Tears streamed down his face as he stared at me. “He’s so…perfect.” He paused, brought his hands to my face to cup my cheeks. “He’s like this perfect little human that we made together, and I don’t even know him.”

I reached up and placed my hands over his. “You’ll get to know him. And I wouldn’t go throwing around the word ‘perfect’ just yet,” I joked. “When he’s having a tantrum or coming into the house with dirt all over himself, he’s far from perfect, believe me.”

King let out a quiet, sad laugh and gripped me tighter. The quiet was punctuated by the pounding of my pulse, which I was sure he could feel. A long silence fell between us as we simply stood there, communicating without words. Finally, I spoke.

“Come on, let’s go back so that you can meet him properly.”

Indecision clouding his expression, he drew in a deep breath and wiped the tears from his eyes. There was something so heartachingly beautiful about the moment, and I wondered why I’d ever been scared to tell him. If anything, the discovery had brought more of the colour back into his eyes, and I was determined to replace every last bit.

We walked hand in hand to where the elephants were being kept, and found Jay with Oliver up on his shoulders so that he could reach out and pet one of their trunks.

“Hey!” I called, and he twisted around to see me.

“Mummy, I’m petting the elephant. Look!” he called back, and reached out again to touch it.

“I can see that, baby. Come here, there’s someone I want you to meet.” I could feel King’s intense stare on me when I spoke to our son, and then I saw his attention go to Oliver as Jay let him down off his shoulders. He came running at me and I caught him, lifting him up into my arms. He was getting taller by the week, his long legs dangling down from my hold.

I turned him to face King and said, “This is my friend. His name is Oliver.”

Oliver made a face. “But my name is Oliver.”

“That’s right. You’re both named Oliver.”

He let out a cute laugh. “That’s crazy.”

I laughed, too, and saw King smile. I could tell that he was still struggling with his emotions, but was making an effort to hold it together. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, little man,” he said, and reached out to take his hand and shake it. Oliver was quiet as he studied King, trying to suss him out. It was kind of adorable. I gave him a little nudge.

“What do you say back?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

King’s smile grew larger, and I felt like my heart was about to burst. I’d visualised this moment for years, imagined it happening in so many different ways, but now that it was actually here, there was no comparison. It was like a little piece of me that was broken was finally being healed. And if the look on King’s face was anything to go by, he was feeling exactly the same way.

“Oh, I know what we can do,” Oliver announced suddenly. “I can be Oliver 1 and you can be Oliver 2.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” King chuckled, the tenderness in his voice as he interacted with our son causing a deep, feminine part of me to ache.

I really wanted to tell him he could call him Daddy, but it was too soon. Oliver was an open, accepting sort of kid, but still, I knew I had to ease him into the idea that King was his father. Letting him down from my arms, we headed inside the tent for the start of the show. I bought Oliver some candy floss, so he was quiet as a mouse as he concentrated on stuffing his face. King seemed at a bit of a loss for how to act, but I just squeezed his hand to let him know he was doing fine. When we found some seats and King sat down, Oliver made his way over and unceremoniously began to climb onto his lap.

“I’ll sit here,” he said without preamble. I laughed. King stared at him, a mixture of amused and perplexed. This was typical Oliver behaviour, though; he befriended quickly. I shrugged and took the seat beside King as our son sat on his lap, happily eating away at his candy floss like he hadn’t a care in the world.

I looked at King then and whispered, “You okay?”

He swallowed and blinked a few times before clearing his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I smiled and shot a glance in Oliver’s direction as he watched a few stage hands set up the props for the start of the show. “I think he’s decided you’re both going to be friends. Not sure you get a say in the matter. Sorry.”

King laughed gently. “That’s fine by me.”

“Thank you for being so cool about this,” I went on, voice soft.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve fully comprehended what’s happening yet.”

His bemused tone made me chuckle, because I completely got where he was coming from. If I had been in King’s shoes right then, I’d probably be freaking the hell out.

Oliver twisted in his lap and practically shoved the candy floss in King’s face. “Want some?”

“Uh, sure,” he said, and picked off a piece.

“Oh, yeah, don’t bother to offer me any,” I mock-complained, and then the candy floss was being shoved in my face. I picked off a larger piece.

“Don’t eat it all,” Oliver whined before looking to King. “She always eats it all.”

King chuckled, his eyes alight and fascinated by every little thing that came out of Oliver’s mouth. A second later, the lights were dimmed and the start of the show was being announced. It turned out that Marina was the ringmaster, and she walked out wearing a long red coat and a top hat. Her capuchin monkey sat on her shoulder, and, just as I’d imagined when I first saw it, Oliver almost lost his shit.

“She has a monkey! Look, Mummy, she has a monkey!” He bounced on King’s lap, who bent down to tell him,

“That’s my sister Marina. Her monkey’s name is Pierre.”

Oliver looked up at him, a massive grin on his face and bits of pink candy floss stuck to his cheeks. “Can I meet him?”

King smiled at him, and again it made my heart go whoosh. “I’m sure I can arrange it.”

“You’re the best,” Oliver declared, and without warning reached up and threw his little arms around King’s neck for a hug. He seemed startled at first, but then his eyes came to mine and I saw the emotion in them. He squeezed him back, and somehow I knew in that moment that everything was going to be all right. I had to look away for a second and clear my throat to keep from getting all weepy.

The show began with Marina announcing the elephants.

“That’s the one I got to pet,” Oliver shouted, pointing to one of the large creatures.

He was mesmerised by the entire show, in particular Jay’s part, which even had my jaw hanging open in slack-jawed amazement. After Jay came Jack, but Oliver didn’t like this bit so much. In fact, all the fire frightened him, and he turned in King’s lap, shoving his face into his chest because he didn’t want to watch. King startled, hands in the air like he didn’t know what to do. I gave him an encouraging look and gestured to his hands. Finally he got the hint and wrapped his arms around Oliver as though protecting him from what scared him.

Unlike my son, I wasn’t scared by Jack’s act at all. On the contrary, I was a smidge titillated, especially since the man wore jeans and no shirt. I caught King shooting me an arch look, so I shrugged and mouthed a what? at him. He only grinned and shook his head, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was jealous. The thought made me oddly giddy.

During the intermission, Oliver was a chatty cat, as per usual. And he was more than fascinated by King.

“Why have you got long hair?”

King gave me a devious smile before replying, “Your mum likes it like this.”

Oliver turned to me, all inquisitive. “Why do you like his hair long, Mummy?”

I shot King an annoyed scowl, trying not to smile back, but my effort was useless. “Because it’s pretty and blond just like yours.”

By the look on his face, he didn’t like the sound of that. “I’m a boy. I’m not pretty. I’m handsome.”