#finally sat down tonight to get it dooone and what can i say i love it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sinsiriuslyemo · 7 years

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A/N: Okay, this literally just happened to me (the last stunt) and I just had to write it down. Also, my kiddo is three, so all my Rafi papi stories unless otherwise requested will be with a one to three year old until…well until next February lol #MommyProblems

@yourtropegirl for Rafael appreciation day.

“Honey, I insist you go out,” Rafael said, wrapping his arms around your waist as you finished cleaning the dishes. “Go to the spa for a pedicure, get a coffee, go to the bookstore. I’ll wait for Rafelito to get home from school and get him down for a nap.”

“I don’t really feel like going out,” you said honestly as he kissed along your neck. “Besides I don’t really think you know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re usually at work when he gets home from school. As strange as it sounds, he’s not the same Rafelito that you see when you come home, or even on the weekends.”

On any other Friday, Rafael would normally be at work while Colbie was at school, and Rafael Jr was at pre-school, but today there had been a massive power outage downtown, and the court clerk had been forced to reschedule all the hearings for after the weekend. Rafael had taken the opportunity to work from home, grateful for the time he would be able spend with his children.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” he mused with a soft smile. “If you’re not gonna go out, then I have to insist that you lock yourself in our bedroom for at least a few hours. Read a book, take a nap, have a bath. I want you to relax, you always look so exhausted when I get home, I just want to give you a break.”

“I really appreciate that, but I’m telling you–”

“What? That I can’t handle an afternoon with my son? I’m his father, he’ll be fine,” he said softly, kissing your lips. “Please?” He kissed you again before going to whisper in your ear, “And then later tonight I can take care of you.”

You snorted softly, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

”Are you sure?” you asked again, giving him one last chance to back out.

“Positive,” he answered, hands sliding down to your hips. “How much longer do we have till the bus gets here?” he asked suggestive. “I can rock you to sleep.”

“About ten minutes, which is about how long it’ll take you to get down to the bus stop, so maybe you can rock me to sleep later if you’re up to it,” you replied.

“Oh I’ll be up to it,” he promised, kissing you again before he let you go. “Now get in our room, so he doesn’t see you when we get in.”

“Okay, just come get me fifteen minutes before Colbie gets off the bus so I can go meet her,” you replied as he grabbed his jacket and nodded.

“I will…and what time is–”

“Three, the bus usually drops her at three thirty,” you said, moving into your bedroom, closing and locking the door.

With you tucked away for the rest of the morning, Rafael went down to the bus stop to pick up his three year old son. He smiled as he caught sight of his little boy looking out the window of the bus. Going around to where the door was, he grinned as Rafelito came off the big, yellow school bus with the help of the bus monitor.

“Papi!”

“Hey mijo! How was school, papo?” he asked, taking the boy’s hand and thanking the bus driver.

“Where mami?” Rafelito inquired as they walked back towards the apartment building.

“Mami’s taking a break, so it’s just us guys today, okay?”

“Kay papi,” the toddler replied.

Rafael smiled; He knew you’d been exaggerating about Rafelito being like a different kid after getting home from school. He would be just fine.

When they finally got back up to the apartment, Rafelito tore through the front door.

“CHEEEESE!!!!” he demanded, running straight for the fridge and opening it to rummage for a string cheese.

“What do we say, Rafa?” his father asked.

“Peese. Cheese,” his son answered, suddenly turning back to the sweet little boy Rafael was familiar with.

“Good job, buddy,” he said, getting a string cheese for his son and handing it over dutifully. “Okay, after your snack, we’re gonna go potty, okay?”

“Go poddy?” Rafelito asked, taking a bite of his cheese as his dad sat down on the couch and began to read over a deposition. The older man hadn’t noticed the little boy pick up a pen until he began to doodle all over his case files.

“No! Rafelito, we don’t write on papi’s things,” Rafael scolded, and the toddler pouted before he began to cry. Fake cry though it was, the toddler managed to produce real tears, mouth wide open, exposing the chewed up mozzarella as he howled. “You can not write on papi’s work stuff.”

His son glared, clearly not happy that his dramatic cries hadn’t deterred his father from reprimanding him further, and he stepped closer, little hand coming up before he brought it down hard on Rafael’s bicep.

“Hey!”

The boy hit him again, grunting with his efforts.

“Rafelito! No hit!”

Again the boy wailed, and the bedroom door opened before you came out to help.

“No, mi amor, I’ve got this,” Rafael insisted as his son slowly made his way over to you, still crying at the top of his lungs.

“Rafa–”

“Honey, please…go back into our room. I have him,” your husband said.

You sighed softly, kissing your little boy hello before you walked back into the bedroom, your son running after you.

He got to the door just as you locked it, and tried the knob, wailing again when he was unable to turn it.

“Mami!!! Maaaaaaammiii…” He took a huge, audible breath and letting out another scream as he threw himself on the floor and kicked at the door.

Rafael came and picked up his son…or tried to, the toddler squirmed and wriggled and kicked and screamed until his little face was red with the effort. Finally Rafael was able to get the boy into his arms, and again his son gave him an angry look, smacking his cheek.

“Rafael Julio Barba! No. Hitting.” His dad voice was rewarded with another, harder smack, which landed on his nose. “Rafa! Tu quieres timeout?!”

“Tingout…” the three year old sobbed.

“That’s right. Papi will put you in time out if you hit again.”

*SMACK*

“Okay, that’s it. Time out,” Rafael said, bringing his son to sit him in the corner of the living room. “You’re in timeout for two minutes for hitting papi,” he said.

Yeah right.

Rafelito was up within the first two seconds only to be put back into the corner by his father.

“I said you’re in timeout,” the older Barba said again, crossing his arms over his chest. Again the toddler got up, smirking up at his father as he tried to walk past him. “Rafelito! Timeout!” he said again, replacing the toddler in the corner.

This went on for ten minutes; Rafelito getting up, laughing as he tried to get away from his father, who would promptly put him back until finally the older man finally gave up, something he didn’t ever think he had in him. His son had worn him down, but at least the boy wasn’t crying anymore.

“Okay, mijo, come on, let’s go potty and then take a nap.”

“Pay emap,” the toddler repeated.

“Yes, but first potty. Okay, come on,” Rafael said, putting Rafelito down on his feet and helping him take down his jeans, and pull up. Turning the boy to sit him on the miniature toilet in the hall bathroom and standing. “Alright, mijo, go pee pee.”

“All dooone,” Rafelito announced softly, standing almost immediately after he sat down.

“No, papo, you have to go pee pee,” Rafael said. “If you go potty, I’ll give you an M&M,” he added for good measure.

“Em a Em?”

“Yeah, but only if you go pee pee,” he replied, sitting his son back on the potty.

“All doooone,” Rafelito said again.

“Papo…” Rafael sighed. “You have to use the potty, come on.”

“All done.”

“Okay, fine. You don’t have to go, then we’ll try again after nap.”

“Pay emap,” Rafelito said as his father pulled up his training pants, then his jeans, fastening them before carrying his son into his bedroom.

He put the gate up and began to walk away, grateful for at least the two hours that the toddler would sleep.

“REA BOOOOOOK!!!!” Rafelito growled loudly.

Sighing heavily, Rafael ran a hand over his face as he turned around moved into his son’s room.

“Okay, get in bed and I’ll read you a book,” he said softly.

“REA BOOOK!!!” Rafelito growled again.

“I heard you! Get in bed!” Rafael bellowed, immediately regretting losing his temper even a little. “Papo, get in bed, and I’ll read you a book, okay? Get in bed,” he said again.

The toddler went to his bed and climbed in and Rafael grabbed the first book he saw. He read his son the book with enthusiasm, doing different voices for all the characters and making noises for sound effects.

“The end,” Rafael said.

“Di end,” his son repeated.

“Okay, mijo. Nap time. I love you.”

“Uh-weeeeve-youuuu.” Rafael chuckled at his son’s version of I love you.

Unlike Colbie, Rafael had a little trouble with speech, but the speech therapy you had insisted on as well as the early education program at PS 14 had certainly helped him immensely. It was taking a little time, but the three year old would be caught up in no time at all.

“Take a nap,” Rafael said.

“REA BOOOOK!!!”

“No, I already read you a book. Nap time.”

“Chihi MOOOOOLK!!!!”

“Can you ask me nicely?”

“Peese. Chihi molk.”

Rafael nodded and went into the kitchen to make some chocolate milk, warming it up in the microwave and bringing it over dutifully into his son’s room.

“What do you say, mijo?”

“Tant tyoo,” Rafelito cooed, beginning to drink the milk immediately.

As Rafael went into, he heard a crash, the kind that usually meant his son had thrown his sippy cup across the room. Seconds later, his son began to scream for this or that, and Rafael sat on the couch, hand in his hair as he tried to ignore the ploys to avoid taking a nap.

“CHICI MOLK!!!”

“REA BOOOOOOOKKKK!!!”

“PAAAPIIII!!!”

The requests were never ending for the next forty five minutes, accompanied by random crashes as Rafelito threw books, toys, slammed the door against the wall. Then, finally…silence…and Rafael breathed a sigh of relief.

Getting up, he moved towards the master bedroom, reaching above the door frame for the key and unlocking the door. He found you on the bed, already with a sympathetic look on your face and came to fall against the mattress, face first.

“That bad?”

“He’s just so radically different from when I’ve seen him. I mean, I’ve seen him throw a tantrum but nothing ever like that,” he said, rolling onto his back.

“He’s gotten better, believe it or not. His teacher and his therapists say that for his age, his behavior is normal, it’s just gonna take some time to correct, that’s all,” you offered, moving to stroke his hair. “Want me to take over when he gets up?” you asked.

“No, no… it’s important to me that I see what you experience every day, I wanna know how I can help, too.”

You smiled, bending to kiss his mouth and snuggle up to him.

“No wonder you’re so tired,” he whispered. “Did you at least get to relax a little or were you just listening to my epic failure the entire time?” he asked with a soft smirk.

“I took a shower that wasn’t two minutes, I feel great,” you answered.

Just then, the two of you heard the sound of liquid hitting the wood floors and your husband looked up at you with furrowed brows.

“Did you give him chocolate milk?”

“Yeah, but I gave it to him in a sipping cup,” Rafael mused, getting up and moving to his son’s room where Rafelito was standing, naked from the waist down. On the hardwood floors was a sizeable puddle of urine. “Oh my God!! Rafelito!!”

“What is it, babe?” he heard you ask from your bedroom.

“He somehow managed to get his jeans and his pullup off, and peed on the floor!!” Rafael exclaimed.

“Uh ohhhh!” Rafelito sang softly as his father went to grab a towel to wipe up the mess.

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