Responsibility

"Daddy??" called Joy as her Father did not respond to her as she walked out of the room, she was in to stand in front of him.

"Daddy, Mommy isn't coming back?" asked Joy as she wanted to know if she had heard right, she was watching tv in the living room, when she heard her daddy talking on the phone, and she reduced the tv and then she heard her daddy, and it seemed like he was talking to her mommy, and he said something about her not coming back for two months.

"Princess, what are you doing here?" asked Dom as he smiled, he really was ana idiot, he should have gone somewhere private to scold Natasha, and not right here in the hallway where Joy could obviously hear him, he really made a mistake, he called for what he was trying to avoid.

"Daddy, are you talking to mommy?" asked Joy as she did not answer her Father's question, he was trying to dodge her question, and she did not find it funny at all.

Natasha's heart broke when she heard the voice of her little angel, she should have known better than to call at this time, wait, wait, it was 10pm over there, just what was Joy doing awake right now?

"Princess, give me a minute, I am on the phone with your mommy, but we need to finish discussing first" said Dom as he looked at Joy.

"Okay daddy" said Joy as she nodded her head, she only wanted the truth.

Dom put his phone back to his ear as he heard Natasha's voice come from the other side.

"Why is Joy still awake? It's 10pm" said Natasha as she could not believe this.

"I came back late from the office, Alfred was tired from babysitting her all day, so I let her watch cartoons while I went to get changed and get something to eat" said Dom as he whispered, he did not want Joy to know that they were arguing right now.

"It's 10pm, past her bedtime" said Natasha.

"I know that, but what do you expect me to do? I had a long day at the office, I didn't have time to make sure she slept early" said Dom.

"Besides, it's Friday, she doesn't have to go to school tomorrow, so she can stay up a bit late" said Dom as his hands were tied here, he was tired as well, just so tired, one thing led to another, and he ended up having to go to the port to settle a matter, he ended up getting home at 9:30pm, when Alfred was so tried from running around with Joy all day, so he let Alfred go, while he allowed Joy to be distracted by the tv, so he could quickly take a shower and eat something, then he would tuck her in, but one thing led to another, Natasha called, he picked up, and well here they were.

"Whatever" said Natasha as she just shook her head, it was not good for Joy to be up at this time.

"Yes, whatever, but right now, we are not discussing Joy's bedtime, we are speaking of the fact that you decided to have a vacation over there" said Dom as he turned around and he saw Joy still standing there, waiting for an answer to her question, he had to commend her for being so patient.

"For your information, it is not a vacation, but you are free to think whatever you want to think Mr. White, because I frankly don't care for your opinion" said Natasha as Dom just made her so angry, did he really think that if she had a choice, she would stay over here.

"And I don't care for you at all, for all I care, you can go travelling around the world, my only concern is that you are not just free to do whatever you want to, we have a daughter, like it or not, and sure we might have our differences, but she needs both of us, you can't just go leaving whenever you feel like it" said Dom.

"And who says that I just went leaving, the way you speak like I don't care for my daughter, yes my daughter" said Natasha as she stressed the word mine, she was hers, she could be his daughter as well, but mainly hers.

"Oh your daughter alone, wow Natasha, just who is over here watching over her and taking care of her to the best of his ability?" asked Dom as it was really hard for him to keep his voice down when he was just so angry at Natasha.

"Isn't that your responsibility as her Father?" asked Natasha as she was fuming, she did not remember the last time she and Dom had such a heated argument, maybe because she had done a good job in avoiding him for some time now, now she remembered why she hated him so much, she hated it when he got like this.

"Yes it is, and I love taking care of my responsibility, my only concern here is that instead of putting her hopes so high, you should have just said nothing at all if you were not sure of when exactly you were returning" said Dom as Natasha felt that, he was right about that, and she blamed herself for telling her baby something false, but it was not her intention at all, she really did want to come back home, but something came up.

Dom stayed quiet as Natasha stayed quiet as well, he knew that she was still on the line… he knew that he had made his point, this was not just about him, or about her, but their daughter, whether they liked it or not.

"Daddy??" called Joy as she was tired of waiting, all she could hear was whispering, but it sounded like her mommy and daddy were arguing over the phone.

"Yes Princess?" asked Dom as he turned to look at Joy and he smiled at her.

"I want to speak to Joy" said Natasha as her voice came from the other side of the line as Dom just sighed.

"Fine" said Dom as he walked to Joy and he gave her his phone.

"Princess, your mommy wants to talk to you" said Dom as he wished that he could smile right now, but he could not, he was just so angry at Natasha right now.

"Hello" said Joy as her voice sound sad as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello my baby" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Mommy, are you not coming back home?" asked Joy as she wanted to know the truth, and Dom felt his heart ache as he heard the sadness in Joy's tone, this was what he wanted to avoid at all costs, her being sad.

"Well no my baby, I'm not coming home yet" said Natasha as the smile on her face dropped, she could tell that her baby was not happy at all.

"But why not mommy?" asked Joy as she felt like crying, she wanted to see her she thought that she said that she would be back soon.

"Don't cry princess, please don't cry" said Dom as he pleaded with Joy and Natasha heard his voice in the background, her baby was about to cry? The thought itself made her feel like crying.

"My baby, please don't cry" said Natasha.

"Okay mommy, I won't cry" said Joy as she sniffed and she nodded her head.

"Oh thank you my baby, I promise you that I am coming back home soon" said Natasha.

"When Mommy?" asked Joy.

"My baby, how many months are there in a year?" asked Natasha as she wanted to explain this as simple as she could.

"There are 12 months in a year mommy" replied Joy.

"Good my baby, name all the months for me please" said Natasha.

"January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December" said Joy.

"Good my baby" said Natasha as she smiled, she could not help but feel proud.

"And which month are we currently in my baby?" asked Natasha.

"We are in November Mommy" said Joy as she replied and Dom wondered just what Natasha was playing at with this game of hers, it wasn't making things better at all.

"Yes my baby, we are in November, and how many months do we have till January, and please count from the next month" said Natasha.

"We have two months mommy" said Joy.

"Yes my baby correct" said Natasha as she smiled.

"So you are not going to be back for two months?" asked Joy.

"Yes my baby, unfortunately not, I won't be back till January, in two months' time" said Natasha as she had to tell Joy the truth.

"So you are going to miss Christmas mommy?" asked Joy.

"Yes my baby I will" said Natasha sadly.

"My baby, I am sorry, but there are still some things I have to take care of here, I would have love to come home sooner like I told you, but it just is not possible right now" said Natasha.

"My baby, I want you to know, that I didn't do this on purpose, it hurts me to be away from you for so long, but I just have to stay here" said Natasha

"Some things came up, and well I can't leave just yet" said Natasha as she heard nothing but silence.

"My baby, please don't be sad, or angry with me, two months will pass by before you know it, and well I will be back home with you" said Natasha as Joy did not look happy at all, she looked like she had just heard the saddest news right now.

"My baby, I want you to know that I love you, and that I miss you the same way you miss me, even more than that" said Natasha.

"That's not true mommy" said Joy as she shook her head and Natasha froze.

"If you really missed me the same way I missed you, then you would come back home" said Joy in her little voice as she looked down at the ground and Dom felt his heart ache even more, his princess was suffering, and it hurt him to see her like this.

"Oh my baby" said Natasha as she felt her heart break into a million pieces, she just felt so bad right now, her baby had a point, an very good point.

"My baby, do you want to know why I can't come back just yet?" asked Natasha.

"Yes mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head.

"My baby, I don't want to come back and have to leave again" said Natasha.

"I want to settle everything over here first, so that when I come back home, I won't go anywhere ever again" said Natasha.

"You won't?" asked Joy.

"No my baby, I won't, I will make sure to stay by your side at all times" said Natasha.

"So please understand me my baby, I didn't do this on purpose" said Natasha.

"Or do you want me to come back and have to leave again?" asked Natasha.

"No Mommy, I want you to stay" said Joy as Natasha smiled.

"I want to stay as well my baby" said Natasha.

"So please bear with me, my baby, just two months, two months I promise you, and I will be back home, right there with you" said Natasha.

"Your promise?" asked Joy.

"With all my heart my baby, I promise you, and I don't break my promises okay?" asked Natasha as she smiled.

"Okay mommy" said Joy as her voice no longer sounded sad, but it still sounded disappointed.

"Thank you for understanding my baby" said Natasha as she smiled.

"My baby, I promise you that it will be like I never left, I will call you every single day, so we can talk alright?" asked Natasha.

"Okay mommy, don't forget to call me" said Joy.

"I won't my baby, I won't" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Oh my baby, I love you so much" said Natasha as she smiled.

"I love you too mommy, and I miss you" said Joy.

"I miss you too my baby, just two months, and I will be back home" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Okay mommy" said Joy as she felt better, she knew that her mommy won't break her promise, she would be home in two months.

"Thank you my baby, now it's late, go brush your teeth, and go to bed alright?" asked Natasha as she smiled.

"Okay mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head.

"Sweet dreams my baby, I love you" said Natasha as she smiled and Joy just nodded her head as she gave the phone back to Dom and she walked to the stairs as she walked up them to her room.

Dom sighed, he could tell that she was still upset.

Dom put his phone to his ear, and surprisingly enough, Natasha did not hang up, she was still there.

"Hello" said Dom as his voice sounded cold.

"Yes hello" said Natasha.

"Don't let Joy stay up past her bedtime, no matter what, it disrupts her sleep schedule, she will end up waking up at 11am tomorrow" said Natasha as she was worried about that.

"Noted" replied Dom coldly.

"Alright" said Natasha.

"Anything else?" asked Dom.

"No" said Natasha as she heard the call disconnect, Dom hung up on her, she knew that he was furious if he did so, he did have a right to be angry, but she did not care for him right now, she only wanted her baby to be alright.

Dom sighed as he put his phone in his pocket, he hated it when Natasha did this, thinking that she was always right, just because she was able to coax Joy, Dom found it unfair, it was times like this that hated that she was such a good mother, he realized now that he had said some things to her that she should not have, but right now, he was still angry.

Dom just walked to the living room as he turned off the tv and he dialed another number.

"Hello" said Michael as he picked up the call almost immediately.

"Forget what I said before, I need you to track Natasha, I want to know where exactly she is" said Dom.

"What happened?" asked Michael as he was surprised by what Dom just said.

"I will tell you later, but I need you to track her, can you do it?" asked Dom.

"Sure, but that will be tomorrow" said Michael as he answered carefully.

"Good" said Dom.

"Dom… what happened, you sound upset" said Michael.

"Natasha and I had a fight, I will tell you what about tomorrow, for now, I have to go tuck Joy in" said Dom as he sighed.

"Alright then… don't blow a fuse" said Michael as he sounded worried.

"I already did, but don't worry I will be fine" said Dom as he sighed and he rubbed his temples, he always got so stressed whenever it came to Natasha, as if she loved to see him worked up.

"I hope so" said Michael.

"Goodnight Dom" said Michael.

"Mhmm, Goodnight" said Dom as he ended the call and he walked out of the living room as he switched off the lights and he walked up the stairs to tuck Joy in.