KnotMyProblem: Well, to be honest, *I* wanted to clear the air. Gwynn doesn’t have anything to apologize about. I was the one who put you guys in an uncomfortable position, and I’m sorry it came to a head in the way that it did. I’m especially sorry to @TeenDad2. TD, I suck giant donkey balls for not being at your reception, and I can’t even fathom what nightmarish creature’s genitals I’d have to suck to apologize for causing a scene on your big day.
KnotMyProblem: btw I’m bringing all this up here in the general chat because I don’t want anyone to have to feel awkward with me around.
No one started typing. Damien had known to expect some level of discomfort while the chat went down, but he hadn’t thought that all the Dads would nope out before things got started. He sank into his office chair and spun in sad little circles, hoping no one would come to his door. If they did, they’d get an eyeful of him at his most pathetic.
Damien would never regret falling for Matthew, but if this was the end of the Single Dads, he’d carry the guilt of having lost his friends for the rest of his life.
To his delight and terror, Glit started to type.
GlitterDoctor: I’ll bite
GlitterDoctor: Since no one’s coming out with a definitive version of what happened, let’s start there. What the hell is going on?
GlitterDoctor: And @Gwynning, are you here? Is this sanctioned by you?
Gwynning: I’m here, and it is
Gwynning: Knot and I had a talk and settled things. He wanted to open a dialog with you guys to make sure you felt heard. I don’t blame him. We don’t want you to feel awkward about this.
GlitterDoctor: Sure
xVerity: While tensions are understandably high, I’d like to remind everyone that we owe it to ourselves to be civil. Let’s not say anything to each other that we’ll regret later, okay?
LoveHarley: youre a good mediator xV
LoveHarley: all of you are my friends. I know we can get thru this
While the other Dads talked, Damien worked on answering Glit’s question, which meant summarizing the events as they had occurred. He aimed to both be thorough and concise, but only half succeeded.
KnotMyProblem: Hours after I arrived in Fiji, I met Gwynn’s son, Matthew, not knowing who he was. We had instant chemistry. When I found out he was a Gwynn, I decided that I’d appreciate him from afar, like someone might appreciate a fish in an aquarium. I did *not* anticipate that said fish would leap out of its tank at me like goddamn Evel Knievel.
KnotMyProblem: Please understand I don’t mean to shift the blame onto him because I’m a grown-ass man who can politely decline an advance and should be able to think with my head, not my dick, but on the night of the campfire he came out in a speedo and walked into the lagoon at sunset like a reverse Bond girl, and I was done. Toast. Finished. After that, there was a glitter incident and, uh, well, the rest is history.
KnotMyProblem: We kept in touch after I went home. I’d already fallen for him in Fiji, because apparently my heart is ready to pack a U-Haul and move on in on the drop of a dime, and I told him that I’d talk to Gwynn and let him know. Which is where all of this could have been avoided, but of course I fucked up.
KnotMyProblem: It turns out it’s really fucking hard to write a letter to one of your best friends asking for forgiveness over accidentally falling in love with his son. I kept writing it and rewriting it, but everything I wrote felt too fake, or contrived, or serious, or not serious enough. Then it was almost time for TD’s wedding, and I decided that talking to Gwynn in person would be better than sending him an email. So I wrote a letter that I was going to give to him and prepared to have a really hard conversation, but a motherfucking bastard at work decided to sabotage me, and long story short, things didn’t go according to plan
KnotMyProblem: Matthew—Gwynn’s son—showed up right as the ceremony was ending to tell me that he’d heard my career was about to be flushed down the shitter. He ran into Gwynn before he had a chance to find me, and the rest of the story you probably already know
Gwynning: Except for the part where we talked it out and decided to put this behind us
GlitterDoctor: Okay, so uh… enlighten me
GlitterDoctor: How the hell did you rationalize forgiving him?
Gwynning: As much as I don’t want to admit it, Matthew is an adult, and he deserves to be treated like one. I don’t always have to agree with the choices that he makes, but I can’t stop him from living his life.
Gwynning: Besides, I’d rather he be in love with Knot than someone who’d treat him badly. As weird as it is, I know Knot will take care of him. For now, that’s enough
GlitterDoctor: Fuck
GlitterDoctor: I mean, I guess you’re not wrong
GlitterDoctor: I’m just thinking about how I’d act if it were Parker, and ugh
GlitterDoctor: I don’t want to imagine him grown up and doing things like having autonomy. How can I get him to stay little forever?
LoveHarley: if it helps, lots of people struggle with the idea of their kid growing up
