Hey, guys! I'm back! It's been a while, I know, I apologize. Works been hectic, my dad and my best friend are still recovering and my migraines have been getting worse—thankfully I've finally got an appointment next week with a specialist, so hopefully can get that all sorted. I've also felt a little disheartened from coming on here because there's been a lot of negativity in some fandoms I'm in...Between authors and reviewers and it just kinda sucks, because I know some amazing authors who have taken down their stories and are now refusing to post anymore because of it. Really sucks :( We gotta be there and support each other, you beautiful people!
Anyway, on with the story!
Dom didn't get much sleep that night.
Not that he usually got an unbroken night of sleep, but tonight it wasn't because of a nightmare, or a dream, or Hadley.
He hadn't seen Letty in almost five years and now she was moving back. As far as he was aware, Letty had completely cut off everyone when she had moved—even Mia. Dom knew that his sister blamed him for her best friend hightailing it out of Los Angeles, and if things hadn't been completely crazy at the time, it would have been a point of contention. As it was, the siblings had been forced to grow up quite quickly and they had relied heavily on each other to get through, so Mia really didn't have time to be angry with him. She had mentioned Letty a couple of times; she had recieved phone calls on her birthday and at Christmas, but from what he knew, that was as far as their contact had gone. Letty didn't even have a Facebook, which was strange in and of itself in this day and age, when everyone was on social media. Or at least, if she had a Facebook, she had hidden it well, because on the rare occasion he logged into his and typed her name into the search engine, nothing came up.
Around one o'clock Dom gave up trying to sleep and got up, padding down the stairs in just his sweatpants and going into the lounge.
For a long time he had thought about selling his family home and using the proceeds to buy something else. He didn't care what, he just wanted to get him and Mia out of there. But she had talked him out of it, reminding them of all the memories they had there. Sometimes it was like she was the older sibling; she was definitely more emotionally mature than he was. When their parents had died, he had completely closed down and shut everyone out. He had functioned, but he hadn't processed anything. In fact, nothing seemed to sink in until almost three months after the fateful day, when Letty had left.
There was broken light from the moon falling through the netting over the windows and it provided enough for Dom to make out the photos on the mantle piece. It had been almost two years before he let his sister put the photos back up, and now he was glad that she did. The large photo in the center was of his parents, Tony and Amanda Toretto, on their wedding day. It wasn't one of the photos taken by the professional photographer, but by one of the guests. Dom remembered his dad talking about the photo—it was taken during his best mans speech and the bride and groom were looking at each other, both of them smiling, completely enraptured by each other. Tony was just staring at Amanda, this look of complete love on his face, and Amanda was grinning back. Dom loved the photo and ran his finger across the bottom of the frame, a heavy feeling in his stomach.
The photo to the left was of Dom, Mia, Brian, Jesse and Vince, taken two months ago. Everyone was smiling widely at the camera except Dom. He remembered his sister looking at the photo after she had it printed for him and giving him a sad look. He hadn't really understood at the time, but when he had looked at it after he had gotten it.
His smile just wasn't the same as it once was.
To the right was another favorite photo.
Him and Letty.
It was on her eighteenth birthday, and she was wearing a long white dress with cut outs in the sides, revealing her flawless, tanned skin. He was wearing a button down shirt that he had brought specially for the occasion and a pair of clean jeans, and his smile was so wide it looked like it was going to break his face in half. Letty was mid laugh, her eyes sparkling and her bangs falling in front of her eyes.
Dom could never look at that photo for long, but he couldn't take it down.
It made him feel better, knowing that she was right there with him; even if it was just a photo.
And then as he lifted his eyes, his lips turned up as he took in the clutter of photos that he had of Hadley. The light of his light. There was a photo of Hadley wearing a bumble bee outfit that Mia had dressed her up in for Halloween, there was one of her in her bathing suit in the blow up pool he had set up for her in the back yard, and then three others just of his baby looking adorable.
Sharing the photos and things that happened with Hadley through the day with Mia and his boys was good, but it just wasn't enough.
It wasn't the same as sharing them with someone who loved Hadley as much as he did.
Dom swallowed the lump that was welling in his throat and shook his head, trying to get out of his head. He rubbed his hand over his forehead and turned to go back up the stairs. It was likely his girl was going to wake up in a few hours, and if he didn't get at least an hour or so of sleep, he was going to be the walking dead tomorrow.
"You can tell him, you realize," Brian lifted his eyebrow at Mia, who was buzzing around the kitchen, getting her lunch ready for the day.
"You didn't know him when he had Letty," Mia replied as she shut the container with her sandwich and put it into her handbag. "He was a completely different person. After my parents and Letty, he was just never the same. Having Hadley definitely brought him out of that dark place he disappeared too, but when you loose the person you love, it's something you can't just replace." Brian watched her carefully before tilting his head to the side and giving her a slightly unnerved smile.
"You're not talking from experience there, are you, babe?" He asked. Mia laughed and came around the table to where her boyfriend was sitting, dropping a kiss to his mouth.
"Brian O'Conner, you are the only man I have ever loved," she promised him. Brian grinned back at her and then resumed their previous conversation.
"So what's gonna happen when he finds out that you're going out with her? That she's back this weekend?" Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He's not going to find out," Mia replied as she leaned back against the bench.
"He's not going to find out what?" Dom asked, appearing at the doorway between the lounge and the kitchen, Hadley in one arm and and the diaper bag slung over his shoulder. Mia's lips parted in surprise and she looked over to Brian for help, but her boyfriend just grinned and ducked his head to eat his breakfast.
"How do you know we're talking about you?" Mia teased. "You and your ego. Anyway, it's none of your business." She walked over to her brother and niece and brushed her finger against Hadley's cheek, and the baby leaned into the touch with a satisfied sigh. "How's our girl?"
"Well, she still has that cough and a bit of a runny nose," Dom twisted his mouth. "So I'm coming back a bit earlier today, I have her booked in at the doctor's at three."
"Aw," Mia reached out her hands and took Hadley from her brother. "It's probably just a summer cold."
"I'm still getting her checked out," Dom replied. Mia grinned as she bounced Hadley up and down.
"You're such an over protective daddy," she teased him. He rolled his eyes as he took the diaper bag off his shoulder and dumped it on the ground. "Okay, well I'm going into town around twelve but I should be back by three. And I've got a class tomorrow, so do you know what you're going to do with our girl?"
"Yeah, I've got a day care that I'm going to try out. I'll take her in tomorrow, see if she likes it. If she does, she can start going more, give you back your life."
"Come on, Dom," Mia gave him a stern look. "That's not how I view it."
"I know. Because you're too nice," Dom grinned and reached over to give her a kiss on her forehead. "You ready to go?" He asked, looking over at Brian.
"Yup," Brian replied through a mouthful of cereal. He shoved the last spoon into his mouth and got up, putting his bowl in the sink and grabbing his wallet and keys off the bench. He gave Mia and Hadley a kiss each and then followed Dom out. Mia picked up Hadley's little hand and waved it up and down.
"Bye, daddy," she cooed out in a squeaky voice. "Bye, Uncle Brian." Hadley giggled at her aunt's words and pulled her hand away to tangle it in Mia's long, dark hair. Dom and Brian were at the car now, getting inside and turning on the engine. Mia kissed Hadley on the cheek and then turned around and headed back toward the lounge, where her cellphone was charging. "Now, we don't tell dad about this, okay, baby girl? Because he would throw a bitch fit." Mia winced and shot another look down at her neice. "That better not be your first word." Hadley gave her a gummy smile and waved her hands about, tugging at Mia's hair as she did so. Mia picked up her phone and swiped right at the text that had come through earlier. When the screen changed, she clicked the icon of the phone and held it up to her ear. Hadley started wriggling in her arms and Mia put her down in the fenced off area in the corner with her piles of toys. The ringing stopped in Mia's ear and it clicked through as someone picked it up. "Letty?" Mia asked.
"Hey, Mi," Leticia Ortiz breathed down the phone.
"God, Letty," Mia felt a stupid smile break out across her face. "It's been forever."
"I text you last week!" Letty protested.
"Yeah, but you haven't called since mum and dad's anniversary last year," Mia replied. She felt a wave of sadness rush over her at the thought and quickly squashed it down, focusing on the fact that her best friend was on the other end of the line. "Anyway, I'm totally free this weekend. And even if I wasn't, I'd make it free."
"Yeah, you would. I'm too big of a deal to pass up." From the teasing tone, she could practically hear Letty smirking into the phone.
"Is it just going to be us?"
"Uh yeah, there's going to be one other chick. She got the same promotion that I did," Letty continued. "Her name's Gisele."
"Is it algood if I bring Ramsey?"
"Yeah, the more the merrier," Letty answered. "Anyway, I'm just about to head into work now, but I'll see you in a couple days."
"Absolutely."
"Oh, uh, and Mia?" Letty sounded hesitant for the first time since getting on the phone, and uncertain wasn't really a trait that Letty often exuded. "Have you told Dom?" Mia bit down on her lower lip, looking down at Hadley, who had a plastic teething ring in her mouth and was gnawing away happily. "Mia?"
"Yeah, I told Dom yesterday," she answered. Letty was quiet for a moment.
"How was he?" Mia twisted her mouth, trying to think of the right thing to say. In the end, she went with the truth.
"He was surprised," she murmured.
"I better go," Letty told her, sounding distant. "I'll catch you later, Mi."
"Bye, Letty," Mia replied, before pulling her phone away from her ear and ending the call. She walked over to where Hadley was playing and the girl looked up at her, blinking her big brown eyes. "Well, baby girl. Things are about to get a whole lot more interesting around here."
Now there's been heaps of things that have gone on the past few months I haven't posted and I was wondering what to put up here! So these things both relate to SDCC—by the way, if anyone knows where to get Bob Morley's hat, let me know ;)
First thing is, have you guys seen all the trailers that came out? Whoop whoop whoop! Deadpool and Suicide Squad look amazeballs. Margot Robbie looks like a perfect Harley Quinn and I've already got her theme song picked out in my head. Haha.
Second thing was the tribute to Jared Padelecki. That was beautiful and made me want to cry! When they all lit up candles and handed him a note...Mental illness is horrible and he has done such an amazing job at raising awareness and assuring people that it's nothing to be ashamed about. He seems like such a beautiful person :)
That's all from me today! Let me know what you all think. And remember, if you review, you get a preview of the next chapter xx