Worse, he then asked to live withBillfull-time, and visituson the weekends.
I think it had something to do with Bill’s latest girlfriend moving out a couple of weeks before, so Bill had all that free time to focus on Lucas. During that point, when Bill was pretending to be super-dad, Lucas spilled the beans about the custody motion, and Bill worked on Lucas to change his mind.
I mean, that’s my best guess how it played out, since Lucas won’t discuss it.
Predictably, within a couple of weeks, Bill was already dating Mary, whom he ended up suckering into marrying him a short six weeks later.
Yeeeaah.
To say Lucas’ reversal devastated Zoey was an understatement. Only time in my life I’ve ever wanted to hit that kid. Because while she didn’t break down in front of Lucas, it was me and Nolan comforting her in private as she cried her eyes out and wondered what she’d done wrong.
She’d thought she must be a horrible mother, no matter how Nolan and I tried to convince her otherwise.
I’d love to know if Bill guilt-tripped the kid, since that was how he suckered Zoey into staying as long as she did. Lucas won’t own up to it, no matter how many times I’ve tried to coax him into telling me the truth about the incident. I don’t know why Lucas insists on protecting the sonofabitch, but maybe those days arefinallyover.
Figures that bastard—Bill, not Lucas—could manage to screw up our weekend.
Ever since Nolan and I talked the other day and started putting pencil to paper about our future plans, I’ve felt excited,eagerto break the news to Zoey this weekend. One of the things Nolan and I wanted to do this weekend, when we took a break from wearing out Zoey and each other, was to sit down and go through our finances together andreallystart looking at numbers.
Guess that’s out.
I honestly didnotsee this plot twist coming.
Then again, we haven’t had Lucas at home very much lately. Not even every other weekend. Maybe every third or fourth weekend.
Zoey had refused to pressure Lucas, not wanting to put him in the middle.
I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to upset Zoey.
Maybe this is for the best, while Lucas is still young enough we can all heal from the rift and move forward as a family.
And maybe this development will make it easier on us to reveal to him the truth about our relationship.
Because I’m not staying in the closet another two years and denying my heart just because Bill’s a homophobic asshole.
I watch as Lucas gets the plates and silverware and glasses out of the cabinets and carries everything into the dining room to set the table, leaving the three of us standing in the kitchen.
Nolan arches an eyebrow at me, another silent question, because he tips his head toward the doorway to the dining room.
I nod and motion for him to go on.
Because I can tell Zo is about to bust a gut laughing.
Fair enough, because so am I.
Don’t get me wrong—we arenotmaking light of our child’s emotional trauma at the hand of a narcissistic douchewad.
We are, however, going to appreciate and enjoy this irony to its fullest extent.
Then we’ll have to regroup and figure out our next step. If Lucas is going to be living with us full-time now, that means we need to sit him down for a talk.
I’m not giving up Nolan, and neither will Zoey. We shouldn’t have to. We’ve waited more than long enough for him to be a permanent part of our lives. This move is long overdue.
Lucas will have to accept it, and us, the way we are. Just like we’ll accept and love him the way he is.
I pull Zoey into my arms and she presses her face tightly against my shoulder. Her body trembles from the laughter she’s struggling to hold back.
“Holy shit,” I mutter against the top of her head. “Who fricking knew it’s bethateasy to get Bill out of our lives?”
