Part 43
Zander and Brenda were sitting on the couch in the brownstone, studying economics.
"Break time," he said. "I wonder if I will ever really understand the functions of the Federal Reserve Board."
"Maybe no one really does," Brenda said, snuggling up against him, putting the Economics textbook down on the coffee table.
They contemplated this in silence for awhile.
"Have you looked at that photo album?" Brenda asked him, seeing it on the coffee table.
"I never had a chance to really look through it."
"Well, look. You'll be amazed."
Zander took the album and opened it. He remembered David saying Vanessa was "crazy," looking at the photograph of her. She didn't look too bad in the photo. His grandmother. And Leo, a smiling, friendly-looking individual.
"He looks like he would be nice to know," Zander said.
On the next page there were some pictures of a child and teen-aged David.
"Feels weird," Zander said. "It's like looking at myself."
"I'm going to ask Donna to get some pictures of you and compare them," she said. "My kids might look like this."
"They better look like you," he grinned. "They'll be crazy enough as it is."
He went back to looking at the album. There was David about ten, in front of a man, who had his hands on David's shoulders.
"My grandfather, who died young, probably because of his Long Q-T interval," Zander said.
"Yeah. Sad," Brenda said. But Zander almost felt sadder about the way he had his hands on David's shoulders. He was sure his mother could never find a picture of himself and Cameron, let alone like that.
"Maybe I'm making too much of it," Zander said. "I just feel, looking at this picture, that this guy loved his son David."
"You can ask David about it," she said.
"He did say I could ask him anything."
Then Zander was even more struck by yet another picture. In this one David looked like he was in his twenties. He had his hands on another boy's shoulders. Zander flipped back to the first page, and concluded that this boy was Leo.
Brenda laid her head on his shoulder, looking with him.
"You know," he said, suddenly, "I wish the same thing could happen to you. Your mother gets cured and you find out somebody else was your father. Do you ever want to visit your mother?"
"I'm usually advised not to. That it would be upsetting for me and meaningless to her. Sometimes I wonder if that's true. But mostly I'm never motivated to do it."
"I'll go with you if you want."
"Thank you, my love. For now, though, let's stay with you meeting Julia."
"I would really like that," he said.
Lynn Harmon looked at her notes from the last time she had been consulted by Ms. Carly Corinthos. Then, Carly was pregnant and wanted the biological father to waive his rights in favor of her husband. Now, Carly was there with the biological father and they wanted to know what grandparent visitation rights were.
Some people have the most complicated lives, Lynn thought. I shouldn't complain, because it keeps lawyers in business. Domestic relations lawyers like herself, especially. They'd have to find something else to do if all women could manage to get married before they had their children, have children by their husbands only, and then stay with them.
But those days were gone. And now there was a second generation of irregularity.
The young father in this case had a problem getting along with his own father and was concerned that his father might ask for grandparent visitation. He also now learned that his father was not his biological father and wondered if that would kill any possible grandparent visitation petition.
"Intriguing," Lynn said. "But when did you find this out?"
"This summer."
"How did it come up?"
Zander explained it.
"I'm not sure it would make any real difference," Lynn said. "I think you would defend any possible grandparent visitation petition on the usual grounds, that as parents you have the right to decide who sees your children, and can exclude anybody, including such relatives as grandparents. The reason is that you grew up as this man's child and you were born during a marriage. There's a presumption of legitimacy – before the days of the DNA test you would legally be this man's son conclusively. This is to make you the legitimate child of your parents, which is way easier on society. Now that we have DNA tests, the paternity laws are in a state of confusion, that is, they don't know what to do. You were born during a marriage and the DNA says you aren't the husband's. So the courts would have to decide which is more important, biology or the presumption of legitimacy. In a case where a baby or child's paternity was at issue, they might have to make that decision, and it could be a tough call, but I would venture to guess, and you'd have to go to the State Supreme Court to establish it, that the Court would rule that where the child is over 21, born during a marriage, and lived with that husband and wife as his parents from birth, that the presumption of legitimacy prevails and legally, that your mother's husband is your father even if it goes against the DNA. Say he wanted to disinherit you in a state where you can't disinherit your children. That state might decide the same thing. They wouldn't let him. Not after all those years with him. There could be harder cases, but yours is clear. Your biological father didn't support you and didn't raise you and would easily be defeated in any attempt at grandparent visitation. The one who raised you has these arguments in his favor."
"He's a total jerk," Carly said.
"So you would oppose his visitation on that ground," Lynn said, smiling, "though we might want to use the legal terms: that his visitation would not be in the best interests of the child. I mean, I find the question that he's not the biological father intriguing, but I think that the stronger case against visitation is the usual case against it. This family that existed for over 20 years – the state isn't going to want to disturb that family, or those family relationships, after all that. They're making rules that will apply to everybody, so if you supported the child for 21 years and had responsibility for him for 21 years, it's going to be way more than they want to do to declare that was all nothing because of biology."
"It does make sense what you put it that way," said the young father. "It sounds quite unfair to Dad, what we're trying to do."
"Which is not to say he has the right to visitation automatically," Lynn said. "I just think that you would argue that it's not in your daughter's best interests because of him, his personality, rather than argue that he shouldn't see her only because he's not biologically related to her."
"What would the court decide it on?" he asked.
"'Cause if they're deciding on his personality we have a great case," said Carly.
Lynn smiled, amused at Carly's passionate advocacy of a cause so different from the one she had taken up before.
"The state grandparent visitation statue goes like this: Where either or both of the parents of a minor child, residing within this state, is or are deceased, or where circumstances show that conditions exist which equity would see fit to intervene, a grandparent or the grandparents of such child may apply to the supreme court ... and ... the court, by order, after due notice ... may make such directions as the best interest of the child may require, for visitation rights for such grandparent or grandparents in respect to such child."
"OK, so we argue it is not in her best interests?" he asked.
"Yes, though you don't have to get to that if you can convince the court the conditions are not those which equity would see fit to intervene. That has been interpreted rather broadly, usually by a sufficient prior relationship, but those are older children. A court looks at the relationship between the grandparent and grandchild, for instance, it would be harder for a grandparent of a 16 year old who never saw that child before to make a case that in equity the court should intervene. But if they had seen that same child regularly since he or she was born, they'd have a good case. Then the court would look at the reason the parents don't want the grandparent to see the child. So we'd start out that he can't really claim any relationship over time, of course, that's natural as a result of your taking a strong stand from her infancy. Then we have the relationship of each of the child's parents and the applicant grandparent."
"My relationship with him is strained to the point of breakdown," Zander said. "I hadn't seen him in four years up to this summer. We had a hunting accident in which I shot my brother, who is two years older than I am, who he has always preferred. I can't think of a good think he's ever said about me, to my face, at least, but other people can be amazed at how he'll cut me down to them, even if they're strangers."
"Does your mother vouch for that?"
"Yes, I think she would. My brother might not like to go against my father, but he could do it, he's honest. My girlfriend has seen it. Carly and her mother. Now, even my biological father knows."
"OK. And the relationship between you, Carly, and the grandfather?"
"I've talked to him a few times. He puts Zander down. He's cold. Sarcastic. Snide. Condescending. A bastard, period."
"He treats everybody coldly?"
"Well, I wouldn't say Zander is only getting the same as everybody else. He's worst when it comes to him."
"He's mean about my mother," Zander said.
"She's an adult in relation to him, though. They had an equal relationship. You're his child," Carly said. "That's why it's so unforgivable. I could say Sonny is a bastard but I would never even imagine letting someone else say that about Michael without me punching them, let alone say it myself."
"He's OK to my brother. Pressures him. He's nothing but pressure. You can't relax around him."
"OK," Lynn said. "Does he know he's not your biological father?"
"He knows."
"How long?"
"We're not sure. He found out only this summer like the rest of us, like I did, but then some think he may have known or suspected. My mother maintains he never did, but recently was less sure about it."
"At any rate, he never said anything to you about that as you were growing up?"
"Nothing."
"The next thing we have is that if he had visitation, what effect would it have on each of your relationships with the child?"
"That's why we don't want to do it," Carly said. "He can't say a nice thing about Zander, and we don't trust him not to put him down to Ginny when she's old enough to hear. We took the parenting class and we know that's not good, but the villain is usually the other parent. But he's worse than that."
"OK. Then there's the factor of your time sharing arrangement, which I have noted down here. His good faith in filing is next. You don't think he'd do it to see his granddaughter so much as to annoy you, or undermine you with your daughter?"
"I'm sure it's to make sure I know I'm not a good father," Zander said. "And I'm even worried about that, how I learned to be a father from him."
"You'll do the opposite," Lynn said.
"Exactly, I'm trying to avoid just doing that rather than thinking about it."
"Any history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse? By him, I mean."
"No," Zander said.
"Are you kidding, it's emotional abuse," Carly said. "Verbal. That counts, doesn't it?"
"Yes. It does sound as if you would have a fairly solid case, if just on your own opinion. You have great rights as against third parties, even grandparents, about who your child is exposed to. Sounds like the visitation would be hard on you, and that's not good for your child. The grandfather hasn't had a relationship with her in the past that you're cutting off, but you're taking this strong stand right at the beginning that you don't believe it's in her best interests. That's based on his poor relationship with you. And what would he testify to?"
"He'd end up cutting Zander down in five minutes. He'd explain it's best for the child because Zander is a screw-up, whatever," Carly said.
"I've never seen him in a pleasant demeanor myself, though I've heard he can be charming," Zander said.
"The judge and everybody else in the courtroom will hate him as soon as he opens his mouth," Carly declared.