Disclaimer: I don't own anything but characters you do not recognize.

Thanks for the reviews. I know people are wondering, "If Elijah is so much like Dominic, why isn't he Dominic Jr.?" Well the answer is simple. That would have been predictable.

-Oh, and please excuse my clumsiness on the whole amusement park thing mentioned in this one. Considering I live in WV and not California, I have no idea about SpeedZone, nor where it is located or anything of that sort. So again, my apologies on that.-

Chapter 16-Ataboy, Elijah

Dom's POV

-Later that day-

I closed up the garage at around 8:30 P.M. On the drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about my kids. It felt weird to say that...MY kids. I never thought I'd have kids, especially with Letty. She wasn't always the motherly, loving type. Casey and Elijah were two blessings for me. They were so much like me and Letty. CJ was snappy and a tomboy just like her mother. Eli was tough and looked up to his Daddy, just like me. But they were so different from us too. CJ actually cried in front of people sometimes, which was unlikely for Letty. Eli was a lot more sensitive then I. He was a Mama's boy. Although he loved hanging out with his uncles at the garage, he loved being by his mother's side most of the time. They were both incredible kids. I loved them dearly. More then anything in my life. More then racing; women, and money. They were my everything. For them to be so young, they both were so bright. They were always aware of their surroundings and knew not to talk to strangers. They picked up on talking quickly and had a very wide vocabulary for seven year olds.

But lately, I realized I haven't been the greatest father to them. I was constantly working and taking business trips out of town. I was trying to lay out more Torettos' cafe/shop and DT Automechanics garages around the region. When I was home from work, I was out with the boys. The twins were constantly with Mia or Lily. I knew I had to take more responsibility as a father. I wanted too. I just didn't know how. My father wasn't around long enough to teach me how to be a father. To give me the 'father/son talk'. But from watching how he raised me and Mia, I knew exactly how to be a father. I just couldn't seem to get the grasp of it yet.

I closed out my thoughts as I finally arrived home. I didn't get out right away. I looked at the house. Through the window, I could see Letty playing with Casey. They both looked so happy. Like there wasn't a care in the world. I smiled and got out the car. Crossing the yard, I saw Eli playing with his toy cars on the floor. He was always rolling them, making engine noises with his mouth. The boy was definitely a Toretto. I entered the house.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Eli yelled, running to my arms. He wrapped his arms around my legs. I snaked my arms around his body, hugging him slightly. He giggled, his curly brown hair bouncing.

"Hey baby boy. How's Daddy's little man?"

"Good. We missed you today." He replied, looking up at me.

"I missed you all too," I looked over at CJ, who was sitting in Letty's lap on the couch. "Hi CJ..." Me and her had been distant lately. She stayed out of my way, I didn't bother her. She just didn't seem to like me at all. It hurt me deeply that my own 7 year-old daughter had no interest in her father.

"Hey Daddy." To my surprise, she ran to me too, wrapping her arms around me. I smiled cheekily at her.

"Hey baby girl. How's your day?" I asked her, lifting her to my arms. I walked around to the recliner chair and sat down, her on my lap.

"Good. How was yours?" This was the first conversation I had had with Casey in about a week. It felt good.

"It was good, but it would have been better if you were with me. I missed you. I missed all you guys." I said, looking around at my family. Letty smiled over at me, Elijah looked up, but continued with playing with his toys. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's go to an amusment park. Just us four, whataya say?" I asked, looking at them all.

"Yay! Let's do it, Mommy!" Elijah jumped in Letty's arms, obviously happy with the idea.

"Yeah, let's do it. When?" Letty smiled, looking at me.

"Tomorrow. I'll have Vince or Leon run the garage for me. Let's do it."

I put the twins to bed around 10:00. Letty and I stayed up for a few beers, but retreated to our room around 10:45. Letty fell asleep right away, but I didn't. I was still stuck on the twins. What had been up with CJ earlier? Why was she being so..not CJ? I didn't know, but I loved it. My daughter was just as important to me as my son. I wanted to spoil them both. Give them whatever they wanted or needed. My father had tried to do the same thing for me and Mia when we were younger. But he wasn't always able to because of racing. He gave so much to racing and being the best, he couldn't always give to Mia and I. That's where I came in. I got a job when I was just thirteen years old as a busboy. I cleaned tables and did dishes at the local supermarket. It didn't get me much, but it was enough to buy my eleven year old sister what she wanted. My dad wasn't a bad father, he just had a lot on his plate to deal with. But with CJ and Elijah, I wasn't going to be like that. I got everything I wanted to do out of my system before I had children. Racing, ripping the streets, going through women; all of that was done. I just wanted to be the best father for my children and the best husband for Letty.

Well, the racing part, I'm not so sure of. I accomplished my father's dream of being the best at professional AND street racing. But I still missed it. Street racing, that is. I missed the rush of knowing I could get caught at any minute. I missed the adrenaline of battling for that number one spot. I missed the house parties afterwards. I missed the easy money. I couldn't get any of those things from professional racing. Everything was pre-arranged and it was legal. There wasn't a chance I would get caught by cops there. There were no afterparties. At the warehouse, it was just me, my car, and ten seconds.

That brings me to another point; my kids and racing. It's in their blood to race. Both of their parents did it, their grandparents did it, and probably their great-grandparents too. If they came to me and said "Daddy, I wanna race", I'm behind them 100 percent. On the flipside, if they came to me and said "Daddy, I wanna be a doctor" or "Daddy, I wanna be a teacher", I'll still be behind them 100 percent. I'm not going to force cars on them, because it wasn't forced on me or Mia. Hell, when I was younger, my first love was basketball. I was headed to basketball stardom, but then I came face to face with an engine, and it changed my life. But I wanted them to know that they could still do what they want too and love cars at the same time. Mia did it. She raced as much as I did and loved cars equally, but she became a nurse. Uncle Leon loved cars and raced too, but he was a volunteer firefighter. Uncle Brian raced cars, but he used to be a cop. Bad example, Dominic.

The point was...I wanted Casey and Elijah to have their own dreams. I wanted them to do whatever they come to love, whether it be cars or not. I just wanted to be part of the reason they are successful. I want the best for them.

I was snatched from my thoughts by a spine-wrenching scream. I jumped from the bed and headed down the hall to the twins' room. I stopped when I heard talking in the room.

"Shh. It's okay Casey. Don't cry. S'wrong sis?" I peaked in the slightly cracked door. Their night-lite allowed me to see what was going on in the room. Elijah was standing next to Casey's bed talking to her. She was crying.

"I had a bad dream." She answered, curling up into a tiny ball.

"Oh. Want me to get in with you?" He asked her. She sniffled, nodding her head. Eli crawled in bed with his sister, wrapping his arms around her.

Ataboy, Elijah Christopher.

I crept back to my room, shutting the door behind me. Letty was sitting up, awake.

"They OK? What happened?" She asked, looking worried.

I didn't speak, just waved a finger over to me. I wanted her to see how good of a brother Elijah was to CJ. She furrowed her brows as she slipped out of bed. We crept back down to the twins' room. I pointed in the room at our kids. Tears weld up in her eyes as she saw our son sleeping with his sister. They looked so peaceful now. I took my wife back to our room and crawled back into bed. She effortlessly found a comfortable spot snuggled against me.

"They are perfect." She whispered.

"We are perfect." I corrected, my eyes closing for the remainder of the night.

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Sorry so short. More in the next one. Please read&review. I need more readers. I feel lonely :(

-Kita