No amount of cigarettes could relieve Carmen of this sudden heap of anxiety his ex had thrown onto him.

When he initially hooked up with Eliana, it was in the heat of the moment. They were both at a birthday party, both of them were a bit tipsy, and a one-night-stand occurred. It didn’t mean much. Then, there was another function. Eliana seemed to be a friend of Mikey’s, which is why Carmy crossed paths with her so often. Since they were both interested in each other, naturally more late-night trysts ensued.

Once Carmy went to New York, he thought everything was done between them. There were no romantic feelings, no circumstances of unrequited (or requited) love between the two of them, so he thought nothing of it. His time with Eliana was now a memory to look back on. Or, at least, that’s what he thought.

Apparently, after Carmy moved away from Chicago, Eliana found out she was pregnant. She knew she hadn’t met with anyone else other than Carmy, so she knew who the father was. But now Carmy was on to bigger, better things – why would he come back to Chicago? They had no real relationship anyway, so Eliana decided to keep you – her newborn baby – under wraps.

Now, six years later, you were sitting in the Beef, swinging your feet over the booth seating while Carmy stared at you, arms crossed and face set in a tight frown. He had done the DNA tests three times, just to make sure. You were his. He couldn’t believe Eliana just threw this on him once he came back to Chicago. First, he had to deal with Mikey’s death, and now he magically has a kid?

“What do you eat?” he asked gruffly, the fresh box of cigarettes in his apron pocket already calling his name. He wasn’t some babysitter; he was a goddamn chef, and the Beef didn’t have a kids menu.