The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day Paradox

Chapter 14: Shame and Tears

Over the next few days, Stacy was flooded by phone calls. Several of them were different talk shows, wanting Zachary to be on their show. Stacy refused every one of them. The phones were ringing so much that it got the attention of the kids.

"Why does the phone ring so much?" Audrey asked, as she placed her new doll on the floor. "It just keeps ringing and it doesn't stop."

Stacy sighed. "The phone keeps ringing because we were on TV a few days ago, honey. Since a lot of people saw us on TV, several other people want us to be on TV again."

Audrey looked at her mother and gave her a long face. "Please?" She begged. "Can we do it again?"

Stacy shook her head. "No," she asserted in a stern tone. "We're not doing it again."

And for the next few days, that was pretty much what she told everyone who offered her another television spot or show. The phone calls were starting to get to her. At this point, she wanted to change to a private line, but David told her that he was going to take care of that.

While she refused every offer, there was one exception. One network wanted to do a one hour special on Zachary. The executives told her that the name of the special would be "Eight-Year Old Baby".

Stacy sighed. "Fine. This is the last one that we're doing. Consider yourself lucky. I told everyone else no."

And it was settled. The camera crew would be coming out to tape the show in September. The show would air in late February, around Zachary's birthday.

On the weekend, David disconnected the old number and got a new one on a private listing. After he did that, the frenzy of calls ended.

A month later, Timothy had his third birthday. It was done in pretty much the same manner as Audrey's, only it had a boy theme, instead of a girl's. The cake, presents and decorations all reflected the theme.

Within the next week, Audrey started her first day of first grade at Nimbleburg Elementary. Unlike last year, Audrey, as stubborn as she was, kept her pacifier tucked in her pants pocket instead of having it out in plain sight.

Stacy dropped Audrey off and she was guided to her classroom. Her first grade teacher was Mrs. Baker. She was a little older than Mrs. Shellenberg, with a few more years of experience.

Once in the classroom, Mrs. Baker welcomed Audrey as she entered.

"Audrey!" Mrs. Baker smiled. "I've heard some great things about you. I even saw you on TV with your brother. Are you ready for a fun year?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes Mrs. Baker. It will be a lot of fun." Audrey looked for her seat with her name marked on it and sat down.

Stacy talked with the teacher for a little while, and then looked back at Audrey. "Have a good first day, honey!" Stacy then left the classroom.

Audrey looked around for Emma's seat. She found it a couple seats down. Audrey missed Emma, since she spent the whole summer at her grandparents in California. There will be so many things to catch up on. She would save it for recess.

Back at home, Stacy did the usual activities. She did house work, gave Zachary and Timothy their afternoon naps, changed Zachary, supervised playtime for the boys and prepared dinner. By the time that she was doing this, it was time to go and get Audrey.

On the way home, Audrey shared with Stacy how her first day went. She was very happy and excited about it. "Emma said that she saw me on TV, and her mom also saw me too, and they also saw Zachary, and they went to the beach, and...."

"Slow down, honey!" Stacy told her. "It seems like you had a very exciting day."

"Uh-huh!" Audrey agreed. "Mrs. Baker taught us some math, and then she read us this story about a caterpillar, and then we played with some ice cubes for science, and and she took us to the cafeteria for lunch, and then she dismissed us for recess...."