I was raised by a single mother. I didn't have any contact with my father.

One thing that I was always thankful for was that nothing was expected of my bro and I in regards to mums partners. We had to respect/listen to them as we would any adult, but they were never cast in the light of father figures. We were never encouraged to call any partner of mum's dad because they weren't. If we had come to the conclusion ourselves then it wouldn't have been a problem, it was just good that it wasn't forced upon us iykwim

I am not sure I explained that very well.