by Young, Sage
“I’m serious Marc.”
“So am I Nick, how do you think she’s going to react when she finds out that you deceived her.”
“I don’t know; my plan was to invite her to dinner, explain it to her and giving her the check back, but when we got back to the States, we went our separate ways, then Anna reappeared and I never got around to giving her back the check.”
Marco signaled the waiter. “We definitely need to drink something stronger. Well I’ve been doing a little investigating on your baby mama...”
“I didn’t ask you to do that and don’t call her my baby mama, she is going to be the mother of my children.” Marco looked at his brother and wondering if there was more to the relationship then Dominic was letting on.
“Sorry. I know you know her intimately…” he said with a smirk, “but do you know who she is?”
“We talked during the vacation, so I know about her personal life.” Dominic responded.
“So you don’t know about her professionally or how her company is making a huge splash in the business world?”
Dominic looked at his brother irritated “Of course I do, you know I never go into a situation blind. I had an extensive background check done on her and the fact still remains, in about seven months I’m going to be the father of three babies and I don’t know a fucking thing about fatherhood. If you had asked me last week when I thought I would be ready to be a father I would have said maybe in about five years, provided I found the right woman.”
“And how do you feel about the woman carrying your babies?”
Dominic took a sip of his drink. “This shit is so complicated; I just started dating Anna again, and I don’t know how this is going to affect our relationship. What about Mom and Dad, you know how Dad is and if he said something to Victoria to upset her…I just don’t want to cause a riff in the family.”
Marco knew he was talking about his father’s reaction to having babies with a black woman. “Yeah, I know how dad is, but he’s from the old world, they think differently, and you’ve stood up to him on more than one occasion. You remember how he reacted when Kevin first came around, after you set dad straight, and mom got through with him, he came around, now look, Kevin comes to Sunday dinner almost as much as you.” Marco paused and took a sip of his drink. “Nick, that still didn’t answer my question, how do you feel about Victoria?”
“I don’t know Marc. When we were together on vacation, there was something there, I just couldn’t put my finger on it, she just felt right. While we were on the island, I had an overwhelming feeling to take care of her and protect her, but when we got back to the States, we went our separate ways. I didn’t talk to her until today when I found out she was pregnant.” Marco didn’t want to push the issue. He could see his brother was clearly stressed.
“So how are you going to handle this with the family?”
“I’m going to tell everyone on Sunday, your support would be appreciated. I will not tell them about the arrangement between Victoria and I, just that we went out a few times and the pregnancy resulted.”
“You know they are going to interrogate you. Are you bringing Victoria with you? You know that family will want to meet her.”
“No, I need to do this alone and I don’t want to subject her to the questions and comments that are going to be made. Maybe I will bring her next Sunday after everyone has had a chance adjust to the situation.” Marco nodded in agreement as they finished their drinks.
They left the bar with a promise to call each other tomorrow. It was late and Dominic needed to get some rest. He looked at his phone and saw two missed calls from Anna. I’ll call her tomorrow.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dominic arrived at the office at seven o’clock and immediately began to work. When he looked at his clock again, it was eleven o’clock and he realized that he left his cell phone on his desk in the other room. He needed to talk to Anna, but he still wasn’t sure how he felt about being in a relationship with her again. She needed to know the truth if he was going to continue to move forward. He picked up his phone and dialed. “Hey how are you? I know, something important came up yesterday and I had to take care of it. What are you doing tonight? Do you want to have dinner? Okay, I’ll pick you up about seven. See you then.” Dominic disconnected the call and his thoughts went immediately to Victoria and the fact that she was carrying his babies; a smile crept on his face.
He sat back in the seat resting his head on the back of the chair as the magnitude of this life-changing event perforated his mind. That beautiful woman that constantly invaded his thoughts for weeks was now having his babies. He realized that he was still smiling. He needed to talk to her. He dialed her number; it rang before her voicemail picked up. “Hi I’m not available please leave your name and number and I will call you back. Have a great day.” Hearing her voice brought back memories of their vacation. “Hi Victoria, call me when you get a chance, I would like to discuss some things with you, talk to you later.” He disconnected the phone and went back to work.
Later that evening, Dominic arrived at Anna’s home; she invited him in, explaining that she would be ready in a few minutes. Anna was a beautiful woman. She stood five feet eight inches tall. She was very athletic and had the body to prove it. She walked back into the room wearing a green dress that hugged every curve on her body. The stilettos she wore gave the illusion that she was taller. She had long auburn hair and green eyes.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked in a seductive tone.
“Yes and you look beautiful.” He kissed her on the cheek as they walked out of the house.
They entered the restaurant and were seated right away. They ordered drinks and looked over the dinner menu.
“Anna, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay, what is it?” she said softly as she placed her menu on the table. She was hoping this was not another “it’s not you, it me,” breakup because she had one of those since leaving town.
“I was seeing someone before we started seeing each other again and I just found out that she’s pregnant.” he paused; waiting for a reaction.
“Wow, do you still love her?”
“No, it’s not like that, we went out a few times and it just happened, it wasn’t planned.”
“Dominic so you are sleeping with random women unprotected?”
“She is not a random woman,” he said getting angry.
“Look, she is special to me, but we are not together as a couple.”
“Okay but don’t be upset with me, I’m not the one coming to you saying I’m expecting a baby,” she said visibly upset.
“Look this is probably not the best time to get involved in a relationship so….”
She interrupted him “wait let’s just slow down. I really missed you and I think that we are good together. If you say that you aren’t involved with her, that’s good enough for me. Thank you for telling me, now let’s just enjoy our dinner.” Dominic took a sip of his drink when his phone rang. He looked and saw it was Victoria. “I need to take this.” As he stood, she heard him say, “Hey, how are you feeling?” Dominic walked to a quiet part of the restaurant.
“Are you busy? I can call you later or you can call me when you are free.”
“No, I’m not busy, but I do need to see you, can I come by tonight if it’s not too late?”
“What time?”
“Would ten o’clock be okay?”
There was a few seconds of silence; he thought she would refuse him. “That’s fine, I’ll notify the desk to let you up. I'll see you then.”
Dominic hung up the phone with a smile on his face when he returned to the table. Anna was not happy but she was not going to let him know that. She screwed up once and left, she was not going to mess up this second chance.
“So is everything okay?” she said with a fake smile.
“Yes, I need to take care of something later.”
“Later? Does that mean you are cutting ou
r date short?”
“I’m afraid so, but I will make it up to you.”
He took a sip of his drink as he picked up the menu. They placed their order and continued with light conversation. She wanted to ask him where he was going after dinner but she decided against it. She didn’t want to upset him, but she had to figure out how to work through his current baby mama predicament so that he stayed with her. After dinner Dominic dropped Anna off before heading to Victoria’s condo.
Victoria heard the door and knew it was Dominic. “I hope this isn’t going to be round two because I don’t have the energy,” Victoria thought as she opened the door.
“Hi Nick, come in, do you want something to drink?”
Dominic looked at the woman carrying his babies “God she’s beautiful,” he walked into the living room.
“No, thank you.” Dominic said as he sat.
“So what did we need to talk about?” Victoria sat on the sofa and placed her feet under her as Dominic sat beside her.
“I owe you an apology,” he said as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Although it is still unnerving for me to think about have babies right now, I never took into consideration how you were feeling. I know this must have been a serious shock to you as well.” She looked into the eyes of the man who fathered the babies she was carrying and felt overwhelmed with emotions, as a single tear slid down her face.
“I’m not trying to upset you again?” he said as he gently wiped the tear from her face.
“No, I’m looking at you and the enormity of this situation is really starting to sink in; we are going to be parents of three babies.” Dominic looked at Victoria and pulled her into an embrace. “I know this wasn’t planned but I think you are going to a wonderful mom.” She allowed herself a few seconds in his embrace then sat upright, she needed to distance herself from him and his scent was sending her hormones into overdrive.
“So what did you need to talk about?”
“I would like to know the dates of your appointments, because I will be attending them from now on and anything else you think I need to know concerning the pregnancy.”
“I will send you a schedule of all my upcoming appointments. I guess for now we just stick to the appointments, and if anything else comes up regarding the babies I will let you know.”
“Okay, fair enough, I still need to tell my family about the babies. I will tell them at Sunday dinner. One of my brothers already knows, but he won’t say anything until I tell the rest of the family. I would like you to come next Sunday; they will want to meet you.”
“I would like that. I have an appointment on Wednesday. They’re going to do an ultrasound and talk about my due date.”
Dominic put his hand on her belly; amazed that she already had a baby bump. “Wow when did this happen?”
“I know, I can’t believe it either, if I keep growing at this rate I won’t be able to fit through the door,” she said with a faint smiling.
He kissed her on the forehead “You look beautiful. So how have you been feeling?”
She looked at her belly then back at Dominic “Some days are better than others. I had to buy more clothes because mine don’t fit anymore. My employees are starting to whisper because they’ve noticed the weight gain but I have not officially told them that I’m pregnant. I’m still able to do my yoga, which is a blessing.”
He took her hand into his. “If you need anything, you know I’m only a phone call away.”
“I don’t know if your girlfriend would like that,” she said trying to gauge the seriousness of their relationship.
“You let me worry about that.” He looked down at her “I’m serious, if you need anything, call me, we are in this together. It may not be the ideal timing or situation, but it’s done and we have to work together for our babies.” He stood prompting her to stand. Nick wrapped his arms around Victoria and gave her a hug. Victoria allowed him to hold her a little while longer, she knew that she needed to move away from him, but he felt so good and he made your feel safe. “Victoria get a grip, he has a girlfriend.”
“Nick, I know that this is a huge life change for both of us and I am really sorry.”
“Victoria, I was very angry initially and honestly my emotions are still unsettled from this situation. But I do know that I agreed to have unprotected sex and the fact that you were told that you couldn’t conceive does not absolve me of my part in this, I chose to sleep with you and we both will now deal with the impact it will have on both our lives.”
“Nick, I’m petrified, what if something goes wrong.”
“Vic, you’re not going through this alone, I’ll be by your side, regardless of who I am seeing, I promise you.” Victoria felt such a feeling of security and contentment that it startled her and she pulled back. She did not want to let her heart continue to go to a place where it was not welcomed, he was in love with another woman.
“Well, I don’t want to hold you Nick; I’ll send all my scheduled appointments to your phone.”
Dominic grabbed the door handle. “Okay, but remember to call if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He opened the door but before exiting he placed his hand on her stomach and kissed her on her forehead, Victoria could feel the warmth of his hand through her t-shirt “I will talk to you tomorrow,” he said before exiting. She closed the door and headed to her bedroom. She couldn’t explain the feeling she got when she was in his presence, but she knew some day it will be the cause of her heartbreak, she was sure of it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sunday came quickly and Dominic was anxious about the discussion he was about to have with his family. He pulled in front of his family’s home, the driveway congested with his sibling’s cars. As he climbed the porch steps, he could hear the bustling of his family inside. The only way to deal with this is head on and as fast as I can. He opened the door and could see Marco standing in the foyer on the phone. Marco turned to see his brother enter the house. “Mom was asking about you, we’re about to eat and you’re late.” Marco said as he put his cell phone to his chest.
The house was full of chatter, Dominic made his way to the kitchen where he knew his mother would be, and he heard little feet padding towards him. “Uncle Nick, Uncle Nick” two little ones yelled as they grabbed him around his legs. “Hey Lilly and Nico.” Dominic picked the pair up and swung them around. “Hey munchkins, what you guys up to?” Dominic said. Lily was the daughter of his older sister Maria and Nico was the son of his oldest brother Rafael. The two were very close in age, Lily was five and Nico was four. He looked at his beautiful niece and nephew and realized soon he would also be a parent. Lily was the spitting image of her mom, Maria and Nico was a cross between both his mom and dad.
“Where are your parents?”
“There in the family room with Pop-Pop” Lilly said.
Dominic kissed both of the children on top of their heads “Okay go finish playing, I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Dominic decided to head to the family room before going into the kitchen.
“Hey Pop, hey Maria, what's up Ralph,” Dominic said as he sat on the sofa and stared at the TV.
“Well at least you made it here before mom put the food on the table” Maria chastised.
“Love you too Maria, where's Francesca and Francisco?”
“Mom sent them to the store, as soon as they get back we’re going to eat.” Maria said before going into the kitchen. Their parents still lived in the same house they did when they were children. When he finalized his first major deal, he wanted to buy them a new house, but they wouldn’t hear it.
“What's going on with you Pop?”
“Everything's great; what could be better I have all my kids at home?” Dominic smiled as he looked at his dad. Lorenzo and Annette had raised their six children in that house and every Sunday they all tried to sit down together as a family for dinner. Dominic tried to figure out how to broach the subject of fatherhood. “Hey Pop…”
“Hey Nick,” Francesca said as she and Francisco entered the family room. “What's going on with you, big brother?”
“Oh you know, working.” Francisco walked into the room shaking Dominic's hand while giving him a hug.
“I'm surprised you made it today, what's this, three weeks straight, you're on a roll big brother.” Francesco teased.
“Whatever, I try to get here as often as I can.” They smiled as his mother, Annette walked into the room.
“Nick I didn’t know you were here?” She walked across the room as Dominic stood to kiss and hug his mother. “Come everyone, dinner is ready.” The entire family filed into the dining room to eat. Over the next hour the family talked and shared stories about everything that was going on in their lives.
“So Dominic, we never did find out about your vacation and the mystery woman you went on vacation with,” Rafael said. Dominic looked over at Rafael then at Marco; Marco shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his pie.
“Actually that's kind of what I wanted to talk to everybody about,” Dominic looked over at the children's table and there set Lily, Nico and his other two nephews Stephano and Mario. Maria understanding that whatever Dominic needed to talk about was for adults only, she ushered the children into the family room, so that they could play. Dominic looked at his mother and father and decided he just needed to get it over with. “Well, as all of you know I went away on a two-week vacation with a friend and I just recently found out she's pregnant.” Dominic turned to look at his mother who now had her hand over her mouth in shock. He looked around at the table and could tell the reactions of the rest of his family. He knew Rafael would be judgmental; Maria had a look of pity and his dad looked disappointed. He could see the excitement in his younger brother and sister and Marco always had his back.
“So who is this woman Dominic and why haven’t we ever met her?” his mother finally asked.
“I can't believe you were that careless Dominic. How many times have I told you, use protection.” Dominic looked at his older brother and chose to ignore his comment.