"What did you do?" asked Dawn. 

"I didn't do anything. Just listen to me. If I contest this, his grandmother gets him. You know what they do to children," he explained. 

"No, we trust God. he creates and appoints the people in the legal system. We trust in God and fight for him from the outside!" 

"If they contest the Paternity and the courts take him away from us, then it was God's will,"  he explained, "Then we fight from the outside."

"No, our children are going to be precious blessings from God..." she started. 

"Every child is a blessing from God!" Marshal insisted. Dawn's brow furrowed and she crossed her arms as she took a step back from him. He sensed the level drop in her trust tank. 

"This is because I made you wait isn't it?" She said evenly as she squinted her eyes. Maybe she didn't believe it, but if he was willing to put this "kind" of baby before their own then she needed to hate him. 

"So, you think I did this?" He knew. She didn't have to answer. And Laban had nothing to do with it. 

"Take the test and we still have a chance. If not, you blew us up; not me!" She huffed and turned to stomp away with clenched fists. He didn't know where she was going, but he could tell she was gone. He wasn't going to take the test and he had already signed the paperwork. He was now a father. 

A few hours later in a coffee shop across the street from the hospital, Marshal waited for Jameson. A sleek black car paused long enough to drop him off outside before humming away. 

"I got you a coffee. Can't vouch for the flavor though." Marshal apologized. 

Jameson shook his head and leaned in to hug Marshal. A wave of warmth washed over him and tears tumbled down his cheeks and off of his chin. Marshal didn't even know he felt like crying but the sudden comfort extended towards him was turning his face red. Marshal's brow furrowed as he wiped and wiped the tears away to no avail. He was confused where this was coming from. Until this moment he felt sure of his actions. 

"C'mon. Sit down. Start from the top," Jameson waited patiently for Marshal to finally be able to speak and then listened. With that release, Marshall felt suddenly very tired but began from the times before he and Dawn began helping Sam. 

"I'm going to start with liability. She was an adult at the time of conception, so no one can bring charges of sexual assault. Next, is the trust; your father stipulated that he wouldn't release funds without paternity, even if it was yours and Dawn's." Marshal scoffed at that. Jameson shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. 

"That's just how your father thinks. He doesn't trust anyone." 

"He trusts you."

"We've been friends a long time." 

"Does he know you're here?" 

"No, but I'm an adult and you're my best friend's kid. Also, he knows I do pro bono work to keep my skills up and not stagnate. This is pro bono work." 

"You speak to me more like a father than he does." 

"I speak to you more like the father you would like to have, but you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit." They both laughed at that one. His nanny used to say that when giving him a vitamin or candy reward. Marshall always wanted the red ones so he would protest. This was another sore spot with him. All the staff he was surrounded by were more maternal and paternal than his very own father. 

"Okay, so what should I do?" Marshall asked. He wanted to hear that he was right, but if Jameson said he was wrong, he would begin to believe it. 

"Why did you stop accepting your father's help all those years ago?" Jameson asked. Marshall thought about it a lot. He'd never told anyone. 

"Summer camp; I made friends with Nico there. His dad wrote him letters that were really sweet and encouraging. They were buddies and you could tell it by how they packed up to leave that summer. I never had that. I got praise if I learned a language, aced a test, or took to a new instrument. I thought I wanted his approval. But, there was none of me in there. Everything I did that pleased him didn't feel like love. It felt like I was completing a resume for some job I never even applied for." Marshal looked off out the window but it was memories he was seeing. 

"I stayed friends with Nico. I started going to church with his family. I tried to put my finger on what was wrong. I just wanted my father to love me the way fathers are supposed to. All he gave me were demands and rewards though." Marshall shook his head in disgust. 

"It's all he knows Marsh. His dad was a piece of work. If his mother hadn't been there for him..." Jameson began to say. 

"Then he should have been different with me. That's why I wanted to go into youth ministry. I wanted to be there for kids who didn't have good parents." Marshall looked down, sorry he had interrupted. 

"Then, stick to your guns. I'll help you if you let me, but if you want your father's respect, you can't ask him for help again." Jameson tasted the coffee and winced. Marshall guessed it wasn't because of the temperature. 

"Legally, you are safe. You're going to take a beating in the court of public opinion though." Jameson said with raised eyebrows. 

"Okay, thanks for listening. Sorry about the coffee." 

"Not at all." Jameson grinned, but he left the cup at the table when he got up to leave. 

"To your father and I, this God business is for weaker minds, but you made a tough decision based on it. It's going to cost you something now. He might not have really been watching you before, but he is now. Is it real to you or you gonna buckle?" 

They shook hands before parting ways. Marshall couldn't pick up the child until the hospital released him. He wanted to see the elders of his church sooner rather than later.

There were four elders in attendance at the beginning of his impromptu meeting request, but after explaining his situation the other two were called to attend. Everyone waited while they arrived to consider the situation. They met in the church library. It was a middle sized room with four study tables and 4 chairs each. The walls were lined with filled bookshelves. 

"You have to take the paternity test." Explained a grizzled old cowboy named Roy. If you're telling the truth you'll be exonerated. 

"I can't. They'll take him away." 

"I empathize with you, but think of how this will look on the congregation. One of our staff dealing with youth is getting vulnerable girls pregnant when he's supposed to be helping them?" Added Troy McMillan, a  rich dentist. 

"I know how it looks. It looks bad, but I'm not lying." Marshall explained. 

"We have to assume the worst of you without the test. The test is available, but you simply refuse to take it. We have to take that as prima facia evidence that you are guilty," chimed in Roy again. 

Prima facia, where did he learn that word Marshal thought. He knew because of Jameson being a lawyer and his own time doing cross examination debate in middle and high school. It just struck him as odd that this farmer/rancher would know and use such terms. Then again, he was a church elder and might be called upon at any time to make judgements. Based on the qualifications of  elders in Timothy, Marshal was inclined to respect and obey their decisions. 

"I understand then. I've already signed the paperwork and I'm not going to contest paternity. Where can I go from here?" He asked sincerely. 

Several sighs were expelled at the same time. Whatever it was, it was going to be hard. 

"Please wait in the business office while we pray and discuss this whole situation." The dentist asked.