Page 56 of C is for Comfort

He stares at me.

“I want to get to know you better, Corey.”

“You’re an A and E doctor?”

“You know I am.”

“So why does it feel like you’re a shrink all of a sudden?”

“I’m not trying to be a shrink, Corey. I’m trying to be a friend and a good Daddy. Or we can fuck, and you can go home, back to what’s troubling you. It’s your choice. Whatever you need, sweet boy.”

Corey sucks in a heavy breath. “Alfred and Sadie called this morning todemandto spend the day with Lexi and have her for a sleepover.”

“Demand?” I ask as I go back to kneading Corey’s foot.

“Yeah. They never ask. They just assume we’ll drop everything the moment they ask.”

“Did you have plans?”

“No, nothing specific, but that’s not the point, is it?”

“No.”

“I don’t feel like I can ever say no to them. They’re her grandparents, and they’ve got a right to be in her life. It’s just…” He tightens his hands into fists. “I wish they were presentallthe time, not just when it suits them. It’shardbringing her up on my own.”

“Your brothers help?”

Corey nods. “Yeah. They’re great. Blake saves me a fortune in childcare fees by being able to pick Lexi up from school most days. Both he and Archie play with her so I can get schoolwork done. They babysit so I can go out every so often. My parents are only a phone call away too. So I guess I’ve got it easier than a lot of single parents, but that doesn’t make it easy. I just… feel guilty all the time.”

“Guilty?”

“I stretch myself thin, but it’s never enough. I can’t be there for Lexi all the time and be a good teacher, so I’m doing a lousy job of both. I snapped at Blake today when he was just trying to help, so I’m a shitty brother too.”

“I doubt that.” My heart aches for him. “What about Lexi’s mum? Does she help?”

“No.” Corey’s monosyllabic response is full of anger.

“Would you tell me about her?”

He shrugs. “What’s to tell? She left before Lexi turned one, and I haven’t heard from her since.” He looks suddenly older, hurt etching deep lines into his forehead and around his eyes. “Do you really want to know the whole story?”

“Yes.”

“Caroline and I were best friends in secondary school and sixth form. Not boyfriend and girlfriend—we both dated other people—but we hung out together and were always there for each other. A shoulder to cry on through every breakup. We ended up going to the same university and even ended up in the same halls of residence. It was really nice to have someone I knew there.”

“Helped you feel less homesick?”

“Yeah. It was the first time Archie, Blake, and I hadn’t lived together. We thought it was a great idea to go to different universities so we could be individuals rather than the ABC triplets.”

I raise my eyebrows. “The ABC triplets?”

He laughs, but the sound is hollow and lacks humour. “That’s what everyone called us. Either that or the alphabet triplets.” He rolls his eyes. “Everyone thought it was funny, but the jokes got boring pretty quickly.”

“Understandable.”

“But I wish wehadall gone to the same place. I missed them, and maybe if we’d been together, Blake wouldn’t have failed.”

“He failed?”