It will be a theme in my personal life this week, so maybe that’s why I’ve been extra aware of it. Last night we went to a hockey game again, and again were surrounded by daddies and their little boys. In front of us were two brothers who brought their three boys. During one of the breaks, the mascot shot t-shirts into the crowd, and one of the brothers caught one. You should have seen the light in his son’s eyes. “My DADDY caught it!” The other brother raced his son to the restroom, and was so patient with him when too much caffeine set in and the boy bounced the rest of the game.

The daddy next to us had a LITTLE one with him, two, I’m thinking, and the little boy wanted the daddy’s attention and even though daddy wanted to watch the game, he gave the little boy the attention. And he sprinted to the bathroom with him when HE had too much soda.

There’s something about fathers and sons that fascinates me, seeing a strong man vulnerable to a small child, seeing the child adoring his daddy, and how that reflects on the rest of his life. My friend Cindi thinks it’s because dads in our generation didn’t have much to do with the kids, let the mothers take most of the responsibility. So maybe women who are younger than us don’t get the same thrill seeing a man holding a baby, or buying his kid an ice cream, or just walking down the street with him, hanging out with him, showing him he matters.

I wrote a scene yesterday with Corbett (the villain/hero) and his son, and it broke my heart. Corbett sent the boy to boarding school under another name to keep him safe from his enemies after his wife was killed. Now he doesn’t know how to connect with the boy. He’s in love with my heroine and has the desire for a family, but it may be too late to win his son back.

Part of my fascination with Supernatural is the father/son relationship. (You knew I’d bring it up, right? If I can work that into a conversation these days, I will, too. Can you believe my cps have NEVER SEEN SUPERNATURAL? That’s just wrong.)



Their relationships are so complex. Dean is the daddy-pleaser, Sam the rebel. Both know their father loved them, but did he love them more than he needed to find the demon that killed their mother? It’s still so twisted in both boys.




My dh never knew his dad, so he didn’t have a pattern to follow when he became a father. Maybe he had expectations of what a father should be, and that’s why he’s such a great one. I hope my son someday knows how lucky he is.