Daniel sits up in bed, contently taking in a deep breath. He turns around to peer at Rosalía's sleeping figure and smiles before standing up to get ready for the day. As he's getting dressed, Rosalía begins to stir and slowly opens her eyes. Noticing her husband's absence in the spot next to her, she sits up, smiling when she spots him buttoning up his shirt. She cups her hands over her mouth and calls out, "take it off!" Daniel whips around at the sound of her voice and laughs. He does the last button before walking to Rosalía's side of the bed and kissing her forehead.
"Morning, honey. Sorry you missed the show, you should've woken up earlier," he jokes. Rosalía feigns disappointment. "Mmm, damn it," she jokes back, making her husband chuckle. He goes to his dresser to find a tie while Rosalía gets up and starts getting ready herself. Daniel quickly finishes getting ready and tells his wife, "I'll see you downstairs" before exiting the bedroom. He sees his oldest daughter, Aaliyah, serving breakfast to her younger siblings when he enters the kitchen. Daniel and Rosalía have five kids: Aaliyah (21), Xavier (18), Selena (16), Adrian (10), and Camila (8).
"Morning, guys," Daniel happily greets his family. "Good morning, dad," they all return as they eat. Aaliyah grabs another plate and walks over to the stove. "You want some, dad?" she asks. Daniel approaches her and responds, "sure, sweetheart but I can serve myself. You go eat." He takes the plate from Aaliyah and she goes back to the table. "You know, you didn't have to do this. I was gonna make breakfast for you all," he adds. Aaliyah shakes her head. "No, it's okay, you were still sleeping and I woke up early, so," she assures him. Daniel nods and prepares a cup of coffee for himself. Rosalía finally comes downstairs and is stunned to see everyone here.
"Y este milagro? [And this miracle?] I didn't have to bust down any doors to wake y'all up?" she voices as she walks over to Daniel. He hands her a coffee and they clink their cups together before taking a sip. "Thanks, mi amor [my love]," she says, pecking his lips. He just smiles dreamily at her as she stands next to him. "Mijo [my son], you're here early. Do you ever actually stay in your dorm?" she asks Xavier. The boy replies, "Yes. It's just that my roommate annoys me sometimes." It's his first semester at UCLA and he wanted to live in a dorm to get the full college experience. However, he hates his roommate already and loves being around his family so he spends more time at home.
"Does he leave his calzones [underwear] on the floor too?" Selena pokes fun, causing Aaliyah and her parents to laugh. Xavier gives her a dirty look. "Shut up, that rarely happens," he defends himself. Right when Rosalía and Daniel sit down to eat, Aaliyah gets up. "I gotta go. I have rehearsal," she claims as she goes to put her dishes in the sink. She's a Laker Girl, just like her mother was in the 80s. Rosalía introduced her to dance when she was very young and she quickly fell in love with the sport. Now she's on the Laker Girls team and works with her mom at her company: La Rosalia Dance Company.
"Come on, Camila," she calls to her eight-year-old sister. "Okay," the child responds as she stands up and goes to grab her backpack. She rushes back into the kitchen to say her goodbyes to her parents. "Bye, Dad," she says, going to stand in between her parents' chairs. Daniel gives her a hug and replies, "bye, kiddo. Have a great day at school, okay?" Camila smiles when he kisses her cheek before she turns to her mother. "Bye, mami," she acknowledges, kissing her cheek. Rosalía wraps her arm around her and gives her a big kiss on the cheek. "Bye, mama. Pórtese bien. La quiero mucho, okay? [Behave well. I love you so much, okay?]" she tells her.
Camila nods before following her sister out of the house. Soon after, Selena finishes eating and gets up as well. "I can take Adrian to school," she announces. Rosalía gives her a grateful smile and responds, "oh, thank you, mija, I really appreciate that." She's so thankful that her older kids are generous and willing to help her out with her younger kids. Selena and Adrian put their dishes in the sink as well before going to their parents to say goodbye and getting their backpacks. Once they're gone, the couple switches their attention to the last one left, Xavier. "What about you? Do you have class today?" Daniel asks him.
"Yeah but it's not until 11:00," his son answers. Rosalía nods, poking at the eggs on her plate with her fork. "Oh, good. Limpia la cocina [clean the kitchen] before you go," she orders with a smile. A hint of a smile forms on Daniel's face. He already knows what his son's reaction will be. Xavier tsks and whines, "aw, whyyy?" Rosalía sticks her fork in her mouth before responding, "because someone needs to clean it and I'm not going to be home. Just do it, please." The boy just sighs, knowing better than to try to argue. "Fine..." he grumbles before getting up and leaving. "Aaliyah made the mess, why do I have to clean it?" he murmurs to himself as he trudges away.
[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]
Encino Oaks Country Club
Daniel and Rosalía stand at the bar. The man smiles at the view of Adrian and Camila watching a magician do tricks while Aaliyah and Xavier sit at a nearby table conversing, keeping an eye on their younger siblings... Well, at least Aaliyah is. In the distance, he spots Selena talking to her friend, Aisha. He switches his gaze to his wife, making his smile grow. Rosalía turns to him, noticing the look on his face. "What?" she asks. Daniel slightly shakes his head. "Nothing. I'm just happy to be here," he answers. "Hmm, yeah. I remember how badly you wanted to break into these kinds of clubs," his wife remarks, giggling.
"Yeah," Daniel chortles. "Our kids are lucky. In the summer, when I was a kid, I had to hang out on a filthy street in Newark with a-" he starts. "A broken fire hydrant next to your Aunt Tessie's," Rosalía finishes for him, nodding. Daniel grins and nods. He's told her about this so many times. "Yeah, I lived in Van Nuys and North Hollywood so you know how that goes... I had to sleep on the living room floor a few times because of-'' she starts her sentence. "The drive-by's," they both state. She's told him about the drive-by shootings that occurred where she lived before moving to Texas many times.
Rosalía turns to the bartender and requests, "a classic margarita and dirty martini, please?" The bartender nods and prepares the drinks. Daniel gleefully sighs. "Ugh, perfect," he comments. Just then, a new voice captures the couple's attention. "LaRussos!" They whirl around to see Selena, Aisha, and Aisha's father approaching them. "Hey," Daniel responds while Rosalía grins and rubs Aisha's upper arm in a motherly style. "Hey, you still kicking that competition?" he asks as he shakes Daniel's hand. "You know it, Isaiah," Daniel confirms.
Isaiah glances at Rosalía and asks, "how's the dance studio?" The woman smiles. "It's great. How's the Q5 treating you?" she returns. "Wouldn't know. This one here's been behind the wheel all month going back and forth to robot camp," he gestures to Aisha, who looks down with a timid grin. "Dad, it's an AP physics prep course," she corrects him. "Mhm," Isaiah utters while the couple smiles at the girl and Selena. They're both glad she's friends with Aisha, they think she's a good influence. "That's great, mija. I'm glad somebody's enjoying the car," Rosalía comments, making everyone laugh.
"Right. Later, LaRussos," Isaiah voices before he walks away. Selena waves at her parents before she and Aisha walk off as well, giggling as they pick up on their conversation about Tom Holland again. "Here are your drinks," the bartender announces, making the couple turn around. Rosalía thanks her and takes the drinks, handing the martini to Daniel. He glances at Selena and Aisha in the distance and remarks, "you know, I'm glad she's friends with Aisha and not those stupid kids Sam hangs out with." Rosalía raises her eyebrows at the sudden harshness of his tone.
His niece, Samantha, grew up with Selena so she's pretty close with her and Daniel. Due to this, he can't help but worry about her new so-called friends. "Yikes. I agree but what's up? Why are you so fussy?" Rosalía asks him. "Nothing, I'm fine," Daniel lies. His wife gives him a pointed look. He knows he can't lie to me so why does he try? She wonders. The man gives in and claims, "alright. Alright. Remember Johnny?" The woman smiles and nods. "Yeah! It's so weird seeing him again. He aged well," she remarks. Daniel gives her a look. "He's okay, I guess," he responds, rolling his eyes.
"Anyway, I'm driving home from work yesterday then I pull up to this stoplight, and I look, and in this strip mall... I see, 'Cobra Kai," he tells her. The woman is taken aback by this. "Uh, what? Cobra Kai?" she questions, to which her husband nods. "You think Johnny brought it back? Why would he do that?" she asks again. She knows it took Johnny a long time to realize Kreese had him under his thumb. She assumed that after all these years, he finally moved on from Cobra Kai.
Daniel gives her a sympathetic look, remembering how she cared about Johnny. "Honey, I know you want to believe that he's changed but I don't know... some people never do," he tells her. Rosalía doesn't believe that Johnny would bring Cobra Kai back with the intention to poison the minds of today's youth. Maybe there's more to it than they know. "I don't know. I'm not gonna jump to any conclusions," she states.
[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]
Daniel goes into his dojo, which he and Rosalía now use for storage, to put something away. His eyes land on his old trophies and he walks up to them. In front of the trophies' table is a box and he pulls out a picture frame from it. A wave of sadness washes over him as he examines the photo and news article about him and Mr. Miyagi within the frame. He sighs and voices, "wish you were here to give me some of that Miyagi wisdom right now." At that moment, Rosalía walks in. "Hey," she speaks up, catching his attention. "Oh, hey," he returns as she nears him. She glances down at the frame in his hands and slightly frowns. She reaches up to touch her cherry blossom pendant, she always does this whenever she misses Mr. Miyagi. It brings her a sense of comfort.
She loops her arm through Daniel's and rests her head on his shoulder. "I really miss him," she whispers. Daniel nods and sets the picture frame on the table. "Me too," he whispers back. When Mr. Miyagi died, they both took it really hard. They lost a member of their family. Rosalía's father mourned him too, he was his best friend. It took them all a long time to heal but they did it for him, knowing he'd want them to keep moving forward. However, there isn't a day that they don't miss him dearly. Rosalía picks up a different photo while Daniel picks up another. They show each other and giggle.
Rosalía holds a picture of herself, 11-year-old Aaliyah, and 6-year-old Selena in dance attire and ponytails. Daniel holds a photo of himself with 6-year-old Selena and 8-year-old Xavier in gis. Rosalía often used the dojo as a dance studio where she taught her two oldest daughters. They both discovered their passion for dancing at a young age. Xavier is a different story. He never found interest in dancing but he did love karate. Aaliyah loves to dance and Xavier loves karate... and then there's Selena. She has the best of both worlds with her love for both sports. She's like a mixture of both parents whereas the other kids tip more toward one rather than the other.
Adrian and Camila haven't gotten a chance to try karate since Daniel stopped practicing before they were born. They haven't shown interest in either sport yet but only time will tell. Daniel looks into the crowded room and smiles fondly as he remembers a training session he had with Xavier and Selena 10 years ago. Rosalía does the same thing, reminiscing about her dance training with the girls. Daniel suddenly sighs. "They grow up so fast," he voices. Rosalía chuckles and nods. "Yeah... I hate that."
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Fun facts- The Juarez LaRussos' birthdays & kids' middle names ☺️:
We already know where Aaliyah's middle name came from lol but in case no one caught it... Xavier's middle name is Rosalía's dad's name, Amaya is Rosalía's middle name, Angel is the name of one of her homies, and Adrian was named after Rosalía's sister, Adriana, whose middle name is Mireya... So yeah, they're all named after family hehe :)