A Trade For Good (12 page)

"I changed my name since my dad's name
is Peter and I don't like it anymore. My middle name is Daniel, so
I'm gonna be using that name instead. I already told my teachers."
Then, after rattling his audience with his detailed explanation,
'Daniel' asked, "When are we leaving?"

"I don't think you can just change you
name, I mean..." Chad was about to say something else when Sera
interrupted him.

"Daniel? You know, that was really my
idea. Your dad wanted to name you Peter after him, but I really
liked the name Daniel. It might take some getting used to, but I'll
try. Just remind me if I forget, okay? Oh, and please go tell Melle
we'll be leaving soon. We better get a head start before Emma
starts up again."

Daniel,
left the room and all eyes were on his back.

Chad looked over at Sera and told her,
"He's getting a little rebellious, isn't he? Do the teachers go
along with it?"

"He's the one that's been
hurt the most. I wasn't sure at first, but Pe...
Daniel,
understands what happened and
hates his dad for leaving him, and for leaving me. I don't think he
misses his dad that much. They never did anything together anyway,
but he resents his dad and the many character flaws that are
surfacing. If calling him Daniel will help put a smile on his face,
so be it. I will call that kid anything to make him happy again.
And yes, I spoke to his teachers and told them if that’s what he
wants, so be it."

"Have you thought of
therapy?"

That was Deb asking, and Sera had
considered it, but wasn't sure if her son was ready, or even if she
could afford it. She told Deb that much, and Jeff added, "We
haven't done the paperwork to include you in our health insurance
yet. I forgot all about that. Do you have any health insurance
right now?"

"It expires at the end of the month.
Since Peter just up and quit his job, he lost his benefits, but
they were nice enough at his company to keep us insured for six
months afterwards. I've been checking out insurance rates and I
can't really afford them. I didn't realize you offered
it?"

"We have a basic insurance coverage
for the employees. There are specifics attached to it, like
liposuction isn't covered, but having a tree fall on you is...I
don’t think either of those things should be a concern to you
though. I can see about adding you in and check if mental health is
covered. My sister has a good counselor my niece went to when she
was about this age."

Sera smiled broadly at him. That was
another big worry on her list. "Thanks Jeff, that would definitely
take a lot of weight off my shoulders. I'm not sure if he'd want to
go see someone, but having insurance is… wow, even if it only
covers their regular immunizations. Anything helps."

"Mommy, can I spend the night? Jenny
said I could."

"Well hello to you too Missy." Sera
grabbed the little girl by the waist and pulled her to her and on
her lap. "Didn't you miss me?"

"A whole bunch, but now that I saw
you..." she looked at her mother sheepishly.

"I think your aunt and uncle have put
up with you enough for the last few weeks."

Deb had just had another girl of just
about the same age go sit on her lap. "Please mommy! We were in the
middle of an art project and we want to finish it together.
Please?"

Deb looked a little nervous, "An art
project?" Looking at Sera, "I don't even want to know...If Melle
stays, will you two clean up the 'art project' after you're
done?"

Both girls jumped off their mother's
laps and went on to the floor on their knees begging, "Oh yes, yes,
please, please. We promise we will clean everything up. Promise.
We're making presents for you." One of them added.

"Shush! You weren't supposed to
tell."

"It's not like they know what it is,
do they?" and then, suddenly noticing Jeff in the room.

"Who are you, do I know
you?"

“Melle! There are nicer ways to ask!”
Sera looked at her daughter exasperated.

Jeff shrugged and got up to introduce
himself shaking each girl’s hand. "I'm Jeff; I work with your mom
Melle. And you must be Jenny, pleased to meet you both."

The girls both giggled and then turned
to their mother's.

Sera and Deb exchanged a look that
said even the younger girls were smitten by good looks.

"Well?" Jenny asked her
mother.

“Well what?” Deb looked at her
confused.

“Can Melle stay if we clean
up?”

Sera and Deb looked at each and
shrugged, "Sure, why not?" Then Sera yelled out as they both ran
off, "but if you don't help clean up, you're never coming back here
again!"

"Music to my ears. One less, but
haven’t I heard that one before? When was the last time those two
ever cleaned anything?" Deb shot back at Sera.

"I know, I know, but I'm obligated to
reinforce," Sera explained, and then, "if only to practice. Maybe
one of these days I’ll get it right." Then getting up, she said,
"We'd better go, Emma's about to get her second wind..."

"Not that I'm counting or
anything, but this would be more than just a
second
wind, wouldn't it?" That was
Chad who decided to chime in.

Jeff also got up to leave, and Deb,
always the perfect hostess, said "You don't have to go you know,
just because Sera's a party pooper, doesn't mean we can't sit and
chat."

Jeff smiled at his hostess. "I
appreciate the offer, but unlike the rest of you, tomorrow I have
to go in to the office."

"You do?" This time it was Sera
asking. "I didn't see any appointments or anything?" It was Friday
night and the office was closed on Saturday’s.

"No, no appointments. I have this new
secretary and she organized everything really well, and now I can't
find anything. I'm going in to fill out some estimates and get
reacquainted with my office."

"Do you need me to help?"

Jeff looked at Sera and debated on how
he should answer. Tonight had given him the opportunity to get to
know her and her family better. He really liked her, felt
comfortable with Chad and Deb, was pleased to see that Marion
didn't hold Sera responsible for her son's disappearance, and had
enjoyed the interaction between Sera and her children. Tonight had
been much better than he had planned, but it was time to call it a
day. And as for Sera's question about him needing her help? He
didn't think it would be wise to find himself alone with her on a
day off when nobody else was expected to show up. Not yet. Besides,
even a super-mom needed time off.

He shook his head, smiled, picked up
his keys saying thank you, and after a few good byes, he was
off.

Chapter
1
3

Sera's weekend was busy.
Melle had a dance class in the morning on Saturday’s and had to be
picked up from Deb’s. Charlie had t-ball at ten, and
Pe...
Daniel
had to
work on a school project with a friend. Emma, well Emma just had a
lot of screaming to do somewhere in between all of that.

On Saturday night, they made pizza
together, and Sera and the three youngest watched a Disney movie
while Daniel listened to his iPod and texted his
friends.

Sunday was a lazier day, and Daniel
and Melle were picked up by the parents of some of their friends,
so Sera tried to dedicate some time to Charlie and together they
baked some cookies for when Charlie’s siblings came
back.

It was a normal weekend for Sera, and
a nice rest before having to go back to work again on Monday. Or
was it the other way around?

On Monday, Sera decided her first task
was to go over each account from this year and check its status to
see if it was paid or not paid. She wasn't sure what the usual
procedure was to collect on past due payments, but first she wanted
to know how much money they were out. That is, minus the $5,768
that she still owed, which would be paid off within the next six
months if not sooner.

After about an hour of going through
the files, Sera was amazed they had any money left to pay for the
remainder of her salary. Obviously, it helped that the business was
booming, but without money being paid when jobs were completed, she
didn't know how long they could keep up at that rate.

Jeff obviously loved what he did. It
showed in the quality of his work, but the business side of the job
had most definitely been neglected. From what Sera had tallied so
far, it had been neglected in excess of $120,000, and she wasn't
even close to finishing her search for past dues yet.

Sera looked at the clock above the
door and saw that it was nine o'clock. How strange that Jeff hadn't
come in yet.

She wondered what his weekends were
like. He was single after all, so it was possible that he stayed
out late. She had heard somebody mention a woman's name... Lucy?
No, that wasn't it, Louise? Lydia? yes, that was it. Lydia. She
didn't hear much more than just the name, and the fact that she and
Jeff had gone out, but Sera wasn't sure if they were still an item,
or if that relationship was history.

What she did gather from the little
she heard about Lydia, was that if she and Jeff were not an item,
the loss wasn't too great.

Jeff's love life was not her concern
right now, the only thing she should be concerned with were all of
the outstanding accounts, bills, and paying off her own debt.
Still, she hoped this Lydia or whomever Jeff ended up with turned
out to be a nice girl. Jeff was a really nice guy and would someday
make someone very, very happy.

Jeff actually slept in on Monday and
didn’t make it into the office until after 10 AM that day. He came
in all smiles after sleeping better than he had in ages and didn't
see Sera at her desk, but knew she was somewhere in the office
because her desk had all the signs of someone who had been at work
for a reasonably long time. Besides, he smelled her. She always
smelled like something fresh out of the clothes dryer. Clean and
fresh.

Walking past their offices, Jeff waved
to Mitch and Alan, and found Sera going through some papers in his
office and pulling out some of the files from the file cabinet that
only a few weeks ago had been storing dust.

Sera had her nose in the files and
turned as she heard him come in. Once again, Jeff was taken off
guard as he looked at her fresh and clean look. Even on a Monday
morning she looked beautiful. He didn't know how she did it. He had
had a glimpse of what her life was like after meeting her four
children, and knew only too well through the lives of his siblings
and friends, and the nieces and nephews he spent so much time with,
how exhausting children could be.

“Good morning Sera. Did you decide you
didn't want those files in the cabinet after all?" Jeff asked her
with a smile. There were three stacks of manila folders on the desk
that had been clear of papers for at least two weeks
now.

"Oh hi Jeff, I'll clear this mess up.
I'm sorry, I didn't know when you'd be in. If you just give me a
couple of minutes?"

“That's all right; I'll go and make us
some coffee in the meantime. Don't worry, take your
time."

"The coffee is made already." Then
smiling, "Don't you remember that was one of my duties?"

Jeff smiled, "Indeed it
was. I'm glad that's clear, but what I don't know is how you
take
your
coffee."

"I'm not drinking coffee these days. I
decided this weekend that I'd go easy on it for a while. I need to
be alert, but I need to get my cat naps whenever Emma allows me to
sleep."

Jeff smiled and turned to leave, but
then turned around again. "I enjoyed Friday night. It was great
meeting your family. The kids are great," and then as an
afterthought, "you're very lucky to have them. I had a great time
with you on Friday night. Thanks."

Neither Jeff nor Sera had noticed
Mitch walk in and overhear the latter part of the conversation.
Mitch raised an eyebrow and gave Jeff a quizzical look as he
followed Jeff to the office kitchen.

“Shit,” Jeff muttered. He hadn’t seen
Mitch and didn’t want his sister to get her claws into that
conversation. Surprisingly Trish hadn’t been by since hearing they
had a new hire.

"Friday night? You guys go out on a
date or something?"

"Not that it's any of your business,
but no, we didn't."

"Okay, not that it's any of my
business, but did I hear dinner and meeting the family, or are my
ears playing tricks on me."

"All right, damn you," Jeff looked to
make sure nobody was in earshot and lowering his voice he told his
brother in law, "I went to that Italian restaurant I always go to,
the one I take the kids to sometimes, and Sera and her husband's
brother and wife were there. They asked me to join them. They're a
really nice couple. You’d like them, and we may get some business
from them soon.

“Anyway, I ran into them and they
asked me to join them. Chad and Deb, Sera's in laws, were called
home by the baby sitter so I stayed at the restaurant with Sera. I
had to drive her to her mother in laws house to pick up the baby,
and then to Chad and Deb's, because she had left her car there. We
had coffee, said our good byes, and that was it. Is there anything
else you need to know?"