This one stops me. I did love Julia once, but now all I have is pure hatred for that woman. “No,” I say with finality, but now there’s a frown on my forehead. Gemma is different to Julia in the best way. Any memories of Julia irritate me.
“Why?” he persists.
“Stop with the whys. There are some things that should be between adults only." I leave him, going to find my five-year-old.
It seems Gemma isn't having much luck either. Eden is bombarding her with questions as I walk into the room.
“What’s sex? How do you make babies? Are you and Daddy having a baby? Are you going to get married? Can I be a bridesmaid? I thought you were having a nightmare?” She’s asking the questions in quick succession, her voice high-pitched as she hangs onto Gemma’s arm.
“Eden, enough,” I snap at her.
“Can we have a girl? I’m telling everyone at school.” She runs off before I can stop her.
Gemma and I look at each other. “I’ll stop her,” I promise.
Gemma doesn't look so sure. “Will you?” she asks. Her eyes fill with worry.
“Sure,” I say, but I'm not sure at all, and my answer isn't confident.
I manage to wrangle Eden and pick her up in the next room. My tongue ties itself in knots trying to give her a simple explanation for her age. I end up promising if anything happens between Gemma and me, she'll be the first to know. But she’s not paying attention, she’s talking about babies.
By the time I finish and get home from work, I find them all in the kitchen eating dinner. I want to go and kiss Gemma, but the three of them are talking about their day.
“Daddy.” Eden spots me first and dances on her chair excitedly. “Look, look.” She runs to get her school bag.
She is excited about something which doesn't necessarily bode well. Sitting down next to Gemma, my hand slides under the table onto her knee, squeezing it.
“Look, Daddy, look.” Eden slams her school bag onto the table, and her head goes all the way inside. “It’s here.”
After a while, she pops her head back out. She hasretrieved two small brown things covered in gunk. What the hell was in her bag?
“Look. For Daddy.” She smiles, proud of herself, handing them to me. She waits eagerly as I take them from her.
I give the mystery items a close inspection. “Honey, what is it?”
“For you to give to Gemma. It’s seeds from an apple. You said a man gives a woman seeds to grow inside her belly and make a baby. We can have a half-apple, half-human baby.”
“Not those kinds of seeds, dummy,” Ace tells her with his big brother face on.
“Ace.” Gemma glares at him.
“Daddy said seeds,” Eden insists, looking distraught.
“Man seeds… They come from…” Ace looks at his sister like she should know this, but he’s a shade paler than he was before.
“That’s enough, Ace. I’ll explain,” I tell him, my blood pressure rising.
“They have to be daddy seeds, sweetie. They come from me. Not from an apple,” I explain.
“You said seeds.” She bursts out crying. “I hate apples, but I ate it so I could get the seeds. Where do we get the seeds from then?” she sobs.
“My body,” I explain, wishing I could make her stop crying.
Gemma looks at me in sympathy.
Suddenly, Eden stops crying and gets off her chair, grabbing a spoon from the cutlery drawer. “Open wide,” she orders.
“Eden, what are you doing?” I ask, aghast.
