Author's Note: OMG I wrote another one in the same day? But it's shorter than the last one by a lot and it came pretty easily. This request was about Dom comforting his daughter after a breakup. Squishiness ensues.
A Breakup
Every once in a while Dom's sister stole his wife for a night out and Dom was forced to fend for himself. Sometimes he'd get together with Brian for a night of movies or head out to eat and hit up a bar. Sometimes they had the kids with them, though now that they were teenagers that happened a lot less often. Even though he was not thrilled with it, his 16 year old daughter had been dating for the past year and had a steady boyfriend. So on weekend nights she usually went out with him.
Tonight Brian was taking Vince to a basketball game and so Dom was on his own. He poked around the freezer and debated calling to order take-out versus firing up the grill. It was a nice night and he texted some of the guys to meet up at their favorite bar later. He was just pulling a steak out of the fridge that Letty must have left there to defrost for him when the front door slammed open with a bang.
He stuck his head out of the kitchen to see his daughter viciously slam it shut again with a screech of anger and then stalk across the living room, muttering about how she hated boys and they could all die. She didn't even notice him as she headed for the stairs, but he could clearly see she was crying.
Wonderful.
Sighing he looked at his steak and then set it aside to marinate. He washed his hands and went upstairs, knocking at the door to his daughter's room.
There was a moment of silence before her voice came from the other side. "What?"
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," she muttered. "I don't know…" she was silent a moment, then he heard her moving across the room to open the door and look at him. "I hate boys."
Dom looked back at her. Of all the nights to have boy troubles, he thought. Letty could have handled this so much better than him. But she wasn't here.
"What happened?" he asked, knowing he would probably regret it.
His daughter wandered back into her room, flopped dramatically on her bed in a way that made him think there was at least a little bit of Mia in her and looked over at him.
"Jake broke up with me," she finally said, sitting up.
He crossed to sit on the bed beside her. "I always knew he was an idiot," he told her.
She laughed a little at that. "Dad!" She sighed. "It's just that… I don't understand why…"
"Because he's an idiot, clearly," Dom said evenly, putting his arm around her. "Why else would any guy break up with a great girl like you?"
She flushed slightly, but leaned into the comfort of his arms. "I dunno. Cause I'm not girly enough. Or pretty enough. Because my boobs aren't big enough. Cause I know more about cars then him and I make him feel dumb whenever I talk about them. And I show off too much and I don't act like I need to be taken care of."
"He said all that huh?" Dom asked, narrowing his eyes. What an asshole, creep. He was tempted to break the kid's face.
"Not in so many words," she muttered. "But that's what his friends told me."
"Well he's an idiot. And a tool. And I'm glad he's not going to be around you anymore. You deserve better than that."
She sniffled a little, then smiled up at him. Other girls might have argued, said that of course their fathers would say or think that. But she had been raised to be true to herself, to know that being different wasn't a bad thing and that she should be proud of who she is. She was confident; she was beautiful and strong and smart, and no stupid boy was going to take that away from her or knock her down.
"You're right," she said. "I do. He knew who I was before he decided to date me and if he's not man enough to handle it then screw him." She laughed. "I don't need his stupid ass." She shook her head. "Why did I even cry over that idiot?"
Dom smiled, stroking her dark hair. "Even the strongest ladies sometimes cry over stupid men."
She studied him. "Did Mami ever cry over you?"
He sighed. "Probably more than once," he admitted before hugging his daughter close. "Come on. Let's go out and do something. How'd you like to take a ride with your old man?"
She smiled. "I'd love that, Papi."
Dom put the steak back in the fridge and they went out to his car, rolled down the windows and sped down the beach road out of town. They swapped engine specs and talked shop over fried shrimp and fish tacos that they ate out in the open air on the beach and he told her about the first time he'd taken her mother here, and how they'd gotten married on a beach in Mexico.
On the way home they stopped for frozen yogurt and when they walked back into the house hours later she was smiling and laughing again. She hugged at his arm.
"Thanks, Dad, really. You're the best."
He kissed her on the top of her head. "Don't you forget it," he told her with a wink.