A/N: Four chapters left. (:

Chapter 26: Blindsided

One month later...

January, Monday, Los Angeles High School, 7:30AM

Dom walked into his classroom and immediately sat his gym bag on the swivel chair. Doing a double take, he noticed that another bag was already there. He did a sweep around the room, thinking that maybe a student came in early to get a headstart on their car, but no one was there.

Shrugging, Dom took a healthy gulp from his steaming coffee while he wrote a greeting on the dry-erase board. A few moments later, the sound of heels clicking into the room forced him to stop writing. Narrowing his eyes, Dom began his admonishment.

"Girls, how many times do I have to tell you: heels are not appropriate auto-." Dom stopped as he turned around from the board.

A tall, thin, extremely beautiful woman stood in the room, one hand on her hip and her eyebrow cocked in a challenge.

Wow, he thought.

"You are?" Dom inquired.

The woman walked towards him with her hand out. "Gisele Harabo. The new mechanics teacher."

Hesitantly, Dom shook her hand, confused at this new turn of events. "Dom Toretto."

"Nice to meet you, Dom Toretto."

Dom took a few moments to try to place her accent, and when he finally gave up, he wondered aloud, "Brazilian?"

"Israeli, actually." She smiled, her pearly whites shining. Dom nodded his head.

"Okay, so, down to business. First class of the day is an advanced class. They pretty much take care of themselves. They'll pull their cars around and immediately begin to work on them." He paused to make sure Gisele understood. "Normally, they like to research things before they ask us for help, but that shouldn't stop you from doing a walkthrough while they work. You know, give out some advice or whatever."

"Alright."

"And the classes after that are beginner and intermediate courses. Those focus mainly on bookwork and tests, but they like to see what the advanced class is working on from time to time. Periods four and six have pop quizzes today on the brake-line system."

"Sounds simple enough."

Dom smiled. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

That was the same assumption he'd made when he first began teaching the class. Gisele would, much like he had, come to learn that there was much more to teaching a bunch of hormone-charged teenagers.

Dom & Letty's apartment, Saturday, 4:42PM

While Letty sat on the couch, folding clothes and watching the marathon of a highly addictive reality show, she paused to reflect on how domestic she'd become. Meanwhile, behind the couch, Dom was doing his daily two-hundred push-ups (though Letty secretly knew he cheated in his counts most days).

"One-ninety-nine..."

One-ninety-six, Letty mused, rolling her eyes. Though he couldn't see the gesture, it was satisfying nonetheless.

"Two-hundred." Dom declared and jumped up into a standing position. Heading to the kitchen, he opened the fridge in search of a bottled water. Moving the orange juice to the side, he spotted one lone bottle of spring water.

"You want something to drink, babe?" He inquired as he perused the cold cabinet for his favorite lunch meats.

"Yeah, uh," Letty shrugged and threw one of Dom's folded shirts back into the laundry basket, "milk?"

Dom's fingers stopped pushing things aside in the refrigerator. And Letty stopped folding the jeans in her hand. Slowly, they turned to look at one another.

"Milk?" Dom repeated.

"Oh god." Letty replied. Her hands were suddenly trembling and she dropped the jeans onto the hardwood floor. Breathing suddenly became an issue and Letty started to hyperventilate. Dom was by her side in seconds, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

"Let, slow breaths." He put her hand on his heart so she could feel the rise and fall of his chest. "Come on, breathe like me. Breathe with me. In and out."

Slowly, but surely, her breathing returned to normal and she leaned into Dom's chest. "Oh, god." She repeated. "Dom."

"Letty, we don't know for sure. I mean, just because you want milk, doesn't mean you're pregnant again, right?"

Letty shot him a look. "When have you ever known me to choose milk over a soda or iced tea?"

"Just..." he paused, "when you were pregnant with Lailah."

"Exactly."

Dom angled his head to the side. "Well, let's take a test, first, before we start freaking out."

The brunette nodded in her agreement. She reached for Dom's hands, her fingers closing around his, tightly. "You're right."

"Besides, if you are, it'll be a good thing." He kissed her forehead. "Nothing will go wrong."

"You can't know that! You can't promise things like that." Abruptly, she was frantic again. Letty stood up, nearly clunking the top of her head against his chin in the process, and began pacing the floor.

"Letty," he grabbed her wrist to stop her pacing, "I can. And I am. Nothing. Will. Go. Wrong. You just have to believe it."

"Do you believe it?"

"I do." Dom assured. "With all of my heart."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"'Cause we've got our own little guardian angel. That's how."

He pulled her back down onto the couch and wrapped his arms around her. For the next five minutes, he felt her body begin to relax against his embrace, and he was sure that she was beginning to believe his words, too.

Monday, Meyer and Bray Medical Center, 2:20PM

"...so, I'd say you're about a month along. No more than that." Dr. Meyer was saying. Letty suddenly had tunnel vision and hearing. The words 'you're pregnant' resounding like a chant in her ears. Half of her was terrified that something would go wrong with this pregnancy as sell.

What if she lost this baby, too? How much could heartbreak could she and Dom take? What if she was never able to have children?

The other half, however, was immensely excited.

What if she was overreacting? What if everything went perfectly? Then she'd have another piece of Dominic Toretto forever.

While fifty-percent of her wanted to freak out, Letty focused her attention on Dom's strong hand that was caressing her back in a random pattern.

"Is there anything that we can do to ensure a... healthier pregnancy than last time?" Dom asked. Letty was grateful that he was the one to ask. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep her voice from cracking.

"Well, just eat healthy. Maybe even try going organic. Take your prenatal vitamins, which I'll write you a prescription for. As far as genetic testing, we should wait until the second trimester." Dr. Meyer informed them.

Dom and Letty nodded in unison. Sensing their tension, Dr. Meyer placed a gentle hand on Letty's shoulder.

"Smile, Letty. Everything will be okay. Nothing will go wrong. We'll take excellent care of you."

Letty felt a small amount of the weight on her shoulders being lifted. Dr. Meyer had spoken almost the same words that Dom had nearly 72 hours ago. Maybe they were both right. Maybe things would go perfectly this time. She would do everything she could do to make sure things went the way they should.

Sending a quick prayer to Lailah, Letty pushed her worries to the back of her heart and mind and decided to focus on just being a happy, fat, pregnant woman.

Up Next: Letty crossed her arms over her sore breasts. "Funny. You never mentioned that you had a new co-worker, Dominic."