Learning to Trust - M.A. Innes Page 0,35
me to grasp the question.
“I don’t know what you mean?” How did what feel?
His expression said he thought I was a moron, but he was the one who was talking in circles. “Let me try this another way.”
“Please do.” I was being serious, but he snorted.
“When he’s little, do you get him things like milk or tell him when it’s time to clean up?”
“Yes, that’s what the grown-up does around a little. They want someone to take care of those kinds of details.” Tired of watching his ridiculous expressions, I picked up the remote and started wandering through the options to pick out a movie.
He was nowhere near done. “What about telling him what to do around the house and managing things for him?”
“That’s a ridiculous question.” I rolled my eyes when he giggled. “I did that for you, so that doesn’t say anything at all.”
That just earned me more giggles.
“Okay, okay, what about telling him when to go to bed?” Destin giggled again when I shrugged. “Do you realize you're his Daddy?”
For some reason, I started choking.
Coughing, I leaned forward and tried to catch my breath. When I could finally breathe, I looked over at Destin. “What?”
“I didn’t mean for you to almost die.” He was watching me like he had right after the concussion.
“I’m fine. I think I misunderstood you. What did you say?” Swallowing at the same time that he talked didn’t seem like a good idea, so I sat still as he charged in again and did my best to breathe carefully.
“You. Are. His. Daddy.”
“I’m not speaking a foreign language—stop talking like that.” Then it hit me. “No, I’m not.”
He started laughing so hard he nearly fell off the couch. “How…how did you…not realize…that?”
Making out what he was saying as he giggled and gasped for breath wasn’t easy, but as I pieced it together, I shook my head again. “Don’t be ridiculous. He just needs someone to manage things for him. Daddy implies a more intimate relationship.”
When he started to shake his head, I knew what he was going to say. “I realize it doesn’t have to be sexual. I read that. But what I’m saying is that we don’t have that kind of relationship.”
He wasn’t doing a very good job of stopping his laughter, but after several deep breaths he did better. “This doesn’t sound like just a friend who takes care of things like it was with me.”
I disagreed with that statement, but he continued before I could get the words out.
“You have rules for him, right? What’s one of them?” Destin was surprisingly serious for him, so I answered it.
“I pick out two of his meals each day and make those. He gets to pick one junk food meal. I know it sounds controlling, but all he eats is cereal and junk food if I let him.” I thought it was a logical answer, but Destin started giggling again.
“If all you’re going to do is laugh at me—”
“No. No.” Destin sat up and did his best to stop laughing. “Okay, I’ll behave. I’m sorry.”
“Fine.” Focusing back on the TV, I waited.
It didn’t take long. “So you’ve got rules for him. You’ve laid out what he’s going to eat. Which I’m assuming he likes since he didn’t call the cops on your ass. You’ve probably got a schedule laid out and you’ve made him a corner where he gets to be little in the living room and not where it’s something private he does on his own.”
“It’s not healthy to hide that part of yourself away like that. You would’ve been miserable if you hadn’t figured it out and had Ray there to help you.”
“And you.” He stretched across the couch and gave me a quick hug before flopping back again. “But I think you’re just not seeing how this is different.”
Excitable Destin could’ve been distracted, but this side of him was like a dog with a bone and I knew he wouldn’t let go. “What do you mean?”
“Um.” He thought for a moment. “Do you remember that time the girl at the other end of the hall thought we were a couple and said how cute we were?”
“Yes. She couldn’t understand how we could be just friends.” Well, not just friends, but we weren’t dating.
“Yeah, she was weird.” Destin calling someone else weird had me chuckling. “She was.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head. “But that’s not what I was focusing on. You couldn’t see what she