single dad: v.h

chapter forty-two

"Why would you fucking yell at her?" Reggie screamed, shoving Vinnie backwards.

"S-Stop screaming at m-me." Vinnie whimpered.

Reggie continued screaming at him as Nate and Maria desperately tried to get Reggie to stop yelling. This situation was escalating quickly, but all self-control and common sense flew out the window when Reggie shoved Vinnie so hard he slammed his head against the wall.

Everyone froze as Vinnie clutched his head in pain. His vision went blurry and he slid down the wall. One of the doctors instructions was to avoid hitting his head for the first few months.

Soon enough he was okay to open his eyes and the pain was now replaced with a pounding headache. Someone was talking to him and touching him, maybe two people. Once he regained his vision and his hearing wasn't fuzzy he could identify that it was Bear and Kaiser. Tears were running down their cheeks and Bear was holding Vinnie's cheeks in her hands.

"Daddy?" Bear sobbed, making eye contact with him.

"I'm fine baby." Vinnie answered, letting the small girl hug him tightly, Kaiser following suit and laying a kiss on his cheek.

"Let's go lay down daddy. Please, come lay down. We can take a nap." Bear suggested, her voice still filled with raw emotion.

"S-Sure." Vinnie nodded as he clutched his head.

He let his dad pick him up from the floor and help him walk down the stairs. He glanced at Reggie who was being scolded by his mother quietly and hugging his knees while he cried.

Normally he would've told Reggie everything was fine, that it wasn't a big deal but this was different. Vinnie couldn't find an ounce of forgiveness in his body.

——

"Why did you wanna go to Heaven daddy?" Bear asked as they watched Tangled and Kaiser rubbed his back.

Vinnie was laying on his stomach with his chin propped up with a pillow. Bear and Kaiser made sure to make him very comfy.

Vinnie paused at the question. He didn't know what to say to her or how to even begin to put a response together for a question like that.

"Daddy just felt like no one wanted him here anymore." Vinnie answered.

"But I wanted you here daddy. You're my best friend even before my friends at school." Bear answered.

"I'm so sorry babygirl." Vinnie said softly.

"You didn't wanna see me anymore?" Bear asked, looking up at Vinnie.

She instantly regretted asking that question. Vinnie's face turned red from sadness, tears came pouring out of his eyes.

"I wanted you to be h-happy baby and I thought that if I just left that you would be happy. Pretty d-dumb of me to think, h-huh?" Vinnie said, turning his head upward to try and avoid her seeing him cry, carefully moving Kaiser off of him and then laid on his back, head resting on his pillows.

"No, you aren't dumb daddy. You were just sad and it's okay to be sad. I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you when you came home. It's just that every time I see you, I think of how you looked when you tried to go to Heaven." Bear explained.

"I know b-babygirl, I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I never meant to make y-you scared." Vinnie whimpered.

He felt Bear move from her spot and crawl on top of him and lay there. He glanced down to see her ear laying on the spot where his heart was and one of her hands on his shoulder.

"You like hearing my heart?" Vinnie asked.

"Yeah. It makes me feel happy because I know you're here to hang out with me forever." Bear said.

Her innocence made him smile and he vowed to himself in that moment that he would never hurt his babies like that ever again.