Chương 7
Ethan continued.
“But until I know why, you don’t go near them.”
“You are not in a position to order me.”
“I’m their father.”
“You became their father six hours ago?”
The cruelty landed because some part of Ethan had already said the same thing to himself.
Grant knew him well enough to hear it.
“You do not know their birthdays,” Grant said. “You do not know their doctor. Their teachers. Their allergies. You don’t know which one wakes from nightmares or whether they sleep with the lights on. Biology does not make you competent.”
Ethan looked through the lounge doorway toward the consultation room.
“No.”
Grant waited.
Ethan said, “But I can learn.”
He ended the call.
The temporary placement hearing happened by video late that afternoon.
Ethan had slept forty minutes.
Noah and Liam had slept two hours.
Someone from child services brought them clean clothes and toothbrushes from their apartment after police cleared it.
The apartment itself was small, ordinary, and undisturbed.
No sign of a break-in.
No hidden assassins.
No dramatic evidence taped beneath a floorboard.
Ethan found that almost reassuring.
Claire had not spent seven years living inside a thriller.
She had packed lunches.
Paid electric bills.
Taken the boys to school.
There were overdue library books on the kitchen table.
A grocery list was held to the refrigerator by a magnet shaped like Oregon.
Bananas.
Cereal.
Dish soap.
Noah hates the new toothpaste.
That line nearly destroyed him.
Detective Alvarez had allowed him inside for twenty minutes with a child-services worker.
He had stood in the boys’ bedroom looking at two narrow beds pushed against opposite walls.
One blanket had planets.
The other had sharks.
A paper airplane rested on a windowsill.
On Claire’s desk sat a coffee mug filled with pens and a stack of bills held together with a rubber band.
This was the life he had missed.
Not seven years of dramatic secrets.
Seven years of toothpaste.
At the hearing, a judge asked Ethan questions he hated because they were reasonable.
Did he have a safe residence for the children?
Yes.
Did the children know him?
No.
Had he completed formal paternity testing?
Not yet.
Was there another identified guardian in Claire’s documents?
Her will named a friend in Oregon, but the friend had died from cancer the previous year. Claire had not updated the paperwork.
Would Ethan agree to temporary supervision and an expedited chain-of-custody test?
Yes.
Would he allow child-services visits?
Yes.
Grant’s attorney appeared remotely and suggested the Cole family trust could provide neutral temporary placement.
Ethan said no.
The judge reminded him that the hearing was not a board meeting.
Vanessa covered her mouth with one hand.
Ethan apologized.
Noah and Liam were allowed to stay with him for seventy-two hours pending further review.
The first night in Ethan’s apartment was a disaster.
He owned one guest bedroom.
He had no children’s pajamas.
The grocery service delivered almond milk instead of regular milk, which Noah declared disgusting.
Liam refused to sleep alone.
Noah insisted he always slept alone.
Then neither slept.
At one in the morning Ethan found them sitting on the floor of the guest room with every light on.
He sat in the doorway.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Noah said.
Liam said, “He thinks somebody’s coming.”
“I do not.”
“You said you heard the elevator.”
“Because I heard the elevator.”
Ethan looked toward the hall.
The building had private security downstairs and cameras in every common corridor.
Daniel had stationed two vetted guards outside.
Ethan had personally checked the locks three times.
He still understood Noah.
“No one is coming in.”
Noah stared at him.
“You don’t know.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Ethan sat down on the carpet.
“No. I don’t know for sure.”
Noah seemed surprised.
Adults probably said sure too often.
Ethan continued.
“But there are two people outside the apartment whose job is to make sure nobody comes in. I checked every door. The police know where we are. Vanessa is in the room across the hall.”
Liam frowned.
“She didn’t go home?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ethan considered several complicated answers.
“She was tired.”
That satisfied Liam.
Noah asked, “Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
Ethan did not think before answering.
Both boys looked at him.
He wished he could take it back.
Then Noah shifted over.
There was space on the carpet between them.
Ethan sat there until both boys fell asleep leaning against him.
At three twenty, Vanessa found him still on the floor.
His back hurt.
His right leg had gone numb.
She stood in the doorway wearing one of his old college sweatshirts over black leggings.
She looked at the boys.
“You know there are beds.”
“I’ve heard rumors.”
She almost smiled.
Then she noticed his expression.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Ethan.”
He spoke quietly.
“My father told me I don’t know which one has nightmares.”
Vanessa looked at Noah asleep against his shoulder.
“Now you know.”
“Both.”
“That’s efficient.”
He gave a tired laugh.
She sat against the opposite wall.
For several minutes they listened to the boys breathe.
Then Vanessa said, “I called the wedding planner.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I canceled next month.”
He had known it was coming.
Knowing did not reduce the impact.
“Okay.”
“I didn’t cancel us.”
He looked at her again.
“I don’t know if there is an us,” she said. “Not the one we had.”
He nodded.
“That’s fair.”
“I hate when you say that.”
“What should I say?”
“I don’t know.”
She rubbed her forehead.
“I don’t want you fighting for me right now. That would make me furious. And I don’t want you being noble and letting me go. That would also make me furious.”
“I’m running out of options.”
“Good.”
They sat quietly.
After a while she said, “I’m angry at Claire.”
Ethan stiffened.
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know she’s dead. I know she was afraid. I know that makes saying this ugly.”
May you like
“Say it.”
“I’m angry she made a decision that affected all of us forever. I’m angry she didn’t find some way to tell you. I’m angry your mother helped her. I’m angry your father may have given her every reason.”
