"$50,000, John? Are you sure?" Stef asked with a look of shock on her face.
"That's what it says," John replied, handing the paper to her. Stef took it and quickly looked over it as Lena walked over to her.
"Did you know about this?" asked Lena.
"No, I had no idea," Stef said. "I mean, I knew there must be some sort of inheritance for John, but I didn't think they actually took out a life insurance policy." She looked up and faced John. "I think you should check your mom and dad's things, Love. Maybe there's something in there that will help explain this."
"Well, that can wait," Sharon interjected. "It's the boys' birthday and it's time for them to open their presents, so why don't we do that first?"
"Yes, I agree," added Dana. "Let's get all of these presents opened and then we'll figure out what's going on with this letter."
Stef and Lena glanced at John, who nodded at them. "Yeah, let's do presents first and then Jack and I will go through the box and see if we can find anything," he said.
About 20 minutes later, John led Jack and Noah to the garage, where he grabbed the box full of his parent's old things before walking with them toward the back porch. Once they were situated, John opened up the box and started pulling items out and spreading them across the porch.
"What are we looking for?" Jack asked.
"Not entirely sure," replied John. "I'm sure our birth parents had a will that would specify something like that, or maybe there's some information from the insurance company that would help explain all of this. Or maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find something for both."
"How about I take some of these papers and start going through them?" Noah offered.
John nodded. "That's a good idea; we'll be able to get through all of this stuff faster." He pulled out some papers and folders and handed them Noah, who started shuffling through them. Jack took a pile, too, and starting looking through them. John took the final pile of items and started to sort them out to find some answers. After searching through for about 10 minutes, Noah suddenly piped up.
"I think I found something!" he announced, holding up a piece of paper. John crawled over to him and took the paper. "I think it's your birth parents' will," Noah said.
"Great," said John. "This should have something in it. I'll read it and you two keep looking to see if you can find anything about life insurance."
John took a closer look at Henry and Monica's will while Jack and Noah continued to prowl through papers. As he read the will, he learned that his parents did indeed set up a life insurance policy that would benefit both him and Jack. Their will specified the twins would receive all money from the policy on or about their 18th birthday, or would receive notice of the policy by the same date. After reading through the will twice to make sure he was reading everything correctly, Jack piped up.
"Hey, I found something about a life insurance policy," he said, holding up another piece of paper. "If I'm reading this right, it sounds like Henry and Monica paid for life insurance when we were born."
"And this says we are to be informed about the policy on or about our 18th birthday," John added, referring to the will. "This has got to be all of it. Let's get this cleaned up and tell the others."
Back in the kitchen, the boys presented the papers to David.
"If we're reading these right, then we are the beneficiaries for a life insurance policy our birth parents paid for when we were born," John explained.
"Dad, you're a lawyer," added Jack. "Can you have a look at that and make sure we're right?"
"Of course," David said, pulling out his reading glasses and taking a look at the will and the life insurance paper. After glancing at them for several seconds, he looked up, taking off his glasses. "Yes, this is definitely a life insurance policy by your birth parents, boys. And their will states you were to be informed about it on or about your 18th birthday, so the insurance company certainly did their part."
"What do you recommend?" asked Stef.
"I would say John and Jack should meet with the lawyer who sent them the letter about the policy," said David. "I can be there with them to go over any legal things, if you wouldn't mind me representing John as his attorney."
"Does he need an attorney?" Lena asked, sounding concerned.
"It can't hurt," David replied. "Everything seems to be in order here, but I would suggest having a lawyer in the room just to make sure everything is handled by the book. I'm happy to be there for both boys."
"Yeah, I think that should be fine," Stef said. "Thank you, David."
"Uh, Grandma Sharon?" John suddenly piped up.
"Yeah, honey?"
"Can I — uh…can I speak with you privately for a minute?" John asked.
"Of course," Sharon said, standing up. "We'll be right back," she added to the others. John led her to the living room, where they sat down on the couch.
"Are you OK, John?
John sighed. "It's just a lot to take in," he said in a quiet voice. "I never would have thought that Mom and Dad would have paid for life insurance."
"They probably did it just to make sure you and Jack were OK financially in case anything every happened to them. And unfortunately, it did."
"What do I do with such a huge amount of money?" John asked. "It's not like I desperately need it or anything. My royalty checks from HarperCollins are enough for me financially for college that I'd only need a part-time job. What am I supposed to do with all of this money I'm suddenly in charge of? Grandma, what do you think?"
Sharon considered him for a moment before she answered. "I can't make the decision for you," she said, causing John to sigh. "Now, listen, I know that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but just hear me out here, John. I know you. And I know that whatever you do, it'll be the right thing. Just take some time to think about this and consider all of your options. I know you'll do the right thing."
John signed again before he nodded. "Thank you, Grandma," he said, pulling Sharon into a hug. "I love you."
"Oh, I love you, too, honey," Sharon replied as she squeezed John and gave him a kiss on the head. "Happy Birthday, John."
