77. Clean slate.

NATE

He says nothing.

He does not turn to glare at me. Or to give me that look of his that makes me feel so pathetic inside.

I just hear him inhale and exhale deeply.

"Sometimes, in fact, most times, parenting can be a pain in the ass. It is scary. Because kids are just so…. unpredictable." He sighs, still staring out at the atmosphere. "Just when you think you have everything all figured out and mapped clean, the loopholes and glitchy errors just come back to bite you in the ass."

He pauses for a while.

Okay…. I honestly do not know or understand where the hell this conversation is heading to. I have never heard or seen him talk like this before. Not to anyone.

And definitely not to me. This is the first time I am witnessing this side of him. It looks too real to be true. But it is happening.

Also, sitting this close to him, I can clearly see that Cathy was indeed right. He looks really pale.

"Cathy said you and mum had a really bad argument yesterday."

It took everything in me to p