Flashback From the Future XIX

"Those don't belong to you!" said Joy as it was clear to tell that she was restraining her voice from going any higher or colder.

"I know, but I don't have anything else to wear" said Lia as Joy didn't say anything as she rushed up the stairs and slammed the door to her room as Lia stood there dumbfounded by what had just happened.

"Did I... did I do something wrong?" asked Lia in a mix of utter confusion and uncertainty as she looked at Dom, she did not understand what had just happened. Joy had just ran away just like that, it was rare to ever see her act up, and she did not know what to think.

Dom looked at Lia, usure of what to say in answer to her question, the truth was that yes, she had done something wrong, but that was besides the point right now, what mattered most was that Joy was upset now, and he did not like it when she was upset, it wasn't good for her.

"Excuse me Lia" said Dom as he walked past Lia up the stairs to talk to Joy while Lia just remained standing there, feeling utterly disregarded.

"Princess, Princess I'm coming in so we can talk okay?" asked Dom as he knocked lightly on Joy's bedroom door and he opened the door and walked into her room, he was grateful that she did not think to lock her door.

"Princess, what's the matter?" asked Dom as he walked towards Joy's bed as she was sitting on it with her arms folded and her legs crossed, she looked highly upset which was rare.

Joy just looked at her Father and remained silent, she did not want to talk to him at all, she was so upset, angry and just sad...

Dom sighed, knowing that he needed to be patient with her, so he sat down next to her and caressed her hair.

"Princess, you shouldn't have ran upstairs like that, you could have slipped and hurt yourself" said Dom as Joy scoffed, she was trying so hard not to throw a fit, but it was just impossible not to, she was already very agitated.

"Who cares about that!" said Joy as she raised her voice but as soon as she saw the gentle sad look on her Father's face, she felt bad for raising her voice at him, she had never done that before and it wasn't nice for her to do that at all.

"I'm sorry Daddy, but I'm just... I'm just..." said Joy as she sighed, finding it difficult to say how she felt.

"Tell me how you feel princess, it's okay if you raise your voice" said Dom in a calm tone as he spoke gently.

"I'm angry daddy, very angry, why does she have to wear those clothes? Why does she have to wear them??" asked Joy in displeasure.

"But Princess, she had no other clothes to wear and her own clothes were dirty" said Dom as he tried to explain gently, even though he knew how Joy felt, he felt the same as well, but he was an adult, he couldn't just throw a fit and shout at Lia for wearing those clothes.

"That doesn't matter Daddy, she should have continued wearing her own, or she should have gone back to her house to change, she shouldn't have worn mom's clothes!" said Joy.

"Joy you can't be inconsiderate now, you know she means no harm" said Dom.

"I don't care daddy, I don't care, those are my mother's clothes, I don't want her wearing mommy's clothes, I don't want anyone wearing mommy's clothes!! It's not fair, they belong to her! Just because she's here doesn't mean that anyone can just take them, it's not nice, it's not good!" said Joy as tears started to drop from her eyes and Dom hugged her, his heart breaking as he felt the same as he felt the same.

"They are her clothes, and no one deserves to wear them or take them, it's not fair" said Joy as she cried and hugged Dom tightly.

"It's okay princess, I know, I know, it's hard, but no one is going to take her away, they can't alright?" asked Dom as he tried to coax her as she cried.

"She's always with us, in our hearts and minds, I know it's hard princess, but we will get through this okay?" asked Dom as Joy nodded and sniffed.

"Okay daddy" she replied as she sniffed once again.

"But I still don't want Aunt Lia wearing mom's clothes, get her some other clothes daddy" said Joy as she looked at Dom with her big brown eyes.

"*Sigh* Princess, there are no other female clothes in the house, just let her wear them for now and she's change them later as soon as her own clothes are washed" said Dom as Joy shook her head violently.

"No, I don't want that, get her some other clothes, but she's not wearing mom's clothes" said Joy as she crossed her hands in front of her chest and frowned, showing Dom that he had to make a choice, either he agreed with her totally or he could just leave because she didn't like what was happening today.

"Princess, it would be rude to ask her to change ou..." said Dom as he was cut off.

"Please daddy, please, do it for me, please" said Joy as she pleaded with him and Dom sighed.

"Fine princess, fine" said Dom.

"Thank you daddy" said Joy as she knew that Dom didn't want to offend Lia, but she would never accept another woman trying to wear her mother's clothes, as if she was her... she wasn't her at all.

...

Dom walked down the stairs as Lia had been waiting there for him and Joy.

"How is she?" asked Lia in worry.

"She's upset, but she's fine now..." replied Dom.

"Oh I'm glad, she really worried me when she stormed off like that..." said Lia.

"Yeah... me too..." replied Dom.

"Lia, I'm going to have to ask you to change" said Dom as he handed her a pair of folded clothes which happened to be one of his old jeans and plaid shirt.

"What? why?" asked Lia in confusion as she looked at the clothes he handed her and then she looked back at him.

"Joy got upset because she saw you wearing Natasha's clothes, it would be best if you changed out of them and returned them back to me" said Dom as Lia looked at him in disbelief.

"I didn't think that it would be that serious... it's just a pair of clothes" said Lia.

"It's not just that Lia, please try to understand, it upsets Joy, and I don't want that" said Dom as Lia frowned and remained silent.

"And what about you?... Does it upset you as well?" asked Lia.

"Yes Lia, honestly it upsets me, you shouldn't have worn Natasha's clothes, they are kept in her room, you weren't supposed to change into them" said Dom as Lia's frown deepened.

"But I had nothing else to wear" said Lia.

"Well now you do, Lia for the sake of the peace in this house, just please change, alright, I'm sorry if I offended you, but just please change" said Dom as he pleaded with her, he didn't want any problems.

"Fine!" said Lia in anger as she rushed into the downstairs bathroom and slammed the door shut in anger as Dom flinched and sighed, he didn't like this at all.

A few minutes later Lia walked out of the bathroom in changed clothes as she handed Natasha's clothes back to Dom.

"Thanks for understanding Lia" said Dom as Lia looked at him.

"Dom, I don't want to be upset with you, I didn't like the way you treated me just because of clothes" said Lia with a frown.

"I'm sorry for that Lia, but her clothes, remain her clothes, and Joy and I would prefer it if things stayed that way" said Dom as he spoke calmly and Lia sighed.

"I understand... is Joy better now?" asked Lia.

"She is now..." replied Dom.

"That's good, you know what, I will be in my room" said Lia as she walked up the stairs and Dom sighed, it was clear that she was still upset with him, but what could he do? He couldn't please everyone.

...

The slow afternoon finally passed by as the sun began to set and Dom walked out of his office and passed into the dining room to see Lia setting the table.

"Oh Dom, you're here already, I was just about to come call you" said Lia as she smiled brightly at him, any trace of anger from the afternoon vanished and nonexistent.

"Call me for what?" asked Dom in confusion.

"For dinner of course silly, I told Alfred that he could leave early, and I made us dinner, you, me and Joy" said Lia happily as she finished setting the table.

"You did?" asked Dom as Lia nodded.

"Mhmm, I made your second favourite, lemon chicken and spinach mushroom couscous" said Lia as she laughed.

"You did?" asked Dom in surprise.

"Yes silly, come on go call Joy so we can all eat together" said Lia as she smiled and Dom smiled.

"Okay" he said as he smiled and left to call Joy.

He returned a few minutes later with an apologetic expression on his face as Lia had already sat down and was waiting for them.

"Where's Joy?" she asked with a smile.

"Well Joy said that she's not hungry, she had a big lunch..." replied Dom as he sat down.

"Oh..." said Lia.

"Yes, so it's just us two for dinner tonight" said Dom as he smiled and Lia just looked at him.

"She's still upset with me isn't she?" asked Lia as Dom didn't know what to day.

"No, she's not" replied Dom.

"I'm going to go talk to her, you can start eating if you want to" said Lia as she got up and left the dining room as Dom really hoped that this would go well.

...

"Joy, princess... can I come in?" asked Lia as she knocked lightly on Joy's bedroom door.

"Yes... come in" came Joy's soft voice from inside the room as Lia opened the door and entered the room.

"Joy, princess, I made dinner, lemon chicken with spinach mushroom couscous, don't you want some?" asked Lia with a smile as she walked towards Joy who was reading on her bed.

"No Aunt Lia, I'm not hungry, I had a big lunch" replied Joy.

"Oh... alright then" said Lia.

"Yes" replied Joy as Lia sighed.

"Joy, are you upset with me?" asked Lia as Joy looked at her and shook her head.

"But you don't seem happy with me, and you avoided me all afternoon" said Lia.

"I... I was angry with you before Aunt Lia, but now I'm no longer angry" replied Joy.

"Joy, sweetie, I'm sorry for wearing your mother's clothes, I didn't know it would affect you so much, my own clothes were dirty, but that still is no excuse, I should have been more considerate towards you and how you would feel, can you ever find a place in your heart to forgive me?" asked Lia sincerely.

"I don't need to forgive you Aunt, I'm no longer upset with you, I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have stormed off like that, it wasn't nice of me" said Joy as she apologized and Lia smiled.

"So are we friends again?" asked Lia as she smiled.

"Of course we are" replied Joy as Lia hugged her.

"Thank you" said Lia as she smiled.

"So do you still don't wan to have dinner?" asked Lia.

"Yes, I'm not hungry" replied Joy as she smiled.

"Alright princess, take care sweetie" said Lia as she smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

...

"How did it go?" asked Dom as soon as Lia returned back to the dining room.

"It went good, we are friends again" said Lia as she laughed and Dom laughed, happy about that.

"So how do you find my food that was prepared specially for you?" asked Lia as she saw that Dom had already started eating.

"It's delicious Lia" replied Dom as he smiled and Lia laughed.

"Oh be honest Dom, I know you're not telling the full truth, how is it really?" asked Lia as she sat down and ate.

"It's really good Lia, honestly" said Dom.

"But?" asked Lia as she smiled.

"But... it brings back memories... many memories, of Natasha... she used to make this for me a lot..." said Dom as the smile on Lia's face faltered for a second.

"Well what can I say, it's hard to forget someone that was a huge part of your life" she said.

"Yes... it is" replied Dom as he continued eating failing to spot the in describable look present and fading on Lia's face.