"Are you My Father?" Gabriella Catherine DiNozzo thinks she found her father when she accidentally runs into Tony on a class trip to Washington when her 8th grade class is barred from an area by Tony because it's a crime scene. Follow Cat as she struggles to some to terms with getting what she's always wanted, the knowledge of who her father is, with a few surprises along the

Please note that I do not own Little Tikes or Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. I do own a copy of the aforementioned book and like looking through it every now and then.


"Googi," five year old Gabriella Catherine, "Cat" Stevens-DiNozzo said sleepily as her grandmother, Googi, carried her down the hallway to bed. "How comes I don't have a daddy?"

Googi stopped mid-stride to think about the question the sleepy five year old had asked her. Not knowing who her father was had never been an issue for Cat, but now that the little girl had started school and her friends talked about their fathers, well Cat must have noticed something was missing from her family.

"When your Mommy had you, Cat, she never told your daddy about you. In fact, all your Grampa and I know about your daddy is that his last name is DiNozzo."

"Just like me!" Cat exclaimed happily as Googi set her down in the door way and scampered into her big girl bed, a mattress and box spring on the floor. The Little Tikes © Storybook Cottage ™ Googi and Charlie had ordered for her hadn't been delivered to Wal-Mart just yet.

"Just like you," Googi said coming over to tuck the little girl into bed. "Do you want a story tonight or do you want to skip a story and stay up late tomorrow night when your Mom brings Mr. Cameron home with her?"

Cat had to think about it. If she chose a story, Googi would read Are You My Mother to her as many times as Cat wanted. But, if she chose to go to bed now without a story, she would get to stay up really late, like till eight thirty, and get to see more of Mr. Cameron. Mr. Cameron was her mom's boyfriend. Googi had told Cat that her Mom and Mr. Cameron were a special kind of dating right now. Mr. Cameron asked her Mommy to marry him last night. "I wanna see Mr. Cameron!" Cat finally decided and curled up with her stuffed animals that took over half of her bed.

"Alright," Googi said as she turned on the princess night light.

"Googi," Cat said when her grandmother reached the doorway. "How come there's only a 'Are You My Mother?' book and no are you my daddy book?

Googi paused and carefully thought out her response before replying. "Well, Cat, the birdie must have had a daddy that was at work when he was born and didn't know he was missing his daddy as well."

"Well," Cat said with a yawn, "I think there should be a book about finding a daddy for people that don't have one."

Googi watched as the five year olds' eyelids fluttered shut and the girl's breathing evened out. "If things out the way they're going, Sweetie, you'll have Cameron for a Daddy. I know how much you love seeing him, and he loves seeing you just as much," Googi sighed before she closed the door to the little girl's room and retreated to the living room. "Let's just hope Angela doesn't mess this relationship up for you, Cat. I'll tan her hide myself if she does, I'll tell you that."


Eight years later, Cat sat cross legged on her bed flipping through one of the few photo albums that contained pictures of herself and her ever absent mother, Angela. The pictures she was currently looking at where from that brief time period when her mother was engaged to Cameron Bean.

Cat paused over the large family portrait Googi had insisted on after the engagement had been announced. Cat was seated on Cameron's lap and laughing at what the man had said. Cameron's blue eyes were sparkling in mischief while Angela looked on with a smile. It stung a little, when Cat would see this picture. When she looked at her five year old self in this photo she saw what could have been.

Cameron had been the closest thing to a father Cat had ever had. Up until Cat's tenth birthday Cameron would sporadically visit her, even though Angela had broken it off with Cameron shortly after Cat's six birthday. The week before Cat's tenth birthday, Cameron had joined the Marine Corps and couldn't get away as easily anymore. The last Cat had heard, Cameron was stationed in Iraq. Cat was scared she'd never get another email, phone call or letter from the man, she was afraid that if something happened to him, and then to her grandparents she'd be sent to Los Angeles, her mother's last known address, and be forced to live her drug addict of a mother. Her often pessimistic train of thought when it came to families was interrupted by her grandmother calling her to the kitchen.

"Cat, honey!" Googi called from the living room of their home. "Dinner's ready!"

Cat set the photo album down on her floral comforter and slid into her purple monster foot slippers as she pulled her brown hair up into a pony tail. The eighth grader was leaving for Washington DC the next morning with her fellow classmates from the Kennett Middle School for their big eighth grade trip.

"Are you all packed?" Googi asked the fourteen year old as she sat down at the dinner table.

"I am," Cat replied. "I have clothes for six days, even though we're only going to be there for four, long sleeved and short sleeved shirts, a bag for my dirty laundry, shorts and jeans, sneakers, flip flops, a bathing suit, towels, socks, clean underwear, snacks, money for souvenirs, my camera, camera batteries, more snacks, homework, my teddy bear, a jacket, umbrella, shampoo and stuff for the shower, a back pack, my CD player, CDs, some DVDs for the bus, and last but not least, the name of my dad," she listed off the items she had packed up for the class trip. "Mrs. Freiberg says we'll have enough down time for me and Michelle to go the library to look for my dad in DC."

"Cat," Grampa Charlie said as he joined his wife and granddaughter at the kitchen table. "We're not even sure that man is your father, let alone if he really lives in Washington. All we have to go on is the word of your mother, and honey, we all know how much that is worth these days."

"Grampa Charlie," Cat said with a smile, "I checked it out, and it seems legit. Mom and my father met in Ohio, right?"

"They did," Googi said as she placed a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans in front of Cat and Charlie. "And then they, uh, committed the deed, and six months later Angela was on our door step pregnant with you, and three months after that you were born."

"And then six months later she was arrested with a large amount of cocaine in her possession at Wal-Mart," Grampa Charlie said shaking his head in shame at the memory. "And I was rather ashamed to show my face in St. Josephs' for a few weeks after that."

"It wasn't your fault, Grampa, or yours, Googi," Cat said between mouthfuls. "You said that Mom got involved with the wrong crowd when she went to Ohio for college. Nobody's to blame but her."

"And you're the smartest girl in your class, young lady!" Googi said with a smile.

"Googi," Cat said with a giggle. "You're just saying that."

"I wouldn't be if I didn't believe it, young lady." Googi replied

"Remind me again what time we need to bring Miss Brainiac to the school in the morning, Ella," Grampa Charlie said, changing the subject.

"Four thirty," Googi replied adding pepper to her potatoes. "Far too early in my opinion, but they do have quite the drive ahead of them."

"Well, if that's the case," Charlie said as he finished cutting up the last two pieces of steak on his plate. "You need to get to bed after you finishing eating, Cat."

"Grampa, it's only six thirty!" Cat angrily protested and repeatedly stabbed her green beans with her fork.

"Your Grampa is right," Googi told her granddaughter. "You're going to have a long day tomorrow. After dessert you head right up to your room, unplug that new fangled laptop of yours and put it in your carry-on bag. Just because you'll be in the Nation's Capitol for a few days, doesn't mean we don't want to hear from you."

"Will you save me the Conway Daily Sun?" Cat asked hesitantly.

"Of course we will!" Charlie said with a chuckle. "What, did you think we'd forget how much you love the funnies and Dear Abby?"

Cat bit her lip and shrugged before she dug into her last home cooked meal for a few days.


The next morning, Cat sleepily pulled her backpack and suitcases out of Grampa Charlie's pickup truck in the pre-dawn hours. Cars and parents filled the parking lot surrounding the two large coach buses and filling the chilly April air with excited chatter and last minute reminders.

Charlie took the suitcases from Cat and sent his granddaughter in the direction of Mr. Black, her group's chaperone, to check in. Cat waited with her best friend, Michelle Carter, and their sorta friend, sorta the biggest pain in the butt in the school, Joey Keller.

"It's too early for anybody to be awake," Michelle moaned when Cat slid up to her.

Cat yawned as she nodded in agreement, "I heard that the kids from Freedom and from Madison had to get up at two this morning to get here on time."

"They probably did," Michelle said rubbing her eyes. "I wish Dunkin Donuts had been open on our way in. I would kill for a hot chocolate right now."

"Me too," Cat said as Joey moved off to find his parents and Mr. Black checked the two girls off on his list as being present. "Morning, Mr. Black."

"Morning, girls," the science teacher said, looking up from his clipboard. "Having a nice morning?"

Cat and Michelle both gave their favorite teacher a look that said 'you have got to be kidding me'.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then," Mr. Black said with a laugh. "Don't worry, once you get your suitcases checked in, and everybody's accounted for and on the buses, you can go back to sleep. Did you remember a pillow to use on the ride?"

"We did," the girls said in synch.

"Good. Then I really do advise you two to get some sleep. We won't break out the movies until at least seven thirty, eight at the latest," Mr. Black said to them. "I need you two to go over to Mrs. McKenna and tell her how many bags you have in total, including the bag you're taking on the bus with you, not just the ones going underneath. Got that?"

The two sleepy friends nodded.

"Alright," Mr. Black said. "Off you go then."

As the two girls trudged away and narrowly avoided being hit in the head with a stray football thrown between two jocks they huddled in close together to try and stay warm.

"It's almost May," Michelle whined. "Why does it have to be so stinking cold?"

"Because it's four am," Cat replied as they joined the mob shouting out numbers to Mrs. McKenna, the assistant principal. "And it's still April and we're in the Mount Washington Valley in New Hampshire. Maybe if we're lucky it'll be like 65 in Washington when we get there."

"DiNozzo!" Mrs. McKenna called out, reading Cat's name from a list. "How many bags?"

"Two suitcases and one backpack going up top!" Cat replied.

"Got it!" Mrs. McKenna said scribbling it down and then handing Cat two luggage tags for her suitcases and a yellow sticker for her backpack. "How many bags to you have, Carter?"

"One suitcase and a backpack going up top," Michelle replied and was handed one luggage tag and a yellow sticker as well.

"You two are on bus number one. Mr. Black is on that bus as well, and he's your chaperone for the trip. Listen to what he says and remember this is a school sponsored trip and you're expected to follow the school rules. Don't abuse any down time given to you, not that I need to remind you girls, but just the same, behave yourselves."

"Yes, ma'am," Cat replied.

"Yes, Mrs. McKenna," Michelle answered.

"Go put those on your bags and get on your bus," Mrs. McKenna said. "We're leaving here in fifteen minutes."

The two girls weaved their way through the parents and kids mobbing the two buses back over to where Grampa Charlie's red pickup was parked next to Mrs. Carter's green minivan. They attached the proper tags to the proper bags and hauled the suitcases over the pile that was being loaded onto the different buses.

"Cat," Grampa said to his granddaughter while Michelle was off saying farewell to her parents. "Have fun, stay out of trouble, and take lots of pictures."

"I will, Grampa," Cat said.

"Your Googi and I love you very much and we'll miss you," Charlie said hugging his granddaughter.

"I love you guys, too," Cat said returning the gesture. "I'll miss you too, but I'll email you guys every night and I'll call when I can."

"Email will be just fine. I'll get Roger to show me how to open them at the store," Charlie said. "That way at home I can impress Ella with my computer knowledge."

"You don't need to show off for Googi, Grampa. She loves you already," Cat said puzzled.

"Atta girl," Charlie said fondly tugging on her ponytail. "You stay out of trouble, and if you find your dad, let us know."

"I will," Cat said hugging her grandfather again and then kissing him on the cheek. "Bye!"

"I'll see you in a couple of days," Charlie said. "Have fun!"

"I will!" Cat replied as she raced off for her bus, and the window seat next to Michelle. Once on the bus, Cat settled into her seat and placed her pillow on the window and used her jacket as a blanket. She was ready to leave for Washington, see the capital city, prepare for high school come September, and just possibly find her father.


Hey there guys! I haven't given up on Daddy's Sweetest Gift. I just needed a break from it, and I'm working on the next chapter when my homework load lets me. Nobody mentioned that the homework load in college would be so hectic. I'm struggling to catch up as it is, but I'm getting there slowly but surely I'll get to updating it! Fear not faithful readers! An update is on the horizon! :) Reviews are much appreciated too! In fact, they're encouraged!