"What the hell happened?" Dom asked, as he opened the front door of his house. Letty quickly walked past him, while Brian leaned into Mia for support as they made their way in. "Why didn't anyone call me sooner?"

"There was nothing you could do, tough guy," Letty remarked, tugging on his arm to move him away from Mia in order to stop the questioning. "How's Aiden?"

Dom pointed his finger to the stairs. "He's working on his homework."

"Thank you," Mia smiled appreciatively once she got Brian settled on the couch. "I'll go up in a minute to help him. I just want to make sure Brian's okay first."

"I'm fine," Brian whined. "All I want to do is sleep."

"You can't sleep bro," Letty reminded him. "The doctor said you should try and stay awake for a while longer."

"Ugh," Brian groaned.

Dom walked to the centre of the room and looked his friends and sister questioningly. "Can someone explain this to me? Who the hell made a punching bag out of you, O'Conner?"

The blonde snickered, but instantly regretted his actions when he felt a sharp pain in his side. Wincing, he began to answer. "You think I would consciously let someone do this to me? I was at an unfair disadvantage."

"Stop talking," Mia demanded, as she briefly inspected the bandages on his head. When all was to her satisfaction, she then put an icepack against his eye. "Hold this to your face for fifteen minutes," she instructed. "I need to go check on Aiden."

"Is she always so demanding?" Brian joked, as he watched her walk up the stairs.

"You have no idea," Letty laughed, taking a seat beside him and turning on the TV. "She's going to make you regret not staying in the hospital."

"The doctors wanted you to stay?" asked Dom. He was analyzing his friend's injuries to try and understand how they had occurred. He was drawing a blank; what enemies did Brian have?

"Yeah," Brian answered, alternating the icepack to his other eye. "But I don't do hospitals man, they freak the shit out of me."

"Yeah right," Letty mumbled with a grin.

"What was that?"

Letty let out a laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just saying, its awfully convenient how this worked out for you. Mia as your own private nurse…"

Dom raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Brian's staying here because Mia agreed to look after him. Wasn't that nice of her?" Although she knew both men were silently cursing her for making the situation awkward, Letty believed it was best to get it all out in the open. It was only a matter of time before Dom learned of Brian's interest in Mia and it was better if Brian was already injured; that way, Dom couldn't kick his ass.

"Pregnancy is obviously messing with your common sense," Brian commented, earning him a glare from both of them.

"Mia said you could stay here?" Dom finally asked after a moment of silence.

Brian slowly nodded, learning his head back into the sofa. "I thought she told you. Look Dom, if it's a problem I can just got to a hotel."

"Hotel? Your parents live across the street."

"My dad shoved me down the stairs today. I don't plan on going back there," Brian stated, causing Dom and Letty to sit up in shock.

"Your dad did this to you?" Letty put down the TV remote and turned her attention to her friend. "What kind of sick fuck is he?"

"How did this happen?"

Brian sighed, putting the icepack onto the table so he could focus on explaining the story. "He was being his typical asshole self – saying shitty things and trying to put me down. So we started fighting but I eventually decided to just walk away. I think that's when he kicked or pushed me or something...I don't remember how I got to the hospital."

"That piece of shit," Dom seethed. "I've always hated him for the way he treated us as kids. I hated him even more when he started to pick on Mia and Aiden. I just never thought he would do this to you."

"Why do you think I left?" Brian replied. "As soon as I turned eighteen I promised myself I wouldn't let him ruin my life anymore."

"Wow," was all Letty could muster. Her relationship with her parents was less than ideal but she knew that they loved her unconditionally and could never physically harm her.

"Stay here as long as you need Brian," Dom said, clasping his hands together and letting out a breath. "We always have room for family."

Brian just nodded in response. Even growing up, this house had always been a safe haven for him. Aside from his friendship with Dom, Tony provided him with stability.

XX

"Hey baby," Mia smiled as she walked into her son's room. "How was your day?"

The boy turned from his place by the desk and his face lit up. "Hi Momma! My teacher taught us how to multiply today and I already knew everything!"

"You did!?" she leaned down to place a kiss on his head. Peering at his work and seeing the correct answer for everything made her so proud. It was moments like these where she felt that she was actually doing a good job as a mother.

"Yeah," Aiden enthusiastically nodded. "I think all our practice made me smart."

She giggled. "Do you want to take a break soon?"

"Okay. Can we go out for ice-cream?"

"Not today baby," she frowned. "We have a guest that we need to take care of. He might be staying here for a while."

"Who?"

"Brian," she answered with a sad smile. "He's a little hurt though, so we're going to have to help him a lot. No wrestling or games for a bit, okay?"

Aiden's eyes widened. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah baby, he'll be fine."

Aiden processed the thought for a bit. "So Letty and Brian are going to live here now?"

"Yes," Mia smiled at her son's happy expression. "But Brian is just saying temporarily."

The word temporary was lost on the boy. "Cool!"

XX

"Settling in okay?" Mia asked Brian later that night.

He looked up from a car magazine he was flipping through and smiled sheepishly. "You should really have just let me sleep on the couch. I feel bad for taking your bed."

She waved him off. "Letty's already unpacked half her stuff in the guest room and it's a disaster zone. You're safer in here. Your body needs to heal."

"Thank you," Brian said, watching her as she placed a bowl of soup and a glass of water on the night table. "I owe you for this."

"No you don't" she insisted, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. She spread the blanket so that it was covering Brian's feet. "Its what friends do."

"Is that what we are? Friends?" Brian asked, staring at her intently with those blue eyes.

She lowered her gaze and examined her nails. She had polished them for their trip to New York but the colour was now starting to chip away. "Maybe a little more than that?"

"Definitely a little more than that," he reaffirmed, lifting one of her hands and bringing it to his lips.

XX

"I have a newfound appreciation for you today," Letty told Dom as they sat on the patio. He drank a corona while she sipped on apple juice.

"Oh yeah?" Dom chuckled. "Were you checking out my ass again?"

"No!" Letty snorted. "You do have a nice ass, but I was just thinking about the situation with Brian and his dad. John O'Conner is a violent son of a bitch and Vince is a deadbeat dad addicted to crack. They both suck."

"Yup," Dom chimed in.

"Anyway, I realized how lucky I am to have you. I know I complain about you being pushy and I also know we're not in love or anything like that, but I'm still so grateful that you're the one who knocked me up," she paused to take another sip of her drink.

"You really think so?" Dom grinned. "You wouldn't do it over again if you had the chance?"

"Ask me again in a few months when I'm fat and moody, I might change my mind. But right here in this moment, I'm really happy with my life."

"Good," he replied. "Because I need to tell you something."

"Uh oh," Letty laughed. "Way to ruin a moment Toretto. What is it?"

He scratched his head nervously. "I want you to take a leave of absence from the shop until the baby is born."

"WHAT!?" Letty screeched. "Now you're just being ridiculous!"

"You'll be moved in here by the end of the week so you won't have any expenses. I'll cover all the stuff we need for the baby…"

"Stop!" Letty demanded, standing up right in front of him. "If you think I'm just going to be this docile barefoot and pregnant fantasy woman for you, you're wrong! I don't need you paying my way Dom, I want to work to provide my half for this baby."

"Shhhh!" he warned. "Aiden's upstairs!" The boy still didn't know about the baby.

Letty sat down and let out a frustrated sigh. "This was your plan, wasn't it? Get me to move in, take away my job…eventually take away my dignity."

"Don't be so dramatic," Dom rolled his eyes, opening another bottle of beer. "I said the leave was temporary…meaning you can come back when the baby is born. I just don't want you exposed to all those chemicals. I was reading in a pamphlet that it's not good for the baby."

"Oh," Letty said, suddenly feeling ashamed for not only her outburst, but also being so clueless about her pregnancy. "That's really sweet."

"Thank you," Dom laughed. "I thought so."

She got up once again and then sat on Dom's lap. Wrapping an arm around his neck, she brought his face closer to hers. "How about you take me back to my place and I reward you for your thoughtfulness."

Dom growled. "Maybe getting rid of your apartment was a bad idea."

XX

"Momma? Brian?" Aiden called out as he roamed the upstairs hallway.

"In here, Aiden" Mia called out when she heard her son. She turned to face the door once he appeared. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, making his way further into the room. "I was just about to call you to read my bedtime story."

Mia looked at her watch. "Oh sorry baby. I totally forgot what time it was."

"That's okay," Aiden shrugged. He turned to Brian. "I thought I could maybe read to you. Whenever I'm not feeling well, I always like when Mommy reads to me."

Brian smiled, patting the space beside him on the bed. "I'd like that buddy."

"Be careful," Mia reminded him.

"He's fine," Brian reassured her, as Aiden laid down beside him and was cautious of his injuries.

"Does it hurt?" Aiden quietly asked, looking down at one of the pages in the book. Truth was, it was hard for him to see Brian like that.

"A little," the blonde answered. "But you and your mom are taking really good care of me. I think I'll be ready to go to one of your baseball games in no time."

"Okay," Aiden seemingly accepted his response. "Will someone ever hurt me like that?"

"What?" Brian asked, bewildered. "Why would someone want to hurt you?"

Mia looked at her son in concern. She gave one of his legs a reassuring squeeze and waited to hear his reply to Brian's question.

"I don't know," Aiden shrugged. "Why would anyone hurt you? You're the nicest person ever."

Brian chuckled and then instantly grabbed his side in pain, causing Mia to wince.

"Hey buddy, look at me." Brian faced the seven-year-old and felt an immense amount of love for the child. "I would never let anyone hurt you and neither would your mom or your uncle Dom."

"Uncle Dom said his muscles could protect me from anything," Aiden confirmed.

"He's probably right," Brian stated, making eye contact with Mia as she giggled.

In that moment she realized how much Brian had come to affect her life. He was a positive influence on her and he was a hero to her son.