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She nodded. "That's what you have me for. I'm not finished digging on this woman, and by the time I'm done, Adam will look like a veritable mother goose. Plus, I almost forgot, Mr. Tate wants to call a meeting with you and Adam to go over a game plan for how we want to approach this."
My boss was a very busy man, and typically, he would've told me to deal with my own caseload, but when I walked into my boss's office that morning, it must have been obvious how invested I was in this case. Mr. Tate agreed to look over the particulars of the case while I went to talk to Adam, and I was grateful for his help.
I pulled up my digital calendar and saw that Mr. Tate had blocked out 1:30 for a chat with a note to make sure that Dr. Rollins was present.
"Do you want me to call Dr. Rollins to set up that meeting, Reagan?" Cheri asked.
I was about to tell her no, I would take care of it, but then thought better of it. Seeing as how I seemed to have such a difficult time controlling myself with him, maybe I needed to actually follow through with my plan of backing off. "I would appreciate that very much, Cheri, thank you."
I tried to ignore the uptick in my heartbeat at the thought of seeing Adam again. I am not a teenage girl, and these are very adult proceedings, I reminded myself.
"Keep your eye on the prize, Miles."
***
I felt ridiculous trying to play cool when Adam appeared in the boardroom.
"Dr. Rollins, thank you for taking time out of your day," Mr. Tate said, gesturing for him to take a seat.
"I'll do whatever I need to do for Wolfie."
"I'm glad to hear that. That sincerity will take you a long way in this case. While I am confident that Miss Baker will fold before we can even get to trial, but I understand how important this is to you and how important it is to our own Ms. Miles here. We are family here, so we take care of our own. Since you and Ms. Miles are so...friendly, you're a part of our family, too. Now, we need to talk details about making sure that your home is ready for a child protective services visitation and what they will be looking for." Mr. Tate proceeded to list a number of things, and my heart ached for Adam and how overwhelmed he looked.
"I'll make sure that you have a list of all these things, Adam," I told him softly, trying to reassure him.
"Oh, of course," Mr. Tate chimed in. "Now, onto some of the more delicate matters. You are a single male taking care of a child. And while I know that you are more than capable, that is perhaps the only thing that might sway the court's opinion."
Adams shook his head. "But what about what I do for a living? I mean, I've never been to jail, I pay all my bills on time, I'm not Mother Teresa, but I'm not a bad person."
"Nobody here thinks you're a bad person, Dr. Rollins. Remember, we're on your side. We're just giving you the logistics of what they sometimes look at in these situations. And I think it's only fair to warn you that they tend to favor couples, or any situation really, where there's a female presence."
"So, what are you saying? I’d have a better shot if I was married?" Adam asked.
"Or engaged," Mr. Tate confirmed. "But since we don't have that, we're going to play to our strengths," Mr. Tate went on, and even though Adams was nodding his head in all the right places, I could see the wheels spinning in his head.
Mr. Tate and I went over all the bullet points for things that could be done to help tighten the case. I also shared with them that I would continue to look into Miss Baker. "If you don't have any questions, Dr. Rollins, I have a client I need to meet with, but as always, if you have any concerns or think of any questions later, feel free to reach out," Mr. Tate said, shaking Adam's hand before leaving.
Now that Adam and I were alone, I turned to him. "It's going to be okay, Adam. Don't let this overwhelm you—remember, we're on the right side of this."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that," he said, but I could tell he was still worried. I started to reassure him again, but he looked up at me sharply, as if suddenly remembering where he was, and said quietly, "I should really get back to the office," before rising from his chair.
"Of course," I murmured, fighting the urge to say something else that would keep him there.
Miserably, I watched him go and then gathered up my folders and headed back to my office. I had only been at my desk for a few minutes when I heard a firm knock at my door. "Come in," I answered.
The door opened, and it was Adam looking determined as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "Listen, I know this is insane to even think. Oh, hell, what am I saying? This whole situation has been fucking insane, so I don't know why I should stop now," he rambled.
"Adam? You're starting to worry me. Just say what you want to say."
"That thing that Mr. Tate was saying about it looking better if I was in a stable relationship—somebody who could be a mother figure to Wolfie. I just—I mean, come on, Reagan, we both know that the kid loves you, and you're around all the time. Plus, you have a soothing presence over him. And come on, I am a doctor, you're a lawyer, that's got a look really good to those CPS workers, right?"
"Adam? Are you really suggesting that we pretend we're, what? Married? It'll look fishy, don't you think?"
"Not married, you heard Mr. Tate. We could say that we're engaged, we've just been wanting to keep it quiet so as not to overwhelm Wolfie. That's fair, right?" He was now pacing the small expanse of floor in front of my desk, running a nervous hand back and forth over his head. "Reagan, I know this is a big ask, but I meant what I said back there when I said that I would do anything to make sure he's okay, that he's in the right spot, and despite everything, I truly believe that his rightful place is with me."
"Adam, I get it, you're freaked out, and I don't blame you. But what you're suggesting is risky as hell. I mean, we barely tolerate each other, and now, we're supposed to act like a soon-to-be-married couple. Don't you think they're going to see right through that?"
He laughed then. "Are you serious? Do you really think that we can't pull off looking like a couple? You really are delusional, you know that?"
