by Amy Brent
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 consider
ing 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.
“Do you mind holding her for a couple of minutes?” Rafael asked, placing a kiss on my own cheek. “I want to go grab the cake.”
“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.
“Yes, you can have a turn,” I said reluctantly, handing him Gabriella, but not before pulling my phone out and taking a picture of the two of them together.
“Finally!” He said, walking off to sit her down at her play mat with all of her toys.
“Perfect,” Rafael said, giving me a little squeeze. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“But I just put the vegetables and the fruit tray out!” I objected, finally realizing what Rafael was saying. “We don’t want cake and present opening for at least a half hour or so.”
“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll make sure I don’t rush it.” He gave me a wink and then took off back inside the little building attached to the gazebo where the fridge, kitchenette and bathroom were. I watched him curiously, but I was quickly distracted as Gabriella let out a shrill laugh.
I looked to her playmat to see Dom was making funny faces at her, curling his tongue and crossing his eyes and the works. I swear, if there was ever a cure for cancer, it was my baby’s laugh. Granted, doctors didn’t seem to believe me, but that was because they just didn’t understand what a gift she was to the world.
I shook my head and laughed at myself. As much as I sounded like a crazy mom, I knew to take a grain of salt with how much I loved my little girl. I didn’t want to end up being one of those moms that put all sorts of pressure on their child to be perfect and they never felt they could live up to it. That was far too close to my own childhood for my comfort.
But still, how could I not be so head over heels in love with her? Considering how badly I had messed up my twenties and the rest of my college career, I never thought this would be a possibility. And yet it was, with my little baby girl and my loving adopted son and my incredibly handsome boyfriend, all of my dreams had come true. Even though they were dreams I had never known I had.
“You know, you almost make me wanna settle down and have something other than my fur and scale babies,” Alisha said, coming up beside me and looking at Dom as he entertained my little girl.
“Really, you?” I said, remembering all the times that she had sworn off dating as a waste of time in front of me. “I thought you were very anti-relationship.”
“I was. But if I recall right, you were once very anti-baby. Seeing you so happy has certainly given me enough pause to reconsider my stance.” She sighed and sat down next to me. “When you first showed up at work I could tell you were terrified. You rarely looked up, you always said ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ at the end of every sentence. You were so stiff that I thought your spine might break every time you bent over.
“And sur
e, you loosened up a little after training, but everyone does that with Davie. I could still tell that you were like a scared fawn about to make a run for it. But then, as time passed, I caught you smilin’ more. You started talking to us more often and opening up on the regular. I thought you were just getting to know us, but now I know the truth.
“Who’d have thought that love could have that effect on people. But it definitely has on you. So, can you really blame me for wondering if maybe a little bit of that mojo might work on me?”
Wow. I had never thought of it from that outside perspective. I guess I definitely had gone through a personal metamorphosis in the almost two years since I had arrived in the city. Would I even recognize my old self anymore? I had been so isolated, and scared, and distrusting. I had been on the look out for anyone and everyone to betray me. I had thought I was doomed to be alone and working as a facilities worker my entire life and would never use my degree again.
Thank God I had been so wrong. And to think, it was all because I had needed to blow off some steam and get my groove on while cleaning.
I placed my hand on Alisha’s shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. “It can be hard, but if you let your defenses down, you could find someone. You just have to be open to the idea.”
“Oh, it that all,” she said, scoffing. “You make it sound so easy.”
“Well, it’s anything but that,” I answered, laughing. “But trust me when I say it’s worth it in every way, shape and form.”