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 – eventually
Chapter 23
The next day:
Letty finished a quick shower and changed her clothes at the gym after her yoga class before going to meet Kelly and Sarah for brunch at eleven-thirty. She drove a few miles and parked across the street from a café, grabbing her purse of the passenger seat with an eye roll. God, she hated purses.
She walked inside and found them already seated near a window. "Tell me I'm not late", she insisted breathlessly, leaning down to give Kelly a quick hug.
"You're fine", Kelly laughed. "By some miracle, I actually got out of the house on time. I haven't even ordered a drink yet."
Letty flashed a smile, and settled into the booth as their waitress approached. The women ordered their drinks, and Kelly asked for chocolate milk for Sarah before requesting a few minutes to look over the menu.
Letty reached over to ruffle Sarah's hair, "Hi, cutie." She looked over at her friend. "It's been a few weeks since we've gotten together. Things have been so busy. What's going on?"
Kelly raised an eyebrow. "No deflecting. I'm not the one with news", she smirked slightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about", Letty murmured, hiding her grin behind her menu.
Kelly laughed. "Stop it! Dish!"
"Okay!" she chuckled.
0
Two and a half hours later, Letty unlocked her apartment and let herself in. "Dom?"
"In the kitchen", he called back.
She saw her son was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, and she reached over to ruffle his hair, pausing to lean against the arm.
"Hey, bud."
"Hi, mom."
"Did you have breakfast?"
"Daddy made scrambled eggs and toast."
"Lunch?" she wondered, looking at her watch. It was just after one.
"I'm not hungry yet", Aiden shook his head.
She nodded. "Okay. Come let us know when you are. I'm gonna go talk to your dad."
"Okay."
"How was your yoga class, and brunch with Kelly?" Dom asked as she headed into the kitchen.
"Brunch was interesting. And you can let me know how yoga is working out later", she smirked, sliding herself against his chest and looping her arms around his neck loosely.
He grinned and leaned down to kiss her. "I missed you at breakfast."
She tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think we have a lot of breakfasts in our future."
"Yeah?"
Letty nodded, smiling slightly.
"Good. Me too."
0
"Do we have to?" Letty grumbled, resting her head on Dom's shoulder while they sat on the couch.
He grinned and ran a hand through her hair. "We had a plan yesterday."
"I'm rethinking it."
"Chicken", he teased.
They had cleaned up from lunch and Aiden was playing in his room.
"Let?"
She looked over with a sigh. "You wanna do this now?"
Dominic nodded. "Come on."
Letty shrugged and followed him down the hall to their son's bedroom.
Aiden was in the middle of building something elaborate with his Legos on the floor when they got to the doorway.
"Hey, buddy. Your dad and I want to talk to you about something."
He eyed her a bit warily. "Am I in trouble?"
Letty cocked an eyebrow. "Have you done something you weren't supposed to?" she countered.
"I don't think so..."
Dom bumped her shoulder playfully, and she buried a laugh. "You're not in trouble", he shook his head.
"That was mean, Mom", Aiden frowned at her.
She grinned and took a seat on his bed, letting her legs stretch horizontally across the mattress so she could lean against the wall. "I'm sorry. Come sit by me for a minute."
Aiden got up and made a spot for himself against the headboard. Letty glanced at Dom who was still leaning in the doorway watching their ritualistic shuffling with a bit of amusement. "There's room for you too", she gestured to a spot on the bed with a grin.
"Only if you want to break the bed", he rolled his eyes.
"Well, grab a chair or something. You hulking in the doorway like that is making me nervous."
He smirked and went back into the dining room. Aiden had a desk in his room, but it was kid-sized and the chair was definitely too small.
"Daddy's the Hulk?" Aiden giggled.
Letty chuckled. "Maybe you can talk him into dressing up for Halloween this year."
"Not happening!" Dom called down the hallway.
Five minutes later, they were all sitting in Aiden's room, and Dom and Letty were silently arguing over who was going to start the conversation. She rolled her eyes finally.
"Aiden, do you remember for school last year when you had to write about your family?"
Letty ignored the skeptical look Dominic was giving her.
"Yeah", he nodded.
"I told you that the three of us were a family no matter what… even if your dad and I weren't together, or we didn't live in the same house."
She saw understanding pass over Dom's face, and managed to keep her smug look to herself.
That hadn't nearly been the whole conversation though. It had taken nearly an hour to explain why they couldn't put Leon, Jesse, and Vince on the family tree too if he had to talk about his parents and grandparents, and aunt. Letty had agreed to 'fix' the tree after his teacher graded it and gave it back. The construction cut-out of the tree was now hanging in his bedroom at the Toretto house, and the paper he had written was taped to the wall above his desk here.
"Dom, you could help me out here."
He shrugged. "I thought you were doing alright."
She stared until he huffed out a laugh. "Fine", he chuckled, turning back to look at their son. "We understand that this is all you've really known. We've always tried to make the right decisions for you no matter what... Basically what we're saying here is that your mom and I are working on making it good for the three of us to be together again."
Letty and Dom traded looks for about ten seconds of silence, letting their kid figure all this out. They'd never given him the responsibility of dealing with their issues, but this decision affected all three of them, so for once, they were laying some things out.
"Are we gonna live together?" Aiden asked finally.
Letty covered a half smile. "Eventually that's the plan, bud. But for right now I just means that you and me are both gonna spend more time with your dad, and he's spending more time with both of us. You okay with that?"
"Heck yeah!"
Dom snorted, and Letty rubbed between her eyebrows, vowing to smack Vince upside the head later.
Then their son narrowed his eyes suspiciously in a way that was all Mia, and they knew they were in for it. "Does that mean you guys are gonna kiss and stuff?"
He made the same face he'd made last time Letty had tried to get him to eat spinach.
She smirked. "Hey, just because you've never seen us kiss doesn't mean we haven't. How do you think we ended up with you anyway?"
Aiden shrugged. "Daddy said all I'm allowed to know about that right now is that the Car Gods left me on his tool box."
"Oh, Daddy did, huh?" she said mirthfully.
"Busted", Dom muttered.
Letty grinned. "I'll give you points for not telling him to ask me. But I think you and I should revisit the scenario later", she winked. Then she peered down at Aiden and ruffled his hair. "It's okay if it's weird for you for a while. We're all gonna have some time to get used to this, alright? And if you want to talk to us about anything you know you can, okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
"Okay?" she repeated poking him playfully making him giggle.
"Okay!"
Dominic grinned, watching the impending tickle-fest begin.
"Daddy, help!"
And that was his cue.
00
"So, how do you think it went?"
Aiden was in bed, and Letty had just finished her shower. Now she was perched on the edge of the cedar chest she had inherited from her grandmother, pulling a comb through her hair gently.
Dominic watched her lazily from where he was sprawled in her chair.
Letty quirked an eyebrow. "You're staring at my legs", she accused knowingly, looking down at herself.
"So?"
She was wearing a black and purple lacey camisole and matching boyshorts panties. Her silk black robe was sliding off one of her shoulders.
"You didn't answer my question", she teased, stretching her legs out playfully.
"What-? Oh, our talk with Aiden?" he wondered absently.
"Mhm", she hummed.
"It was fine, Let. You worry too much."
"I'm the mom. It's kind of my job to worry", she grinned.
"You're damn good at it. I love you for that."
"Don't get all sappy on me now", she murmured. "We're getting our family back in order. Let's handle this first before we go in the direction you're thinking."
"You know what I'm thinking?" he raised an eyebrow.
Letty nodded. "Yeah, I do. And we'll talk about when the time is right."
Dominic nodded. She was right. There would be plenty of time to talk about expanding their family once things were more settled.
"So", he shrugged, changing the topic. "You got anything to say about the latest bit of news?"
She frowned. "What news?"
"How did Mia manage to sneak a boyfriend past my radar?" he growled.
"Don't be so hard on your sister. Brian's a decent guy."
"Excuse me?"
"Dom-"
"So, you knew about Mia's boyfriend", Dom said flatly. "And you met him."
"Don't give me that look", she shook her head, a bit amused that he was actually mad. "I asked her to invite him over for dinner. I figured I would filter. That way Mia had someone on her side when you and Vince get out of hand."
"Hey, now-"
Letty folded her arms across her chest, "Really? You're going to try this with me? You know you guys get way too over-protective."
"You don't think I have the right to be concerned about my sister?" he snapped.
Both of her eyebrows shot up. "You and I both know that your father is more than capable of scaring someone into nearly shitting their pants if he needs to. He's a freaking enforcer, man."
He smiled slightly, then groaned and rubbed his forehead. "But I'm her big brother", he whined.
"Yeah, well, you're acting like a big baby", Letty smirked.
Dominic grabbed both ends of the untied sash of the silk dressing robe that hung down to her thighs and tugged her into his lap with a growl. "You're supposed to be on my side", he complained teasingly.
"I am", she sighed, making herself comfortable and resting her head on his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna tell you when you're being stubborn. And I would let you know if he didn't deserve her. He treats her like a princess, Dom."
"Really?"
Letty smirked. "Yeah. Stares at her all googly-eyed when she's not lookin'."
"So, basically you're saying I have to be nice?" he grumbled.
"I'm saying give him a fair shot. And don't be surprised that he doesn't scare easily", she chuckled.
He squeezed her waist. "You were doing some intimidating, weren't you?" he scolded with a grin.
"Maybe…" she allowed, laughing and batting his hands away.
Her lips found his and he kissed her deeply. "Thanks", he murmured.
"I told you", she whispered against his neck. "I'm always on your side."
"Tell me what I need to know", he asked finally.
00
A/N: Oh, my god, I know! This has taken forever, and it's shorter than I wanted it to be, but having Brian pop in at the end of this chapter just wasn't working for me. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things now! I do have the next few chapters at least plotted out for the most part, so it should be easier to write and update like normal again. Thanks for bearing with me here. Even if I've popped out a few pieces in the meantime, I know you've all been waiting for this story to make a comeback!