Fitz

"Oh, Zach, I love you too, little buddy," I told him, fresh tears still in my eyes. I kissed him on the cheek and pulled back, breaking the hug. "Now, I need to talk to your daddy for a minute. Can you go play with Tom and Sarah?" "Ok." Without hesitation, the boy went over and grabbed Tom's hand, dragging him out to the living room. "I've been thinking, Noah. I feel bad about the idea of you sleeping on the couch. Um…," I hesitated before I asked the next question. "Do you want to move

I see the confusion...aspects of the story start to run together in my mind. Scott's a stubborn guy when it comes to getting help for others (considering he's modeled after me, I'm honestly not sure where it came from). Noah and Will have been best friends for a few years at this point, and Noah was someone who Will could turn to for advice. When Scott couldn't bring himself to be open with Will anymore, Will suggested Noah. Will never suspected they'd already met or would develop feelings for each other but thought that Noah would be able to be there for Scott in the way that Will had been early on. As far as what Noah does, he's something of a bum at the moment. He's largely lacked ambition since his parents died while he was in high school. He tried college, but just wasn't ready, and has since been living off the settlement money from the airline. His plan is to just bum around until he has an epiphany about what he wants to do, but he also isn't really working to hard at figuring it out because he's been worried that he'll have to move or return to school, which would take away from the little time he's had to spend Zach (of course all that can change now that he has custody). Some of this comes up in future chapters (I think it first starts coming out in chapter 19, but I can't recall specifically), and hopefully I haven't overshared. A lot of his backstory (his parents and his lack of job etc.) was briefly mentioned in the chapter before they visit Zach (13?)

Will is the therapist, not Noah, but they are best friends Zach loved his mother, but only because she's his 'mother' (and I agree completely with the loose usage of the term!!) Noah's weekly visits played a major role in how well balanced he is, and I think Zach behaved completely different around his father than he ever did around Willow. He was given the opportunity to be a care-free child, and he now has the chance to do that all the time! By this point, Scott has realized that he needs to actually move on, and it was good for him to realize that the room he'd been avoiding didn't bring the searing pain that he expected. He still has to go through it, which will be worse than just walking into the room, but he's a much stronger person than the broken soul he was in Chapter 1!

Thank you very much! I've struggled with it some, but I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out. Fortunately, in a few chapters, the story will begin to focus more on Noah and Scott, and Zach will be less in the center-stage. He'll play major roles, obviously, but when he's the center of attention I run into more difficulty writing him!

Zach comes with a lot of baggage from Willow, yet seems to mostly be extremely well balanced. Those issues will definitely emerge, as will things that are relatively common issues for young children (at least based on my Facebook feed!) Scott has a long way to go because he tends to have a more unilateral approach to life and will have to adjust to the fact that Noah is an equal in the relationship.

I awoke when the curtains to my room were thrown open by a fully-dressed Noah. "What the hell?" I demanded. "Well good morning to you, too, Sunshine!" Noah responded. His voice was annoyingly chipper, but I couldn't quite tell if it was sarcastically so, or if he was just that much of a morning person. I am not. "Sorry to wake you like this, but shoving you wasn't working. It's nearly eleven, and we need to get up and figure out a game plan." With a groan, I sat up. "Are you always this da

Glad you're recovering nicely from the storm! I've received a few minor quibbles about Scott getting custody, so I'm going to make sure to clarify her rationale in the next chapter. My intention was that it had more to do with it being his residence than anything else, then again, until I realized how screwed up my timeline was, this wouldn't have happened until the custody hearing. When I realized that the hearing was scheduled way too soon, I had to decide where to use the author's license

I think you may be right, but remember that even though Zach seems well-adjusted, he grew up with Willow. It may end up that Zach is more damaged than his happy nature has so far indicated. I'm not sure about the word 'healed', however. A lot of events in our lives scar our psyches. The initial wound will heal, and the scar may fade over time, but the scar will still be there forever. Personally, I have scars that I don't want to go away. I don't dwell on the pain, but it's a part of who I am and I embrace it. I know what you're trying to say, though. Thanks for your review!

Adrenaline hit me, and suddenly I felt like I could – and would – move entire buildings if Zach needed me to. I quickly dialed 911 on my phone and started banging on the connecting door to Noah's room frantically. He opened it groggily, wearing a gray t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. "Get dressed. Now!" Was all I managed to get out before the emergency call was answered. To the man on the other end of the phone, I blurted, "Look, I don't know exactly what's wrong, but you need to send police

I wrote the karaoke scene in my story around the same time that the SOPA/PIPA was being considered by Congress. I spent FOREVER researching and trying to find a way to include the scen without ever opening up the risk of copyright infringement. My solution was basically your suggestion: I referenced the songs by name, but didn't include the lyrics at all. When editing, I included all the lyrics and intertwined the text to make sure it all fit and then removed the lyrics before posting. I figured if people didn't know the songs, they could look them up. If you look at the copyright page in books (Stephen King's Dark Tower series jumps to mind first), you'll notice that songs that get referenced in the book are referenced as 'used with permission', even when only one line is ever quoted.

It definitely was evil, but at least for GA was completely unplanned. Nifty, etc. readers all had to wait 2 weeks to find out, but you only have to wait until this coming Saturday(ish)!!

Muahahahaha!!! My original plan for this visit was far less evil, but it was also a lot less dramatic. I like this way, and after the next chapter goes up, I'm sure you will too! (unfortunately, you have to wait, though!) Next chapter will be up Saturday(ish)

After several very long and failed attempts to get custody, Noah's defeated. He may have confidence galore at the gym or karaoke, but he's terrified of rocking the boat and losing what little custody he has. I've been around people who should never be parents (none as bad as Willow, but some close) who have the miraculous ability to perform a complete 180 when neighbors call in CPS. At least in this case, CPS was already suspicious and Noah has an ally. Maybe Scott and Richard will be able to help once we find out if everything is ok!

As Noah pulled the car into a shopping center, I noticed the telltale neon sign of every child's favorite mouse-infested pizza restaurant/arcade. That's right, Chuck E. Cheese. Zach, strapped in his booster seat, was far too engrossed delivering pizzas to faraway places with his space-traveling fire truck to notice until the car came to a stop. For the first time since we left, he looked up from his truck. "Scott? Are we there yet?" he excitedly inquired. "Yes we are. Are you excited?" I ask

In any other situation, I'm sure that no one would have responded that way to Will's confession. Of course, this occurred immediately after the funeral for Scott's husband. Rational minds were definitely the ones running the show that day! Glad you're enjoying so far!

Thanks for your critique! I think part of the issue with this chapter was that I really wanted to deal with him finally beginning to grasp what 'moving on' actually means. Since Scott is loosely modeled after me, and I spend WAAAAY to much time repeatedly cycling thoughts in my head, I may have done the same with Scott in this chapter. (Honestly, although I remember the basics of what is in each chapter, I just copied and pasted and wrote it quite nearly a year ago. What little of the early stuff I've reread recently, I really want to go back and overhaul a lot (for instance, I kept using 'anyways' and now it's really grating to go back and see it!)

Thanks as always, Lisa! Of course, you'll have to wait and see, but since I'm playing catchup, you only have to wait a day to see if you're right

Noah was silent for much of the two-hour drive south. The silence was tenser than I would have liked, but understandable, considering the fact that this was the first time I was going to meet his son. In reality he was much more nervous about me meeting Willow than me meeting Zach, but I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself. Anyway, he did assure me that he was no more tense than he would have been had I not been there. I'm not entirely sure how much I believed that, but there wasn't much

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I pulled back and punched him as hard as I could. I'd never done that before, and I couldn't believe how much it hurt. It always looked so easy in movies. Before Will even realized what had happened, I was already out of the coffee shop and heading back to my car, tears streaming down my face. I don't know what had happened to cause such a dramatic change in Will, but this was not the Will that I had thought I had known so well. I was a wreck by the

"So I wasn't too forward trying to kiss you?" Noah asked hopefully, still worried that he had pushed too far. "No. Definitely not," I said with a little smile. "Like I said, I just need you to meet someone. I wouldn't feel right kissing you before I introduced you to him." He smiled. "I can't wait to meet Steve, but wouldn't it be better to go during the daytime?" I had expected Noah to be bothered by the idea of being taken to a cemetery to visit my dead husband, but he didn't seem to be.

I stood there as the first notes of the song emanated from the speakers in the small coffee shop. As I was about to start singing, it was as if the room faded to black. Suddenly, I was the only one in the room, and I could feel Steve's presence surrounding me. With that, I began to sing Beyoncé's "Halo". I was completely unaware of my surroundings as I finished the chorus the first time. It was just me and the microphone. My eyes were closed as I let the song flow through me. I was no Beyoncé,

"I just want you to keep an open mind. You don't have to participate if you don't want to. But if you do, I want you to really put in an effort." Noah's comment really threw me for a loop, and I couldn't help but ask the first thing that came to mind: "Hopefully this is going to sound really stupid, especially since you said that I could bring anyone I wanted. You're not taking me to an orgy or something are you?" Noah just doubled over laughing, and it took him several minutes to regain his c

Tom and Sarah were ripped out of their slumber by loud bangs and cracks emanating from the living room. They came running into the living room, only to see me wielding a crowbar, tearing up the wood floor. In their minds, they probably thought that I had completely lost my mind. It didn't help matters that in my haste to get to work, I hadn't bothered to move any of the furniture out of the way. I had just started, and I hadn't even notice them come into the room. I had just finished exposing t

Chapter Nine Working Things Out Once I arrived at Steve's grave, I fell to my knees. Weeping, I poured out my heart to Steve, explaining the events of the past few days to him. "Steve, you were always the one person I could unload all of my problems on without any judgment, and the only one I could rely on for advice, even if it hurt you. I don't even know what's going on in my life anymore. I just feel so lost without you. "For the past few days, I've been trying to forgive Will, but I j

Chapter Eight The Struggle Within I stood there, staring up into the beautiful almost-golden orbs in front of me. I am not sure how long I was standing there like an idiot before I heard a cough that pulled me back into the real world. I blinked and for the first time, I noticed the entire person standing in front of me. I was looking at one of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen. He looked to be around twenty-five, a few years younger than me, and stood taller than me, closer to 6'3". H