"I'm home!" Dom announced loudly as he walked through kitchen backdoor.
"Daddy!" Joy came rushing out of the dining room as soon as she heard her father's voice.
"Hello princess, how are you?" he asked. He carried her instantly and gave her a big hug. She was the light of his life and he loved her so much. Whenever he had a bad day, a hectic day, a day that made no sense, he knew that his little bundle of Joy would be waiting at home to cheer him up.
"I'm good daddy," Joy hugged him tightly.
"Hey," Natasha frowned as she walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Natasha, how are you?" Dom smiled as he put Joy down.
"Good... why did you walk in from the kitchen door instead of the front door?" she asked. She was confused. When she heard his voice coming from the kitchen instead of the living room, she thought she was hearing things.
"Oh, well, I forgot my keys at the office and when I got home, the front door was locked for some odd reason, so I decided to use the backdoor," Dom explained.
"You should have called me, I would have opened it for you," She said.
"My phone died, so..." Dom said.
"Well, you interrupted our dinner, which by the way, it's your turn to make breakfast tomorrow," Natasha reminded him. Alfred was still not back yet so they were all stepping in where they needed to. She was not going to allow Dom hide behind being busy so he could avoid doing what they agreed.
"Good I interrupted dinner, because you should not be having dinner without me in the first place," Dom said tickling Joy who giggled and Natasha scoffed.
"And secondly, of course I remember it's my turn to make breakfast tomorrow morning and I'm going to do it," He said.
"Joy, go and finish your dinner while your daddy washes his hands and I dish his food," Natasha said.
"Okay mommy," Joy nodded. "I'll be waiting for you daddy," She waved at him before taking her leave.
Dom smiled and waved back. He just loved that girl of his so much.
"Do you really think that bad of me that you have to remind me that it's my turn to make breakfast tomorrow?" Dom asked. He washed his hands in the kitchen sink, there was no need for him to go so far when there was a sink right here.
"I don't think badly of you. I know you are busy and it might have slipped your mind," Natasha responded as she brought out a dish from the cupboard.
"Yes, I am busy, because I wish to be done with all the pending issues so by Friday, everything at the office will be settled," Dom said.
Natasha said nothing. She knew that he was just trying to do his best. She was not angry with him, she was tired.
"Mhmm," Natasha said.
"Hi guys," Lulu walked into the kitchen gave a brief smile and wave.
"Hi Lulu," Both Natasha and Dom said at the same time. Lulu already took her leave before she heard their greeting.
"Have you talked to Lulu yet?" Dom dried his hands. His turned to Natasha and frowned.
"Mhmm, I have. I spoke to her yesterday," Natasha replied.
"I don't know, I'm worried. She has not been herself since that night and she's always so gloomy and serious lately," Dom said worried. Of course he was worried. This was his little sister and she was always happy, but now she was sad and it made him sad.
"She told me she would think about it. She and Benjamin really had a big misunderstanding," Natasha replied. She too was worried about Lulu.
"I don't want to get involved because I know it will make her more upset if I do," Dom said. "But, at the same time, I am too worried, what if this mood of hers continues for a long time?".
"I understand that you are worried, I am too, but I think Lulu would appreciate some well-deserved space," Natasha said. "She needs some time to come to a conclusion on her own, if we intervene, she will feel like she has no choice.".
"I know, but I just want to save it, I want to save their friendship because I know Benjamin is probably the only friend she has that she really likes and they have been through a lot together," Dom sighed.
"Friends fight, it's normal, but what's more important is that they both us this time to think and decide what they want, and if they truly want to continue being friends.".
"I agree, but it's just taking too long for them to reconcile," Dom frowned.
"Just give her some time, she told Joy she would be coming with us to your parent's house, maybe that will make her a bit happy, she will be able to get away and forget about the things or the people that are making her sad," Natasha said.
"I hope so, I hope it's that easy. Knowing Lulu, she won't tell anyone how she's feeling, she'll just end up bottling it," Dom said.
"You do the same thing, it's White sibling thing," Natasha said.
"No it's not!" Dom was quick to refute.
"Please, you're just as secretive as she is. There are some things I am sure you would not tell Charlie, Michael or Nine if not for the fact that you all grew up together and they know you well, so you can't hide anything from them," Natasha said.
"I don't like it when you're right," Dom said and Natasha chuckled.
"Well, I'm always right.".
"Not always!" Dom was quick to refute.
"Yeah, right," Natasha scoffed, she ignored him and walked out of the kitchen as Dom followed after her.
...
"Daddy," Joy called as the three of them were having dinner. Lulu was in her room. She was yet to come down for dinner and this worried Dom, but he did not show it. He just wished to enjoy dinner with Natasha and Joy.
"Yes, princess?" Dom looked up.
"Daddy, is grandpappy part Japanese?" Joy asked.
Dom was surprised by Joy's question. He had not expected to hear such a question from her.
"Why do you ask that my darling?" Natasha asked surprised.
"Well I was talking to Ethan and then we started talking about how you are half Russian mommy, which means, I am part Russian and then he said that I don't look Russian but I look Japanese and then we started arguing then he said that he overheard that grandpappy is Japanese, so I want to know if that is true," Joy said.
Natasha and Dom looked at each other and Dom burst into laughter. He wondered what children nowadays were talking about. He thought it was all cartoons, but it turns out they also argued about nationalities as well. Children were truly interesting.
"Well yes princess, your grandpappy is part Japanese," Dom laughed and Joy gasped.
"So Ethan was right?!" She asked surprised and Dom nodded.
"Yes, he was right," Dom chuckled.
"Ethan really does know everything," Joy said.
"Your grandpappy is part Japanese. His grandparents were Japanese but moved to America, according to him, his grandfather ran away with his grandmother because he took her away from the man she was forced to marry, so they ran to America together and start a life over here," Dom explained.
"Ooooooh, really?" Joy asked surprised.
"Yes really, so your grandpappy was brought up in the most Japanese way possible while in America, but you know things happen, genes mix and well, his mother was not Japanese, and my grandmother was not Japanese, and your grandad and grandma aren't Japanese, so you won't really know we have some Japanese DNA in us if we didn't ask," Dom chuckled.
"That's so cool daddy, genes mixing and changing how people look," Joy said.
"Yes, mixing genes is not something to be ashamed of, we are all diverse and different and that's a good thing," Natasha smiled. "Imagine if the genes of our families had not mixed, we would not be here today.".
"That is true," Dom laughed.
"So, princess, what did you and Ethan talk about all day?". Dom was curious. He wanted to know what else his princess was talking about with his favourite friend.
"Well, first Ethan told me about how hot it was outside, so I went to ask mommy for permission to go outside to see for myself and when I got outside it was really hot, I was already sweating just from being outside for a few minutes, I had to quickly feed Maggie before rushing back inside," Joy said.
"I tell you my princess, today was so hot, it was like an extreme heatwave, trust me, I know because the building's air-conditioning failed for an hour and everyone was drenched in sweat, we were all praying that the air-conditioning was fixed soon," Dom said as they all laughed.