Day by Day

Chapter 15: A Fatherly Discussion

Jay and Shang were meeting each other for lunch today. Ever since the announcement of Lonnie's pregnancy, the two were spending more time together. Once the baby came, they would be seeing each other more often, so they decided to have lunch every so often to get to know each other a little better. They had wished they did this before Jay and Lonnie got married of course.

"Baby's coming pretty soon," Shang said, taking a sip of his drink. "You ready?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Jay said. "I mean, of course we're ready. It's just...I don't know...anything could happen."

Shang nodded. "You two have a name picked out?"

"A name that Lonnie and I both really like is Jocelyn. That one seems to be tossed up more than any other name," Jay replied.

"That's a nice name."

"Yeah, but we are having some trouble coming up with a middle name," Jay said. "We just can't think of any name that we like."

"I'm sure you two will have one by the time she's born."

"I hope so," Jay said. "The day's coming up fast. I mean, Mal and Ben's baby could come any day now."

"Ah, yes, the princess," Shang said. "Definitely about to enter a new era for Auradon."

"Yeah, Ben and Mal seem pretty prepared," Jay said. "I know Ben will be a great dad."

"What about you?" Shang asked. Jay shrugged in response, seeming not to want to look up. "Hey, son, what's going on?" Shang asked with concern.

"I know I told Lonnie that the fear of being a bad dad is gone, but it never truly left," Jay explained. "My dad was never a good role model for me, yet he's all I know about a dad."

"What about your friends' fathers?" Shang asked, not really knowing much about the other three VKs."

"Mal's dad seemed to disappear when she was a toddler (AN: If you are reading this after D3, just know that this was written before)," Jay explained. "Evie's dad, according to what the Evil Queen has told Evie, fled when E.Q. told him she was pregnant, and Carlos's dad was chased off by Cruella early in his childhood."

"What about your mother?"

Jay seemed to frown. "I never met her. She...um...she died after giving birth to me." Shang seemed to sit up upon hearing this from Jay. He had always imagined that even the Isle kids had both parents present in their lives, but that seemed to not be the case. "From what Yen Sid had told me about my mother, she seemed like a good person," Jay added.

"Jay, I have to ask, do all the Isle kids only have one parent present?" Shang asked.

Jay shook his head. "Some kids were lucky enough to have both their parents. Those kids were usually the ones who turned out to be nicer and had better chances of survival. However, most of those kids were those who were born to innocent villagers. Most of the villain kids only had one parent in their lives, and you can probably guess which parent they all ended up with."

Shang nodded, now realizing just how wrong he was about the upbringing of children on the Isle. "I'm...sorry, Jay. When I first met you...I...I should've been more sensitive. I wish I had known that from the start. Mulan and I must've painted this picture into our kids' heads of what life was like for everyone, but I guess everyone has a different story."

Jay nodded. "It's all good." Jay now knew where Lonnie had gotten the "even villains love their kids" ideology from. However, he couldn't blame her or Shang. On Shang's part, he was probably just trying to make his daughter happy by making her think the world was perfect, even for the worst of the worst. You couldn't blame him considering Lonnie teared up at the realization. Jay couldn't really imagine Shang or Mulan dealing with a crying 5-year-old Lonnie.

"Is there anything, father wise, you are worried about?" Shang asked.

Jay sighed. "I guess I'm just scared of the kid not loving me. Sure, she'll be born just before summer, and I'll have the entire summer with her, but tourney starts up again right after summer. I'm not going to be around as much. That's going to be happening as she grows older."

Shang nodded. "I know where you're coming from." Jay looked up at Shang. "Around the time Lonnie was born, there was a barrier breech." Jay was shocked, considering Lonnie was born only four years after the Isle was created. It surprised Jay that the villains have been trying to escape around there, considering the first generation of kids, including himself, was born that year. "The Auradon military was called upon to protect the kingdom, and I do mean everyone. I was called upon. I didn't want to leave due to Mulan about to give birth, but King Beast insisted I go since I was general. I mean, I can't blame him either since Queen Belle was pregnant with Ben at the time." Jay nodded. "I missed Lonnie's birth."

"Really?" Jay asked. "Does Lonnie know that?"

Shang nodded. "Though, Mulan and I feel we should've told her sooner. We didn't tell her until shortly before her sixteenth birthday, which was only a few months before you arrived to Auradon. She was angry. Of course, she understood that I had to go under order. She was more mad at the fact that we tried to hide it from her and acted like I was there. Of course, like the Lonnie we knew, she soon came to her senses and forgave me."

"When did you finally get to meet Lonnie?" Jay asked.

"She was two months old," Shang said. "I was gone for a long time, but Lonnie still loves me, and I'm sure the same will be for you and the little one. I mean, if she's anything like Lonnie, she'll love you to pieces, no matter when you have to leave and have no idea when you'll be home. Did that help."

"It did," Jay said. "I'm just also afraid of all the things that could happen within the next eighteen years."

"Jay, you know, I still question my ability as a father," Shang said. "I sometimes wonder if the decisions I make for my kids were the best. Some were good while others, not so much. Fatherhood will have it's bumps, but it's all about how you overcome them."

Jay chuckled. "Thanks, Shang."

"Dad," Shang said. "Call me dad."

The boys laughed again. Suddenly, Jay's phone rang. "Hello?....Lonnie? Is everything alright?..." Shang became concerned as well. "She's fine," Jay told Shang. "What?....Why didn't you tell me sooner?....Alright. I'll meet you at the castle in a few....No, Carlos, Evie, and I all promised Mal we would be there waiting....Okay, see you then. Bye."

"Everything alright?"

"Queen Mal's in labor."