"Mr. Conagher, thank you for coming, and nice to meet you."

It had always been Mrs. Conagher who came to the parent-teacher conferences, so the coming of the father was a very interesting novelty for Miss Wallace. Although he didn't look like anything out of the ordinary (he was perhaps a little shorter than average), she looked at him with great curiosity.

"Now, about your son Wilbur…" The teacher started to say, "I've got some little…uhm…concerns…"

"Is something wrong? Did he get in trouble?" He seemed soft-spoken. He didn't make a fuss or got defensive, like many parents did when she had to tell them that their son was a bully, or lazy or plain idiot. It didn't seem like he was going to flog the kid with the belt at home. Yet Miss Wallace was cautious and wondered what lied behind those manners.

"Oh, no, no, no. He is a very, how would I put it?, energetic boy, very full of life indeed, and with a lively imagination. He gets distracted easily, but gets very good grades. He reminds me of Minnie and Irene, when they were here. Nothing surprising, knowing that both you and your wife had a high education…I…really don't know how to put this, Mr. Conagher…Ahem…Mr. Conagher, are you a homosexual?"

That question evidently caught Engineeer off guard. He was silent for a second, unsure whether to laugh or ask the lady what the hell made her think that. He finally decided it would be better to keep it cool.

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"Yes, um, uh…, I have it understood that you and his mother are divorced."

"Yes?"

"And, well, in a series of essays and show-and-tells, Wilbur has mentioned that you now live with eight men…"

She had drawings to prove what she was saying. Drawings the school counsellor had asked him to draw, of his family. Mom and her boyfriend Steve on one side, him and his sisters in the center, and Dad and his eight weird friends on the other side.

"Yeah, uh, that's the crew I work with. We're not gay. We're…demolitioners. We just demolish stuff. Seriously, we do nothing weird or nothin'." Engineer showed her a calm smile which she politely returned.

"And he has mentioned that his father has a special friend who is always wearing a mask and likes to be very close to kids and…"

"That's Pyro and he's not a perv, I assure you. He's just weird. But that ain't a crime, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, I assure you this is as uncomfortable for me as it is for you. Please, don't be offended. I just want to understand Wilbur's lack of interest in making friends of his age. He's always around the teachers, or adults, and his interests…I saw that in Minnie, too. She also had hobbies which were not proper for a girl: metalworking, shooting, tinkering with cars…"

"Not proper for a girl?" Engineer rose an eyebrow at this point. "Does my boy need to kick a ball around or my girl to play with dolls so they can be considered normal kids?"

"No, no, of course not. I just…well, Mrs. Conagher has expressed me her concerns that you were teaching the children inadequate things, and…"

"She did?"

"And, uh, well, not that I believe all the horror stories she told me about you…"

"Like me being gay?"

"But, please, Mr. Conagher, I would like you to stop and consider what kind of example you are giving to your children…"

Irene, Minnie and Wilbur were waiting in the van, for him to take them to get some ice cream if he was happy with that he heard or to the reformatory if he was not. When their father came back, he closed the door and they waited for him to get moving, but he stayed there, sat, his hands on the wheel.

"…Be honest. Am I being a bad dad?" He asked after a long silence.

"Uh, why? What did she tell you?" Wilbur asked.

"She basically told me that I am spoiling you all with my engineering things and my gayness."

"Your what?" Irene laughed so much that her glasses steamed.

"Yeah, my gayness. Is your mother telling around that I am gay?"

"No?" Minnie replied.

"Do I look like one?"

"You look like you're a second-hand car seller or the owner of a barbecue, but, a gay? No. The Raquel Welch poster on your workshop proves you're not."

"Hm." Engineer drummed his fingers on the wheel. "But she still might be right. I'm not around much. Not only because of your mother and her new man. I know I work too much, and miss birthdays and holidays…And when we're together, I guess it's true that I shouldn't be building and teaching you shooting. I should be like all the other dads out there and just take you to the movies, and ballet classes, let you girls put make up on me and paint my nails, and play board game, take you fishing—"

"Don't let her or anyone get under your skin." Irene cut him off.

"Yeah, you're doing fine." Minnie got up from the rear seat to embrace him from behind. "I'll forever be thankful that you taught me how to shoot a gun and make my own toys instead of letting me be a spoiled brat like all the girls in my class."

"It's very useful." Her sister nodded.

"And it's lots of fun!" Wilbur said.

"We don't do that kinda stuff with Steve." Minnie said. "He's always telling Mom that I'm a tomboy and I'll never get married if I don't let my hair grow and stop cursing like a sailor."

"Cursing like a sailor's so damn fun!"

"So…your ol', crazy Pops is not ruining your life?" Engineer smiled at them.

"Nah, you're fine." Irene said. "You're a killing machine, so what? At least you're not like Cissy Sanders' dad, who's the mayor, sits on front row at the church and all, but everybody knows he yells at Cissy and her brothers at home and cheats on his wife."

"I love you, kids. Remember that when you become deranged criminals like me and every damned father in our family tree."

He guessed he had earned that ice-cream. There were times when Defense were caught with their defenses down and they had done a great job assisting him. Now he was sure that he had educated them well after all.