Part III

Letty's, 6:39PM

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"Because I'm brilliant." Mateo flipped through a sports magazine while lying on Letty's bed.

"You're like three."

"I'm eleven."

Letty smirked as she smoothed her dress down. "What do you think?"

"I think you look like a girl."

"Do I look like a boy any other day?"

"No, you look like a mom any other day."

Letty rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

The doorbell rang, followed by two quick knocks. They glanced at each other.

"It's papí." The said in unison. Dom always called upon them in the same way. Part of Letty felt safe, knowing that only he knocked that way, while the other part hated the routine of it all.

"Go get your overnight bag and put your shoes on."

Mateo hopped off of the bed and went to do as he was told as Letty started towards the door. When she opened it, Dom looked at her from head to toe and back up.

"I—. Letty, you look—. Wow." Then his brows furrowed. "Hot date?"

"Actually, yes."

His ears turned red. "With who?"

"None of your business."

He pushed past her, entering uninvited.

"Please, come in. Make yourself at home." She said, sarcastically.

"Papí, I'm ready." Mateo made his presence known.

"Shoes, papa." Letty reminded him. He looked down at his socked feet and wiggled his toes.

"Oh yeah. Be right back!"

Letty turned back to Dom.

"So. I get shit for ogling a teacher, but you get to go on a date? You realize the double standard here?"

"I wasn't ogling Owen. I almost ran him over in Costco's."

"Costco's? What kind of grown ass man shops in bulk?"

"Jealous?"

Damn right!

"Hardly." He scoffed and sat on her couch.

"Okay, I'm really ready this time."

"Change of plans, kid." Dom said, not taking his eyes off of Letty.

"We're not going to your house?"

"Nope. We're staying right here and having a movie night. I'll order pizza and wings. Sound good?"

"Yes! That sounds awesome." Mateo ran back to his room to take off his shoes and unpack his overnight bag.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Making sure you get home okay. I don't know this guy. So, I don't trust him. If he doesn't have you home as a decent hour, I'm dropping the kid with Mia and me and the guys will track him down."

"You just don't want Owen to spend the night. And you're using your time with Mateo to do it."

"He definitely ain't spending the night."

She gestured to her figure. "My body, my choice."

Dom gestured to the living room. "My son's home. I'm not having Owen defiling it."

"I hate you."

"You don't mean that." He picked up the remote and turned on the television. And he was right. Besides, it was nice to see him a little jealous for a change. She couldn't remember the last time he had been. In Letty's mind, as far as Dom Toretto was concerned, he could have any woman with his good looks and brooding disposition.

Letty made a frustrated growling noise and looked up to the ceiling. "Fine. Stay here and have your movie night but I—."

Whatever threat she'd been cooking up was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

"The mystery man." Dom announced. Mateo magically appeared back in the living room with a wide grin on his face. Dom looked displeased.

"Owen, hi." Letty was saying. "These are beautiful. Thank you. Come in. I just have to grab my bag and we'll go." Letty came back into view with a bouquet of flowers in her hand and a man following behind her.

"Mateo, my man! How are you?" Owen asked.

"Very well, thank you."

Letty was always pleased with his manners. They'd gone through hell and high water to instill them.

"I brought something for you. When we first met, you had on a soccer uniform, so I bought you," he unveiled the gift he'd been hiding behind his back, "this."

Dom nearly lost his mind. This dude has met my kid? Already?!, he seethed.

"No way!"

It was a regulation soccer ball with his name monogrammed onto it in gold lettering.

"This is awesome. Thank you."

Dom stood from the couch and cleared his throat.

"Hello, there. Owen Shaw." He held his hand out for Dom, who gripped it tighter than necessary and shook.

"Dom Toretto, Letty's husband."

"Ex-husband who's clearly working on being my late ex-husband." She half-joked, half-threatened.

"No worries. Shall we?" Owen pointed towards the front door.

"Yes. I'll be just a minute. Dominic, make yourself useful and put these in some water." She handed him the flowers with a little force and walked past him to her bedroom.

Owen made polite conversation with Mateo while Letty grabbed her clutch from bedroom. She kissed her son's cheeks and made sure he knew that she loved him.

"Not too much pizza, please?" Letty begged the two Toretto men on her couch as she left them alone.

The door shut, and the locked clicked and Dom found himself looking out of the window to see what kind of car Owen drove.

Hmm. Foreign. He doesn't stand a chance.

"So," he said to Mateo, "what toppings on the pie?"

Cha Cha Cha, 7:25PM

"So, your ex-husband is charming."

Letty had to laugh. "You noticed?"

"He's not my number one fan. That's for sure."

"Would you be his if the tables were turned?"

Owen considered that. "Good point."

They were interrupted briefly to give their drink and dinner orders. After the waitress took their menus and her leave, Owen turned back to Letty.

"Do you two still live together?"

"Absolutely not. He's just having a movie night with Mateo."

"Mateo seems like a good kid."

"He's the best."

"Must mean he has the best mom, yeah?"

Letty smiled. "Thank you."

"So, tell me about you, Letty."

"There's not much to know. I used to travel a lot, before Mateo, now I just work on cars."

Owen blinked his surprise. "Really? A mechanic?"

Letty shrugged. "It pays the bills, and it helps that I love cars."

"So do I."

"Lemme guess," she put a finger to her chin, "only foreign?"

He held up his hands as if to say "yup, guilty". "Well, you can take the Englishman out of the UK. What about you?"

"Classic American muscle."

"Why?"

"Rugged, yet beautiful exterior with a complex interior."

Like Dom.

He found that amusing, no doubt thinking the same thing she was. "Well, let's see if we can't convert you."

"Or at least have fun trying." Letty flirted back.

He cocked a brow. "I think I'm going to like having you around, Letty."

"Should we get through dinner first?"

"I'm an excellent judge of character, but," he gestured as if he'd magically made their server reappear with their food and drinks, "as you wish."

The brunette found herself truly enjoying Owen's company. He had an edgy energy that she hadn't felt since she first met Dom all those decades ago. Owen was quick-witted, constantly keeping up with her banter and they never ran out of new topics. Even after the bill had been paid, they sat at their table, talking about everything.

"Seriously, what made you move to the States?"

"Well, technically I'm here on a six-month work visa, but I've been offered a permanent position with my company. So, I'm considering it."

"You'll make the right decision for you."

"That's what's important, right?"

"Exactly."

The two shared a moment where they simply gazed at one another over the dancing candlelight.

"Last call!" The bartender yelled, forcing them to break eye contact.

Letty looked around the restaurant to see it had nearly cleared completely out. It was well past last call, Letty was sure. The staff just didn't want to be rude.

"I'd better get you home before you turn into a pumpkin, Cinderella.

A perfect gentleman to the very end, Owen walked Letty to her doorstep and kissed the back of her hand, wishing her a goodnight. He waited until she got inside before returning to his car and pulling off. She had been glad that he didn't make the goodbye awkward. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to kiss him, Letty just wasn't sure if she was completely ready to let another man so close. Not yet, at least.

In the living room, the boys were asleep on the couch, Mateo snuggled into his dad's side. Apparently their movie night required a ton of snacks. A cardboard box, devoid of any pizza, was now filled with two empty chip bags, and a half-scattered box of sour candy. Half-empty glasses of soda sat next to it and the "are you still watching" screen covered the tv screen.

She rolled her eyes and, as quietly as she could, cleaned up the mess they'd made. Letty pulled the throw blanket from behind their heads and unfolding and draping it over their bodies. She kissed the top of Mateo's and then looked at Dom. He stirred slightly before continuing to snore, sounding just like Mateo.

There were times when she truly resisted the urge to strangle him. But just then, she could remember why she fell in love with him. It was accidental if she was being honest with herself. Hell, it'd taken two years for him to even notice her. He'd always been a protector in her eyes, a hero really. Eventually, when she got to know him on an intimate level, she saw how insanely vulnerable he could be. And only with her. He never showed his weaknesses to anyone else, and Letty had come to realize that that made her his greatest weakness. She could destroy him if she wanted to.

She wasn't so sure that she already hadn't.

Letty ran a hand down his face and swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat.

And she wasn't so sure that she hadn't destroyed herself, too.

Letty's, 9:22AM

She had just finished the bacon when she heard:

"Morning, mamí."

And then:

"Yeah, morning, mamí." Came a deeper voice.

"Morning, my love." She froze as she turned, hoping he knew that she was talking to Mateo. In case he didn't, she added, "and my love's father."

Dom gave a cheeky grin. Letty was so bull-headed. It was cute sometimes.

The boys sat at the kitchen table and Letty brought their food to them. She placed Mateo's down and he smiled. Then, she slammed Dom's down and he laughed. She made a frowning face with the bacon, eggs and pancakes.

"Cute." He told her. She gave him a sickly sweet smile before retrieving her own plate and sitting down.

"How was your date, mom?"

"It was very nice. Thanks for asking."

"Yeah?" Dom nodded at Mateo. "Cover your ears."

Mateo dropped his fork and covered them. In case he could still hear, Dom switched to a Dominican dialect of Spanish.

"Did you kiss him?"

Just as fluent, Letty replied "And if I did?"

Dom sat his glass of orange juice down with a thump. Letty decided to throw him a bone.

"No, not that it's any of your business."

"Did you want to?"

"No! Yes. God, I don't know. We're done talking about this."

"Fine." He cut his pancakes down the middle and then into smaller bites. "I'm going to go out with Elena."

The fuck?

"It's your world, Toretto."

Dom made a gesture to Mateo, letting him know he could remove his hands from his ears.

Switching back into English, she asked Mateo, "Are you excited for Sunday barbecue, mijo?"

"Yes. We driving your car or papí's?"

Dom and Letty looked at each other.

"You're going to go with Daddy. I'm not going to be there this Sunday."

"Why not?"

"Mamí and I are going to be spending some more time apart."

"Why?"

"We just think now that you're a little older, you can understand that Daddy and I have to live our own lives."

Mateo pondered this for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay."

"Is it really okay with you?"

"You're divorced. I don't know why but you obviously didn't get one because you wanted to spend more time together."

Dom and Letty looked at each other and then back to their son.

"You're a good kid."

"Too smart for your own good, but still, a good kid." Dom agreed.

Monday, 7:00PM

Kicking the soccer ball around at the school's field with Mateo was clearly Letty's exercise for the day. It was t the best idea right after dinner, but Letty knew she had to talk with him. And soccer was the best way to do that.

When they finally took a break and sat on the bleachers, he praised her for doing a good job.

"I'm getting old, kid. I can't run like I used to."

"You don't look old."

She laughed. "I'll take what I can get."

He rolled the soccer ball under his foot and looked at his mom. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything. Always."

"Are you and papí going to get married again? To other people, I mean?"

"I don't know, kid." Letty answered honestly. "I thought I'd never get married. But then I met Daddy and I just knew he would be the one to change my mind. And he did. When I think of family, I can only see you and your father and Aunt Mia and your tíos. I don't see myself with any other family."

"What about Owen? Do you like him?"

"He's a nice man."

"Like Daddy?"

"Different than Daddy."

"Different is good sometimes. Maybe you need different to make you happy again."

"I have you. You always make me happy."

"I know, but you need a grown-up friend."

"Is that why you made me say yes to Owen?"

"Sort of. Plus he was giving you that face that papí gives you when you're not looking."

"What look?"

"Like you're Wonder Woman or something." He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the soccer ball. "Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, papa, come on."