"Wait, what? Did you say kegels? Why are we talking about cereal?"
At this point Gavin was rattling the door handle so hard I wouldn't be surprised if the thing came off in his hand. I swung my legs off the side of the bed and threw on my boxer briefs, walking over to the door with Claire.
"Not Kellogs, Jenny, kegels," Claire laughed. "And they are the explanation for my awesome vagina."
I wanted to swat her cute little ass for the Jenny comment but didn't have time. She swung open the door to find Gavin standing there with his head against the door jam looking bored.
Claire knelt down and took him in her arms.
"Hey, bud, are you okay? Did you get scared or something?" I asked, ruffling the hair on top of his head.
"What were you guys doing in here?"
Geeze, nothing like getting right to the point.
Claire pulled back from him and looked up at me.
"Uh…ummmm," she stammered.
"Were you guys playing a game?" he asked.
I snickered at that, wondering if Claire would punch me if I told him about the rules of hide the salami. The first rule of hide the salami is never knock on a locked door during the game unless you are bleeding from the eyes or something is on fire. Like your hair. Anything else can wait until the game is over.
"Well, we were making a phone call. A very important phone call," Claire explained.
Gavin looked at her like he didn't believe her.
"It was a long-distance phone call," I explained. "And it was really big and important. We couldn't wait one more minute to make the phone call and once we made the call, we couldn't stop or it would have been…painful. So that's why we didn't answer the door when you knocked. Yep, really big phone call. Your mom screamed when she saw how big it was."
Claire reached up and pinched my thigh for that one, but I couldn't help it.
"Your father is over exaggerating how big this phone call really was," she said dryly.
My mouth popped open and Gavin looked at me funny. Claire just knelt there giving me an annoyed look, not even realizing what she just let slip.
A swarm of butterflies started flapping around in my stomach, and I wanted to reach down and scoop both of them up and jump around the room. We hadn't talked yet about telling Gavin who I was. I wanted more than anything for him to call me "Dad," but I didn't want to rush things with Claire. She had done this all on her own for so long, I didn't want to step on her toes. I wanted her to come to this decision on her own, knowing that she trusted me with Gavin.
I could see when the realization hit. Her face got horribly pale and I was a little worried she might barf on my bare feet for a second. She looked back and forth between Gavin and me several times before her eyes landed on mine and she quickly stood up.
"Oh my God. I'm sorry. I have no idea why I just blurted that out," she whispered, glancing back down at Gavin to see if he could hear her. He just stood there looking at both of us like we were idiots.
"Shit. I'm sorry! I'll just tell him I was kidding. I'll tell him I was talking about the phone call or something. Oh my God! I am such a dumbass," she mumbled.
I rubbed my hands up and down her arms to calm her.
"Hey, listen to me. It's fine. Actually, it's more than fine. I wanted to ask you about telling him but I was afraid you would think it was too soon," I explained.
She let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to do something you're not ready for."
"Baby, I was ready for this as soon as I pulled the stupid out of my ass and came to talk to you after that first week."
She leaned up and gave me a quick kiss before turning around to pick Gavin up.
"So, Gavin. Do you know what a daddy is?" she asked him.
He stared at me and thought about it for a few minutes. I started to get worried. What if he didn't want me as his dad? What if he thought I was too strict or too stupid? Shit, I shouldn't have made him clean up the toothpaste on his floor. Cool dads didn't make their kids do shit like that. Cool dads took their kids to strip clubs and let them throw big parties at their houses and smoked pot with them on Sunday afternoons while they picked their fantasy football teams.
"Is Papa your daddy?" he asked.
Claire nodded. "You are very smart, little man! Yes, Papa is my daddy. And Carter is your daddy."
We both stood there in silence while Gavin looked back and forth between us.
He is totally sizing me up right now.
"I'll take you to get a lap dance and smoke pot with you during fantasy draft week," I blurted.
Claire looked at me like I lost my mind.
"Can I call you punk-daddy?" Gavin finally asked nonchalantly, ignoring my outburst.
Gavin asked for a father and saw that he was good.
Yes, I quoted the bible and compared my son to God. Shut up.
Claire laughed at Gavin's request.
"How about you just call him 'Daddy'?" she asked.