Too hard

A few days later.

"Daddy, daddy, tomorrow is bring your pet to school day" said Joy excitedly as she ran around in Dom's office as he was typing something on his laptop but his eyes followed Joy as he smiled.

"Is that so my princess?" asked Dom as he smiled.

"Yes daddy" said Joy as she giggled.

"And what is going to happen on bring your pet to school day princess?" asked Dom with a smile.

"Well daddy Miss Honey says that all of us that have pets at home will be allowed to bring our pets to school to show everyone and tell them about our pet and why we love our pets" said Joy as she explained while running around and it was at about that moment that Dom regretted allowing her drink something sugary with her lunch.

She was just so energetic, no wonder Natasha sent her over here, not that he minded, he did allow her drink something too sweet.

"Ahh I see my princess, and do you have a pet?" asked Dom.

"Yes daddy of course I do, don't you remember Meggie my chicken?" asked Joy as she stopped running around and Dom laughed.

"Oh yes, I remember her, so are you going to take her to school tomorrow?" asked Dom as Joy walked to his desk and he carried her on his lap.

"Yes daddy, I want to take care to school with me to show her to all my friends, to Clarita, Leon and Prince, and all my other classmates" said Joy as Dom smiled.

"Alright princess, I will see if I can take a quick break tomorrow and bring Meggie" said Dom with a smile.

"Yayyy, thank you daddy, you are the best" said Joy as she giggled and gave Dom a kiss on the cheek.

"You are welcome princess, so I am better than your mommy?" asked Dom with a smile as Joy shook her head.

"No daddy" said Joy as she giggled.

"But why not?" asked Dom.

"I love you and mommy the same, but mommy is the best always" said Joy as she giggled and Dom poked her nose.

"Alright, alright, even though that one hit me too hard" said Dom as Joy giggled.

"I love you daddy" said Joy as she smiled.

"And I love you too my princess" said Dom as he smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Daddy can I go outside and play with Meggie now?" asked Joy.

"Well it's 3pm, time for your nap princess" said Dom as he checked his watch.

"No daddy, I don't want to take a nap" said Joy as she refused and shook her head.

"I remember when you were little, and you could not even say no to me, but now you refute me so freely" said Dom as he smiled and Joy giggled.

"I am a big girl now daddy, I don't need to take a nap, that's for babies" said Joy.

"Princess, remind me again how old you are?" asked Dom.

"I'm five, I don't want to take a nap" said Joy as Dom laughed, she was getting so naughty as she grew older, it made him a little bit scared for when she would be a teenager, luckily he still had many years left.

"Hmm maybe we can discuss that with your mommy later, but for now, you know the rules nap time" said Dom as Joy frowned.

"No" said Joy.

"Yes" said Dom.

"Come on princess, don't look at me like that… alright, I promise you that I will talk to your mommy about this, you know that after all she has the final say, and not me" said Dom.

"You promise?" asked Joy.

"I promise princess" said Dom as he smiled and Natasha walked into the room.

"It's time for you to go take a nap" said Natasha as Dom put Joy down as she walked out of the room sadly.

"What's wrong with Joy?" asked Natasha as she looked at Dom.

"She doesn't want to take naps anymore…" said Dom as Natasha just looked at him.

"I've been thinking, Joy's no longer a baby, she goes to bed on time, and she wakes up on time, maybe stopping her naptime would be nice, she wants more time to play" said Dom.

"She told you that right?" asked Natasha.

"Well not in those words exactly, but something along that" said Dom.

"Well are you prepared to handle her if she's grouchy?" asked Natasha.

"I mean…" said Dom as he was cut off.

"You are never here most times, if she misbehaves because she's grouchy, who will be the one to blame?" asked Natasha.

"I have nothing against carrying her to your office for you to deal with her" Natasha.

"if you are happy to do that, then we can make changes to her schedule" said Natasha.

"Alright fine" said Dom.

"If it will make her happier, you can drop her off at my office, whenever you want, I'm fine with it, I will take care of her, she is my daughter after all" said Dom.

"You would really risk your peace of working, just because Joy told you she doesn't want to take naps anymore?" asked Natasha.

"if it makes her happy, then yes" said Dom as Natasha just looked at him.

"She really doesn't want to take naps anymore, she's five, she's growing, getting more active she wants to explore more, and I want her to grow freely, she's going to want to see the world and challenge the rules, and I just want the best for her" said Dom as Natasha did not even realize when a smile crept up on her face.

"Well alright, you called it" said Natasha as she knew that she and Dom were raising Joy together, he had a say, and she would respect that.

"You agree with me?" asked Dom.

"Well… you are right, she is growing, she wants to adventure and explore, and there's nothing better to do than for us to support her" said Natasha as Dom smiled.

"Thank you Natasha" said Dom as he smiled.

"But just know that I won't agree to everything, Joy needs a balance of discipline and freedom" said Natasha.

"I know she does Natasha, thank you for agreeing with me" said Dom with a smile.

"Hmm right" said Natasha as she walked away.

…

The next morning.

Dom sighed as he looked at his watch, it was 8:30am, he still had several more meetings, he doubted that he would be chanced to drive back home and go and get Meggie and drive to the school and back and forth.

"Dom, these files need to be sighed" said Nine as he walked into Dom's office and placed the files on his desk.

"Thanks Nine" said Dom.

"You're welcome, what's wrong?" asked Nine as he noticed that Dom did not look happy.

"Well today is bring your pet to school day, and I promised Joy that I would bring Meggie to school for her, but I have a meeting right now that can't be cancelled, and there Is just so much work piled up here" said Dom with a sigh.

"It's fine, I can do it" said Nine.

"You can?" asked Dom in surprise.

"Yes, I will go get Meggie, take her to Joy and bring her back, what time is the show and tell?" asked Nine.

"It's at 10am" said Dom.

"And It's just 8:30, I have lots of time to make the trip" said Nine.

"Don't you have your own work piled up?" asked Dom.

"Not at all, Grandfather asked me to transfer what I was working on to Charlie, so I am free" said Nine.

"It's no bother for me to go and help Joy" said Nine.

"Thank you Nine I owe you one" said Dom as he smiled.

"Don't mention it Dom, you know that Joy will be very disappointed, I will explain everything to her" said Nine.

"Thanks Nine, really" said Dom with a smile as Nine smile.

"I should get going now, so I can make it in time" said Nine as Dom nodded.

"Good luck" said Dom with a smile as Nine nodded and walked out of Dom's office as Dom sighed in relief.

…

"Joy what's wrong?" asked Clarita as she looked at Joy who was looking sad.

"My daddy isn't here with Meggie yet" said Joy sadly.

"Oh maybe he's stuck in traffic" said Leon.

"Maybe, but what if he is not here in time, he is going to miss the show and tell" said Joy as everyone parents had already arrived with their pets.

"Oh just relax Joy, we still have time, Miss Honey said that we still have thirty minutes" said Prince.

"Yes Joy, Prince is right, we still have lots of time, I am sure that your daddy will be here soon" said Clarita.

"I hope so too" said Joy as she sighed she didn't want him to miss this, he promised he wouldn't.