Fate's Redemption (5 page)

Her doctor’s visits are the only other time
she leaves our neighborhood of Los Rancheros. She’s let me share
her experience with the ultrasounds and I have to admit, seeing
that little baby move on a screen as her skin bulges is something
I’ve come to envy. Dominique, or Nicky now, seems detached from it
though. She acts like she takes more from my enjoyment of the acts
than anything. It’s worrying, but Danny and I agree that there’s
nothing that can be done. Dominique is adamant of going to college
as soon as she graduates in December.

We’ve looked at apartments and dorm rooms
online, and have sent in her paperwork to start after the winter
break. But what about the baby?

A few days before Christmas, just two days
after her eighteenth birthday, I’m making dinner in the outdoor
kitchen for everyone on the grounds when Deb comes rushing up the
steps. I drop the tongs in my hand, already running before she can
get a word out. Both of the kids were at the barn.

“What’s wrong?” I demand.

She pants and shakes her head. “The baby.”
That’s all I need to hear. Something’s wrong with Ollie and I’m
gone. I don’t remember running over the trail, the stairs down
hill, the barn stalls and horses shying away in surprise. I find
Phil, Deb’s husband beside Dominique on the ground, Ollie on his
hip looking alarmingly content.

“What’s wrong, tell Mommy where it hurts?” I
ask, snatching him away and running my eyes and hands over him.
Ollie, of course looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Oh, Kinley. Not Ollie, Dominique’s baby,”
Phil says over my ramblings.

“What?” I look to the poor girl panting in a
lawn chair beside me and feel horrible. “Oh my God! The baby?” I
push Ollie onto Phil and put a hand to her stomach. It feels like a
rock, and slowly untightens as she breathes through her mouth.

“My water broke. I think it’s time.”

My mind blanks. Holy shit, it was time? We
didn’t even have blankets except what I had in a gift bag in my
closet, yet there was going to be a baby?! She never wanted to buy
anything, but now there was going to be a person that didn’t have a
diaper or scrap of clothes to it’s name. The baby didn’t even have
a name!

“We should get her in the Gator, and up to
the house so that you can go to the hospital don’t you think?” Deb
asks, finally catching up to us.

“Right. You’re right, Deb. Up you go.” I hold
under her elbow and help her stand. Deb and Phil take Ollie, and I
drive Dominique to the house. To get up the hill in the vehicle we
have to go through the woods on paved roads and it takes two more
contractions before we get to the car.

“Your seats,” she says.

I wave her concern away. “Don’t worry about
that. Get in the car, we have to go.”

“Don’t you need your keys?” she asks.

I turn back to the house. “Right.” Jogging
into the house, I yell, “Rosa!”

Rosa comes out of the kitchen, of course. The
woman can’t help but feed people, even when I was making dinner for
everyone. “Dominique is having the baby. Ollie is with Deb.” I grab
the kitchen towel out of her hand. “I need this. Thanks!”

Running back outside before she can say
anything, I climb into the SUV as Dominique breathes through
another contraction. Once it’s over I ask, “Does it hurt?”

She shakes her head. “Not really. Like a
rubber band kind of, it just gets hard to breathe and I’m really
hot.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Here, I got you a towel. I
don’t want you to worry about anything right now but that baby.” I
turn on the AC, even though it’s in the forties outside.

The fifteen minute drive to the hospital
lasts an eternity. When we get there, she refuses a wheelchair so
we make our way slowly to the maternity floor where she’s admitted.
When asked my relation to her, I stumble but Dominique says,
“Mother,” as firmly as I’ve every heard her.

“Right.” I look to the nurse and say through
shocked lips, “I’m the mother.” Dominique thought of me as a
mother? I may cry. Yes, I probably am, but not right now because
she needs me. When we get her into a bed and nurses are flitting
around her, I hold her hand and call Danny.

“Hey, Kinley, love of my life. How are you on
this eve of Christmas Eve? Are you calling to tell me you’ve got a
sexy Mrs. Claus suit? Because I can tell you right now this Santa
is down to climb in your chimney any time.”

I turn away from Dominique as my face turns
beet red. “Danny! I’m at the hospital. Dom— Nicky is having the
baby.” I really hope the three nurses and young girl in the bed
didn’t hear him.

“Right-o! On my way. Where’s the other baby?”
he says, sounding unbelievably unalarmed. What the hell, were women
the only ones that freaked out? Couldn’t be.

“Ollie was with Deb, but I’m sure they took
him to Rosa. I can call—“

“Nope, I’ll call them. You focus there. I’m
on my way.”

They give Dominique something through her IV,
but it quickly becomes apparent it’s not enough. Since her water
broke she’s in it til the end, so they do the epidural. I try to
leave, but the girl has got a hell of a grip. They have her lean
all of her weight on me as they stick the biggest needle I’ve ever
seen into her back.

When she’s comfortable again, they let Danny
into the room. He’s been gone for two days, been on a plane for
hours and still looks delicious in a henley and worn jeans.
Baseball cap is of course on his head, he rarely goes without one.
The hat does nothing to disguise his identity, but he knew that.
Danny smirks knowingly when he sees me checking him out, along with
all of the nurses in the hallway that followed him in.

“Thanks, ladies. I’ve found my way.” He leans
down to kiss my lips hard and pulls a chair next to mine. “How are
you doing, doll?” he asks Dominique, completely ignoring the women
hanging in the door.

She nods with a little smile. “I’m good,
Danny. Thanks for coming.”

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss this for
anything.” Danny crosses one foot over his other knee and links his
hand with mine. I can hear his phone vibrating in his pocket, yet
he doesn’t reach for it once. He finds a soap opera that Dominique
likes and trash talks about the couples like a pro.

“That Margo, she’s bad news. I really hope
Hugh and Felicity get together, they would be perfect.” He seems to
know when to disagree with her to draw her out and when to go easy
and agree with her. I fall in love with him all over again watching
his draw out this terrified girl and make her laugh when she’s
about to give birth to her stepfather’s baby. Not that the dad is
an issue. The police had him sign away his rights in exchange for a
lesser charge and restraining order. We know that they don’t mean
anything, but the paperwork to legally change her name is already
in the works. With Dominique across the country, she will be safe.
It helped that this was the man’s second offense, so if he violates
the order he goes away for a long time and he knows it.

It takes seven more hours before the nurses
declare it’s time to push. I feel as worn out as Danny looks.
Dominique looks . . . checked out. As her body worked to get her
baby out, her mind seemed to drift off into another place. The TV
wasn’t working as a distraction anymore, so that got turned off.
The only sound in the room was the sound of the baby’s heartbeat
and occasional scratch on vinyl sound of the baby moving against
the monitor.

“Are you ready to push now, Dominique? Do you
feel pressure?” The nurse asks. She nods and tries to sit up.
“Wait, wait. Let’s get the bed ready. Mom, Dad, are you holding the
legs?”

Danny stands up and tries to walk out of the
room. “Oh, no. I’m just going to wait out here in the hall.”

“No, Danny. You can stand up here by my head.
I don’t want you to leave,” Dominique says, her face scrunching in
pain.

“Okay,” he says slowly. He’s been very
careful to keep his distance and never touch her besides the
handshake that first day.

He stands almost behind the head of her bed,
and I take a leg, my hands wet with nervous sweat. I feel like I
may pass out. Dominique’s face is a mask of concentration as she
pushes. And pushes. It’s a lengthy battle, but they are saying the
baby is huge and may have to be taken by c-section. I know by the
look on Dominique’s face that she’s not going to let that happen.
That would set her back from going to college in a couple of
weeks.

Danny steadies me with a hand on my back, as
I encourage her to breathe, to push, anything I can think of. I
have no idea if my words are helping, if she can even hear me. Her
face drips with sweat, as she shakes with the strain of her
body.

When the baby comes out, it’s with a cry that
splits my heart open, along with my eyes. I start bawling like it’s
my child that’s been born. The most beautiful cry from a mad little
person has me shaking with so much emotion I collapse against
Danny. That’s what I want, is my first thought. My eyes wont tear
themselves away from the infant, but I feel Danny’s hands on my
shoulders squeezing tight like he’s emotional too.

The nurses try to put the baby on Dominique’s
stomach, but she pushes him away. My heart stops as the blood
drains from my face. I stop breathing. What is she doing?

“That’s the mom and the dad. Give the baby to
them.”

My world takes a few seconds to come back
online. Finally I respond. “Oh, Dominique. No. This is your
baby.”

She rolls her head on the pillow, exhausted.
“When I look at that baby, it doesn’t mean the same thing to me
that it does to you. You’re the best parents a kid could ask for,
trust me on that.” Her eyes shine with tears, and she swallows.
“Please love my baby, because I can’t.”

With my mouth open and tears running down my
face, I turn to Danny to see him blinking back tears too. He looks
at me with hope in his eyes and I nod. Danny nods back and we turn
to the nurse with both of our arms outstretched. Everyone in the
room laughs at the over eagerness. The nurse places the baby in my
arms, saying to Danny that he has to cut the cord.

I gaze at the perfect little mouth, and
perfect little nose and immediately start swaying back and
forth.

“Look at you, Mom. You’re a natural. Do you
have any other kids?” the doctor asks as she throws something away.
I nod in a daze.

“Yes, I have a son.”

“Well, that explains it then.
Congratulations, you two.” Danny puts his chin on my shoulder and
we hold our baby together.

“Look at those fingers,” he says softly as
the baby wraps them around Danny’s thumb. “So strong.” He stands up
straight. “Wait, is it a boy or a girl?”

All of the employees in the room freeze,
before bursting out laughing. The doctor comes over to pat his
shoulder. “It’s a boy, Dad.” I guess Danny was doing such a good
job of not looking, he missed the baby’s gender.

He turns to me with wide eyes. “Oh, shit. You
got me a kid for Christmas. I’m never going to be able to top
this.”

“No.” I look to Dominique as she smiles
freely for the first time since I’ve seen her. “She did.”

"So we’re in the car. It's day one. The kids
are sad to leave their friends but we're excited!" I tell the
camera as I drive down the road. The camera is hooked up to a mini
tripod with bendable arms. I have it on my rearview mirror right
now.

"We're not excited," I hear my ten year old
son grumble in the backseat. I make a half smirk at the camera and
call back, “Grumpy is only attractive on old men, Trigg. It's not
your time yet." I picture him rolling his eyes and smile, changing
lanes. "And don't roll your eyes."

We're almost to the U.S./Canadian border in
Alaska, so I turn off the camera and toss it in the passenger seat
next to me. This trip is stressing me out, and we're like, four
hours into it. A few months back, my grandma died and left me her
old farmhouse in California. I had considered selling it, as my
husband would have immediately wanted to do. But Sebastian isn't
here anymore.

I grab our passports and roll down my window
as I see the guard tower up ahead. "You guys take a breath of this
fresh mountain air," I yell to them and hear back three, “It's
cold,” from behind me. April in Alaska is fly by the seat of your
pants as far as the weather goes. It can be snowing one second,
melting the next. Right now my car says it's thirty-three degrees
and the clouds are a dark gray, hanging low and promising snow.

"You're going to miss this later, I'm telling
you!" I stop behind the line crossing over the boarder. Reading the
sign on the side of the road, I glance back in the rear view
mirror. "Harper, you left your booze for the neighbor, right? It
says we can't take that stuff."

My seven-year-old giggles. "Yes, Momma. I
gave everything to Patty."

"Good girl, honey. It was her turn to throw
the kegger anyway. Jet, you didn't smuggle any guns onto this
transport did you?" I turn to see my five-year-old in his booster
seat watching the movie on the DVD player.

"Nah, Ma. I sold it for a whack."

Facing front again to hide my smile, I reply,
"Did you say crack?"

He yells, "No, Mom, a whack! Geez you're
getting old."

I flip back around fast. "Where's my cut?" I
mock glare.

He looks me up and down shrewdly, a sparkle
in his blue eyes that we all share. "You just sold the house.
Where's my cut of that?"

I turn back around and move up in the line,
attempting to change the subject. "Whelp, who wants to play I
spy?"

"No way!" I hear, so I reach my fist out
towards my youngest son.

"Fine, you keep yours and I'll keep
mine."

I get a fist bump as I get to the guard
station and hear, "Deal."