James turned his head away, once again staring at the vague sprout between dark branches of the plum trees. "I felt like this would be the last time I could see him," he glanced at Eugene before continuing. "Especially now that he let go of my last name."
Eugene raised his brows. Celine's reasoning was whatever, but he didn't expect something like a 'final goodbye' from this man. A final goodbye without a real meeting, no less.
"Without that connection, our relationship could be said to be vague. Not exactly stranger, not exactly...family," James said, voice teetering between dry and melancholy. "Yes, my genes run in his body, but that's pretty much the same with any sperm donor."
Eugene furrowed his brows slightly. "Is that how you consider him? A product of one of your surviving sperm?"
James arched his brow slightly and chuckled at the drip of vitriol in that tone, but what he said next completely left Eugene's prediction. "There was a time...I wanted to call him my son."
