"I'm sorry, Daddy." He whispers the words so silently I almost missed them.
"Can I ask you something?" He nods. "Why do you call me Daddy?"
I've had a lot of fights with Aziel about this. A friend of mine told me I need to stand on Aziel's side about this, that it's weird his brother calls me Daddy. I realize how it may look from the outside, but I know what it's like to grow up without a father.
While Aziel speaks fondly about his dad and gets excited when he receives a message, Sebastian never mentions him.
He was a kid who needed the illusion of a father figure, and I was okay with being that. But now he's eighteen, almost nineteen, and he still calls me that.
Sebastian bites his bottom lip, then blurts, "Because you were the first person to tell me to eat breakfast."
I blink, then blink again.
"What?"
He looks me in the eyes and says, "You were the first who order me to eat breakfast because it matters. That's how it started. Aziel and my mom never bothered with that." Heswallows, and I open my mouth to say something, but he continues, "But don't worry. You're not my Daddy."
I'm left speechless for a moment.
I'm not sure what the right action is here.
On one side, I have my boyfriend, from another, his brother, who just chose to call me that because I told him to eat his breakfast.
My head starts to pound.
"Here," I say, handing him the box.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
He opens the box and when he sees the ice cream, he smiles so wide he jumps in place.
"Thank you, thank you so much…" he trails off, not calling me what I knew he wanted.
"I know how much you love ice cream."
"Yes, yes, I do. And I'm going to eat this whole box now."
"Careful. Maybe half the box now and the other half later."
"I'll think about it. But I make no promises."
I'm still laughing as I step into the kitchen where my boyfriend is glaring at me. I'll need to really think whose side I should stay on. But for now, at least one person in the house is happy.
Sebastian with his ice cream.
Chapter twenty-five
Sebastian
The date with Daddy was perfect today. We went to my favorite ice-cream shop, then walked along the river, and a little later ate ice-cream cake. We finished the date with more ice cream, of course.
Daddy was perfect. He held my hand, kept himself between me and the road, and even glared at one guy who checked me out. We spoke about ordinary things, little by little, getting to know each other.
I'm still giddy when Ethan calls me into his office before work starts.
Plopping into one of his comfy chairs, I stare expectantly.
