Adopted: Family in a Million

“Susan? This is Zack.”

“Hi.” She suddenly felt as shy as a schoolgirl when a boy called. “I was going to call you later.” She took a breath. “Danny and I would love to go to the zoo with you. We can be ready before nine if you want to get an early start.”

“Sounds good. I’ll swing by your apartment about eight-thirty if that suits. Thought we’d take a cab rather than the subway. I could have rented a car for my stay, but the traffic is too much to deal with. And I’m not sure I could find parking anywhere.”

She laughed. “That’s one of the reasons I don’t have one.” Susan felt oddly nervous about the outing. It wasn’t a date. She was merely going to the zoo with a new friend. And Danny would love it.

“Is Danny asleep?” Zack asked.

“Yes. We have a schedule. He does better with set times for things. So we’re up every morning before seven. He eats lunch at noon and we usually eat dinner at the same time every evening. Then it’s bath and bed by eight. Kids like routine.”

She’d admit to a rampant curiosity about the man. If she was planning to spend the day with him tomorrow, she could devote a bit of time tonight to get to know him better.

“So, tell me about working in the Middle East. What happened with the land mine?” Susan said, settling in on the sofa.

Zack began telling her about the land mine accident that had killed one construction worker and injured him. It had only been the heavy earthmover that had shielded the other workers from harm.

Glossing over his time in the hospital, he soon turned the topic to heavy construction projects outside of the U.S. He told her about the heat and dryness of the desert. How for the most part the people were grateful for the improvements made— especially when dams afforded water to heretofore barren land.

A buzzer sounded. Susan jumped. “My clothes are ready for the dryer,” she explained. “I’ll need to put them in.” She hated to end the conversation. But if she waited too much longer, she’d have to stay up later than normal waiting for the clothes to dry. With a full day planned for Sunday, she wanted to get a good night’s rest.

“How long does it take to do that? I can call back.”

“Great. Give me ten minutes.”

Zack hung up. The last forty minutes with Susan on the phone had been unexpectedly nice. His friends were still on the job site. He knew no else in New York except the private detective he’d hired. She was easy to talk with, but he wished he’d learned more about Susan. She’d kept the conversation clearly on him, which made sense. She wanted to know more about him if she was seeing him in the morning.

He liked that. When he called her back, though, he’d make sure to ask her questions. He considered the possible complications of getting to know them while he was in the States. Would he develop a bond with his son? Or just know him these few weeks, and keep the knowledge of his paternity a secret? He wasn’t sure how things would play out. But for the time being, he was content just to get to know Susan and Danny.

Ten minutes later he called again. She answered at the first ring. He pictured her rushing back to be there when he phoned. It was a nice feeling—and he wouldn’t ask for confirmation. He wanted to hold on to those feelings.

“So tell me a bit about you—I dominated the conversation before,” he said.

“That’s because your life is more exciting. I fight the crowds to go to work. Come home and spend time with my child until he goes to bed. Stay up as long as I can keep awake then go to bed myself.”

Zack tried to think like a man who knew nothing about this woman, instead of knowing most of the facts of her life, thanks to the detective. “What do you do on weekends?”

“In nice weather I always take him to the park. It’s our only grassy area. During the winter, we often visit museums so he can run around without getting cold. Sometimes in the summer we take a ride to the beach. Must sound pretty boring to a man who vacations in Europe.”

“It depends on whom I’m doing it with. One appealing part of your lifestyle is the stability you have. I’m a nomad.”

“By choice.”

“Maybe.”

“So by that do you mean you might be interested in settling down at some point?”

“I hadn’t considered it. First I was going to make my mark on the world.”

Zack didn’t go into how he’d wanted to leave something behind to mark his being alive. He had no family so he built structures that would endure for decades and beyond. Now things had changed. Whether he ever let Susan and Danny know who he was, he knew. He had a son.

“It would be a change. But at some point surely you want a family?” she said.

“And if I die and they had to go into foster care? Too risky.”

“Whoa, where did that come from?” she asked.

“It happened to my parents. I was raised in the foster care system in Chicago.”

“Oh.” Susan was taken aback. She remembered he said he didn’t remember his mother. For some reason she’d thought his father was still alive.

“Hey, it’s not a recent thing. I never knew either of my parents. I’m still in touch with one foster family,” he said.

“That must have been tough.” Susan wondered what Danny would do if something happened to her. She knew her mother would step in, but with her father in frail health, it would mean total turmoil for a long time. She couldn’t bear the thought of not being there to see her son grow up.

“But what if you didn’t die? What if you lived to be an old man and then had no children, no grandchildren? Wouldn’t that be worse?” she asked.

Zack tried to envision himself old, with lots of little children racing around yelling and laughing while he sat on some nebulous porch and watched. They would play in a big yard with old trees shading the grass. He would have his wife of many years beside him.

For a moment Zack wondered if he was losing it. The image popped and he was back in the small hotel room.

“I’ll keep that under consideration,” he said. “I called about the apartment sublet. It’s still available and I’m going over on Monday to look at it,” he said. “It’s not close to your place.”

“No, but a much better section of town. If they were subletting for longer, I might be tempted. But they want a short-term tenant. It sounds nice.”

“I’ll let you know if it works out.”

They talked for another half hour. Susan finally said she had to get her laundry now that it was dry and gave Zack her address for the morning. He said good-night. After replacing the phone, he gazed out into the dark night. He’d see her again in a few hours. How did he feel about that?

Susan hadn’t opened up to someone like Zack in years. She felt awkward now that the evening’s companionable conversation had been broken. Riding down the small elevator, she wondered if she was being wise in going out with Zack. What if she grew attached—or worse, what if Danny did. He still searched for his father everywhere. She didn’t want him doing the same for Zack if the man became part of their lives for the weeks he was recovering and then left. Little children didn’t understand.

She and Tom had known from the first they were meant for each other. To think about another man felt odd. But she’d done it! She’d accepted a date for Sunday. She and Danny would spend several hours with Zack. Her heart gave an unexpected skip. It was just for the day. Neither she nor Danny would grow too attached in such a short time.

When Zack rang the bell the next morning, Danny ran to the door. His mother had told him about the visit to the zoo at breakfast and he was raring to go. Flinging open the door he beamed up at Zack. Susan entered the living room in time to see her son open the door without even asking who was there. She was trying to instill some common sense in him, but he was too excited today to pay attention.

“Hey, there, Danny,” Zack said, stooping down to smile at the small boy at his level. “Ready to go?”

“Yes!” Danny flung himself at Zack, his arms going around his neck. “The zoo is my bestest place. I love the elephants!”

Susan smiled at the stunned look on Zack’s face. He hadn’t planned on her exuberant son. “Danny, you’re probably strangling Zack. Let go.”