Life Without Them (On Hold)

Chapter 13: Back to Business

"Who are you?" I ask with squinty eyes. "Mommy told us not to talk to strangers, and we've never seen you here before."

"I'm new here," he answers as he sits down. "And your mommy's right. You shouldn't talk to strangers. I'm Nurse Honey."

"Your mom named you Honey?" Cole asks in surprise.

"Hah, no buddy. But my girlfriend did a really long time ago. Guess it kinda stuck with me."

My head tilts to the side as I look at him. There's something weird about his left eye. The color around the skin is all wrong. And why does he have that stupid cap and mask on? He can't be a nurse here, new nurses don't get baby duty. And those muscles...

"You can take that stupid mask off," I huff. "I know it's you, Daddy Nate."

His eyes widen as he looks at me and chuckles. He pulls the mask down and now it's clearly Daddy Nate sitting in front of us.

"You're really smart, Morgan. Just like your mom. How did you know it was me?"

"The skin around your eye is weird. And your eyes look sad like the old pictures of Uncle Brandon. Your size and voice are kind of a dead giveaway too. We know you Daddy. Mommy made sure."

"Wow," he laughs. "You really are just like your mom."

"What do you want, Daddy Nate?" Cole asks with squinty eyes. "You said really mean things to Mommy last night."

"I know, kiddo," he sighs. "And I'm really sorry. I didn't mean any of it. Sometimes, I have a bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth."

"Uncle Raven has that problem," Cole tells him. "But Uncle Corey just threatens to put him on time out and he fixes it. Are you gonna fix it, Daddy?"

"Yeah, buddy, I'm gonna do everything I can to fix it. You and your sister mean the world to me, and I was a real idiot for running off at the mouth like that."

"Uncle Raven hit you, didn't he?" I ask with my eyes squinted.

Daddy Nate's eyes widen before he asks, "How did you know?"

"The color around your eyes. It's makeup right? Mommy uses it when she doesn't want us to know she's tired. She used a lot this morning."

"I really messed up last night, you guys," he sighs. "I always told myself that when I had kids, they'd always know that they were loved, and they'd never want for anything. I wasn't there for you guys all these years and now I go and do this. I really made a mess of things, huh?"

"Yeah," I answer truthfully.

"Do you think you guys could ever forgive me?"

"We know you didn't mean it, Daddy Nate," Cole pats his hand. "But you hurt Mama. So no." Then Cole punches Daddy Nate in the arm.

"Ow. Ok, I know I deserved that." he winces. "Who taught you how to hit like that?"

"Mama," we both answer together, right before I hit his other arm.

"Ow. Morgan! What was that for?"

"You hurt our feelings. And because Mama won't hit you in front of us, so we need to know you learned your lesson."

"Hitting people doesn't solve anything," he tells me.

"Neither does saying mean things just to hurt people." I turn up my nose at him.

"You're right," he sighs. "I'm really sorry, Morgan, Cole. I'll take whatever punishment you deem necessary. Just please, don't shut me out of your lives."

"Why would we do a silly thing like that?" I ask confused.

"You're our dad," Cole adds. "Uncle Marc says that daddies say stupid things all the time."

"Must be one of those times," I add.

"So, you guys forgive me?" he asks hopefully.

"No," we say together.

"Weren't you listening?" I ask with my hands on my hips.

"You hurt Mommy," Cole adds. "So Mommy has to forgive you."

"And then we'll think about it," I finish.

"Your mother's never going to forgive me for this."

"Of course she will silly." I shake my head at him. "Mommy loves you. You just have to show her how sorry you are."

"And if we know anything," Cole adds. "It's how to get on mommy's good side after we've done something bad."

"Cole, I think it's time for Operation Save Daddy Nate."

"So you guys are going to help me?"

"Duh!" we say together. "You're our dad!"

Man,boys really are stupid.