We all slept in the next morning, even me. It was a Saturday, so none of us had plans, which was nice. I was on reserve for the next two weeks, and if the baby wasn’t here by then, I’d have to reevaluate my schedule. I was holding off on scheduling actual vacation time until the baby arrived. I didn’t want to miss a single second of our baby boy’s first days.

I had woken briefly a few times throughout the night when Josiah had gotten up to use the bathroom, but he was absolutely passed out now. I peeked into Sam’s room on my way downstairs, and she was the same, one leg thrown up against the wall, her arms pulling stuffed animals close to her sides on either side of her, her hair tangled like a nest. It was perfect.

Even though I had slept in, it was still only eight in the morning, so I was not expecting the knock on the back door in the midst of making my morning coffee.

I was even more shocked when my father stood on the other side of the door.

Should I open the door or not? I’d sent him an email explaining what had happened with Mother, but he’d never responded. If he was here as her flying monkey... With a sigh, I unbolted the door, though I left the chain latched.

Before I could open my mouth, Dad said, “I’ve left your mother, Richard.”

I blinked several times and then closed the door so I could slide the chain out and let him in.

Did this mean Mother had finally gone too far? Obviously, she had for me, but Dad had always backed her up, even if it was just a grunt and a, “Listen to your mother, Richard.”

“Coffee?” I asked. I was grateful everyone was asleep upstairs in case this went sideways. As Dad followed me into the kitchen, I realized I should have asked him to go out somewhere with me, but my brain didn’t fully ignite until after the third cup of coffee.

“Please.”

I set the cream on the table for him while I finished prepping the French press. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. I’d never seen my father uncertain... ever.

“You can sit.”

After a moment of hesitation, he did.

I set the press on the table between us and handed him an empty mug.

Neither of us spoke, but someone was going to wake up sooner or later, and if this was going to turn unpleasant, I wanted to get it over before then. But Dad had left Mother. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but it was too late.

“I’ll be honest with you, Dad. I’m pretty shocked.”

Dad grimaced. “You probably have a pretty low opinion of me for not standing up to your mother sooner, don’t you?”

“What?” Of all the things he could have said, that was something I hadn’t anticipated at all.

“I can’t say I blame you. I have a pretty low opinion of myself.”

I couldn’t find the words to respond. My father had always been one of the most confident, strongest, most determined men I’d ever known. When he wanted something, he went after it. It wasn’t stretching the truth at all to say they were well-off. In fact, that was probably an understatement. His confidence and top-alpha attitude had done well for him. To hear him insinuate he’d considered leaving my mother earlier, and hadn’t...? The foundation on which I’d built my understanding of him was shaking.

Sure, he’d always deferred to her when it came to social events and raising me, but I had thought that was by choice.

“You’re going to have to back up a few steps, Dad. Or maybe start with: why now?”

My timer went off and I poured the coffee.

Dad stirred cream in. “Your mother was wrong. She’s been wrong a lot in her life, but you were right in your letter; this time she went too far. I don’t pretend to know how your relationship with Dusty and Josiah works, but you’ve always been one to go your own way. I always knew you didn’t have an interest in omegas, but your mother was determined to fit you into her idea of the perfect son. I should have stood up to her then. Dusty’s always been good for you, and if you say this Josiah is good for you both? I believe you. I’ve always admired how you haven’t cared what other people think. You just do what makes you happy.”

I had thought that was some of the reason I admired Dad, too. “Are you... not... happy?”

Dad sighed, his firm shoulders drawing more firm. “I haven’t been happy for a long time,” he admitted.

“Then... why?”

“Why did I stay with your mother?” Dad took a long sip. “Fear.”

“What in the world did you have to be afraid of?”

“Losing you.” Dad’s eyes met mine briefly before returning to his mug. “When you were about three, I had... an indiscretion.” Dad’s back straightened. “No, that was what your mother called it. I was in love. I’d met Irene at the club. She was a young lawyer, with a spice for life and an intensity. Smart as a whip, didn’t go in for all those social games. She just said it like it was and dared you to contradict her. When I went to tell your mother I was leaving her, she threatened to take you. I didn’t believe her at first. But she laid out proof of my affair with Irene. Emails. Phone records. Texts. She’d known the entire time. It apparently didn’t bother her as long as I kept it discreet, kept her perfect-picture image intact. I still didn’t believe her. But when I consulted with a divorce lawyer, they told me how hard it would be to get even joint custody of you. It wasn’t impossible, but it would be a lot of time in court, it would be ugly, and you’d be pulled into the middle of it. And even after a long fight, there was still a chance I’d have limited access to you. As much as I loved Irene, I couldn’t risk that.”

I felt as if my world had been turned on its side. I’d always known my father loved me, but I hadn’t really thought he cared much. “Is that... is that why you didn’t stand up to her?”

Dad nodded. “Every time I tried, she threatened me with the evidence again. I should have stood up to her then. There was no way she would have let that out and risked ruining her image. I realize that now. After a few years, it just became habit. It was my default to let her have her way when it came to you.”

His fingers tightened around the mug, his knuckles white.

“I’m so sorry, son.”

My eyes burned and my nose itched. I reached across to take my dad’s hand. “Thank you. It may be a little late, but it’s not too late.”

Dad squeezed my hand back. “I hope... if it’s not too much... I hope to earn the right to meet your family. To meet my grandbaby. But I understand that might take time.”

I cleared my throat. I was too full of thoughts and emotions to answer him in full now. And I needed to talk to Dusty and Josiah first. “I’m not... ready to introduce you to Josiah just yet. But... I think I will be soon. I don’t hold you responsible for Mother’s actions. And this... this means a lot.”

Dad nodded, chewing on his lip. He stood, saying, “Well, I should probably go, then.”

I coughed, hiding my swell of emotion. “Yeah, yeah. Right.” I walked him to the side door. “It was good to see you, Dad.”

Dad stopped halfway out the door and turned around. “Richard?”

“Yeah?”

He suddenly pulled me into a hug, and I was surprised to realize he was shorter than I was. When was the last time my dad had hugged me? When I was a kid?

“I love you, Richard.”

My voice was rough as I answered, “I love you, too, Dad.”

I felt fuzzy as I closed the door behind him. I couldn’t believe that Dad had finally stood up to Mom, and I was astounded by the secrets he’d been hiding for so long. Idly, I wondered what had happened to Irene, and if he intended to seek her out now that he was free of Mother.

The thought shocked me. I honestly felt happy that my father was leaving my mother. But wondering about Irene was probably useless. Their affair had been over thirty years ago. She was probably married with grandchildren of her own.

A sniffle behind me broke me from my thoughts. I turned to find Dusty and Josiah watching me, a single tear trickling down Josiah’s cheek.

“Come here, you two,” I said.

They both stepped forward into my arms and I held them close, letting myself lean on them for once instead of being the strong rock.

“How much did you hear?” I asked when we finally broke apart and I urged us into the kitchen.

“Just the last bit. But it looks like Dad is... okay?”

I nodded at Dusty. “More than okay, I think. But I didn’t want to make the decision without you.”

I shared what Dad had told me.

“That fucking bitch!” Josiah exclaimed when I told them about Mother’s threats.

“Let’s let him finish,” Dusty suggested. “And then we can all rant about her being a fucking bitch.”

When I finished, I said, “I’m all for letting Dad into our lives on a trial basis, but he doesn’t get a complete pass because of Mother’s manipulations. He should have stood up to her sooner. He has to prove this is a new pattern. A better pattern.”

Dusty nodded. “I completely agree. Your dad has always treated me well, but he never stood up to your mom when she was a bitch, and that doesn’t just go away.”

“So...” Josiah bit his lip. “Can we invite him to the baby shower tomorrow?”

My heart swelled at the willingness of these two men to accept—on a trial basis—the last possibly decent member of my family. “I think he’d like that,” I admitted.

“Done,” Dusty said. “Or it will be once you invite him.”

I smiled. “I’ll do that this afternoon. Speaking of afternoon, plans? I’m probably going to take Sammy out for lunch, since she’s already missed our breakfast date. Anyone want to join? Today can be a special occasion. Celebrating my dad not being an asshole and Sam’s sculpture selling.”

Josiah shook his head. “I’ve got a meeting with Kai.”

Dusty’s eyes widened. “Shit, Richard. You can’t leave. That dude still gives me looks and mutters about how my aura is negative and should be kept away from the baby. Don’t get me wrong,” he held out his hands to placate Josiah, “I can tell he’s totally awesome at what he does, I just don’t think he’s forgiven me for manhandling you when you were running away from Ruth’s accusations.”

Josiah giggled. “He’s gotten better. He actually said your chakras seemed more aligned the last time he was here.”

Dusty shuddered. “Please, Richard?”

“Why don’t you all go?” Josiah suggested. “It’s not like I’ll be here alone. Kai will be here for at least two hours. He said something about reekee? I don’t really know what that is, but I think his crazy stuff is fun.”

“I don’t know...” I gave Josiah an uncertain look.

Josiah laughed. “No, I’m serious. You both should go, or else Dusty here is going to be snorting in derision the whole time, and Kai will absolutely start giving him dirty looks and muttering about cleansing crystals.”

Dusty and I shared a look. Neither of us really wanted to be around if Kai was going to get deep into his mumbo jumbo. When he wasn’t focused on “creating a healing space,” he was pretty fun to talk to, though half the time I didn’t understand what he was saying, and Josiah was absolutely relaxed around him.

“You’ll call us if you even think the baby might be coming?”

Josiah rolled his eyes. “It’s not like he’s going to ninja kick his way out of my belly. Whenever he does come, we’ll have plenty of time.”

“Fine,” I agreed. “But we won’t be gone long.”

* * *

We wouldn’t have been gone long if Sam hadn’t sensed an easy mark in Dusty and dragged him into the pet store after lunch.

“Richard! Look at this little guy!” Dusty exclaimed over a tiny beagle-mix puppy, it’s ears longer than the rest of its body. “How can you say no to that face?”

I gave him a look, but Dusty was right. The puppy was fucking adorable. “We haven’t convinced Josiah yet,” I said.

“Pssh.” Dusty dismissed my concern. “Do you think he’s going to fuss much once he gets a look at this face?”

My resolve had been weak to begin with, and it was crumbling to dust now. To distract myself, I turned to find Sam, surprised that she wasn’t near any of the cages. “Sam?”

“Over here, Papa!”

Fuck. It didn’t matter how many times she said that, it fucking melted my heart.

I found her talking to the young lady working the sales desk.

“Papa, did you know that all the animals in the front window are rescues?”

I arched my eyebrows. She knew full well I was aware of that fact. That tone of voice was her salesgirl voice. She was about to try and convince me of something. “And?”

“And... they need homes.”

“Yes they do. We’ve discussed this many times.” I was curious where she was going with this.

“Well... you always say that the animals out front are the ones most likely to get adopted. But they’re not. Angie was telling me about the shelter they come from, and how half of the animals here are ones that haven’t been able to find homes, so they bring them out to pet shops where more people can see them in the hope that they’ll get adopted.”

“Yeah, this little guy here is going to have a hard time of it. All his brothers and sisters have been adopted, but he’s blind, and most people don’t want to learn the little things necessary to help him out.”

I twisted my head back and forth, not seeing what she was talking about.

Angie smiled and pointed to the neck of her shirt. “Here.”

A sleepy fuzzball head rested on the vee of her shirt, just under her chin. With his eyes closed, I couldn’t tell that he was any different from any other kitten.

“His name is Thomas,” Angie added.

“He doesn’t look like a Thomas,” Sammy protested. She was right. He had a fluffy white head with a pink nose. He didn’t look like a Thomas, or Tom, at all.

“Well, whoever adopts him will probably rename him,” Angie said with a sly look at me.

Dusty came up behind us. “Rich, I know what you’re going to say, but we absolutely have to get the puppy. He’s perfect. I just feel it in my bones. Oh my goodness, who is this cutie?” Dusty rolled from one thought to the next without any pause, reaching out to rub a finger on top of the fur ball’s head.

Thirty minutes later, we walked out with a kitten, a puppy, and all the accoutrements necessary for them.

“Josiah is going to kill us, coming home with—not one—but two animals.

Dusty rubbed the puppy’s ears. He was still debating on names. “I know. I really want to give him the puppy at the baby shower tomorrow with a giant gift ribbon that says: FOR BABY BOY, but it’s not like we can hide a puppy in the house for that long.”

“Actually...” I hadn’t texted my dad to invite him to the shower yet. I had a feeling that he’d do just about anything I asked him right now.

And that was how we arrived back home three hours after we left, only the kitten accompanying us. Kai had graciously stayed with Josiah until we got back, and I had been elected to run interference before Sam came in with the kitten.

Kai greeted me politely as I gave Josiah a kiss. “How was the reekee?”

“Reiki,” Kai corrected. “Josiah’s body is in harmony with his desire to have the baby soon.”

With a look, I asked Josiah for a translation.

“The baby could be here at any time.”

Well, we’d known that. That wasn’t new news. “Good. So you’re feeling pretty at one with the world, then, Josiah?”

Josiah squinted his eyes, cautioning me about making fun of Kai to his face. “I’d say I’m pretty at one with the world currently. Why? Are you going to mess that up?”

“Well...”

Sammy came bursting in. “Josiah! I got a kitty!”

Josiah’s eyes narrowed even further. Yep. Josiah was definitely not “one” with the world anymore.