I stand up with the phone and tread to the other side of the room briefly.
“Hey,” I say quietly. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Tori says. “Is there any chance you could grab Gavin from daycare today?”
“Daycare?” I question, looking down at the date on my watch. “It’s Tuesday, though.” He only goes to daycare on Mondays and Fridays.
“Yeah, a few things came up today so I brought him in. They said it was fine,” she continues.
“Yeah, babe, but we can’t afford daycare for more than two days a week, remember?” I whisper the last part into the phone so neither Ever nor Cammy will hear me.
“Yeah but—why are you whispering?” she asks.
I look over at Ever, who is staring attentively at me. “I’m at a job site and the clients are here. Look, we can talk about this tonight, but yes, I’ll pick him up.”
“Thanks,” she says before hanging up.
I should have known today wouldn’t go smoothly with her. It’s not like there’s something in the air that happens on this particular day, but she seems to be a fan of repetition. I can always predict her moods by the times of the year, the days of the week, even the hours of the day. I’ve been left wondering if it could be considered bi-polar, but when I’ve mentioned it, it hasn’t gone well.
“Who was that? Your wife?” Ever asks. “Do you have another child?”
I sit back down next to her and chuckle through nerves. “Yes, that was my wife and yes, we have a child. His name is Gavin, and he’s one.”
“So, technically, I have a brother?” Her face illuminates with something I can’t consider to be a smile but something that doesn’t look like disappointment either. “I’ve always wanted a brother or a sister, but Mom and Dad said it was a lot of work just adopting me.” I’m your dad. Me. That right was never given to me.
“You know, I have a big brother and he’s a pain in the butt, but I’m glad I have him. Although, I never did get all of that attention to myself,” I explain to her.
“I’ve had all of that attention to myself for thirteen years, and I’m over it.” She takes the remote from the coffee table and starts flicking through the channels.
“So, you’re probably not enjoying all of this attention from Cameron and me right now?”
“Nope,” she says.
“What about Casper, the ghost? Does he pay any attention to you?”
Her head snaps to the right, looking at me with a “How dare you say something like that?” face, and I’ll be damned, the girl is smiling. There it is…she has my fucking smile too. When she takes the moment to go through the motions of removing the smile from her face, she continues, “No, he doesn’t like me very much, and I’ve only been around for a week.”
“Well, I don’t like him either,” I mutter into her ear.
“You haven’t even met him, have you?”
“Don’t want to.”
“You still love her, don’t you?” Ever asks me.
“Say what, kiddo?” I pull back with a questioning look.
“Cameron. You still love her, don’t you?”
“You pretty much saw us both in the same room for less than thirty seconds. What in the world would make you say something like that?”
“You watched her walk away. That’s what happens in the movies. The guy always watches the girl he loves walk away.” This conversation seems to have sparked some kind of thrill within her, and as much as I don’t want to squash it…
“I haven’t seen Cameron in almost thirteen years. I haven’t spoken to her at all. After you were born, we did what we promised each other we would do, and made ourselves successful in case we ever saw you again, so you could be proud of us. Unfortunately, that meant we had to go our own separate ways. But, yeah, we loved each other, a lot.”
“Must have been a lot, you know, for you to forget to use a condom,” she says, looking back at the TV.
I take the remote from her hand and shut the TV off. “Okay, I get it. You’re pissed. Your parents died. I’d lose my mind if that happened. But we never meant to hurt you. We wanted you to have the life you deserved, and I’m sorry it turned out the way it did, but I promise you if there’s anything I can do to fix whatever is broken, I will. Ever, I promise you.”
A shuddered breath breaks through her as Cameron reopens the door she had walked through ten minutes ago. “Everything okay?” I mouth.
She forces some pitiful fake smile and nods her head. “AJ, I know I pulled you away from work this morning. Am I keeping you?” Hunter can assume I’m dealing with something important after Cammy’s sudden reappearance.
“Did you tell my parents what—”
“Oh my gosh, no. That’s not my place.”
“I can tell them if you’d like,” Ever says, grinning. Ugh, that grin. It’s mine!