"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
"But I'm don't wanna."
"Too bad, so sad."
"But, daddy!"
"Victoria Elizabeth Anna Maria Antoinette Fuentes, not another word out of you!" Dad scolded me. "It's just dinner."
"And the guys, and their girlfriends, and your parents!" I added. "What if I say something stupid and everyone laughs at me?"
"You'll be just fine, Care Bear," he assured me.
We parked in front of his parents' house and he killed the engine. I looked at my reflection in the window and gave my makeup a once over. I wore a red high-low dress paired with silver leather strappy heels and painted my nails with Blackheart's Rose Red nail polish. I just tied my hair up in a high, curly ponytail.

Dad opened the door and held out his hand. "Come on. The others are waiting," he said. I unbuckled my seatbelt and took his hand, climbing out of the car and slammed the door shut. He locked the car and walked towards the front door.
"I'm nervous," I mumbled.
Dad rang the door and kissed my forehead. "They'll love you just as much as I do," he replied. The door opened and his mom opened the door. "Victor!" She said. She kissed dad's cheek and hugged him.
"Hi, mama," dad said. "I brought someone for you to meet."
She pulled away and and looked at me. I could tell that she knew and she was going to cry any moment. "Mama, this is Victoria. Mija, this is your grandmother, Vivian."
"It's nice to meet you, mama," I said politely.
"Oh, look at you! You're all grown up into a beautiful young woman," she said to me. "May I have a hug?"
I complied and hugged my grandmother. She held me tight and kissed my forehead. I'd be lying if I say I didn't fight back any tears. She finally pulled away and took my hand. "Come in. Everyone is waiting on you two."
We followed her in the house and she led us to the living room, where the guys were watching Harry Potter. Mike's doing, obviously.
"Watching Harry Potter without me? Meanie," I joked.
"You were taking too long. I wasn't going to wait," Mike replied. "Get over here. I want you to meet my lady."
I walked over and sat on Mike's lap. "Beautiful niece, meet my beautiful girlfriend Alysha. Beautiful girlfriend, meet my beautiful niece, Victoria."
"Hello," I said.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Mike will not stop talking about you," she said.
"Better be good things," I mumbled.
"They were," she giggled.
"And that's Erin, Jessica and Danielle is on the phone," Mike said.
I waved at them and Erin hugged me. "Welcome to the family, honey. Don't be afraid to come to us if you need us, okay?"
"Okay."
Dad walked over to us and picked me up, carrying me away. "Papa wants to meet you," he said. He carried me to the patio where Papa was playing the guitar.
"Hi, Papa," dad said, putting me down.
I took his hand and walked over to my grandfather. He looked up and smiled at me, putting down his guitar. "Papa, this is Victoria."
"I can tell. She looks like you," Papa said. "I remember when you were a little baby, your father just singing you to sleep. And now look at you, already a beautiful young woman."
I smiled and looked at my shoes in embarrassment. I could feel the heat flooding into my cheeks. I walked over to him and hugged him, wiping away his tears. "Please don't cry. I don't like to see people cry. It breaks my heart."
Papa smiled and hugged me tightly. "It's been so long since I last held my own granddaughter," he said.
"Dinner is ready. Come in," Mama called from the house.
I broke away from the hugs and took Papa's hand, leading him and dad back into the house. I followed Mama into the dining room and sat next to Mike as Mama set out the food.
"So, Victoria, tell us about yourself," Mama said.
I shrugged and cut up a piece of steak. "I'm a pretty quiet person, mama. I grew up in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, my mother a doctor and worked at the hospital. I like to play instruments, like the violin, the drums and the guitar. When I'm not focused in music, I focus on gymnastics, ballet and photography."
"How come you didn't tell us that you did gymnastics and ballet?" Jaime interrupted me.
"You never asked me," I told him. "I took ballet and gymnastics from when I was six to eleven years old. In was thinking about cheerleading, but that wasn't me. I didn't take up photography until I was twelve."
"Do you like taking pictures?" Alysha questioned me.
I smiled at her. "I love photography. At first it was hard getting used to, but it just got easier as I practiced more. After high school, I want to go to college for photography."
"I thought you said you wanted to be in a band," Mike said. "Who's gonna carry on the Fuentes legacy?"
I ate my steak and shrugged. "I gotta have a back up plan, Mike. Just in case," I said.
"You guys have got to hear Victoria sing. She sounds like an angel," Dad said.
I smiled and looked at my plate, playing with my food a bit. "I'm not that good," I mumbled under my breath.
"Shush, you," dad told me jokingly. "We heard you back at the hotel in New York. You sound amazing."
"Don't forget guitar, Vic. Victoria loves guitar," Jaime added.
I blushed at that and played with my food. "Let's not talk about me. I'm not that much of an interesting person, you know."
"She's the humble type," Jaime said.
I smiled and ate more of my steak. I heard heels and saw Danielle walk in. I smiled at her and watches as she sat next to Dad and kissed his cheek.
"Sorry, I was on the phone with my mom," she said. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," Dad said back. "Danielle, this is my daughter, Victoria. Victoria, Danielle."
"Hi! It's nice to finally meet you," she said. "I'm Danielle."
"Victoria."
"Well, now that we know everyone, how about some dessert?" Papa suggested.
I smiled and watched mama walk into the kitchen. Maybe this wasn't as bad as I thought.
Mike's p.o.v
I took a sip out of my beer as I pulled Alysha down on my lap. God, how I missed her. "So what do you think of Victoria?"
"She's adorable! I've never met someone so sweet as her before," she said.
I smiled and kissed her cheek, giving her ass a little squeeze. I laughed when she smacked me on the arm. I looked over at Victoria and saw her sitting on Vic's lap, holding Vic's old stuffed monkey and sleeping on her shoulder.
"The baby fell asleep," Jaime said.
"She's tired. Leave her alone," Vic said.
"She looks so much like you. She even has your baby tooth," Danielle said.
Vic smiled and kissed her forehead. "Vic," Mama started. "I want you to be completely honest with me. Can you do that?"
"Sure, Mama," Vic replied.
"Where's her mother?"
Vic froze and looked at me. "It's fucked, I'll tell you that. Bitch deserved it."
"Michael Christopher Fuentes!" Mama scolded me. "No potty mouth under this roof!"
"He's not wrong," Vic said. "Before the tour, Cara died in a car accident. She didn't make it."
"Oh my god!" Jessica said.
"There's more," Vic added. "Cara was an alcoholic and... abused Victoria."
It was dead ass silent, no one said anything. Mama looked at Victoria with shock. "That's terrible! Why?" Danielle asked.
"Because she's a cold hearted bitch, that's why," I snapped.
"Michael!"
"Mama, for thirteen years, I haven't seen or heard anything about my niece, and when I do finally reunite with her, I find out that her own other abused her and neglected her all these years! What am I supposed to say, that she was amazing at parenting? Because it's pretty obvious that Cara was a terrible mother!"
I was going to say more, about how Vic is at fault for not looking for my baby niece and getting rid of the problem before it escalated, but I knew that wasn't fair to Vic. Cara was a bitch, always talking back to people, having an attitude, doing drugs and marijuana, hooking up with people, the list goes on and on. And I hated it. I hated the fact that Victoria grew up alone, how she had to raise herself and didn't have a mom there for her. I will always hate Cara Rodriguez for as long as I live for what she put my niece through.
"I should be going. Victoria had a long day," Vic said. He picked her up and hugged Mama and Papa and kissed Danielle.
"Later, Vic," I said.
Vic nodded and walked out. "Bye bye," Victoria mumbled.
"Bye bye, baby turtle," Tony said. The door closed and everyone sat in silence. "Mike, can we go home? Franklin's waiting for us," Alysha whispered. I nodded and kissed Mama's cheek. "We have to go, but I'll call you later."
"Stay safe, you two," Mama said.
"We will," Alysha assured my mom. We walked out and got into our car in silence, driving away.
"How did she die?" Alysha asked after a while.
"She was intoxicated while driving and crashed. Instant death," I explained.
"That's sad, to hurt your own baby," Alysha said.
"You and me both, babe."