My Mr. Manny (22 page)

“Close your eyes,” said Lucia.

With our eyes closed, we entered the room after our little girl.

“Okay, look,” she said. She couldn’t contain her excitement.

Dominic smirked and shook his head. I looked at him with a confused expression, not sure what he found so funny. The room was painted a pale shade of pink—perfect for little girls. The single trundle bed was a darker shade of pink with a canopy to match. The bedding was white and offset the pink.

“You see, I want a bed like that. It’s so pretty.”

“We’ll see what we can do, okay? I’ll have to ask Grandma where she got it,” said Dominic.

“Was this room always like this?” I asked.

Dominic shook his head again. “She must have done this when she found out Lucia was coming to stay.”

“Wow.” I was touched by the idea that Emma had gone through so much trouble for our daughter.

“Let’s go take our tour, and then I think I want to sleep for a while,” I suggested.

Dominic bent down and kissed me. “Whatever you want, honey.”

Chapter 29

Peek-a-Boo

The weather in New York City in the summer was thick and humid. Walking around the city while surrounded by all of the tall buildings that blocked the ocean breeze, my clothes stuck to me, and I was sweating like a pig. But on the bright side, I fell in love with Manhattan. Times Square was a sight to see with so many flashing lights of all different colors coming off the buildings. Big screens everywhere showed commercials and advertisements. Street performers and people dressed as super heroes were all over the place trying to make a buck.

Even I was able to tell the difference between the locals and the tourists. The locals just walked with purpose and bumped into anyone in their way. It was kind of hilarious. The tourists, however, walked around with their heads up and eyes unfocused, looking completely dazed. The fast-paced ambiance made me feel comfortable, although I wasn’t sure why. Los Angeles moved much slower, and Boston, although faster-paced than L.A., was still slower than New York.

Dominic took us to all of his favorite places, and we met up with Lori and Chris several times. Emma and Dom took us to fancy restaurants and introduced Lucia and me to all of their friends. They gushed over us and told us how proud they were to have us as part of their family. I felt so close to them, even more than I had before. I was so glad that Dominic had suggested the trip to New York and that he wanted to take us to his old stomping grounds.

Everyone had completely spoiled Lucia, and she received so many gifts from all of their friends that we had to ship some of her stuff to California. I hoped she didn’t think this spoiling was going to continue once we were back home. Lucia knew how to work it, too. She used her polite manners and cute smiles to get people eating out of the palm of her hand. When we told her our time was up in New York and we had to go home, she had her first temper tantrum in years. She did not want to leave, and even said we could leave without her. Now, that stung. The two weeks I’d spent on my belated honeymoon without her had been difficult. I’d felt guilty for leaving her behind and even anxious that no one would be able to care for her like I did. But that was not the case. Susan and Vitto were great substitutes for us and cared for her so well. When they left her with Emma and Dom, her grandparents had done just as well. Lucia had fallen in love with them and wanted to stay.

I needed to go home, though. It was time, and I was ready. I loved being away and sightseeing, but I missed my bed, my things, and my home. We were all packing to leave the following morning and were going to eat in for our last meal. I left Dominic in the bedroom, walked toward the kitchen, and found Lucia speaking with Dom and Emma. I decided to stay behind the entry so she wouldn’t see me.

“Grandpa, don’t you love me?” Oh my God! There she was, my master manipulator.

“What? Of course I do. How could you ask such a thing, Lucia?” asked Dom.

She sighed. “I just don’t want to have to miss you. Can’t you and grandma move near us?”

“Come here. We love you so very much, and we’d love to spend more time with you. And more than anything we’d love to be closer to you. I think we will be looking to move soon. We spoke to your daddy about that already,” he answered.

“Promise?” she asked.

“Yes, I promise,” he said.

I took that as my cue to enter.

“Hi. What are you two up to?”

Lucia answered first. “Oh, nothing, Momma,” she said. She was still upset with me, because she was trying to strong-arm me into staying there. It wasn’t going to happen. My vacation was over, and I needed to get back to work.

Emma and Dominic walked into the kitchen together, and Lucia jumped right into her daddy’s arms.

“Hey, munchkin,” said Dominic.

She didn’t answer but instead laid her head on his shoulder and rubbed the nape of his neck with her little fingers. He held her while I helped make dinner, and she almost fell asleep in his arms. Her clingy behavior could have been from being overtired; she’d been a busy little bee since she arrived in New York. I was betting that, when we got home, she’d rest for the entire first week, which would be a perfect way for Dominic to get caught back up with his work.

The doorbell rang, and Emma went to answer it. I smiled to myself when I heard the voices of Lori and Chris. I hadn’t known they were coming, but it was a pleasant surprise.

I ran toward the door and scooped Lori into my arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said, smiling at Chris over Lori’s shoulder.

“We couldn’t let you leave without seeing us,” said Lori.

“Come in; you want some wine?” I asked.

Chris walked in behind us with his arm around Emma. I loved the close relationships between Dominic and Chris and Emma. I found it adorable when the boys would hug their mother, towering over her with their tall bodies. If I had a son, I hoped to have as loving a relationship with him as Emma had with her boys. Truthfully, though, I just wanted to give Dominic a child; it didn’t matter if it was a girl or boy.

We sat around the kitchen island waiting for dinner to be ready, soaking up each other’s company. The past year had been wonderful. My family had become closer and had grown. Looking at the faces around me, I knew I was a lucky woman.

After a wonderful dinner and great conversation, Lori and Chris went home, and we all went to bed. Our flight was scheduled to leave early the next day, and we needed some sleep. We lay wrapped around each other; Dominic and I were too tired to move.

“This has been an incredible four weeks, but I’m so ready to go home.”

“Me, too,” said Dominic.

“I think I might need another vacation to recoup from this vacation,” I said with a giggle.

“Tell me about it … but tomorrow. I need to sleep now. I love you,” he said and kissed my head.

“Good night. Love you, too.”

~*~*~

Our flight was uneventful, and we arrived home tired but in one piece. Without even an ounce of energy to unpack or do anything else, I just wanted to sleep. I had to work the following day, so I had to force myself into getting things unpacked and cleaned up before I could sit for a moment. We still had to deal with the clothes we had just dumped on the bed during our layover in New York the previous week. In other words, our lives were back to normal.

For some reason, it felt like the jet lag was knocking me on my ass. We had been home for two weeks, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I’d fall asleep at my desk, at the dinner table, and as soon as my head hit the pillow at night. My body felt like it was worn out and heavy all the time. It was horrible. Dominic thought I was sick and said my exhaustion wasn’t normal. He swore I had caught some sort of island disease in Hawaii, and he made me an appointment with my doctor and dragged me there. I just figured since we had been gone so long and had bounced from such extreme time zones that the travel had affected me worse this time around.

It annoyed me that I had to ask for another day off, but I was resigned to the idea. Entering the doctor’s office, I became very nervous. Dominic’s fears about some island disease crept up on me and freaked me out. Whatever I had, I just hoped the doctor could give me something to fix it. Dominic was in the waiting room with Lucia, and I knew he was nervous as well. He had been babying me ever since I’d begun showing signs of an illness.

The door to my room opened, and my doctor came in. “Mrs. Roberts, how are you today?” he asked.

“Hi, Doctor Park. Um, well, today I’m like I have been for the past two weeks: completely exhausted. I mean, I’ve been so tired, and my body has been so heavy. I can’t move or stay awake,” I said.

“Okay, are there any other symptoms?”

I had to think about it. “No, I just think crankiness, but that has to be from being so tired all the time. We just got back home two weeks ago from a month-long trip. We went to Hawaii for two weeks, and then to New York for another two weeks. I just thought it was the extreme time changes.”

“Yes, that could have impacted you in some way, but I need to ask when you had your last menstrual period.”

I answered instantly, without thought. “Last month on the thirteenth,” I said, but that didn’t seem right. No, last month, two weeks ago, we were in New York on that date, and I hadn’t gotten my period in New York or Hawaii. “No, it was the month before that,” I said.

“Okay, then. Pregnancy is a possibility, but I’d like to run some blood tests—not just for that, but other things as well. I’ll send the nurse in to take your blood, and we’ll send it to the lab. In the meantime, let’s do a urine test.”

I nodded. I had no idea what to say, and I didn’t want to get my hopes up and then be let down. The doctor handed me a urine cup and sent me to the restroom. My head was spinning, and I couldn’t keep up with all the thoughts flying through it. We had tried for almost seven months, and all it took was one vacation to make it happen.

After doing my business in the bathroom, I returned to the examination table on shaky legs. The nurse came in for the urine sample, and then returned to take my blood. She took several vials. After she’d poked my veins too many times, I knew I’d have a big bruise on my arm.

Before I left the exam room, the doctor gave me the results to the urine test. Doctor Park explained it would be best to wait for the blood test results to be sure. After all the emotional ups and downs with trying to get pregnant, I decided that would be best.

When I walked into the waiting room, I searched for Dominic immediately. My face must have scared him because, in a flash, he threw his magazine down and almost ran across the room to me. With his hands on my shoulders, he asked what the doctor had said.

“Nothing much. He took blood and said we’ll get the results in a few days. It just made me nervous. Now I have to wait to find out what is wrong with me,” I said.

I ended up waiting five days for a phone call from my doctor’s office. The wait was painful, but I didn’t want to tell Dominic it was possible I was pregnant until I was sure. I knew it would hurt him if I had to let him down in the end. But when I got the call, the results shocked the hell out of me. I couldn’t wait to share the news with Dominic and Lucia—I knew they would both just jump for joy.

~*~*~

After I left work the day of the phone call, I stopped at a print shop on the way home. The store was able to print my items while I waited, and I went home with my loot, very giddy.

Arriving home, I parked my car and rode the elevator to my floor. The scent of garlic wafted through the hallway, and I hoped it was coming from our condo. Slipping my key in the door, I walked in and knew instantly that Dominic had cooked linguini with clam sauce. My stomach let out a loud growl. I peeked into the kitchen and saw him at the stove.

“Hey, babe,” I said.

He walked over to me and kissed hard on the lips. “Hi, honey. How was your day?” he asked.

“It was good. If that is ready, can you turn it off for a minute??” I said, pointing to the stove. I was too eager to wait until after dinner.

“Yeah, sure. Go and sit down, and I’ll be right there.”

“Lucia?” I called for her. She came running out of her room and jumped into my arms. I planted kisses all over her face “Hi, kiddo. Can you come and sit with us so we can talk?” I asked. She nodded and ran to the sofa.

Dominic came over and sat next to Lucia so that she was between us. The expression on his face was one of concern. I felt bad for making him worry for nothing, but I hoped the surprise would make it all better.

“I bought you two a surprise.”

Dominic’s eyebrows scrunched down in confusion. Lucia began bouncing in her seat.

“Okay, I’m going to give them to you, but you have to open them at the same time. Only when I say you can,” I said.

They both nodded, and I handed them the little gift bags.

“Ready? Open it!” I yelled.

I sat and watched them pull the tissue paper out of their little yellow gift bags until they got to the gift at the bottom. Lucia pulled hers out first, but I didn’t think she’d be able to read it without help. When my eyes flickered back to Dominic, he had the gift spread out on his lap. “Read it out loud,” I said.

He held up the plain white t-shirt and read, “My wife has a bun in the oven.” His face opened up to wide eyes and a big smile. “Is this for real?”

I nodded, tears streaming down my face.

“Can I read mine out loud?” asked Lucia.

“Go ahead, Lucia,” I said and gestured toward her shirt.

Dominic held it up for her to see, and she said, “I’m going to be a big sister.”

She looked from me to Dominic and to me again. “I am?” she asked.

“Yup,” I answered.

“When? I want it now!” she screeched.

Dominic and I laughed at her excitement. “Well, the doctor said the baby won’t come until March twentieth of next year,” I explained.

“What? Why so long? Is it a girl or boy?”

“I don’t know yet. It’s too soon to tell. But listen — after dinner I’ll show you what the baby looks like now on the computer. Okay?”