"You know about her defect?" he asked. "You know about her surgeries?"
"She needed a hole in her heart repaired when she was a baby," he said immediately. "Then they needed to give her a valve transplant."
"And you're aware of her need for regular replacements?"
"Yes. Her valve isn't a permanent one because it's not the best option for her. Something about blood thinners…?" he trailed off.
My dad nodded. "Continue."
"Organic valves have shorter life spans so they need to be replaced. And the doctors constantly monitor her health to see when that needs to happen."
"And what about when you want to have children?"
"Dad!" I cried out. "That's a little too soon to ask about, don't you think?"
"No, it's okay, I read about that, too," Nathan said.
I gaped. "You did?"
"Well, I'm not talking about any time soon, but…" he gave me a soft smile before turning back to my dad. "I'm aware of the complications when it comes to having kids. Women with Becca's condition can have successful pregnancies, but there is definitely a higher risk. Sometimes they get their valves replaced with a brand new one before trying, preemptively. They need to be monitored much more because of that high risk. Sometimes it's safer to look into surrogates."
My dad made a noise in the back of his throat. I hoped it was a pleased or impressed noise. To be honest, I was impressed myself. Nathan really had been looking into this.
The pregnancy thing, though…
My ears burned at having had that conversation in front of my parents.
"You have done your research," my dad said, conceding. I could audibly hear Nathan's relieved sigh.
"If you're going to be a part of this family, we should get to know each other," my dad said. "No skulking around and sneaking in through the back door. Deal?"
The both of us flushed. Clearly Nathan hadn't been as discreet as he'd thought. I was astonished to think my dad knew about him and hadn't said anything to my mom about it.
"Why don't we all have dinner tonight?" my dad suggested. "We can talk about your surgery and what help you'll need and how we'll manage all that."
"Not yet," I said. They all looked at me. "There's something Nathan and I need to do first."
Nathan looked at me, confused.
"I'm going to call Jessie and ask her to bring Gael to the hospital," I said.
Nathan's face went pale with panic as he began to understand what I meant.
"I was truthful with my family," I told him. "Now you're going to be truthful with yours."
