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Chapter Text

It was almost dinnertime when Carmen finally got home after a long shift at the hospital. She was exhausted: all she wanted was to have a quick dinner and hold her daughter until she fell asleep.

Too bad the one-year-old baby wasn't willing to let anyone in that house sleep for more than three hours at a time yet.

Sleep deprivation was definitely one of the hardest parts of raising a baby. Carmen knew this because she had been a mother before, but when she had Miguel, she was much younger and had more energy. Now, in her late thirties, having to work full-time, with Johnny also working all day to get the new dojo off the ground, and Miguel at Stanford, Carmen didn't know how she would have managed with her job and a baby without her mother's help, and especially without Robby's help.

Since Sara was born, but especially since Miguel left, Robby had helped in every way possible with the baby: he changed diapers, prepared bottles, baby food, bathed her, cradled her, took her to the pediatrician... and without ever having asked him to do anything, he was the one who always offered. Carmen had a big dilemma, since, on the one hand, she felt bad seeing Robby so attentive to Sara's needs, knowing how busy he was with his own affairs, and taking care of Sara was not his responsibility, but hers and Johnny's; but, on the other hand, Carmen knew that Robby was having a hard time feeling part of the Lawrence-Diaz family, and she did not dare to reject his help, for fear that the boy himself would feel rejected.

As she entered the house, she was greeted by the exquisite smell of roast meat. She left her jacket and bag in the hall, washed her hands in the guest bathroom, and went to the large living room with an open kitchen that the house had.

Rosa was in the kitchen, and Robby was on the couch, with Sara on his lap, entertaining her with a stuffed giraffe.

"Hello, mija," Rosa greeted. "How was your day?"

"Hi, family. Exhausting, as always." Carmen sat on the couch next to Robby and caressed her daughter's dark curls. The baby showed her a small smile on her round, rosy face, that was worth more than all the gold in the world. "How are you?"

"Very well. Although this young lady has taken a two-hour nap, so I'm afraid she's not going to sleep much tonight..." Robby warned.

Sara stretched out her little hands towards Carmen. Carmen picked her up, kissed her and smelled her little head. The baby's smell was so comforting...

"Dinner will be ready soon," Rosa announced. "Are we going to wait for Johnny?" she asked.

"No, he texted me a little while ago, and told me not to wait for him: tonight, he and Daniel have to discuss Eli's contract or something like that..." Carmen answered.

"So, they're finally going to hire Eli as an assistant?" Robby asked.

“Yes, but only part-time, at least until he finishes his studies at Caltech.”

Carmen knew that Eli had not been Johnny and Daniel's first choice to help them with the new dojo: they would have preferred to hire Robby full-time. But Robby had rejected their offer, just as he had rejected Daniel's offer to work at the dealership, as the boy had his own plans for the future.

When Robby announced to the family that he wanted to become a firefighter, Johnny and Carmen had felt both proud and worried. But they had supported him unconditionally in his decision (as had Shannon), and Johnny and Daniel had helped him together for months to get ready for the demanding physical tests to enter the Glendale Fire Academy in Los Angeles.

Of course, Robby had excelled at the physical tests, and he had also passed the psychometric test. There weren't many spots available to enter Glendale, but everyone was assuming Robby would get one. Everyone but Robby, who didn't want to get his hopes up too soon. After all the disappointments the boy had had in his life, it wasn't surprising, Carmen thought.

"Dinner is ready," Rosa announced.

"I'm going to change first," Carmen said.

"Should I put Sara in the highchair?" Robby asked.

"Yes, thank you." Carmen returned Sara to her older brother's arms.

When Carmen returned and sat down at the dining room table, Robby was already feeding Sara her dinner.

“I'll feed her, honey,” Carmen said. “I don't want your dinner to get cold.”

“Don't worry.”

Carmen sighed quietly and looked at her mother, not knowing what to do. Rosa was about to say something, but then Robby's cell phone started ringing in his pocket. The boy took it out, looked at the screen and opened his eyes wide.

“It's from Glendale,” he exclaimed.

“Glendale?” Carmen repeated, surprised. Everyone was expecting that call, but not for it to come at that hour. “Come on, take it!”

Robby handed her the spoon and Sara's porridge, stood up and picked up the phone.

“Yes? This is Robert Keene...”. As he spoke, Robby retreated a little towards the hall to have some privacy.

“Espero que sean buenas noticias”, Rosa said.

“It has to be”, Carmen murmured.

But when a few minutes later Robby returned to the living room with the mobile in his hand, he had a gloomy expression on his face.

“What happened, Robby?”, Carmen asked.

“They were from the... admissions committee”, Robby answered in a very low voice.

“And...?”

“They want to interview me again. Tomorrow.”

“Again? Why?”

“They want to talk about Sylmar.”

Carmen and Rosa exchanged a surprised look. Carmen turned to Robby again:

“I don't understand. They already interviewed you when you applied. You got the best score on the physical tests. You passed the psychometric test. What do they care now that you were in Sylmar?”

“I don't know. But I guess they don't want convicted juvenile offenders in their academy”, the boy whispered, dejected.

“You're not that”, Rosa said.

“Yes, I am... That's exactly what I am.”

“But...”

“Leave it, Rosa, please.” Robby put the phone in his pocket and ran his hands through his hair nervously. “I can't believe this is happening...”, he muttered. “I can't believe it.”

“I'm sure everything will be fine”, Carmen said.

“Yes, come to dinner, mijo.”

Robby shook his head.

“I'm sorry, I'm not hungry anymore.”

“Robby...”

The boy took his plate off the table and, without saying anything else, went up the stairs to the first floor. A few seconds later they heard a door slam.

Carmen hesitated, but finally got up.

“I'm going to talk to him.”

“¿Estás segura?” Rosa asked. “Quizá prefiere estar a solas.”

“I don't think he should be alone right now. And Johnny won't be home for a while.”

“Entonces, ves. Yo le daré la cena a Sara.”

Carmen went up to the first floor and stood in front of the closed door to Robby's bedroom (and Miguel's too when he came home). She knocked gently.

“Robby, can I come in?” No one answered. “Robby, let me in, please.”

Several seconds passed. Carmen was about to insist again, when the door opened. Carmen went into the room.

Robby paced back and forth, looking upset, running his hands through his hair over and over again, and breathing heavily.

“Robby, are you okay?” Carmen asked softly.

“No, I-I'm not okay”, the boy answered haltingly. “I'm not. They're not going to admit me...”

“You don't know that yet...”

“I should have... guessed.” Robby didn't seem to have heard her. “I knew... I knew they didn't admit anyone with a criminal record, but nobody told me anything about juvenile records. I've wasted my time...”

“Don't say that...”

“I-I don't know what I'm going to do now”, he whimpered. He looked like he was about to cry. “I really don't know...”

“Robby, don't think about the worst. You still don't know what they're going to tell you tomorrow. But if the worst happens, you still have options...”

“I don't want to work at the dojo! Or at Mr. LaRusso's dealership! I want to be a firefighter!” It was the first time since they met that Robby had raised his voice at her. That's how upset he was. The boy noticed and looked at her horrified. “I-I'm sorry, Carmen, didn’t mean to...”

“I know, honey. Don't worry.” Carmen gently caressed his forearm. “Listen, I was referring to other academies...”

A couple of tears rolled down the boy's cheeks.

“If they don't... if they don't admit me… to Glendale...” Robby was breathing so hard that he had trouble speaking. “They won't… admit me... anywhere else...”

Robby's breathing became wheezy, and Carmen immediately realized what was happening.

The boy was suffering from a panic attack.

“Hey, hey, Robby, you're hyperventilating. You have to calm down...”

Robby turned around and put his hands on the desk. He tried to take a deep breath, but the whistling sound was getting louder.

“I-I can’t…” he gasped between sobs. “I-I can’t… breathe…”

“Okay, come here.” Carmen guided Robby to sit on the bed. She sat next to him and put a hand on his back. “It’s a panic attack.” Robby looked at her, scared and confused. “Now you’re going to do exactly what I say, okay? You’re going to hold your breath for four seconds, and then exhale softly.”

“I d-don’t th…”

“Robby, listen to me,” Carmen insisted. “Trust me.”

Then Robby closed his mouth. He held his breath for two seconds and exhaled again.

“Slower. Hold your breath a little longer.”

“I-I can’t…”

“Yes, you can. Four seconds, Robby.”

Robby closed his mouth again. One, two, three, four. He exhaled and inhaled. One, two, three, four. Over and over.

Slowly, the whistling began to subside. Robby's breathing became more normal, until the whistling disappeared altogether. The boy leaned his head back slightly, closed his eyes, and sighed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better...”

“I'm glad.”

“My hands are numb though.”

“That's normal, it'll go away soon.”

Carmen continued to caress his back.

“I'm sorry I yelled at you”, Robby murmured.

“It's okay. I understand that you are upset.”

With the back of his hand, Robby wiped the tears from his cheeks.

“I really don't know what I'm going to do if I don't get into Glendale. I put all my hopes into this. I don't have a plan B...”

They fell silent. Carmen felt terrible for Robby. It hadn't been an easy year for him. Since he had missed a school year the previous year, he had had to stay in high school for a few more months to be able to graduate, while most of his friends had left Los Angeles: Miguel to Stanford, Tory to Tampa, Sam to travel the world as a backpacker, Dimitri to MIT, Kenny to Alaska... The only member of Miyagi-Do who was still in Encino was Eli. The only positive thing about being left behind was that Robby had focused a lot on his studies and had worked very hard to graduate as soon as possible, studying every day until late at night, in addition to preparing for the physical tests at Glendale. For months, the poor boy had only left home to go to school or to train.

It wasn't fair that all that effort was going to go down the drain because of Sylmar.

Suddenly, Carmen had an idea.

"I know what we're going to do, Robby. Tomorrow I'm going to accompany you to that interview."

Robby looked at her, bewildered.

Chapter Text

The next morning, as Carmen and Robby prepared to leave, Johnny watched them with Sara in his arms, worried.

“Have you called the hospital yet?” he asked Carmen.

“Yes.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That I have a few tenths and that I still haven't found an antigen test in any pharmacy.”

“And they believed you?”

“Of course, since the last wave they're out of stock.”

“Carmen, I really don't want you to get into trouble because of me,” Robby said.

Carmen squeezed his arm affectionately.

“I'm not going to get into any trouble for being a little late to the hospital. Besides, even if I did, I don't care. This is important.”

“I should go too,” Johnny said.

“Amor, I really don't think that's a good idea.”

“But why not?”

“Because we're going to discuss a delicate subject in that interview and we all know that delicacy is not your thing.”

“I can be delicate”, insisted the man.

That made Robby laugh quietly.

“Whatever you say, Dad.”

“Fine.” Johnny sighed, and looked his son up and down. “Are you sure you're okay?”

“I'm good.”

Johnny had been very worried the night before when he heard about Robby's panic attack. But Carmen had insisted that, given the situation, it had been a 'relatively' normal reaction. And that, physically, Robby was perfectly fine.

“Please, keep me updated.”

“We will.”

Carmen gave Sara a kiss on the forehead and one on Johnny's lips.

Johnny said goodbye to Robby with an affectionate pat on the back of the neck.

“Everything is going to be okay”, he said.

Robby nodded, though he didn't look convinced at all; he took one last look at Sara in Johnny's arms, and followed Carmen to the car.

The drive from Encino to the Glendale Fire Academy took twenty minutes. Robby didn't say a word the whole time, and Carmen chose not to speak either. The boy was visibly very nervous and kept wringing his hands.

Carmen had never been to Glendale before, so when they arrived there, she followed Robby to the offices, where they were greeted by a young blonde woman behind a counter.

"Hello. I'm Robert Keene," Robby informed the young woman. "I have an interview with Captain Holloway at ten."

"One moment, please." The young woman stood up and disappeared down a hallway. She returned a few seconds later. "You can come in."

"Excuse me, can I come in with him?" Carmen asked.

The young woman hesitated. Carmen assumed that this was not usual.

"I'll go ask. Are you...?"

"My name is Carmen Diaz. I'm Robby's stepmother."

“Ok, just a moment.”

The young woman disappeared again. She came back a minute later.

“Yes, you can come in with him.”

“Thank you.”

Carmen followed Robby down the hall. Robby stopped in front of a door with a sign hanging that read ‘Glendale Fire Training Center - Admissions Committee’ and opened it for Carmen to go through first. He then followed her into the office.

Behind a large desk filled with folders and papers sat three uniformed men, all middle-aged, and all three stood up when they saw Carmen.

"Good morning," they greeted.

"Good morning. I'm Robert Keene."

"Good morning. I'm Carmen Diaz, Robby's stepmother."

"I'm Captain Holloway," said the older-looking man with completely white hair. "This is Captain Grey and Captain Ruiz."

"Nice to meet you."

One by one they all shook hands.

"Please, take a seat," Captain Holloway said.

There was only one chair on the other side of the desk, but Captain Ruiz quickly brought another one from the back of the room.

"Thank you," Carmen said.

Robby and Carmen sat down, and the three officers did the same.

“Well, Keene, it's not usual to conduct a second interview with candidates for admission to Glendale, but your case is quite special. In fact, this is the first time we've had a candidate with a juvenile record on his file.”

“And you're not just any candidate, either”, Captain Grey added. “You got the highest score on the physical tests this time around.”

“You see, Keene, here at Glendale we truly believe in second chances”, Captain Holloway continued. “And if you'd been in Sylmar for a minor crime, we wouldn't have thought twice about it. But your file says you were convicted of assault.”

Captain Holloway paused, as if waiting for confirmation from Robby.

“That's right”, he murmured.

Captain Holloway folded his hands together and placed them on a closed folder.

“In that case, Keene, in order to make a decision, we're going to need you to explain in detail exactly what happened.”

Robby swallowed and exchanged a glance with Carmen. She gave him a small nod of encouragement. Robby started to speak.

“On… the first day of my junior year, there was a massive fight inside the high school building. During the fight…”

“Why the fight?” Holloway interrupted.

“Well… it started when a girl attacked my girlfriend, accusing her of kissing her boyfriend.”

“Mm.”

Robby blushed a little. Carmen did too. How absurd and childish that sounded now, after all this time…

The boy took a deep breath and continued.

“I tried to stop the fight between them, but then the boyfriend showed up and attacked me. He and I had already had beef… I mean, differences. We said things we shouldn't have, and the fight escalated quickly. At one point, we went upstairs, still fighting. Finally, he threw me to the ground, and pulled my arm back. I thought he was going to break it, but instead, he suddenly let go of me and said he was sorry. And I... I felt so humiliated that I saw red. And I continued the fight. He didn't expect it, and when I kicked him really hard, he... he was thrown backwards, collided with the balcony railing, and fell to the floor below. He hit his back hard on the stair railing, fell on the steps, and was knocked unconscious.”

Although Carmen already knew how everything had happened, couldn't help but flinch. Captain Holloway and the other two men exchanged wary looks.

“What exactly happened to the boy?” Captain Grey asked.

“He broke his back. And he was in a coma for a week. He had to have surgery, and he needed a wheelchair for several weeks.”

“Did he recover?”

“Yes. Completely.”

The three officers exchanged glances again.

Carmen sensed that the time had come to intervene.

“May I speak for a moment, gentlemen?”, she asked politely.

Captain Holloway looked at her a little surprised, but nodded.

“Go ahead, ma'am.”

“Thank you.” It was Carmen's turn to take a deep breath. “Gentlemen, I think there is something else you should know about this matter. I’m the mother of the boy who was injured in the fight.”

“Excuse me, what do you mean?”

“Weren't you Keene's stepmother?”

“I am both. I’m the mother of Miguel Diaz, the boy who was injured, and I married Robby's father, Johnny Lawrence.”

“Don't you have the same last name as your father?” Ruiz looked at Robby, curious.

“That's another story”, Carmen said. “The important thing here is that I can corroborate what Robby just told you. It was my son Miguel, and not Robby, who started the fight between them.”

“Did your son admit to having started the fight?” asked Captain Holloway.

“He told me it was a misunderstanding... but yes, he did”, Carmen answered. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Robby looking at her in surprise, but she didn't take her eyes off the three captains. “He attacked Robby while he was just trying to separate those two girls. And another thing you should know, and I know this because I saw several of the videos that some students recorded that day, is that it was my son who fell, but it could have been Robby. The two of them were fighting next to the balcony railing without realizing the danger. It was an accident. A tragic accident.”

Captain Grey crossed his arms.

“If it was an accident, why were you convicted?”

Robby was going to answer but Carmen got ahead of him.

“Because he was a sixteen-year-old boy who got scared and ran away. If he had stayed at school, police probably wouldn't have arrested him.”

Captain Holloway stared at Robby.

“So, that's what happened?” he asked.

“That's what happened, sir”, the boy replied.

“So... you and that boy are now stepbrothers?” asked Captain Ruiz with a raised eyebrow.

“That's right.”

“And now you're getting along?”

“It wasn't easy to get to that point, but... he's my best friend now, actually.”

Carmen smiled heartily at that.

The three captains exchanged a final glance.

“Well…” Captain Holloway said finally. “Thank you for telling us this, Keene. Thank you too, Mrs. Diaz. Now we have all the information we wanted. Captains Grey, Ruiz, and I will make a decision shortly about your admission, Keene. You are dismissed.”

Robby and Carmen stood up and said goodbye.

On the way back to the car, Robby asked the question.

“When did Miguel tell you that he was the one who attacked me?”

Carmen sighed and asked in turn:

“Do you remember that day, when you went to see your father at his apartment, to warn him that the Miyagi-Do students had to leave a boy alone, or there would be payback?”

“Yes. It was not one of my best moments. How do you know that?”

“I was in the kitchen with the window open and I overheard the conversation. I heard you telling your father that it was Miguel who attacked you. And I didn't think you were lying.”

“He didn't believe me.”

“And he regrets that, do believe me. Well, the thing is, even though I only blamed karate and your father for the accident, after hearing you say that, I needed to know the truth. So, I asked Miguel. And he admitted it.”

“I didn't know.”

They had already reached the car. Carmen stopped by the driver's door and faced Robby.

“Robby, I owe you an apology. We all owe you an apology. We should have talked about this straight a long time ago. Put all our cards on the table. If we had done it from the beginning, or at least before we all moved into the new house together, maybe you would have felt more comfortable with us.”

“I'm... comfortable”, he whispered.

“Really…?”

Robby looked away.

“Did you notice?”, he asked in a very low voice.

“One has to be very blind not to notice. Johnny and I had been married for two months and you still called me 'Mrs. Diaz.'”

The boy looked embarrassed.

“Your dad has noticed too, and he’s trying to get you feel part of this family, but he's afraid of pushing you and making you move back in with your mother”, Carmen continued.

“I'm not going to do that... unless you want me to.”

“Of course we don't want to, Robby! We're happy that you're with us. The problem is that you don't seem happy sometimes.”

Robby hesitated.

“It's just... it’s still hard.”

“What exactly?”

“Seeing my dad with Sara...” Robby sighed quietly. “I don't understand why he couldn't do for me what he's doing for her. Just being there.”

Carmen sighed. With a gesture, she told Robby to come closer. Robby obeyed, confused, and then Carmen hugged him tightly. She noticed that the boy tensed, but he didn't pull away.

“I understand. I understand perfectly, Robby. I wish I could tell you that there’s an explanation, but there isn't. Your father made a mistake with you, a terrible mistake that he can't fix. But he's trying to do better now. I swear, he’s really trying.”

"I know..."

"We love you, Robby. We love you being part of the Lawrence-Díaz. Please, you have to believe us."

Finally, Robby hugged her back.

"Ok..." the boy sobbed into his shoulder.

The next day, again at dinner time, Robby received a call from Glendale.

Carmen, Rosa and Johnny sat at the dining room table, looking at each other anxiously and expectantly as they waited for Robby to return to the living room. Sara, oblivious to everything, was busy banging on the highchair tray with a spoon.

When Robby finally returned, he had a poker face.

Carmen's heart sank.

"Well?" Johnny asked, unable to contain himself.

Then Robby flashed a radiant grin.

"Got in."

"YES!" Carmen, Rosa and Johnny shouted at the same time. Johnny even banged the table a couple of times, elated.

The three of them got up from the table and approached Robby. Rosa threw herself into the boy's arms, crying with joy.

"¡Felicidades, mijo!"

"Thank you, Rosa..."

Carmen joined in the hug.

“Congratulations, Robby. You did it.”

“It was all thanks to you...” Robby said.

After a long and tight hug, Carmen and Rosa let go of Robby, and then it was Johnny who hugged him.

“Congratulations, son. I'm so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad...”

Father and son hugged each other even tighter.

Carmen watched them with tears in her eyes, happy for Robby, and hopeful that, from that day on, everything would continue to improve.

¿Fin?