An End and a Beginning
Summary: They didn't work out the first time around, but they have something tangible between them that forces them to be in each other's lives forever. They are getting a second chance, but with Dominic and Letty, nothing comes easy.
Rating: M!
Chapter 20
Letty was dead asleep when her cell phone rang, lighting up and vibrating obnoxiously against the night table. She fumbled for it tiredly, saw Dom's name on the screen and shot up worriedly as she answered it.
"What's wrong?" she demanded, sans greeting.
"You know we've been worried about that stomach thing going around Aiden's school. He's got it", Dom said tiredly. "He's got a fever and throwing up. He wants you."
"Shit", she hissed, already shoving the covers off her and then flipping her closet light on and throwing some things quickly into a bag. "I'll be over in twenty. Did you call the doctor?"
"I did. Got the usual spiel, watch the fever, keep him hydrated."
"Okay", she sighed, slowing down for a brief second and raking a hand through her hair. "I'm going to stop at the twenty-four hour store. Text me a list."
"See you in a bit. Let yourself in."
She yanked on a pair of jean shorts and a tank top, shoving her phone into her pocket. She would have gone over in her pajamas if she didn't have to stop at the store first.
"Letty?" Trevor questioned sleepily. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry, go back to sleep", she muttered distractedly. "I have to go. Aiden's sick."
"You want me to come with you?"
"No. It's alright. Besides, you have a meeting in the morning", she waved him off, but leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I'll talk to you later."
He caught her hand before he pulled away. "Call if you need anything, alright?"
"Thanks", she was already grabbing her tote bag and purse. She appreciated the offer, but was more than anxious to get to her son.
0
It took her thirty minutes flat to stop at the store and drive across town and arrive at the Torettos. It was after two in the morning. Letty found the handle unlocked and the kitchen light on. Tony was walking back into the kitchen as she closed and locked the door behind her.
He offered her a hug after she set her bags down, "Hey, sweetheart. I made you some coffee. Gonna be a late night, I think."
She sighed and went to pour two cups. "Thanks, Tony. You can go back to bed. Dom and I can handle it."
"I'm sure you can. You and my son always manage to pull it together somehow", he smiled wryly.
"I'd better get up there. Thanks for holding down the fort."
"I do what I can", he chuckled. "Night, Letty."
Letty grabbed both coffee cups and went upstairs. She saw Aiden's bedroom light on through the half-opened door and headed in that direction, "Dom?"
"In here."
She pushed the door open and slid into the room silently to find Dominic crouched by the bed. Their son looking pale and listless wrapped around his stuffed frog.
"Oh, baby", she murmured softly. She set her mug on the dresser and handed the other to Dom as she sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through Aiden's hair.
"Mama?"
She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Don't feel good, huh?"
"I threw up."
"Three times", Dom added.
She made a face. That explained the scratchy voice. "Yuck. What do you think? Can I get in there and cuddle with you?" Letty asked, tilting her head.
The boy just nodded and it made her heart ache a little. She climbed over him carefully, leaned against the headboard and let him curl himself around her, head against her chest.
Dom stood up, making a gesture towards the vomit pail sitting on the end of the bed that had been washed out several times already. "I'm gonna go grab you a pillow", he said quietly.
He disappeared only briefly, and came back with a pile of blankets and pillows, dropping them on a blow up mattress that was pushed against the wall. She hadn't noticed it when she had come in, or the fact that the floor was clear. She reached for the pillow he handed her and shoved it behind her back gratefully. Apparently they were going to be doing some indoor camping tonight.
"Dig in those bags, would you?" Letty asked, pointing to the pile she had left by the door. "I bought some Pedialyte at the store. He's got to at least try to drink something."
Dominic was still hunting through her things when she felt the lurch. Letty sat them both upright as gently and frantically as possible, grabbing the pail just in time. She wasn't sure what the hell she was saying, but her voice was low, and calmer than she felt, as she rubbed the back of Aiden's neck.
Minutes later, she was handed a wet rag, and wiped off her son's face. Dom went to empty the pail again. When Aiden was sick he almost always only wanted Mommy, and Dominic got relegated to 'gopher guy', and 'Master of the Puke Bucket'.
He couldn't complain. He would prefer cuddling with Letty if he was sick too. When he came back, Letty nodded towards the shelves in the corner. "Grab a book. Maybe he'll get some sleep if we read to him."
Dom passed her a bottle of Pedialyte to work with and went to pick a book. He searched for a few minutes and grabbed a few before holding another up teasingly, The Little Engine That Could.
Letty rolled her eyes. "Only you and Vince could ruin a children's book so horrendously."
"You laughed."
"You didn't get the call from his teacher", she muttered wryly. After reading Aiden the book, Dominic and Vince decided to retell it in a version they called 'The Little Engine That Just Needed a Little NOS to Get Up the Damn Hill'. Ms. Bertram, his kindergarten teacher, had not been amused with their son's retelling.
Dom chuckled and put it back on the shelf. "Three Musketeers it is."
"The kid's version", Letty said exasperatedly. "Aiden's too young to hear the stories about all the trouble you and Vince got into with Hector."
He smirked. "I'm just gonna read the book. Chill out, mami."
She huffed, but pulled her legs up to give him room at the end of the bed and helped Aiden take a few sips from the plastic bottle. "Okay for now? Daddy's gonna read us a story." He nodded and she tucked his favorite blanket around him a bit tighter.
0
Neither of them could bear to leave their son alone while he was so ill, so they took turns leaving the room when they had to. An unexpected vomiting incident had Letty shooing Dominic off to the shower while she took care of the rest of the mess.
Twenty minutes later, after he'd taken his shower and gone to make another pot of coffee, Dom found himself leaning silently in the doorway of his son's bedroom. The low tones of the familiar Spanish lullaby barely carried into the hallway, but it brought him to a stop before entering the room.
He knew it was the song Letty's father had sung to her when she was a young girl. And she had started muttering it under her breath when Aiden was a baby – mostly during the teething stages when nothing else would make him happy.
Letty ran her hand over the top of their son's head as he leaned against her side sleepily. Dom waited another five minutes to make sure Aiden was asleep before he went into the room.
"Did you check his temperature again?" he asked quietly.
"One-oh-one point five", she sighed, maneuvering herself out of the bed carefully before fixing the blankets. "It's gone down a bit."
"Good."
Her hands raked over her face roughly. "I hate this", she whispered. "He's never been this sick before."
"Kid germs from school", Dominic said tiredly. "We can't do anything about it. Colds going around… He's gonna be okay. It just sucks."
"Yeah…"
He eyed her sharply. "Let, don't get all weepy on me now."
"I'm not- I just need a minute", she muttered, brushing past him in her haste to get out of the room. Dom followed like she knew he would, and she leaned against the wall near the door, letting it take her weight as he stood in front of her. "I hate not being able to do anything to make him feel better. I didn't know that having to wait it out like this was actually going to hurt."
"Hey", he nudged her foot with his own. "He's yours and he's mine. You know that kid's made of some tough stuff. We'll keep an eye on the fever tonight. If you want to take him to the doctor in the morning, we'll go. Okay?"
"Okay."
0
It was late that afternoon when they finally got Aiden's flu bug under control, and he was sleeping peacefully. Letty was leaning against the dresser like she wanted to just melt onto the floor. She was over-caffeinated and had the shakes from lack of sleep, fingers clenching into involuntary fists at random.
"Hey, go to bed before you crash", Dom said quietly. "I'll sleep in here for bit. If he wakes up, I'll come get you."
She raised an eyebrow, not comprehending much beyond the word bed. "What?"
"My room", he clarified. "Go sleep."
"Dom-"
"Stop trying to think so hard. You're too tired and going to short-circuit your brain", he rolled his eyes.
"Charming", she muttered wryly.
He grinned at her. She was still blinking at him rather stupidly. "Go on", he ordered, nudging her out the door. The woman didn't function well without sleep.
She stopped just briefly before entering his room. "Thank you."
00
Letty made arrangements for Aiden to spend Saturday night at her mother's house, something that happened on occasion. If Susana was suspicious, she said nothing.
She met Dominic at the pier, cars parked with a view of the ocean. They sat on the hood of his car eating take-out from the Italian restaurant.
"So… date night?" Letty asked with a bit of amusement.
He grinned at her. "We should probably pick that up again, don't you think?"
"How long do you think we're going to get away with this?"
"In this family? Not very long", Dom chuckled. "My nearly putting you over any of the cars you've been working on all week is completely beside the point."
She bit her lip to contain a smile. "You've been preoccupied?"
"That's not new", he said wryly.
"Oh, I know", she teased. "I've felt your eyes trying to burn holes in the back of my pants."
He smirked at her.
She winked at him and slid off the car. "Let's get out of here."
0
They fell back on his bed panting roughly.
"What the hell was that?" Dom asked breathlessly.
"What?" Letty panted with a knowing grin.
"The leg thing- I mean, you've always been super flexible, but damn."
"Oh, I've been taking yoga… for a while now", she said easily. "Didn't you know?"
Dominic blinked. "Yoga? You've been taking yoga", he repeated dumbly, leaning up on his elbow.
She giggled. "Yes."
"To kill me… you're going to kill me with yoga", he shook his head and dropped back on the bed with a groan. "Shit."
She snickered. "Did I actually wear you out?"
"No, I'm good", he insisted tiredly.
"Looks like it", she said sarcastically, pushing herself off the bed, ignoring the way her thigh muscles burned.
"Where are you going?" he yawned.
Letty pulled her underwear back on, and then tugged one of his tank tops over her head. "Downstairs, to get a water", she answered finally. "You want one?"
"Mm", he muttered agreeably into his pillow.
She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. And Dom called her a bad sleeper? Aiden did not get his sleep habits from her. She was the night owl, not the morning person. "I'll be back in a minute."
Letty made way through the house that was as familiar as her own silently, despite the darkness. She grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and slipped back upstairs and into the bedroom. She swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and set both bottles on the night table before crawling under the covers carefully.
Dom was lying on his back dozing lightly, one arm over his head on the pillow. Letty curled around him, head resting on his shoulder, arm sliding across his chest. She let out a sigh of contentment. "I love you", she murmured.
He smiled above her head. "What was that?" he teased, moving to run a hand through her hair.
She looked up and rolled her eyes. "I thought you were asleep", she accused, but stretched up to kiss his mouth.
His grin widened. "I've missed hearing you say that."
"I love you", she said again, then had a hard time controlling her laughter when he flipped her underneath him to kiss her breathless and they finally had to stop. She yawned, stretching languidly. "Okay, I'm beat. We should get some sleep."
They shifted around into a more comfortable position. Dominic nuzzled the side of her neck from behind her. "Love you too."
0
Early the next morning, Letty prepared to leave the house before Dominic's father woke up to get ready for work.
She went quietly down the carpeted stairs, and nearly got to the front door before she heard a throat clearing behind her. Letty turned to find Tony standing in the opening between the family room and kitchen.
"Shit", she hissed under her breath.
"Leticia, what an awkward surprise", Tony said wryly, mouth twitching.
Letty didn't think she had blushed so hard since she was seventeen. "I have the worst urge to beg you not to call my mother", she grumbled, hands covering her face.
He chuckled. "You two are adults, aren't you?"
"Like that means anything", Letty grinned.
"How the two of you handle your relationship is no one's business unless it will negatively affect everyone else. Your mother and I think we raised you kids well enough to make good decisions for yourselves."
"Well, I have to admit, Dom and I learned co-parenting from the best", she said quietly. Then Letty shook her head. "Since sneaking out is pointless, I think I'll just go back upstairs." She made a hasty exit, and shut herself in the bedroom, leaning against the door with a groan.
Dom turned to look at her, "Let? Weren't you leaving?"
She flopped back on the bed burying her face in his neck. "Just kill me", she whined.
He laughed. "What's wrong?"
"Your dad is in the kitchen", she muttered. "We talked. It was ten different kinds of embarrassing."
"I'm sorry?" he chuckled.
"You suck", she complained.
"Poor baby", he cooed, rubbing her neck. "Relax, get another couple hours of sleep, and then I'll make us breakfast."
She nuzzled his chest, "Sounds good."
00
A/N: Here ya go! Yay! This was sweet to write.