AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walk toward her and stop at her bedside. She smacks the back of my head.
“Lu!”
“Did it knock any sense into you?”
I hold the back of my head. “What?”
“Fight for him. Stop letting him dictate what’s going to happen. Put everything out there again and see what he says. Both of you need to stop playing games.”
“Games are never good,” Mrs. Milano chimes in, trying to stay in our conversation while at the same time trying to find out whether the brother or the husband is the real father of the child.
“What if he—”
“What if he doesn’t?” Lulu says in a soft voice.
“You hate him.”
“I do. Only because of the way he makes you feel. But I still trust him with my daughter. How does that add up?” Her eyebrows are perfectly arched. How the hell does she keep up everything while being pregnant? I was a mess with Ryder.
“What exactly are you saying?” I ask.
“I’m saying nothing other than you need to fight for what you want. As far as I know, you were a teenager the last time you laid your heart on the line with this man. Maybe it’s time to do it again?”
“There you are.” Vinny runs into the hospital room, and I slide over to let him at his wife. He kisses her forehead and looks at the monitor. “Are you okay?”
“Now that you’re here, I am.”
He rests his forehead on hers, and her arm wraps around him as though she needs him closer. Vinny and Lulu have been together since their senior year in high school and always wore their feelings on the outside for others to see. Sure, Lulu can get a tad jealous at times, but they’re the fairytale love story of Carroll Gardens, while Dom and I are the cautionary tale without a happy ending.
“Thanks for getting her here.” He looks around and says a quick hello to his mother-in-law. “Where’s Gia?”
“Dom Mancini has her,” Lulu says.
“Really?”
“He’s a good boy.” Mrs. Milano stands by her choice to leave her with him.
Lulu and I laugh until another contraction takes over, and Vinny helps her breathe through it.
The nurse returns with the doctor. “Okay, we’re going to check you out again, Lucia.”
I move toward the head of the bed on the opposite side of Vinny, my head still swirling with thoughts about a future with Dom. It’s something I’ve always wanted but never thought was a possibility. Was I wrong?
“Almost there. I’d say maybe another hour,” the doctor says.
I glance at the clock. That would mean the baby is coming around three. Man, I was in labor with Ryder forever. “Maybe I should have Dom bring Gia here? She could wait in the waiting room until you deliver, then I can take her to the recital.”
“That’d be great. She’s already so disconnected from this baby. Maybe seeing him will spur that heart of hers to open for him.” Lulu grabs my hand and gives me a smile before another contraction hits and she damn near breaks my fingers.
A part of me thinks she actually enjoys it.
* * *
An hour later,Dom messages me to say he and Gia are in the waiting room.
Lulu is heavy in labor, so I excuse myself, letting Vinny and Mrs. Milano help Lulu through this. When I enter the waiting area, I find Gia asleep on Dom’s lap. I stop before he sees me, his own eyes drifting closed. My heart flutters, and I take a minute to commit the image to memory.
Eventually, I sit in the chair next to them and lightly touch Dom’s arm. He jolts, and a smile emerges when he sees me. My stomach flutters, and it’s all I can do to not tell him how much I love him right now. That it’s always been him.
