by Iris Parker
"Dominick?" a gentle voice called.
I opened my eyes slowly, drifting away from a good dream and into an even better reality.
"Dominick," Helena said again, still wrapped in my arms. "We should talk."
I smiled, lazily lost in thought. She was right.We did need to talk about this, to make sure we knew where we stood. To make the relationship official, or—heaven forbid—try to talk ourselves out of it again.
Not that I was going to let that happen. I could see now what a terrible mistake we'd made by trying to play it cool, trying to suppress our obvious feelings in favor of…what, exactly? It all seemed so ridiculous now.
Yeah, we needed to talk.
But other, more important things had to come first.
Like the fact that her lips were calling out to me in more ways than one. They were so soft, so small, so perfect. She said my name again, but I couldn't focus on anything except for how amazing it would feel to kiss her.
So I did.
Pulling her body close, I bent my head forward and covered her mouth with mine. Her eyes widened with surprise, but after a moment they returned to normal and I could feel her relaxing further. Soon, we were shamelessly making out like a couple of teenagers.
Kissing was something else I'd never really seen the point of before meeting Helena. Now I was making up for lost time.
She let out a little moan, and I slipped my tongue past her lips in much the same way I'd slipped myself inside of her earlier. My cock stirred at the memory, and it finally occurred to me that I was naked in bed with the most gorgeous woman in the world and there wasn't a single thing stopping us from having sex again.
I'd loved the soft, tender moments we'd been sharing. But now it was time for something harder.
Something as hard as my desire for her.
"I want you," I said, breaking the kiss just long enough to whisper it into her ear. My hand trailed down to her chest, my touch making Helena whimper beneath me.
Sudden light flooded into the bedroom from outside the window, followed by the sound of a car pulling up next door.
"Crud," I murmured. "Think that's Ali?"
Helena nodded. "We should get dressed, or we'll have a lot of explaining to do."
"I love her, but she has the worst timing," I said with a small chuckle.
Helena pulled back, her eyes staring deep into mine before finally giving me a soft, warm smile.
"Welcome to fatherhood," she said, placing a tender kiss on my forehead.
And just like that, my perfect evening somehow got even better.
Much, much better.
Helena
It was getting easier to recover from being interrupted. Despite the relatively short warning, Dominick and I had enough time to get dressed and leave the bedroom before Ali made it back inside. Acting natural had never been this easy, either, because it actually felt natural. Like everything that had happened was right, and not just a dirty secret we'd almost been caught in.
Except for my own dirty little secret, of course. On three separate occasions now, I'd tried to tell Dominick, only to fail each time. The knowledge that I still needed to confess left me with a racing heart and sweaty palms, but other than that, everything was great.
Other than that.
Of course, it was one hell of a "that" to "other than." It seemed a bit like saying other than the hurricane, the weather sure is beautiful today. It was like standing in the eye of the storm, trapped in an eerie and beautiful calm despite seeing trouble in every direction.
I had no idea it was possible to feel so good and so awful at exactly the same time, and mostly for the same reasons. Every time Dominick saw me, his lips curled into a smile that melted my heart. The warmth of it gave me strength to continue, even as the intimacy of it reminded me of my guilt.
I would tell him soon, but not tonight. I didn't want to spoil the perfect evening—his or mine—and besides, Ali had been gone most of the day, busy with her "date." She was excited to see her dad, and something told me that he wouldn't be in the mood for family time after I confessed.
And Ali certainly had a lot to chat about.
Specifically, about Jason.
And also some things about Jason.
And, well, even more about Jason.
"He's going to buy a motorcycle when he turns sixteen, you know," she explained. Dominick and I nodded along dutifully, trying not to comment on the awkward age gap between the two. Mercifully, it seemed that the crush only ran one way. The older boy had minimal interest in his little sister's friend, and it had been Laurie who'd invited Ali to the celebration.
"And he's a big fan of hockey," Ali added. "He explained the game to me a little."
"How did that come up?" Dominick asked, and Ali shrugged.
"I don't know, but it sounds interesting. Maybe I can go with you to a game sometime?"
"Maybe," Dominick said cautiously, and Ali squealed.
"Great! When? Tomorrow? Next week?"
"It's summer, Ali," Dominick pointed out patiently.
"So? You play inside! There's still ice there. I saw it."
"There's ice, but no games. It'll be months before the season starts."
"Oh," Ali said with a frown. "Well, that's dumb."
"Very few professional sports are played 365 days a year," Dominick said with a chuckle. "But I could show you around the arena if you wanted. It'll give you a chance to see it when you're not, you know, frantically running away from the building's security guards."
"That would be great!" Ali agreed.
The two wasted no time in working out their plans. Dominick would pick Ali up tomorrow, giving her a tour of the arena before taking her out for lunch. She seemed excited—almost suspiciously so. She'd never shown much interest in hockey or any other sport, and had apparently changed her mind completely in just a single day. Still, it was good to see her growing connection to Dominick.
Of course, once the details had been finalized, Ali didn't miss a beat before returning the conversation to her earlier obsession. It had, after all, been at least two minutes since she'd mentioned Jason or the boy's virtues. It was more than a little silly, not to mention repetitive, but I was impressed by the way that Dominick kept listening all the same. Despite the concerns I'd had when we first met, it seemed like the man was a natural father.
I smiled.
And grimaced.
If only I'd known then what I knew now, I never would've gotten into this mess. As it was, I still had to face down an incredibly awkward conversation with Dominick about how I've been pregnant this whole time—with his baby, no less.
That was going to be a lot of fun.
Still, if this evening was any indication, I was still misjudging the man. Listening to a tween girl gush about her crush for so long took the patience and understanding of a saint, but Dominick hadn't seemed bored or irritated even once. If he was capable of that, surely he'd understand why I had waited so long to tell him the news.
Right?
Right.
I swallowed a lump in my throat, hopeful but also afraid I was deluding myself. As the night wore on, Ali finally began to show signs of fatigue. She was obviously winding down, running as low on energy as she'd fallen on boy-related trivia. When she yawned, I knew it was finally time for bed.
"You should get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow," I said gently. With a nod, Ali paddled off to brush her teeth.
"Are you feeling okay?" Dominick asked me quietly. "You seemed a little distant tonight."
I paused, wondering whether or not I should just get it over with and tell him tonight. Confessing would no doubt have been a relief, but what if I turned out to be wrong about his reaction? There was still a chance that he wouldn't understand, and the revelation could spoil Ali's day with him tomorrow.
I didn't want that.
"I'm good," I said weakly, quickly changing the subject. "Do you mind if I tag along tomorrow, though?"
"I was wo
ndering when you would ask," Dominick said. "Of course you can. But, are you sure that you're feeling all right? You look pale. I could make us some tea, if you like."
"I'm good," I said, not-entirely-lying. Being around Dominick did make me feel good, after all. Just at the moment, it was also making me a bit tense. Offering to make me tea was incredibly sweet, but of course that only made me feel even more guilty. The more I tried to ignore the situation, the harder it became.
"I'm more than good," Dominick said with a smile, weaving his arms through mine and giving me a tender kiss on the forehead.
"Me too," I agreed. "I'm just tired. You, uh, really knocked the wind out of me earlier," I whispered, feeling my cheeks turn pink.
To my surprise, Dominick's seemed to as well.
"You're not regretting what we did, are you?" he asked.
"No. Are you?" I answered.
Dominick shook his head, and we both smiled. He gave me another kiss, and my spirits lifted once more.
He will understand. Everything is going to be all right, I reassured myself. After all, it had to be.
The alternative was too upsetting to even consider.
Dominick
"Ali, why is Jason in our yard?" Helena asked slowly.
"He probably heard Dom's bike when he pulled in," Ali explained, and even I could hear the entirely-too-innocent tone in her voice. I waited just past the door, watching the scene play out in front of me.
"He's heard Dominick's motorcycle before," Helena said. "Lots of times now. And he's never run to stand in our driveway before."
"Maybe he's curious?" Ali asked helpfully.
"He's leaning against our car! Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Maybe he—"
"—Wearing a Bruins cap and shirt," Helena interrupted, her arms crossed as she stared down her daughter.
"Oh. Um," Ali said, looking down at her feet. "Maybe I mentioned going to the arena today."
"Ali!" Helena chided. "I thought you knew better than to tell people about Dominick!"
"I didn't tell him," Ali said. "Not exactly."
"Then what did you say, exactly?" Helena asked.
"He lives next door!" Ali exclaimed. "And like you said, Dominick has been over lots of times now. Jason asked me if Dominick was who he thought he was."
"And what did you say?"
"I said yes. You wouldn't have wanted me to lie to him, would you, mom?" Ali asked, looking up at her mother and fluttering her eyes.
Damn, this kid is good, I thought to myself as Helena deflated, taking a step back. She was a very smart woman, but it seemed like Ali was actually winning this argument.
"No," Helena said finally, her voice already tinged with defeat. "But we need to keep this quiet. If the wrong person finds out that Dominick is your father, they'll tell everyone about it."
"Is that bad?" Ali asked, and I silently agreed with her. Could it be that Helena was still embarrassed by me?
"'Everyone' includes the press," Helena explained patiently. "And that would make our lives very difficult. A celebrity discovers his long-lost secret baby? They would practically turn our lives into a reality TV show."
"So you do want me to lie about him?" Ali asked.
"No. But we need to be very, very careful. If somebody else asks you, just dodge the question. Don't say either yes or no."
"But isn't it still lying, if you let someone believe something that isn't true? That's what you always told me before," Ali said, her voice slow and confused.
Helena sputtered, looking completely lost and panicked.
My chest instantly constricted. I hadn't realized that my presence in their life was causing so many problems.
"I think what your mom is trying to say," I began, jumping in to save Helena from the awkward question. "Is that there is no easy answer. But if we can't trust the person who is asking, then we probably shouldn't tell them any secrets either."
"I trust Jason," Ali said defensively.
I just smiled, knowing better than to argue with Ali about her crush. I glanced out the window, confirming that the boy was still making himself incredibly conspicuous by trying to act inconspicuous. No doubt his plan was to act like he just ran into us as we left, or something like that.
Teenagers were terrible at keeping secrets.
Really, really, terrible.
Especially ones worth bragging about, I added with a soft sigh. At some point, I was going to need to pull Jason aside and talk to him about this in private, maybe even offer some kind of bribe to keep him quiet. Season tickets shouldn't be too difficult for me to swing, and hopefully would be enough incentive for him to not broadcast my regular visits to Helena and Ali.
"Well, it looks like the damage is already done," I said with a soft shrug. "Might as well make the best of it."
"You mean take him on the tour?" Helena asked quietly, looking white as a ghost.
"Of-course-we-will-take-him!" Ali said in a frantic rush, cheeks pink to make up for her mother's paleness. "Won't-we-Dom?"
"We can," I agreed, realizing that this had probably been a setup all along. Ali had been the one who suggested doing something today, after all. I didn't know whether I should've been scared or impressed by the manipulation. Despite her young age, it seemed like Ali was already quite good at this.
"Have you ever considered going into politics when you grow up?" I asked, only to be met with confused looks. "Never mind," I added with a shrug. "How about you go invite Jason to come along?"
I barely had time to finish my sentence before Ali was out the door, leaving Helena and I alone. She gave me a look I wasn't used to seeing from her; she seemed lost and bewildered.
"Hey, it's okay," I said, reassuringly putting my hand on her shoulder. Below my palm I could feel tense muscle, hard and unyielding. "I think I can take care of this."
Helena nodded silently.
"But, would it really be that bad if people found out? Because I don't think we can put it off forever. Not when Ali and I have the same heterochromia. Eventually, someone is going to see us together, and notice our eyes."
"I know," Helena said softly, running her hand up her forehead and through her hair. "But not for a while, I hope. A long while. Long enough that—" she continued, stopping mid-sentence.
"That what?" I asked, again wondering if I was disrupting their lives even more than I'd realized.
"Nothing," Helena said faintly. "Let's just focus on one problem at a time."
I nodded, bending down to give Helena a reassuring kiss on the cheek. Her skin was soft and warm, and the smell of her shampoo tickled my nose with floral scents. For her part, Helena didn't waste any time before lifting her feet up and wrapping her arms around me, returning my shy peck with a full-on, intimate kiss.
It was the best thing I'd felt since the last time I'd touched her lips. The worry disappeared from my mind, my concerns about intruding quickly fading into distant memory. I could feel Helena relaxing beneath me, too, and when our eyes met I felt an electric surge run down my body.
"You look amazing," I whispered.
"You feel amazing," she returned in kind.
"About last night," I began, nibbling her ear even as I fought to control myself. This was neither the time nor the place, after all.
"Yes?"
"You're sure you don't regret it? I know you were worried it might make things awkward,"
Helena shook her head without hesitation. "It was the second best thing anyone's ever given me," she said.
"Second?" I asked. "Who's the lucky jerk who gets number one?"
"That was you, too," Helena said softly. "Twelve years ago."
I laughed, feeling so relieved it was almost embarrassing.
And then I laughed again, just because it felt so good.
It's funny how life works out. I hadn't even wanted to provide the donation, so many years ago. I'd only agreed to it for Alton's sake, a desperate attempt to save him from the dark time he was going thr
ough. After it was done and Alton slowly began to feel better, I didn't put much more thought into it.
And now, over a decade later, I suddenly had a family.
I'd never wanted a family.
And now I never wanted to be without them again.
Alton
"If you think this is impressive, wait until we get to the locker room," I said as Cheri—or was it Cheryl?—excitedly looked over the large, empty rows of seating.
"The locker room? Why do you want to take me there?" she asked.
"So I can show you my stick," I explained, and the girl—I'm going to say…Candi?—tittered in amusement. With badly bleached hair, puffy lips that looked even less real than her breasts, stiletto heels and a tight, bright red dress, the woman would've looked perfectly in place at one of those trashy night clubs even I didn't go to.
Dancing on the stage.
With her underwear stuffed full of bills.
Of course, I hadn't found her at a strip club. I wasn't the kind of guy who went to places like that at ten o'clock on a Sunday morning, after all.
All right, I wasn't that kind of guy anymore.
No, I'd found her in a regular bar.
She'd just been standing there, looking slightly lost, and I figured that I might as well go for it. She was far from my usual type, but pickings were slim this morning and it had been entirely too long since I'd seen any action. Besides, what else was I going to do with my day? My usual partner in crime, Dominick, had all but disappeared. Going out with him for an evening of wholesome drinking was apparently off the menu for some reason, and so that left me with…uh…Crystal, was it?
Yeah, okay. Crystal.
That sounded about right.
Probably.
I'm getting too old for this shit, I thought with a sigh, but around that moment the young woman started to shimmy back and forth. The tight, clingy fabric of her dress already left little to the imagination, and the way her chest strained against the cloth reminded me of why I was here.
Maybe I was getting too old for this, but Little Alton wasn't. Not yet, anyway.
At any rate, it had been about ten minutes since I started showing Cinderella—no, that definitely wasn't it—around, and that was more than enough for both of us. Having finished with our thin pretext, I took her by the arm and started to head for the locker room.