I wanted my kid, now an adult, to know he could trust me, even if he couldn't trust anyone else. To be his safe port, his home. So I never fucked with him, even as a joke. It's not the relationship I wanted with him. He has friends to do that.

I'm not everything to him, I can't be that. But, I am consistently reliable. He knows he can count on me, I've proved it over and over with my actions.