“Mmhm.”
Gage scooped Bo into his arms then came to stand beside Alex. He rested his chin on Alex’s shoulder to survey the making of French toast, but pulled awaysuddenly.
“Do I still stink from last night?” Alex asked. He pressed on the French toast with a spatula, and it hissed at him. “I took ashower.”
“No, that’s not it.” The hesitation in Gage’s voice made Alex turn to look at him. There was timid uncertainty in Gage’s eyes, and his lips were pressed together in worry. “It’s just… it smells like you’re going intoheat.”
It took a few moments for the words to sink in. “Oh.” Another few for them to register. “Oh.” And another few for his mind to string together the consequences of what he’d just learned. “Ohshit.”
“Shit!” Bo parroted. He clung to Gage’s neck and buried his face against hischest.
“I have heat blockers, if you want.” Gage bit down on his lip. “It’s probably still early enough for you to go on them if you haven’t already been pre-medicating.”
“Yeah,” Alex said. His voice caught in his throat and came out sounding rough. He flicked off the dial and moved the frying pan to a cool element, then followed Gage into thebathroom.
Heat blockers weren’t the problem. The problem was that soon enough, he wasn’t going to need them. Laurence had come inside of him last night, and now, he was going intoheat.
Oh shitdidn’t even begin to describe the mess he wasin.
13
Laurence
The magazines piledon the waiting room table were at least five years old. Laurence occupied himself by sorting them into chronological order, referencing the publication info at the front. At his side, Matthew scraped the toe of one shoe against the heel of the other. The rubber sole slipped every now and then and squeaked. It wasn’t loud or embarrassing enough to get him tostop.
Laurence had never seen Matthew more nervous in hislife.
“It’s going to be okay, right, Dad?” Matthew asked after a while. His foot slipped, and his shoes squeaked again. “It’s not like they’re going to do anything to me, right? They’re not going to try to force me to do what I don’t want to do. You made sure that this is… this is a good place, or whatever? I don’t want them to brainwash me. That’s not going to happen,right?”
Laurence frowned. He set down his most recent magazine—aBetter Homes and Gardensfrom four years ago—and gave Matthew his undivided attention. “It’s going to be okay, kiddo. I made sure I did my research, and I called in and spoke to a representative before I even made the appointment. They’re not going to brainwash you. This is a no-judgmentzone.”
“So they’re… they’ll listen?” Matthew chewed on his lip. He rubbed the heels of his shoes together, then shifted in his chair and sat cross-legged. “I just don’t want it to be bad. I don’t want to feel like I’m being pushed into making one choice oranother.”
“It’s a valid fear, but you’re not going to have to. They’re going to listen, and they’re going to tell you what your options are. No one’s going to pick a path for you, because no one knows your situation better than you do.” Laurence squeezed Matthew’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. If you want me to be there, you can sign a consent form and let me in… but I think it’s in your best interest if you go inalone.”
Matthew shook his head. “No, um, I mean, yeah, you’re right. I should do this alone. I just… I just wanna talk to someone who’s not involved in all this, so… so not having you there would be good. Nooffense.”
“No offense taken. That’s why we’rehere.”
It had taken Laurence three days to come down from the shock and anger of finding out that some lowlife had taken advantage of his son. On the third day, head a little clearer but heart still as heavy, he’d started to call around to mental health clinics, looking for one that had teenage pregnancy counseling. In the end, he’d settled with a progressive behavioral health center in Renata Hills and booked the earliest appointment he could. Now, a week since placing the call, he sat with Matthew in the lobby of New Horizons while they waited for Matthew’s appointment tobegin.
It was Matthew’s decision what he wanted to do with the pregnancy—Laurence wasn’t going to force his hand one way or the other—but he wanted to make sure his son was sure about the choice he made. No matter what he chose to do, there would be consequences, and Laurence knew for a fact that he wasn’t the impartial sounding board that Matthew needed in order to make an informeddecision.
“Dad?” Matthew asked. He zipped his hoodie all the way to the top and hid his nose behind thezipper.
“Yes,Matthew?”
“What if they’re actually bad? Are you going to be mad if I walk out of the appointment if I feel like they’re pushing me? I don’t want to be pushed. I want to be able to make this choice on myown.”
“I won’t be mad,” Laurence promised. “We’ll find somewhere else to go if that happens, okay? Don’t let it stress you out. We’ve still got some time to figure out thedetails.”
“Thank you.” Matthew put his hood up, but pushed it down again a moment later. The door leading to the private offices in the back of the building had opened, and a short, rosy-cheeked womanemerged.
“MatthewGwynn?”
Matthew’s nose popped out from beneath the zipper of his hoodie. He unfolded his legs and stood, then looked over his shoulder at Laurence. “Bye, Dad. See you soon,okay?”
“See yousoon.”
