I have the right to this 3

 Chapter 3: Negotiations 1

Summary:
"I thought," and she tries hard not to let her bitterness show, "that active-duty military personnel couldn't adopt. Something to do with children's stability and safety."
Neither Ina nor Mavdad pays attention to her, but her brother raises his face. His happy expression disappears for a second, and his face twists into a mocking, defiant grimace.
Icepop looks at her from the screen with narrowed eyes and a slightly disappointed expression.
"There's an exception for adoption by blood relatives, of course," the admiral replies coldly. Then, in a much warmer voice, he joins the chorus of congratulations. "Congratulations, son. I'm sure you'll do well."

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Part 6 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Top Gun (Movies), Thunderheart (1992), Suits (US TV 2011)

Relationships: Brigham "Harvard" Lennox/Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Sarah Kazansky/Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Rick "Hollywood" Neven/Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe

Characters: Brigham "Harvard" Lennox, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Sarah Kazansky, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe, Rick "Hollywood" Neven, Ray Levoi, Harvey Specter, Mike Ross, Original Adult Character(s), Original Child Character(s)

 

Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Trans Male Character, Asexual Character, Transphobia, Polyamory, Phone Sex, Adoption

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/i-have-right-to-this-lies-we-told-each.html 

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Negotiations (Part One)

Monday, March 30, 2020

San Diego, California

When Jake arrives downstairs, the dining room is bustling with action. Sarah and Pete bring platters from the kitchen, and Sam brings plates and cutlery.

-Good afternoon, sleepyhead - greets his iná cheerfully.

His father smiles back. Standing behind him, his sister looks at him, intrigued, as if Jake were an enigma. He resists the temptation to unleash vitriol and averts her eyes. Then he notices the iPad mounted in the center of the table.

Jake leans into view of the camera.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hey, son." Although the background is out of focus so as not to accidentally reveal any military secrets, he knows his dad is watching them from his office in Hawaii. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Yes. But I woke up a while ago, I was on the phone with Brig."

"What's going on in Utah?" Maverick asks as he places the mashed potatoes on the table. "That call from Wolfman gave me a bad feeling."

"We better eat first, okay?"

"That doesn't sound reassuring," comments Sarah, but she quickly sits down.

Sam takes control of the conversation. She tells them about the plans her team is developing for a violence prevention program with a federal funding they won. When Iná worries about the project's continuity due to her maternity plans, the young woman can't help but smile proudly. Then, she reassures them and goes on to explain that the project was conceived with a rotating leadership system so that the core team can come and go according to their personal needs without jeopardizing the work.

After that, Ice tells them about his day. He's overseeing joint exercises with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Royal Australian Navy. Since it's too early for dinner on Oahu, he's eating fruit to keep them company. Maverick helps by asking timely questions based on his experiences in similar exercises. As anyone can imagine, these events are often marked by hilarious confusion. Each nation's cultural differences, organizational specifics, and linguistic quirks are enough to guarantee trouble, not to mention simple, annoying coincidence.

As the saying goes, anything is possible at sea except not getting wet.

It works. Towards dessert, Sam nearly chokes on the story of the clash between a Colombian frigate, an Australian destroyer, and a French submarine during the 2008 RIMPAC exercises.

"Maverick!" Sarah exclaims admonishingly, patting her daughter on the back.

"I wasn't even there," her husband defends himself.

"I don't know how," Ice chimes in from Hawaii, "but I'm pretty sure you get more gossip than anyone else in the Navy."

"No more than Sundown," Pete denies.

On the screen, Tom has just taken a strawberry, so he doesn't respond but nods thoughtfully.

"I swear," Pete continues, looking at his wife and kids. "It must have something to do with the fact that he's in charge of the China Lake research center and somewhat removed from all this back-and-forth of active combat."

"And they want to be on his good side so he'll let them play with the newest toys," Ice points out.

"That too."

"Yes," Sam confirms, although her voice is still a little broken from the coughing fit, "Elsa told me more or less the same thing."

"Speaking of families far away from active combat," Sarah pushes her plate away and starts fiddling with her napkin, "will you finally tell us what's going on in Utah?"

Four pairs of eyes fix on Jake, expectant. The young man carefully places his cutlery on his plate and sighs. While he'll enjoy stealing the spotlight from Sam, there's a cruel undertone to this situation that won't go unnoticed.

"It turns out that Christian Lennox, Brig's older brother," he clarifies, seeing his sister's confused expression, "has a seven-year-old daughter who's a bit rebellious. Since she's in public school, Social Services got involved. No, we don't know what the problem is. Christian and his wife didn't give any details. From their point of view, she's crazy, that's all, but child protection laws don't allow them to fix her the old-fashioned way." Everyone grimaces in disgust because they know full well the extremes to which resources can go to fix rebellious girls in conservative communities. "Since the family doesn't want to deal with it, they decided to do the same thing they did twenty years ago, so they asked Brig to take her away." He forces a smile, but he knows what comes out is a bitter, shaky grimace. "Iná, father, dad, you'll be grandparents in less than a month. Congratulations?"

His mother covers her mouth with her hands, her eyes shining with tears, stands up, and goes to hug him.

"Congratulations, my čhiŋkší! I'm sure you'll be an excellent dad."

Jake leans against his mother's arm and breathes deeply, relieved and happy with her reaction.

Across the table, Sam oscillates between disbelief and jealousy.

"I thought," and she tries hard not to let her bitterness show, "that active-duty military personnel couldn't adopt. Something to do with children's stability and safety."

Neither Ina nor Mavdad pays attention to her, but her brother raises his face. His happy expression disappears for a second, and his face twists into a mocking, defiant grimace.

Icepop looks at her from the screen with narrowed eyes and a slightly disappointed expression.

"There's an exception for adoption by blood relatives, of course," the admiral replies coldly. Then, in a much warmer voice, he joins the chorus of congratulations. "Congratulations, son. I'm sure you'll do well."

"We will," Sarah corrects him immediately, "because they're going to live here."

"Here?" Sam repeats.

Now, Sarah notices that her daughter hasn't joined the collective happiness bandwagon. She returns to her seat before answering her.

"Of course, they'll live here. Bradley will be going to White Pearl, and when he visits us, he'll have to stay in a hotel for protocol reasons. You and Elia have your own apartment downtown. You bragged a lot about it having two bedrooms, even though you could barely afford it, because it was an investment for when you finally have a baby," she reminds her sarcastically. "That only leaves Sean and Jake." She looks at her third. "It's an adoption, so there will be inspections to check if you're fully qualified to care for that girl. You can't say you'll live in one of the Miramar Air Force Base houses when you have family in San Diego. Not only is it inefficient, it could raise questions about your support network." Her eyes move to Maverick, who nods wholeheartedly, smiling, and then looks straight at the iPad screen, where Iceman looks absolutely satisfied. "Are we agreed?"

Jake just nods.

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Salt Lake City, Utah

Leonard and Brig arrive at the law firm's offices at ten a.m. When they say their names, an assistant leads them to a meeting room with a twelve-person table and a buffet already set up.

"Please feel free to eat or drink whatever you'd like. Mr. Specter and the rest of the team will be with you momentarily."

Leonard raises his eyebrows at the mention of the name but doesn't say anything. So Brig waits until the woman closes the door to ask her.

"Isn't this who you expected?"

"No," his father admits, pouring himself a coffee and adding a chilling amount of sugar. Seeing Brig's worried face, he decides to explain a little more. "Harvey is one of the main lawyers at the firm that handles my stuff in New York. Yesterday,, when I called, they told me they would send the paperwork to their Salt Lake City and San Diego associates. I agreed. I didn't think an intrafamily adoption case would warrant a lot of work. I just insisted they make it urgent because I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." He smiles tenderly. "I think you do, too, don't you?"

"Yes," Brig nods, "but then why send some important guy from New York? He probably doesn't have a license to practice in Utah."

Leonard makes a dismissive gesture with his hand as he sits down.

"That's not important to these big firms. They send their agents around as advisors, and local professionals sign the paperwork."

"So...?" Brig's hairs are starting to stand up.

"So," his expression sours, and he doubts it's because of the quality of his drink, "it's possible that in that late-night reading fueled by coffee and bad pastries they found some legal loophole. Your brother, Brig, isn't much like your..."

"Don't call him my father, please," he cuts him off. "We've lived with those kind lies for too long that only..."

Brig isn't quite sure how to articulate the intense emotions unleashed by yesterday's revelations from his meeting with Christian and Constanza. Besides, he's sure that a law firm's conference room isn't the place for such intimate conversations.

"From now on, he was Mr. Lennox and you are my father. Okay?"

Leonard looks at him with shining eyes.

"You were always our son from day one. You know that, right?"

Brig shakes his head doubtfully. He sensed it, but he'd forced himself to continue loving his biological parents for years. In his mind, he couldn't give Leonard and Rick that title without betraying his dad and mom, who had risked contacting his gay brother for his happiness. He honestly believed they'd sent him to his uncle because of the planes so he'd have the best opportunities at the Naval Academy. That gratitude colored every interaction. Despite the palpable distance during every visit. Even though they didn't attend his graduation. He wanted to love them, wanted to forgive them for not being able to accept him as he was. That illusion was shattered yesterday when he realized how things had really been: When can you take him away? Five words that destroyed twenty years of memories. As if any evidence were needed that everything was as fragile as a house of cards.

He chooses to return to the previous topic.

"So, in your opinion, Mr. Donald Lennox and his son Christian Lennox are different animals."

Leonard accepts the unspoken request not to discuss the past further. He nods.

"I think his prosperity is enough of a clue. The real estate market is brutal, to have that office in that building."

"It was ugly, wasn't it?"

Leonard lets out a mocking laugh.

"How much do you bet Constanza decorated it?"

He's about to say something else, but the door to the room opens, and ten people in very expensive suits enter. They have confident attitudes and impeccable hair, but their faces look like they haven't slept all night. Just as most of them settle around the table, a tall man with a broad forehead and eyes surrounded by wrinkles, as if he is used to laughing a lot, approaches them.

"Mr. Wolfe, a pleasure to see you again." Leonard stands, and they exchange a brief handshake. The lawyer turns to Brig. "Mr. Lennox?" Brig nods, shaking the large hand with soft skin but undeniable strength. "I'm Harvey Specter, of Pearson Darby & Specter, New York lawyers handling the business of..." His eyes flick between the two, calculating and curious.

"My adoptive father," Brig states proudly.

Harvey shows no emotion, just nods. Then he turns to the other side of the room, where the rest of the group has already taken seats.

"The folders," Specter asks. Instantly, an assistant with the body of an American football player hands him two blue folders, which he offers to Leonard and Brig.

The lawyer begins to speak as he moves to the vacant seat at the other end of the table, where he already has a pad of paper, a pen, and a cup of coffee.

"Meet the team handling your adoption, Mr. Lennox: Ethan Silver, Sam Grey, and Dov Lul of Martin & Shines in Salt Lake City. They're handling the paperwork related to Law 78B-6-1, the Utah Adoption Act. Sahara Twaines, Dustin Zhao, and Tiffany Cochrane of Black Lane Law. They flew here from Los Angeles to help you with Form AD 924, the California Independent Adoption Placement Agreement, which must be signed by Mr. Lennox and the child's parents. Mr. Malcolm Muldford, from the local American Adoptions office, is here because California law requires adopters to receive counseling from a registered adoption services provider. This is my associate, Mike Ross, from New York. And that," he points to the giant assistant, "is Tyler Callosum, the paralegal who will be handling your file."

Brig can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. A legal team of ten people across three states? What the heck is going on? How much is this going to cost them?

"Nice to meet you all. I honestly wasn't expecting so many people."

Specter nods kindly.

"This is an interstate adoption, Mr. Lennox, and it would always require a legal team here and another in California. Your legal team, you, and your family must coordinate to prevent any misunderstandings with the ICPC."

"The IC what now?" he interrupts, wrinkling his nose.

"ICPC," Ross chimes in, "the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is a mandatory process for adoptions that cross state lines. Authorities in the receiving state investigate to ensure they go to safe homes and aren't victims of trafficking."

Yes, that makes sense, but it doesn't explain Specter and Ross's presence. He doesn't have to wait: Harvey Specter retakes the floor.

"The Martin and Shines team called me last night for advice. I handle Mr. Wolfe's account, and they needed to make some strategic decisions. After reading the documents, I agreed with their assessment that it was best to gather the entire team in one place and be transparent with you, the clients, about how they want to handle this."

Leonard gives a grunt of displeasure but doesn't attempt to speak. Brig thanks him for letting him take this at his own pace.

"So, do you think the agreement proposed by Christian and Constanza Lennox is unreasonable?"

Mike Ross tilts his head, purses his lips, and fixes his eyes on Brig as if he's said something particularly interesting. Specter doesn't respond. Instead, he gestures with his chin to his right. Ethan Silver speaks.

"The reason we contacted Mr. Specter yesterday afternoon was the inconsistency between the legal agreement you sent us and the attached note we received from him. It stated that we should advise you on the adoption of your niece. So, we believe the first step is defining what you really want."

"Wait a minute. Are you saying that this," he points with his index at the first pages of the folder, "isn't an adoption agreement?"

"No," Silver confirms. "That's an agreement between you and Christian Lennox to give you the guardianship of Dunia Lennox."

Brig repeats the word guardianship to himself, confused.

"What's the difference?"

Counselor Gray, a small woman with dark skin and large, wire-framed glasses, explains.

"Guardianship is a legal relationship that grants legal and physical custody of a minor, with the right to make decisions about their care, control, education, and medical treatment. It's very similar to adoption except in one detail: it doesn't extinguish parental rights. Here in Utah, with so many extended families," she says extended instead of Mormon households overflowing with kids because they are in polite company, of course, "it's common practice to assign guardianship of minors to close relatives, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, even neighbors. But you don't live in Utah, and again, Mr. Wolfe said this was an intrafamilial adoption. Do you understand our confusion?"

Yes, he understands perfectly. Brig turns to Leonard. His father doesn't try to hide his fury.

"That little bastard," he says through gritted teeth.

"So I'd be responsible for everything, but my brother could take her away from me at any time?" he asks almost formally because the "it doesn't extinguish parental rights" thing is hard to misinterpret.

The ten members of the legal team nod in unison.

"Well, he is a bastard."

Brig covers his face with his hands because he is so, so ashamed to have a brother like that.

"Mr. Lennox," Sahara's voice has a soft, reassuring quality, though he has no doubt this woman is a shark. "We are very sorry that your brother tried to deceive you. However, it is our professional duty to clarify that guardianship can serve as protection for you."

He takes his hands off his face and looks at her, confused but with some anger reverberating inside him.

"Protection?"

His tone must tell you how little he likes that hint because almost everyone sits back in their seats except for Mike Ross, who keeps looking at him curiously. Specter assumes his role as boss and finishes the idea with a bluntness that lives up to the reputation of New York and its inhabitants.

"At seven, they're cute, at fourteen, they're a pain in the ass. You might be grateful for the possibility to send Dunia back in the future."

"Harvey!" Ross chides him, shocked.

Brig isn't offended by the idea. It hurts, but it doesn't offend him. Isn't that what Christian and Constanza are doing? What their father did, too? What reason do they have to believe they're better than his brother? Who knows how many similar cases they've seen in their careers? Christian only said one true thing yesterday: he has a duty to the family. But he's wrong about who deserves his support. He doesn't feel beholden to a family that didn't even want him present at their parent's funeral. Instead, that little girl who doesn't fit the narrow mold of her biological family for whatever reasons. That little girl only has him.

He looks straight at Harvey Specter with a slight, melancholic smile.

"The way I was raised, Mr. Specter, that's not an option. Adoption is a permanent responsibility." He suddenly remembers the document Jake keeps in his photo collection. "I'm going to adopt Dunia, irrevocably. I'm not leaving Salt Lake City without my daughter, and the Navy only gave me a five-day leave. Can you deliver?"

The expressions of delighted enthusiasm he receives confirm that this legal team is made up of adrenaline junkies.

Malcolm Muldford is the first to speak.

"On page three of your binders, you'll see the first form you need to fill out: the Adoption Planning Questionnaire and Adoption Profile. It's a document we developed at American Adoptions to simultaneously process adoption approvals at the state and federal levels."

Tyler approaches them with a laptop that already has the same document open.

"Do you want to type or dictate to me? I'm a certified typist," he proudly informs.

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Notes:

Adoptions in Utah: https://dcfs.utah.gov/services/adoption/
Adoptions in California: https://www.cdss.ca.gov/adoptions
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children:
General - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Compact_on_the_Placement_of_Children
In California - https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/foster-care/interstate-compact-on-the-placement-of-children-icpc

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INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/i-have-right-to-this-lies-we-told-each.html