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"Wait. Your mom was a vet, too?"
"She was a lot of things. Vet. Farmer. Pilot. Had a fucking PhD. She was the original boss bitch and the reason why I love animals so much."
I smile fondly. "Anyway, she met these guys. The three of them became good friends. And so she asked them if they'd be willing to, you know, give her some of their sprog."
Col winces. "I thought we agreed to never use that word again."
"I don't recall agreeing to that," I say with a laugh, even though I totally do, and I'm just messing with him.
"Please go on."
"All right. So, long story short, the guys agreed to give her their…sperm." I grimace. "See, I don't think that word's any better."
"Move along. I know what you mean."
"I thought you liked hearing me talk."
"I'm having second thoughts."
We share a laugh. "Okay, anyway, they agreed to provide adonation, and then, less than a year later, I popped out of her clacker."
Another wince, followed by, "Oh, wow."
"The thing is, Mum kept this all to herself. Not even Gran knows who my father is."
"Why?"
I shrug. "Dunno. Apparently, Mum started getting a bit of a reputation around town for being a bit of a…" I shake my head. "It's such bullshit. I fuck around and people slap me on the back and treat me like I'm some sort of legend. Which, to be fair, I am, but not because of that. But if a woman sleeps around…"
"She gets labeled."
"Exactly." I run a hand through my hair. "I think Mum just wanted to do things her way, and for whatever reason, that involved Andrew and Gus."
"So, wait. Which one is your dad?"
"That's what I don't know," I say. "I went to the US last year to visit Gus. The three of them had lost touch, and Andrew had passed away many years ago. Mum left me a letter in her will, asking me to give it to Gus."
"And?"
"I gave it to him and watched as he read that there's a fifty-fifty chance he might be a father to a twenty-six-year-old legend from Down Under."
I may not be able to see his face, but I canfeelCol smiling…and trying not to.
"We agreed to keep in touch and take some time to figure out what our next steps are. We both did a DNA test, but we agreed to hold off on sharing the results until we figured out what we both wanted. Like, if it turns out he is my biological dad, what does it actually change? I've still lived my whole life without a father, and Gus has his own life. He runs a vet clinic called Vet Shop Boys."
"Love the name."
"Yeah. Me, too. And he's got a great partner, Tate. The three of us talked it out and decided to let some time pass before we do anything."
"What would you like to do?" Col sits up and gives me a long, considered look. "Do you want to know if Gus or Andrew are your dad, or would you prefer not knowing?"
"Hard to say. Part of me is curious, but I also don't know if I'm ready to know. I mean, if it's Andrew, nothing changes because he's passed away. But if it's Gus, he's very much alive…"
"What does your gut tell you?"
"Initially, I thought it was Gus. I mean, the guy is fucking hot for his age. Like Channing Tatum level hot."
Col whistles. "Damn."
