by Amy Brent
“But it is my concern who you’re exposing our son to! How do we know this stranger has his best interest at heart!”
“Mom!” Dom said, also moving to stand in front of me. While I didn’t need the two men to protect me from miss prissy pants, it was certainly nice to know that they cared. “She’s not a stranger! We’re friends! I told you that!”
But she just completely ignored him and looked to Rafael. “You think that you can do anything because you’re so used to being in power, but you are sorely mistaken. This will not be the end of this.”
“If you want to whip yourself into a tizzy over my personal life, that’s your business. But the rest of us would like to sit down and enjoy our drinks, if that’s alright with you?”
She seemed shocked by Rafael’s calm rebuttal, and I had to admit I was a little surprised myself. The first time I had met this woman, she was able to whip him up into an argument with just the drop of a hat, but now, it seemed like her hold over Rafael had slipped considerably. Was it prideful of me to think that it was partially because of me?
“Fine.” She huffed and stormed off, practically stomping to her car -if it was physically possible to actually stomp in stilettos. We waited until she pulled away before sliding back into the booth and passing out the drinks.
The water and iced green tea went to me while a hot chocolate and an expresso were for Rafael. We took our time, but Dom was too smart to fool for long.
“What’s going on?” He asked, setting his hot chocolate down and licking the whip cream from his nose.
“What do you mean?” Rafael asked, regarding his little man with that same loving expression that he seemed to always have when it came to his child.
“Mama said that McKenna is pregnant. That means she has a baby in her, right?”
“That’s right,” Rafael said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. “You have a little brother or sister growing inside of Miss McKenna right now.”
His eyes went wide and his mouth opened while he stared at us for several seconds. “I’m gonna get a sibling!”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Alright! Can we name him Luke? Or, uh, Xavier? Or, oh, I know, Foggy!”
“Foggy?” Rafael questioned.
“It’s a character from a comic,” I murmured. “And we’ll have to figure out what to name them when we know what they are, okay Dom?”
“Okay! This is awesome though! It’s like having a side kick!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Rafael was right. I really should have trusted him about how our little man would react. He was such a positive soul. “And since I will be having your sibling, we thought it would be best if I moved in with you. In fact, we’re about to go to my place so we can grab all of my things and start living together.
His already hanging jaw practically hit the floor. “Really!?”
“Really,” I said with a small laugh. “You’re gonna be stuck with me for quite a while, if you’d like that is.”
“How. Freaking. Awesome!” He was practically vibrating in his seat now, his face flushed with his excitement. “We’re gonna play all of my games, and then we’re gonna watch all of my movies, and then your movies until we pass out!”
“It sounds like a plan, my man.” I said, laughing. “So how about we finish up our drinks and get going?”
“Okies dokies!” He chugged his hot cocoa like nobody’s business while I sipped at what was left of my tea. He finished a bit before me and busied himself with throwing our empty cups away while I drained the rest of mine.
Rafael looked pleased and punch, standing to offer me a hand. “Shall we?” He asked with a smile.
“Let’s,” I said, allowing him to lead me out to his car, Dom holding on to his other hand. I was surprised that he wasn’t insisting on being in the middle, but it seemed the little guy knew there was a time and a place for anything, even when he was excited off his rocker.
We all piled into the car, making sure to buckle up, and then Rafael was off. The movers were waiting for us when we arrived, and I was a bit embarrassed until they revealed that they hadn’t been there for long.
From there it was pretty much just walking around my place, telling them what I wanted boxed up and what labels I wanted on it. It took less than an hour for them to finish everything, and I didn’t know if that was because they were incredibly efficient or if I just had that little stuff.
To their credit, none of them said anything or made any snide comment, which I definitely appreciated. The next thing I knew, they were getting Rafael’s address and then heading off.
That feeling was rising in my stomach again, the bubbling nervousness combined with the overwhelming happiness that rushed through me. This was happening, it was really happening!
I let out a little hiccup that was somewhere between a laugh and a nervous gasp. Rafael turned to me, his keys in hand.
“Is everything okay?” He asked, raising his brow.
I loved that he could always tell when something was up with me, and that he actually cared. “I just… I guessed that I just realized that everything is coming together. We’re really going to live together. And we’re really going to have a baby. It’s all just hitting me.”
“It’s okay,” Dom said, wrapping his arms around my hips, which was about as high as it could reach. “Change is scary, but we can do it because we’ll all be together! Whenever you feel worried, we can just play a game, or you can show me your really old figures!”
That startled a laugh out of me and I bent down to hug the little man as well. “Thanks, friend. I needed that.”
Rafael joined in and it was such an affirming, cute moment that I wanted it to last forever. Of course, I should have known better than that, because Rafael’s phone was going off.
“Awww, just let it go,” I whined, cursing modern technology.
“Let me just see who it is.” He pulled away from us and checked his phone only to frown. Uh-oh, I knew that look and it was not a good one. “It’s my lawyer.”
“You lawyer?” I asked. “What could he want?”
He shrugged and answered, taking a few steps away. I tried not to listen, but I couldn’t help but strain to see what I could catch.
I didn’t get much, however, but I could tell that when he hung up he was holding back a bit of anger.
“Goddammit!” He cried, throwing his phone to the ground where I heard it shatter. Dom and I both ran to him and my heart was suddenly in my throat.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“My ex has filed a complain with the judge that handles our custody. She’s saying that I’m bringing strange women around Dom and endangering their well being with my reckless choices.”
“Are you serious?” I countered. “Se did that since she left the café? She’s on a freakin’ plane!”
He let out a long stream of swears and I instinctively covered Dom’s ears. As much as I knew Rafael would do anything for his son, his ex just had a real knack for bringing out the worst in him.
“This is just like her! She’s such a manipulative, evil, bitch of a woman! I just… I…” He let out another cry and kicked a garbage can. “Every time we go to family court, I know I risk losing everything. You know how rare it is for a father to get a good custody deal with his child? I’m lucky and eventually that luck is going to run out.”
After so much time spent comforting me, I knew what I had to do. I gripped Rafael’s hands and turned him to face me. His face was nearly red, and I could see tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. It hurt to see him like this, and I was sure that it hurt him a whole lot more than me to actually feel what he was feeling.
“Rafael, we’re in this together. It doesn’t matter what she says, or what she tries, we will make sure we all get through this.”
Dom shuffled up as well, looking a bit like he had done something wrong. “Daddy, I think I’m ready to tell the judge that I know who I want to live with. And
that’s you. I like Mommy alright, but she’s just too busy for me. I…I don’t feel wanted when I’m with her. Not like I feel when I’m with the two of you.”
“See?” I said, taking his head in mind. “For better or for worse, whether it be abusive exes, or neglectful exes, or this pregnancy or even puberty, we’re all going to be here for each other. You’re never going to have to be alone again, and neither will I.”
“Or me!” Dom added.
“Yes, or you.” I said with a laugh.
Rafael let out a huge breath and crushed us both tightly to him. “I will always be grateful for the day I met you. I don’t think I could get through this without you.”
“And you won’t have to.” Pressing my lips to his, I knew without a doubt that we were stuck together forever. Through hell or high water, neither of us were going to have to go it alone again.
It was a pretty great feeling to have.
Epilogue
~McKenna~
“Girl, if you do not get your butt out of the kitchen, I’m gonna have to pick yo’ ass up and haul you out myself.”
I looked up from the veggie platter I was meticulously arranging to see Alisha standing in the doorway, dressed in a romper and with a glass of sparkling apple cider in her hand.
“What are you talking about?” I shot back cheekily. “I’ve only been in here for…” I looked to my cell phone. “Oh geeze, a whole hour. How did that happen?”
She shrugged. “Dunno. I thought walking around the daylight folks is supposed to be a whole lot less stressful than being with the night walkers, but you seem just as uptight as ever!”
“What? I was never uptight!”
“Honey, you went by a fake name for the entire first year I knew you. If that ain’t uptight, I don’t know what is.”
I stuck out my tongue at her. “That was special circumstances. You know I had one hell of a year.”
“You can say that again. Lemme see if I can recall in in order. You were on the run from your abusive ex, and then you ended up doing the horizontal mambo with the literal CEO of our company, then your ex found you again and you two had to beat him off. Then you found out you were preggo, pressed charged against you ex, fell in love with the man you were knocking boots with and that’s just the beginning.”
I held up my hands, laughing. “Alright, alright. We don’t need a recap of what we already know.”
“Well then get your booty out here. People are waiting for you!”
“Alright, alright. Grab the juices from the fridge for me, would you? I still haven’t grown that second set of arms my mother promised me.”
She wasn’t wrong. That day when we had moved in together, officially joining our lives as one had just been the beginning. From there it was several court dates with my ex, who was pressing charges against the both of us for assault. Because of course he would. But given our long, documented history of abuse, the judge took my side and slammed him with both probation and a retraining order practically the size of the state. I was had wished he had gotten jail time, to be honest, but I understood why he didn’t. I mean, I didn’t think it was right, but I understood.
But now that I was absolutely sure that he was gone from my life, it was time to reforge all the bridges that I had torched for my own safety. First had been my friends, who apparently had thought I was dead, probably murdered by Bradley in one of his jealous rages. They seemed to understand for the most part, with a majority of them wishing me the best.
My parents… well they were another matter. We never had the most supportive relationship as it was, with me always feeling like a disappointment or screw up, but when my mother burst into tears upon hearing my voice, I knew I was doing the right thing.
It was a difficult conversation, and a long one, but eventually we got on the same page. They even came down for a visit where they got to meet Rafael and Dom and touch my pregnant belly. It had been awkward, but emotional and certainly worth it.
“Hey there, jellybean!” Speak of the devil, my father came over to me, planting a kiss on my cheek. He looked as happy as could be and I certainly couldn’t blame him considering the occasion.
“Mama! You’re back!” Dom said, running over to me.
I laughed and caught him in my arms. He had taken to calling me that about three months after I moved in and I didn’t mind in the least. In fact, I loved it, and it seemed pretty appropriate considering that I was his full-time mom.
That particular victory hadn’t been easy to win either. Of course, I went to court to support Rafael, but it took three whole meeting with the judge where they interviewed everyone together, then one on one, before they finally revoked custody from her all together and gave her only visitation rights. I never thought I would see the day where Rafael cried, but he did just that when the judge told him that Dom was his responsibility 24/7. It had been a very happy day that day, and yet another change that made our lives that much better.
The only real downside of that was that Dom had seen how much his mother didn’t care that she was down to once a month visitation. In fact, she didn’t even raise a fuss until the judge ruled that, since she no longer had joint custody of Dominic, that she would no longer be receiving any child support for him. Her generous alimony was still intact, but it no longer made sense for her to get twenty grand a month for a child she wasn’t even watching.
She had really flipped it then. Yelling and screaming in court that they couldn’t take her money and that she had a right to that kind of income and so on and so forth. It had been terrible to watch, but I imagined it was that much worse for Dom.
He took it like a trouper, though, not even crying when I was sure that I would have been sobbing like a baby, as I was already tempted to do as a full-grown adult. In the end, the judge had her removed from his chambers and I wasn’t sure if she was held in contempt of court or not, but we never really heard from her again, even when Rafael called her to set up the visitation that she had a right to. It just further solidified that she never really cared about Dom and was only ever in it for the money.
“Come on!” My mother said, grabbing my hand and leading me over to the table where everyone had gathered. “I’ve already filled up three disposable cameras with pictures and I haven’t gotten any of you yet!”
I laughed at the short, slightly rotund woman and the red flush to her cheeks. It was easy to see where I got my coloring from, with my red hair coming from my dad.
We reached the large table that dominated the large gazebo we had rented from the local park. I felt happiness bubble up in me as I saw several familiar faces, including Davie, Alisha, one of Dom’s teachers, a couple of his friends from school, and of course, the star of the show, little Gabriella in daddy’s lap.
“There’s my Princess Potato!” I cried, making grabby hands at her. “And how are you doing on your very, very first birthday?”
Rafael laughed and handed her to me. “Wondering where her mommy is of course. I almost sent a search party out for you, you know.”
“Sorry, I said with a blush, peppering kisses all over her face until she let out that angelic giggle that always made my heart soar. “I got distracted by the vegetables, yes I did, yes I did!” I practically sand the last part to her, but I couldn’t help it. Even after a whole year together, she was still the most adorable thing in the world to me. Puppies, kittens, even baby pandas, none of them compared to my little Princess.
Her arrival into the world hadn’t exactly been easy. At nine and a half pounds, she had put me on bedrest for my last trimester. And I didn’t do well on bedrest. It drove me absolutely crazy, but hey, at least it gave me plenty of time to work on my resume.
Which certainly turned out to be a good thing, because I ended up landing a job as an online translator for HOH and deaf students in college. I got to work from home, but finally use the degree that I had poured so much of my life into. The same degree that I had thought I would have to give up because of Bradley.
“Of course, I want to hold her for a couple minutes!” I shot back, giving him a ‘you should know better’ type of look. “The hardest part will be fighting off everyone who wants to hold our little angel.” She let out a coo as I said that and my whole heart surged. She had inherited both Rafael’s dark hair and his strong features. But in a surprise, none of us had expected, she had been born with heterochromia, meaning one of her eyes was his intense, unyielding green, while the other was icy blue with golden flecks around her pupil. I swore I could just look into those eyes forever. She was the best gift that had ever been given to me, and I would always be grateful.
“Did I hear about holding my sister?” Dom said, popping out from where he had been crawling under the table. Although he was only six and a half, he had certainly grown in a year. He was taller, and leaner, and missing quite a few more teeth. He had asked to shave the sides of his head and keep his thick hair on top long, which was apparently the style all the kids were wearing nowadays. He had even managed to land some really genuine friends now that he wasn’t constantly shuttling between his mom and dad.
And he absolutely adored his sister. They hung out together all the time, with Dom reading to her or watching movies together or even insisting on learning to change her. Sure, he did bratty or annoying things occasionally, but he was a kid and that was what kids did. All in all, he was about as spectacular as they came.