Author's Note: Dom and Letty's daughter has her Quinceañera. Trying to divide my time between these one shots and my new series. Thanks as always to my loyal readers. You guys are the best!

An Event

It had been a surprise to both her parents when she'd asked about it. That she'd want to have a Quinceañera at all. It was true enough that she had plenty of Latina friends and had gone to their parties. So maybe they shouldn't have been surprised that she wanted a big, ridiculous affair of her own.

Mia had been thrilled. She'd never had a daughter of her own, so she was more than willing to offer input when it came to anything girly. Of course, it turned out that her niece hadn't been very girly at all. She'd seemed to follow in her mother's footsteps; preferring cars and boys to dresses and the mall. She preferred video games to shopping and big loaded-up burgers dripping with grease to salads.

So overall, the desire to have a formal party, especially one where she'd be expected to put on a fancy dress and dance with people, was a surprise to everyone.

When her mother had asked her about it, stating that her own mother had needed to force her into it and the whole thing had been a rather miserable affair; the teenage girl had only smiled.

"Mami," she said. "It's different cause it's my choice. You and Papi didn't make me do it or buy me a dress I didn't want. I know it seems really weird… but I kind of want to have the experience, you know? I feel like I'll regret it one day if I don't."

And just like that it was settled. Her parents agreed to let her aunt plan it, with some input from Letty on what was traditional. They had to start months ahead of time, because it was a massive party, requiring a great deal of money. Not that they didn't have money tucked away. Dom had been smart with the millions he'd earned himself in Rio, investing and tucking things away. They didn't live like kings, wanting to raise their daughter to appreciate money and hard work, but they didn't have to worry, even when times were a little slow at the garage or extra expenses cropped up.

So when it came to the Quinceañera, there wasn't much that they said no to. It was an important time in her life, and for her parents it was also a bit of a shock to realize how quickly their daughter was growing up.

First they'd booked the space. Since her birthday was in July they chose a venue right on the beach, with a large deck patio and a private stretch of sand. Her mother arranged for the food from a local favorite which made all the traditional foods from the Dominican Republic and together they went into town with Aunt Mia to purchase the cake, which was supposed to be over the top. Mia liked to say that it was like the big fancy wedding neither she nor Letty had gotten to have. But Letty was quick to correct her, saying that she'd never wanted a six-tiered white cake with roses on it.

She'd only wanted Dom. And she'd gotten what she wanted.

The cake decorator had assumed a young girl celebrating her special day would want pink and purple and flowers. She'd instead been surprised when she was told that the preferred colors were red and blue, and please make sure the cake had to do with cars.

In some things she was still anything but traditional.

After cake shopping they'd gone for the dress to a place Mia had found. Her niece and the girl's mother had both been out of place in the massive shop full of silk and satin and ruffles. The first dresses the clerk brought out were vetoed immediately for being too pink or too froofy.

After an agonizing hour for all involved parties they'd chosen the dress, left it to be altered and headed home.

A live band was hired and Mia personally saw to all the decorations and favors. Dozens of invitations were written out and mailed. Dom happily avoided any of the planning or work involved, taking advantage of being a man. And Mia was more than happy to step up and take the reins, which was a huge help. Still, it was less of an event than it might have been for some other families. They'd decided to go ahead with the Mass before-hand, mostly in honor of Dom's father's beliefs. They still said their prayers before dinner every night, but otherwise were not the most observant of people.

The traditional dances were ix-nayed right off the bat, with Mia laughing at the memory of how Letty had barely struggled through her first dance, uncomfortable and pissed off in the bright pink dress her mother had forced her into. Letty scowled at her and called her a traitor.

"Who did you dance with, Mami?" her daughter asked, terribly curious.

"Who knows?" Letty snorted. "Some stupid boy from my class."

"I think it was Anthony Ramos from our English class," Mia muttered.

"Why do you even remember that?" Letty raised a brow at her.

"I was jealous. I wanted a big party." She laughed then, shaking her head at her fifteen-year-old self.

"I wish I could have traded you," Letty said. "I hated it."

"Well… it was a nice distraction from a bad couple of years," Mia said with a little smile.

Letty nodded in somber agreement, only to look up at the pouting face of her daughter. "What?"

"I thought maybe you'd danced with Papi. You knew him then, right?"

"Ah…" Letty hedged slightly. Her fifteenth birthday had fallen at the tail end of Dom's time in prison, and he hadn't been home. It had been a bad time, like Mia said. The loss of Mr. Toretto only the first in so much suffering. Mia had gone away to stay with an aunt and it was by sheer will that the two girls made it through those years. In fact, it had been mostly to distract Mia from her loneliness that Letty had even agreed to the party she didn't want to have. And the small kernel of hope that maybe her mother's bout of sobriety would last this time. It hadn't.

Sighing she reached over to smooth a hand through her daughter's dark hair and smiled. "He wasn't around then. He couldn't be. But you know what? I'll dance with him at your Quinceañera. How about that?"

"Yeah…" The girl smiled. "That sounds good."

When the day finally rolled around she took her time in her room getting ready. The dress fit her perfectly. It was a bold red color with a sleeveless v-neckline that gathered together in the middle. The fitted bodice was shot through with silver embroidery and a little bit of sparkle. The skirt was not as big as many traditional dresses, though it still flared out in layers of gathered material punctuated here and there with more embroidery. Her shoes were practical, flat red sandals that crisscrossed up her ankles. Her aunt had done her hair, curling it and taming it into an updo. This would help with the hot July temperatures, at least a little.

She was just applying the faintly tinted lip-gloss which was her only makeup when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

It was her father who appeared in the doorway, staring at her in silence for such a while that she laughed nervously, smoothing her hands over her skirts. "Do I look that silly?"

"No," he said softly, his voice hoarse as if he found it hard to speak. "You look beautiful."

She blushed slightly, fingertips curling into the red fabric as she grinned. "Thanks. You're not going to cry or something stupid like that right?"

"No," he laughed instead, crossing towards her to look at her more carefully. "You know your dad isn't a crier."

"I guess not," she grinned, reaching out to take his hands. "You'll dance with me at my party, won't you Papi?"

He swept her into his arms, holding her close because just for a moment he felt like she was growing up too fast, then he dropped a kiss atop her head and smiled, pulling back. "You bet, kiddo. Let's go."

At her Quinceañera she had her first dance with her father, and she watched him share the last one with her mother.

Yeah, it had totally been worth it.