“We’ll let Robbie decide,” suggested Jamie, who was smart to hand the task to Robbie.
“How about this? From now on, we will each get one hour of his time at night. Is that okay, Uncle Zack?” asked Robbie, after considering the matter. He was being serious when he divided the time equally among them.
Zachary could feel cold sweat running down his back. He felt like his entire life had just been taken over.
He thought about how he had to work with the nerds at the office during the day and now he had to rush home after that to accompany his wife and kids.
Is this how my life is going to be from now on?
“No, that won’t do,” interrupted Charlotte immediately to help Zachary out, “Uncle Zack is busy with work, and he doesn’t have that much time to spend with you guys.”
“Then, can we have half an hour each?” asked Robbie while staring eagerly at Zachary, “Can we, Uncle Zack?”
“Robbie…”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” said Zachary suddenly while nodding, “We’ll set it for every night from eight to nine-thirty. Everyone gets half an hour.”
“Yay!”
The three kids cheered together and high-fived each other. It was as if they had just gotten an especially precious item and could share it among themselves.
After that, they talked about who would get the first shift, the second shift, and the third shift.
In the end, they decided to go in accordance with their age. Robbie would go first, then Jamie, then Ellie.
The three of them were talking away when Fifi suddenly flew over and flapped its wings. It called out excitedly, “Fifi goes fourth. Fifi goes fourth.”
Yep, even the bird wanted to share Zachary.
Charlotte had been watching from the side, and she couldn’t help laughing aloud. Her crisp laughter filled the entire living room.
“You’re so mean for laughing. You actually left me for dead,” complained Zachary before reaching out to pinch her cheek. He was tempted to bite her for that.
“This is just the beginning,” warned Charlotte while smiling, “It’s not easy taking care of kids, and you really should prepare yourself.”
“Don’t worry. I can topple an army, so dealing with three kids is nothing,” bragged Zachary, “I will definitely do a great job taking care of the kids. Just you watch.”
“Okay, then. Thank you,” replied Charlotte before inching forward and kissing his forehead.
She was thanking him from the bottom of her heart.
She never realized that Zachary could be that patient with the kids and that considerate toward them.
He took their pride into consideration and protected their desire for learning. First, he pretended to be testing Robbie when he was actually training the boy’s mind.
When Jamie eagerly shared that he was a good fighter, Zachary immediately recognized that talent. The latter was observant and saw the lack of confidence in Jamie, so he encouraged the kid in the most delicate manner.
Lastly, he set his pride aside and agreed to learn singing, dancing, and painting from Ellie just to gain the tiny thing’s approval.
Any one of the three activities could drive the man nuts, and the fact that he would have to get lessons from Ellie only made things worse.
Perhaps many would think that the independent and cruel Mr. Nacht would never lower himself and do something like that. However, he proved them all wrong.
That was not just a show of his fatherly love. It also proved that he was a responsible man who could shoulder all sorts of burdens.
Charlotte was genuinely appreciative of Zachary. She was even ashamed of her previous concerns. She used to think that Zachary was too violent and wild to be a father…
Now I see that he is a better father than most.
He didn’t drive the kids away just because he didn’t have a father growing up. Instead, he took the initiative to get closer to them.
Moreover, he didn’t disregard his duties, just because he was inexperienced. He went out of his way to learn how to communicate with the kids.
To top it all off, he didn’t back away in the face of hardship. He faced it head-on and was willing to set his pride aside just to make the kids happy. He is willing to try assuming a new role for that.
This is the man I love and the father of my children.
Charlotte was proud of him and was truly happy for the kids.
