"Of course it is," he says. He reaches out, takes Tom's hand, holds it in his and lets that say most of it for him. There isn't even much to say that hasn't already been said a hundred times. All at once, he has no idea what he was so afraid of and he knows exactly what it was.

"I think," he says quietly, "if she had any idea what we're talking about, she'd say that you're daddy. For whatever that's worth."