“Goodmorning,Janet,”Zaccrooned as the office manager shuffled into OtB with her lunchbox and a sweater thrown over one arm. The mild surprise didn’t escape him as she made her way to her desk.
“Early again.” It wasn’t a question but more of a curious observation.
“Yep,” he affirmed, popping a folder back into the filing cabinet. “I rotated out the archived client waivers and got a head start on the invoices from accounts payable.”
Janet nodded as she logged into her computer. She gave no acknowledgement beyond that, but Zac wasn’t surprised. Nor was he expecting a pat on the back from her. It had been fun shocking her when he came to her, offering help with anything she needed. Ok, maybe it wasn’t shock so much as grave skepticism, but it hadn’t derailed his determination.
Determination to not only pull his weight but also take on as much as he could manage was his motivation. Especially since Lucy had popped out the twins, and she and Jon were hulled up at home trying to figure out the whole parenting thing. Zac was happy to take as much off their plates as possible for as long as was needed. Come to find out, he enjoyed being useful.
Zac shut the cabinet and made his way to the carafe of coffee he’d brought in that morning. He filled the gone fishin’ mug and doctored it the way Janet liked. He handed her the caffeinated peace offering along with a thick folder. “The new gear requests and order forms, arranged alphabetically by distributor.”
“I prefer by request date,” she corrected. She flipped open the folder and took a sip of coffee.
“Noted,” Zac chuckled. A few weeks of helping wouldn’t convince Janet that he’d turned a new leaf, but honestly, he was in it for the long haul. It wasn’t a temporary game he was playing. And if the grumpy office manager never came around, well . . . that’d be her loss.
“Thanks,” the woman in question grunted quietly.
“Anything for you,” Zac drolled, adding a bow with flourish. He pointed at her mug. “Let me know when you need a top off.”
Janet rolled her eyes, but Zac spied a hint of a smile and for now, he’d take it. Any progress was worth the effort.
The bell on the front door jangled and a hushed curse followed behind it. Jonathan inched through the door with one baby strapped to his chest while the other rode snuggly in the stroller he pushed.
“Daddy’s home,” Zac bellowed, bounding forward to greet the most exhausted version of his best friend that he’d ever seen.
“Shhh! She finally fell asleep. If you wake her, you soothe her.” Jonathan bounced rhythmically where he stood while also gliding the stroller back and forth.
“Where’s the missus?” Zac whispered.
“Passed out in the car.” He returned at the same volume. “She begged me to drive her down here. We’ve both gone a little stir-crazy. But she bonked the second I pulled out of the driveway.”
Janet shuffled up beside Zac and knelt down to get a look at the twin in the stroller. She cooed and pinched his little toes, which were poking out of the forest-themed blanket Zac had bought them for the baby shower. “Is it bad of me to want him to wake up for snuggle time?”
“Bruce only wakes up on his schedule, so snuggle away. It’s Bianca that wakes up if you breathe wrong.”
Needing no further encouragement, she scooped up the baby boy and stole him back to her work area, humming and bouncing gently.
“You two managing?” Zac had no doubt his friends were incredible parents, but with those record-breaking dark circles under Jonathan’s eyes, he had to ask.
“Yes. It’s hard. We’re tired.” If it wasn’t evident in his voice, the lag time between when his right eye blinked and then his left would have cleared things up. “But we love them so much.” He dipped his chin and touched a gentle kiss to the top of Bianca’s bald head.
“If there’s anything you need . . .”
“Keep plugging away here. Not having to worry about this place is a huge help.”
“It’s nothing—”
“It’s everything. You’ve really pulled through for us, man.”
Zac had to keep his chest from puffing up. He hadn’t done anything huge, but showing up day after day and putting in the work made the difference. He was finally becoming someone his friends could count on. Someone he was proud to be.
The office phone chimed aggressively, and Janet hurried to snatch it before the shrill noise woke either baby. “Off the Beaten Adventures . . . oh, hi. Yes. Oh no. Sure thing. I’ll send him. No, dear. You take your time.”
Jonathan and Zac looked expectantly as Janet strolled over calm and unhurried.
“That was Frankie. She had a flat tire.”
“We can drive out and get her,” Jonathan said with an exhausted sigh.
