One Admission
Danny carefully balanced the three bags of groceries he was carrying and unlocked the door. He pushed it opened with his foot and stepped inside.
"Jack! Sean! Can you come here a minute!" He called through the house as he closed the door behind him with his shoulder. He pocketed his keys and headed through to the kitchen, as he got there and placed the groceries on the counter, Jack and Sean came down the stairs.
"Hey Dad." Jack greeted him cheerily, entering the kitchen first.
"What's up?" Sean asked following closely behind.
"Can you guys help me unpack these groceries? Then I want to talk to you about something." He explained as he put a bottle of milk away in the fridge.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked at hearing they needed to talk.
"Nothing's wrong, I just need to tell you guys something." Danny assured him as he put a box of cereal in the pantry. The three of them made quick work of putting away the rest of the groceries then made their way over to the couch. Jack and Sean sat together on one sofa and Danny sat across from them in a chair.
"So, what's going on?" Asked Sean.
"There's something I need to tell you guys." Danny started.
"You already said that." Jack told him becoming slightly concerned.
"Right…" Danny nodded and took a deep breath to ready himself.
"I've been seeing someone." He confessed.
"Seeing someone for what?" Sean asked unfazed. Danny looked between his two boys and realised that he hadn't made himself clear.
"No, not…I'm seeing someone romantically, I'm…."
"You're dating?" Jack interrupted, surprised and upset.
"Already?" Sean asked equally surprised and distressed.
"Hey, I loved your mom, I will always love your mom. You guys know that right?" Danny asked needing to know they understood.
"We know." Jack confirmed.
"I didn't plan this, I never thought I would feel this way about her, I…"
"Who?" Sean interrupted.
"Baez." Danny admitted.
"You're dating your partner?" Jack asked even more surprised.
"Well, no, she's not my partner anymore. We got caught, so we're both getting new partners." He informed them.
"Does Grandpa know?" Sean asked, eager to know.
"Yeah, I went and told him this morning, after our captain told us she was starting the paperwork to assign us new partners."
"How did he take it?" Jack asked curious.
"Actually, he took it pretty well. He's been there, he lost your Grandma Mary and he knows how hard it is to let someone in after a loss like that. He understands why I wanted to keep it quiet." He explained. The boys nodded and fell silent, Danny looked back and forth between them to see how were taking it.
"How long have you been seeing her?" Jack continued with the questions.
"A little over three months." Danny told them honestly and watched them take it in.
"Do you love her?" Sean asked, not sure what he wanted the answer to be. Danny looked at his sons and for a moment considered lying, he knew he could just tell them he wasn't sure or didn't know but after deliberating for a few moments he decided they deserved the truth.
"Yes." He finally answered, the boys remained silent.
"Are you guys okay?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah, we're just surprised I guess." Jack tried to articulate how they were feeling.
"We want you to be happy, it's just…" Sean began to add but trailed off.
"We didn't think you'd be happy so soon." Jack finished for him, knowing what his little brother was trying to say. Danny's heart broke as he watched his sons struggle with the news.
"I miss Linda everyday, loving Baez doesn't take anything away from the twenty wonderful years I had with your mother." He tried to explain.
"It's ok Dad, we are glad you're happy, we just need some time to get used to it." Jack reassured his father and Sean nodded in agreement.
"Okay." Danny replied somewhat relieved.
"Can we go?" Sean asked.
"Of course." He told them and watched as they headed back upstairs.
Once they had gone he went over to the fridge, opened it and pulled out a beer. He opened a drawer, got out a bottle opener and opened the bottle. He placed the opener back in the drawer and as he walked back to the sofa he got out his phone. He sat down and took a long sip of beer as he unlocked his phone and opened the phone app. He went to favourites, tapped Baez's name and put the phone to his ear. He sat back and took another sip of beer as he listened to the phone ring.
"Hey." Came her soft voice on the other end of the line.
"Hey." He replied as a smile formed on his lips.
"I told them." He cut to straight to the point.
"How did they take it?" She asked nervous.
"As well as could be expected, I guess. They were definitely surprised, a little hurt that I could love someone else so soon after their mother but they're ok. They want me to be happy it's just a bit sooner than anybody expected." He told her as he lay back on the sofa resting his head on one of the arms.
"Are you okay." She asked knowing it had been a difficult conversation to have.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I wish you were here." He said a smile returning. He kicked of his shoes and put his feet up on the other arm of the sofa.
"Me too." She replied grinning.
"You know, we don't have to sneak around anymore." He pointed out.
"Why don't we wait until after you've told the rest of your family before we going shouting it from the rooftops." She suggested chuckling.
"Fine." He begrudgingly agreed.
"It's only four days till Sunday." She reminded him.
"And you've already told the three most difficult people." She added.
"Have you met my sister?" He joked and she laughed.
"We're almost there." She reassured him.
"You're right. Three down, four to go."