Switched at birth (FACE)

14

"I'M HOME!" I called. I looked around, but My dad was not anywhere to be seen. "DAD?!" I called. I gently placed my bag down and looked all over the house, the kitchen, the living room, and the outside. I began to go upstairs and noticed how dark it looked. "Dad?" I called again. For some reason, a shiver went down my spine as I slowly approached my room.

"I am in here," his voice called. I squinted my eyes, confused, and began to follow his voice. The noise came from my room. I saw the door cracked open slightly, so I pushed it open. Once I did, I could see that the light in my room was on.

When I finally opened the door, I saw my dad sitting on the floor. He had papers all around him, and it made me confused. "What's going on? Were you looking for something? If you texted, I could have told you," I spoke. I walked closer to him when suddenly I recognized the papers he had in his hands. I stopped moving and looked down in horror.

"I was looking for the book I gave you to read...I had left something in it..."

He continued to look at the paper, and I did not know what to say.

"Papa..."

"How long have you known?"

He finally looked at me, and his eyes were red. Like he had been crying. "For a couple of months now..." I answered. He closed his eyes, heartbroken, and tears began to fall. I felt myself choking up, and I felt tears start to form. "I am sorry, I didn't know how to tell you...I thought that if you knew, you wouldn't love me anymore," I began to cry.

"Alfred, never... I would never..." He looked at me. Papa began to pull me down beside him, and he held me. "Look at me...I am not mad at you, I do not hate you, and I will never stop loving you. You are my son no matter what, do you understand?" He cried. He pulled my head to his chest, and I felt more tears fall from my eyes.

"I am sorry, I was too scared to say anything."

"I know, Kiddo, it's okay; Papa is here," He spoke. I began to hold him tightly as he held me close. I closed my eyes, squeezing him tighter. "Matthew....he is your real son..." I cried. "You are my real son; I would never replace you," He whispered. I looked at him sadly, and he began to wipe the tears that stained my cheeks.

"Does Matthew and Arthur know?" He asked.

"Matthew knows...Arthur doesn't ...we had been trying to find a way to tell the two of you, but it's been really hard."

"Well, we are going to have to go and tell Arthur," He spoke. My eyes widened, and I felt myself cry again. He put his forehead on mine and breathed out. "Weirdly enough, I felt something was missing from what you told us, but I kept ignoring it. Much of the encounters I had with Matthew make sense...and it explains why he reminds me so much of Lucile when she was younger."

"Listen to me..." He started. He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "I do love Matthew, but that does not mean he will replace you. It might be hard to understand right now, but because of Arthur, I think I have grown to love him as a son already. I do not love him more, but it is equal. I see the two of you as my sons, and this paper.... may say that you are not mine biologically, but you will always be mine."

"I may not have raised Matthew, and Arthur may not have raised you, but we will love the two of you the way you both deserve to be loved. We are family no matter what, and we do not need a piece of paper or DNA tests to tell us otherwise."

"Then one day...if Arthur and I get serious enough, all of this DNA stuff won't matter. Does it shock me and make me have questions? of course, I am sure you felt the same way when you found out...but we need to tell Arthur so we can figure this out together," He smiled.

He began to kiss my cheeks and pull me up to my feet. "Don't worry, he won't be mad and will not treat Matthew differently. He is not the type of person to do that. We can all sit down and talk about this together. I promise everything will be alright, Kiddo," He smiled.

I began to wipe my face and nodded at him. "Okay then, we can go over and talk to them...I just hope they are not busy," I spoke. Papa laughed at what I said and shook his head. "This is more important than what Arthur may have going on. I am sure he would not mind us suddenly dropping by," He smiled. He began to hold my hand and gently guide me to the door of my room. "I will be with you every step of the way unless you want me to tell him?" He asked.

"No, I think Matthew and I should tell him. I am sorry that you had to find out this way. I feel terrible about it," I spoke. We began to walk down the stairs together, and he shook his head. "What's done is done; let's not keep them waiting," He smiled.

I nodded at what he said, and we began to get ourselves together. I had guilt hanging over my head. I could tell he had many things on his mind that I was sure he was not comfortable talking to me about. I felt as if I caused him trouble, despite him saying otherwise...I felt I did not deserve the title of being called his son. I wanted to scream and make all these feelings disappear, but I knew that would not be easy.

It would be harder.