(You might be pleased to know that I've got more planned in this 'verse!)
Zach hung up the phone and scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. “I think I’m going to have to go to Pittsburgh this weekend.”
“What’s up?” Chris asked, plopping down next to him on the couch with a bowl of cereal.
“You remember my cousin Tory?”
“The one who had the baby a couple of years ago, right?”
“Yeah. She’s gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”
“Apparently her latest boyfriend – the one my aunt is pretty sure is a meth dealer – didn’t want to deal with raising a kid. So they ran off together and left her daughter with my aunt. It’s been two weeks and no one knows where they are.”
“Shit,” Chris muttered in sympathy, setting his bowl down on the coffee table and squeezing Zach’s shoulder.
“No kidding,” Zach groaned. “My aunt’s hysterical. She’s got her own health problems – no ways she’s going to be able to look after a toddler. My mom’s taking care of Nina right now.”
“What are they going to do?”
“I don’t know. They don’t know either. My mom’s running some kind of event at the community center this weekend. It’s been planned for months, but now she’s got to deal with Nina and my aunt. I said I’d come over there to help try and get things straightened out.”
Chris smiled a little, shifting so he could sit behind Zach and gently rub his shoulders. “Well, you’re good at that. I can come with you, if you want.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve got lunch with a producer on Saturday, right? Plus, I don’t want to drag you into my family’s crap.”
“Hey, they’re my family, too. I can reschedule that lunch pretty easily, and it sounds like the Pennsylvania Quintos can use all the help they can get.”
Zach craned his head around to meet Chris’ eyes. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“You might reconsider in a couple of days when you’ve got half-eaten Cheerios stuffed down your shirt and Nina won’t stop screaming.”
“I’m usually better with kids than I am with adults,” Chris said with a chuckle. They were quiet for a few moments as Chris slowly worked the tension out of Zach’s shoulders. When Zach’s muscles finally started to loosen under Chris’ hands, he asked, “Is there anybody for Nina to live with? I mean long-term, if her mom doesn’t come back?”
“I don’t know,” Zach sighed. “My other aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh already have a ton of kids. I think my mom is willing to look after her, at least for a little while, but it would probably be really hard for her to actually take on the full responsibility of raising her.”
“This, uh…” Chris started carefully. “This might be a little premature, but once I’m done with the publicity for my last movie, my schedule’s free for… quite a while, actually. I wanted to take a little break anyway, so I don’t have anything big lined up.”
Zach abruptly turned to look at him. “What are you saying?”
Chris took a deep breath. “I’m saying… you and me, we’re doing really well, and we finally have a house together. I know we haven’t seriously talked about kids, but if your cousin really isn’t coming back, if Nina needs a family… I think we could be it.”
Zach just looked at him silently for a long time. “You mean that?”
“Yeah, of course I do. I mean, I know this has all happened suddenly and there would be a lot of stuff to work out first, but I think you’d be a really great dad. I think we both would.”
Zach nodded slowly. “Okay, we’ll go to Pittsburgh this weekend. And then…”
Smells Like Teen Spirit, 12 years earlier, PG
Zach hung up the phone and scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. “I think I’m going to have to go to Pittsburgh this weekend.”
“What’s up?” Chris asked, plopping down next to him on the couch with a bowl of cereal.
“You remember my cousin Tory?”
“The one who had the baby a couple of years ago, right?”
“Yeah. She’s gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”
“Apparently her latest boyfriend – the one my aunt is pretty sure is a meth dealer – didn’t want to deal with raising a kid. So they ran off together and left her daughter with my aunt. It’s been two weeks and no one knows where they are.”
“Shit,” Chris muttered in sympathy, setting his bowl down on the coffee table and squeezing Zach’s shoulder.
“No kidding,” Zach groaned. “My aunt’s hysterical. She’s got her own health problems – no ways she’s going to be able to look after a toddler. My mom’s taking care of Nina right now.”
“What are they going to do?”
“I don’t know. They don’t know either. My mom’s running some kind of event at the community center this weekend. It’s been planned for months, but now she’s got to deal with Nina and my aunt. I said I’d come over there to help try and get things straightened out.”
Chris smiled a little, shifting so he could sit behind Zach and gently rub his shoulders. “Well, you’re good at that. I can come with you, if you want.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve got lunch with a producer on Saturday, right? Plus, I don’t want to drag you into my family’s crap.”
“Hey, they’re my family, too. I can reschedule that lunch pretty easily, and it sounds like the Pennsylvania Quintos can use all the help they can get.”
Zach craned his head around to meet Chris’ eyes. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“You might reconsider in a couple of days when you’ve got half-eaten Cheerios stuffed down your shirt and Nina won’t stop screaming.”
“I’m usually better with kids than I am with adults,” Chris said with a chuckle. They were quiet for a few moments as Chris slowly worked the tension out of Zach’s shoulders. When Zach’s muscles finally started to loosen under Chris’ hands, he asked, “Is there anybody for Nina to live with? I mean long-term, if her mom doesn’t come back?”
“I don’t know,” Zach sighed. “My other aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh already have a ton of kids. I think my mom is willing to look after her, at least for a little while, but it would probably be really hard for her to actually take on the full responsibility of raising her.”
“This, uh…” Chris started carefully. “This might be a little premature, but once I’m done with the publicity for my last movie, my schedule’s free for… quite a while, actually. I wanted to take a little break anyway, so I don’t have anything big lined up.”
Zach abruptly turned to look at him. “What are you saying?”
Chris took a deep breath. “I’m saying… you and me, we’re doing really well, and we finally have a house together. I know we haven’t seriously talked about kids, but if your cousin really isn’t coming back, if Nina needs a family… I think we could be it.”
Zach just looked at him silently for a long time. “You mean that?”
“Yeah, of course I do. I mean, I know this has all happened suddenly and there would be a lot of stuff to work out first, but I think you’d be a really great dad. I think we both would.”
Zach nodded slowly. “Okay, we’ll go to Pittsburgh this weekend. And then…”
“We’ll see what happens,” Chris finished for him.