"When I really stop to think about it, yeah," Shadow admitted reluctantly. "And whenever the word 'father' comes up , because it's not...it feels presumptuous. Because she's got a real father somewhere, and me and Rollie're just...I don't know. Something else. But I'm not worried about doing wrong by her, just because there's enough people around to keep me from screwing up too badly."

There was a pause and then he looked at her, practically bashful. "Is that enough of an answer for you?"