Over (12 page)

"Why? Are you going to start eating vegan food?"

"I might give it a try. I could stand to lose a few pounds."

"For an old dude, you're in good shape."

Chad looked at Alex for a moment, and he could see his son was worried that he had said something wrong. Normally, Chad would have been offended at being called old, but at that moment, he found it hilarious. A laugh fought to escape.

Alex's eyes widened, watching Chad. He scooted his chair back.

Finally, the laughter made its way out of Chad's throat. Alex jumped. That only made Chad roar all the more. He leaned against the counter, clutching his stomach. It had been so long since he'd laughed—really laughed—that it ached.

He looked over at Alex and saw that he was laughing too. They made eye contact and both went into a deeper fit. Chad's eyes filled with tears and soon ran down his face. He laughed until his gut hurt too much to keep going. He gasped for breath, wiping at his eyes.

When they had both calmed down, Alex gave him a funny look. "It really wasn't that funny."

"I know. We must've needed a good laugh."

"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry I was rude earlier."

"Don't worry about it." Chad wasn't even sure what Alex was referring to. "We're all under stress."

"I think I will take that nap." Alex yawned.

"Where's Zoey? Is everything okay?"

"She just went to her house to get some clothes and stuff."

"You didn't want to go with her?"

He frowned. "Not after failing that stupid quiz. I have to get on track before I fall behind. I have to retake it and pass by tomorrow morning."

"Want me to take it for you?" Chad joked.

"Funny. Not that it would work. They use the webcam to make sure the right person is doing the work."

Chad's sore stomach dropped. "They can't hear us talking, can they?"

Alex shook his head. "I have the mic turned off. They just care about the camera, but I'm surprised they don't want the mic turned on too. I guess they think they could tell if we were cheating."

"Probably. Get yourself that nap. I'm going to take one as well. Maybe by then, Mom will be ready to come back."

The front door opened and Chad looked down the stairs, hoping Alyssa was back already. It was Zoey, with a tear-streaked face.

Reality

The look on his dad's face struck terror through Alex's body. He jumped up, expecting to see his mom at the door wrapped in bandages. Instead, Zoey stood there with red, puffy eyes and tear stains down her face. Her hair was messy.

Alex's stomach twisted in knots. "What's wrong?"

"My parents are coming in tonight. They want me to go back home tomorrow. Mom scheduled my next doctor's appointment and she's bringing my sperm donor."

"Your…? You mean your dad."

Anger flashed over her face. "Not my dad. Where's he been? In Japan playing baseball my whole life. He's not a dad. All he's ever done is supply half my genes and some money." She slammed the door. "I told her I'm going to stay here."

Alex's dad sighed behind him. Alex remembered Zoey's mom threatening them with kidnapping charges when Zoey said she would stay at their house instead of going home. His dad was probably worried about that. Probably even more so with his mom out who-knows-where and not even answering her phone.

"Isn't it good that he wants to be involved?" Alex asked.

Zoey shot him a death look and then kicked off her shoes. She stormed up the steps. "It's a little late for that. The stupid jerk never bothered to call me on any birthday or Christmas. Hasn't sent any presents or cards or anything. Apparently, I'm supposed to accept the fact that he sent some money, but you know what? That's a load of crap. Mom's the one who's been here my whole life. He's got another think coming if he wants to walk in and take over the role of a parent."

"Want to do something to get your mind off it?" Alex asked. "I was going to take a nap, but we could watch a movie or something."

"You think watching a movie is going to fix anything?" she demanded.

He backed up. "I didn't say it would fix anything."

"No, I don't want to watch anything. I want to…I don't know. I just…I'm so pissed!"

"What's going to help? You need to calm down. It's not good for the baby."

She narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to Alex. "Don't tell me to calm down. That just pisses me off even more."

"What did I do?" Alex asked.

Her lips formed a straight line and her nostrils flared. "You have to ask?"

Alex sighed. It felt like he was in the middle of one his parents' fights. "Do you want to talk about what happened over there?"

"No. I just want to break something." She stared at him.

"I hope not me."

"Ugh. Let's go watch a movie, but I want to see something in the theater. Something as violent and bloody as possible."

Alex's dad stepped forward. "It's your lucky day, Zoey. There's a gory war movie
and
I happen to be available to drive you guys."

"Sounds good to me." She turned around and put her shoes back on.

Dumbfounded, Alex gave his dad a look of confusion.

Chad shrugged his shoulders and mouthed, "Women."

Alex smiled. Maybe his dad was more relatable than he thought.

Before he knew it, they were across town buying a tub of popcorn as big as his torso, with nearly as much butter and salt. Zoey had gotten a big plate of nachos. Twice she told the guy to put more cheese on it. When they got into their seats, she ate chips with so much cheese on them, he thought they would break.

She caught him watching her. "Want one?"

He shook his head. Her tone told him that he had better not take her up on the offer. "Hopefully, the movie makes you feel better because I don't know how much more of this I can take," he muttered.

"What?" she asked.

"I said I wasn't hungry anyway," Alex said.

Zoey stared at him, as though trying to decide whether or not she believed him.

Luckily for Alex, the room went dark and loud music blared from the speakers on the walls. A screaming army general showed up on the screen and Alex settled into his seat, eating salty, butter-soaked popcorn.

When the movie ended, he looked over at Zoey. The empty nacho tray rested on her lap. Her eyes were closed and she was snoring. So much for not wanting a nap. He turned to his dad. "You wanna wake her?"

He shook his head. "Let's watch the credits. Maybe they have something funny at the end."

"After this movie?"

"You never know."

"Fine by me." He watched the names roll over the screen and realized they would have to agree on a name if they wanted to keep the baby. They had probably discussed it before, but it hadn't felt real until that moment. He looked at the names, hoping for inspiration. But they didn't even know if it was a boy or girl yet, although they would know soon enough.

His breathing felt constricted. What if she did want to keep it? He thought of crying and diapers while trying to do homework. Would they keep with the homeschooling? They would pretty much have to, wouldn't they? He didn't know how much daycare cost, but since neither of them had a job, they couldn't afford it.

Maybe his mom could babysit. She wasn't working either, and it would give her a distraction from thinking about Macy. What grandma didn't love her grandkids? His grandma was always saying that she never saw them enough.

Thinking about his mom as a grandma was weird—almost weirder than thinking of himself as a dad, which was crazy enough.

The credits and music stopped. Zoey sat up, looking around. She rubbed her eyes, knocking the nacho dish onto the floor. "I must have fallen asleep."

Alex bit back a comment about it being a good thing they didn't stay home for a nap. "You wanna go home? To my house, I mean. You can relax in my room or Macy's. Whatever you want to do." He picked up her tray from the floor and dropped in into the canyon that was his popcorn container.

She stretched. "Yeah, maybe we should. I didn't know I was so tired." She struggled to get out of the chair, so Alex held out his hand. Zoey tried again to get out, but finally took his hand. She mumbled a barely-audible thanks and they made their way out into the main lobby.

His dad stopped walking without warning and Alex bumped into him.

"What's going on, Dad?"

He didn't answer. He only stared across the lobby at a group of women.

Alex recognized some of them from the neighborhood. Alex looked over at Zoey. Was it his imagination or did she look irritated? She had been in a better mood after waking. Was she mad at him again? "Dad, let's go. I think we should get Zoey home. Maybe we could stop for ice cream or something." Hopefully that would give him bonus points, and she would stop being upset with him. He wasn't used to it, and he really didn't like it.

Both his dad and Zoey were staring at the women, not answering him. Maybe Zoey wasn't in the mood for ice cream?

One of the ladies broke away from the group and headed their way. She had made them dinner shortly after Macy disappeared. Her name was Laura or something.

She smiled at them as she got closer. "Hi Chad, Alex." She looked at Zoey. "What's your name again, dear?"

Zoey shot her a nasty look. "Zoey."

Alex felt bad for the lady. She hadn't done anything to deserve Zoey's wrath.

Laura smiled anyway. "That's right. Good to see you, Zoey. I'm Lydia."

Oh, Lydia. Alex knew it had started with an L.

His dad was fidgeting next to him. What was up? His dad was one of those people who talked easily with everyone he met. What had his mom always called it? Charisma.

Lydia looked at his dad. "Would you like me to stop by and make some dinner tonight? The HOA hasn't had any sign ups to bring you guys any meals for a long time. You guys seemed to enjoy the lasagna I made last time."

Alex's mouth watered. He remembered that meal. "Yeah. That was delicious. My mom's at a friend's house anyway. We'd probably just eat cereal for dinner tonight."

Both his dad and Zoey shot him a dirty look. What had he done?

Lydia smiled. "That sounds perfect. The girls and me," she indicated toward the other ladies she had been with, "we're going to see that new romantic comedy and then I can come over. You guys just relax and I'll take over the kitchen."

Zoey scowled.

Chad rubbed his hands together, looking nervous. "If you want to. I don't want to put you out."

Lydia twirled a strand of hair. "It's no trouble. Dean's always out of town. It'll be nice to not have dinner alone for a change. Well, it looks like everyone's heading for the movie. I'll see you guys in a few hours!"

The three of them walked to the car in silence. His dad looked deep in thought while Zoey continued to give him the evil eye.

What was so wrong with having her make their dinner? His mom obviously wasn't going to make anything, and Lydia would have been home alone, anyway. She may as well make them her lasagna. His stomach rumbled just thinking about it.

When they got home, his dad announced he was going to check his blog comments. He went downstairs and Alex followed Zoey upstairs. When they got to the bonus room, she stared at him. "How could you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Encourage her to make dinner over here."

"So we can have a delicious home-cooked meal. I don't remember if you ate her lasagna or not, but it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. And I'm not just saying that. Would you rather have frozen waffles?"

"Actually, yes." She sat down on the couch and turned on music videos.

Alex sat next to her. "Why?"

Zoey narrowed her eyes. "Are you really that blind?"

"Apparently I am. Want to fill me in?"

Zoey stared at him. "Have you noticed the way she looks at your dad?"

"What? She's married. He's married."

"Like people don't have affairs."

"Not my parents."

"She thinks your dad is hot and neither of their spouses are home tonight."

"Get your mind out of the gutter. There's no way she wants to be with my dad. That's just gross."

"I know you see him as just your dad, but one thing you need to realize is that he's hot."

"You think my dad's hot?" Alex's voice squeaked.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, he's practically like my own dad. He's more of a dad to me than that jerk of a sperm donor. I'm just stating the facts. For a guy his age, he's sexy. When Lydia's here, watch how she looks at him. She wants him like you want that lasagna."

Alex shook his head. "No, that's not possible. It's also disgusting. Besides, even if she does think he's hot, she knows they're both married. There's no way."

"You're so naive."

"Am not."

"Are too. She's looking for love. Her husband must never be home, because every time I've ever seen her, he's out of town. Your dad's an easy target. He's dealing with a missing daughter and if your mom is out of the house tonight…."