“Yeah?” replied Reno. When Jimmy said nothing, Reno glanced at him. Jimmy was staring at him. “What?” Reno asked.
“You’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. What’s with you and Fran? What, I don’t look okay?”
“You look good,” Jimmy said. “But . . .”
Reno waited. Then glanced at Jimmy again. “But what?”
“You’re driving the speed limit.”
Fran laughed.
“Yeah, so?” Reno asked. “That’s supposed to be a problem now?”
“No, it’s no problem. But . . . you never drive the speed limit.”
“Well I’m driving it now.”
“I mean never ever,” Jimmy continued.
“I get your point.”
“Ever ever.”
“I got cha, all right?” Reno snapped. “Now shut the fuck up.”
Jimmy smiled. That was more like it. But not completely either. He continued staring at his father, baffled by his behavior. And Jimmy wondered if Reno really realized what was going on. They had called him, but he was acting as if it wasn’t so. And he was driving the speed limit? At a time like this? Something was wrong, Jimmy thought.
But it wasn’t wrong to Reno. He was determined to maintain his cool. He got the call and was on his way. What more could he do? Losing it, and driving like a bat out of hell, wasn’t going to help Trina. It wasn’t going to help anything. She was in good hands. They were doing all they could for her. Even if he got there in record time, they still would be doing all they could for her. And he would just have to wait.
But he couldn’t bear sitting up there waiting like some chicken being served for dinner. That was what Fran and Jimmy failed to realize. He was slowly going to pieces inside. But he’d be in even worse shape if he had nothing to do but wait. He may as well walk slow, drive slow, take his time. Maybe he’d get there right on time. That was his hope, anyway.
“You checked in on your brother?” Reno asked Jimmy.
“I did. They were coloring when I looked in. He waved at me then got back to work. He wasn’t thinking about me.”
Reno smiled.
“I told Nanny to be on standby in case we don’t get back in time.”
“Good thinking.”
“Yeah, I’m good for something,” Jimmy bragged.
“So how’s Val?” Reno asked. She and Jimmy had been dating for months now, and although Jimmy stayed mum about it, Trina had already told Reno that it was getting serious.
“She’s good,” Jimmy said.
“No gold digger tendencies yet?”
Jimmy smiled. “Not yet. But stay tuned. My antennae hasn’t gone in for good just yet.”
Reno nodded. He was being cautious. That was a good thing.
But if Reno thought asking Jimmy about Valerie, or even about Dommi, was going to ease his mind, he was dreaming. He was still on eggshells. He was still in agony inside. He was still praying and praying hard by the time he parked his car and they made their way inside.
Ashley Marin and Stacy Frazier were already there. Liz Mertan was there too. Ashley had come out of that shooting looking wonderful. She made a full recovery. She also, to her credit, dumped Boyzie’s ass. But when Reno got there, Ashley or Boyzie or none of them were on his mind. Trina was on his mind. But he had to wait. Not long, only about twenty minutes, but the way Reno felt inside, it felt like twenty years.
“Mr. Gabrini,” the young lady said when she entered the room. Reno, Jimmy, and Fran, and Trina’s friends all stood to their feet.
“Yes,” Reno said. “I’m Mr. Gabrini.”
“You can go in now, sir.”
Reno looked at Jimmy. Jimmy squeezed his father’s arm, then Reno took a steady walk out of the waiting room, across the hall, and into Trina’s room. It was big for a hospital room, he thought, just to take his mind off of any bad thoughts. The doctor was still in the room, and the nurse, but Reno had to look around a side wall before he saw his wife. When he saw her, he relaxed a little. But only a little.
She was lying on the hospital bed, looking worn, but when she looked up and saw Reno, she smiled. But even then his heart didn’t entirely relax. He was too busy thanking God that she was okay. But he had to walk in further to see if she was completely okay. And that was when he saw it. That was when he finally saw the baby.
He stopped in his tracks.
“It’s a girl, Reno,” Trina said, so filled with joy and happiness. “It’s a girl! We have a baby girl!”
Reno wanted to smile, but he was still too nervous. “Five toes?” he asked her. “I mean, ten toes?”
Trina laughed, and nodded. “Ten toes,” she said. “She has ten toes.”
“What about her fingers?” Reno asked.
“She has all of her fingers too, Reno,” Trina said. “She’s fine. She’s absolutely perfect!”
“And you? You’re fine too?”
Trina looked at him. She loved that man. “I’m fine too, Reno. Perfectly.”
“Praise God,” Reno said as if a burden had been lifted, and then he made his way to the bed. He looked at his little girl, at his daughter, for the very first time. She was small, a beautiful brown, with curly brown hair like Dommi, and big, greenish-blue eyes like Tommy. Reno believed she was even more beautiful than Tommy! And she actually looked at him, when he looked at her.
“Here, Reno,” Trina said, “hold your baby.”
Reno started to get her, but first wiped his clammy hands on his suit. Then he held his daughter in his arms. For the first time ever. And it was only then, holding his baby, did Reno break down. He cried like a baby himself. The baby looked at him, startled, as if he was stealing her spotlight; as if crying should have been reserved for her. But he couldn’t help it. He looked at Trina, and leaned over and kissed her smiling face, as he cried and rocked his baby.
He looked at the doctor and the nurse. “It’s a girl,” he said as if he was telling them the news. They smiled too. Reno’s excitement was contagious.
“She’s beautiful,” the doctor said.
“Yes,” Reno agreed. “She’s beautiful.” Then Reno looked at Trina. “Just like her mother.”
Trina smiled. Reno smiled. They felt like kids again. They felt as if they’d been holding their breath throughout the entire pregnancy. From the moment Trina told him the test was positive, to this very moment, they felt as if they were in a holding pattern. They couldn’t go through another miscarriage. That was why they felt as if they couldn’t breathe. But now, holding their precious little girl, a baby they were too scared to name, felt like an exhale. A wonderful, exhilarating breath of fresh air.
“Good job, Tree,” Reno said, nodding his approval. “Good job.”
Trina smiled, nodding back. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said.
Reno laughed. He rocked his baby, kissed his wife again, and laughed.
He couldn’t seem to stop himself from laughing.
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RENO AND TRINA: GETTING BACK TO LOVE (The Mob Boss Series) Page 17