Chapter 24: A New Daddy?

Gio's POV

I knew something was wrong when mommy woke me up extra early on a Saturday.

Normally, I got to sleep until the cartoon starts, but today, she was sitting on my bed with that face she made when she was trying to brave but really wasn't.

"Good morning, baby. We need to get ready."

"For what?" I rubbed my eyes.

"Remember how I told you about... about someone who wants to meet you?"

My tummy got that icky feeling. "The other daddy?"

She nodded, and her eyes got all wet. "His name is Floyd. We're going to see him for a little bit today."

"But I don't want to." I pulled my teddy closer. "I already have a daddy. Why do I need another one?"

"It's complicated, sweetheart." She brushed my hair back. "But it's just for two hours. Then you come right back home. I promise."

Two hours felt like forever.

Daddy was making coffee in the kitchen when we came downstairs. He looked at me, then at Mommy, then back at me.

"Hey, buddy." He crouched down so we were the same height. "You're gonna be okay today. Your mom will be right there the whole time."

"Will you be there too?"

Something happened to his face, like when he's upset but trying not to show it. "No. I can't be there. But I'll be right here when you get back, okay? We can play dinosaurs or build that Lego set or whatever you want."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He held out his pinky, and I locked mine with his. But my tummy still felt icky.

The car ride was super quiet. Mommy kept checking on me in the mirror with her worried face. I stared out the window, thinking about the last time something really scary happened.

hose people at my school. The ones with the big cameras who yelled stuff I didn't understand. They said words like "biological" and "paternity" that sounded important but made no sense. Security had to really push through them to get me to Susan's car. She held my hand so tight it hurt, but I didn't tell her because she looked really scared.

That night, I heard Mommy crying in her room. And Daddy's voice, all low and angry, talking to someone on the phone. Is this Floyd guy why those people were so scary? Why Mommy cried? Why everything got weird?

"We're here, baby." Mommy's voice pulled me back.

The building looked boring. Gray and sad, like a doctor's office but it was worse.

A lady met us at the door with a fake smile. "Hi there, Gio! I'm Ms. Carson. I'll be hanging out with you and your dad today."

"My daddy's at home," I told her. "His name is Maxwell."

She looked at Mommy with a weird look.

Mommy squeezed my hand. "Come on, baby."

The room they took us to had toys, but they looked old and kinda broken. Not like my toys at home that Daddy helps me organize every night before bed.

And there was a man standing there.

He was Tall. Wearing a fancy suit like Daddy wears for his important meetings.

But his eyes made me stop walking.

His eyes were violent-blue. Like mine. Like Daddy Maxwell's.

My brain felt all scrambled and confused.

"Hi, Gio." His voice was nervous. "I'm Floyd. I'm your... I'm your father. Your biological father."

There was that word again. The one the scary camera people yelled.

I looked up at Mommy. She nodded, but she looked like she was about to cry but trying really hard not to.

"I already have a daddy," I said. My voice came out really small and quiet. "He's name is Maxwell."

Floyd's face looked like when you're sad and mad at the same time. "I know you do. But I'm your dad too. Just in a different way."

That doesn't make sense. You can't have two daddies. That's not how it works.

I knew my daddy was max from the first time I saw him. We had the same eyes, special violent-blue eyes that nobody else has. That's how you know who your family is.

But now this Floyd person has the same eyes too.

How was that possible?

"I brought some pictures to show you." Floyd sat down on the floor, trying to look all friendly and nice. "Want to see?"

I didn't really want to, but Mommy was watching, so I sat down too.

He pulled out his phone and showed me pictures. "This is from the news when you and your mom came back to New York. That's when I found out about you. I didn't know before, Gio. I wish I had."

I stared at the picture. It was me and Mommy walking into a big building. I remember that day, there were so many people with cameras.

"And look, this is me when I was five. Your age. We look kind of similar, right?"

We did look the same. Same eyes. Same nose. My tummy felt really, really weird.

"Do you like dinosaurs?" Floyd asked, changing the subject. "I loved dinosaurs when I was your age."

"Yeah." I hugged my teddy super tight. "You know my daddy Max took me to the museum to see the real dinosaur bones for my birthday. We saw this T-Rex skeleton that was literally taller than our entire apartment building. And Daddy said it was the king of all dinosaurs because it was the strongest and the bravest and nobody could beat it."

Floyd's smile went all tight and weird. "That sounds fun."

"It was the best day of my whole entire life. And after, Daddy let me get ice cream with extra sprinkles and gummy bears on top, even though Mommy says too much sugar makes me hyper."

"That's... great." But his voice sounded like it wasn't great at all.

Every single time I mentioned my Daddy, Floyd's face got weirder and tighter. Like he was getting mad but trying not to show it.

"Gio," Floyd said after a while. "Do you understand why you're here today? Why we're meeting?"

I shrugged. Grown-up stuff honestly never makes any sense.

"It's because I'm your father too. I didn't know about you when you were born…I only found out recently. But now I want to be in your life. I want to get to know you."

"But you're not my dad." The words just came out. "My real Daddy's name is Maxwell. He knows everything about me. You don't know anything about me."

"You're right. I don't know anything about you. But that's exactly why we're here. So I can learn about you." He paused. "And you have other family who wants to meet you too, like your aunt, my sister. She's really excited to meet you soon."

An aunt? I don't want more family. I already had family.

"But I don't want you to learn about me." My voice got louder without meaning to. "I want to go home to my actual real daddy."

"Gio, I am your real dad…"

"No you're not!" I stood up fast. "Daddy Max is my real dad! He takes care of me every single day and loves me and we have the same eyes! That's exactly how you know who's your family!"

"We have the same eyes too," Floyd said quietly. "Look. See?"

I looked at his violent-blue eyes. Then at mine in the shiny window reflection. Then at Mommy. My brain felt all dizzy.

How do we all have the same eyes? That doesn't make any sense at all.

If Daddy has these eyes and I have these eyes, that means we're family. But if Floyd has these eyes too... does that mean he's family also? But that's impossible. You can't have two daddies with the same special eyes.

"I want Mommy," I whispered.

She was there in literally one second, pulling me into her lap. "You're okay, baby? It's almost time to go."

"But we still have twenty-five minutes.." Floyd spoke.

"I think that's enough for today," Ms. Carson said in her gentle voice.

In the car going home, I kept thinking about Floyd's eyes and how they matched mine and Daddy's and how nothing made sense anymore.