The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day Paradox

Chapter 11: The Willowbrooks visit Miami

On June 7th, the big day arrived. That afternoon, the Willowbrook family left for Miami. Since Zachary's appointment was the next day, they wanted to leave a day early.

That night in the hotel room, Stacy explained everything that would happen the next day. After talking about Zachary's appointment, she then wanted to talk to Audrey.

"Audrey honey," Stacy announced. "The doctor is going to run some tests on you. They need to do this to find out if you have Zachary's special condition."

Audrey looked a little scared. "Why are they doing this, mommy?"

Stacy invited Audrey to sit on her lap. "Come here, honey."

Audrey sat on her mother's lap.

"Now honey," Stacy continued. "The doctor is doing this because if you're going to be a mommy someday, they want to find out if your kid will be normal or not. You and Timothy are normal. Zachary is special. Dr. Langdon wants to find out if your kids will be special, too. Timothy is going to have the same thing done to him, as well. It's not going to hurt, honey. Don't worry."

Audrey still looked concerned. "I don't want it to hurt, mommy."

Stacy smiled. "You'll be fine, honey." Stacy hugged Audrey. Audrey, still feeling insecure, put her pacifier in her mouth.

In the morning, Stacy and David got all the kids ready for the appointment with Dr. Langdon. They drove to the hospital where Dr. Langdon's office was. They went to the medical offices and went to the ninth floor. They then approached 946. To their surprise, they were almost ten minutes early.

Dr. Langdon lifted up his glasses in surprise when he saw the Willowbrook family enter his office. Like before, he wore a polo shirt and dress pants, but his polo shirt was a green one this time.

"A little early, I see," Dr. Langdon said with a smile. "Nice family you have. Since you're all here and ready, I don't see any harm in getting started."

Dr. Langdon directed everyone to a chair, while he had Zachary sit on Stacy's lap near him. "Getting to business," he began. "The primary focus of this appointment is Zachary. Towards the end, we will begin gathering the DNA for Audrey and Timothy's DNA profiling of their genomes." Dr. Langdon's eyes darted around the room and glanced at a bulky bag that was sitting at Stacy's feet on the floor nearby her. "What is that bag, Miss Willowbrook?"

Stacy was overcome with a look of frustration and embarrassment. "That's Zachary's diaper bag. I'm very sorry, Dr. Langdon. This is actually a matter that I wanted to bring up with you. I have spent the last few months trying to toilet train Zachary. He doesn't want to learn. He's not interested."

Dr. Langdon smiled. "He's not ready. Don't force it on him. I would try every three months. That would be a year our time. I would say at least next March at the earliest."

Stacy sighed. "Why should I wait? I've been changing his diapers for over eight years, and I would like to stop."

Dr. Langdon put his glasses back on. "You need to be patient. Remember, Zachary ages a lot slower than us. Right now, he's almost 25 months, which makes him still a very young two-year old. Boys take a little longer to mature than girls, so give him some time."

Stacy nodded, and sighed. I'll be patient. It's a good thing that Davy's making good money....

Dr. Langdon looked at Zachary and began to study him. "Your child still impresses me. Eight years old, but has the appearance of a two-year old. Still as healthy as ever. Normally, I would see some kind of dysmorphic feature on any of my similar cases. Zachary, however, is different from any of them. He looks normal. He just ages a lot slower than us."

Zachary smiled and looked at Dr. Langdon. "Doctor!" Zachary shouted. "Have....sucker?"

Dr. Langdon laughed. "A sucker? Yes Zachary. You'll get a sucker after the tests."

And with that, Dr. Langdon started running the same tests on Zachary as last time. They were his own tests, and were more comprehensive and detailed than the ones that Dr. Miller did on Zachary. Stacy and David waited, but not as long as last time. Since last time, they were able to streamline some things with some newer testing methods.

While the testing was going on, David had Audrey and Timothy in another room. For the time being, Audrey played with Timothy.

One hour later, Zachary was done. As promised, Dr. Langdon allowed Zachary to pick one sucker of his choice. Like last time, Zachary chose the orange one.

After that, it was time for the DNA sequencing for Audrey and Timothy. Audrey was first. She entered his office with her pacifier in her mouth.

When Dr. Langdon saw this, he frowned. "Why do you still let her have that?"

Stacy shook her head. "Because there is no taking that pacifier from her. I have tried everything. I even sent her to a child psychiatrist. She is attached to that thing and she never wants to get rid of it."

Upon hearing that statement, Dr. Langdon laughed. "You are a terrible parent for still letting her keep it. Her dental health will be terrible when she gets older. If she were my kid, I would just get rid of it."

Stacy sighed. "Well, she's not your kid, and you don't have to put up with all the yelling and screaming like I do. Audrey will decide when she wants to get rid of it. Maybe when she's laughed out of junior high or high school."

Dr. Langdon smiled. "The way your daughter walked in with that pacie reminded me of Sami Trek. She's Jim Trek's daughter. That weirdo celebrity that created his own religion."

Stacy scowled. "Why are you comparing me to that weirdo?"

Dr. Langdon put his glasses back on. "But I digress. This appointment is not about her pacie. I am not a child psychiatrist. I am among one of the leading world experts in DNA and genetic research. Getting to my job....Dr. Langdon then smirked. "That pacifier should have a lot of her DNA on it." Dr. Langdon then asked Audrey if he could borrow it.

Audrey agreed with reluctance. Dr. Langdon took a cotton swab, and scrubbed it on the binky.

After that, Dr. Langdon needed more of her DNA. This was done with hair, blood, skin and a few other samples.

After Audrey was done, he did Timothy. Timothy was a lot quicker to do. All the same samples were gathered from him.

When the meeting ended, the Willowbrooks went back to the hotel room for the night. They had dinner, and Stacy told them all a bedtime story at the room. After that, they all went to bed.

The next morning, they all went to Dr. Langdon's office for a short meeting, regarding Zachary's test results.

Dr. Langdon took off his glasses. "I don't want to waste any of your time this morning, so let's get to the results. Again, I find these results to be unbelievable. Zachary is the normal weight for a 25-month old. He weighs 27 pounds and he's 34 inches tall." Dr. Langdon leafed through the papers. "Again, I am still astounded at seeing this. There are still no dysmorphic features to be found in him at all. He is perfectly healthy. His age, of course, is the exception. At age eight, he should not look like a toddler. But you have been through that many times by now, so I will spare you that."

Stacy nodded. "Yes. We get that a lot. Especially from those who wonder why he's not growing...."

Dr. Langdon smiled. "Dr. Miller gave me his notes from his appointment in March. They read about the same as mine." Dr. Langdon showed them a picture of Zachary's brain. "This is an X-ray of Zachary's brain that we scanned yesterday. Right next to it is the brain of a normal 24-month old. At this point, I still don't see any apparent differences in brain development. Your child is amazing. He is full of surprises and he still impresses me."

Stacy let out a sigh of relief. "That's about it, right?"

Dr. Langdon got out another clipboard. "Just about. Both Audrey's and Timothy's DNA sequencing will be done next year. I will visit you in person with the results." Dr. Langdon then took off his glasses. "And Miss Willowbook, Have you ever wanted to be on TV?"

Stacy looked at Zachary and shook her head. "I know what you're trying to do. Zachary is not going to be on TV. He is going to live a normal life, like everyone else."

Dr. Langdon held his glasses and stared at Stacy. "Even if he does, just know this, Miss Willowbrook. A secret like that doesn't stay a secret for long. A story like that won't stay hidden. Even if I don't tell anyone, someone else will. One of your friends or a teacher at school. The world is curious about people like this. The whole scientific community is. Just think about it, Miss Willowbrook. I'll see you next year with the results."

With that, the Willowbrooks spent a couple more days in Miami. This time, it was for fun. They went to the beach and a couple tourist attractions.

After the appointment with Dr. Langdon and the vacation in Miami, the Willowbrooks were able to come home at long last.

All during that time, Stacy thought about the words that Dr. Langdon said to her. A secret like that doesn't stay a secret for long. A story like that won't stay hidden. Even if I don't tell anyone, someone else will....

For David, he was met with a big surprise when he got to work at Lawson & Wager. When he entered his office, he found his boss standing in his office, smiling. After talking to the boss, he found out that he got another promotion. Since the Financial Director for the Midwest Division retired, David was now responsible for planning and managing all of Lawson & Wager's finances for the Midwest Division of the United States.

That night, Stacy lied in bed, once again thinking about the words that Dr. Langdon said to her. A secret like that doesn't stay a secret for long. A story like that won't stay hidden. Even if I don't tell anyone, someone else will....Stacy closed her eyes, hoping that these words don't come true.