“I wasn’t aware that I was playing anything.”
“Tyler…”
“Dad!”
“Boy!” He looked aggravated as hell as he ran his hand over his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me yourself? Why did I have to hear it from a complete stranger?”
“I had to take care of some stuff first.”
“What stuff?” He gave me a quizzical look.
“My portfolio.”
“Come again.”
“The trust you set up for me, dad. I needed to be sure that I would be able to take care of Lora until I finished school in case you guys weren’t on board with us being together. Since I want us both to concentrate on school and not have to work unless we have to, it seemed like the best route to take.” That answer seemed to stump him but only for a minute or so.
“And how did you do that? Take care of it, I mean.”
“I contacted Ralph, and we went over the special clause that gives me access to the money in case of a life-changing emergency before twenty-five.”
I relaxed even more, when I saw the smile that dad was trying hard to hide.
“And you consider this a life-changing emergency? If anything, I’m the one in danger here. Your stepmother almost had a heart attack, especially given the fact that Sherry wasn’t exactly nice about it. What’s her problem anyway? You two have a falling out?”
“I guess you can say that. She’s not the little girl you used to know, dad.” I filled him in on most of what I’d learned and what I’d done afterward because that’s the kind of relationship we have. “You’re serious? Sherry did those things? Since when do you keep things from me? How could you not tell me and your stepmother that all of this was going on with Lora?”
“Because it wasn’t a thing, dad. I nipped it in the bud before it got off the ground. And besides, it was mine to take care of. I’m getting a little too old for you to be fighting my battles.”
“Now, you tell me. Where were you a few hours ago when I had to talk your stepmother down from killing you and her daughter?”
“Thanks for standing in the line of fire, I’ll take it from here.”
“So, what now? You two plan to share a room what?”
“Would you let us?”
“I’m not sure her mother is ready for that.”
“That’s fine; I like sneaking into her room at night anyway.”
“Son, TMI. I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, and I didn’t hear it.”
He walked over and slapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t have to tell you to take care of her. I’m sure you know that if things don’t work out between you two, it’ll make things awkward around here.”
“Don’t jinx me, dad, we’re going to be fine. If I weren’t sure, I wouldn’t have let things go this far.”
“That’s my boy. Well, I guess now I know why it took so long for you to give me an answer about the adoption.”
“Speaking of which, how did you convince Justine?”
“That was easy; I’ve been bringing her along for the last couple of weeks.”
I stopped in the doorway where we’d been on our way out of the room and looked back at him. “What do you mean by that?”
“I suspected there was something going on with you two. I didn’t come right out and tell her because I wasn’t sure, but I dropped hints just in case to test the waters.”
So that’s why he wasn’t very surprised even with Sherry spilling the beans. “And?” His grin was answer enough.
“Let’s just say that if you’re anything like me, she knows she has nothing to worry about where her daughter is concerned, and I did my best to convince her that I raised you right.”
Now it was my turn to slap his shoulder. “Thanks, dad, I won’t let you down.” I had one more thing to take care of, well two actually, but it looks like dad had taken care of most of one of them for me, and now wasn’t the time to do the rest. I looked at Lora first when I walked back into the family room. There were no tear tracks on her face, and she was actually smiling as she bounced our little sister on her knee.
I hope she wasn’t getting any ideas. Cumming inside her without protection feels better than anything else, but after the last few nights of being awakened at fuck this shit o’clock by a crying baby, I’m not sure I’m ready for that shit. It’s a dilemma that’s for sure, and my pullout game is for shit.
I was more nervous facing my stepmom than I had been my dad, but she didn’t give me the death glare when I sat down across from her. I’ll have a conversation with her later, it was only fair, but I wanted to wait until we were alone. She deserved the same courtesy as dad, and as a female who’d been screwed over by her first husband, I can only imagine her angst for her older daughter.