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18 YEARS AGO

Having a marine as a father, was something Nina was very used to. The abnormalities in her household due to her father's previous occupation were never things she questioned twice. She was used to the gun, locked in the safe in her dad's bedroom, and she was used to fitting every bed in the house with military corners and making hers the moment she woke up.

She was used to her dad, Jairo Ramos, and his disciplinary methods, expecting a morning run whenever she got in trouble at school and the training gun that was handed to her when her emotions inhibited her ability to communicate.

Nina never cared that the Ramos household ran drastically different to others because different or not, home was home.

Home was where Jairo would read her and Monica to bed, despite being a little too old for bedtime stories. Home had the hallway the Ramos sisters danced through every morning before school and the wooden dining table that held their favourite breakfast, warm blueberry pancakes. Home had the sofa the trio would collapse on after work or school, to talk about their day or watch shows they never paid enough attention to.

There was so much love in her home, Nina didn't care what anyone else had to say about it.

7-year-old Nina loved having her dad home, not because he was the only parent she had left, but because Jairo always returned with a smile and an interesting story to tell. They were usually about his time deployed, censored for her young ears, or the things he overheard working as a bodyguard at Stark Industries.

Though as she waited for him to pick her up from her babysitter, Nina knew that the stories for today would be different. Monica and her Dad had been at Midtown Middle School for the day, attending Monica's science fair. Where Nina would have usually gone with them, she was being punished for purposefully aggravating a teacher the day before.

Something she would honestly do again.

"Nina, cariño (honey), your father's just down the street. Do you want to walk down to him?" Mrs Mendoza, Nina's babysitter, called out to her. She was seated on the floor, reading one of her sister's books while she held a familiar teddy bear in her grip; a pale brown stuffed animal with buttons for eyes.

"Es temprano (he's early)," Nina grinned, jumping up to her feet and pulling on her shoes while Mrs Mendoza put her belongings in her purple rucksack.

Once Nina was done proving to Mrs Mendoza that she could tie her laces, the elderly woman took her small hand and led her out of the house. Unaware that doing so would be a mistake that'd haunt her for the few years she had left.

Nina spotted her dad almost instantly, he was walking towards them with Monica by his side on the opposite end of the street. The two were talking, Monica staring up at Jairo with wide eyes while she listened to the praise he had for her fair project, invisible ink. As their dad recalled the moment she'd been presented with the first place ribbon he found himself excited for Nina to see it, knowing she was brainstorming ideas for her own fair next week.

"Papá! Monica!" Nina shouted out to them as she waved, with the hand not holding Mrs Mendoza's. The pair turned around at the bellow, both smiling as they saw the youngest member of the family.

"Manita (little sister)," Monica smiled, waving back at Nina. 

"Mija (my daughter)," Jairo called out to his daughter, with the heaps of love, Nina was used to.

They were all very happy to see each other, the little family had grown incredibly close after the girls' mother had left 4 years ago, and had always focused solely on each other.

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