CHAPTER 46
GROUND ZERO
I went to work and didn't have time to think about him. I had seventeen paid invitations to various Natural History Museums in my mail, including two in Europe. More importantly, I was helping to identify a crate full of fossilized bones shipped to me from a field in North Dakota. They had been sent to us because the farmer had read about me and my son, T. Rex, and the fact that his sister was buried in Jordan, Montana, where the farmer and his family originally hailed from.
When Friday came House called and left a voice mail at home saying he had a patient and wouldn't be able to make it for the weekend. I didn't call him back. He obviously didn't want to connect with me or he would have called my cell. He was avoiding me.
I called to talk to him on Monday and Tuesday, just to try and mend fences. He didn't return my calls. On Thursday, neither of us called to confirm that he would be coming to the house for the weekend. I was pissed, but I figured that he would come home, if only to see Rex. I knew he would have a hard time staying away from him. I made dinner and kept it waiting, but House didn't show. I guess I could have frozen the chicken parmigiana, but instead, I threw it in the trash with a vengeance and went to bed.
He showed up at 3:00 am, rummaged around in the kitchen and eventually crawled into bed. I could smell the whiskey on his breath as he fell into a snore-fest. I pushed him back onto his side to keep his snoring to a tolerable level. I woke at daybreak when Rex started crying. I went in and took care of him and then started my weekly household chores.
He got up at noon. He wandered out to the kitchen scratching his genitals and yawning. "Coffee?"
"Screw you."
He pretended to be surprised. "Is the honeymoon over?"
"It never got started."
"I know, you're mad because I haven't diddled you?" He nodded towards the bedroom, "Come on, I'll take care of that."
"You better go back to Princeton until this blows over." I turned back to the laundry. I started throwing his clean clothes at him, "You can fold them and get them and you out of here."
He pulled some clean levis, a t-shirt and paid of socks from the pile and put them on. "Holy crap Maddie, I had a patient last night." He put on his sneakers.
"You couldn't call? I suppose your patient needed whiskey? You showed up at 3 am smelling like a bar. Were you driving drunk?"
"I only had one drink."
"You need to go back to your hole until you can treat me like the human I am."
"My name is on title of this little hovel."
"We can rectify that. I'll buy you out."
"You couldn't afford me."
"Fine, Rex and I will leave, you can have the little hovel."
He shook his head in frustration, "You're being stupid. All this anger because of one night?"
I was shaking. "Because you won't talk to me. You won't call me. You look right through me. Hell, you won't even have sex with me. You didn't even have the courtesy to sabotage the relationship subtly. You just bombed it. Why carry on this charade of a relationship if you're going to nuke it? You want me to end it because you don't have the guts to do it yourself." I picked up the folded towels and put them under my arm to take to the linen closet, "Well, I should make your life miserable and make you be the one to walk out on the relationship. But, you're such a coward, you'll push me, make me have to protect myself and Rex from your actions." I didn't want to cry, but the wind was out of my sails. I saw this ship heading for the rocks and I had no rudder. The tears started falling down my cheeks, "Things were going so well. What made you change your mind about us?"
"Me change my mind? You started this. It was your fault. You pushed me into the corner. What did you think I would do? Africa for three years? You expect me to continue this charade or a family knowing you're going to leave me?"
"But I was just thinking about my options out loud, I don't know what I'm going to do. You didn't seem that committed to us. We bought this house so you could come home at night, but you opted to stay in Princeton. We could have sat and talked about my options instead of you stewing over them and getting pissed."
"It wasn't just that. The idea that you want my father to be a part of Rex's life, that you don't trust my opinion, well... it sucked."
"So you're punishing me, doing these things to push my buttons?"
He hung his head and then looked up and yelled, "Maybe. Maybe I just don't want you to come to me in five years and say what a huge disappointment I am to you. I've heard that tune so many times I should pay royalties to someone. You didn't really think we could make it together did you? I told you I like them younger and more nimble. You're past your sell-by date and I like fresh milk."
My head was swimming, What is he telling me? What's causing him to do this? And why is my instinct to cut my losses and run? It would be so easy to just let him go, pull back. But is it really what I want? I really want him. "Greg, let's not do this. Let's go to counseling. I've managed to push your buttons and you've managed to push mine. We owe it to Rex to try and work on this before we blow it to bits."
"Yeah, we'll put it back together with bubble gum and just when it heals you'll announce that you're running off to Africa with Simon and taking Rex with you. No thanks."
I put the towels down and walked over to him. I held out my arms to hug him, to hold him and let him know I wasn't going to run, I was going to stay and fight for this relationship. Oh, I wanted to run. My whole body was telling me to let him go and get on with my life, but I recognized that I was in survivor mode. If I really wanted to change, I had to plant my feet here, take a chance with him. I had to make this work for all three of us.
He looked at me, standing with my arms open and as he took a step forward I started to feel a surge of relief wash through me. He got just within reach of my arms and then ducked around me, snickering and saying, "Gotcha." He grabbed his keys and walked back to our bedroom. A minute later he came back out, putting his wallet in his pocket and holding Rex.
He looked at me, emotionless. "I wasn't with a patient last night, I was with a new nurse from the hospital. She's 26, prettier, no cellulite, dynamite in bed and doesn't expect anything from me. Go back to Simon, he can give you the stability you need so much." He kissed Rex and put him over in the corner with his toys. Without a glance back at me, he took off, the door closing with a resounding thud. I was frozen in place, unable to understand what had just happened.
I didn't do anything. I didn't run after him because I didn't want to do or say something I would regret later. I wasn't even sure that House had told me the truth about a nurse. The only person I thought would know for sure was Jim, but it turned out he was at a conference in Florida. The rest of the day I played the entire last month over and over in my head, but it all came down to the fact that House was convinced I was going to eventually leave him. I left a message on his voice mail asking him to call me so that we could talk. He didn't call back.
I continued to go to work and deal with the wreckage of my life. The following week I was served with papers requesting that House be given joint custody of Rex and an order that Rex not be taken out of the country without the approval of the court and notice to House. The hearing was set for December 3rd. The following day his attorney went to court ex-parte to get temporary orders granting House custody every weekend from 4 pm on Friday to 8 pm on Sunday.
I was devastated. The fact that it had come to this caused me to spiral into a deep depression. I had a hard time doing anything although I did manage to attend the ex-parte hearing.
"Dr. Doyle, do you have an attorney?" the judge asked.
"No sir, I haven't had time to find one."
"Well, I can't hold up this hearing, so you'll have to represent yourself. What do you have to say about the request made by Dr. House?"
"Sir, although I see my son each night after work, most of it is spent doing daily activities, feeding him, bathing him, getting him to bed. I need weekend time to enjoy him, take him out, be with him. I do that on the weekends."
"I understand Dr. Doyle, but Dr. House currently has no prescribed time with your son. He's entitled to either have the baby live with him during the week or have him on the weekends. I hate to disrupt the child's routine so I think it's better he stay with you during the week." He paused and looked at my stunned face, "But I am sympathetic to your desire to have some weekend time with your son."
House's attorney, Carrie Evans, jumped up, "Your honor, essentially Dr. Doyle will be getting twenty-two days and nights with the baby compared to my client's request for eight (8) days per month."
"Well counsel, I still believe that Dr. Doyle deserves time with her son on the weekend. I hereby grant Dr. House's petition for temporary custody as to three weekends per month.
As we walked out of the court, I tried to talk to House. He and his attorney left the court room and I was right behind him. They were talking and walking towards the elevator. I grabbed Greg's arm, "Greg, please. Can we talk about all of this? Please?"
He looked down at my hand with contempt. His attorney removed my hand gently and started to talk to me as Greg got on the elevator, "Dr. Doyle, you need to hire an attorney and then have them call me. Please don't try to have any contact with Dr. House except through me or during the delivery of your son on the days he has custody. Even then," She got on the elevator with Greg, "Only communicate what is necessary to enable Dr. House to care for Rex. Any discussions about the custody of your son should be discussed with me, not him."
I stared at House as the doors began to close, but he wouldn't look at me. I ran down the stairs, but couldn't catch up. I watched them leave the building. I don't remember driving home. I don't remember much about that evening except that Tracey stayed inside the house and took care of Rex. I slept. I barely made it to work and back for the next few days. I relied heavily on Tracey to help around the house. I forgot to eat. My milk dried up and I was forced to wean Rex off of breast milk.
I was at work when House came to pick up Rex. Tracey apparently called him a "piece of sh!t," resulting in his attorney calling me and threatening to ask for full custody if I didn't hire someone more mature to take care of Rex.
"Bite me. Tell Greg that truth is the ultimate defense." I hung up.
On Saturday I was in the middle of my marathon sleep-fest when the constant ringing of he doorbell finally woke me up. I answered the door and had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It was James Wilson on my doorstep with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.His free hand came up to cover his now wide-opened mouth, "I came to see how you were taking all this, but I don't need to ask. Maddie, you don't look well."
"Am I suppose to look well?" I was a little groggy from the sleeping pills I had taken. "Come in Jim. If you want something to drink, you'll have to find it yourself. I haven't been grocery shopping in a few days."
"Maddie, can you tell me what happened?"
I passed the hall mirror on the way to the living room and realized then why Jim was so shocked. I had knots in my hair, my days old makeup was smeared around my eyes and in little lines running down my cheeks. My lips were dried up and there were black and purple circles under my eyes. My t-shirt was wrinkled to the point you couldn't read the logo and I suddenly noticed that I didn't have any pants on, only my boy short underwear.
"One minute we're all happy about the dig, the next we're fighting about his parents and then he's screwing a nurse and telling me it's over. Our relationship disintegrated faster than the Challenger and now I'm waiting for the congressional investigation so I'll know why."
"Nurse? What nurse?" Jim asked.
"He claims that the Friday before last, he and a new twenty something nurse with no cellulite screwed their brains out. Basically, he let me know that he preferred her to me."
"The Friday before last he was at the hospital with a patient all night. I know, Chase and House consulted with me on the phone at 1:00 am while I was down in Tampa, Florida."
"But he had been drinking!"
"House keeps whiskey in his desk drawer. He frequently has a drink at work, especially if he has to stay late." Jim smiled and shook his head, "Maddie, he's not screwing anyone."
"Why would you tell someone that you've found someone younger, prettier, better in bed and who didn't care what you did...the ideal woman?"
"To make you give up on him."
"Well, it worked." I curled up in the corner of the couch.
"You can't let him do this to you or Rex or the three of you."
"I don't have the energy to fight it."
"What does your attorney say?"
"I don't have one."
"You need one. I'll contact my cousin in Philly, he's in a big firm, he'll find you someone. You need to ask for counseling."
"I suggested it but Greg wouldn't go."
"Have the court require him to do it."
"We're not married. Why would the court require it?"
"I don't know, they seem to like everyone to get along, especially when children are involved. Are you okay financially?"
"Yeah, but Greg didn't send his monthly check to pay for the nanny."
"He stopped support?"
"Yeah, but we never had anything in writing. He just did it voluntarily."
"But there will be records of his checks. The court won't like that he stopped."
"His papers have something in it about support payments." I got up and went to the table, picked through the mounting pleadings and found it. I handed it to Wilson.
"That son of a b!tch. He makes $16,000 a month and he's offering to pay you $642 a month in child support, the state minimum."
"I don't care."
"Maddie, he wants to pay you less each month for his son's support than he uses to bet on the horses."
"Jim, if he thinks his son is only worth $642 a month, then that's fine. He has to live with it."
"You need to tell your attorney that he makes more than $16,000 a month."
"I don't need his money. I've lived frugally most of my life, I can do it again."
Wilson kept reading the remainder of the paper, "Maddie, did you know he wants to force the sale of the house and split the profits?"
My heart sunk. We had been so happy when we bought the house. We made sure it had a downstairs bedroom because of Greg's leg and a nice big back yard for the future jungle gym. We fell in love with the house as soon as we saw it. "What? He wants to force Rex and I out of the house?"
"Apparently." Jim continued to read.
I think Wilson thought that this would galvanize me, make me want to fight. It did just the opposite, it made me want to pack up my tent and go away. Jim stayed with me that weekend, using our guest room and making me lots of tea and trying to get me to eat. He encouraged me to get cleaned up and dressed, which I finally did.
On Sunday at 4:00 pm there was a knock on the door. Jim and I were watching our fifth DVD of the weekend. He got up and went to the door to answer it.
"What are you doing here?" I heard House ask him.
"Cleaning up another one of your messes. Give me Rex and get out of here House." Jim's voice was vitriolic.
"What do you mean, my mess?"
Jim lowered his voice in the hopes that I wouldn't hear them argue. "You want to kick your son and his mother out of their house?"
"The attorney is just using that as leverage." House lowered his voice even further, "I'm not going to make her sell it, not until he's eighteen."
I got up and went to the hall. House saw me and then looked away. I held out my arms to take Rex. Rex was already holding out his arms to me. House yielded him to me. I kissed him and hugged him tightly. "Was he good for you?" I asked softly.
House squirmed a little, "He was great. He ate an hour ago and slept a couple of hours this afternoon.
"Good." I looked at Wilson who was staring at the floor and then I looked up and met House's cold blue eyes, "Greg, if you have a realtor you like, send them over and we can get the house on the market as soon as possible."
House looked sheepishly at Wilson and then at me, "Let's not get ahead of the game, wait and talk to my attorney about it."
"I'm not waiting. Send me over anything that you want me to sign and I'll sign it. I want this over. I'm not sleeping or eating and it's just draining me. I don't have any energy for Rex. I gave Tracey a month's notice like you asked. Besides, without your money to keep her, I'd have to let her go anyway. So I'll find an apartment and daycare closer to work. I read the pleadings. They say you want to be notified if I take him out of the country, that's fine. You want me to get a court order before I take him out of the country, that's okay too. You want to give me $642 a month in child support..."
House jumped in, "I plan to give more ..."
I put my hand up to stop him, "I was going to say that I don't want any money from you. Keep it, use it to buy whatever it is you want to buy. You could take your nurse to Atlantic City for a weekend." I paused a second and nuzzled Rex, "You want joint custody? I wouldn't keep Rex from you; I hope you know that. The visitation you have right now, will that work?"
House looked at Wilson again, as if he needed his approval, "Sure. It works. Maddie, you don't have to sell the house."
"Nah, I won't be able to afford both the house and daycare until we sell Chu-chu. It's okay, the house just makes me sad now." I smiled the best smile I could muster, which I guess wasn't very convincing because House looked away again. "Can you just have your attorney draw up the papers and send them over. Let's get this over with okay?"
He nodded and I took the diaper bag and walked away, into the living room. Jim said something to House and I heard House say, "Bite me."
Jim went back to Princeton and I put Rex down to sleep next to me in my Queen Sized bed. I needed to know he was safe, with me. We slept until the alarm went off at 6:30 am. Tracey came in and took over for me as I got ready. I was going to miss her, but she already had something lined up and told me not to worry about her.
Three days later I received a stipulation from House's attorney setting out what I had agreed to with the exception that it stated that House would pay me $3,000 a month in child support. I called the attorney.
"Miss Evans, this is Dr. Doyle."
"Dr. Doyle, is there a problem with the stipulation?"
"Yes, I won't sign it with the $3,000 support clause. I told Greg, I didn't want anything."
"He insisted that it be put into the stipulation."
"Take it out and send the stipulation back over and I'll sign it."
"Dr. Doyle, I feel a little odd and I probably shouldn't say this, but I really think you should talk to a lawyer before signing this or deleting the support clause."
"I trust Greg. I know he loves Rex. He just doesn't love me."
"Dr. Doyle. I shouldn't tell you this. But whatever you said to Dr. House on Sunday sure made him sober up. He seemed almost sorry when he came to see me. No, not sorry, sad. He seemed sad. Well, I'll take out the clause and send it back to you."
The revised agreement was in my office the next day by FedEx. I signed and sent it back. The court stamped it and it was recorded that Friday. I had just gotten back from a trip to Washington D.C. and returned home on Friday in time to hand over Rex.
House walked in without knocking. I was getting Rex ready, changing him on the bed. House came back and stood at the bedroom door. Rex had seen him and was babbling "Da-da" all over the place. I turned around and spotted House. I jumped back because I wasn't expecting anyone. "Christ, you scared me."
"Sorry. Hey Dude, you ready for boy's night out?"
I stood Rex up and pulled his pants over his diaper. "Greg, I have the listing agreement out in the kitchen, can you sign it before you leave?"
"That was quick. You sure you want to sell?"
"Absolutely, this house isn't a home anymore." I started to tear up and so I turned my head away and hoped he hadn't noticed. I picked up Rex and held him, kissed him and handed him to Greg.
"Maddie?" he said it so gingerly. "I..."
"The papers are on the table, I'll get them. Oh, and I was wondering if you would trade next weekend for the weekend after? I'd like to give Rex a birthday party. You're invited of course."
I brought him the papers in and he signed them. I got him the diaper bag and carried it to his car for him as Rex walked with his Dad.
"So is it okay? Can I have him the weekend after next."
"Can I bring my parents to the party? They were scheduled to fly out to meet him that week."
"Oh Gosh, I forgot. Sure. Do you want him during the week too?"
"That would be great."
"Call me and we can work something out."
His voice dropped again, "Maddie, I may have made a ..."
I pretended to hear the phone ring, "Oh, that's the phone. Sorry. I'll see you on Sunday." I ran into the house and closed the door behind me. I didn't want to hear about mistakes, I needed to protect myself from ever feeling this pain again.
CHAPTER 47
DO ALL GOOD THINGS HAVE BAD ENDINGS
I had to keep the house clean all the time for the prospective buyers. It was hard because I had so little energy to handle the feelings I was having, the day to day work of being a single mom, and trying to find day care and a new apartment. We had some serious prospects by the third week and our realtor told me to expect several offers soon.
I had a little birthday party planned for Rex. The guests included mostly the kids of my staff, a couple of neighbor children, Tracey, Jim, House and his parents. I had planned on about fifteen people.
I bought the cowboy cake and some party favors, recharged the camera batteries, decorated the house with balloons and streamers and made up goody bags for the kids. I wore an off -the- shoulder polka-dot sweater and black slacks. I had my hair cut really short and decided to go with some mascara and red lipstick to try and look a little more alive. House was going to bring his parents an hour before the party so that they could meet Rex before the others arrived.
I dressed Rex in some jeans, a blue shirt and cowboy vest. Jade had sent him his first pair of cowboy boots which I put on his little feet. I had a little cowboy hat too, but he kept knocking it off. He looked adorable and his blue eyes really shone. If they didn't love him at first site, then they were heartless. I straightened my sweater and answered the door when the bell rang.
They both had big smiles and House was frowning. "Mr.& Mrs. House, please come in." I opened the door and they walked in looking in all directions for Rex. "Rex is in the living room playing. Greg can you take their coats and I can take them into the living room."
House took the coats and hung them up in the closet. "Mom, Dad, this is Maddie Doyle."
When we shook hands, his Mom said, "Please call us Blythe and John."
We went into the living room where Rex was playing with one of his birthday presents, a 'See 'n Say' that pointed to the letters of the alphabet. Rex looked up, saw his Grandparents and then beamed when he saw his Dad. He ran to his Dad and threw himself at his legs. Blythe and John both smiled when they saw how much their grandson loved his Dad.
"Hey Rex, meet your grandparents. This is Grandmom and this is Sir."
His father shook his head and said to Rex, "Call me Granddad."
Rex was a little leery, but Blythe smiled sweetly and held out her arms. Greg handed him to her and she kissed and cuddled him like any grandmother would. I took a photo. She handed him to Greg's father who beamed and posed with his Grandson for a photo.
"He looks just like Greg at that age." John said.
"He sure does." Blythe agreed.
"Please sit down. Can I get you something to drink?" I asked.
"Coffee?" They both said in unison.
I went and got them their coffee and brought it into the living room. I don't know what I had expected. I had thought I would immediately dislike his father, but I didn't. He was kind to Rex, charming and funny. Blythe was the epitome of the fifties wife and mother. I liked them both.
"Greg says you're selling the house because the commute is too much." Blythe said.
I was a little thrown off, but soon realized that he didn't want them to know the truth. "Yes, it's a big trip during the rush hour. I'm going to get something a little closer to Philly."
"Greg, won't that make it harder for you?" his mom asked.
"I keep my apartment in Princeton just in case I have a patient and need to be close."
"Where are you staying?" I asked.
"The Radison in downtown Philadelphia. We got in last night."
We talked awhile and then House's mother brought out photos of Greg when he was a baby and toddler. She gave me a few of the photos. She was right, you would have thought that they were photos of Rex if you didn't already been told they were Greg. Greg's Dad got down on the floor and built block walls and other items with Rex. Rex was trying to babble about something. His Grandfather pretended to understand him and kept nodding and laughing.
Rex's party was sweet. Most of the people knew that Greg and I had broken up, but no one said anything that gave it away to House's parents. We were civil to each other and even occasionally called each other honey for authenticity. Greg asked if he could take Rex for the next four days and I agreed. When we were in the kitchen alone he cornered me.
"I'm sorry. I know I should have told them, but my mom was so excited about the idea that I had a baby, a girlfriend, and a house that I didn't have the guts to tell her. I will tomorrow."
"Do what you want to do. Tell them now or tell them when they go home, I don't care. I like them. I even like your Dad. I know you didn't want to hear that, but he seems to be trying really hard."
"He is nice...now. He's mellowed a lot with age. But I still think I'm a disappointment to him. I think I've earned some brownie points though for having such a cute kid. He seems absolutely bowled over."
"Who wouldn't be after meeting Rex?" We both smiled. He reached over and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks Maddie. Thanks for playing."
I let him pick up Rex the next day. Rex spent the next few days visiting with his grandparents. The excuse given for my absence was that I was attending a conference. House and Rex stayed in Philly at the same hotel. On the last day they were in town, I was surprised to hear myself being paged to the front desk. I went up and saw the four Houses standing at the admissions desk. We walked through the Academy and I showed them the work I was performing down in the lab. They were pleased and I think they were impressed. John carried Rex, who was now dead asleep on his grandfather's shoulder. Afterwards we all went to dinner. It was very pleasant, not the nasty scene I had expected. When their trip was over and the Houses had flown back to California, Greg returned Rex.
"Greg, we have an offer on the house, but the realtor thinks we should be getting another tomorrow. They're offering ten thousand under the asking price. She thinks we should wait and see what the other offer brings in and I have to agree. I think the second couple will make a full price offer and I'd like to see them get the house. It's a young couple with a toddler and they like the big yard, just like we did."
"Maddie, I'll sign whatever you tell me to sign. If you don't want to move, you don't have to."
"No, I found an apartment near the Academy and a daycare center around the corner from it. It's perfect for just Rex and me."
He nodded and grabbed the dish rag to clean down the counters while I stacked the dishwasher. "Maddie, I know it's none of my business, but has Simon said anything to you?"
"About my job?"
"Well that and about us?"
"He told me he was sorry that it didn't work out and that if I needed time off I could take it. But he hasn't said anything about the job yet."
"Are you feeling better? You still look like Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas."
"You don't have to worry about me Greg. I'll be fine. Jack called and told me that they've wrapped up the dig for the next four months, but that they think they'll have Chu-chu completely excavated by the beginning of August next year. We should know in May how much of a dinosaur we have. He told me we already have at least 65 percent, and with the furicula and an intact skull, he thinks she'll bring in almost as much as Sue."
"That's good to know." He put the rag in the sink and washed his hands, "I better get going."
"Hot date with the nurse?" I smiled.
He looked at me and with a sad, sad look of contrition said, "There never was a nurse Maddie."
"I know Greg. I never really believed that you would cheat on me."
"You knew?"
"It didn't matter. If you felt the need for me to believe that you had cheated then it meant that things were on a collision course anyway."
"Maddie, you scare me."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know how to live without you."
"You'll figure it out."
"Maybe. Well, I better get going. Can you keep Rex this weekend? I need time to catch up at work. We're expecting an important patient tomorrow."
"Sure."
He put his coat on and left. I turned out the lights and went to bed. I had a dream that night. I dreamed I was wrapped in his arms and legs and we couldn't get disentangled. We tried and tried, but just when we would unwrap one limb the other would be just as tangled with another. In between us was a howling Rex, needing to be fed and cuddled, but even though we were both right there, we couldn't take care of him. I woke up feeling like I was choking.
We made it through Thanksgiving, the move and Christmas. On New Years Eve I crawled up on the couch with one of those tiny bottle of champagne and dreamed of how happy I had been just one year before. I took a pot from the kitchen and opened the front and back doors like my family did when I was a little kid. I banged on the pot to get the old year to leave by the back door so that the new one could come in through the front. It was bloody freezing, but I just felt an overwhelming desire to make sure that the last year had been exorcized. I then stood on the front porch in the snow. The frozen air was blowing through my thin nightgown and turning my bare feet blue. I could hear the remnants of firecrackers and party sounds. I looked up at a saucer shaped moon shining so silvery over the porches of all the rowhouses that they sparkled like spun sugar. I asked the moon if I would ever find someone? If he knew, he certainly wasn't telling me. Since he was talking, I went back inside and then to bed.
House and I fell into a rhythm. We rarely had any harsh words between us and seemed to do our best to work out our schedules to accommodate each other. House even kept Rex on the occasions when I had to go out of town. He used the hospital daycare on those days when Rex stayed with him during the week.
Simon was great. He didn't hit on me, but I could tell his demeanor towards me had changed. I think he could tell that I was suffering like he had suffered over me and he had some empathy for that. Jim was a sweetheart. He'd come up occasionally and do household chores for me and take us out to dinner. He was a good friend to me and Rex.
The new cadence to my life beat without interference until the blustery month of March when I woke up one morning to the sound of my usually bubbly son, whimpering.
(TO THE READERS- you're getting close to the end! (four chapters left) I would really appreciate it if you would let me know if you like the story. Also, I want to thank those who have marked it as a favorite story, that really encourages me to keep going! Thank you for reading!)