Moving On - 40. Chapter 40

Zach didn't cope well with neither of us being available for his every whim during those times. He was used to being able to run into a room to show us something, or ask us to play with him, and we kept having to shoo him out so we could work. Tom helped out the Tuesday and Wednesday a bit, but he returned to his parents' house on Thursday, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

By the weekend, I was fried, and Noah was getting there. We realized Zach wasn't able to occupy himself completely during the day, and it was unfair of us to try to force him to do so. We talked for several hours Friday night brainstorming various options. There was daycare, but neither of us was very keen on that option. We considered enrolling him for kindergarten, but worried he'd have trouble being the new kid, especially since it wasn't due to a move. Finally, we decided the best choice was to hire a nanny to watch him during the day.

That weekend, we went to the zoo, the aquarium, and several local parks, trying to cram as much family time in before neglecting Zach for the next week. Neither of us had considered what this change would mean for him, and we both felt awful about it.

Over the next three days, Noah and I interviewed seven different potential nannies over Skype. Three were immediately eliminated; two seemed preoccupied by something else, and another was put off when Zach ran into the room to show us a drawing he'd made. That was actually Noah's clever idea to see how they would act to interruption. He told Zach to draw something simple just before the interview began, and instructed him to show it to us as soon as he was done. Only one, a recent college graduate named Terry, asked to see the drawing. She complimented him on it, but gently reminded him that he shouldn't interrupt 'his dads' while they were busy. Terry was clearly our favorite.

Finally, Friday came, and we had our top three choices come to the house to meet Zach. He seemed to bond well with two, taking them on a brief tour of the house and showing them his toys. The third woman was a retired teacher, and we thought she would be a good match, considering how quickly he bonded with his new grandmothers, but his shyness never really wore off. I was sure she'd be perfect for someone, but apparently not our son.

When we sat down with Kyle, it became clear he expected this to be something of a babysitting gig – he would be paid to sit on the couch while Zach did his thing. Terry on the other hand, was full of ideas for projects and things to do that would keep Zach occupied. She made it clear she would not clean or cook, unless it was specifically for Zach, but that was fine with us; if I wanted a maid, I could just hire one. She even brought up the idea of taking Zach out of the house, as long as we footed the bill, of course. We would be responsible for making sure she had access to take him to the zoo or the aquarium, and strongly recommended we join a few other museums as well. She had a spotless background, and a clean driving record, and we knew she was definitely the right choice. We agreed to set hours, with overtime pay, and a few other minor details, and agreed for her to start Monday.

Shortly after Terry arrived, Noah's phone rang. He silenced it, but checked the message after she left. "It's the DA prosecuting Willow," he told me, his brow furrowing at first, before he yelled out, "Yes!", and broke into a big grin.

"What is it? Good news, obviously," I said.

"The best; Willow took a plea, and not a very favorable one, I might add. He didn't leave any details, but he said she won't be able to bother us for many years."

I gave Noah a hug, happy this whole ordeal was finally behind us. I had thought repeatedly about how it would work with Zach testifying, and the thought of him having to relive the hell his mother put him through was more than I could bear. Even though he did not know what was going on, Zach wanted to get in on the hug too, so we enjoyed a nice Zach sandwich for several minutes.

"Damn, it's after hours. I bet I won't be able to find out the details of the plea deal until Monday, and I'm dying to know right now," Noah said.

"Daddy, no-no," Zach scolded.

"There goes your perfect record babe. I'm impressed you made it as long as you did," I teased.

"No, I was the first one to cuss in front of him after Tom and Sarah taught him about no-no words."

"Were you? I'm sure that would've been me."

"Yeah, but that's because you curse like a sailor. At least I know when to turn it off. Besides, you can barely make it a day without being chastised, so still I win!" Noah proudly announced, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Yes you do," I said as patronizingly as I could, giving him a kiss. "Oh, you know who might be able to tell us all the details? Jason. Want me to give him a call?"

"Would you? I'm gonna call Will; he wanted to know any details as soon as I got them," Noah replied.

I stepped out on the porch and made the call. When Jason answered his phone, I skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"Do you know the details about Willow?" I asked immediately.

"Well 'hi' to you to," Jason said with a laugh.

"Sorry, Noah got a message from the DA that Willow took a plea, but we don't know any specifics yet. He's already gone home for the weekend, and I was hoping you might know. It would spare us the agony of waiting."

"Yeah, I know a lot of the details, but you're gonna have to wait. I'm in the car right now. Actually, I'm spending the weekend with Will. I'll ask him about me coming over to tell you once I get in town."

"That works. Bring Will, too. Noah will tell him immediately anyway."

"I'll bring it up. It's a little early for me to make plans involving him without at least talking to him first. We're both interested in each other, but we're taking it slow and establishing a friendship before we enter into anything serious."

"I'm glad you're taking it slow. Hopefully we'll see you tonight."

I hung up and walked back inside. Noah was hanging up on Will as I did.

"Turns out Jason is on his way to Will's now. Will said they'd come over once he got in. I invited them for dinner; I hope that's ok," Noah said.

"I was just about to tell you the same – except for the dinner part. Jason didn't want to make any plans without running them by Will first. He felt it was still a bit early in their relationship to do so. I hope they're on the same page as to what they want."

"Me too; Will has a tendency to jump the gun a bit, but rarely to the extent he did with you. I get the impression they're going about it the right way, though. Will said he felt bad about not checking first, but knew it was important to us."

"Well, that's good. Now I just need to figure out what to feed everyone."

It wasn't hard to do, and my timing was just about perfect; the doorbell rang about thirty seconds before the lasagna was ready. We ate and made small talk. Zach really wanted to show off his scrapbook while we ate, but there was no way I was going to let that happen. We had worked far too hard on that to get tomato sauce all over it. As soon as we finished, however, he dragged them to the couch and happily 'read' the book to them. Maybe about half the time he was actually sounding out the words and trying to read, the rest of the time he was adlibbing. I was impressed at his recent efforts to read, something we hadn't focused much on, and I know Willow hadn't even attempted. After he finished, he was more than happy to make pictures for everyone while the grownups talked.

"Ok, so we've been patient, now spill it," Noah said anxiously once we were all seated at the table.

"Well, you were right about the lawyer being one of her johns, I'm certain of it, but they were too clever for us to be able to prove it in court. Under the guise of interviewing Willow again, I put some pressure on the lawyer, hinting we knew he was paying her for sex. He immediately demanded a few minutes alone with his client.

"This next part you can't repeat to anyone, because it would be my ass; not even Maria knows. When I walked out of the room, I may have 'accidently' left the monitor on for a few minutes when I shouldn't have. The lawyer went off on Willow, saying he wasn't going down with her, and reminded her there was no way she would walk. He threatened to quit if she didn't take a deal.

"The deal they worked out with the DA was probably a little sweeter than if she was convicted, but it wasn't that great. She agreed to twenty-five years, but will be eligible for parole in ten."

"So Zach will be nearly fifteen the first chance she has to get out?" Noah asked.

"That's correct," Jason confirmed.

"That's fantastic! I was worried she'd walk, and then she'd try to take Zach back or something."

"I hope for her sake she cleans up her act and gets herself together while she's in prison," I said. "But what do we tell Zach? He should know what's going on."

"I think I know how to do it. Zachy, come over here for a second," Noah called.

"Remember all the things Mommy did right before you came to live with us? You asked about the big house?"

Zach nodded in response, but was oddly quiet.

"Well she's going to have to live there for many years."

"So she can't hurt me or be mean again?"

"Nope, she’s going to be in jail until you're a really big boy. You might even be as old as Papa by the time she gets out!"

Zach giggled at that. "Don't be silly, Daddy. No one is as old as Papa!" He thought about it for a second, before amending, "Except for Grandpa, and Grandma, and Grandpapa, and Gammy, of course!"

Zach's face turned more serious. "What's jail like, Daddy?"

"Remember when I made you sit in the car? It's a lot like that, only for a lot longer."

"Oh, I don't want to go to jail then. Will I ever see Mommy again?"

"If you want to see her, tell me or Papa. We may not be able to take you right away, but we'll make sure you can see her."

"But I don't hafta, right?"

"No, you don't. We'll only go see her if you want to see her."

"Good. I don't wanna see her ever again," Zach said firmly. He didn't seem upset or angry.

"That's your choice. If you ever change your mind, just let us know, ok?"

"K. But I won't."

Noah had finished the conversation, and none of us had anything to add. Zach stood around for a moment before Noah sent him back to coloring.

Will and Jason didn't stay much longer. It was obvious they were both into each other, and they made a great-looking couple. The four of us made vague tentative plans to double-date at an undetermined time in the future as they left.

That night in bed, I asked Noah about the recent upswing in jokes about my age, specifically coming from Zach.

"I mean, I expect the occasional teasing from you, but they're beginning to come a lot, and even Zach's making comments about it. Does it actually bother you that I'm older than you?"

"Not at all, actually, I should've put a stop to it immediately, but the idea of thirty being ancient is really cute from Zach. At one point on his birthday, Zach asked how old I was. After I told him, he said I was really old, and asked how old you were. His eyes got huge, and he said, 'I didn't know they made people that old'. I should've told him then that it wasn't nice to make fun of someone's age, but he really doesn't mean anything by it."

I don't know what had me laughing harder – what Zach said, or Noah's near-perfect impression of his son's voice.

"No, I know he doesn't, but someone has been encouraging it, I think. I try not to mind. It is very adorable the things he says. I should buy a video camera and follow him around for a few days. That way, when he becomes an awkward and rebellious teenager we can relive the days when he was adorable and not a little shit."

"Hell, we can play the tapes for whoever he brings home. That'll be hilarious."

"Nah, that's just cruel. That doesn't mean we can't threaten to, just to make him squirm."

As promised, I took Zach with me on Sunday when I visited Steve. Zach may not have understood why I visited a stone and talked to it, but he certainly enjoyed rambling on and telling stories about everything we'd done from his perspective.

I think we were all a bit nervous when Terry showed up her first day. The tension didn't last long, as I had a phone call to make, and Noah had to log onto a webcast lecture. Occasionally, I'd here giggles from the living room, but Zach didn't run in and interrupt me a single time while I was working, and it was a nice change from the past two weeks. When I took a lunch break, I made sandwiches for all four of us. Zach was quick to show me the macaroni necklace he made with Terry, and count the noodles for me, to show how he'd been working on his numbers. Terry told me how Zach had wanted to show me, but she explained to him how I'd like the necklace a lot more if he waited until I came to him. When I told him she was right, he offered me the necklace, which I proudly put around my neck. Moments later, I realized I'd been had, since Noah emerged, and received a necklace of his own. That didn't stop me from wearing the pasta around my neck for the rest of the day.

The next day, Terry took Zach on their first outing together, and both Noah and I were a little nervous about it. Our fears were ungrounded and Zach excitedly told us at dinner that he read every single sign at the zoo, except the ones that had too many words. He recited animal facts one after another, and it was clear just how perfect this arrangement was working out. I was getting work done, Noah was able to focus on his school work, and Zach was happily distracted and learning.

By the end of the week, everything seemed to be falling into place for us. Noah was already gaining confidence in his school work, and I could tell he was a natural at it. Zach looked forward to Terry coming each morning, but wasn't upset when she went to leave at the end of the day. The three of us spent the evenings in each others' company, playing with Zach and having a blast as a family.