Lulu groaned, she walked into the house and was about to slam the door in anger when she remembered that she was not the only one at home and Joy was probably asleep and she did not want to accidentally wake her up.
So she closed the door lightly even though she was so sad and angry at the moment.
"Hey, where did you go?" Dom asked as he walked out from the kitchen with a cup of tea in his hand.
Lulu looked at him, she did not say anything, she was too upset to speak and she did not wish for Dom to ask her questions she was not ready to answer. Lulu was not ready to speak to her brother so she just walked upstairs silently.
Dom simply shrugged, he wondered what was wrong with Lulu. However, he knew that she probably did not wish to be bothered if she did not say anything. He was sure that whatever it was that made her bothered.
It was not that he was being inconsiderate, rather he was being considerate by acknowledging that Lulu was not a little girl anymore, she had her own problems to deal with and she did not need him to step in every single time. When she needed his help or advice she would ask for it.
Besides, Dom was exhausted, all he wanted to do was get into bed and go to sleep, which was why he had come downstairs to make himself some tea. Hopefully, he would be able to fall asleep sooner.
Dom walked upstairs straight to his room. He got into bed and took a sip of his tea. He was about getting ready to fall asleep when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.
He frowned and sat up in bed wondering who it could possibly be at this time. Dom was annoyed, he walked to the door and opened it, he thought it was Lulu but he was surprised when he saw Natasha instead.
"Natasha..." he called out sounding shocked to see her.
"Did I disturb you?" Natasha asked, she knew that it was really late, but she needed to speak to him before he left for work tomorrow and now was the best time.
"Not at all... Is something the matter?" he quickly asked, it was not a small matter that Natasha had come to his room, she had not been here in several months, which was why he was really worried that something was wrong.
"Not really, I just need to talk to you before you go to sleep." Natasha said.
"Alright... is this about Joy?" Dom asked, what else would be so important that she would need to speak to him so urgently. He was sure it had something to do with Joy.
"Mhmm, it's about Joy." She replied.
"Come in." He said stepping aside. Natasha walked in and he closed the door.
"What is it?" Dom asked.
"Calm down, it's nothing serious as in life-threatening." Natasha said.
"Alright, good. I thought it was." Dom said sounding relieved.
"You worry too much." Natasha scoffed.
"Hey, can you blame me? It's not everyday you come over here and especially not at this time, so what is it?" Dom replied.
"Today Joy made a huge mess in her room because Lulu left her unsupervised because she went to go and deal with an annoying delivery driver that refused to deliver her package to the house." Natasha summarized.
"Is Joy okay? Did she get hurt? She looked fine when I saw her this evening." Dom said.
"She is alright, luckily." Natasha said.
"And why didn't she tell me anything? I asked her how her day went and she did not mention that to me at all." Dom frowned.
"That's because I told her not to. You just came back from work and it was best that you calm down before you blow it out of proportion." Natasha replied.
"When do I ever blow anything out of proportion?" Dom asked shocked.
"You do that all the time, it is your thing." Natasha responded.
"That is false, I do not do that all the time." Dom frowned.
"You are a worrywart, you always take things too far, especially when the matter has already been solved, so yes, that's why I didn't want Joy to tell you during dinner, or else you would have made a fuss even though I already handled everything." Natasha said.
"Wow Natasha, the fact that you think that of me shows that you really do not know me." Dom said, Natasha frowned.
"Neither do you know me." She replied.
"That may be true to an extent, but I do know that had it been the other way round and I had decided to approach this the way you chose to, I would have been in big trouble and you would have scolded me for hiding it from you." Dom said.
"That is not true." Natasha said.
"It is true, I know you Natasha, you would have frowned, thrown a fit at me and especially argued with me had I even said the words 'I handled it already.' like you did." Dom pointed.
Natasha felt attacked, and she was right to because Dom was telling things the way they were.
"You would not have spoken to me for days, weeks even. Look, I do get that you handled everything already, but I'm Joy's father, I also have the right to worry and show my concern the same way you did earlier." Dom said.
"Which is why, you should have told me earlier, but it's fine. If you handled it, I trust that you did, but we are trying to be more understanding with each other, which is why you should have told me as soon as I returned from work so I could speak to Joy about this as well." Natasha frowned, she hated that he was right.
"How would you have liked it if it had been the other way around? Tell me the truth, how would you feel?" he asked.
"Upset." Natasha said reluctantly.
"Exactly, and because we are adults, I'm telling you what makes me upset and why I do not want this to repeat itself again." Dom said in a calmer tone. It was late and he did not want to have to go to bed in a foul mood because of an argument.
"Alright, fine." Natasha said.
"Thank you." Dom said.
"Anyway, arguing is not why I came here." She said. "When I asked Joy why she did what she did, one thing led to another and she said she is bored being all alone at home all day." Natasha said.
"I knew that this would be the case. It's not easy for her to be at home all day alone. Her friends are on vacation and she has no one to play with." Dom sighed.
"I know, and that's why I came here, what should we do? I don't want her bored because it would lead to her being upset." Natasha frowned.
"I'll take a week or two off from the office." Dom concluded.
"Why?" Natasha asked.
"Although I won't be able to take her on a full vacation, I was thinking that we could go over to my parent's and grandfather's house and spend the week, like a little mini-vacation." Dom said.
"The change in scenery would be exciting for Joy and she won't be able if we can go with her." He said.
"That sounds fine to me." Natasha replied, she agreed with him. The second best place Joy could go would be to her grandparent's and grandpappy's house.
"Do you think that you would be able to come with us?" Dom asked.
"For a few days... sure. I am sure that the store can go on without my supervision. Besides, we won't be too far away so in case anything comes up, I can easily go over there." Natasha said.
"I know, that's the reason why I chose to go over there, it's closer just in case anything does come up." Dom responded. "So we have agreed?"
"Yes, we are going next week right?" Natasha asked and Dom nodded.
"Joy is going to be very excited when she hears that." Natasha said and Dom laughed.
"I know, I can't wait to see her little face light up in excitement, can we tell her together?" Dom asked.
"Sure, when will you be free to tell her?" Natasha asked.
"I will leave for the office very early tomorrow, but I'll be home for lunch, I think that we can tell her then." Dom said.
"It is settled then, goodnight." Natasha said as she took her leave.
"Goodnight." Dom replied as the door closed behind her. He sat down on his bed and sighed. He was relieved, this conversation could have gone south like many of the other conversations they had in the past. Luckily it did not. He was very relieved about that. Natasha seemed more understanding and he tried his best to not raise his voice.
Dom sipped his now cold tea, he sighed and laid in bed.