“On the day that Zac and Avery brought Malcolm home from the hospital, she told Zac that she didn’t want anything to do with Malcolm. Not even after carrying him all those months and feeling his movements. It didn’t change a thing for her. Zac pleaded with Avery to give motherhood a chance and try to bond with their beautiful new son. She reluctantly agreed but only put forth minimal effort—until family and friends came over to seeMalcolm. Whenever they did, Avery acted like mother-of-the-year in the way that she tended to Malcolm and talked about him in front of everybody. As soon as the company left, though, she’d hand Malcolm back to Zac or put him back in his baby bed.”
“Hearing all of this is nauseating.”
“Yes, it is but I want you to know one positive and very touching thing. Something that’s gonna make you give Zac a five-star rating as a father.”
“Okay.”
“He is who cared for Malcolm after he was born. Zac took six weeks off from work to stay at home with his son. He got up with him during all hours of the day and night to feed him, change his diaper, bathe him, and just hold and rock him, all while Avery kept her lazy ass in bed. Zac’s love, care, and concern for Malcolm have never wavered, either.”
“Yep, a five-star rating for him for sure. But who took care of Malcolm after Zac went back to work?”
“Zac’s parents did and still do. Zac takes Malcolm to their house each morning before he goes to work.”
“I can only imagine how his parents feel about Avery in all of this.”
“Disgusted with her is how they feel, but they’ve never let their personal feelings about her get in the way of doing all they can for ZacandMalcolm.”
Brooke and I both grew quiet again as she continued driving through the maze of Dallas streets. Although neither of us was making a sound, my boss’s mind was just as loud as mine was as we mulled over Zac’s dark reality.
“Back to Zac and Avery sleeping in separate bedrooms…” she said, breaking the deafening silence. “Obviously, his sex life has been non-existent but I don’t believe Avery’s has been.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because she makes frequent trips to see her family and friends in Lubbock and whenever she’s there, she blows up her Instagram and Facebook pages with pictures of herself shopping, eating out, and partying with all of them. And in that group, there’s this tall dark-haired guy who’s always standing beside her, smiling just as big as she is. My guess is he’s someone that Avery has known for a long time. The thunder cunt’s first love maybe. The one that got the hell away from her as fast as he could way back then but has since forgotten why he did,” Brooke chuckled.
“Do you know if Zac is aware of that possible situation?”
“I doubt it since he’s not on any social media platforms.”
“And you’ve never mentioned the pictures to him?”
“No, I haven’t, because he’s already dealing with enough, day in and day out. If it ever becomes necessary, though, I will not only tell him about the pictures but I’ll also give him the thick file of them that I have. It’s full of copies of those pictures plus screenshots that I’ve taken of red flag posts that Avery has made along with her family and friends’ comments. There are dozens of back-and-forth comments between Avery and that guy that are borderline inappropriate.”
“You’ve really done your investigative work on her.”
“I enjoy investigating people like her and then watching the effect of how they treat others boomerang back around to them. It’s coming for Avery Buchanan one day. Wait and see.”
“Brooke, what do you think Zac would do if he found out that she was having an affair?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“That’s right. Because if he did something like filing for divorce, then he’d be in the very position that he doesn’t wanna be in concerning sharing custody of Malcolm with her.”
“I just see an affair on her part as being even more ammunition for Zac to use against her in courtandnot have to be a part-time father. I think he’d win.”
“Oh, I agree.”
“I wonder what it’s gonna take for him to finally get enough of Avery and take that chance in court. I would’ve done it a long time ago.”
“Stevie, you’ve dealt with an affair in a marriage but you’ve never had a child involved in the mix. It complicates matters so much more. Unless you’ve been there, you can’t understand what it’s like, or know what you’d do, until you’re faced with a situation like that.”
“You’re right about me never having had a child involved in a situation like that—but I have had a child. He died from SIDS when he was two months old.”
“Oh my God,” Brooke said, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “I am so very sorry that happened.”
“I’m sorry it happened too.”