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“That is so unfair!,” Elena exclaimed through gritted-teeth, stomping her feet.
Rafael glared at her. “I don’t care, my decision is final.”
“I hate when you’re like this!,” she said, turning with a dramatic flick of her hair and marching towards her bedroom.
“You better not slam that door!”
Elena didn’t, simply throwing a glare right back at him over her shoulder and closing her door with a soft click.
Rafael let out a long sigh, his head falling forward for a moment before he tutted and made his way back to the kitchen, where he and Sonny had been prepping lunch before Elena came in like a storm talking about some trip with her friends.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Rafael said, catching Sonny’s eyes.
He chuckled. “Like what?”
“Like you agree with her.”
“I don’t. I think you’re right, I don’t think she should go on that trip.”
“Sonny,” he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Just say whatever it is you’re thinking.”
Sonny set his knife down and turned to Rafael, leaning against the counter casually.
“You don’t want her to go because you don’t think it’s safe for her, right?,” Sonny asked.
“A group of 13-year-olds in a cabin in the woods?,” he scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“I agree. But you remember being 13? There’s so much you can’t do and everyone’s always telling you no.”
Rafael sighed. “I remember, but we all survive being 13, she’ll understand someday.”
Sonny nodded. “She will, but you don’t have to punish her for wanting to go on a trip with her friends.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“We could compromise,” he shrugged. “She can’t go on the trip, but we could go somewhere, the four of us. Or she could invite a friend over for the weekend.”
Rafael looked at him like Sonny had just cracked a code of some sort.
“How are you so much better than me at this?”
Sonny laughed lightly, stepping closer to Rafael and pulling him in by the hand. “I’m definitely not, but I’ll remind you I have three sisters and two nieces. I learned pretty early that the more they feel they’re being treated unfairly, the more they try to rebel.”
Rafael walked into Sonny’s embrace, head on his shoulder.
“That’s what my mother did, you know,” he muttered. “She’d guilt me whenever I wanted to go anywhere or do anything. The other kids were bad influences, she couldn’t give me any money, she didn’t trust the other parents. It was always something. But even though it hurt, I don’t think she ever meant any harm.”
“I don’t think she did, either. She was protecting you the way she knew how,” Sonny placed a kiss on Rafael’s temple. “And you’re trying to protect Elena now.”
“But you’re right, I’m not being fair.”
“Well, you’re the one who’s always saying that our children are old enough to understand how the world works, so talk to her. I’m sure she won’t be so mad if you explain why she can’t go. You can come to a compromise together.”
Rafael nodded and let out a long sigh, his body falling heavier into Sonny’s. They swayed together, and Sonny hummed when Rafael’s lips found a nice place on the curve of his neck.
“Remember when she was six, with her pigtails and how she tried to mimic your accent?,” Rafael said after a moment of silence. Sonny nodded, brushing their cheeks together.
“Yeah. She was so cute. Remember the first time she called me daddy?”
“I remember. You cried,” Rafael chuckled. “God, I wish things stayed that simple.”
Sonny sighed and kissed Rafael’s hairline. “Me, too.”
“What’s going on?,” Eduardo asked, pausing by the kitchen entrance with an empty bottle of water in hand.
“Papi’s having a moment because you and your sister are growing up too fast.”
“Ah, come on,” he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “We’ve still got like five years before we leave the house.”
“That’s not the point, buddy,” Sonny laughed.
“Is this about the trip to the cabin?,” Eduardo asked, then scoffed when Sonny nodded. “That trip’s gonna suck, anyway.”
“But your sister wants to go,” Rafael said, pulling away from Sonny and straightening his shirt. “So she’s upset.”
Eduardo shrugged, turning on the tap to refill his bottle. “I guess I would be, too.”
Rafael shared a quick look with Sonny. Eduardo and Elena shared most classes and hung around similar groups of friends, but Eduardo wasn’t invited to this cabin trip. He’d recently had a fight with one of the boys in Elena’s group of friends, and since then Eduardo had kept to himself, holing up in his bedroom instead of going out with her and her friends.
Sonny signaled towards the hallway and Rafael nodded, looking from Sonny to Eduardo and back.
“I’ll go talk to Elena,” he said, and Sonny nodded.
Sonny approached Eduardo as Rafael exited the kitchen. He knocked on her door, calling for her until she said he could come in.
He peeked through the door. “Hey, mija . Can we talk?”
Elena was lounging in bed, scrolling through her phone. She threw him a quick look, and her mouth twisted in that way Sonny’s did when he was annoyed.
“If you’re here to tell me I’m just a child and bad things can happen, I already know.”
“Okay. Well, bad things can happen,” he walked in, closing the door behind himself. “And I don’t expect you to understand my decision right now, but you were right. It’s not fair.”
She looked at him again, hopeful. “So I can go?”
“No, you can’t go.”
“I knew it,” Elena frowned. “You don’t trust me.”
Rafael shook his head, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. “Elena, of course I trust you. But this isn’t about trust, it’s about experience and how some people will take advantage of you not having a lot of experience in being hours away from your parents, alone in the woods.”
“Right. But you know that letting me go would mean I would have that experience?”
He held back a smile. Sometimes she was way too smart for her age. “You need many other experiences before you can have that particular experience.”
“ Stop , you’re making my head hurt,” she groaned.
Rafael chuckled. “Listen, mija , I’m sorry that you can’t go, and it’s not your fault that there are despicable people out there. So what about we come to a compromise?”
Elena narrowed her eyes at him. “Like what?”
“Your pick,” he shrugged. “We could go somewhere, the four of us, or you could invite a friend over for the weekend.”
“Six Flags, and you gotta convince Sofia’s parents to let her come with us.”
Rafael dropped his head forward, groaning. Sofia’s parents were a pain in the ass. “Fine.”
Elena’s face split into a big smile, and she squealed as she sat up. Rafael opened his arms for her, pulling his daughter into a hug. He buried his nose in her curly hair and inhaled deeply.
“Even though you want to, please try to never grow up,” Rafael whispered, holding her tighter when she laughed.
“Too late, papi ,” she said.
“I know,” he pulled back, patting her on the leg. “Go tell your brother the good news.”
“Thank you,” Elena squealed again, jumping out of bed and running out of the room. “Eduardo, we’re going to Six Flags!”
Rafael heard Eduardo and Sonny cheer, yelling about this or that ride they just had to go on. Rafael smiled, despite hating the long lines that awaited him.
When he walked out of the bedroom, Eduardo and Elena had already connected their phones to the TV, scrolling through the Six Flags website to see what new rides they had.
“I bet $5 you won’t go on this one,” Elena said, pointing at an unsurprisingly high-dropping ride.
Eduardo frowned. “Keep your $5. If I throw up that’s my day ruined .”
Sonny was still in the kitchen, back to lunch prep, but smiling brightly now.
“Everything okay?,” Rafael asked, nodding back at Eduardo.
“Yeah, just a silly misunderstanding,” he waved a hand. “It’ll be fine, all in due time.”
“And to think this is just the start of their teenage years,” Rafael sighed dramatically.
Sonny laughed. “I think we’ll be okay.”
“We will,” Rafael smiled. “Thank you, by the way.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Raf. I’ve got your back,” he winked. “We’re a team.”
Rafael kissed him softly on the cheek and grabbed his apron. “And a damn good one.”