Work Text:
“Maybe she's hungry.”
“My mother breastfed her for almost an hour before leaving. She can't be hungry again so soon.”
“Then maybe she's sleepy.”
“She slept for two hours before she was breastfed.”
“Does she need a diaper change?”
“We just changed it. Well, let's check. Does she smell?”
“No way I'm doing that again. It's your turn.”
“Jeez, okay. No, she doesn't smell.”
“Maybe she has baby colic?”
“What is that?”
“Don't you know what a baby colic is?”
“Why would I know?”
“Because we have a baby at home? Haven't you read anything about babies?”
“I just finished my final tests. I haven't had time!”
As if sensing that her two older brothers were starting to argue, the baby began to cry even louder.
In the next room, Johnny sighed and decided to stop unpacking for a while and intervene. He left the master bedroom and entered the bedroom that was going to be little Sara's.
The family were in the middle of moving, but in Sara's room they already had everything they needed: the crib, the changing table, a rocking chair, and a large closet full of tiny clothes and diapers, and also all kinds of items and gadgets that were apparently essential for raising a baby today: lotions, pacifiers, a diaper container, bibs, bottles, a bottle-dryer, bottle-cleaner, bottle-warmer, a sterilizer, a thermometer, a nasal aspirator, a breast pump, storage bags, a nursing pillow, a baby monitor camera, and so on. Before having Sara, Johnny didn't even know that half of those things existed.
And he wasn't proud of it.
"Let's see, what's going on, guys?" Miguel was holding the newborn in his arms, rocking her nervously, and the baby's face was already red from crying.
"We don't know, but she won't stop crying," Robby said.
“Leave her with me.”
Johnny took Sara from Miguel’s arms. Instead of placing her face up like Miguel had, he placed her face down on his left forearm, while also holding her with his right hand, and began to gently rock her.
The baby stopped crying almost immediately.
“Ha. Did you see that?” Johnny boasted.
“Wow. Who knew Johnny Lawrence would be so good at calming babies,” Miguel said, smiling.
“Yeah, who knew,” Robby murmured.
Johnny and Miguel fell silent and exchanged a quick glance.
Robby cleared his throat.
“Well, I’m going to continue unpacking my things,” he said, and left the room.
Johnny sighed. Miguel patted him affectionately on the shoulder.
“Don't worry,” the boy said. “He'll get over it.”
“I hope so. Because I don't know what else to do.”
“Just give him a little more time. He's agreed to move in with us, right? That has to mean something.”
The man nodded. Honestly, it had been a pleasant surprise that Robby had agreed to move in with them to the new house, instead of moving back in with Shannon. He had even willingly agreed to share a room with Miguel, since the house had only four rooms, and both boys had expressed their wish that Rosa and Sara had their own room.
But Robby didn't seem happy in the current family dynamic.
The baby had fallen asleep. Johnny carefully placed her in the crib.
Then, they heard a car park right in front of the house. Johnny went to the window, and saw that it was Carmen and Rosa, returning from Reseda with more moving boxes.
“Come on, Miguel. Time to unload more boxes.”
“Does this move count as today's training? Because I don't think I'll be able to lift my arms this afternoon.”
“No way.”
Miguel sighed resignedly.
When they got to the car, Robby was already there, helping to take boxes out of the trunk.
“Hi, amor”, Carmen greeted. “Is everything okay with Sara?”
“She's sleeping like a log.”
“Let's see how long it lasts...”, Miguel murmured.
Johnny, Miguel and Robby moved the largest boxes from the car to the inside of the house, and left them all in the living room, where for now the only piece of furniture was a large L-shaped couch. Carmen sat on it with a small box in her hands.
“Miggy, look what I found when I emptied my room’s closet. I hadn't looked in it for years.”
“What is it?”, Miguel asked, sitting next to her.
Carmen opened the box and took out a sort of huge photo album.
“It's a Baby Record Book. It has photos to keep, but also objects. Look: this is the identification bracelet they put on you at the hospital when you were born. And these are the prints of your hands and feet from when you were just a few days old. This is a piece of fabric from your first onesie... This is a photo of your first’s steps. And this photo is from when we moved to the Riverside apartment."
Johnny also looked at the photograph, where a very young Carmen posed in front of the door of an apartment with toddler Miguel asleep in her arms.
“I still remember perfectly when I took this photo”, Rosa said, sitting next to her daughter. “You had spent the whole car ride crying, mijo. That's why you were so calm when you arrived.”
“Let me see...”
Miguel took the book and began to look through it on his own. Johnny sat next to him so he could see it too. Robby remained standing, a little apart.
“I love it,” Miguel said, already flipping through the last few pages. “Are you going to make one for Sara?”
“Of course,” Carmen said. “In fact, I got one at the baby shower at the LaRusso’s. I think it was from Lucille.”
“It will be fun to compare the two of them when it's finished,” Miguel said.
Carmen looked up at Robby.
“You could ask your mom for yours, Robby. We haven’t seen any baby pictures of you yet.”
Johnny, Rosa, and Miguel all looked up at Robby, too. Robby had an unreadable expression on his face.
“I don’t have one.” The boy shrugged and bent down to pick up one of the boxes again. “Where does this box go, Mrs. Diaz?”
“Um... that one goes in Rosa’s room. Thanks, Robby.”
Robby picked up the box and headed up the stairs.
“I screwed up,” Carmen sighed, covering her face with one hand.
Johnny felt awful. Not for Carmen, but for Robby.
Of course, Robby didn’t have a baby record book. No one gave Shannon one, or bought her one herself, and even if she had, she probably wouldn’t have had the time or interest to record anything in it. And obviously neither would Johnny. So, all of Robby's earliest life memories had been lost to time. Because no one had cared enough to preserve them.
“How long is he going to call you 'Mrs. Diaz'?” Rosa asked quietly.
Carmen shrugged sadly.
“I've already told him a thousand times that he can call me just Carmen. So... whenever he decides.”
Sara's crying began to be heard throughout the house.
“I'll go”, Johnny said, stopping Carmen with a gesture.
Johnny got up from the sofa and headed for the stairs. Halfway up, Sara stopped crying. Johnny finished climbing and entered his daughter's room.
Robby had her in his arms, face down on one of his forearms, gently rocking her.
The boy smiled when he saw Johnny enter, but it was a sad smile.
“It truly works”, he whispered.
Johnny watched the scene for several seconds. His newborn daughter in his oldest son’s arms. A perfect, beautiful picture.
If only Robby didn't look like so brokenhearted.
That night, Johnny didn't sleep a wink.
For hours, he mused over the baby book.
Another thing to add to the list of "things I have failed my son at" and "things that cannot be fixed."
By dawn, he had an idea. It wasn't a great idea, but it was better than nothing.
And he would need Miguel's and others help.
At breakfast, Johnny asked Miguel to accompany him to pick up the last boxes from his apartment in Reseda. Robby looked at him strangely, and Johnny gave him the excuse that Robby was clearly better in putting Sara to sleep, so it was better for him to stay home with Carmen and Rosa. Miguel protested, and Johnny silenced him with a kick to the shin under the kitchen table.
In the evening, after dinner, Robby was the first to retire to his room.
Johnny saw the opportunity and followed a few minutes later.
He found Robby lying on the bed, with his headphones on. The boy took them off when he saw Johnny standing in the doorway.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
Johnny sat on the bed, a package in his hands.
“You see, Robby... I've been thinking a lot about this baby book thing.”
Robby raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
"The baby record book," Johnny repeated. "I feel bad that you don't have one."
The boy shrugged.
"It doesn't matter."
"It does. It does matter, Robby, of course it does."
“So what? It's not like anything can be done about it. Too late.”
"I know," Johnny sighed. "But... I thought that even if it wasn't a baby book, I could make you something similar. Here."
Johnny handed the package to his son, who sat up in bed and took it.
"What is it?"
"Open it."
Robby carefully opened the package. Inside was a small digital photo album. Robby started to look through it, his eyes widening.
“Where did you get all these pictures?”
“From my phone, of course. Although there is also some that Miguel sent me. And Sam. And others.” Johnny pointed to one of the pictures. “Look, this it’s you in your first All Valley. And this one, you and me, after winning the Seikai Taikai. Also, this was our first family outing, when we all came together to see the house. And this one.” Johnny pointed to another picture. “This is from when we first went to dinner together at that Italian restaurant to celebrate when our offer for the house had been accepted. And this was your first picture with Sara.”
Robby's eyes were shining. But Johnny still couldn't figure out if it was in a good or in bad way.
“This wasn't... necessary”, he muttered.
“Yes, it was.” Johnny tentatively stroked his son's wrist. “Robby, I know there's no way I can make up for seventeen years of screw-ups. But I promise you, that this time I won't give up. I won’t. Please believe me.”
Robby sniffed and nodded.
"Ok..." he whispered.
But he didn't seem convinced at all. Johnny couldn't blame him. Too many disappointments in his life. And most of them because of Johnny.
“Tomorrow, I have to go talk about something with one of the new dojo’s sponsors. But it won't take me long. I thought maybe you'd like to join me, and then we can go out for a hamburger together. Or whatever you fancy."
“And Miguel?”
“No. Not Miguel. This time just you and me.”
Robby nodded.
“Okay. I'm in.”
“Great.” Johnny stood up. “Good night, son.”
“Good night, Dad.”
Johnny kissed him on the hair and then left the room, closing the door behind him.
It was painfully obvious that he wasn't going to win his son's heart back with words alone. He would have to continue to prove it to him with actions.
And he was planning to keep doing so.
¿Fin?