Sirenita

Roscoe: I'll never leave you. Don't worry. I'll come back. We'll figure it out.

Rita: you better

Roscoe: yeah.

Roscoe: I know but.. We ain't got a choice. He'll keep doing more until we's dead or worse.

Roscoe: we's gonna finish it.

Rita: yous gotta promise me you’re gonna come back

Roscoe: I knew there was a reason.

Roscoe: yeah. It has to happen. Yous just gonna have to trust me

Rita: s’the only way we ain’t gonna have t’worry anymore, ain’t?

Roscoe: Gonna be turning 31 soon. Sign me up for retirement and AARP

Roscoe: For the most part... I'll tie up the few loose ends and we'll be good.

Rita: can’t wait to start getting those benefits. Only reason I married an older man, honestly

Roscoe: .... Not even close.

Roscoe: kinda honestly thought I'd be dead by now or something. To be 30 with kids and dogs and a wife that I all love...?

Roscoe: Just.... Funny.

Rita: 30.... wow you’re an old man

Marlin: Being invested in your business is a good thing, t'd be awful if you did something you didn't really care about doing

Marlin: A performer? Which business do you run?

Marlin: Yep! Three years, we didn't tell anybody for a while because we were just like. Is this real??? This is finally happening???

Rita: We own The Court of Miracles. Roscoe handles the business part and I take care of the singers and dancers.

Roscoe: Squeezed his way between the couch and Mason.

Roscoe: thought he was slick.

Roscoe: and Sofia's curled up next to the couch, paws crossed like a princess or somethin

Rita: Yous know he’s always been protective of Mason. Wouldn’t even let Cocoa near him til she calmed down

Rita: y’know... I never thought /this/ is the life we’d be livin

Marlin: it was more practical for her to be away from home during most of the day time, but honestly if money weren't an issue we both would've just stayed with the baby always

Marlin: way too much information time, but we tried to have him for almost three years, so we were a little obsessed with him, juuuuust a bit

Marlin: have you tried thinking of it as now Roscoe's getting an opportunity to spend extra time with the baby? I know you'll still wish you were with Mason, but when I wasn't getting home until sometimes 4 am, I would tell myself 'don't be sad, it's her turn' and that helped

Rita: I’m not trying to brag but money isn’t an option. We’re both just... very invested in our business. The standards we set are high and we expect them to be met

Rita: but— that is a good way to think of it. And it /is/ nice to get out of the house for a bit.

Rita: I was a performer before I got pregnant and not being able to perform was hard.

Roscoe: it's cause we's raised her from a pup

Roscoe: influenced her too much apparently

Rita: only a little bit

Marlin: oh dear, I know that's rough, but you'll get used to it

Marlin: you'll just cuddle him more when you do get to be home

Marlin: I was a stay at home dad when we lived in Korea - well, kind of, I bartended at night but I was the daytime baby caregiver. Our friends tried to treat us to 'Mu-yeol and So-yeon's first night bar hopping since having the baby' but my wife and I were both crying in a bbudae jjigae shop at 2:00 AM because we missed the baby and each only pretended to have a good time because we thought the OTHER was having a good time

Rita: it’s hard. Roscoe’s been great honestly.

Rita: he stayed home with us for a good while but eventually went back to work at the Court. All while letting me stay home with Mase.

Roscoe: yeah they are

Roscoe: you should see Cocoa

Roscoe: She's flopped on her back, legs in the air, snorin' like a fuckin' person.

Rita: ... what?

Rita: oh my god she’s such a ham

Roscoe: doubt it

Roscoe: he'll be asleep till yous get home but

Roscoe: second we's try to put him to bed he'll be ready to go to war

Rita: oh god I know

Rita: one day he’ll sleep through it

Marlin: did you just say BABY

Marlin: Omo, I love babies

Marlin: OH my GOD he's so cute I'm going to cry

Rita: yeah he’s the newest addition to our family

Rita: this is actually one of the first times I’ve been back to work since he was born

Roscoe: Aw don't worry

Roscoe: he probably won't budge until well after you get home so

Roscoe: fucking stuck here for sure

Rita: somehow we’s gonna get him to sleep through the transition to his crib

Rita: at least it’s only another hour or so before I come home

Roscoe: uhuh

Roscoe: love yous too though

Roscoe: and yeah he's fine. He passed out on my chest like an hour ago

Rita: uggghhh you hafta take a picture for the album

Marlin: My son has only recently started to act out like kids are supposed to, but I'm not...really worried he'll ever physically hurt others? Get himself hurt, sure, he's as accident-prone as they come, but he cried when he stepped on bugs when he was human-size well into being ten years old, so.

Marlin: I honestly don't care if he's a straight C student as long as I know all Cs are him trying his best and he's a good person

Marlin: What about the younger one, how old is he?

Rita: he sounds so sweet.

Rita: that’s how it is with Ollie. I just— want him to be happy. That’s always been one of the more important things for us.

Rita: oh my Mason. He just turned five months yesterday! He’s the most adorable and spoiled baby I’ve ever seen

Marlin: god, exactly

Marlin: nemo gets so embarrassed when I hug him at dance recitals but it's not my fault he's adorable

Marlin: the dads of the other kids says I act more like a mother than a father, but it's also not my fault that Korean male fairies aren't steeped in toxic masculinity that punishes boys feeling emotions. I dunno, just saying the other dads should try it sometime

Rita: I think Ollie would find it weird if we /didn’t/ try to embarrass him when we were out with him

Rita: but that’s how our family has always been. We’re unconventional