Page 20 of Wrestling with Daddy

Ken

Do not ‘duh’ me when you haven’t answered the question to begin with

Nathan

you’re no fun, Daddy

but fine

I’m embarrassed because every time I think of texting you I remember the call last weekend

and it’s… embarrassing

I don’t know what came over me

you must think I’m a mess

Ken sighed. He’d suspected this would come up sooner or later.

A part of him was glad it had come up already, that it wouldn’t be clouding every interaction they were to have. Another part had wished they could talk about it face-to-face, where they could see what was truly there, behind each pause and inflection in their voices.

Which gave him an idea.

One that would have his niece quit all the teasing about his age and being a silver fox when he clearly wasn’t there yet.

Ken

How do you feel about video calls?

Nathan

depends on why you’re asking

Ken

I want to see you when I tell you there’s nothing to be embarrassed about

Nathan didn’t answer, didn’t even type anything for the next five minutes.

Ken forewent his phone, leaning down to scratch behind Plum’s ears as the cat rubbed around his ankles repeatedly.

“Hey girl, how do you feel about spending a few days with your cousins? You’re gonna behave, right?”

From what his niece told him, the cat certainly behaved more affectionately with them—his niece and her girlfriend—than she did with him. When given the chance, though, Plum always picked him.

Cats were strange creatures, was the only thing Ken had come to learn ever since adopting the one-eyed cat.

Nathan

I’m going to regret this, but okay

Ken frowned, the incoming text distracting him and gaining him an indignant huff from Plum when he stopped petting her.

For good measure, he gave her a final scratch before sitting back down on the couch.

He could spend hours wondering why Nathan thought he was going to regret anything, but he was tapping on the video camera icon before he could get even more gray hairs.

The connection was spotty at first, taking time to connect and let him see something that wasn’t a black box or blurring pixels as Nathan moved the camera around.