexual intercourse with any male other than Mr. Davis during your pregnancy. You have also agreed that you will be responsible for your personal expenses.
“Mr. Davis has agreed to pay you a lump-sum in the amount of forty thousand dollars plus a 1950 Chevy Advance-Design truck, title free and clear. He will pay any doctor and hospital bills that pertain to the pregnancy that your insurance does not cover. He will pay your rent and your utilities during your pregnancy.
“It has been agreed by you, Ms. Perry, that Mr. Davis will live with you during your pregnancy. Is everything correct so far?”
“Yes,” Maureen responded.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Good. Ms. Perry, you will not receive any compensation of the lump-sum amount until after you have delivered the child. Nor will Mr. Davis transfer the vehicle title to you until such a time.
“However, Mr. Davis will pay the agreed upon expense during the pregnancy. Another thing, Ms. Perry. In the document it states that if you test positive for any uncontrolled substance that is not a prescribed medication, you will be fined one thousand dollars for the first offense. If there is a second offense, the amount rises to five thousand dollars. If for some reason there is a third offense, Mr. Davis has the right to sue you for any potential harm that might befall his child because of your neglect.”
My eyes widened when he mentioned the fines. I hadn’t asked for that, but damned if it wasn’t a smart thing to do.
“But, but… Jace, that’s not fair.”
I arched a brow at her. “Where is it not fair, Maureen? I’m covering all my bases here. I’m doing everything within my rights to make sure my child is brought into this world as healthy as possible.”
“I don’t know if I want to agree with this.”
“What you’re telling me is you had planned to do drugs while carrying my daughter?”
“No, that's not what I said. I told you I wouldn’t.”
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem, should there?”
“What if there ends up being something wrong with the baby? I don’t want to be sued for that.”
“Maureen, if you don’t do drugs and something happens to my daughter, then I’ll take care of it. What this document is assuring me of is that you will abide by your word.”
She huffed out a breath and muttered, “Fine. I’ll sign it.”
“Let me get Amy to notarize your signatures,” Mr. Jerik remarked.
He pressed a button on the phone that was sitting on the conference table and let her know that she was needed now. She came in and we signed three copies of the document. Amy notarized and recorded our signatures. She then handed Maureen and me each a copy of the paperwork and carried the copy for their office files with her.
“Ms. Perry, I’d like to say one thing. I would highly recommend that you follow that document to the letter. If not, you are aware Mr. Davis is a member of an MC, are you not? It wouldn’t be wise to get on their bad side.”
She raised her widened eyes to mine and I grinned at her. Damn, I think I really liked this old codger a lot.
“It was nice to meet you, Ms. Perry.” He stood then held his hand out to me and uttered, “Mr. Davis, I’m happy I could be of service.”
“Appreciate it, Mr. Jerik.”
When we got to her car, she opened it, gave me my helmet and asked disbelievingly, “Did he just threaten me?”
“Nah, babe. He didn’t threaten you. He just let you know that my MC doesn’t do well with anyone that tries to mess with one of its members.”
I turned away and got on my bike. I have to admit, I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my face. She wasn’t a bad woman and I liked her as a person, but Mr. Jerik had definitely made sure she would think twice if she even thought about breaking what was in our contract. Mr. Jerik had done me a solid. I liked the fact that he had carried our agreement a step further to protect my daughter and me.
~***~