Broken Pieces of the Puzzle Parts 1 &2
Summary: Seventh story in the series. It’s been five years since Julia’s death and Noah’s disappearance. Josh and Donna have lived separate lives but will the return of a lost son heal all wounds, or will a secret Donna kept from him be the final straw?
Broken Pieces of the Puzzle
By Mer
Part 1/?
It had been five years since Julia’s death and Noah’s disappearance. Donna had gone home to Wisconsin in order to find herself again. She only came back once and that was to get the rest of her things. She sold the house I had given her and moved to Milwaukee to finish school and start a new life. I tried to keep in contact with her by after a few months she stopped answering my phone calls and returned my letters unopened.
While we never technically got divorced she did file for legal separation which I didn’t contest. I knew she needed her space and I tried hard to give it to her. I just figured eventually she would send me some divorce papers and that would be that. I still loved her though but I knew we would probably never be a family again.
A few months after Julia’s death I helped the president get re-elected and then I opted not to work in the White House for a second term. I instead took a refresher law course and joined a small law office in Windsor Locks, Connecticut near where I grew up. I didn’t do any of the high profile criminal cases; instead I chose to focus on family law. Most of my cases dealt with juveniles. I had a pretty good record to with my win total being four times that of my loss total.
It wasn’t easy to adjust to life without a family, especially after Donna left. Within a month of her initial departure I moved into a small apartment in Georgetown so I wasn’t constantly reminded of what once was. Though the memories came with me.
Even after I moved to Connecticut I moved into small apartment close to the office. I didn’t need a bigger place because I lived by myself and even though it did have a guest room it hadn’t really been used all that often. The left over stuff from the house that was mine was either sold or placed in storage.
Little Noah was never found. The FBI wasn’t even sure if he was still alive. But in my heart of hearts I knew he was alive and probably living somewhere right under my nose. I hoped that he was with someone who loved him as much as I still did.
They claimed to have wrapped up their initial investigation. They got some bad publicity because he was never found, but like most things he was eventually forgotten about. I still thought of him everyday. I used to wonder if it had made a difference if he had been found, like Donna would have stayed or something like that. But I gave up on that after awhile because it hurt too much to think about.
After the FBI gave up I hired a private investigator and he looked for clues for two years and also came up with nothing. After two years went by I decided that I would never see my son again. I still had no doubt he was alive but I knew I was probably never going to see him again. My luck they were probably teaching him to hate me.
As for my Jewish faith I thought about abandoning it completely since it was the reason my kids were taken in the first place but I had a change of heart. I had a long talk with Mom and she helped me see that I needed faith. So instead of being barely religious I became more active in the faith and began to attend synagogue regularly. I also followed all the customs that I had let slide before.
My mom was proud of me. She knew that I had let my faith slide after Joanie’s death and had nearly abandoned it completely after my father’s. She was glad I was using faith as a way to add a sense of normalcy to my life. It also helped somewhat in filling the hole that my absent family had left behind.
My law office was kept nearly spotless, since I didn’t have much else to do with my time. And unlike the White House I didn’t really have an assistant. Karri was the office’s only secretary and she had a lot of work to do so I tried not to bother her too much. And in the four plus years I have worked there I can proudly say that I have never bellowed her name.
I didn’t really keep in too close of contact with anyone from the White House. The second term in office had wrapped up and everyone pretty much scattered their separate ways. We traded emails occasionally and maybe a rare phone call once in awhile but that was pretty much it. I hadn’t personally seen any of them in over a year.
Donna had confessed to CJ once after we had separated that she wasn’t sure it was a good idea we had worked in the White House with a young family. I guess she thought it was our positions that helped get our children kidnapped. I hated that implication but I couldn’t say anything since Donna still blamed me for it happening overall.
I shook my head to get rid of some of those thoughts and there was a knock at my door. I expected it to be a client. I was starting to make a name for myself by being accessible and not quick to judge. The other two lawyers I worked with were impressed with the way I was able to handle troubled clients and gain their trust. I guess my years as a political pit-bull did have its advantages.
There was a picture of Donna and two of the kids on my desk from shortly before the kidnapping. Every once in awhile someone will point to the picture and remember the story associated with it and I thought the questions would be hard to answer. But mostly I could just look the person in the eye and tell them that even with the heartache I wouldn’t have changed a minute with my family.
“Come in.” I replied as I pretended to be engrossed in a clients file. Clients, especially kids liked it if I appeared busy. I guess it made me look like I was actually doing something.
“Josh it’s been a long time.” My old friend from the FBI Mike Casper said.
“Yes, Mike it has.” I said as I gestured for him to sit down.
“Josh how are things between you and Donna?” Mike asked hesitantly.
I noticed he glanced at my finger. I no longer wore my wedding ring as I figured Donna meant to get a divorce but just hadn’t ever filed the paperwork. Or maybe she didn’t know where I lived. I had given my new address and phone number to her parents but I wasn’t sure if she had ever received the information.
“I haven’t talked to her in almost four years why?” I asked.
Mike pushed a picture at me from the other side of the desk. I wondered what horrifying thing the picture would expose. I was afraid he would tell me that they found Noah’s body or something.
“I guess this would be easier if you and Donna hadn’t gotten a divorce.” Mike murmured.
“We’re only separated.” I replied, though neither one of us was too convinced.
I flipped the picture over. It was a picture of Noah. It looked very recent. Even though I hadn’t seen him in a number of years I could still tell it was my son. A little glimmer of hope filled me from somewhere within.
“Where did you get this?” I asked as I looked up with a shocked expression.
“Noah’s case was never closed. It was closed in the media so that the kidnappers would settle in somewhere and we would be able to find them. This was taken a week ago. His name is now Nicholas Sharpe. In two days you will be reunited with him.” Mike replied.
I sat there with a blank expression I wasn’t sure what to do. My son was returning home to me but what kind of life did I have to offer him. I didn’t even speak to his mother anymore. We lived in different states and lived our own separate lives.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yes the couple who have raised him adopted him shortly after the abduction. They were told he was a Russian orphan and even went to Russia to collect him. Apparently after Julia was killed they got Noah out of the country before the manhunt for him began. How he ended up in a Russian orphanage we still don’t know. The Sharpe’s didn’t do anything wrong so they won’t be prosecuted. But we are hoping they will help to shed some light on Noah’s journey to Russia and back.” Mike replied.
“How did you find him?” I asked.
“He fell while playing soccer and needed stitches in his knee. We had placed all of his medical records in a master hospital database hoping that one day a red flag would come up signaling he was alive. And it worked.” Mike answered.
“You’re telling me that something as simple as a cut knee made it so you guys could find my son?” I asked.
“Yeah, we would’ve found him sooner but apparently he has been a pretty healthy child.” Mike replied.
“So what I am just supposed to call Donna up after four years and tell her the good news?” I asked.
“No another agent is telling her. We knew she moved to Milwaukee but I guess we thought the two of you still kept in contact since you were great together.” Mike said.
I didn’t say anything. I just shook my head. Mike was right Donna and I were the storybook couple there for awhile but too many obstacles kept getting in our way. Now another one popped up and I wasn’t sure how we were going to deal with it.
“Josh I know that Noah’s return is going to be difficult for the both of you but I think the love of a child will go a long way towards healing old wounds.” Mike added.
“I hope you’re right about that.” I replied.
“We will be contacting you again but I believe he will be here in Connecticut on Friday at 230.” Mike replied.
“Thanks.” I replied as I clutched the picture to my chest.
Mike left and I picked up the phone. I knew I needed to call Donna and arrange something. I had a sinking feeling that Donna would finally file for divorce and move my son to Wisconsin with her to get back at me for all the years she lost with him. I hoped that wasn’t the case but what did I know?
I dug out my address book and with trembling hands I flipped through the book until I reached the number of Donna’s parents. Her mother had been saddened when our marriage crumbled after Julia’s death. She called me from time to time to see how I was though she was evasive when I asked about Donna. I guess Donna meant it to be that way.
Before I could will my fingers into dialing the phone it rang. I was briefly startled but I picked up the phone after the second ring.
“Hill, Stevens and Lyman Family Law, Josh Lyman speaking.” I said as I picked up the phone.
“Josh, they found our son.” Donna cried happily into the phone causing me to drop the picture of him on to the floor.
Part 2/?
I couldn’t believe that it was her on the phone. She seemed so giddy and not subdued like she was the last time I talked with her. But I guess this conversation was going to be a more joyous one than the last.
“Yeah Mike was just here telling me all about it.” I replied softly.
“I already went ahead and booked a flight. I’ll be flying in tomorrow to the Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. My flight arrives at eleven am tomorrow would you be willing to greet me or shall I hail a cab and meet you somewhere?” Donna asked hesitantly.
“I’ll pick you up.” I replied quietly.
There was a tension in our conversation. Now some of that may have stemmed from the fact we hadn’t seen each other in over four years but I got the feeling that this was something different. It was almost as if Donna was holding something back from me.
“Josh there is so many things we need to discuss before we are reunited with Noah.” Donna said to which I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me.
“Yeah especially since we both live in two separate areas of the country.” I replied realizing for the first time how hard this was going to be.
Noah had been raised by two people who loved him and each other. They all lived in the same house and for all I knew they could have had other kids. What did we have to offer him besides two separate homes and memories of his two siblings? He was probably going to resent us for that. Hell I know if I were a kid and the roles were reversed I would resent my ‘new parents’.
Donna’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
“You know why I needed to move back to Wisconsin Joshua.” Donna replied somewhat defensively.
“Donna I wasn’t trying to start a fight. I was only stating a fact.” I replied.
“Well I didn’t see you moving out here with me.” Donna replied with a hint of anger.
I didn’t respond to Donna’s words. We both knew that even if I had tried to move to Wisconsin that Donna didn’t want me anywhere near her. Her statement just hung there in the air piercing what was left of my love for her like a knife.
“What time did you say your flight arrives?” I asked to remove some of the tension.
“11 am.” Donna replied.
“Incase something changes and you need to be picked up earlier or something you can call me on my cell phone at 860-654-1981. Or at my office 860-654-8136” I said.
“How can I be sure your cell phone is charged up?” Donna teased as she knew my old tendency to be lax in that area.
“I’m not the same man you walked away from.” I replied gently.
Donna seemed a little taken back by that comment. It was true I wasn’t the same person losing my family had helped me to change. Losing Donna especially had necessitated many of those changes.
“I guess I’m not the same woman either.” Donna replied in an odd voice.
“I’d imagine so.” I replied softly.
A voice in the back of my head told me that even if our kids hadn’t been kidnapped that our marriage still wouldn’t have worked out. Donna didn’t really seem like someone I wanted to know. I realized I was only talking to her on the phone and maybe she would be different in person but I had a feeling she was someone I wouldn’t know anymore.
“Josh did they tell you where our son had been living all of these years?” Donna asked pulling me out of my thoughts.
“No Mike didn’t really tell me too much beyond they found him.” I replied.
I didn’t add that it didn’t matter to me what town he lived in or that I didn’t really care. I was just glad he had been raised by two people who loved him. I would have preferred those two people had been me and Donna but what was done had been done.
“He was living in Trenton, New Jersey so he wasn’t ever really that far away from you.” Donna replied in a slightly anger filled tone.
I noticed that she had left herself out of that little equation. She was the one who decided to move back to Wisconsin. I tried to stop her on more than one occasion but to no avail. She couldn’t really be blaming me for living so close to him as she put it, could she?
“Donna where he grew up doesn’t really change the fact that he grew up with a family other than us.” I reminded her softly.
“Yeah I know. But I guess we can talk about this more tomorrow. I need to call up all of my family and tell them the good news. Mom will probably want us all to gather for dinner so I guess I’ll have to drive down to Madison. Gotta go bye” Donna said.
“Bye.” I whispered to the sound of the dial tone.
I knew that she had changed but some of those changes happened after our daughter was killed. I think she may have been acting out her grief but I’m not sure. I sat there wondering what the hell we were going to say to each other.
I also wondered if the family comment was meant to be an insult. She said her mom would probably want the whole family over for dinner and Donna knew that besides her I only had my mother. Well that and now Noah of course.
I stared at his picture again. Mike said that his name with Nicholas. He probably went by Nick or Nicky. I doubted we would ever be able to call him by his birth name of Noah. Getting him to accept a last name change was probably going to be a big enough battle in itself.
It didn’t matter to me if he wanted to be called Nick or even Superman for that matter. Just being able to hold him and tell him one more time how much I loved him would be enough for me.
The phone rang again and I was startled out of my thoughts. So startled that I didn’t even give the customary greeting I was supposed to use.
“Josh Lyman.” I said after the third ring.
“Josh it’s me C.J. I heard that they found Noah.” C.J. said into the phone.
I wondered how the hell she knew so fast. But then again she had worked as a White House Press Secretary for eight years so I suppose she did have some contacts left.
“Yeah Donna’s flying here tomorrow.” I replied somewhat glumly.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen them?” C.J. asked.
“Them?” I questioned.
“Sorry I meant Donna, I know how long it’s been seen you’ve seen Noah.” C.J. covered.
“Since she sold the house and decided to live in Wisconsin permanently.” I replied letting her odd word choice explanation go.
“Would you like me to come up and act like a referee between you two?” C.J. joked.
“God C.J. I would love it if you came up here.” I replied seriously.
C.J. had chosen to remain in Washington and she was the press secretary for the Minority Senate Leader. Of all of them I kept the most contact with her. But that was mostly via emails since her job and her dad’s failing health kept her flying back home.
“Okay we don’t have anything pressing for a few days and my boss owes me a favor so I’ll be there by dinnertime. Is there anything you are gonna need?” C.J. asked.
“I guess a lot of luck because I think one of the things Donna wants to talk to me about is the end of my marriage.” I replied with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
“She’s had five years to cool off Josh. Maybe the return of Noah is just what you two need to rekindle your relationship.” C.J. countered.
“C.J. I’m not going to use my son as a weapon. Don’t get me wrong I’m excited as hell that we are being reunited but I’m not naďve enough to think the past five years will just disappear.” I replied.
“I guess. We’ll talk about this later. You better be taking me somewhere nice for dinner if I’m going to be driving all the way out to see you.” C.J. threatened.
“I think I have just the place.” I replied evilly and if she were actually in my office she would have seen me rubbing my hands together in anticipation.
“Just remember Josh I know how to extract revenge from my victims.” C.J. replied as she hung up the phone.
I knew just the place since C.J. loved Margaritas I figured I would take her to Chi-Chi’s. The food was decent and they had a wide variety of alcohol in their bar to choose from. I figured that I would probably need to get a little drunk.
I was forced to push my personal life aside and deal with a client. He had only done a petty crime such as shoplifted a shirt but the retailer wasn’t backing down. I looked at the clock and realized that in fourteen short hours my wife was coming home.
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