Chapter Sixteen Party
Zack’s actual birthday is a busy day of waffles, presents, and all of his favorite things—and using every single new present he unwrapped, one from Madelyn and a bunch from me.
(I may have been overzealous once I discovered overnight delivery and an online shopping app that kept giving me suggestions of things that I was sure he’d love.)
By the end of the night, my head is ringing with toddler chatter, and I give Madelyn a grateful look as I watch her close her laptop for the night. “You are incredible.”
“Hm?”
“I love Zack, don’t get me wrong, but I have never heard him say so much.”
“Oh, this is nothing. Tomorrow, when my parents come? He’ll be a blur.”
“I’m terrified to meet your parents.”
“Zack already told them about you on their video calls. He’s told them he’s an honorary kraken. My dad had to look that up.”
“Oh, dear.” I pace. I’m planning to spend the night back at the lake and arrive just a few hours before the party to meet Madelyn’s parents and help set up a few final things.
“Oh, that’s not the best part.” My sweet mate has a cruel streak. She smiles and holds up a drawing of something that looks like a huge blue sun with spidery rays and two pink marbles. “This is the family portrait he drew and showed them a couple of days ago.”
“I’m the giant blue sun?” I gasp—and then guffaw. “Why are you two the same size when you’re an adult and he’s just a little one?”
“Because he’s three. Oh, my goodness. He’s three now. He knows all his letters. He can count to twenty. He hasn’t had an accident in two weeks.”
“You did it, beautiful one. You have gotten him to come so far, while doing so much, and never tiring or quitting. With so little help.” I don’t say it out loud, but if Zack’s chatter was at this level every day, especially if I didn’t have to leave to fulfill my lifeguard duties, I would become selfish and stressed. I would need breaks.
“Oh, my parents helped a lot when we lived close. But we had originally moved to the city because of Eli’s career, and when we split, I had to find a smaller apartment, and, well, the city was getting more and more crowded but less and less safe.
My parents said I could move back in with them, but I thought if I did that, I’d never stand on my own two feet and give Zack the kind of childhood he deserves.
I had to find a place with a house I could afford, and low crime rates, and wonderful community amenities—like a lake with a big blue lifeguard. ”
“Teal,” I correct with mock severity. “Calder is blue. Well, bluish gray.”
“But our daughters are gonna come out like a sunset tan. Something off of the tanning salon commercials—and I’m not talking about that yucky burnt orange,” Madelyn says through a yawn. “My gosh, I’m so beat. Is it just me, or did his nap only last ten minutes today?”
“You’re right, it was a speed nap.” I smile, trying not to burst.
Our daughters.
She sees them in our moments of connection, just like I do.
Because she’s mine. Even going home tonight feels wrong. I should be here, protecting my mate and our little boy. My son. Our son. “I could stay the night,” I offer, voice hoarse.
“Mm, I’d love that, but you know we’d end up tiring each other out and then I’d have to do the sheets first thing in the morning before my parents come. My mother is going to want the entire tour, and they’re going to spend the night.” Madelyn looks at me with a pout. “I wish you could stay, too.”
“I’d be content to stay forever,” I remind her.
She’s adorable when she blushes and tucks a curl behind her ear, suddenly half-bashful looking. “Zack would know in a second. I’d never be able to get him to call you Mercer again. He wants a dad so badly.”
It’s his birthday party tomorrow. Let’s give him one! Let’s give him the father he deserves.
“It would be a wonderful present,” I hint.
Madelyn nods. “It would be. I know. I’m just...”
“I’m in no rush. Just remember, I’m always ready to help. To be here for him, for both of you.”
Madelyn sighs and wraps her arms around me for one searing goodnight kiss. “One of the many things I love about you.”
“Are they here? Is this them? Aww. No.” Zack paces in front of the window around eleven, a half-eaten grilled cheese in his hand.
“They’re going to be here soon. The party starts at two, so they’ll be here in an hour. You can look for Mercer, though. He was getting done at eleven.”
“He loves me,” Zack says simply. “He wouldn’t miss my party.”
“I know he loves you. Very much.” I swallow and put the rinsed frying pan in the dishwasher. The house is pretty much party-ready. I’m just waiting for Mercer to finish replacing the crepe paper streamers that fell over the course of the morning.
All that’s missing is the present that my child should have, the one he wants the most, the one that keeps on giving.
A dad.
“Hey! That’s the car at Nana’s!”
“Nana Linda is here?” I go into instant panic mode. I don’t have make-up on yet. My hair looks like a poodle attempted the Pebbles Flintstone style, with one little ponytail perched on top of my head, failing to keep my curls back.
I yank the ponytail out, fluff my hair, put my slip-on shoes on, and race to the window in time to realize that Zack hasn’t answered.
Because it’s not Nana Linda.
It’s Eli. The car that Zack, with his crazy-detailed mind, has seen a handful of times at his grandmother’s house is in our driveway, and Eli is storming out of it.
Every curse word I can’t say because Zack will say them too crowds my mouth.
“Daddy?” Zack sounds confused and hopeful. “He doesn’t have a present.”
I close my eyes. Of course he doesn’t. Of course. He’ll come here, cause a scene, and not bring a present on his son’s birthday. “It might be a gift card,” I say lamely, planning to buy one and claim it’s from Eli, just in case. “Honey, I think... I think you should go taste test a cupcake.”
“But you said I couldn’t!”
“I changed my mind!” I hiss and scoot Zack into the kitchen, almost throwing myself onto the small front porch, stopping Eli before he reaches the end of the faded concrete sidewalk that leads from the driveway to the house.
“Got my letter?” Eli says by way of greeting, a cold smile on his face.
“Yesterday. I’m sure our lawyers are going to love seeing each other again,” I bluff, blocking him when he tries to sidestep. “You could have had your mother call or text me.”
“You ignored her last message. Broke her heart. You’re keeping Zack from her—but not for much longer. I’ve moved back in. I’m in a big suburban mansion—”
“It’s not a mansion. It’s a mansionette, at best,” I snap.
“I’ve got my own place in the carriage house, but it’s the same address.
Two-caregiver family with ties to the best prep school in Pennsylvania.
A trust fund that’s racking up the numbers.
You don’t stand a chance of convincing a judge that my mother and I can’t give Zack a better life.
I mean—look at this place. The paint is peeling on the porch.
I see some sagging around the window sills.
Unsafe. You took my son out of state, to an unsafe town full of monsters and freaks—just so you could have a chance at getting fucked by Frankenstein. ”
I gape. “Wh-what? Also, no, this house is perfectly safe, just needs a little TLC. You wouldn’t know how to give that, and that is what a judge is going to care about,” I say with more confidence than I feel.
“It won’t be when a judge hears my side of it. The main thing is that you just came here because you wanted a new man—and you know humans have higher standards.”
“No. Oh, my God. Eli, just keep talking like that, and Zack will never even see your picture again. That kind of racist, speciesist talk is going to make every judge in the country aware of what a rotten father you’d be. What a terrible, prejudiced, sexist role model.”
“Not the right judge—and there are a few out there that prefer the old days before the Great Revelation.”
Anger is boiling inside of me, but fear is pouring cold water on it.
“When they hear about this—”
“No one is going to hear about this. It’s going to be my word against yours, and the judge is already on my side.”
What if he’s right? What if he’s already arranged it? What if one of his lawyer buddies has already handpicked a judge to hear our case, and his mom’s money arranged it?
“I don’t want your money,” I gasp out. “I want you to go.”
Eli looks flummoxed. He stops, the handsome face I once found so attractive twisted in a puzzled frown.
“Please, just go.” There’s an edge of desperation in my voice, and that’s always a mistake. That gives bullies more power, but part of me has trouble realizing, even after all this time, that the man I loved was a bully.
“Mm. No. I don’t think I will. I promised my mom I’d get her grandson back for her.”
“But the letter.” I can’t make more words. Everything in me is going numb. I forget how to breathe. My arms and legs are full of pins and needles. “You can’t.” I’m having a panic attack. I can’t. Zack needs me to fight for him. Protect him. “I still have custody. I’ll—”
“I’ll explain things to Eli, sweetheart.”
Warmth floods me, and breathing is no longer just a memory.
“Who the fuck are—” Eli’s bombastic posturing and tone die off when Mercer arrives, drawn up like a wave ready to sink a ship, face grave but relaxed.
“Hi, I’m Madelyn’s fiancé.” Mercer puts the gift bag and presents he’s carrying under one arm and in one tentacle, and holds the other hand out for Eli to shake.
Eli doesn’t move.
“Tut. You can’t raise a son without basic manners,” Mercer chides. He wraps a tentacle around Eli’s arm and hauls him closer, his hand shutting over Eli’s and engulfing it in his powerful fist. He shakes his arm once, and it’s gratifying to see Eli's startled face turn into a pained wince.
“I’m having a conversation about my kid, so if you could move it, that’d be great,” Eli says, snatching his hand back once it’s free.