Chapter 46

Thankfully, there was no drama at the funeral. Zach's mother showed up sober and quiet, her hands shaking. Zach acknowledged her effort with a kiss on the cheek and a murmured thank you. His father and brother never came, not that he was expecting them. I suppose I was, with that happily ever after hope that his family would suddenly stop being shitty. Yeah, not so much.

Zach even unbent enough to let his mother say hello to Cody while he held the little boy safely in his arms. When his grandmother asked for a hug, Cody politely said, "No, thank you, Grandma." I had to walk away so I wouldn't burst out laughing.

It was touch-and-go at the cemetery. Cody insisted he wanted to leave his Batman action figure on Allie's casket as a present. Zach and I both knew he'd regret it about ten minutes after we left. Luckily, I'd saved the Batman and Robin figurines from Cody's birthday cake, and we convinced him it would be a good way for his mommy to celebrate his birthday. Crisis averted.

Sean had generously offered the restaurant at the hotel for the repast at no charge. Zach tried to object, but Sean just waved it away. "Family, remember?"

Tommy, Levon, and Rich came to the funeral flanked by a half-dozen members of the veteran's motorcycle club, all riding Harleys. They escorted us from the funeral home to the cemetery and then to Moonlight Inn. Zach invited all of them to join us at the repast, so there was a lot of military talk going on around me.

The food was set up buffet style so people could take as much or as little as they wanted. Zach had just gotten Cody settled at a table with Diego and Emma when Tino approached us. I hadn't seen him when he picked up Zach and Cody to go see Nico, but Zach was absolutely right that he looked like Marco with grayer hair and fewer muscles. "Hey Zach and Miguel, I wanted to let you know there's a court date for the custody hearing on Thursday morning."

"Thursday," I repeated. "As in, this Thursday?"

"Yeah," he said apologetically. "I know it's fast, but Nico's parents are pushing for overnight visitation. I had to file a motion to put a stop to it, telling the judge that Cody just lost his mother, and you're the only family he knows."

Zach closed his eyes and sighed. "I get it. It's just hard. I'm supposed to get back to work next week."

"Tommy will understand. Besides, it's only one day."

"You know Tommy?" Zach asked.

"Of course. My brother has had him and his husband over to our parents' place for dinner a few times."

Zach and I looked at each other. "Family," we said at the same time.

Tino laughed. "Now you're getting it." He pulled a business card out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket. "The hearing will be in the judge's chambers. Both of you have to attend and you have to bring Cody." He handed the business card to Zach. "This is a child psychologist who works with the courts. She agreed to make room in her schedule for Cody. She's available Monday and Tuesday."

Zach blew out a breath. "Okay."

I plucked the card out of his hand. "Monday is my day off. I'll make the appointment and take him. You have enough on your plate."

He smiled and kissed me. "Thanks, babe."

Tino smiled indulgently. "You two are cute." He pointed at the card. "You can call her today and leave a message. She'll get back to you before Monday morning."

"Okay. I'll get right on it." I excused myself to make the call and let the psychologist know I was available all day Monday.

When I got back, Zach was talking to Tommy and his coworkers, so I took the opportunity to pull Sean aside. "How is everything going for our surprise for Thursday night?"

Sean grinned. "Fantastic. We've been very successful."

"Yes," I whisper-hissed in triumph. "I can't wait to see his face when we tell him."

"Tell who what?" Jeremy asked, slipping neatly under his fiancé's arm to snuggle against him.

"Tell Zach about the fundraiser we held to pay for the funeral expenses," Sean replied, kissing Jeremy's cheek.

Jeremy beamed. "Oh yes. It was quite successful. He'll be able to pay off the credit card he used to pay for the funeral and have extra to help with whatever Cody needs."

"He had to use the money he was saving to buy a Harley," I added. "I'm hoping he'll use some of the fundraiser money for that."

Sean and Jeremy shared a glance. "We may have already taken care of that," Sean said with a grin. "After he mentioned it at the funeral home, I wheedled out of him which Harley he wanted. Then I asked Liam to talk to Marco, who then talked to Tommy. It's all set. He'll have the keys on Thursday night."

I blinked away the tears that came to my eyes. "That's amazing. Thank you both so much."

"It was our pleasure," Jeremy replied. "Besides, what good is having money and connections if you don't use them?"

My phone vibrated with a call. I pulled it out and saw it was the number for the child psychologist. I held up my phone. "I have to take this." I hurried out of the restaurant so I could have some privacy. I swiped to answer. "Hello?"

"Hello, this is Dr. Jansen. I'm calling for Miguel Ramirez," a woman's voice said.

"Yes, that's me," I replied. "I'm trying to get an appointment for Cody Galinas, my partner's nephew."

"Ah yes," she replied. "Mr. D'Angelo spoke to me yesterday. He indicated it was something of an emergency."

"It really is," I said. I told her the whole story about Allie and about Nico's parents. I tried to keep to the facts without gushing like a hormonal teenager about how wonderful Zach was.

"That's quite a sad story," she commented. "I understand why Mr. D'Angelo wanted to expedite my evaluation." There was a momentary pause and the click of keys on a keyboard. "I have an opening at eleven on Monday morning. Are you able to make that?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Absolutely. Thank you so much."

"Can I ask, Mr. Ramirez, why Mr. Kelley isn't the one making the call to me?"

Oh shit. I didn't even consider that might be an issue. "I told him I'd do it," I hurried to say. "He's so overwhelmed with the funeral, taking care of Cody, and everything else. I thought I could take this one thing off his plate. And also, he has to work on Monday, but it's my day off. I just wanted to help," I finished lamely.

There was a hint of laughter in her voice when she replied, "It's fine, Mr. Ramirez. It's nice to know Mr. Kelley has a supportive partner."

"Thank you," I said. "And thank you so much for agreeing to see Cody on such short notice."

"You're welcome," she answered. "If you give me an email address, I'll send over the documents Mr. Kelley has to fill out before I see Cody." After I rattled off my email address, she asked, "My office is in Freehold. Do you have the address?"

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "It's on the business card Tino, I mean, Mr. D'Angelo gave me."

"All right then. I'll see you on Monday."

I ended the call and let out an explosive breath. We were one step closer to getting back to something resembling normal.