“I knew that long before today but seeing you with them makes me love them even more,” he
admitted. I gaped at him. He loved them? “Yes, baby boy. They raised you to be the sweetest, most
loving man I’ve met. How could I not?”
I threw my arms around his neck, kissing every inch of his face.
“As much as I love affectionate Sammy, don’t think you’re getting out of telling me what had you
upset.”
“I’m trying really hard to remember that you’re Theron this weekend but it’s not easy,” I admitted.
“When you called me baby, I felt tingly like I always do but I almost called you Daddy.”
“It’s okay if you do.” He’d told me this before as well. But he couldn’t promise me they’d
understand. It had taken me a long time to understand this was simply part of who I was and not me
trying to reclaim my lost boyhood that I’d been robbed of by being raised female. A lot of people
thought that way, and I didn’t want them to because they loved me so damn much Mom would feel
guilty for not knowing something was off sooner. “If it happens, we’ll sit down and talk with them
about it if they’re concerned. But I’d be willing to bet they’d let it go without interrogating you about
it. Didn’t you say they’ve always made sure you and your siblings know you can talk to them about
anything?”
“But wouldn’t they be upset about me keeping this from them?”
“Now you’re trying to find reasons to justify how upset you were,” Daddy scolded me. His brow
creased and my heart sank. He was disappointed in me. I couldn’t blame him because I wasn’t my
biggest fan right then, either. But he kissed my forehead, and I started to wonder if there was
something else. Daddy held my face, staring straight into my eyes. “I need you to stay calm for me,
Sammy. I know this weekend is a lot of stress and it’s your nature to worry about everything, but it’s
all going to be okay. Do you trust me on that?”
“I always trust you,” I promised. Daddy never let anything hurt me.
“Good.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Your mom wants to see your work. She said you’ve been
dodgy about it and asked if I thought you’d be willing to take them down there while they’re in town.”
“I can’t do that!” I heaved a bit just thinking about the subtle hints from earlier. What if they
wanted to see the Back Deck? What if they liked the bar and wanted toactuallygo there? And I
wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to consider playing there with Daddy on my nights off once they’d been
there. Everywhere I’d look, I’d see remnants of them. That was gross.
