I took a deep breath. “You look like me because I’m your daddy, Nicholas.” My heart pounded.
He blinked, his expression hard to read. For a long moment he alternated between staring at the photo and looking at me.
“Do you understand what I told you?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“It took a long time to find you. But I’m your daddy. And you’re my son. Do you know what that means?”
He shook his head again.
“It means that before you were born, two people created you. One was Mommy, and one was me.”
Concern crossed his face as he looked over at Blair. “Mommy is still my mommy?”
“Yes,” I assured him. “Mommy is still your mommy.”
Blair reached out to gently rub his head. “Of course I’m still your mommy.”
Nicholas seemed to think for a moment. “Mommy is my mommy…” He turned to me. “Andyou’remy daddy.”
“Yes. That’s why you look like me. And that’s why I loved you the moment I met you, even before you knew who I was.”
After a long moment of silence, he nodded. “Okay.”
“Yeah? That’s okay with you?” I smiled at him. “So, you don’t need to call me Mr. T anymore. You can call me Daddy, if you want.”
“Daddy…”
“Yes.”
“Daddy,” he repeated.
“Yes.” I bent to kiss him. “Daddy loves you, and I’llalways be here, okay?”
“Okay.” He grinned.
“Can I have a hug?”
He nodded and wrapped his arms around me. I breathed him in. I realized there was another layer to this conversation, explaining that the man he knew as Uncle Taylor was actually his brother. But that was too much for today. Also, I’d need Taylor’s guidance on how he wanted to handle that.
I pulled back to look at Nicholas, and he flashed the cutest smile. “Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I have Skittles?”
“Of course.”
“He’s manipulating you.” Blair laughed. “I told him he couldn’t have any more until tomorrow.”
“Already playing your father, huh?”
He giggled. And for the moment, all was right with the world.
***
The next day, we’d invited our parents over to the new house for Sunday brunch. I’d spent time with Blair’s parents before, and she’d also met mine a few times, but this was the first time our parents had met each other. We’d let them know we’d told Nicholas about me so they didn’t have to awkwardly call me Mr. T.
