The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day Paradox

Chapter 2: A Day at the Willowbrook House

The sun rose, overlooking the Willowbrook household.

The Willowbrook house was a two-story house with four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. All the bedrooms were upstairs, with the living room, dining room, kitchen and den downstairs. There was also a finished basement.

While the house was expensive for a family that young, David was convinced that he could afford it. He assured Stacy that they could. "Don't worry, honey...." David said with a smile. "With this job that I have, this house will definitely be paid off overtime."

David and Stacy bought the house April 23, 2002, a little less than two years before Zachary was born. David was 21 and Stacy was 22 at the time.

During the first four years after Zachary was born, David worked as a budget analyst for Lawson & Wager, a multinational consumer goods conglomerate based in Nimbleburg, Ohio. When Zachary was born, he requested an on-line position so that he could work from home while he helped Stacy in raising their child. With that, they created a new position for him, which was an on-line financial planner. With that position, he planned the finances for a few of Lawson & Wager's smaller accounts. David started working for Lawson & Wager when he was 20, which was one year before he bought the house. Before then, he and Stacy lived in an apartment.

The alarm clock went off. The time was 8:00 a.m., one day after the appointment with Dr. Miller. With Stacy being on the side of the bed that the alarm clock was on, she turned it off. Before she could even catch her breath, she sprung out of bed and got to her feet. She tiptoed past the two kid's rooms and ran down the stairs.

She then bolted to the kitchen and began making coffee. As she turned on the coffee maker, she heard a noise coming from the top of the stairs. "Mommy!" It was Audrey.

Stacy left the kitchen with haste. As she approached the staircase, she saw Audrey wailing as she ran down the stairs.

"Mommy!" Audrey wailed. "I goed pee-pee in my jammies!" At that, she wailed even louder.

Stacie gasped. "Oh Audrey! You're soaked! Come. Let's get you out of those wet jammies and into the bathtub, okay?"

Audrey nodded. Still crying, she began to hug Stacy.

"No. Don't hug mommy. You'll get mommy all wet."

It was too late. Audrey sniffed, as she held Stacy in tight embrace.

Stacy sighed. I guess I'll get a shower after this....

Stacy hugged Audrey and lifted her up. Audrey held on, her arms wrapped around her mother's neck, and her feet dangling.

As they made their way up the stairs, Stacy heard another noise coming from a room upstairs. It was the sound of Zachary wailing. "Ma-ma!!!"

At this point, David exited the bedroom and noticed Stacy and Audrey reaching the top of the stairs. "Okay. I'm up now. What happened?"

"Audrey wet the bed, I mean, crib." The wailing became louder. "Just go and change Zachary's diaper. I'm giving Audrey a bath. You can give Zachary a bath when Audrey's all done."

David nodded. "I'll take care of it right away, honey." David ran towards Zachary's bedroom. "I'm coming, Zack!"

Audrey grabbed Stacy's robe. "Mommy! I all wet!"

Stacy nodded. "We'll be there in a second, honey."

Stacy sat Audrey down in the bathroom and undressed her, removing her soaked pink princess footie pajamas and diaper. She then plugged the sink, ran warm water and added an infant-approved bubble bath solution. After the tub was full, she placed Audrey in the tub. "You wait here, honey. I'm going to get your bedding into the washer. Play with these." Stacy put some bath toys in the tub. "I'll be back real soon, okay?"