Just like Grandfather

Dom sighed in relief as he drank his coffee in the living room, that went better than he had expected, and Joy did not ask any questions that he would not rather answer, he was somewhat relieved that Joy noticed how uncomfortable and quiet he was with the whole matter, hopefully she would never bring it up again.

"There is something seriously wrong with you, why do you look at if you have just survived death?" asked Natasha in annoyance as she walked into the living room only to see Dom obviously thinking to himself, and she sure had an idea of what he was thinking about.

"Well I did" said Dom as he turned to look at her and Natasha scoffed.

"You didn't even say anything at all, I was the one doing all the talking, and you just sat there, looking dumb" said Natasha.

"I told you I didn't want to discuss that topic with her" said Dom.

"Oh you really did, and you couldn't man up and put aside your discomfort and talk to your own daughter about her innocent question" said Natasha as she was glad that she was alive to raise Joy, because with what she just saw Dom do, she didn't trust him to raise Joy on his own.

"I admit to that, and I'm glad that you were here to take the lead" replied Dom as Natasha scoffed at him.

"Oh, you act as if you had never asked that question" said Natasha.

"That's because I haven't knowing Grandfather, he would explain it in a way that I don't want to hear, so I never asked" said Dom.

"You never asked your parents?" asked Natasha.

"Never, there's a reason why there is school" said Dom as Natasha shook her head.

"I don't believe you, you must have asked and forgot" said Natasha.

"I remember that I asked my dad when I was about Joy's age, or a little bit older than that" said Natasha.

"And he explained it to me delicately, the way a six year old would understand" said Natasha as she smiled, remembering her wonderful father.

"And then when I was fifteen and in high school, he sat me down, and explained the whole process to me in detail" said Natasha with a smile.

"He looked so nervous explained, and it wasn't awkward, I was just laughing the entire time" said Natasha as she smiled and Dom smiled.

"And then he got to the part about protection, he kept on stressing that part, I think he was a little bit scared that I would tell him I was pregnant or something" said Natasha as she laughed.

"But I mean, I should have listened to him, look at where I am now" said Natasha as she laughed.

"That's dark Natasha, really" said Dom with a frown.

"Oh I don't care, it's the truth, I couldn't get pregnant on my own now could I?" asked Natasha as Dom remained silent.

"Anyway, this is just one of the things we have to face as parents, children want to learn a lot, and they go through several phases" said Natasha.

"Well I would rather skip this phase, Joy doesn't need to know about any of this" said Dom as he shook his head violently and Natasha shook her head.

"if you are acting like this just because she wants to know where babies come from, then I wonder what you will do when she gets a boyfriend" said Natasha as Dom looked at her as if she had just said the unspeakable.

"No way, no way, Joy is not getting a boyfriend until she's twenty" said Dom almost immediately.

"What??" asked Natasha in nothing but pure shock at what he said.

"You heard me right, she's not dating until she's twenty, no way, I don't want some silly, irresponsible boy breaking my princess's little heart" said Dom as Natasha burst in laughter.

"You can't be serious" she said as she laughed.

"Oh I am, my house my rules, no dating till she's mature at the age of twenty, I'm not going to let her fall in love with some idiot who isn't serious" said Dom in seriousness.

"Oh just who the heck are you?" asked Natasha as she laughed.

"You are acting just like Grandfather, meanwhile you complain that he is so strict, and yet here you are turning into him" said Natasha.

"My daughter is precious to me, and I am going to protect her" said Dom.

"From boys?" asked Natasha as she laughed.

"Yes from boys" said Dom indefinitely.

"Oh you are so full of it, I don't want to ever here you complain about Grandfather again, you are just like him" said Natasha as she never thought of Dom as the strict parent and yet, here he was proving her wrong, just because of the thought of boys dating their daughter.

"Tell me, did you ever date when you were in middle school or high school?" asked Dom.

"Well no" replied Natasha.

"You see, neither did I" replied Dom.

"But hold up, my dad never stopped me from dating, there was no rule against me dating, that was just my choice because I wanted to focus on what was on hand, you on the other hand are being silly, I bet you when Joy's a teenager she's going to contend that silly rule of yours" said Natasha.

"No she won't, my princess is a darling who knows that my rules are for her own good, she will be serious with her studies just like we were, whatever she finds interest In, I will support her, but no boys, except for me, her uncles and grandfathers" said Dom as Natasha looked at him in disbelief.

She never thought of him as being this strict, her father was never strict, he taught her the right way to do things and he never forced it on her, he wanted her to decide for herself which path to follow, and she appreciated him for that, she did turn out good after all.

"Thankfully, I am still alive, and I won't let you terrorize our daughter" said Natasha.

"I am not terrorizing her, it's for her own good" said Dom.

"Oh you are so one sided, I am sure that you are saying that because Joy is a girl" said Natasha.

"I am sure that if Joy was a boy you would handle this differently" said Natasha as she shook her head.

"No that's a lie, I won't, I would treat it the same if Joy was a boy" said Dom.

"The same rules still apply" said Dom as Natasha could not believe this, all she could do was laugh, Dom was being really unreasonable right now, where was the reasonable, thinking Dom?

"You are lying" said Natasha.

"No I am not, no dating till he's 20 as well, he has to focus on his interests get a good job and all, that was the way I was raised and I would raise him the same way" said Dom.

"I doubt you would" said Natasha.

"I was a serious boy when I was growing up, and I still am, and he would be too" said Dom as Natasha laughed, the way he looked so serious arguing his point just cracked her up.

"Tell me it's not true Natasha" said Dom as he looked at her.

"Well I mean, it is honestly the truth but" said Natasha.

"But what?" asked Dom.

"You and the guys always complained about the way grandfather raised you, you said he was too strict, and yet you want to do the same?" asked Natasha out of curiosity.

"Well that was back when I was younger, but now that I am older I realize that he did it for our own good, we were just too childish to see it then, but I see it now, everything he did was to make us turn out better and we did" said Dom.

"Fair point, I agree with that" said Natasha, if she was being honest, he was the most responsible person she knew.

"I won't let my son break any girls hearts, because I his father, never broke anyone's heart" said Dom assuredly as the smile on Natasha's face faltered.

"You broke my heart…" said Natasha with a sad smile on her face and her voice was low, but Dom still heard her loud and clear and it was enough to make him realize what he had just said.

Silence reigned between them for a while, Dom wanted to say something but he didn't know what, and Natasha just stood there looking at him, Dom could not see any hate in her eyes, but he could see regret and pain, and it hurt him to see that.

"Natasha I…"said Dom as Natasha cut him off.

"It's late, goodnight" said Natasha as she turned around and left, not giving him any chance to say anything.

Dom just stood there looking, he scolded himself internally for what he had just said.

Why did he say that, why did he have to ruin the good mood? Here they were, having a normal conversation just like old times, there was no fighting just them talking, and then he opened his big mouth and said something he shouldn't have said, which ruined everything.

"You're an idiot Dom, really" said Dom to himself with a sigh, he just had to ruin everything, they were talking like normal, which had not happened in a long time, and he ruined it, Dom felt so bad, he knew that what he said was hurtful, he shouldn't have brought up old unclosed wounds.

Dom sighed to himself as he walked out of the living room and switched off the lights and went to bed.