Hello all, sorry it took me so long to update. School is a bitch and I also got sick this past week and was NOT able to function properly. I tried writing but when it all came out like gibberish I gave up. I hope you enjoy the chapter, things will start picking up soon when I get the time to let them. PLEASE let me know what you think!!!!

-11-

Weeks seemed to pass by and it was closing in on the summer months in New Mexico. Dom had surprised Maria by not letting her out of his sight. They spent almost every other day together, getting to know each other verbally as well as physically. He also spent a lot of time getting to know Luca as well. When Maria would leave for work during the week, he would stay most nights with Christine and help her with the growing kid.

Luca was absolutely thrilled with Dom's presence. He helped the boy with his homework, played sports with him (which was much better than mommy because mommies don't play sports like boys do), introduced him to some E-rated video games, as well as introduced him to the rest of the crew. Many nights, Dom would pick Maria up from work and she'd come home to see Vince sleeping on her couch, Leon on her floor, Mia and Christine in her bed, and Jesse curled up with Luca in his small twin.

It seemed like an odd arrangement, however everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves – especially Maria.

The sky was bright and blue and the entire landscape reflected the sun's energy. Maria was in the passenger seat of her car with Dom at the wheel and Luca in the back seat. Two more cars were following them on the highway. It was Luca's seventh birthday and Dom was taking them plus the crew and Christine to a Water Park, since it was about one hundred degrees and only nine a.m.

He was holding her hand on the gearshift, happy to cruise along in her Charger – even if it was automatic – with the windows partially down and music playing softly in the background. He watched her staring out the window with a soft smile on her face, watching as the landscape rolled by her on their way to the Park. Her hair had gotten much longer it was now a bit below her shoulders. When she let it hang naturally, it was thick and fell in soft waves around her face, with short bangs cascading over her features.

He had tried his hardest to discover everything he could about her, so he could know her inside and out – and he'd done a pretty good job. He spent most of his nights playing twenty questions with Luca, who didn't mind talking about himself or his mommy – always done with extreme compassion and awe. He learned her favorite color – purple – favorite movies – Die Hard – her dream job – a psychologist/counselor or a professional dancer – where she had grown up and gone to high school, the sports she loved, her favorite music – Dave Matthews Band – and anything else she was willing to tell him. He returned the favor as well, talking more about himself than he felt like he had in all his life. Though he knew that Vince and Mia probably knew the rest of this stuff, he knew it didn't matter to them like it did to Maria. She was constantly trying to add a little color in his life. She would do silly things like draw stick pictures of ridiculous scenes either from the racing community or life in general and leave them post-it-noted on some place he wouldn't find it right away. She would have Luca do coloring pages and she'd sit there and color one for herself as well and she'd be mock-upset if he didn't put it on his fridge with the rest of their artwork. She was unlike any other woman he'd ever met. She knew how to be wholesome and caring while still able to be relentlessly sexy and almost feral when the time came. She was tenacious, intelligent, and beautiful. He was beginning to think that he might actually love her.

The thought caught him in his chest and Maria noticed that he jerked the wheel slightly. She tried not to laugh too hard, pretending to pay more attention to her son who was speaking a mile a minute in the back seat about some new TV show. She was bewildered by his mere existence in her life. He was constantly around and supportive of her. He would make dinner for her and Luca constantly and try to let Maria get extra sleep while he walked to get Luca from the bus stop. He asked her questions about herself that she realized no one but Christine had ever even mentioned. He would leave her little notes in random places and as silly as it seems, call her to tell her about any new jokes he had heard. She was surprised by his ability to be so compassionate and was amazed by the way he and Luca got along. He was a good friend to him without being undermining to Maria and he was a stabilizing force in both of their lives. She couldn't help but wonder who he really was – when she first met him, he was all sexual ferocity and bravado, and now he was turning into something like a boyfriend. She realized that her feelings for him were probably too strong but she couldn't stop herself. She knew she loved him though she wouldn't admit it to anyone else. He was the first man in her life to really truly care about her and try to be there for her and she was confounded.

They finally pulled into the parking lot of the water park and Luca was basically vibrating in his seat. He was wearing his Ninja turtle swim trunks and a black Hurley t-shirt that Leon and Jesse had purchased for him as well as large knock off Ray Ban sunglasses from Vince that made him look like a Blues Brother. Mia had bought him a brand new towel and some free movie tickets and Dom had sprung for the trip to the Water Park – as well as a new Gameboy DS. Maria had sprung for a few games that were educational (Sudoku and Brain Quest) as well as Geometry Wars, because, lets face it, the game was cool.

"We're here!!!" Luca squealed and started attempting to climb over the seat that his mother was still currently occupying.

"Young man, sit down!" Maria said firmly and he dropped onto his behind. "I know you are excited, but please be careful and behave, this is an extra special present from Dom and you should be on your best behavior."

"Yes mommy." He smiled, still vibrating. Maria looked over at Dom who was trying not to laugh and she rolled her eyes and got out of the car with Dom at the same time. Dom pulled the seat forward and Luca leaped from the car towards the water park. Dom caught him in flight and put the boy back on the ground, where his feet were anxiously bouncing waiting to get started on the walk over.

"This is your responsibility." She glared at Dom pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I know and I promise to behave," He smiled, "But this guy," He said lifting a squealing Luca over his shoulder, "Gets whatever he wants today!" He laughed and Maria looked apprehensive.

Luca caught the look, "But only if mommy says its ok!"

They both looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Suck ups." She muttered and grabbed her bag that held her towel, sunscreen, and some reading material. Dom locked up the car and tossed her the keys to put in her bag. The other cars pulled up and parked and their whole entourage started falling out behind them.

"I haven't been to a Water Park since we were in high school Maria." Christine laughed, lugging her bag over her shoulder.

"I don't think I've been to one ever." Jesse said. He was so thin, but still managed to pack on a bit of wiry muscle. He was also paler than everyone else in the group, "I think its because my man-tan would impress the ladies too much."

Vince, Leon and Mia followed behind them, carting all of their belongings from the car.

They walked into the Water Park, which was flooded with families and kids of all ages running around in bathing suits with their wet feet – it was enough to give Maria a heart attack. She looked back to find Luca and tell him he wasn't allowed to run while wet or she'd take him home and froze when she saw him holding Dom's hand, both of them with huge smiles on their faces. Her heart pitter patted and she felt like a tear was going to pop out and she was glad that she was wearing sunglasses. Christine slid up to her side and slipped her hand into hers.

"He's a keeper." She said softly and kissed Maria on the cheek. Maria nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She really had to get these emotions under control before she exposed herself too much and scared him off. She promised herself she wouldn't tell him how she felt until he did – not wanting to scare the man into a relationship and even worse, a family.

They found a few seats located between the kiddy park and the ever-flowing river that went around the whole place and camped there. Everyone started stripping down to their skivvies, the men removing their shirts and posing for the girls who laughed until they almost cried. Luca ran off with Leon and Jesse while Vince went to the bar to grab some drinks for everyone. Christine and Mia took off their sundresses and started packing on the tanning oil, their bodies gloriously dark and contrasting with the bright colors of their suits. They laid down on their toweled chairs and began to soak up even more UV rays.

"Maria!" Christine rasped, "Take it off or I'll take it off for you!"

Dom turned at that and pointed a finger at Christine, "That's my job."

She scoffed, "Shows how much you know." And Mia and Maria laughed.

She looked at Christine hesitantly. It seemed like a great idea buying this suit when no one else was around and they had a bottle of champagne down their throats, but now Maria was extremely nervous.

"Ok, but no laughing!" She said, pointing at everyone, "I haven't been in a bathing suit in God knows how long!"

Dom sat down directly in front of her and pulled out a single and held it in his teeth. She whacked him in the head, only relatively hard, but grabbed the dollar bill and stuck it in her pocket. She pulled off her dress, but quickly put it up in front of her to hide herself. All that Dom noticed was that it was white.

"Come on Maria," He growled, anxious. "Look, I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He smiled and stood up, pulling up his shirt in a mock strip tease.

She pushed at his chest and he sat back down, laughing. She rolled her eyes and glared at Christine, "I hate you for making me buy this!"

"But Dom will love me." She smiled behind her sunglasses that took up half of her face.

She groaned and shut her eyes tight and then let the dress fall out of her hands. She opened her eyes to look down at Dom and he was just smiling, ear-to-ear, with that look in his eye.

"You look amazing." He said and stood up, letting his hands slide down her sides. The bathing suit was white. It had a halter-top with a sharp v-cut neckline that connected between her breasts with a modest sized dark opalesque shell. It accentuated her tan and her breasts beautifully. The bottoms were a modest boy cut that rounded her hips and played up her toned ass. Christine was right, he loved it.

She involuntarily shivered at the look in his eye and smacked at his chest again. "It's not too much?" She said quietly.

He chuckled, "Its definitely too much." He said and she looked nervous, "I'd prefer you in nothing."

A sandal hit him on the back of his head, "EWW!! GROSS!" Mia shouted.

Christine threw Leon's shoe and hit him in the back, "Move! You're blocking the view!!"

He laughed and stepped out of the way and the girls hooted and cheered for Maria. She blushed bright red and put her sunglasses back on. She sat down on the chair and watched Dom as he pulled off his shirt and dropped it in the bag, sliding his Oakley's back on and taking a seat next to her. He reclined back and decided to rest his eyes a bit, listening to the girls chatter about some book Maria was reading.

"I love that series!!" Mia squealed.

"Me too!" Christine said, "Morelli is hot."

"Nuh uh, I'm all about Ranger." Mia said. They got into an argument about which character was hotter and turned to Maria.

"Who would you do?" Christine said.

Maria just smiled and pulled down her sunglasses, "Easy! I'd do both of them!" She saw that Dom's eyebrow raised at that. "I'd do them both at once if they'd let me!" Maria and Christine laughed and Dom let an almost smile curl the side of his mouth. He still hadn't moved since he sat down.

A few moments later, Vince returned with a bucket of beers and a couple of sodas for everyone to share. It was absurdly hot and Maria took the bottled water instead of the beer or the soda – she didn't want to get dehydrated, since it happened to her sometimes.

She looked around and was pretty sure that Mia and Christine were asleep, luckily for them, they didn't have to worry about flipping over too much since they were already ridiculously dark. Maria was still a little uncomfortable in her bathing suit since Christine was starting to reintroduce her to the finer points of looking sexy while Dom was attempting to remind her how to feel that way.

He had his hand on her thigh, softly rubbing her skin with the pad of his thumb. He didn't look like he was paying strict attention so Maria flicked his fingers off of her.

"I don't want to get a tan line of your gargantuan hands on my thighs." She smiled.

He sat up and looked at her with a wicked smile. He was sweaty and gorgeous – Maria was overly tempted on licking him up and down. "Why does it matter? I'm the only one to see it anyways." He growled.

Maria rolled her eyes, "Maybe I'm just using you as my platform to get out into the dating world again." She stuck out her tongue at him – she was feeling very mature. Dom just smiled and laid back down, putting his hands behind his head.

Maria was about to lie back down and become more engaged with her book when she looked up for a moment trying to spot Leon, Jesse or Luca. She smiled as she saw Leon and Jesse running – a little miffed at them for being bad examples for Luca. She lifted her hand to wave to them but stopped.

Luca wasn't with them.

Her heart stopped beating.

She leapt out of the chair, scrambling over it and knocking people down as she ran to meet them, she basically launched herself at Leon, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him until Dom came up behind her and pulled her back, her hands were still shaking when they let go.

"Stop screaming, let the men talk." Dom whispered in her ear, kissing it softly.

Screaming? She just stared at Jesse and Leon, who were too busy looking mortified.

"We went down the slide first cause he said he wanted to go alone – and he could; he was old enough and tall enough. But when we went down he didn't follow us. Some other kid came down before him. So Leon ran back up and asked the lifeguard but the lifeguard said he walked back down the other way with a tall guy with dark hair – I mean fuck it coulda been Vince for all I know. I'm sorry, I don't know what to do. We talked to security and gave them his description and they are watching out for him." Jesse said without taking a breath.

"Luca?" was all Maria managed to say. She pushed off of Dom and started running around in circles. She couldn't hold herself together she was so terrified. Finally Dom get everyone organized enough to take off in different directions. Everyone had a cell phone and would call if they spotted him. Dom went with Maria because she still hadn't really caught her breath back.

She chose the direction in the opposite way of the slide he was on. She was walking so fast that Dom could barely keep up with her. Her entire body was buzzing, in tune and waiting for a response from her son's. She scanned the entire crowd watching all the small blonde framed faces cheerily smiling and playing with their parents and friends. Her heart started to beat slower as the seconds ticked by. She had never been so scared in her entire life.

Dom was next to her, muttering something, but she couldn't hear him. The world around her had seemed to fracture and the sound from the break was still echoing in her head. She was afraid her ears might start bleeding.

That was when she heard it.

Out of all the screaming children, she heard this one the clearest.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOM!" It wasn't like the rest of the yells, out of hunger, sleepiness, or want. This was a high-pitched keen of pure terror. And it was her Luca – unfortunately, she knew the sound too well.

Maria tore off in the direction of the sound, leaving Dom behind in her dust. She was tearing around corners pushing past adults and hurtling over smaller children, barefoot and still in her bikini, but she didn't care, all she wanted was her Luca.

She made a sharp turn and almost passed right by them. When she finally stopped and turned back to investigate the snap shot that occurred on her right hand side, she was horrified at what she saw. As opposed to what most people think when terror strikes, things do not slow down. They actually seem to speed up, however your body is entirely hyper-aware of every single detail that is occurring around you.

Like now, Maria felt like she was frozen in time, but all of the things she noticed were noticed between her fast, ragged breaths. A man, indistinct, but dark in his features, was holding onto Luca's waist and trying to get a hand over his mouth to keep the boy from screaming. Luca was gripping onto the black rod iron fence that encased the entire water park and yelling for all he was worth. It was over one hundred degrees and the bars had to be burning the poor boy's hands and arms. In the same moment he opened his mouth to scream, he saw his mother and his eyes widened in absolute joy, just a millisecond after, Maria saw the man's hand raise high in order to smack her son.

That was when time really stopped. Everything seemed to blur and the next thing she remembered was being lifted from behind by Dom and Vince's strong arms.

"Calm down," Dom had said and her heart finally stopped trying to explode through her chest. She looked down over her shoulder and watched as the security guards for the water park gathered up the man and took him away. But she didn't remember him looking like that.

How did there get to be so much blood?

Her arms were tense and her knuckles were throbbing.

"I'm going to put you down. Can you stand?"

She nodded, but she wasn't paying attention to him. She was looking for Luca.

"Mia and Christine have him." She felt the warm hands on her shoulders.

Why did she feel so cold?

"We need to get you cleaned up." He said softly and she felt him tugging at her. He pulled her into the nearest bathroom while Maria fought the daze that was trying to take over her body. She felt the cold water on her skin and she shivered, finally looking up at Dom who had his arms around her, helping keep her steady.

"Wha-What happened?" She said, the water soaking her through and making her feel like she was freezing. She couldn't stop shaking.

"Take deep breaths, its just the adrenaline."

"Is Luca ok?" She said sleepily, her face against his warm chest while the water flowed down around them. She looked at their feet and saw the red swirling around the drain. Am I ok?

"He's fine." He rumbled softly, holding her closer. "What happened was, you took off around the corner without me, running faster than I've ever seen anyone move. I don't know what happened after that, except you tackled the guy in a flying leap, pushing Luca back towards me. I handed him off to the security that was right around the corner while you basically beat the guy within an inch of his life." That was when he pulled up her knuckles, they were split open slightly and swelling. "I tried to peel you off of him but you wouldn't let me. It took me and Vince to get you off and by that time he had passed out – probably from sheer fright. I'm telling you, I was scared."

She shook her head. She remembered running and seeing Luca there, screaming, crying, while the man tried to pull him into the Employee's Only door. She remembered Luca screaming and then the man tried to hit Luca. She totally lost all thought after that.

"He tried to hit Luca." She said meekly. Her heart started pumping furiously again and she began to cry. Dom wrapped his arms all the way around her and held her very close to him, hoping that the blood would soon wash off and she would be able to stand.

He let her cry for a few minutes holding on to her while she composed herself. He had never seen anyone go into that kind of a frenzy before and take off on someone like that. He had heard her screaming at the strange man and watched as she relentlessly laid her knuckles into his face. The man would be fine but he'd have one hell of a broken nose and perhaps a few teeth missing. He wasn't even able to over power her even though she was obviously half his size. He wondered for a moment, when she had that look in her eyes, if he had looked the same when his father had died and he took the wrench….

"Dom?" She said softly and knocked him out of his memories.

"Yeah?"

"I need to see my son." She said quietly. He took a step back and looked her up and down to make sure that she didn't have any more blood all over her. As happy as Luca was that his mommy found him and saved him from the man, he didn't need to know the extent to which she went to get him.

Dom walked her back outside where the sun was too bright and the air was too dry, her feet now only registering how hot the cement actually was. It was quickly forgotten when she saw her Luca in Christine's arms, wrapped in a towel.

He wriggled out of her arms easily and took off running in Maria's direction. She ran towards him as well and scooped him up into her arms and held him as close as he could possibly get. She kissed him over and over again while he cried into her chest. She would never ever forget the feeling of his weight in her arms as a child. She would never forget the way his hair always smelled like vanilla and coconut. She would never be able to forget the way he said he loved her with his little arms wrapped around her neck.

She didn't realize it but she had fallen to the ground with him in her arms. She was holding him tight and rocking him now, telling him how much she loved him and how she would never let anyone else hurt him. She would protect him forever and ever.

Dom watched the spectacle and he was amazed. First of all he'd never known any woman who could handle herself like Maria – not even Letty. God knows Letty could fight, but Maria had something else. He had an easier time pulling Vince out of fights before and Vince was at least three times bigger than she was. She was brutal and strong and it was a whole new side to her that he had never seen. While she held her son he watched her closed eyes twitch with memories he didn't know about and saw the tears slide silently down her cheeks. He was amazed how the woman who a few minutes ago would have ripped out a man's throat with her bare hands was now holding her child tenderly and kissing away his tears. He didn't understand being a parent, but he understood how Luca felt. He knew fear and despair all too well and knowing that you will never see the one person you love the most ever again.

It was only then that he realized Mia was shaking his shoulder, "Dom. Can we take them home? People are starting to crowd."

He nodded solemnly and watched as Mia pulled Christine and the boys away to go pack up their stuff.

Dom walked over to them and lifted both of them up into his arms. Maria was still holding Luca in her arms and the kid was absolutely comatose. He was also growing rapidly and was getting to be too big for Maria to hold. His arms and legs dropped halfway down her body already.

"I'll take him." He said, putting out his arms after she got comfortably on her feet.

Maria simply shook her head and smiled at him, "I can't let him go right now. I need to hold onto him."

Dom smiled, "I understand."

He helped her into the backseat where she and Luca cuddled up and immediately fell asleep. Everyone else had loaded into their cars and had started on their way back home. Mia said she was stopping off to buy a large kiddy pool, a slip and slide, and a few other novelties in order to turn their back yard into a water park of their own as well as get a cake and some oven-made pizza for Luca's dinner. She figured while Maria and Luca slept, they would set it all up and get things organized so Luca could still have a wonderful birthday.

Dom had grabbed Maria and Luca's bags and thrown them into the front seat. He was driving slowly (for him at least) and trying to keep them from waking up. He looked back at them in the rearview mirror. She looked far too young to be so scared and be so haunted. He knew that she had some skeletons in the closet – but hell, who doesn't?

That was when something flashed in the corner of his eye and his gaze was brought to a white envelope in Maria's bag. It had no name on it so he was pretty sure it wasn't Luca's. He pulled it out and opened it up out of sheer curiosity.

Next time Alena, you may not catch him in time.

It was signed "T.R" with a flourish and it caught Dom's attention. A surge of rage passed through him and it took a lot of energy for him not to lose his temper. Someone was threatening her as well as Luca, who he thought of as part of his family. Whoever it was would not survive all of this because no one ever fucks with a Toretto and lives to talk about it. He took a deep breath and his vision went from red to back to multicolored. Rather than try to get an explanation now, he slipped it into his pocket. He would ask her about this later without Luca and without all the drama from earlier. He needed to know exactly what he was up against.