And oh. That’s how he wanted to play it. “You can,” I said. “And you do. And it’s very nice of you. Thank you.”
He softened a little. “You’re welcome, boy.”
I leaned forward and slammed my hand on the table. “Now cut the bullshit, Daddy. Spill it before I spill your blood.”
“Eep,” Kori squeaked. Then, “God, why do I get fear boners?”
Charlie pointed his steak knife at me. “You want to try me?”
I threw a french fry at his face. It bounced off his forehead. Then I reached across the table, grabbed it, and put it back on my plate, because I was convinced these french fries were made from angel tears and I could not waste even a single one of them. My fat guy priorities were in order.
“Ooh,” Kori breathed. “Motherfucking shots fired. Are you going to stab him, Daddy? Maybe you should wait until after the wedding. Oh, who am I kidding. I’ve never been to a stabbing before. Do it.”
But much to our surprise, Charlie did not stab me. To our further surprise, he deflated, the knife rattling against his plate as he set it down. He picked his napkin up and wiped his mouth, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and said, “There’s something I needed to talk to you about.”
“Ha!” I crowed. “I knew it! What did you do? Did you get someone pregnant? Am I going to be an uncle? Wait, none of that makes any sense. What the hell am I talking about?”
“None of us ever know,” Kori said, patting my hand.
“Dammit,” I said. “That’s unfortunate.” I looked back at Charlie. “Okay. I’m ready. Hit me with it.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Charlie said with a scowl, which obviously meant it was a huge deal. “I just wanted to clear something with you before… you know what? Forget it. It’s nothing.”
“Oh no,” I said. “I absolutely will not forget it. Charlie, you best tell me what it is right now or I swear to God, I will tell Sandy you’re keeping secrets from us, and we both know how that’ll go.”
“Damn queens,” he mumbled. “Using their powers for evil instead of good.”
“Exactly. So you may as well tell me now, because we both know I will find out.”
“It’s not…. It’s nothing big….”
And that’s when I knew I needed to stop messing around with him. If there was one thing I knew about Charles Danvers, it was that he never asked for anything. He did his very best to make sure that all of us had whatever we wanted, that all of us were taken care of, but he never asked for anything. For birthdays. For Christmas. Favors. Anything. This was… serious.
But the more I played it up, the more uncomfortable he’d become, and he didn’t deserve that. It was serious, yes, but he didn’t want it to be.
“You can ask me whatever you want,” I said lightly. “You know that. Anything for you, Daddy.”
He looked up at me, eyes narrowed, gauging my sincerity, which made me feel like a bit of an ass. Sometimes not having a filter wasn’t the best thing in the world.
Kori kept quiet, seeming to have picked up on how serious this was.
Charlie looked like he was struggling to find the right words. He scrubbed a gnarled hand over his face as he muttered something I couldn’t quite make out. But then I could see the resolve taking over, and I hoped whatever came next wasn’t bad. If Charlie was… sick, I didn’t know what I’d do. I couldn’t lose him. Not now. Maybe not ever.
So when he spoke and went a direction I didn’t expect, I was a little dumbfounded.
“You know when you sent out the wedding invitations?” he said, sounding extraordinarily grumpy. “And I RSVP’d and put I would be coming by myself?”
“Yes,” I said slowly, unsure of where this was going. “But you didn’t even need to do that, because you’re in my wedding, Daddy. You’re family, you know?”
That steel exterior cracked a little, and he gave me a small smile. “I know, boy. And it’s the best family I’ve ever had.”
Uh-oh. He needed to hurry the fuck up because I was about to have feelings.
“But it’s not about that,” he continued. “It’s… um.” He glanced between Kori and me, and suddenly it hit me that he was nervous. Never, in my entire time knowing Daddy, could I remember him being nervous. “If it’s not too much trouble. I’d like to… change. That.”
“Change what?” I said, sounding rather breathless, even to myself. I wasn’t sure if I was scared or not because I had no idea what was going on.
He swallowed thickly as he scratched the back of his neck.