Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Domi
Holding the phone in place with her shoulder, she finished her explanation to Marcus.
“So, you want him to come to dinner on Wednesday?” he asked, sounding a little dubious. She supposed it did sound a bit weird when she left out all the kinky sex stuff.
“Yes. Or a Wednesday when he can. Sometimes, he has to work evening shifts.” Why did that still feel so hard to say?
Maybe because Marcus’ approval meant something.
Yeah, her parents’ approval had meant something, but her mami wasn’t very picky at this point, and they were far away.
She had to deal with Marcus every week and finally realized part of the reason she’d wanted to keep Mitch and Ana separate had been because she’d been scared to have this conversation with Marcus.
Scared if he didn’t approve of the guy she was dating, it would upset the balance of their co-parenting or worse, even cause custody issues.
Even though she hadn’t had any reason to think Marcus would be a hardass about her dating or introducing a guy she was serious about to Ana, she’d been scared of the possibility.
It was a sobering revelation how fear had ruled so much of her life without her realizing it.
Asking Mitch to a Wednesday dinner so Marcus and Julia could officially meet him was her first step in integrating him into part of her life, although she hadn’t told him what she was doing.
She figured she’d wait to see how Marcus felt, then talk to Mitch about it.
He’d been great about not pressuring her to let him meet Ana right away, though that may have more to do with him having to go into work right after brunch and barely getting to see each other after that, so she didn’t want to get his hopes up.
This way, she’d be able to tell him either he was invited, or she had at least initiated the process of getting Marcus and Julia comfortable with the idea.
“And you’re serious about this guy?” Marcus still sounded a little dubious, and Domi couldn’t blame him.
She’d never brought a guy around before and hadn’t mentioned Mitch to him before Ana’s birthday, though he’d heard plenty about Murse Mitch from Ana.
“How long have you two actually being seeing each other?”
She bristled at the question, but she got it, so she tamped down her automatic defensiveness and thought back. Well, if she counted the time they were fuck buddies, which was when they’d been building the relationship…
“Holy shit. Months.” She sounded shocked, even to herself. How had that happened? The time had sped by faster than she’d realized.
“Months?” Amusement crept into Marcus’ voice. “Did you just realize that?”
“Well, we’ve only been official for about two months.
” This time she didn’t bother to hide her defensiveness.
“We were seeing each other, mostly exclusively for about six months before that. I guess I never really added it up. I’ve known him for longer than that.
We were friends before we started… seeing each other.
” She wasn’t really sure she should call what they’d been doing as bondage buddies as ‘dating.’
Though it had been… they’d rarely gotten together for just a quick fuck. They’d always talked, joked, and enjoyed spending time with each other, even when they were casual.
Damn.
They’d been building a relationship, and she hadn’t even noticed until now.
“Well, then we’d be happy to meet him. Officially.”
“Really?” Relief flooded through her.
“Should I be insulted you’re so surprised?
” Marcus chuckled. “You’ve been seeing the guy for months, Domi.
You obviously have strong feelings for him.
While last Wednesday might not have been the best first impression, any guy who can convince you to give him a second chance…
well, I kinda assume he’s in for the long haul. Plus, Ana will be thrilled.”
There was that. Domi felt almost saggy with relief as she sat back on the couch. After saying goodbye to Marcus, she laid there for a long moment, feeling like she’d run a marathon.
She was still nervous as hell, thinking about including Mitch in her family time, but it was the right step. The next step if she wanted a serious relationship with him, and she did. Why was change so scary, even when it was a good change?
Maybe because it was so out of her control.
A submissive with control issues. Though, she guessed it made sense. She’d hardly be the only submissive who enjoyed giving up control in the bedroom because she felt like she had to be in control everywhere else.
The front door slammed open, taking her by surprise. Domi jumped up with a small cry. Spinning around, she stared at Rae, who stared back at her. Despite her dark skin, she somehow managed to look pale, and her dark eyes were wide and almost frightened. Domi had never seen her look like that.
“Someone bought my book.”
“What?”
“I looked at my sales dashboard, and someone bought my book.”
They stared at each other for another long moment as what Rae said sank in.
“Oh my God!” Squealing, Domi raced around the couch, throwing herself at Rae. Once they were hugging, Rae finally responded, starting to bounce up and down with Domi in happy excitement. “Someone bought your book!”
“Someone bought my book!”
“Someone bought your book!”
“Someone bought my book!”
“I told you so!”
“Woman…”
Mitch
Waking up next to Domi was the best kind of morning.
He’d come over late the night before after his shift.
Domi had invited him over to help her and Rae celebrate Rae’s first book sale.
He didn’t tell them he’d been the one to buy it as a gift for his mom.
What? She liked romances. He wasn’t sure if she read romances with two men usually but doubted she’d object.
Plus, it would give his dad something to worry about if his mom told him what she was reading.
And if she liked it, she’d tell her friends.
She was in a book group with a bunch of other women her age, and Mitch had overheard them talking before.
They were a bunch of filthy perverts, despite their white and grey hair and normally prim demeanors.
Mitch wasn’t sure how dirty Rae’s book was, but going by the cover, he guessed it would be at least a little dirty.
Head resting on the pillow next to Domi, he studied her features. She was snoring, very softly, and her curls were a rumpled mess. Soft. Vulnerable. He doubted she’d appreciate hearing either word used to describe her. Content to watch her sleep, he felt warmer, happier than ever.
Last night, she’d invited him to dinner with her family. While he couldn’t go tonight, he’d be able to next week. Scary in its own way but exciting. They were really doing this.
Her phone went off. Unlike him, Domi didn’t have extra ringtones, but she used the ones provided by her service to assign to different people.
Mitch recognized Marcus’ tone immediately, and so did Domi.
Before Mitch could move, she was lurching toward her nightstand, hand outstretched, and he wasn’t sure she was actually awake yet.
“Hello?” Voice thick with sleep, there was still a fair amount of panic, and Mitch felt his own worry surge, feeding off of hers. Apparently, she hadn’t been expecting a call.
With her phone pressed against her ear, the high-pitched voice—a woman’s, so it must be Julia—was muffled, so Mitch could only make out a few words here and there, probably because he was so used to hearing some of them, Ana… throwing up… doing… sick…
He was already moving when Domi put down the phone, stumbling to her feet, half asleep and half-panicked.
“Julia says they’re all sick and throwing up… thinks it’s the flu or something… I gotta go, I’m sorry.”
Mitch snorted and shook his head. He already had his pants on and was picking his shirt up off the floor.
“Get dressed, Domi. I’m going with you.”
“But… you don’t have to do that.” She seemed confused. Mitch wished it was because she was asleep, but he had a feeling she’d be the same way if she was fully awake. It was a reflex to be so self-reliant, thinking she had to do it on her own. They’d work on that.
“Domi.” He exerted a little authority in his tone, enough she halted her movements and stared at him wide-eyed. “Get dressed. I’m going with you. They’re sick, right? I’m a nurse. And your boyfriend. I’m going with you.”
“Oh.” She gave herself a little shake and started moving again. There was a little frown on her face as if she was trying to figure out why he wanted to go with her. Exasperating woman. “Okay.”
Domi
Bringing Mitch had been the right thing to do, even though it felt weird. In her head, she’d been thinking she shouldn’t bring him over until after the official meeting, but she hadn’t been able to come up with a good reason to argue.
I don’t want you to feel like you have to take care of me or my family.
I don’t want to be a burden.
She had no idea where these worries were coming from.
Single mom guilt? Too long being on her own without leaning on someone else?
Hell, she would have told Rae to stay home, not wanting to risk infecting her.
That’s what she had texted Rae when she’d remembered to send her an update.
She’d brought up that same point when she and Mitch were already in the car, and he’d reminded her he probably had a better immune system than she did and told her maybe she should be the one to stay home.
After that, she hadn’t pointed out any more reasons for him to stay away.
“He’s a good guy,” Julia murmured. Sitting next to Domi on the couch, one hand on her belly, which was more clearly rounded in her fitted shirt than it had been in the dress she’d been wearing last week, she winced as the sounds of Marcus throwing up again came from the bathroom.
Thankfully, Julia seemed the least affected, though that might partly be because she was already on anti-nausea medication for her morning sickness.
She was running a fever, though, and was weaker than usual, so Marcus hadn’t let her help him in the bathroom.
Then Ana had woken up and started throwing up, and Julia had called in reinforcements.
Now Ana was lying with her slightly sweaty head on Domi’s lap while Mitch helped Marcus in the bathroom. Even tucked under a thick blanket, she was shivering.
“He is,” Domi agreed, stroking her daughter’s hair.
From Ana’s even breathing, she’d managed to fall back asleep, which was probably the best thing for her.
Domi had already called the pediatrician this morning and been reassured the most likely cause was a stomach bug that seemed to be doing the rounds.
“I owe you an apology.” Julia’s words were quiet but sincere.
“You don’t.” Domi reached out to hold Julia’s hand. “I can’t imagine how difficult it was for you when I showed up with Ana, but you welcomed her, loved her, and never treated her as anything other than your daughter. That was all I ever wanted.”
“I could have been nicer… should have been.” Julia let her head roll, so she could look at Domi. “It wasn’t your fault, either. I was just so jealous… and worried. If you’d wanted to take Marcus from me, you could have. I knew he always felt guilty about not ‘doing the right thing’ and—”
“Hey, hey,” Domi cut her off, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. I love Marcus as a friend, but honestly, he’s more like a brother to me now than anything. We would have been miserable together. He was always meant to be with you.”
“Thank you. I’d like it if we could be friends, too. I’m sorry I wasn’t ready before. I think it took me a while to really believe you wouldn’t eventually want to make your family whole.”
“Well, if I’d known all I had to do was make you feel better was to bring a man around, I would have started dating ages ago,” Domi said, teasing a little.
Julia laughed. It was a weak laugh because she was clearly exhausted, but it was still a laugh.
“Seriously, I feel lucky Ana has such a wonderful stepmother. I think we have a great co-parenting relationship, and I’d love it if we made it even better. ”
“And is Mitch going to be part of the family, eventually, do you think?” Julia’s fingers remained in Domi’s, keeping a loose but emotionally significant grip. It felt odd to be holding hands with the other woman but good—a sign of a better future together as a family.
“You know…” Domi winced as she heard Marcus throw up again and the low murmur of Mitch’s reassurances. It seemed Marcus had gotten the worst of the bug. “I really think he might be.”