Chapter Text
Evan did not like living in New York City, or rather Bushwick, since he’d barely left their neighborhood since moving a few weeks ago. All he did was go to work, run errands, or work around their apartment to keep up with things that seemed to pile up so quickly in the new space.
So it wasn’t all that different from home, but somehow it felt completely different. Being here and away from everything he’d ever known was strange and it made him more anxious than he’d like to admit. Evan wasn’t even sure if was just that though, it was like he couldn’t pinpoint it, something just felt wrong and he didn’t know what.
He’d been through so many other big changes before like parenting, working full-time, going to court to fight for his daughter. All of those were filled to the brim with things that made him uneasy or stressed or overwhelmingly anxious. But he’d adjusted to those fine, more than fine if he felt like bragging (which he tried never to do) and they'd all turned out okay. And this, whatever this thing he was feeling right now was, felt different.
Like he just might be unhappy.
It couldn’t be that though, it had to be something else, because there were so many things that he was happy about, so many things that he could look to and say, ‘I enjoy that’ or ‘that was fun’ or ‘I’m so proud’. He even thought about things that were going to make each day good like Dr. Sherman had taught him and every day he found at least one, but more often than not five or six. Usually they were Willow or Willow-related, but there were definitely others. It wasn’t just Willow that made him happy.
Evan loved that he’d quit his second job at the grocery store when they moved, which meant he got to spend a little more time with Willow and Zoe together as a family and sleep a little more when Wills was down for the night.
Well, more like spend more time with Willow and the sleep thing, since Zoe practically went to campus every single day, leaving as soon as he got home and could be with Willow, and she didn’t come back until just before dinner. He’d been looking forward to summer so they could be together, not just with Willow, but the two of them, and it felt like she wasn’t even on break. They'd made all these fun plans when they were back home and as soon as they got into the city, it was like they'd never made them.
But he knew Zoe was just really excited about living here and school starting next week and wanted to fit in, know where things were and figure everything out. Which he couldn’t exactly be upset about because it was another thing that he was happy about. Evan was happy for Zoe.
They were here to follow Zoe’s dream and it was happening, they’d really done what he’d promised her they would 2 years ago. It hadn’t been easy, but they were here, living in a dingy, cramped apartment, so she could attend the best music school in the country. They were getting by and soon they’d both probably be thriving. Maybe. Hopefully.
And there were so many things he wanted to make sure Zoe felt comfortable with before school actually started since she wasn’t having the exact same experience as other new students. Like figure out the subway system since it was like an hour commute from their apartment into Manhattan, and she had three different lines to switch to. Knowing how to get to buildings without getting lost or having to draw unnecessary attention to herself, because Zoe hated that. Little things like that.
There was the whole getting ready for her classes too. Juilliard didn’t get the reputation for being the best from nowhere and since she’d told him she was taking as many as they’d let her, Zoe had been practicing on-campus every day. It was nice in one way, so their upstairs neighbor didn’t yell at them again, (which had made him anxious about having another confrontation) but Evan definitely missed hearing Zoe play all the time. It had crossed his mind to ask if he and Willow could join her sometime when she left, but he didn’t want to distract her by tagging along, make her feel like she needed to split her time when she needed to focus.
Like today Zoe was at orientation, so she obviously didn’t take Willow or invite him. It wasn’t a family-style day so they really couldn’t come even if he had asked her. She was there to sign up for classes officially and learn more about what campus life would be like, get her student ID card, things like that. College things. Important things.
Or at least that’s what Zoe told him, and he’d seen enough TV shows and movies about college to know that was probably true and it wasn’t like Zoe exaggerated anything. But he it didn’t change the fact he wanted to be more involved when he could be. He was always involved and invested in Zoe’s music, and he wanted Zoe to know he still was. Especially now that they were finally here.
Even if Evan had wished she’d invited them today and was disappointed, he knew orientation wasn’t really for them and him and Willow being there would just make Zoe stressed and he really didn’t want that. It was just like when they came in the spring, today was just for incoming students and she needed to concentrate. Evan wanted nothing more than for Zoe to succeed here, give her the new start she desperately wanted and doing what she’d been doing all summer would get her there.
But he didn’t see why all the other days Zoe went into Manhattan, she couldn’t at the very least take Willow with her and go earlier in the day, show her everything and let her explore and learn too. Last summer Zoe had practiced for band and for her community center class with Willow and even for her last college concert Zoe had included Willow and let her strum and clap along sweetly. And that had stopped as soon as Zoe stopped playing at home and Evan didn’t think it was all that fair to Willow.
Evan obviously knew that they’d come here for Zoe, but he had also been hoping to give Willow more by raising her in a town that wasn’t so small and stifling, getting her away from the prying eyes of the gossipmongers. But Willow wasn’t going to get that experience by staying home all day. Or staying within a four-block radius of their apartment.
At least Zoe did take Willow places close by in their neighborhood when Evan was at work, he knew that because she’d send him a picture of them at the park or she’d show him something they’d found in an attempt to make their apartment not so dismal when he got home. So Evan didn’t really see how going to school with her, when classes weren’t even in session, was any different. It was just another adventure, something for them to do together while he wasn’t home.
He’d suggested it a few times, and she’d agreed that it would be fun, and Willow would probably like it, but just hadn’t done it yet. And since summer was practically over, Evan didn’t really think it was going to happen. But maybe they could go when the semester started? Evan would have to take her obviously, maybe on a day off during the week, since his schedule would probably be pretty similar to the last year when Zoe was in high school, but then they could spend the afternoon in Central Park and have Zoe show them everything she actually did at school (since the last time Evan had been there, well, she understandably hadn’t been the most enthusiastic tour guide).
Evan knew things were different from when they were in New York last though, and they didn’t have to be afraid of the future now. Willow was where she belonged, with her parents, and Zoe was where she belonged, the Juilliard School of Music. Those things were meant to happen, and Evan was always grateful that they had, but it left him wondering lately, where did he fit in?
Because here in the city, it didn’t feel like he did. But he didn’t know if that was that weird feeling sneaking in or he just hadn’t found his own rhythm yet and was taking longer to adjust.
At least one thing he knew could believe in and never doubted was being Willow’s dad. He would always fit into that role, no matter what. Every second with her was incredible and Evan still loved seeing her grow and learn, teaching her things and supporting her. And since she turned one, it was like she’d taken off in terms of talking, walking, playing, everything was even better to Evan now and knew things would only keep getting more fun and more special.
Willow could say more than “mama”, “dada”, “Jah”, “baba”, and “iiii” now, she’d learned “bah”, "dah", “nah nah”, and “kuuu”, which were like the syllable versions of “ball”, "dog", “Nona” and “cup”, but Evan knew she knew what they meant. And nine words at her age was technically advanced, which Evan was extremely proud of. She was still ahead in her milestones, despite how hard last year had been.
She ran now too and got extreme enjoyment from running from him or Zoe at the park, even though they could easily catch her. It was more of a game to her and Evan was happy to play along. He didn’t let her walk on the streets though, because he was already worried that she’d run into traffic or someone would kidnap her or something else terrible would happen since their neighborhood was not like home. It was constantly busy, always loud, and definitely not clean enough since Willow put everything in her mouth, especially stuff she randomly picked up when he or Zoe looked away for a second. So Evan always held her when they traveled and even though it was a little harder for Zoe to now that she was bigger, he made Zoe promise that she would carry her everywhere too as long as they were going somewhere without him. Evan felt like it was safer for Zoe too, like people wouldn’t bother her if they could see she had baby with her.
At least Willow liked being close to them and didn’t fuss about it. She always just laid her head in the crook of his neck and watched the people around them or babbled to him. It was incredibly sweet, and Evan was going to undeniably miss it when the day came, and Willow couldn’t be held like that anymore. He would always hold and comfort her, but she wasn’t always going to be this little, so he tried to cherish everything.
Willow and Zoe both made him the happiest and he just needed to think of them and the upward trajectory they were on anytime those nasty feelings tried to leech joy from him. It would just take some time getting used to city life, maybe by making a friend or two before he caught up with Zoe’s effervescent happiness.
Like at work he was hoping he might make a new friend, that’s where his other friends were, and Evan figured he just needed to try a little harder to get them to like him. He’d been working at the new store for a few weeks now with a bunch of different people since his schedule wasn’t set yet and it hadn’t been the best, not like when he started at his old store.
He didn’t know if he was being extra weird or everyone else was already close or no one was close. It was so hard to tell and he was trying his absolute best to make it work. He still loved working at Starbucks and he wanted to stay there, especially since there was no drive-thru at the new store. Maybe the only thing he liked about it so far. His benefits were just too good to pass up and he couldn't risk losing Willow's health insurance or the tips or even the free coffee and food. Evan knew his job was a good thing which was why he was trying so hard to be friends with the people he was around a lot.
There was one coworker, a girl named Riley that he’d worked with once who had been friendly, talking to him when their shifts had overlapped, but he hadn’t seen her since. It was exactly what he'd fared by moving, that his friends at home were a fluke, that no one actually liked him. But no one had been outright mean, just indifferent, so maybe they were just waiting for him to come out of his shell more before trying to gain his friendship. And maybe too, it was because his schedule right now was hectic so he wasn’t seeing the same people all the time, so no one wanted to make the effort to get to know him? That kind of made sense.
Evan hoped it was that, because then when they knew Zoe’s school schedule, his work schedule could be set more officially. Or he hoped so because he was pretty sure his extra hectic schedule right now was because his new manager didn’t like him either. That had been apparent after their first interaction, the same way it had been very apparent to him that Hank had liked him.
Evan had gotten there early on his first day to introduce himself and take a few minutes to calm himself before his shift started and Melissa his new manager had practically jump scared him in the back room and yelled at him that customers weren’t allowed in the back. He didn't think it'd be a huge issue to go back there, since that's always what he did and he'd even had people from other stores cover shifts with him go straight to the back room before.
When he apologized and explained who he was, the transfer from Connecticut, that this was his first day, she’d just said, “Oh, well you should’ve checked with the shift before coming back here.”
That was it. No apology. No ‘welcome to the team Evan, we’re glad to have you’. Not even the name of the shift supervisor he was supposed to report to. The whole interaction had made him flustered and he’d struggled the whole rest of his shift, when he had really wanted to make a good first impression. Maybe that was why no one liked him, he'd blown it on day one.
It wasn't fair because back home, he had such a positive connection to Hank, and Mariana was one of his best friends and both of those relationships stemmed from work. Evan thought New York would be the same, but every shift that went by with no one talking to him except for work-related things he knew that it wouldn’t be. His chances of finding a good friend through working were slipping by. He was going to keep trying because he felt like he had to, but he just didn’t fit in here and nothing he could do would fix that. Evan was sure of it.
But maybe Zoe would introduce him to her friends? He’d done that for her and regardless of how she felt about them, his friends did like her and considered her their friend too. She’d be meeting so many new people and already chatted non-stop with Rachel and Mackenzie. He said they should all get lunch sometime or go on a picnic (which was the option they could afford, but Evan was willing to put one lunch on their almost maxed credit card to meet them), but Zoe said they weren’t in the city yet, wouldn’t be here until school officially started.
Evan understood that and couldn’t press too much further, but he’d suggested doing it once they were here, that it’d be really nice to meet her friends and that he was so happy she’d met them, but just like when he’d suggested Zoe take Willow with her into Manhattan, Zoe had agreed then never mentioned it again.
Zoe probably just had a lot on her mind though. And it wasn’t like he’d struggled to make friends at his last jobs, so she probably didn’t think anything was wrong. Not that he needed to tell her that something was, because it probably wasn’t. Nothing was wrong exactly. Nothing was wrong except for him and he could fix that. By trying harder. Being more approachable. More likable. Like himself only better.
Then once he adjusted to everything, it would be fine. They’d be here for four years and then could move on and it’d be his turn to do the college thing. When that time came, Zoe was going to be so incredibly proud of him and the most supportive she could be. Not that she wasn’t already, but still, she’d do everything she could, which was why it was important for Evan to do that now. He'd promised her he'd do everything he possibly could to make this happen for her and he was not a liar. He'd keep his promise no matter what because he loved Zoe and wanted this all for her.
So Zoe did not need him complaining to stress her out or ruin her day.
“Huh Wills? We don’t want to ruin Mama’s big day?” Evan asks Willow, deciding he needed to get out of his own head before Zoe got home, which should be any minute now and talking to Willow always put him in a better mood.
“Mama,” Willow says, clanking her blocks together happily before reaching up to hand one to Evan. He takes that as an invitation to sit down with her and takes the offered toy, picking up a different one and offering it back. Willow squeals and crinkles her nose, something Evan adored, and gladly takes the toy, going back to clanking them together.
“Yeah, Mama was at college orientation today and soon she’ll be at college every day. Your Mama plays the prettiest music and is the best guitarist in all of New York City. Maybe you’ll be like Mama, a musician, what do you think?” Evan asks her, hoping even at one that wasn’t putting pressure on her. He’d love if Willow loved music the way Zoe did and it became something they could bond over, but he mostly hoped she found something she was passionate about.
“Oh I think she’s going to be, already so talented, huh Willsy?” Evan hears Zoe say opening their door and dropping her bag to come sit with them. Evan’s happy she was home but her being able to jump right into their conversation is a painful reminder of how thin their walls were here. He could hear their neighbors too and he hated knowing that they could hear him and Zoe or Willow at any time.
“Mama, Mama,” Willow shrieks happily, scooting over to Zoe, crawling into her lap and putting her little hands onto Zoe’s face.
Zoe kisses her hands and giggles as Willow laughed, grabbing her and kissing both her cheeks before settling her in her lap. Evan loved moments like this, ones nobody else would probably remember, but where he got to see the complete joy on his daughter’s and his love’s face. He hoped it was always like this, that even after being apart for a few hours, Willow was so happy to see him or Zoe.
“So Zo, tell us all about orientation, don’t leave out any details,” Evan says excitedly, leaning back against their bed, which was out in the living room like a studio because the bedroom was too small to fit their bed and Willow’s crib. It was fine since they didn't have a couch and Willow got some privacy, but Evan was hoping it was just temporary that somehow they might be able to move somewhere with two bedrooms next year.
“It was so amazing Ev, even with it being the stupid transfer student one. There were even more activities than in the schedule they sent last week,” Zoe gushes, and seeing Zoe like this, especially after how sad she’d been last year, truly made him feel better. She always came home like this and he was so excited for her and this opportunity she had.
“Okay, start with check-in, did you get your ID card?” Evan asks, knowing generally how the orientation was laid out. Mostly because Zoe had excitedly read him the email word-for-word when she got it last week.
“Yes, look,” Zoe says, pulling a Juilliard lanyard off her neck and passing it to him to inspect closely before adding, “I need to find a cooler place for it, but they made us wear the lanyards today.”
“Lanyards can be cool, tell Mama that Wills,” Evan says, looking at Zoe’s ID card and loving her picture. She looked so happy, a far cry from her senior year photo on her last high school ID card. They were here to do something good, something Zoe had dreamed about her whole life, and that was the most important thing to focus on right now. Not whether or not the way he said "hi" weirded out his coworkers. That obviously wasn't important when Zoe had the coolest stuff happening.
“Lalalala,” Willow babbles, playfully stealing the ID card from Evan’s hands and immediately putting it in her mouth. It was so cute how she tried to say the words they did, even if they were complicated, and Evan always let her play with random things as long as he was watching her and couldn’t choke.
“Uh oh, not this Wills, this is important,” Zoe says, taking the card and lanyard and setting it behind her and out of Willow’s reach. Evan didn’t see why Willow couldn’t play with it, seeing how it was in the protective plastic thing that attached it to the lanyard, but he guessed Zoe did and wanted to keep Willow from it. But Willow didn’t like things being taken away (she was one, it was normal), so before she started to cry, Evan sees her foxie and shakes it for her, telling her, “It’s okay baby, have foxie instead.”
The stuffed fox seems to do the trick and Willow happily grabs it and plops into his lap, grabbing one of the blocks she’d had earlier and begins to play once more. With Willow content once again, Evan asks, “Okay so check-in they took your picture and made the card, then what?”
“So we did surprise assessment tests, for class placements,” Zoe tells him and that stresses him out for Zoe, but she didn’t seem worried or stressed about it all. Like obviously he knew she probably did amazing, but that didn’t feel fair.
“They just sprung tests on you? You couldn’t prepare or anything?” Evan asks, hoping there was more to this than what he was imagining. Why did they need a placement test, when they’d already auditioned? Shouldn’t the staff know where each student was academically and musically?
“No, but it wasn’t bad and I did really well. There were the very basics, like sight reading then harder ones like playing by ear. I did a few singing ones because I thought why not, you know, and then they gave us like 10 minutes to write our own song and perform it with our signature instrument,” Zoe explains dreamily, like everything that she explained was just easy. But maybe since she was already in and it wasn’t technically an audition there was less pressure to be perfect. IT probably just sounded stressful to him but wasn't for a bunch of musically gifted people.
“Oh, um, that’s cool, so what happened after?” Evan asks, figuring that had taken a good chunk of the morning time that Juilliard had listed as “educational activities and tours”.
“So then we did another campus tour while the class coordinators evaluated our assessments, but I feel like I know everywhere on campus now, so it was more like an opportunity to talk to people,” Zoe explains and Evan thought that made sense. Zoe had gone to campus basically every day since they’d moved and the school wasn’t big, so it made sense that she was familiar by now. Maybe too it meant she could spend the next week with him and Willow more, since there wasn't anything left to explore.
“Did you make any new friends? Anyone nice?” Evan asks hopefully, glancing over to Willow, and redirecting her back to his lap since she was trying to crawl under their bed (one of her favorite mischievous activities) and giving her a completely new toy to play with.
“Kind of, my group for this tour, I, they were nice, but I just didn’t click with anyone, but it was fine and then the exciting part happened Ev. Right before lunch, I signed up for classes!” Zoe squeals excitedly, practically bouncing with energy and he knew she couldn’t wait to share this in particular with him. And it meant that he could give his new availability tomorrow when he went to work.
“What’s the line up then? And which one are you most excited about?” Evan asks, feeling infected by Zoe’s excitement. Hopefully the classes would block together nicely, and if it was possible, maybe Zoe wouldn’t even have to go every day so they wouldn’t have to pay for five days of day care.
“Okay so Monday, Wednesday, Friday, are Advanced Music Theory, Jazz Improvisation, Guitar 5, Jazz Ensemble, and Voice 4,” Zoe says and Evan thought that was a pretty nice mix and if he was able to keep Tuesday/Thursday as his day off, then they’d have two days together where they could spend time together as a family. Or so Evan thinks until Zoe continues, “Then Tuesday/Thursday is Piano 5, Aural Training 3, and Jazz Ensemble again. Then lastly on Saturdays is Jazz Composition.”
“What do you mean Saturdays?” Evan asks, completely taken aback by Zoe telling him she’d signed up for not only classes every day of the school week, but Saturdays too. Usually weekends they reserved for him to take full eight hour shifts or doubles (which he’d been considering again) but now they couldn’t do that. There wouldn’t be anyone to watch Willow except for him. A class on Saturday at home would have been manageable, because Heidi or Shana could have helped with Willow, but here? There was no one Evan trusted to watch his daughter and they had no help.
“I guess that’s the only day this professor teaches it because it’s such an integral part of the major that she refuses to have any other classes interfere. But then on Sundays, I was able to get a standing reservation for a practice room because of my scholarship which I guess is like unheard of,” Zoe says, still completely excited and not seeming to realize what this all meant to the extent that Evan did.
“So you’ll be in Manhattan everyday of the week? Who’s going to watch Wills Zo, when I have to work?” Evan asks, trying to remain calm and not work himself up right now. If this summer was any indication, then Zoe probably wouldn’t be taking Willow with her, ever, and Evan didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t take her with him for 8 hours to coffee shop obviously and a 4 hour round trip to take her to Heidi wasn’t exactly feasible. And he'd really been hoping that they wouldn't need five days at daycare since it was so expensive.
“Yeah, I know it’s not like the best schedule, but they’re all for my major Ev, I have to take them when they’re offered,” Zoe says, not answering his question at all. Had she even thought about this at all when picking classes? Why was she not freaking out like he was?
“I get that Zoe, completely, but we don’t exactly have childcare on the weekends. We, and I, we can’t, what are we supposed to do?” Evan rambles, trying to calm himself by taking a deep breath, which Willow notices and turns to cuddle into him more, like she knew something was making her dad upset. Evan pats her back gently and it does help center him a little bit. Maybe Zoe did have a plan, or they’d figure out one right now together.
“Well, I guess I was kinda thinking that you could ask for weekends off? Then because class times are so all over the place during the week, you could work when Wills was at daycare,” Zoe says carefully and that was not the compromise Evan was envisioning.
Evan guessed that was an option, but everyone wanted weekends off, it was the most requested schedule, and he didn’t know if he’d get it. And Willow’s daycare was only open 7:30-5:00, which meant he could only work the 8-4:30 shift, another tight request. Then factoring in that his manager didn’t like him very much, she might not even schedule him for full shifts even though the desperately needed them. If she did that, Evan would not be able to get a second job within that time constriction, especially if he had to be home on the weekends to watch Willow.
Maybe Zoe didn’t really need the whole day? Like if she could be back by the afternoon then he could make the week time schedule work. They just needed more flexibility for both of them, and Evan didn’t need to panic. And even though their budget was extremely tight, as in he calculated out ever dollar for the month, they weren’t to the point where he needed a second job just yet. And he didn’t want to get one if the sole purpose was to pay for Willow to be watched by someone else.
“Umm, maybe, that’s an option. But I mean, what time is class on Saturday and your reservation on Sunday? If they’re morning classes, then you could just be home by 12 or 1 and I can just do the closing shifts, like I used to,” Evan says, hoping Zoe could see that he was trying to be both supportive and realistic.
“Mama, babas,” Willow says, wiggling in Evan’s lap, until he picks her up and sets her next to Zoe where she practically crawls onto Zoe. Evan knew what she was asking for and gets up knowing he’d have to make a bottle.
“Oh Wills, remember no more babas from Mama, only from bottles now,” Zoe says sadly and Evan can hear how much she wanted to give in and just let Willow nurse. Zoe had decided to wean Willow before school started and moved to only pumping once in the morning and at night. Evan would never tell Zoe what to do with her body and respected her decision, but it wasn’t easy to watch both Willow and Zoe get upset. Zoe had an amazing experience breastfeeding Willow and Evan was hurt for the both of them that it was over.
“Mama, babas” Willow repeats and Zoe just brushes her hair back and hugs her, but Evan could hear Willow getting frustrated and hurries up to warm up a bottle. They had to start on dinner soon too, because Willow was probably hungry for real and needed a proper dinner.
“It’s okay baby, Daddy’s making a bottle and he’s hurrying,” Evan says comfortingly, coming back to hug both of them, even kissing Zoe’s cheek to show that he was supporting her on this new transition between her and Willow. It was difficult but it was going to happen eventually.
After a minute or so Evan figures the bottle had been in hot water long enough to not be cold (even though he normally warmed it up to body temp) and grabs it from the sink, drying it off before handing it to Zoe. Usually he was the one that fed Willow with the bottles, but he thought it might help Zoe to do it when she could, make the transition easier for her and Willow.
“There we go, see it’s okay Willow,” Evan soothes as Zoe gives Willow the bottle in her arms and she doesn’t fuss over taking it. She probably missed the comfort and bonding that nursing brought but Evan hoped they were doing okay with supplying that in moments like these.
It's quiet for a while, and Evan almost forgets about how stressed he was about work and childcare until Zoe picks their conversation back up with, “So both are at 10:20, which means I need to leave by 8:45, they’re two hours long, and if I’m on campus already, I need to stay and practice since I can’t do that here Evan or even study with our wifi. I won’t be home until at least 4 or 4:30 depending on the subway.”
She had a point since Evan didn’t want their neighbor to yell at her again and their wifi plan (the cheapest one possible) could barely play a baby video for Willow. And he did want Zoe to be successful, Evan wanted that more than anything. All he needed to do was try her proposed schedule and it might work. They could figure something else out if it didn't. She was asking this of him and he owed it to her to at least try for a little bit. Somethings would be out of his control, like his manager, but he could help Zoe by agreeing with her.
“Okay. I know how important this is to you, so I’ll give that availability to my manager. I can’t guarantee she’ll agree so there might be weekend afternoons that you need to come home right after class Zo,” Evan says, hoping this would work out for them. And he could take a few closing shifts on Saturday and Sunday, four- or five-hour ones if Zoe got home earlier in case Melissa tried to cut his weekly hours. And if worst came to worst, he could find another night shift job. Zoe would be home at night and as much as he really didn’t want to do that again, he would for his family.
“Ev I’m so excited, Juilliard is everything I hoped for and more. This year is going to be our year, I can feel it. Even if someone has to have bottles now, huh Willsy?” Zoe tells him as Willow pulls her bottle away to smile cutely at them, showing all her teeth, clearly feeling better with the milk even with the change from nursing. And if his baby could handle a big change, then Evan could too.
“Yeah, this will be our year, Zo. It can only go up from here.”