Page 40 of This Time Around
“You loved her?”
“At one time. A long, long time ago.”
“Before Mommy?”
“Yes. This was before Mommy. A few years before.”
Bam cleared his throat. “Okay if I start the shave now?”
“Go right ahead,” Jack said.
Beside him, Paige went quiet again. He wondered what had triggered all the questions. She’d always been inquisitive, but this wasn’t her usual line of questioning. She’d been watching a lot of romance-themed shows with her grandma and one of her little friends in California, but maybe that’s what little girls did at this age. He’d have to look it up in one of his child-development books. It made sense she’d be starting to think about things like boyfriends and girlfriends, but it had never occurred to him she’d take any real interest in his life.
“Daddy?”
“Mm?” He was careful not to move his face as Bam glided the blade across his right cheek.
“That book we read? The one about bodies and how babies are made and stuff?”
“Mmhm.” No movement, very good.
“I was just wondering.” Her voice was small, but determined. “Did you do that stuff with other people besides mommy?”
“Whoa!” Bam jumped back, yanking the razor away from Jack’s face an instant before he flinched. “You’re lucky I saw that one coming, man.”
“Thanks.” Jack moved his jaw from side to side, relieved not to feel any nicks or cuts. He turned to his daughter. “Why do you want to know that, sweetheart?”
She shrugged. “I just do.”
Jack cleared his throat. “Well, that’s one of those questions that’s very personal. A lot of people don’t like to share that kind of information with other people.”
“Right,” she agreed. “But we’re not other people. We’re family.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Bam said.
Jack shot him a look. “Not helping.”
“Sorry, man.”
He turned back to his daughter. Her expression was earnest and he reminded himself he’d promised honesty. He might not have that much to offer as a parent, but he had that.
“Yes,” he said at last. “There were other people besides mommy. But this is a conversation we can have when you’re a little bit older, okay?”
“Okay.” She bit her lip. “How come?”
“Because love and sex and making babies—those are all really big and powerful things, but it’s important to be mature enough to think through all parts of it. The physical stuff, but also the emotional stuff. Does that make sense?”
Paige nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Totally.” Bam cleared his throat. “Good talk, guys.”
“Thank you for being part of it.” Jack sighed, pretty sure he’d never gazed upon his infant daughter and imagined serious conversations with her might include a guy sporting a neck tattoo of an octopus.
Bam looked at him in the mirror. “Mind if I start shaving again?”
“Yeah.” Jack glanced at Paige. “No more sex questions for right now, okay? After we’re done, we’ll go do some school clothes shopping for you and we can talk about anything you want.”
“Okay.”
