Realistic or Modern More Than We Bargained For

[PunkPrince]

Caitlyn sat in front of a mirror, brushing out her tangled brown hair. She was supposed to meet up with Derek in an hour or so, and she wanted to make sure she looked nice. She turned to look out the trailer window, the blinds still mostly closed. Though the circus had been on a break for several months, they still lived very much the same as always, the trailers parked and scattered amongst the field. Aiden, the ringmaster, had bought the space years ago, but building on it would have been pointless, due to how rarely they were there. It was fenced, but that was all. It rested on the edge of the city, within walking distance of the shops and restaurants scattered about it. The trailers they lived in provided enough space for them as it was, each one large enough to accommodate several people, though most only housed one or two.

She hadn't been born there, or spent her life planning to end up where she had. She had run from her aunt and uncles house in the middle of the night at seventeen, having only a duffel bag of belongings and fifty dollars to her name. She'd slept on the street for a while before bumping into Mara, who became her closest friend. When they had first met, Caitlyn had been terrified of her. Mara towered over her by more than a foot and could probably snap Caitlyn in half if she wanted to.

But she hadn't. She had brought Caitlyn into the group, shortly after which she had been given the job of the cooking, and then some time after, performed in the show as a fire eater and a sword swallower. It had gotten her away from her uncle, and gained her a new family, one that she would die for if she had to. She had gotten her children from it.

The trailer door opened. Ryan, Caitlyn's only biological child, stepped inside. They glanced at her for a moment, and then drifted past her and into their own room without a word. Caitlyn sighed. She hadn't introduced Derek to Ryan yet, or Ivy, or Lacey. She hadn't even told him about them. She had no idea how he would react.

The twins entered then, likely having been following after Ryan, and after Lacey had given her a small, slightly nervous smile, they ventured into Ryan's room as well. They were older than Ryan by a year, but they had nearly always followed after them. When they had first been taken in, Caitlyn had suspected that it was just because they were somewhere new and were attempting to explore it with somebody who wasn't a complete stranger. As they'd gotten older it had become more apparent that Ryan was just naturally a leader, more outgoing and less fearful than Ivy and Lacey.

She couldn't exactly blame her children for behaving the way they were. Her last boyfriend, Bruce, had not treated them well. He apparently had been less than pleased with the rest of the group too, but had remained cordial with them. She had told him about her children and their various unusual features, not wanting him to be shocked once they met. He had seemed fine with them, and when she was around, seemed to get along with them. Ryan had only been fourteen at the time, the twins having just turned fifteen. It was when she had left them alone that things had gotten bad.

He had made constant jabs at them for their features, and smacked the twins around a good amount, frowning upon Ivy's shy nature and Lacey's over-exuberance. He had tried numerous times to get them to agree to be separated, though they never agreed, and he had become violent in an attempt to get his way, to get the twins to be "normal."

And then there was what he had done to Ryan, which was, in some ways, worse. He had known that they had originally been marked as male when they had been born, and the name was boyish too. He had wanted Ryan to behave as such, and had frequently beaten them in an attempt to get them to "butch up." And of course, Ryan never did. Not really. They had, for a time, attempted to. But Ryan was Ryan, and they just weren't masculine, no matter how hard they tried to be.

Shortly after they had met, Ryan had started their now usual monthly cramps and occasional bleeding, which had, most of the time, left them in pain and confined to the trailer. Their chest also started growing. It hadn't been expected, nobody had really known what to expect from Ryan during puberty. Even the doctors had told them they could only wait and see what happened.

This had only made Bruce even angrier, and when Ryan had been confined to the trailer--already in enough pain--he had fought with them and, more than once, punched them as hard as possible in the abdomen and then kicked them between the legs, saying, "If you're not a man, that shouldn't hurt you." Ryan had lied to their mother when she returned to the trailer and found them on the ground, saying that they had fallen.

Caitlyn had finally realized what was happening when she had accidentally walked into Ryan's room while they were getting dressed, Ryan having failed to close the door all the way. Ryan had been only in a bra and a pair of jeans, so the dark bruises on their body were exposed. She had gone to the twins, too, and of course, they had been hiding their own bruises. The three had, at that point, burst into tears and confessed everything to her.

When Caitlyn had confronted Bruce, he had tried to defend himself by saying that he didn't like the stares the three attracted. Caitlyn had screamed at him for well over an hour, hit him in the mouth, and kicked him out. She hadn't heard from him since, and the experience had left her children scarred both inside and out.

Caitlyn finished with her hair and then gently rapped on the bedroom door and stepped inside. The three had been sitting on the bed, whispering about something, no doubt about the unknown man Caitlyn had been seeing. "I'm leaving soon," she told them. "I'll be back by ten."

Ryan gave a small nod, but none of them said anything. Caitlyn stepped closer to them. "He's not like Bruce," she said softly, running a hand through Ryan's bright ginger hair. "I promise you that. I was going to tell him tonight. And if he did end up like Bruce, the three of you would tell me. You don't have to meet him right away if you don't want to. You don't even have to be alone with him if you don't want to. I could--"

Lacey, of all people, cut her off. "We just want you to be happy," she said softly. "Go enjoy yourself and stop worrying about us." She practically pushed Caitlyn from the room. Caitlyn sighed, glanced back at the three, and then headed out.

Outside, the group was winding down. Most were in their trailers, the slight end-of winter chill coupled with the darkening sky keeping everyone inside. Vivienne, the doll-like woman, was lingering outside the leopard pen, likely having just fed the large cats, judging from the large hunk of meat hanging from one of the cat's mouths. She waved halfheartedly at Caitlyn, and then went back to observing the animals. Vivienne was the one who worked with the cats the most, having trained them and being in the process of training the cub that pranced gleefully about the enclosure. Vivienne herself was proportioned in a way that was nearly impossible, only having room for a single kidney in her body.

Caitlyn's mind had drifted as she watched the cats, and she didn't notice Mara approach her from behind, despite the woman's 6'8 frame. "Are you all right?"

Caitlyn jumped slightly and whirled around to face her friend. "I'm fine," she said softly, gazing back toward her trailer. "They worry me, that's all."

Mara smiled softly. "I understand. But I'm sure Derek's really nice. They'll adjust to him once they meet him. And if they don't want to be alone around him after what happened with Bruce and you can't be there, I can help. You go and enjoy your date."

And then Caitlyn was off again, slipping around the gate and closing it behind her. Mara had been pissed when she had found out what Bruce was doing. She might have killed him had nobody stopped her. She certainly got close enough. She had helped Caitlyn raise her children, as had the rest of the troupe. Mara had been particularly involved, being Caitlyn's best friend, and she had been ready to defend them since before they had been born.

Caitlyn pulled her jacket tighter around her slender frame as she headed up the sidewalk. She eventually arrived at the restaurant that she and Derek had agreed on and settled on a bench outside the doors to wait for him.

 

[RIPSaidCone]

Derek gave himself another spray over with the finest deodorant he had. Taking a step away from the long mirror he had built into the wall of his bedroom, he turned his head in an array of different angles. Checking his hair and features from each of before mentioned angles, he wanted to make sure he looked as good as he could possibly look before heading out of the house. Caitlyn was the first woman he'd been seeing after Lisa's..untimely departure, jaw tightening at the thought he pushed them away. The last thing Lisa would want would be for him to mope around obsessing over her, she would want him to move on and so that was exactly what he was doing, not just for himself of course but for his family. Lewis needed a mother and Sarah needed a maternal figure in her life as well, not as much as the youngest of his three but he knew she would be much happier in the long run if she had another kind woman in the house to speak to. Chloe..he already knew wouldn't take well to it given her first reaction upon him telling the three about who he was seeing was to groan and storm out of the living room.

But that wasn't her fault, she hadn't been able to cope with the loss of her mother as well as Sarah had. Chloe had always been the impulsive, demanding and even aggressive one of the three, she didn't find it fair that the world had to take her mom away from her out of everyone else who could've had it done to them instead. But despite all that, Derek knew his two daughters and son better than they knew themselves most likely, and he knew for a fact that they would benefit from having a maternal figure in their lives once again. This was for the good of all the Dunhams, and Caitlyn was the perfect candidate; not just for him but for them as well.

Of course there was then the thought of Caitlyn herself's reaction to the news, he was planning on telling her tonight about the three kids he'd been keeping secret all this time. He felt terrible for admitting that he had been somewhat afraid previously that Caitlyn would be turned away from him by learning of his children and now deceased wife, as it implied a small amount that he hadn't fully trusted Caitlyn in times gone past, but he was confident enough in her wonderful, loving personality that she would be able to not just cope but accept the news. Perhaps even with open arms, she really was a fantastic person; both Lisa and Sarah had told him before that he had great observational skills when it came to people. He had a large number of great friends, he got along with most people he met and his kids had inherited the social butterfly attitude of their father's, even Chloe was good at socializing albeit in her own unique and often illegal way much to his dismay.

"What'cha thinking about?" He suddenly heard from the doorway to his bedroom, snapping him out of his thoughts as he turned to see Sarah; his oldest watching him with a keen expression. Brow raised and arms folded across her unbuttoned flannel jacket and gray tank-top as she leaned against the doorframe, a smile instantly swept across his face. She was almost exactly like her mother when she was younger, the picture of feminine beauty. "How'd you know I'm thinking about something?" He asked with a knowing smirk, he knew how she knew, but it was a little thing they often exchanged for fun.

"You've got your intense-thought expression on. You usually have it on when you're thinking about what shirt to wear." She chuckled lowly, well knowing her own reference to her dad's obsession about looking clean and formal. Something he'd undoubtedly received from his time in the Army, "For a badass, you're pretty self-conscious." She added on, her previous chuckle turning into a full-fledged laugh as she recalled all the other times she'd seen him like this; mostly just before he went out on dates with Caitlyn. His routine had only intensified given the importance of this particular date however and Sarah found it amusing to no small extent to see him like this. Though at the same time it clearly brought out sympathy from her as her expression changed upon hearing her dad's silence.

Her smile changed into a softer, more reassuring one. Exactly like her mother would as she approached Derek, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him into a hug. "You'll do great, someone would have to be stupid not to love you." She muffled into his side, Derek chuckling in response as the two parted. Sarah patting down his suit as well as she could and giving him a look over. "You're too kind to me, Sarah. You think I like good?" He asked curiously, Sarah nodding quickly after. "You look perfect, I just hope she'll respond well to y'know..finding out about us." The girl continued, rubbing the back of her neck, she was good-hearted like that, always wanting everything to go well for everyone, especially now that it was her own dad. "She will, trust me. Plus you say that as if your old man won't be able to charm her into loving the idea even if she doesn't." He joked, the two leaving the room as Sarah shook her head with a giggle. "Yeah, right. If anything you'll make her hate it more."

The two Dunhams went downstairs, hearing some rap music or whatever it was blaring from Chloe's room. She hadn't left it for most of the day once hearing about her dad's important date, this hadn't really surprised him or anyone else in the house. Even Lewis knew a good deal about his older sister's views on the subject by now, Derek looked to Sarah as the two got off the steps and went into the living room. Lewis was busy sitting on the sofa, playing on the PS4 they had sitting below the flatscreen, he was in his PJ's and was pretty invested in whatever game he was playing. Some shoot-them-up game like Call of Duty or something like that. "Make sure your sister doesn't try sneak out the house when I'm gone." He reminded Sarah, the girl nodding with a knowing smile. "I know, I know. She won't flee into the night, I'm gonna order us some pizza to persuade her to stay."

Derek shook his head with a grin at that, "You're scarily good at manipulating people, you know that?" He replied, food had always been a very good motivator for the middle child of the bunch and Sarah knew her slightly younger sister well enough to know that pizza was both her favorite and a particularly effective motivator for her to stay in one desired place. Sarah sat down next to Lewis who really didn't seem all that bothered by what was happening elsewhere, Derek doubted that he'd even noticed the person sitting next to him, he had his headset on and was talking to some of his friends from school. Complaining that one of them was 'noobtubing' whatever that meant.

He leaned down and slid the headset off of the smaller boy's head. Lewis giving an adorable little glare up at him as he paused his game, "Daaad I'm busy!" He whined, eager to return to what he was playing on the TV. Derek folded his arms and stood back up straight in the front of the living room, looking over Sarah and Lewis. "I need you to understand..and tell me that you understand when I say that you'll be off the Playstation and either in bed or watching a movie with your sisters by the time I get back. Understood?" He questioned with a raised brow, a very demanding expression across his face, he could be rather intimidating when required and it was always a surefire way to get results from the kids with some exceptions. He coughed in his mind, Chloe. Lewis nodded with a sigh and put back on his headset, "Yeah I understand, promise I do. Can I please play again?" He asked, Derek nodding as he stepped out of the way of the TV.

Sarah got up and leaned in for a kiss from her dad. Derek then kissing his hand and laying his hand on Lewis' head rather than distracting him from his game again, rubbing his hand through the small boy's hair as he spoke. "Right, I'm ready to go now. Sarah you're in charge, remember what I said about Chloe and make sure Lewis does what I've told him. Keep it under control and phone me if your sister tries any of her antics, same with Lewis." He spoke in a very orderly and controlled tone, the one he usually spoke in when giving out instructions for the night, Sarah gave an affirming nod as she hugged Derek, pulling away and replying. "I will, no worries. You make sure to have a fun night and to not screw up, those are my orders." She grinned, Derek lightly pushing her as she fell back onto the couch with a laugh. "I'll try my best, see you in a few hours, sweetie. You too, little guy." He departed from the living room, sliding on his shoes and putting his coat on as she called up stairs. "That's me going, Chloe. Don't think about leaving!"

"Don't you worry I've heard your orders loud and clear Herr Kommandant." Chloe replied in a..admittedly good German accent in reference to her belief that he was the 'dictator of the house' Derek sighing as he opened the door, "Have a nice night." He called to the house before heading out for the night. Somewhat anxious to meet Caitlyn again despite doing it so many times within the past few weeks, then again this was a special occasion one could say.

A good few minutes later, Derek approached the restaurant. Walking down the sidewalk as he spotted Caitlyn in his sights, and she was looking very nice he spoke to himself internally. "Why, greetings; Madam." He spoke happily, standing next to the bench with an arm offered for Caitlyn. "Hope I didn't keep you out here for long?"

 

[PunkPrince]

Caitlyn stood up and took his arm as they strode into the restaurant together. "Hi," she said, greeting him with a quick peck on the cheek. "How are you? I didn't wait long at all." The hostess led them to their table and seated them, and then she left them alone with the menus. Caitlyn flipped through hers, not really looking it over, just using it as a distraction. She had had days to think about this, and she still didn't feel prepared enough to tell Derek.

Her children had been the center of her existence since almost immediately after she had run from her uncle. Her children and the circus itself. The people she lived with were her family, and sometimes people couldn't handle them. She had seen the way people stared when they went out, not just at her children, but at most of them. Even those of them without physical oddities attracted stares just from the company they kept. Parents rushed their children away, as though they had something you could catch. Parker's fused, lobster claw-like fingers, Mara's size, Stephen's split tongue and sharpened canines--things he had voluntarily given himself, unlike most of them.

It wasn't just that she feared that Derek might leave once he knew--she wasn't really afraid of that. But she knew her children would blame themselves for it. They had a habit of feeling guilty about things that weren't really their fault at all. It wasn't their fault that they had been born the way that they were, and it wasn't their responsibility to change for the comfort of others. It was her job to worry about them, not the other way around.

And worry she did. She worried every time Ryan went out alone that they wouldn't come back. She worried about what people said to them and the twins when she wasn't around. But so far she had been lucky. Nobody had failed to come back. Once or twice Ryan had come home slightly bruised, but that was the worst of it. So far, at least. She worried about how Derek would treat them, if he did take it well. She wanted them safe. But she couldn't keep secrets forever. It wasn't fair, and if he took it poorly then they couldn't be together anyway.

So she looked up from her menu and across the table at him. "Derek," she said nervously. "I, um, need to tell you something." Before he could answer her though, the waitress greeted them and asked what they wanted to drink. Caitlyn let out a small, slightly relieved sigh, grateful to put things off another minute or two.

 

[RIPSaidCone]

The time Derek spent with Caitlyn never failed to put a smile on his face, prior to meeting her it had been quite a while since he had ever been with someone like that. Since he'd ever cared for someone and been that close to them, even the simple things like her taking his arm and heading into the restaurant with him did end up meaning a lot. Just the warmth of someone else's presence was enough, and Derek was somewhat fearful that his reveal would ruin all that they had built up together in the many weeks they'd known each other. The hostress leading them to their table, Derek had pulled Caitlyn's seat out for her before sitting down in his own, he had been brought up with manners after all. Taking his own seat as he lifted up the menu, looking through it and peeking up over the top of the paper every now and again to get a glimpse of Caitlyn, wondering what was on her mind as he distracted himself with both her and the menu he was holding. Trying to keep his nerves at bay over the news he had.

Of course it didn't work however, he still felt that small underlying nervousness coursing through him as he thought about all of the varied negative responses that could come from suddenly springing this information on someone. Even though Caitlyn was as kind and caring as they came, Derek worried that this would be a bit too much for her to handle. Despite knowing each other pretty well, they had both kept a little quiet about their personal lives at the moment and Derek was unsure if Caitlyn was in the situation to be more committed with someone and even meet their children. Not that he would blame her if that was the case but it still worried him a great deal, and he knew how horrible he'd feel if he told her the news only to find out that she couldn't handle it right now.

But it wasn't just that, what if Caitlyn simply didn't like children? Which he highly doubted given the maternal vibe she could give off at times, but it was always a possibility. They had never spoken about children before after all, what if she simply wasn't keen to be moving quickly with Derek? What if she would rather just keep their relationship on a surface level rather than go any deeper, all these possibilities worried him to his core, and he was trying his hardest to push the negative thoughts off to the sidelines so he could keep his appetite for the rest of the night. He was the opposite of a nervous eater needless to say.

Caitlyn spoke up all of a sudden, for a second time in the night Derek being knocked out of his thoughts as his full attention turned to the woman before him. The nervousness in her tone and expression and the way she worded what she was saying both peeking his interest and concerning him greatly. Though he had kept his usual friendly smile on as she spoke, being unintentionally interrupted by the waitress as she arrived at their table. Asking what drinks she wanted, Derek's attention briefly being taken off of Caitlyn as he gave his response. "Just a glass of water, please." He spoke politely, the waitress nodding and writing down his simple order as the man once again drew Caitlyn in his sights, wondering on what she had been planning to say and the amount of possible answers only adding to his own nerves about the whole thing.

 

[PunkPrince]

Caitlyn quietly asked the waiter for water, and nervously drummed her fingers on the edge of the table before looking back to Derek. "I haven't had you back to my home yet...or the closest I have to one." she said softly. "For my own reasons. And I don't want to keep secrets anymore. It's not fair to you." She paused, thinking of what to say next. "The biggest reason is my children. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about them before. I just...I understand if you're upset with me. My kids aren't as…typical, as most," she said. "Most of the people in my life aren't."

"I've only had one other real significant other before." She didn't count Ryan's father, since their relationship had only lasted a week. "And Bruce wasn't good to any of them. He said that none of it bothered him, but apparently it did. I should have realized it sooner, but I didn't."

She paused, and then gave him the reason exactly why Bruce had thought so lowly of her children. "My only biological child is named Ryan. They're seventeen. They were marked as male on all their legal paperwork--I had to pick one or the other--but Ryan wasn't...they had both sets of genitals and I chose to leave them alone to decide what they wanted when they were older. I was afraid of hurting them. The doctors told me I could raise them as a boy, so that's what wound up getting marked on all the paperwork. I tried. It didn't work. They were just more of a mix of both, and they were happy that way, so I let them be."

And then I took the twins in. Ivy and Lacey. We found them wandering alone in the rain one night and they were pretty confused. They'd hit their heads pretty hard and couldn't tell me where they'd come from or what had happened to them, but they didn't want to go back. I imagine wherever they came from was pretty bad. They were conjoined at the hip. I offered to pay to have them separated more than once, but they refused it. They don't know anything other than being together. I think the possibility of being separated, or one losing the other one in the process is what scares them."

"He kept trying to split the twins up, when they kept saying they didn't want to be. He smacked them around to try and get them to back down, but they never did. And then with Ryan...he kept trying to get them to be more masculine, but they just couldn't do it. They tried, but it's just not a skill they have. He was so adamant that Ryan be whatever their legal paperwork said, and he was so mad when Ryan hit puberty and started looking less like how Bruce wanted them to. I didn't know what was going on when they were alone together until I accidentally saw Ryan's bruises. They'd been covering them up with makeup so I wouldn't notice."

"The twins don't talk as much anymore. Ivy was quiet to begin with and now I'm lucky if I hear two words from her. Lacey's not as upbeat as she used to be. Ryan's timid with men around now. They aren't as effeminate anymore. I think they're trying to curb it. I don't think that they know that I know. But I see it. They're not as happy anymore. They have this white fur coat they found at a secondhand store and they used to wear it constantly. I hardly see it pulled out at all anymore."

She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just...I don't want to scare them. I don't want them to get hurt again. Not that I think you would do that, but...I don't know, I'm a lot more cautious than I used to be."

 

[RIPSaidCone]

Derek waited patiently yet anxiously as Caitlyn also asked for some water and the waitress gave her a nod, writing down the second order as she walked away. They wouldn't have all that long until she was there again to give them their drinks, so Derek listened to all that he could until they were interrupted again. He didn't enjoy seeing Caitlyn like this, nervous - unsure of what she was saying and how she was saying it, he didn't enjoy seeing people he cared for like that. His friends always described him as a caring person and he would typically agree though he was too kind for his own good sometimes, sharing the pain of others without even really having a reason to. He heard the buzzword emit from Caitlyn's mouth, and it was as if time had stopped for a brief few miliseconds, his mind went a million miles an hour, the only other time he'd been thinking this fast being when he was on tour.

That news brought both a barrage of good and bad for the man, it meant that Caitlyn did like children and that she was caring and protective of them given how she had been nervous to even bring them up. That was a big win for Derek, but at the same time it may have just made his own reveal even more complicated, depending on how many children she had things could prove difficult. Not financially, Derek was somewhat well off and he knew that Caitlyn had job security, but having to introduce the two groups to each other..if they did that, which he assumed they would could prove..hard. He shook the thoughts of himself away however as he laid his attention solely on Caitlyn, listening as she spoke of her first kid; Ryan. Brows furrowed in a thoughtful expression as he nodded from time to time during what she was saying, just to let her know that he really was listening and out of habit on his part.

He recognized Caitlyn's kid's condition from someplace, and recalled where he'd been taught about that kind of stuff. Back in the Army they'd had to do these diversity classes of sorts to discourage discrimination among the ranks, from what he could remember Ryan's condition was called being Intersex? He was 99% sure that was it though wouldn't bring it up just in-case he was wrong, the last thing he wanted to do was offend Caitlyn and embarrass himself at the same time. Instead he preferred to just listen to what she had to say, honestly this Bruce guy sounded like your typical insecure douchebag in Derek's book, he could understand not understanding or being against that sorta stuff but decent people at least kept it to themselves. He continued to listen as she spoke about her twin daughters, the whole story sounded tragic and over the course of what Caitlyn was telling him his expression slowly came to reflect his feelings on it. Sympathy.

From what he'd heard, Caitlyn had three children. One intersex child, Ryan who was her biological kid and two adopted daughters who were joined at the hip, they'd been bullied by her first partner; Bruce and that had had long-lasting effects on the kids and Caitlyn it would appear as well. He recited the newly learned information in his head idly, making sure he'd got it all right. Derek liked to have a good understanding on everything he was told, and he was unsure as to how to respond, he felt bad for Caitlyn and her kids without a doubt but how would be the best way to respond to what she'd told him. He had to go about this carefully, he didn't want to bring up any worse memories for her and especially not to offend her, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was a sensitive subject for Caitlyn and that her telling him this was a great sign of trust between the two. As she finished the story of her kids, Derek gave a sad, sympathetic smile and reached out. Taking Caitlyn's hands in his own as he gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"It's alright, you've got absolutely no reason to be sorry..I understand why you wouldn't tell me right off the bat." His smile became more upbeat as he continued, "I promise you that they won't get hurt again, personally I've never had any experience with kids like yours but I'd be willing to try." He paused for a moment before carrying on, "No one deserves to have been treated like you and the kids have, I know you just want to protect them and that not telling me about them was just another one of the ways that you thought could help with that. And.." He swallowed, pausing for an even longer time before finishing. "And the reason that I know the protectiveness you feel towards your kids and the hurt you feel on their behalf is because...I have my own kids. Three of them just like you." His thumbs ran gently over Caitlyn's hands as he continued to hold them comfortably. "That's how I know what it feels like to be in your position, albeit not to the same extent, it's a good place to start." He sighed in guilt, "I don't have a good reason like you do to have not told you about my kids. I was just worried that you'd be turned off if you found out I'd been with someone else before and that I had kids, especially three of them. I was planning on telling you tonight though you got there before I did." He gave a little goodhearted chuckle, smiling towards her.