Chapter Thirty-Seven
Maria
a few months later
I rinsed my mouth, delicately patted water on my forehead and the back of my neck, and took a deep, fortifying breath, one that came out a little shakier than I intended if I was being honest. Why did this keep happening? I gripped either side of the counter, my arms feeling like noodles as my heart beat faster. The good news was that the color came back in my lips.
I looked in the mirror and gave myself a mental pep talk because Dom was getting ready for bed, and I didn’t want to alarm him. And I knew if I told him about the way I’d been feeling, he’d be alarmed, no doubt about it. Everything was fine, totally fine. All frigging good, really.
So what my period was late?
I’d been stressed. Frankly, when wasn’t I stressed?
Then again, I’d never been this late.
Except that one time.
I’d also never had nausea like this.
Again, except that one time.
It could be the flu.
Why did that feel unlikely, though?
Why did I keep thinking about the time I found out I was pregnant with Isabella? So much so that I’d stopped at the drugstore on my way home from work and picked up a pregnancy test.
But I couldn’t be pregnant. I didn’t believe it could be true. And yet, here I was thinking I might be and holding a pregnancy test. Let me just say this: imposter syndrome while holding a pregnancy test was real.
Although, with all the unprotected sex I had with Dom, I supposed it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
Since we’d gotten together—officially—and Dom had moved in, making things seem even more official, we’d definitely celebrated most every night and woke up earlier than Isabella to celebrate again every morning. Then there were the times Isabella was at a play date or sleepover and then we celebrated a lot. Really, we couldn’t keep our hands off one another.
My eyes flicked from my phone to the pregnancy test stick I’d peed on—both resting on the counter. I couldn’t believe I might be pregnant.
What would that mean for us? How would Dom react?
Considering this was Dom, I had a feeling he would be so over the moon happy, it wouldn’t even be funny. I knew he’d wanted to continue to build a family with me, wanted to have more kids—kids that were the product of our love. But I did distinctly remember him having said someday . Well, what if someday was today? Would that be too soon?
Great. Now I was spiraling.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, arched my back, and smiled, a genuine, confident smile. I wasn’t going to do this. I was going to be positive—maybe even like that stick would read in a few seconds.
If I was pregnant, it’d be a blessing. Babies were always a blessing. And Dom was great with kids—hello, he treated Isabella like his own in every way imaginable.
He wasn’t her biological father, but he may as well have been. Biology was important, yes, but blood didn’t always matter. What mattered was how he was with her, how he took her shopping on the weekends, how he practically begged me to let him pick her up from school, how he cut the crust off her sandwiches, and how he tucked her in at night.
That was fatherhood.
That was why I wasn’t afraid.
You know, what? I held up the pregnancy stick as the last five seconds remained and decided to count down with it because I hoped and prayed that I was pregnant with Dom’s baby.
Five. I will be a mother again.
Four. Dom will be so frigging happy.
Three. My sisters will totally freak. In a good way, obviously.
Two. My dad will be a nonno again.
One. Isabella will have a sibling.
I closed my eyes and held my breath. I will grow full and round with Dom’s baby.
Flickering my eyes open, my mouth fell, and I covered the dramatic way it hung open with my other hand. I couldn’t believe it. I got what I wanted. Oh my goodness. I began shaking for a whole other reason now as happy tears streamed down my face. I was going to be a mom again.
Dom was going to be a dad.
I was pregnant.
* * *
Dominic
I didn’t know what took Maria so long in the bathroom every night. It was like when she got ready in the morning—it took her an obscene amount of time. Honestly, what the hell was going on in there? There were some things men did not need to know, though, and I had a feeling this fit squarely in that category.
All I knew was that when she finally did come out I was going to propose.
That was right. Your boy was ready to get down on one knee and propose to the woman he loved. It was about time, didn’t you think?
I’d thought about it a million times. How would I propose? Would it be a grand affair planned to perfection? Would her family be present?
She deserved for it to be one of the most special and beautiful moments of her life.
But then I thought about it some more. And some more. And, finally, it dawned on me. It didn’t get more special or beautiful than this right here—us living our lives together. The way we got ready for bed every night to share the same bed where she was a notorious sheet hog (and I let her because I knew she was always cold), where she talked in her sleep (usually ramblings), where we played footsie beneath the covers, and where I had the immense pleasure of waking up to her gorgeous, angelic face every single solitary morning.
Most days I woke up with a hard-on because it was sort of difficult not to, you know, seeing as I was sleeping next to the love of my life. So I said good morning to her with a long, languid kiss that made her toes curl before burying my cock deep inside her. In response, she sang good morning to me very quietly so as not to wake Isabella.
To make a long story short, I was proposing to her right here in this moment. No other way to go about it, and I didn’t want to wait another second. I’d had this ring in the bottom of my nightstand, buried in the back beneath a bunch of crap, for a month.
I held the black velvet ring box in my hand and got down on one knee. When she came out of the bathroom, she’d come out and see this. I couldn’t fucking wait.
Hopefully, she didn’t take much longer in there.
* * *
Maria
I was pregnant. I was pregnant. I was pregnant. I audibly squealed this time before covering a hand over my mouth. Oops! I couldn’t help it, though. I was pregnant, and I couldn’t wait one more second to share the good news with Dom.
I grabbed the pee stick and got giddy just thinking about walking into the bedroom and seeing his reaction. He’d probably be sitting up in bed, his eyes on his phone, and when he looked up, he’d be shocked as shit. Oh, yeah, he wasn’t going to know what hit him.
The best surprise of a lifetime, that was what he was going to get.
My head was down, staring at the stick. When I walked into the bedroom, I peered up, smiling from ear to ear, unable to contain my excitement any longer. But Dom beat me to it and won the category for giving the best surprise of a lifetime because that was exactly how I felt seeing him down on one knee, a ring box in his hand.
“Maria Morelli, you’re my best friend and the love of my life, so will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me? Become my wife.”
My heart was beating so fast, I thought it might leap straight out of my chest and fall on the floor. It was so full, just as it always was when I was around Dom. Make him the happiest man on earth? He should only know becoming his wife and tying myself to him in every way imaginable would make me the happiest woman on earth.
I swallowed, my hand flying to my mouth for the umpteenth time tonight. I didn’t let go of the stick, but I rushed toward him and yelled, “Yes!” I licked my lips. “Yes! Yes! Yes! A million, no, a gazillion times, yes!”
The corners of his lips curled upward in an immense smile that practically took over his face, reaching the corners of his eyes, which were shining with joy. He went to open the ring box, probably so he could slip the ring on my finger and make it official, but I stopped him, placing my hand over his.
He glared up at me and cocked a brow. Before he could say a word, I shoved the pregnancy test in between us. “I’m pregnant,” I said, holding my breath as I waited for his response.
He dropped the ring box and wrapped his arms around my waist, twirling me around in the air and making me drop the stick, too. “We’re going to have a baby!” he shouted, the smile never leaving his face for even a second. His eyes connected with mine as my feet still dangled off the ground. “Isabella’s going to be a big sister.”
I nodded, more tears of joy spilling from my eyes and falling down my cheeks. He placed me back on the ground and cupped my cheeks, slamming his lips on mine and kissing me with so much love and affection, my pulse quickened. I placed my tongue between his lips, and he immediately parted them, granting me access. “Mmm,” I moaned against him.
Quick question, did life get much better than this? Because I couldn’t imagine how—this right here was as perfect as it got, in my opinion.
“Mommy,” Isabella said in between a yawn, pushing open our bedroom door, her voice very sleepy. “What’s going on?”
We broke our kiss, and Dom walked over and scooped her up, holding her with one arm so she was at our height. “How would you like it if we had a baby?” he asked her and her eyes widened like very large pools of chocolate.
“For me?”
Of course she’d think a baby was for her. My daughter had only-child syndrome—everything was for her. Not for much longer, though. “Yes,” I answered, chuckling and tickling her pajama-clad belly, so deliriously happy, and waited for her to answer.
Squirming in Dom’s arms, she nodded nonstop. “Yes!” she exclaimed loudly.
Dom laughed and pulled down her pajama shirt before kissing the top of her head. “Good because you’re going to be a big sister.”
“Really?” She looked to me, as though for assurance.
Now I nodded. “Yes, really. We’re going to be bringing another baby into this world, and they’re going to need a big sister to look out for them.”
“Okay,” she replied, one hundred percent giddy. I knew the feeling well—being a big sister was one of the most amazing things I’d experienced in my life.
I leaned over and kissed her full cheek before giving in and sprinkling her face with kisses everywhere.
“Mom!” she cried.
I knew what that meant without her saying it. Get off me. So I did—reluctantly. “Lots of exciting things happened tonight, so I have another question for you.”
My chin trembled as an onslaught of happy tears threatened to burst out again. I looked to Dom and tilted my head.
What I was telling him without actually saying a word: I love you so much.
Dom: I know, and I love you, too.
Then I swallowed and shook my head, focusing back on the good news I wanted to tell Isabella about. “Would you be my flower girl at our wedding?” I asked, smiling.
She gasped. “Yes!” Then she furrowed her brows. “Can I pick out my dress?”
Dom and I laughed simultaneously. I should’ve seen that one coming. My daughter was nothing if not predictable and very invested in clothes. Not unlike her mother. See, the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree. “Of course,” I answered, placing a finger on her chin.
I looked at Dom and studied his expression, which really said it all. It was funny how things could change in an instant, how letting myself fall and trusting someone completely would make my life ten times better. And fuller. Because that was what Dom did. He made everything better, and I’d had a great life, but with Dom, I had an extraordinary one, and I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us next.
We were best friends who tried to be friends with benefits, and now we were everything. We were friends, lovers, and everything in between.
“Does this mean we’re going to be a family?” Isabella asked, her doe eyes wide as ever.
The truth was that we’d always been a family in our own little way. Now we were just making things official, the way they should have been for a long time. I supposed it was better late than never, though, right? But I tilted my chin toward Dom, encouraging him to answer. It felt only right that Dom answer because this was all because he spoke up and said exactly how he felt and what he wanted, and then he didn’t waver on it.
He winked and looked over at Isabella as he finally answered, “Yes, Peanut, this means we’ll be a family.”
“Can I call you Daddy?”
I smiled and raised a brow, looking directly at Dom. “Of course,” he said, beaming and kissing her on the forehead.
It all gave me butterflies in the best way possible. Some things were better left unsaid, but this thing I wanted to say wasn’t. I had to say it aloud. “I’m going to be Maria Morelli Deluca.” Yeah, it has a nice ring to it.