CHAPTER 11
Dominic and Nikki sat in her Benz on the side of the shop, waiting for Brian. "Dom, what did you see in our bedroom?" "I don't want to talk about it, babe. I just want that little girl in our arms and to get to a hotel tonight. Do me a favor, turn off my cell." She reached down and turned it off. Hers was still on and the battery was charged. "As soon as Brian gets here, we're going to drive around, I'm going to get out and get the baby and we'll split. But I don't want you out of the car, I don't want you to speak to him." "I don't understand any of this!!" "YOU DON'T FUCKING HAVE TO RIGHT NOW. DAMNIT NIK, DON'T PUSH ME RIGHT NOW." Dom had never yelled at her before and it left her terrified -- not of him at all but of what he must have seen in their bedroom, of what he found out. "Fuck -- I'm sorry, baby, but please." "It's okay, I trust you, honey." She put her hand gently on his thigh and he squeezed hers. Brian pulled in and Dom pulled around the corner of the store. Nikki sat silently in the car and prayed as she watched Brian hand over the baby. He barely spoke to Brian, just grabbed the diaper bag and got into the car. He locked the doors and drove away before she even had a chance to buckle the car seat. The baby was sleepy and was asleep within minutes. Nikki had a thousand questions to ask him but didn't say a word. Her phone rang and as she went to answer it, Dom put his hand on her leg. "Nik, turn off your phone." "But it's ..." "Our family is right here -- you and me and Daisy -- turn it off now." Nikki turned the phone off and threw it in her purse. He stopped at a convenience store and bought all new bottles and formula as well as diapers and everything else he could think of and then threw out the entire diaper bag. Nikki was totally startled. "Dom ..." "Not right now, sugar. When we get to the hotel, after a little while, I promise. Your battery is still hot?" "Yeah, should I charge it?" He nodded and she plugged it in. He drove into Beverly Hills and got them a suite at the Château Marmont. She kept quiet, holding the baby for a long time while he ordered them dinner without asking her what she wanted. She put Daisy down in the crib the hotel provided and noticed the waiter thanked "Mr. Richardson". Oh, what was going on -- Nikki didn't know how much she could take of this silence. He looked at her. "I put us under another name, if you need anything. Richardson. I forgot to tell you. And I don't want to talk yet, okay?" She nodded and walked out of the room and back into the bedroom and watched Daisy sleep. Suddenly Dom wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." "Please ... please talk to me." He led her out of the room and held out a chair for her where their dinner was. "Let's eat first. Neither one of us has had anything since lunch and we're gonna be up at six with Ms. Early Riser." Nikki tried to eat the delicious filet mignon but it didn't have any taste -- nothing did. "I can't -- I'm sorry." Dom hadn't eaten much of his dinner either. "Baby, I know who is doing this but I don't know why or what to do and I feel like a fucking loser for not figuring this out sooner." "Who and why did you get rid of the formula and what was in our room and ..." "Nik, come with me." He smiled and stood up and sat with her on one of the plush couches. He pulled her into his strong arms "Let me tell you slowly and settle down -- let's not wake her again tonight, okay?" She nodded. "It's Letty, honey. It's fucking Letty." "No, it can't be ... she loves Daisy, she and I are friends and ...." "I know it's her. It all fits -- Nik, Letty can't have a baby. And the black roses? Letty has a black rose tattooed on her ass -- I can't believe I didn't remember right away but I haven't thought of her ass in a long time." Nikki smiled through shocked tears. "I guess that is a plus." "Yeah, it is." Dom kissed her. "The dog -- she always called me a dog when I cheated on her -- it was like my second name. And even the pink spray paint -- Letty used that for a tag when she was growing up -- you'd see it on a telephone poll or wall and know it was Letty's work. She's always had a key to the house. Even the email about what should have been hers -- Letty has always said that kind of shit -- what should have been hers, what she was missing. She did tell me once she wanted to have my baby but she'd be willing to adopt or even use a surrogate and I told her I wasn't interested. Even that shit about being back in my bed -- it's her. And tonight, when I called Brian, he told me that Letty had gone to visit her mom and said she'd be back before the race was over. Well, what the fuck does that mean? First of all, Letty hates her mom with passion and wouldn't even go to the woman's funeral if she died -- she'd have a party, not that I'd blame her for that. And second, how would Letty know when the race was over if she was visiting her mom who lives all the way in Glendale? It just didn't hit home -- too much shit was going on all the time." "Did you throw away the diaper bag and formula because you think she was trying to hurt our daughter?" "I don't know what she's up to. Brian said she was at the garage." "Our bedroom?" "I don't want to tell you, Nikki." He looked her right in the eye and she was shocked that he was serious. "Dominic! How can you not tell me what is in our bedroom?" "Because Letty knows something about me that you don't and I didn't tell you and didn't want you to know. Fuck." Dom got up and got a beer out of the mini bar and asked her if she wanted one, she shook her head no. He drank all of it in almost one long swallow and got another. She was rather shocked. "Can't we skip this -- I know it is Letty and I'm gonna take care of it and of her somehow." Nikki looked away from him and outside at the lights shining in the curtains of the balcony. This was the first secret he had kept from her and although she had kept some from him when they first met, she had told him. He was keeping her in the dark about something that Letty knew -- it was driving a wedge between them and she could feel it already. "It's fine -- whatever. We've always agreed that the past stays in the past so have this secret with Letty and do whatever you need to get her away from my daughter. I am going to bed." Nikki started to walk out of the room and Dom grabbed her arm. She shook him off. "Goodnight, Dominic." She walked into the dark bedroom, checked on Daisy and stripped off her clothes. She went into the bathroom, left the lights off and got into a hot shower. He got in with her minutes later. He was behind her and she didn't turn around. "Listen, just because you've got a hard on doesn't mean I am in the mood right now. I'm tired and I'm angry and I'm trying not to be. Have a few more beers and go to bed, Dom." She kept her back to him. Then suddenly she heard it, a long sigh filled with the deepest mourning and grief. She turned to him to discover tears in his eyes. "Dom! What?" "She hung herself." "Letty?" Nikki was so confused. "No, not fucking Letty -- my mom. Oh God, Nik -- " Dom sat down in the shower and she turned off the water, kneeling between his well muscled legs. "When I was a kid something happened to my mom -- emotionally she just shut down -- remember hearing Mia talking about our Mom turning her back on us?" Nikki nodded, running her hands on his arms and cheeks, trying to give him support. Here she thought he and Letty shared some sort of sexual secret or something else -- not this. "She just turned off and we were left alone and I had to take care of Mia and then Letty too when my dad wasn't home. One day we all went to school and I got out earlier than they did because I used to cut my last two classes and I found her. We used to have a green house in the backyard and she was hanging in there. She had been dead all day." Dom broke down into tears and Nikki wrapped her arms around him, pulling her close to him. This tub was not as big as theirs and they were pushed tightly together. "Oh fuck, what am I doing? Let's get out of here -- you're going to catch a cold." He got up and pulled her up, too. They slid into bed and he told her the rest. "That was why Mia wanted to talk to me -- she's afraid she'll turn away from her child like our mother did. And what Letty left in our bedroom --- was a --- - " "Dom, don't -- don't -- it's okay, I don't have to know, I'm not mad at you." She kissed him all over his face, kissing away tears that were there, that he had been holding back for so many years. "She left a doll hanging and it had a note on it that said 'Your mother died because you couldn't take care of her. You can't take care of that bitch and your baby either. You should be taking care of me.' And I knew right then it was Letty. I can't believe it took me so long to figure this all out." Nikki was crying now and Dom held her. "It's all lies, you know that. You couldn't take care of your mother and you are taking care of me. You couldn't take care of your mother and you are taking care of me. No one in my entire life has ever taken care of me but you, Dominic, and you are the most wonderful father. And if all this sex we've been having hasn't created a second child in the Nikki/Dominic household, I'll be amazed." He laughed and offered to try again. "Wait -- what do we do about Letty?" "I'm going to call Vince now and her mom. Someone's got to have her committed again." "Again?" "Another fucking secret, but I swear, it is the last one and I only didn't tell you about it because you two were finally becoming friends. Letty had to be put in the psych ward for a few months when I went to jail. She just snapped. That's why I'm so angry I didn't see it coming or realize who it was right away." "That poor girl -- she has had such a rough life." "I didn't make it any easier, either." "You know you did -- you weren't the best guy to her, but Dom, you did give her love and friendship and attention. She's just still in love with you, and probably with Vince, too. Why don't you go and make the calls and I'll keep the bed warm." He got up and turned to her. "And keep yourself warm too -- I want another baby, woman and I am king of this castle and what I want goes!" She threw a pillow at him and laughed. Another baby?? But then she looked at her daughter, so gorgeous, so perfect. A little brother or another girl? It didn't matter, it would be Dom's baby and that was all that did matter to Nikki. Her husband and her child and more .... she couldn't think of a better life.
CHAPTER 12
"It's a boy!! I've got a son!!" Brian was screaming in the waiting room and the entire team crowded around him, Dom hugging his brother-in- law. Nikki came out, rubbing her back.
In another part of the hospital, Letty sat staring at Vince. She hadn't said one word in seven months. No matter how much therapy or drugs they used, they couldn't break the spell she was under. Everyone on the team came to visit, even Dom and Nikki, but it did no good. She was lost in a world all of her own.
Back in the nursery they all crowded around the newborn and Brian. "You know, watching her give birth and all that pain and gross stuff, I think I've changed my mind about a second baby." Nikki said and Dom laughed and rubbed her rounded stomach. "I think you're about seven months too late for that thought, girl." He kissed her tenderly. "But we can discuss it when we're ready for number three!"
THE END
Dominic and Nikki sat in her Benz on the side of the shop, waiting for Brian. "Dom, what did you see in our bedroom?" "I don't want to talk about it, babe. I just want that little girl in our arms and to get to a hotel tonight. Do me a favor, turn off my cell." She reached down and turned it off. Hers was still on and the battery was charged. "As soon as Brian gets here, we're going to drive around, I'm going to get out and get the baby and we'll split. But I don't want you out of the car, I don't want you to speak to him." "I don't understand any of this!!" "YOU DON'T FUCKING HAVE TO RIGHT NOW. DAMNIT NIK, DON'T PUSH ME RIGHT NOW." Dom had never yelled at her before and it left her terrified -- not of him at all but of what he must have seen in their bedroom, of what he found out. "Fuck -- I'm sorry, baby, but please." "It's okay, I trust you, honey." She put her hand gently on his thigh and he squeezed hers. Brian pulled in and Dom pulled around the corner of the store. Nikki sat silently in the car and prayed as she watched Brian hand over the baby. He barely spoke to Brian, just grabbed the diaper bag and got into the car. He locked the doors and drove away before she even had a chance to buckle the car seat. The baby was sleepy and was asleep within minutes. Nikki had a thousand questions to ask him but didn't say a word. Her phone rang and as she went to answer it, Dom put his hand on her leg. "Nik, turn off your phone." "But it's ..." "Our family is right here -- you and me and Daisy -- turn it off now." Nikki turned the phone off and threw it in her purse. He stopped at a convenience store and bought all new bottles and formula as well as diapers and everything else he could think of and then threw out the entire diaper bag. Nikki was totally startled. "Dom ..." "Not right now, sugar. When we get to the hotel, after a little while, I promise. Your battery is still hot?" "Yeah, should I charge it?" He nodded and she plugged it in. He drove into Beverly Hills and got them a suite at the Château Marmont. She kept quiet, holding the baby for a long time while he ordered them dinner without asking her what she wanted. She put Daisy down in the crib the hotel provided and noticed the waiter thanked "Mr. Richardson". Oh, what was going on -- Nikki didn't know how much she could take of this silence. He looked at her. "I put us under another name, if you need anything. Richardson. I forgot to tell you. And I don't want to talk yet, okay?" She nodded and walked out of the room and back into the bedroom and watched Daisy sleep. Suddenly Dom wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." "Please ... please talk to me." He led her out of the room and held out a chair for her where their dinner was. "Let's eat first. Neither one of us has had anything since lunch and we're gonna be up at six with Ms. Early Riser." Nikki tried to eat the delicious filet mignon but it didn't have any taste -- nothing did. "I can't -- I'm sorry." Dom hadn't eaten much of his dinner either. "Baby, I know who is doing this but I don't know why or what to do and I feel like a fucking loser for not figuring this out sooner." "Who and why did you get rid of the formula and what was in our room and ..." "Nik, come with me." He smiled and stood up and sat with her on one of the plush couches. He pulled her into his strong arms "Let me tell you slowly and settle down -- let's not wake her again tonight, okay?" She nodded. "It's Letty, honey. It's fucking Letty." "No, it can't be ... she loves Daisy, she and I are friends and ...." "I know it's her. It all fits -- Nik, Letty can't have a baby. And the black roses? Letty has a black rose tattooed on her ass -- I can't believe I didn't remember right away but I haven't thought of her ass in a long time." Nikki smiled through shocked tears. "I guess that is a plus." "Yeah, it is." Dom kissed her. "The dog -- she always called me a dog when I cheated on her -- it was like my second name. And even the pink spray paint -- Letty used that for a tag when she was growing up -- you'd see it on a telephone poll or wall and know it was Letty's work. She's always had a key to the house. Even the email about what should have been hers -- Letty has always said that kind of shit -- what should have been hers, what she was missing. She did tell me once she wanted to have my baby but she'd be willing to adopt or even use a surrogate and I told her I wasn't interested. Even that shit about being back in my bed -- it's her. And tonight, when I called Brian, he told me that Letty had gone to visit her mom and said she'd be back before the race was over. Well, what the fuck does that mean? First of all, Letty hates her mom with passion and wouldn't even go to the woman's funeral if she died -- she'd have a party, not that I'd blame her for that. And second, how would Letty know when the race was over if she was visiting her mom who lives all the way in Glendale? It just didn't hit home -- too much shit was going on all the time." "Did you throw away the diaper bag and formula because you think she was trying to hurt our daughter?" "I don't know what she's up to. Brian said she was at the garage." "Our bedroom?" "I don't want to tell you, Nikki." He looked her right in the eye and she was shocked that he was serious. "Dominic! How can you not tell me what is in our bedroom?" "Because Letty knows something about me that you don't and I didn't tell you and didn't want you to know. Fuck." Dom got up and got a beer out of the mini bar and asked her if she wanted one, she shook her head no. He drank all of it in almost one long swallow and got another. She was rather shocked. "Can't we skip this -- I know it is Letty and I'm gonna take care of it and of her somehow." Nikki looked away from him and outside at the lights shining in the curtains of the balcony. This was the first secret he had kept from her and although she had kept some from him when they first met, she had told him. He was keeping her in the dark about something that Letty knew -- it was driving a wedge between them and she could feel it already. "It's fine -- whatever. We've always agreed that the past stays in the past so have this secret with Letty and do whatever you need to get her away from my daughter. I am going to bed." Nikki started to walk out of the room and Dom grabbed her arm. She shook him off. "Goodnight, Dominic." She walked into the dark bedroom, checked on Daisy and stripped off her clothes. She went into the bathroom, left the lights off and got into a hot shower. He got in with her minutes later. He was behind her and she didn't turn around. "Listen, just because you've got a hard on doesn't mean I am in the mood right now. I'm tired and I'm angry and I'm trying not to be. Have a few more beers and go to bed, Dom." She kept her back to him. Then suddenly she heard it, a long sigh filled with the deepest mourning and grief. She turned to him to discover tears in his eyes. "Dom! What?" "She hung herself." "Letty?" Nikki was so confused. "No, not fucking Letty -- my mom. Oh God, Nik -- " Dom sat down in the shower and she turned off the water, kneeling between his well muscled legs. "When I was a kid something happened to my mom -- emotionally she just shut down -- remember hearing Mia talking about our Mom turning her back on us?" Nikki nodded, running her hands on his arms and cheeks, trying to give him support. Here she thought he and Letty shared some sort of sexual secret or something else -- not this. "She just turned off and we were left alone and I had to take care of Mia and then Letty too when my dad wasn't home. One day we all went to school and I got out earlier than they did because I used to cut my last two classes and I found her. We used to have a green house in the backyard and she was hanging in there. She had been dead all day." Dom broke down into tears and Nikki wrapped her arms around him, pulling her close to him. This tub was not as big as theirs and they were pushed tightly together. "Oh fuck, what am I doing? Let's get out of here -- you're going to catch a cold." He got up and pulled her up, too. They slid into bed and he told her the rest. "That was why Mia wanted to talk to me -- she's afraid she'll turn away from her child like our mother did. And what Letty left in our bedroom --- was a --- - " "Dom, don't -- don't -- it's okay, I don't have to know, I'm not mad at you." She kissed him all over his face, kissing away tears that were there, that he had been holding back for so many years. "She left a doll hanging and it had a note on it that said 'Your mother died because you couldn't take care of her. You can't take care of that bitch and your baby either. You should be taking care of me.' And I knew right then it was Letty. I can't believe it took me so long to figure this all out." Nikki was crying now and Dom held her. "It's all lies, you know that. You couldn't take care of your mother and you are taking care of me. You couldn't take care of your mother and you are taking care of me. No one in my entire life has ever taken care of me but you, Dominic, and you are the most wonderful father. And if all this sex we've been having hasn't created a second child in the Nikki/Dominic household, I'll be amazed." He laughed and offered to try again. "Wait -- what do we do about Letty?" "I'm going to call Vince now and her mom. Someone's got to have her committed again." "Again?" "Another fucking secret, but I swear, it is the last one and I only didn't tell you about it because you two were finally becoming friends. Letty had to be put in the psych ward for a few months when I went to jail. She just snapped. That's why I'm so angry I didn't see it coming or realize who it was right away." "That poor girl -- she has had such a rough life." "I didn't make it any easier, either." "You know you did -- you weren't the best guy to her, but Dom, you did give her love and friendship and attention. She's just still in love with you, and probably with Vince, too. Why don't you go and make the calls and I'll keep the bed warm." He got up and turned to her. "And keep yourself warm too -- I want another baby, woman and I am king of this castle and what I want goes!" She threw a pillow at him and laughed. Another baby?? But then she looked at her daughter, so gorgeous, so perfect. A little brother or another girl? It didn't matter, it would be Dom's baby and that was all that did matter to Nikki. Her husband and her child and more .... she couldn't think of a better life.
CHAPTER 12
"It's a boy!! I've got a son!!" Brian was screaming in the waiting room and the entire team crowded around him, Dom hugging his brother-in- law. Nikki came out, rubbing her back.
In another part of the hospital, Letty sat staring at Vince. She hadn't said one word in seven months. No matter how much therapy or drugs they used, they couldn't break the spell she was under. Everyone on the team came to visit, even Dom and Nikki, but it did no good. She was lost in a world all of her own.
Back in the nursery they all crowded around the newborn and Brian. "You know, watching her give birth and all that pain and gross stuff, I think I've changed my mind about a second baby." Nikki said and Dom laughed and rubbed her rounded stomach. "I think you're about seven months too late for that thought, girl." He kissed her tenderly. "But we can discuss it when we're ready for number three!"
THE END