Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

I could hear my father sigh on the other end of the line.

“We’ll deal with this, but the case won’t help Drake get access. It might complicate things.”

“I was afraid of that,” I said and felt gloom descend over me. Drake might never get access because of the case. I could imagine some case worker in a dingy office reading the headlines about Drake, the BDSM Doctor, and stamping REJECTED on his case file…

“Don’t you worry,” he said as if he read my mind. “I have many connections and am friends with powerful people. We’ll make this work.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” I said and hung up.

Thank God we had lawyers like my father and Lara in our private circle so we had good legal advice at least.

I sat for a moment in silence, watching the snow fall outside my window. At least we’d have a white Christmas, but it would be a sad one for Drake if he couldn’t even see Liam…

I made a decision and went to our storage room, to find some of the boxes that Drake brought from his apartment. I remembered seeing a file on his divorce when we were packing up his place so I spent the next hour looking for it. I wanted Maureen’s maiden name so I could look up her mother.

Maybe she’d listen to reason…

An hour later, I sat on the floor in the living room with the file in one hand and my cell in the other. Part of me hesitated to call, but the other part of me – the part that felt Drake was being treated badly – decided to take a chance and call. I found Maureen’s maiden name -- Becker – and her mother’s name on a wedding invitation.

Mr. John Becker and Mrs. Brenda Becker

request the honor of your attendance

at the wedding of their beloved daughter

Maureen Becker

to

Dr. Drake Morgan

on…

I searched for her mother’s phone number and dialed, not knowing what to expect. Would she hang up in my ear or would she listen to reason?

A woman answered, her voice warm.

“Hello?”

I took in a deep breath and started my spiel.

“Hello, is this Mrs. Brenda Becker?”

“Yes,” she said. “This is she.”

“We’ve never met, and I know this call may seem out of the blue, but I’m married to Dr. Drake Morgan. I’m calling in the hopes of talking to you about letting Liam and Drake meet and get to know each other, as father and son. I know Maureen is in town for Christmas and that Chris and Maureen have separated. It would be great—.”

“Let me stop you right there,” Mrs. Becker said, her voice firm.

“Okay,” I said, biting my bottom lip, waiting for her to give me a hard time.

“I’m completely sympathetic to Drake seeing Liam. Unfortunately, Maureen’s very stubborn and nothing I’ve said has seemed to work. I’m trying, honestly, but she’s still so adamant that Drake is a bad influence, although I’ve never understood… I always liked Drake.”

“Did Maureen tell you why she thinks he’s a bad influence?”

There was a brief pause on the other line.

“Well…” Brenda said, her voice trailing off. “She said he was into some kinky stuff and felt he was an inappropriate parent. I tried to tell her that it was more important what kind of father he was, not what he did in the bedroom, but she’s like her father. Very stubborn. I tried… We’d love for Drake to get to know Liam, especially now that Chris and she…”