Once Luffy got back inside, he washes his hands in the kitchen and joins Nami at the kitchen island with his sandwich.
"So, how's work been for you?" Luffy asks her.
Nami couldn't help but beam from ear to ear. She couldn't believe Luffy was sitting right next to her, like old times. "Well- I got two promotions since you got incarcerated. I promised myself to work hard to help support the kids and-"
Her cell phone interrupts her by ringing. "Give me a second." She gets up from her stool and goes to answer the phone in the living room.
At a convenient time, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it." Luffy announces and gets up to answer the door.
"You're saying he skipped?" Nami asks, peeping out of the living room and into the hall to see who was at the door. "No, I haven't-" Nami pauses as Luffy stands face to face with his fourteen year old soon. "Oh-" her mouth takes the shape of the letter O. "Yes, I h-have him in my care. T-thank you for calling." She ends the call and walks over to the two.
Lj stood there with tears in his eyes, "it is you…" he said weakly.
Luffy looks back at Nami with wide eyes, he couldn't believe it. She gives him a reassuring smile. Lj was standing in front of him, he was right here and not in his head like he'd imagine. Tears start pooling in Luffy's eyes. "Lj…" Luffy calls his name.
The touching moment brought tears to Nami's eyes. The two males didn't know how to react, they just stood there with tears running down their face, "don't just stand there, embrace each other." she giggles, wiping away her tears.
Lj throws himself into Luffy's arms, crying profusely. Luffy was stunned. He hesitantly returns Lj's embrace. Holding him tight. Nami wipes her own tears chuckling lightly at the scene before her. She knew how much they missed each other, it was heartwarming seeing their reunion. She squeezes past them to close her front door. "Ah-hem…" she stood with hands on her hips.
Lj slowly lets go of his dad with the biggest smile on his face, "I can't believe you're here," He looks at Luffy through his long wet lashes, "I missed you so much!" He goes back in for another hug.
Luffy laughs as Lj fails to give Nami his attention. His son was too occupied burying his teary face in his abdomen. "Lj, your mom wants to have a word with you." Luffy pats the back of Lj's head.
"Mom, I'm sorry I skipped, okay? Please, don't soil the mood." Lj muffles into Luffy.
"...I'll let your father handle this." She says, putting a hand on Luffy's shoulder before walking past the two to head back in the kitchen.
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Luffy and Lj sat out in the backyard both eating popsicles on the porch. They sat in the shade, hiding from the sun while Nami was inside making a phone call.
"I'm proud of you for taking care of your mom for me. I wish I was there to watch you and Luna grow up." Luffy looks down at Lj adoringly. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at his son, it was like he was looking at his younger self.
"Mom has her good days and bad days. On the bad days Luna and I are the ones who have to take care of her. She gets really depressed on those days. But- ever since she started her therapy she'd been improving. And now that you're here...she doesn't have to be sad anymore." Lj smiles from ear to ear.
Luffy's heart strings tugged hearing how Nami has been fighting depression all these years. He loves her so much, he didn't want her to be sad. He'd promise her father figure to never take away her smile and he failed to fulfill that promise.
"I promise you three won't have to be sad anymore now that I'm here. I promise okay?" Luffy holds out his pinky.
The smaller hand intertwined his own pinky with Luffy's. "What was prison like for you dad? I heard how scary it can be there. Did you get into any fights? Was the food bad?" Lj had lots of questions for his ex-convict father. He'd have nightmares of his dad dying in prison, but he no longer would have those horrid dreams. His dad was sitting next to him eating a popsicle, just like him.
"I'll tell you those stories another time. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school. Getting an education like your sister." Luffy ruffles his hair.
"I hate school, the kids there try to mess with me almost everyday because of you."
"Oh, I'm-"
"Don't be sorry dad, I sock them in the mouths everytime. I wouldn't let them talk smack about you while I'm there." Lj shows Luffy his bruised knuckles.
Luffy had mixed emotions, Lj reminded him so much of his younger self, but he wouldn't want his son to grow up being violent either. He was lost for words, not knowing what to say to this kind of behavior. He hadn't been a father to his kids all these years, would they even take his advice since he wasn't a part of their lives? What would Nami say?
"Oh, there's Mrs Vivian." Lj turns his attention to the blonde haired brown eyed woman next door. "She's our neighbor, I'm really good friends with her son."
Vivi wore a sunhat and held a watering can to water her garden. She turns her head at the familiar voice. "Oh, Lj, I thought that was you…" her eyes trails off to Luffy, "oh, hello, I saw you earlier."
Luffy gets up from the porch and walks over to the fence to greet her. "I'm Monkey D Luffy. Lj's and Luna's father." he holds his hand out to shake her hand.
"Ah, yes, I heard about you. I knew you looked familiar, but you look so different from the pictures." she shakes his hand with her gardening glove.
Luffy looks at her confused by what she meant.
"Oh, sometimes Nami would invite me over for lunch. She spoke a lot about you. Congrats on your release."
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The backdoor opens and Nami pops her head out. She only saw Lj sitting on the poarch so she steps out a little, looking for Luffy. "Oh, Vivi, I see you met Luffy."
Vivi peeks over and meets Nami's eyes, "yes, he looks so different in person."
Nami blushes out of embarrassment, she probably told Luffy how much she used to show him off and constantly talked about him in his absence. "Um, Luffy, I'm going out for a bit. I have to take care of something. Are you two going to be okay here?" she asks, her purse already on her shoulder and keys in her hand.
"We'll be fine mom." Lj answers her instead.
"Where are you heading?" Luffy asks her out of curiosity.
"I'm meeting a friend of mine at the park. Once I'm back we can go pick up Luna together. Okay? Do you need anything while I'm gone?"
"Can you bring back some McDonald's?" Lj asks her.
"No, there's food in the fridge."
"Mom you said-"
"That question was for your father."
Luffy chuckles at their back and forth. "We can go shopping once we get Luna."
"Okay, see you two until then. See you later Vivi." Nami waves her goodbye to Vivi before disappearing behind closed doors.
"Dad, I'm going inside for something to eat." Lj gets up from the porch and enters the air conditioned house.
"Yup." Luffy watches as Lj leaves before turning back to Vivi. "Hearing him call me dad after all these years still makes my heart giddy." Luffy admits with a heartwarming smile on his lips.
"I'm sure he and Luna will be calling you until their tongues fall out." Vivi jokes.
Luffy laughs along with her joke. She was right. He would have to get used to them calling him dad from here on out.
"Lj reminds me so much of myself."
"Yeah, and he looks so much like you too. The only thing he took from Nami was her shade and freckles. Luna is more of Nami's twin, with your melanin. You two make beautiful children."
Luffy rubs the back of his head, "thank you."
"I'll be sure to introduce you to my son and husband once they come home from school and work. Maybe you guys can come over and I'll prepare us some dinner."
"I never turn down free food." He pats his stomach.
"Alighty, I'll make sure to keep that in mind." She adjusts her sun hat. "I got to get started on tending my garden, but I'll chat with you later."
"I got to get back too, I can smell Lj burning something inside." Luffy chuckles and leaves Vivi to it while he walks back inside. Locking the backdoor behind him.
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Nami clutches the strap of her purse as she makes her way to a park bench and sees a familiar face sitting, waiting for her. She felt a little bad for calling him out of the blue, she knows what a busy man he is.
"Sanji." Nami calls out.
The blonde haired man turns around answering to his name. He gets up and walks over to greet her with a kiss. Nami avoids the kiss and just shakes his hand instead. How awkward that must've been. "I'm sorry for calling you out of blue like this…"
"Um, ...no worries, I always have time for you. What's wrong?" He tries to hide his confused face. He always greeted her with a hug or a kiss, but she gave him a handshake instead.
"Let's sit." She moves past him to sit on the bench he was just occupying. "There's something I need to say."
"Is it about our wedding? Are we settling on the date?" He walks over and sits next to her. Placing a hand on her knee.
Nami slides the engagement ring off of her finger and takes his hand that was on her knee, she places the ring in the palm of his hand and ball his fingers to form a fist. Making sure the ring was safe in his possession. "I'm sorry. I can't marry you."
"I…" Sanji's eyes didn't leave his fist where she'd just placed her ring.
"I appreciate everything you have done for me and my kids, from the bottom of my heart, I'm forever grateful towards you. You're a really good guy and I wish you all the best, but, someone from my past came back in my life and I...and...I'm still in love with him." She gives him a pitiful look. Doing this to him hurted her, but she can't imagine how he must be feeling.
"So...t-that's it?" He finally looks at her. "I don't get a fighting chance?" He swallows the knot in his throat.
"I'm sorry, but some people are just...irreplaceable."
Sanji clicks his tongue and nods his head, "You're right."
"I'm so sorry to do this to you, I didn't want to tell you over the phone. I'm sure you'll find a woman who can give you her all and not just some parts."
"..."
"..."
Nami didn't know what to say to him, a weight felt like it was lifted off her chest. She can breathe again, she can finally smile truthfully again, and look forward to sitting at the dining table with her kids and soulmate like she'd imagined.
"I...should go, I have Lj waiting for me at home." Nami tries to break the awkward silence
"He skipped school again?" Sanji chuckles. "Tell him to take it on you two okay?" Sanji relies.
He already knew who Nami was referring to once she said her past had caught up with her. A guy he can never replace. Monkey D Luffy.
"Will do…" Nami chuckles lightly. She gets up from the bench, "Take care alright? If you ever feel like stopping by, I'm sure Luffy would be grateful towards you." she cast him one last smile over her shoulder before heading back to the parking lot.
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Outside in front of their house. Luffy and Lj sat on the curb playing with the wheels of Lj's skateboard. Although Lj's skateboard had been broken and fixed recently, the wheels were a bit wobbly. With his dad to the rescue, Luffy tightens the small fracture with the screwdriver he found in the shed.
"You know...that temper of yours. It's gonna get you into trouble one day if you mess with the wrong person." Luffy advises Lj. "As you get older, you have to start maturing and realizing everything can't be solved with violence."
"That's ironic coming from you dad."
"Yeah, well you wouldn't want to end up like me. Besides, it was self defense, your mother was in danger."
"What a hero…"
"I'm no hero." Luffy laughs lightly, a sad thought eased into his mind. He wasn't a hero, to others he may seem so, but- "Here. try it out now." he hands the board back to Lj.
Lj gets up, dust his bum off and sets his board down ready to skate. He skated along the road, making sure there were no cars driving through. Luffy smiles watching him as Lj gives him a thumbs up.
A white vehicle in the distance slowly makes its way in front of the house. It was Nami. Lj skates to the side getting out of the car's way. Luffy gets up from his spot and steps back as the car pulls up to the curb. SHe shuts off the engine and hands him the keys, "Here, lock the door."
Luffy takes the keys and goes to lock up the front door like he was instructed. Lj brakes and picks up his board, walks up to the car and pulls on the door handle behind the passenger's door and puts his board in the back while buckling his seatbelt. Luffy comes back and hands Nami the keys and sits in the passenger seat.
"School should be out by the time we get there, she doesn't have art class today so she'll be waiting outside." Nami informs Luffy while turning the key in the ignition.
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It was after three o'clock and Luna made sure to get her books for homework out of her locker before waiting outside on her ride with other students. Normally she'd wait with her brother, but he was nowhere to be found. She rolls her eyes and messages him about his tardiness, lying saying that their mother was already here waiting for them.
A few minutes went by and he hadn't seen her message. "Asshole.." she mutters under her breath.
The population of students waiting outside of school, like her, started to decrease. It was almost three thirty and there was no sign of Lj nor her mother.
Instead of texting him she calls him,
"What?" he answers.
"Where are you? I sent you a message."
"I'm nearby."
"If you aren't here in-" Luna's frustration simmers down as she sees the familiar tinted white vehicle roll up. "Mom's here, you know she hates waiting." The teen ends the call and picks her bag up to walk towards the car. To her surprise, the passenger door opens, a face she'd had hazy memories of appears before her.
"..D-dad?" She asks in disbelief. Her eyebrows raised in surprise and her heart racing. "Oh my god! Dad!" she covers her mouth in awe. Tears pooling her eyes.
Luffy didn't say anything, he just embraced her in a hug. It was Luna, his babygirl, his last child. All grown up. Luffy could feel his eyes pricking with tears and he embraced the smaller human.
She sobs while being held in her father's arms. Something she'd long for, for so long. "I can't...I can't believe it...I can't." she hyperventilates.
"Shh, I got you. I'm right here." Luffy tries to calm her down.
Luna hadn't noticed, but Lj had rolled his window down to record them. Nami was in the driver's seat with tears dripping from her eyes. Her family was finally whole again. Luffy had been reunited with his kids and the hole inside her heart had been mended. From here on out, she could finally live her life the way she wanted surrounded by the people she loves.
Luna wipes her tears and Luffy kisses her on top of her head. "Are you hungry?"
She nods her head.
"Get in loser, we're getting McDonald's!" Lj yells out at her.
"Lj! Be nice to your sister." Nami reaches over and taps him on the knee.
"What? She's mean to me too."
Luffy hugs Luna once more, "climb in and put your seatbelt on." he tells her then gets back in the car.
Lj stops recording, as he is rolling up his window his little sister sneakily gives him the finger and sticks her tongue out. Luffy sees her in the mirror and smiles to himself. His crazy kids. They sure did take a lot after him and Nami.
Luna enters the car and sits behind her mother, buckling herself in the seat.
Nami wipes her tears and looks at the kids in the back, making sure their seatbelts were on, then looks to Luffy. "Where should we eat?"
Luffy looks back at Lj, they both had the same thought, "McDonald's!" they say at the same time.
"Ew, dadddd, seriously?" Luna whines.
"I haven't had a big mac in forever." Luffy laughs at her complaint.
Nami smiles and takes the car out of park, driving to the nearest McDonald's. The reborn family of four, the family they all secretly wished to become a reality, dreams really do come true. If you wish hard enough and stay patient. You'll be rewarded with it in the end.
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A/N: You guys wanted a conclusion to the one shot so here it is, hope you were satisfied with this (please don't ask for more.)