Baby Turtle

Chapter 9

*Tony's pov*

I swear it got so silent in the house that you could hear a feather drop. My face went numb at Raven's question. I shouldn't have been talking about Melody with her in the same house. I should've waited until I needed someone to babysit her!

"Raven, I think you need to go play. Let the grown ups talk." Mama Fuentes hurried to Raven and guided her towards the living room.

"But-"

"Now, young lady. No buts about it or you can go sit in timeout."

It's a good thing Raven hates timeouts because if she wasn't threatened she wouldn't have stopped asking questions. But what four year old likes timeout? We carried on with the same conversation until dinner was ready. "Mija, come here please."

"Did I do something Papa?"

"No, dinner is ready. Now go sit down and eat."

We all ate dinner, even Raven surprisingly, it was honestly one of the best meals I've had in quite a while. I'm actually thinking about having my mom teach me how to cook because having fast food almost all the time isn't good for Raven. I was thinking about random things until Papa Fuentes brought me out of my thoughts.

"Tony, I think Raven should know about Melody. Since she's asking questions and all. She has a right to know about her mother."

I guess he's right. She can't go all her life not knowing about her. And he does have a point about her asking questions. She's just gonna keep asking them until I decide to actually give her an honest answer. I don't even know all that much about Melody, but I can still describe her to the best of my abilities.

"Papa, you have your thinking face on. What are you think about?"

"Raven, do you remember the talk we had in the car about mommy's?" She shook her head yes and looked me in the eyes. "Well I'm gonna answer all the questions you have about her."

She finished chewing her food and took a drink from her sippy cup. I was really scared as to what her question would be. I'm thinking it'll be something like 'what does she look like' or maybe what her name is. Hopefully it's something I can answer.

"How come I don't get to see mommy?"

Well shit, this is the type of question I'm not sure how to answer. Do I tell her straight forward what happened or do I sugar coat it? I can't just tell her that Melody didn't want a child, do I? "Um, your mommy couldn't take care of you all by herself, so she asked me to do it."

"Oh. But how come you have to take care of me all by yourself. That's not fair, Papa!"

"That's because I'm better at it. Don't you like the way I tuck you in at bedtime? And when we cuddle while watching Disney movies?"

"Yes I do! You're the the best Papa ever!!"

I smiled as big as I could. Her words meant more to me than she could ever imagine. She's never said that to me before and I hope she always has that mindset of me. I also hope that I can make her even more happy in life. "Papa, what does mommy look like? Ooh and is her name mommy just like your name is Papa?"

"Ray, I've told you a million times that my name is Tony, but you're supposed to call me Papa. Anyway, mommy's name is Melody."

"Like a melody of a song, Papa?"

Oh my gosh, my little musician is gonna be just like me when she gets older! I can already see it! I told her yes and answered a few simple questions she had, which weren't that bad. "Papa, does mommy have freckles like I do?"

"Yeah, she had a little bit."

After a few more questions she was done. I figured since it was already almost Raven's bedtime we should leave. She has been playing in her fort ever since we ended the conversation, which was a while ago. I went over to her fort and poked my head inside. She was laying on the floor with her thumb in her mouth. Ever since she stopped with the pacifiers she went straight to her thumb. I have tried everything to get her to stop, but she just won't. I gently picked her and Turk up, said our goodbyes and left. While on our trip home, Raven must've woken up.

"Papa, are we going home?"

"Yes Bebita, you're gonna get a bath then you're going straight to bed. Alright?"

"Okay, Papa. Hey does Turk get a bath too?"

"He can get a bath tomorrow."

We arrived home and we quickly made our way to the bathroom for bath time. She insisted on there being bubbles, so that she could pretend to be Santa. I happily watched her play in the tub after I was done cleaning her. As I stared at her I had these thoughts going through my head. I honestly don't know how good of a job I'm doing with raising Raven. Am I doing fine? Am I complete shit? I feel like I'm somewhere in-between to be honest. Raven really is a good kid though. Yeah she might be really sassy sometimes and maybe she's a very picky eater, but she's one of the best kids I know. She listens pretty well and does as she's told most of the time. Maybe I am raising Raven the right way. But is there really a right way to raise a child? I'm not sure.

"Papa, I love you."

"I love you too Ray."

I got her out of the bath and dressed her in one of her favorite onesies which was a Charmander from Pokémon. I tucked her in and read her a book. She was now sleeping and I quietly made my way to the living room. Right at that moment, Jaime walked in and slammed the door. I'm totally gonna beat his ass later.

"Tony, you wouldn't believe what happened right after you left!"

"If Raven wakes up in a few minutes you're in for a world of hurt. She literally just fell asleep and you know she's been having trouble sleeping at night."

And of course I hear Raven's door slowly opening and closing. Her little feet running towards us. "Papa, are you okay? Why did you slam the door?"

I looked at Jaime and mouthed that he's gonna handle her tonight. What an asshole!