We follow Amelia down the long hall. We reach a door that says old age and a number that I don't care to look at. We walk through and enter a smaller room. I'm terrified to meet Robbie's dad. Will he think Robbie is being smart and brave, or stupid and weak? Will he think that it's good that Robbie's following in his footsteps, or will he want him to keep his life as an angel? Is he still happy that he gave up being an angel, or does he think it's a stupid thing to do? All of these will affect if he likes me or not. And his opinion of me will affect Robbie's opinion. What if he doesn't like me, so Robbie decides he wants to stay an angel? As we walk through the door that says Keyna Votto I realize I'm crossing my fingers. His dad has to like me.
We walk into a room that looks like mine and Robbie's living room. The furniture is different. There is a couch and a loveseat. The chairs look more sophisticated and the lamps are black, ours are white. Some of the doors are the same and some are different. One says Kitchen, and the one we just walked through says Lobby. There are the doors for the bedrooms too, but with different names on the doors. One says Humans, but is signed Keyna Votto and Amelia Votto. The other door has a blank sign. Amelia walks to the door with the signatures and knocks on it.
"What?" comes a voice from the room. I was trying to see if the person is irritated or happy to hear that Amelia is back, but they said it so fast, I couldn't.
"There's someone here to see you," says Amelia with a smile on her face.
"I'm coming!" says the voice. I can tell now, the person is happy. The door opens and a man comes out. He has dark brown hair and green eyes. His eyes are so beautiful. Yes! Robbie's eyes won't change! He looks at Robbie and doesn't say anything. He sees the halo and might be able to see the beautiful eyes. He sees the hair that matches his and the eyes that are a mix of his and Amelia's, but he doesn't put it together.
"Wow," says Robbie.
The man just looks at Robbie. Then he says, "Hello, I'm Keyna Votto." He extends his arm to Robbie and they shake hands.
"I'm Robert," Robbie says. Pain flashes across Keyna's eyes. "What's wrong?" Robbie asks.
"Our son was named Robert. We had to put him up for adoption," says Keyna.
"Do you still miss me- I mean him?" asks Robbie.
"So much," says Keyna. "He had a bit of dark brown hair growing, and his eyes were like Amelia's, but with the brightness of an angel."
"That sounds like me," says Robbie. He's trying to hint at his dad. I guess he doesn't want to just give it away. He wants it to be a shocker. I glance over at Amelia. She's smiling from ear to ear. Keyna may not know it, but this is a family reunion.
"Yeah," says Keyna. "He looked like a baby version of you." Pain flashes across his eyes again.
"Since he was a human and an angel," starts Robbie. "Did he have wings?"
"No. Just a halo, like you," says Keyna, still not putting it together. "Why are you like that anyways?"
"My dad was an angel and my mom was a human. I was put up for adoption," Robbie says. He couldn't be giving bigger clues.
"There was another couple like that? I thought we were the only one," says Keyna. "And they had a baby? I didn't think any other couples would go that far without me hearing about it."
"You heard about everything. You're the only couple like that," says Robbie.
Keyna is still confused. "If we're the only couple, then how do you have parents like us."
"They're more like you than you think," says Robbie. Keyna is getting closer, but just can't put the final pieces together.
"How are we alike?" asks Keyna.
"Well I didn't know this until today, but my dad's name, was Keyna too. And my mom's name was Amelia. And their last name was Votto," says Robbie.
"Those are our names," says Keyna. "You have brown hair. You have blue eyes. You have a halo. You have no wings. You had parents like us. You were adopted." As he says everything, his voice builds up, his smile grows, his eyes widen, and he looks deeper into Robbie's eyes. "You're my son," he says.
"Hey dad," says Robbie. He's smiling so big I think his cheek bones will fall off. They hug each other just like Amelia and Robbie did. They grab Amelia and bring her into the hug. They stay like this for a while. When they finally stop, Amelia and Robbie turn and look at me while Keyna's gaze keeps switching from Amelia to Robbie.
"So why are we meeting each other now?" asks Keyna.
"Robbie's in love, Keyna," says Amelia.
"So you came to meet us to give the good news? Is the angel rich? Is she really pretty?"
"Um," I say.
"Is she tall? Is she blond? Does she have hazel eyes?" he keeps asking.
"Dad?" starts Robbie.
"Is she smart? Is she important? Is she well known?" he asks.
"Keyna," says Amelia.
"What?" he finally stops.
"Hi," I say.
"Who are you?" asks Keyna.
"I'm Rue," I say.
"Nice to meet you, Rue." He turns back to Robbie. "Is she funny? Is she nice? Does she have brown eyes?"
I turn around and run out the door. I slam the door and sit next to it on the floor. I start to cry. This is horrible. He saw me standing there. He saw the awkward looks on our faces. But he still thought Robbie was in love with an angel. The man, who gave up being an angel for a human, was convinced his son was in love with an angel. I hear them talking now.
"Why is she so upset?" asks Keyna.
"Because," starts Robbie "she's the one I'm in love with."
"What?" I hear Keyna say.