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18. Dominic

18

DOMINIC

I’m pacing up and down the hallway of the hospital. Haven is in labor. The rest of my family is in the waiting room, but I couldn’t stand sitting there a second longer. I pull out my phone, wanting to call Lucy, but I know she’s with her mom this morning.

I take a deep breath. The waiting is killing me. I can just imagine how I’m going to be when Lucy has our baby.

“You doing okay, brother?”

My brother Gabe stops beside me. His long hair is in a ponytail, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week. “I’m good. How you doing?”

He shrugs. “I just came off an all-nighter. I had to work the brush fire out on Mutton Hollow. ”

“Anyone hurt?”

He runs his hands across his face. “Nope, no injuries, but it was a bitch.”

“Go home and go to bed. King will understand.”

He just shakes his head. “Hell no. My niece is being born. I’m not going to miss this.”

I point to the coffee vending machine. “Coffee?”

“Hell yeah.”

I get two cups. Gabe practically guzzles his before I even take a sip. “Damn, I guess it’s a good thing it’s lukewarm. I thought you were going to scorch your throat.”

He just laughs. “I’m used to the heat.”

We stand and shoot the shit about everything and nothing. I finish off the cup of coffee and throw it in the wastebasket, and as I turn, I see Lucy coming through the door.

My smile is instant, and I start walking toward her. It’s not until I see her mom walking beside her that my smile drops and I slow down. Fuck. I want to pull Lucky into my arms and kiss her like I would if we were at the garage, but I know I can’t do that.

I stop before I get to them, and Lucy is frowning at me. Gabe comes to stand beside me, and he looks at all of us before reaching in and giving Luciana a hug. “Hey, Lucy. How you doing?”

She hugs my brother back. “Good, Gabe. How you doing? I was thinking of you when I heard about the brush fire. Glad you’re okay.”

I clear my throat. “Luciana. Ms. Raven. What are you doing here, is everything okay?”

Luciana points at her mom. “Yeah, we came to see a friend of Mom’s.”

I nod, and the silence is awkward. “Uh, what are you doing here? Everything okay?” she asks.

I smile. “Yeah, Haven is having the baby.” I look at Ms. Raven. “Haven is my brother King’s wife.”

Ms. Raven just harumphs with a nod. She’s never liked me, and it doesn’t look like her opinion has changed any. It’s obvious that Lucy hasn’t told her about us, and that’s like a punch in the gut.

I stand here, staring at Luciana, and her mom breaks the silence. “I’m going to go. It’s room three ten, Luciana.”

She walks away without another word to me, but my manners win out. “Bye, Ms. Raven. It was nice seeing you again.”

Ms. Raven just keeps walking, and when I turn back to Luciana, she has her arms crossed over her chest. We stare at each other, and Gabe clears his throat. “Uh, I’m going to go check in on King and Haven.”

Neither Lucy nor I say anything to him. I walk close to Lucy, and she holds her hand up. “What was that?”

“What do you mean?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Really, Dom. What was that? When we’re alone I can’t keep your hands off me and what, in front of your brother, you want to act like we’re… hell, he even hugged me. I barely got a hello out of you.”

I’m angry. More because Gabe thought it was okay to hug her and I didn’t think I had the right. Forever I’ve dealt with the fact I’m not good enough for Lucy, and I thought I was over it, but one look at the disapproving expression on her mom’s face makes me feel it all over again. When I don’t say anything, her words are incensed with anger. “Are you ashamed of me?”

I gasp. “What? No, of course not.”

She points around the hospital. “Well, maybe we’re just not where I thought we were then.”

I shake my head, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “What are you talking about?”

She lifts her shoulders. “I dunno, Dom. Your sister is having a baby, and you didn’t even think about calling me. I see you here at the hospital and you act like we’re fuckin’ acquaintances.”

I reach for her, wrapping my hand around hers. “I wanted to call you, but I knew you were driving your mom somewhere this morning. I wanted you here with me—hell, Lucy, I always want you with me.”

She purses her lips and just stares at me, but I’m not giving up. “And I acted that way because I know your mom hates me and I didn’t want to add any pressure to you, that’s all. I mean, have you even told her about us? It doesn’t seem like you have.”

Before she can answer me, I keep going. “Look, if we’re going to do this, you need to know a few things. To this day, there’s still people in this town that think I’m a piece of shit. Your own mother hates me. Before you tie yourself to me, you need to know that.”

She laughs. “How long are you going to hide behind your past, Dominic? Are you just looking for a reason for this to be over?”

“Hell no.”

“Hey! The baby is here. Come on, Dom.” Chrissy is so excited it takes her a second before she looks at Lucy. “Oh, hey, Lucy! You coming to meet the baby? ”

Lucy smiles, but it doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “My mom is waiting for me. I should go.”

“Lucy, come on, I want you there. Come with me.”

I hold my hand out to her, but she just shakes her head. “No, this is for family… I’ll check in on Haven in a few days. Send them my love.”

She holds her arms against her chest and walks briskly away.

Chrissy comes over to me. “What happened, Dom? You okay?”

I feel like my heart is shattering in two. “I’m fine. Let’s go see our niece.”

“Dom, stop. You are always here for everyone else while you hold everything in. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I fucked up. That’s what’s going on. Lucy and I are seeing each other.”

She shrugs. “What? Is that supposed to be some earth-shattering news or something? I know you guys tried to sell the this is a fake date or whatever, but seeing the way you two look at each other isn’t fooling anyone.”

“Well, her mom hates me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Her mom hates half the town. ”

I cross my arms over my chest. “How am I supposed to be with her and come between her and her mom?”

Chrissy puts her hand on my arm. “That’s not for you to decide. All you can do is love her, Dom. You can’t take her decision from her this time. You love her and then let her decide what she wants to do.”

I suck in a breath and look down the hall where Lucy walked away. Chrissy nudges my arm. “You want to go after her?”

“No. Let’s go see our niece.”

We are walking through the halls, and Chrissy is filling the silence. “The baby is perfect. I could look at her all day.”

“Oh no, is this what they call baby fever?”

She stops in the middle of the hallway and turns to me. She has a worried look. “Do you think I’d be a good mom?”

Her face is scrunched up, and she looks like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. “Do I think you’d be a good mom? You’d be the best, Chrissy. Look at how you always took care of us.”

She opens her mouth, and I shake my head. “Don’t try and deny it. You may be the baby, but you always took care of King, Gabe, Holden, Ledger, and me. There’s no denying you’d be a good mom. Where is this coming from?” There’s a weight on my chest. “Shit, are you pregnant?”

She gasps and smacks me on the chest. “What? No! But I’m going to have a baby. I may never get my happily ever after, but I want a family, Dom. I want my own family.”

I can’t even argue with her because I know exactly how she feels. “Whatever you need from me, I’m here for you. But don’t do anything crazy.”

She rolls her eyes. “Have I ever done anything crazy?” She shrugs her shoulders. “Let me correct that. Have you guys ever let me do anything crazy? I’m good.”

I throw my arm around Chrissy. “Come on, let’s go meet our niece.”

She just laughs. “I’m taking bets on which of you are going to be the first one in jail. You guys are so protective… I’m just glad it’s going to be directed at someone other than me from now on.”

“Oh honey, you’re my little sister. I’m always going to be protective of you.”

She leans into me, and as we walk into the room, I see my family… everyone but Ledger, who is on a mission on the other side of the world.

Gabe comes over and stands beside me. I release my hold on Chrissy, and Gabe instantly pulls her into his arms. I walk over to Haven and King and look at the baby in Haven’s arms. “She’s beautiful.”

King wipes a tear from his eyes, and I’m stunned because I’ve never seen the man emotional like this. “Congratulations, brother.”

He bear hugs me and then laughs as he pats me on the back. “Thanks.”

Everyone talks in low whispers as to not disturb the sleeping baby. We laugh, reminisce, and it’s a sight to see my big brother, the man that took care of me, hell of all of us, become a father. Walking out of the hospital later that day, I have no doubt what I have to do. I just hope that Lucy doesn’t come to resent me later because there’s no way I can let her go.

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