He stretched and rose.
Time to let his partner know the move would happen as planned and about his
barely mentioned family. He’d told Nate about his guardianship of three boys
without mentioning two were his sons, sort of.
With a groan he lifted
three letters to be mailed and the discs for two briefs for Mrs. Madden to type
and file. He flipped off the lights. At the office manager’s desk behind a
plastic shield in the waiting room, he left the letters and discs in the out
box on the corner of her desk.
As he was about to pass
the sofa and chairs in the small room to reach the door his partner emerged
from his office. “Finished for the day/’ Zach asked.
“Definitely. And you?”
Zach nodded. “Heard from
my mother. I’ll see you Monday.”
Nate halted. “Is the move
on?”
“It is. The movers are
coming tomorrow morning and my family will arrive soon after that.” He drew a
deep breath. The time for a confession had arrived. “I told you I was guardian
of three boys but I failed to mention only one is a nephew. Two are legally my
sons.”
Nate’s brow wrinkled.
“Legally? Are there problems with the custody? Some court battle ahead?”
Zach shook his head. He
wasn’t ready to elaborate. “No real problems but I’ve only had custody of my
sons for four months. My coming to
Nate nodded. “I
understand. With you here except for weekends made forming bonds harder.” He
stepped toward the door. “Are you sure you’ll be settled by Monday?
Zach laughed. “My mom
should have been a drill sergeant. She’ll have the boys including me in line.
By Monday I’ll be here and glad to escape. With your wedding on the heels of
Christmas I’ll need to know about everything I’ll have to handle while you’re
away.”
“You don’t need me. Just
ask Joan Madden. She’s the real boss.” He halted. “Do you have your Christmas
tree yet?”
“Sort of.”
Nate chuckled. “How can
you sort of have a tree? Don’t tell me the movers have one on the truck.”
”They probably do. My mom
has this artificial one she’s put up for years. By now it resembles a Charlie
Brown tree.”
“Will she be upset if you
find a new one?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then come to Jake’s Tree
Farm with me and buy a live one.”
For a moment Zach
hesitated. What would his mother think? Her artificial tree had been displayed
for about fifteen years. He smiled. A new tree and a new tradition seemed right.
His sons knew so little about the holiday season. Their eyes had widened when
they’d seen the Thanksgiving feast. How would they react on Christmas morning?
Unwanted guilt rose. He’d
sent gifts when he’d known their address. Then Bonnie had moved and a bank
account number was all the info he had. He’d always wondered what she had
bought them with the extra money he’d sent for holidays and Birthdays. He had
no way of learning unless the boys talked. Sammy might but his youngest seldom
said much about his mother.
He slipped on his coat.
“I’ll join you but I need to go home and change.”
Nate grinned. “I’m not
going in my work clothes as Davey calls suits. Meet me at the house. Janine
will be joining us.”
“How is Davey handling all
this?” Zach hoped the boy wouldn’t sulk about not being included. After the
course of treatment for childhood leukemia, the boy had been isolated for weeks
at home.
“He’s coming with us. Dr.
Chou lifted the stay at home order this morning.”
“That’s great.” Zach
paused. “My nephew and one of my sons are close to Davey’s age. When we’re
settled and you’re back from your honeymoon, we’ll get together.”
“They’ll meet at the
wedding reception,” Nate said.
“That’s right.” Zach hoped
the boys would behave. They’d seldom been among strangers and had never been
anything like a wedding. He followed Nate to the door. They rode the elevator
to the ground floor and went to their cars.
“See you in thirty,” Nate
called.
My Places
https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f
http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com
https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/
Buy Mark
https://bookswelove.net/walters-janet-lane/
