Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
That does it. Caleb looks ready for a physical confrontation, but instead merely leans over the table, his voice shaking with rage.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Foley sniggers, wiping at some spittle at the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t think I will. You’ve incriminated yourselves already because I haven’t heard either of you deny that you were having sex in my office. So what is it going to be, big boy? Are you going to pay me for the children I’ve given up?”
This negotiation has reached a new low, and I’m surprised my boyfriend can still speak, given how he’s shaking with rage now.
“According to the donor contract, all semen donations are anonymous. No one was supposed to know who I was, much less any other identifying details.”
Foley rolls his eyes, rubbing his fingers together like a tiny violin.
“Wah, wah, wah. So what? I’m the CEO of the sperm bank so I’m going to know who’s fathering these kids. Nice try, loser.”
Caleb sits back then, narrowing his eyes.
“Well, Mr. Foley, as you know, donation is completely voluntary and no matter what you say or what you do, I absolutely will not be making more donations to Valley Cryo. You can hit me with the courts, you can hit me with whatever epithets you want, but you’re not getting my semen to create some kind of fucked-up family with your name on it.”
This really scares John.
“You can’t do that!” he screams, his eyes bugging out of their sockets. “You need to come in for more deposits! You have to!”
Then, the older man literally gets up and runs around the side of the table, pulling at my man’s arm.
“Get up, get up!” he shrieks. “We’re going to Valley Cryo right now so that you can make a donation. I need your sperm because these are my children at stake!”
Pandemonium ensues then. The lawyers try to pull Foley off Caleb, but he’s got his hands in a death grip on my boyfriend’s arm. Finally, Caleb literally pries the other man’s fingers off before retreating to the other side of the conference room, staring at Foley while breathing hard.
“You are really fucked up in the head, you know that?”
Foley bursts into tears then, slumping into a seat at the conference table.
“No, I’m not! I want to have a family,” he bawls. “My sperm is immotile so I can’t have my own biological children, and goddamit, I’m shooting blanks at this point.”
Everyone present gapes at one another, but finally, Grissom hands his client a tissue.
“I’m sure you’ll find a way, Mr. Foley,” the portly man grunts. “You don’t need the sperm of a billionaire to conceive children. All children are blessings, and maybe you should look into adoption or even fostering a child. There are many children in need all over the world, in fact.”
But Foley is inconsolable, and literally puts his head down on the table and begins to cry. He’s sobbing so violently that his shoulders shake and Luke shoots a concerned look at us.
“Let’s go,” he whispers, gesturing to the door. We exit silently, leaving Foley under the care of his attorney, before retreating to Luke’s office.
“Holy shit,” growls Caleb, still startled from the confrontation. “What the fuck was that?”
Luke shakes his head, taking a seat in the chair behind the desk.
“Clearly, he’s off his rocker.”
“What about the lawsuit?” Caleb asks carefully.
The attorney shrugs.
“If he were foolish enough to bring a lawsuit, he’d never succeed because no one can force you to donate sperm, Mr. Select,” he says quickly. “If anything, Foley needs to be under the care of a psychiatrist to work through his issues.”
“He’s got a lot of issues,” I mutter. “Enough for a team of therapists.”
Caleb nods, slipping an arm around my waist.
“Yeah, clearly he’s not fit to be a parent, but that’s not our business. We just want to move on. So what’s next, Luke?”
The greying attorney nods.
“Again, there’s nothing Foley can do. It seems the real issue is that he wants your sperm to conceive a family for himself, but again, no one can force you under any circumstances to provide that to him. Now, if you’d already banked some deposits with his company, we would be in a thorny tangle. But there’s actually nothing on storage at Valley Cryo, right?”
Caleb nods, holding me tight.
“Absolutely nothing. Addy was with me during every donation, so I never left anything with Valley. It’s all with my girlfriend, and thank fuck that happened. I wouldn’t feel safe knowing that some of my DNA is with that kook.”
Luke nods.
“Then we’re good. I’ll let you know if I hear anything from Foley’s lawyer, but I think you’re in the clear.”
I interject then.
“But what about the donations that were supposed to happen? You know the ones that I … well, either swallowed or took into my body another way?”