Shattered Love_Heart_Rending Love Story

by Ivy Rose

  I watch pain cross my dad's eyes. I am their only child. I didn’t care what they thought. Dominic was the only man I was ever going marry and they missed their chance to see me get married.

  “Are you working?” My mother’s voice is more timid than I remember.

  I nod my head at question. I’m staring at the people who brought me up, yet don’t know anything about me. For the last four years, I haven’t existed to them. I feel my anger rising, that hurt resurfacing.

  “Yes, I work in the local primary school. My class is amazing. They are so full of ideas and creative.” The coldness makes my mother flinch and my dad narrows his eyes.

  “You’re a teacher? But…college?”

  “We both got full scholarships, I worked in Dixie’s, the local diner, in the evenings, Dom had taken on two jobs and we paid everything up front.”

  My mother eyes widen. She looks at Dominic who has just walked in. “You did that for Avery?”

  He crosses his hands over his chest. “I would do anything for your daughter.”

  I smile up at him.

  He looks at me and his eyes soften as he leans down to kiss me quickly.

  “I’m going hit the gym with Carter and let you catch up.”

  I stand. “No way. This is our house. You do not have to leave.” I don’t look at my parents showing them where my loyalties lie.

  “Avery, they don’t like me. I don’t want you stressed.”

  I snort. “I don’t care if they like you or not. They are in our house, they will respect you. Either you stay here or they go.”

  My father grunts. “Best listen to her, boy. She’s stubborn as a mule. She gets it from me, and I don’t want to leave before filling my belly. Got anything to eat in this place?”

  I watch his eyes widen at my dad’s joking tone, so different from the ice cold one he received last time. He looks at me as if he needs help. He doesn’t know how to handle it.

  I grab his hand. “Why don’t you go make lunch? My dad can’t boil water, but he supervised my mother for years.”

  My mother laughs. “She’s not lying, either.”

  Dominic looks at me then to my father. “Okay.” He walks to the kitchen, his body tense.

  I bite my lip, worried, as my dad follows.

  As he passes, he squeezes my shoulder. “It’s okay, baby girl.”

  I nod. I may not have seen my father in Four years but I trust the man I’ve always known him to be.

  My mother fidgets with her fingers. “Are you happy?”

  I smile. “Yes, Mom, I truly am. No matter what you think you know of Dominic, he treats me like a princess. He loves me so deeply, Mom, that I didn’t even know it existed. I thought it was made up by brilliant authors and their clever, beautiful words. Never did I think I would get to feel all those things and so much more.”

  A single tear rolls down my mom’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Avery. I’m so sorry. I’ve missed so much. I thought it was a phase you were going through. I thought you would snap out of it.”

  I narrow my eyes. “You thought I would grow out of Dominic? What, like I did my Tamagotchi? You do realize he’s an actual person?”

  My mom sighs. “I thought it was your bad boy phase. That he would break your heart and you would come running home with your tail between your legs.”

  I shake my head. “Mom, Dominic may come from the wrong side of the tracks, but he has the heart of a fierce lion. He loves with no limits, no restrictions. It never wavers or is questioned. I’m the one unworthy of his love.”

  My mother’s eyes widen before she looks toward the kitchen. “I know. I heard it yesterday when he rang us. I saw it in his eyes and the way he always stands slightly protecting you. He loves you, Avery. There is no doubt in my mind of that. After seeing the lives you two have achieved and looking around, it’s in every picture. The way he looks at you…”

  She wipes away another tear.

  “We love you, Avery. You're our little girl. We miss you so much. Can you forgive us? I don’t want to miss any more of your life, or our grandchildren.”

  I sniff but it’s too late. The tears spill. “You hurt me, Momma. You hurt me so much.”

  My mother nods. “I know, my sweet child. I’m forever going be sorry for that.”

  Thick tears streak my face. “Dominic and I, we come as a package. You need to understand that he’s never leaving me. If he did, I would chase his ass. If you can’t accept that…”

  I turn as I hear a grunt.

  “Not happening, beautiful. You're stuck with me until we old and grey and we watching our grandbabies play in the backyard.”

  I hear my mother sigh.

  My dad coughs and we look up.

  “Just checking my balls are still there and haven’t run away.”

  Dominic lets out a deep laugh.

  My mother and I stand and watch our husbands walk back into the kitchen, joking like old best friends.

  “He’s one of the greats, Avery. I’m sorry I misjudged him so much.”

  I grab my mom’s hand. “Please, just give him a chance.”

  We spend the day with my parents. My father and Dominic get on well. Dominic grins at my father’s jokes and my father doesn’t care that Dominic is not a big speaker, as he speaks for both of them—a true Italian.

  My mother and I catch up on everything from the last three years. There still tension between us. I’m still hurt, of course. I want my child to know their grandparents. My parents aren’t bad people, they just made a bad decision. As much as we think our parents have all the answers, the truth is they are only human. They are allowed to mess up from time to time.

  Avery

  The weeks fly by and today is our first scan. All day I’ve been anxious. What if something is wrong? What if I’m not pregnant and I’m just fat? The full belly that seems to be getting bigger by the day could just be the mint chocolate ice cream I can’t seem to stop eating. My ass will have its own zip code soon.

  I meet Dominic at the clinic because he had some paperwork to finish off first.

  My mother has been ringing daily and the awkwardness is finally leaving. It was easier to figure out my father after he called Dominic ‘son’ as he was leaving. Dominic couldn’t hide his surprise and stood watching the door long after my dad had gone. When he finally turned to me, he told me that no one had ever called him ‘son’ before.

  My heart aches for the little boy I sometimes see in his eyes. I try to imagine a small Dominic alone, scared, questioning why he didn’t have the love given so freely to everyone else. What made him so unlovable? The truth was loving Dominic was as easy as breathing.

  I walk into the clinic.

  “Hello, Mrs. Stone.”

  I smile at Cassie. “Have you seen Dominic?”

  Cassie shakes her blonde hair, popping her bubblegum. “Nope. Officer Stone hasn’t been by?”

  I turn when a feeling comes over me and see him rushing through the doors.

  His eyes land straight on me, as if he has built-in radar. “Hey.” He crosses to me. “Did I miss anything?” He sounds out of breath.

  “No, I just got here.”

  He lets out a deep breath. “Good, I didn’t want to miss anything.”

  I don’t miss the way the women’s eyes slide to Dominic. It normally doesn’t bother me. I know he has that irresistible look that women swoon over, especially in his uniform, his ink peeking out. He wasn’t the type to play up his looks, the type that would make me jealous. In fact, if a woman showed him attention, he normally pulled me closer, saying without words that he was taken. But with my body changing, I suddenly wanted to scratch all their eyes out.

  “Avery Stone.”

  He holds his hand out, helping me up and placing a hand on the small of my back. Kissing my cheek. “Let’s go see our baby, beautiful.”

  A goofy grin takes over my face as I walk to the room.

  “I forgot to tell you, you look beautiful today.” He growls ne
xt my ear.

  My body heats instantly. I turn around and, leaning up, I place a kiss on his lips.

  “Avery.”

  I smile as the doctor holds out his hand.

  “I’m Doctor Hill.”

  I shake his hand as he turns to Dom, who nods.

  “If you would like to get on the bed, we’ll see if we can see this baby. I’m putting you around fifteen weeks. Is that correct?”

  I smile as I slide on to the bed. “Yes.”

  Dominic grunts. “Fifteen weeks and three days.”

  The doctor's eyebrows raise. “I’m sorry.”

  Dominic nods.

  I hide my smirk. The doctor lifts my top, squeezing the gel on. I suck in a breath. Shit, that’s cold.

  “Get your hands off my wife, now.” His voice is low growl.

  The doctor steps back, his eyes wide and full of fear. Holding his hands up in surrender.

  I reach out, grabbing Dominic’s hand. “Good God, Dom.” I laugh.

  He looks down at me. I know he sees the confusion in my eyes. “He hurt you. No one hurts you, Avery, ever.”

  I shake my head. Sitting up. “He didn’t, baby, I swear, the gel is cold, that’s all. It was a shock.”

  He studies my eyes and then looks at the doctor. “Warm that shit up next time.”

  The doctor’s eyes are still wide but he nods. Taking a tentative step toward me. “Okay, if you could take a seat, we can carry on.”

  Shaking his head, his grip tightening on my hand. “No, I’ll stay here.”

  The doctor doesn’t argue as he lifts up my top. The screen comes to life and a fuzzy black and white screen appears. I suck in a breath at the sight. There is a head, a body, arms, legs.

  “Is that…”

  The doctor smiles. “Yes, that’s your baby. Say hello.”

  Dominic

  I can’t take my eyes off the fuzzy, grainy image in front of me, my baby.

  I can see it all. The head, legs, arms. My heart races and I’m flooded with emotions layered upon emotions. I’m scared, but there’s hope. Hope that isn’t is a dream hope that I could actually deserve this. I reach for Avery and bring her hand to my lips to kiss.

  A loud noise fills the room.

  “Is that…” I hold breath.

  The doctor smiles. “Your baby’s heartbeat.”

  Nothing could ever erase this memory.

  I take a step closer to the screen. Reaching out my fingertips, I trace the outline of our baby. I make a silent promise. “Little one, I swear I’m going protect you, love you. Don’t ever doubt it. We are going to do everything your mama promised.”

  I turn to the woman who gave me everything. Her sapphire eyes are so fucking bright with love she’s glowing. I place a hand on her stomach. I finally believe in the dream I’ve had since I was six years old. I finally have a family.

  Avery

  We are told that we are actually eighteen weeks and that I was pregnant before I was sick.

  A smug smile grows on his face until the doctor tells Dominic that the baby reacted to his voice. I will never forget the look on his face. It was so full of awe and love—his lips parted ever so slightly. I can’t help the tears from trickling down my cheeks. Dom leans down to kiss them away.

  Something in his eyes changed. His eyes are the brightest emerald color I’ve ever seen.

  Walking out of the doctor’s office, he hasn’t taken his eyes off the small pictures we were given. His fingers run over it before he carefully places them in his wallet.

  He holds my car my door open.

  “You going back to work?”

  He lifts his eyes from my stomach, nodding. He places a hand on my face before leaning in and kissing me deeply.

  He waits for me to leave, never taking his eyes off my car until I’m out of sight.

  I pull up at our house, placing my hands on my stomach.

  “Thank you, baby, for showing your daddy you love him.” There’s a little butterfly movement inside of me.

  “That’s right, baby.”

  The evening is still warm and Dominic is grilling the burgers. When he got back to the station, Carter said Molly was dying to hear all about the baby scan. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple of weeks because Molly had been busy with work. She was an amazing photographer from the pieces she had shown me.

  The doorbell rings. I go to stand, but Dominic shakes his head as he reaches for the door. Carter and Mac walk out first. I smile over as Mac who seems to relax when he sees my smile.

  He reaches out to me. “Avery, I’m sorry—”

  I hold my hand up. “Please stop. It wasn’t your fault Mac, you’re always welcome here, okay, you’re apart of this dysfunctional family and there’s no escaping.”

  He smiles. “You’re amazing, you know that.”

  “How are you finding it on the force?”

  He’s half-way through taking a sip of his beer. “Yeah I am enjoying it. It’s hard, but I like it.”

  Molly walks into the garden a few minutes later with a long black tube. Molly can be a lot for some people to handle when she full Molly Mode but I love her over the top confidence and no filter.

  “What’s that?”

  She smirks. “Inside is confetti and glitter.”

  I raise an eyebrow, but someone catches my eye. “Cecelia!”

  She smiles and comes straight toward me. “I want to see the pictures.” She leans down hugging me tightly.

  Someone barrels through the door. “Not before me! It’s my grandbaby.”

  My eyes widen even more. “Mom, what’s going on?” I’m hesitant. Standing.

  My mom’s eyes widen as do Molly’s. “My, look how big you have gotten.”

  Molly squeals, running to me and hugging me tight in her over the top fashion, she seems on top of the world.

  My mom pushes Molly out of the way, making us laugh as she squeezes me. “You look beautiful.” She runs her hand over my belly. “So, your husband is a sneak. When you left the doctor, he went back in and found out the gender of Baby Stone. In this black tube is the answer, pink for a girl or blue for a boy.”

  I look up at Dominic who is now by my side. “If you want to find out…” His voice holds warning, but I can’t contain my excitement

  I nod my head, doing a little dance. “Yes, hell yes!”

  His lips curl into a cocky grin. “Come on, then.”

  Grabbing my hand, leading me to middle of the garden.

  Carter and my dad both hold up the confetti canister as all the women hold up their phones.

  Dominic grabs my face, kissing me.

  There is a pop sound, then we get showered in confetti. I laugh against his lips. My eyes open and it takes me a second to realize it's pink. We are having a girl.

  We have a daughter…

  Dominic picks me up as if I weigh nothing—even though I’m a big as a whale—and as he twirls me around, a deep laugh comes from him before he kisses my forehead.

  “A girl!” all the women scream, jumping up and down. Carter, Mac and my dad burst out laughing.

  I turn to see Dominic pale and pulling at his hair, his eyes wide.

  “Dominic.” I walk over to instantly.

  He shakes his head. His eyes wide. “I’m going to end up in prison.” What? What the hell has happened?

  Carter howls laughing, Mac is trying hid a grin behind his hand but completely failing from a joke I’m obviously not getting. Even my mom, Cecelia and Molly are all laughing now.

  “Prison?”

  He nods. Chucking his hands up in the air. “Yes, she’s going to be beautiful just like you, then an asshole like me is going to want her, and he’ll want to take my baby girl away. I’ll have to kill him.”

  Now I am the one fighting a grin.

  His eyes narrow as he points at my dad. “Why didn’t you shoot my ass?”

  My dad grins. “Still time, son.” Patting him on the shoulder.

  Dominic shakes his head and h
e smiles at me. “We’re having a daughter.”

  I nod, smiling.

  The rest of the evening, my mom and Cecelia gush over the scan photos, talking about outfits and baby showers. Molly’s mood seems to have changed for the worse. She snapped at Carter, she seems distant and tapping away on her phone. I know she been called away at work a lot more, I just hope she’s not overworking herself.

  People seem to come and go as I enjoy the day with everyone I love. I lift my phone, taking a picture to capture one of the most perfect moments of my life. Just as I take it, Dominic’s head turns toward me with the most breathtaking smile on his face.

  Lying in bed later, I smile, looking through the photos Cecelia has sent of the gender reveal. I have never seen a smile on my face so big nor my eyes so bright. Dominic’s eyes are completely on me. There is one of us kissing as the canister showers pink around us. The last one is my favorite. Dominic is smiling down at me, one hand on the side of my face, the other on my bump, with Cooper sitting at our feet.

  “What’s got my girl smiling?”

  I turn my phone, showing the images.

  He looks up at me, grabbing the nape of my neck and kissing me deeply.

  “Tell me more. What are we going to do with her?”

  I lay my head down and he mimics the pose, our eyes connected.

  “We take her to dance class, watching her twirl in her tutu. We laugh as she dresses Cooper up. You dance with her. She will giggle as she watches us dance.”

  Dominic frowns. “I don’t dance.”

  I kiss his lips quickly. “You will for her.”

  I watch as he thinks about that before nodding. “I come home from work and hear you both laughing in the kitchen.”

  I smile. “What are we making?”

  He grins his eyes wide and bright. “Cake, chocolate cake. You both have chocolate icing on your faces. I watch you from doorway.”

  “Then, we will see you and cover your face in chocolate kisses.” I smile.

  We both grin wide. Loving his excitement in voice

  “You teach her to ride her pink bike as I cheer you both on.”

  Dominic kisses me softly. “We love her more than anything. She calls us Mama and Daddy.”