to hear about it. She’s enjoying herself too much. I think she thinks this gets her a pass to do whatever she wants since she’ll never be a bigger disappointment than I am.
I think about whether I want to tell Dad right now. “What’s going on? Are you going to tell me I’m going to be a grandpa or something?” My dad jokes, and if I had started eating or drinking, I’d be choking right now.
Kaitlyn starts laughing so hard I kick her from under the table. “Ouch!” she complains.
My dad looks from her to me. “Is that it?” he says.
I wish he didn’t become the kind of father who pays attention. Right now, the one who barely knew what was going on in our lives would be preferable. I don’t want to lie to him, but I’m also not ready to tell him the truth. Not right now. Not when I’ve screwed it all up. “I’m so hungry!” I say in a poor attempt to change the topic.
“Nick Hunter, did you get a girl pregnant?” My father asks, not letting it go. I guess I wouldn’t let it go either if I were a father. Which I guess I will be. Damn.
I nod.
“When?”
“When did I get her pregnant? Isn’t that too much information?” I say, trying to lighten the mood, but the delivery of the joke is dry because this isn’t a joking matter.
My dad shakes his head. “When did you find out she was pregnant?” he says.
“Saturday,” I tell him.
“Yesterday?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Last week.”
“Who is she to you?” he asks.
I turn to look at Kaitlyn, who’s playing with the food on her plate as she pretends to not be hanging on to every word spoken.
“She’s just a girl,” I tell him, the lie rolling off my lips.
“Just a girl? A random hook-up?” my dad asks, his correct use of the word hook-up throwing me off.
I shake my head, allowing myself to be honest. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while,” I confess.
“How long?” he asks, and I feel like I’m in the middle of an interrogation.
“Eight months,” I tell him, then hear Kaitlyn start to choke.
She probably should’ve held off on drinking her water. “Eight months!” she says in disbelief. I guess, knowing me, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
“So, she’s your girlfriend?” my dad says.
I shake my head again. “Not really.”
“Are you sleeping with other girls as well?” my dad asks, and I hate that this is the conversation we’re having right now.
“No,” I say, my voice low.
Kaitlyn whistles. “She must be some kind of woman for you to drop the little chasers for her,” Kaitlyn says and she’s right. Amelia isn’t like any of my other hookups.
“How is she taking this?” Dad asks. I’m surprised he’s not angrier.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “She was freaking out. Then I screwed up, so right now she must be seething. And she probably never wants to see me again.”
My dad pins me with a questioning look. “Do I want to know?”
I shake my head, knowing he’d be more disappointed in me right now if he knew.
“You going to fix it?” He asks, but I know it’s less of a question and more of an expectation. I’m a Hunter. There’s a lot that comes with that name.
I nod.
I turn to Kaitlyn, surprised she hasn’t said anything. “Good. I know it seems impossible right now, but you can do this. I was your age when Colton came around,” he says, reminding me and making me feel like less of a failure.
“Right, right! I almost forgot,” I tell him, breathing a little easier now. “How did you react?” I ask, hoping he freaked out and called Mom all sorts of things too.
“I bought her a ring. We got married before Colton was born,” he responds.
Married? I hope he doesn’t think that’s the way I’m going to fix this. I never imagined myself being married. Didn’t imagine being a father either. “Look at how well that ended up.” With my mom betraying my dad and extorting my brother.
My dad sets down his fork and places his hands, palms up, on the dining table. Kaitlyn and I take that as a signal to put our hands in his. Dad loves to do this. I used to fight against it but it’s easier to just let it be. “I ended up with your brother and two of you. I couldn’t be happier. I wouldn’t trade that for