Chapter Thirty-Five

~McKenna~

 

 

“I sure am going to miss seeing you every night,” Alisha said, sighing as we stood in the doorway leading to the building’s exit.

“I know,” I said, giving her a long hug. But I just don’t think it’s safe for the baby to be around all of these chemicals.”

“I couldn’t believe it when you handed in your resignation and two weeks’ notice. But are you going to be okay? Are you going to be able to provide for yourself?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, honey. The father is providing for literally everything.”

“As a good man should,” Davie said, joining us from where he had been putting away the last of his supplies. “It takes two to salsa, after all.”

“That it does,” I said, reaching over to give him a hug too.

It had been a month since that fateful day when I had found out I was carrying Rafael’s child and I had decided to keep the little thing. While I still didn’t know if they were a girl or a boy, I had taken to calling the thing our little potato.

I had had my first doctor’s appointment only a week after that day. How Rafael had gotten me into his office and to see a new GP in just six days was beyond me, but I had learned that Rafael would stop at nothing to make sure that I was absolutely taken care of. It was strange to be so thoroughly tended to, but he made sure my every need was met.

Before I could even blink, it seemed he had me a gynecologist, a hospital picked out for the birthing plan, as well as several pediatricians once our little potato was born. And it wasn’t in a controlling way at all either, not like Bradley would have been in the same situation.

“So, when are you going to tell us who the father is?”

I looked at my cellphone and saw a text waiting for me. “Well, considering it’s Saturday morning, he’s here to pick me up.”

“We better not keep him waiting then!”

The three of us went outside and I kept my eyes on their faces so that I could see their reaction when they found out who the mysterious father was. At first, I had considered keeping it a secret permanently, but now that I wasn’t working for Rafael’s company, I couldn’t be accused of fraternization.

I mean sure, I knew that people were going to talk, and I was sure that they were going to have some very choice words about me, but I didn’t care. I had happiness, and I wasn’t going to let some petty betties try to steal it from me.

Sure enough, Rafael pulled up in his sports car and both Davie and Alisha’s jaws were on the floor.

“Wait, you…” Alisha gasped, her eyes wide. “and… and…”

Rafael exited his car and walked forward, brushing his hair out of his face and striding forward like he just walked out of a fashion magazine. “Good morning, babe,” he said, planting a sweet kiss on my cheek. His eyes flicked to my two friends and he extended his hand politely. “Rafael Barbos. Nice to meet the two of you.”

“Oh. My. God.” Alisha said, still staring openly. “You mean the two of you, uh, you-”

“Many time,” I answered chuckling lightly.

“Is this why you loved cleaning the top floor so much!?” Davie asked, his face still one of shock.

My cheeks colored at that and I shook my head. “Oh goodness no!” Well, I guessed that I didn’t have to keep that part a secret either. “I liked going up there because there’s a lot of open space and I could clean while I danced.”

“While you what?” Alisha said, looking like she believed me about as far as she could throw me.

“Danced,” I continued, steaming right through the embarrassment. “You know, moving it and shaking it while pushing the mop and broom around. It helped me deal with a lot of pent up energy.”

“Apparently not enough,” she said, raising her eyebrow and letting her eyes flick to Rafael. We all laughed at that, and it was another round of hugs all around.

“Alright, I better go. The movers are going to be at my place soon and I want to be there for it.”

“Movers!?” Davie repeated emphatically. “Ay, this really is a big weekend for you, isn’t it?!”

“It is,” I answered, letting Raphael guide me to his car. “Have a good weekend, all of y’all!”

“We’ll try!”

There was more waving and cheers to be safe while Rafael drove off. When we were a block away, I finally rolled up the window and let out a long sigh.

“You alright?” He asked, letting his intense eyes flick to me for a moment while we pulled up to a stop sign.

“Yeah,” I murmured, hands rubbing my stomach. I wasn’t anywhere close to showing, but it was so insane to think that there was a little mini me plus Rafael growing there. I mean sure, I knew all the science behind it. I was aware of the weeks where what developed and how the cells all split and multiplied, but still, it really did seem like magic.

“Hey,” I said, just realizing my surroundings. “This isn’t the way to my place.” Although we had been careful to never be seen together at work, I still knew enough of the city to be aware that this is not the way one would drive to get to my side of town.

“I know,” he said with a smile. “We have someone special to pick up.”

“Dom?” I asked, feeling my face light up. “But I thought he wasn’t due in for another three days.”

“He wasn’t. But I called up my ex because I knew there was a big premiere in the UK and told her I would take him off her hands a couple of days early if she wanted to head out. Of course, she ate that up and so now we’re going to get to surprise him with the news.”

“Surprise!” I objected. “You mean you didn’t tell him?”

“Well, no. I wanted to do it to his face and my ex always gets more time with him during the summer to accommodate for vacations. So, I figured we could treat this as a sort of present for him here.”

“But what if he’s upset?” I could feel anxiety rise in me as I thought about it. “What if he feels blindsided, or surprised in the bad way?”

“It’s alright,” Rafael said, reaching over and patting my hand. “I assure you that he’s going to be absolutely over the moon. The moving crew will have to race him to see who can get you into my place sooner.”

“If you say so,” I grumbled, feeling quite uncertain about the whole thing. As if I needed one more thing to worry about.

“I do. And have I ever led you wrong yet?”

Ugh. I hated when he had a logical point. “No…” I said with a bit of a pout.”

“Exactly. Now trust me. It’s going to be fine.”

I settled down and tried to make myself relax for the rest of the ride. Unsurprisingly we were heading towards the east end of the city, where the airport was if I remembered right. Of course, his ex wanted to meet him there. Going over to Rafael’s place would be far too much trouble for her spoiled self.

Thinking about her just made me angry. I couldn’t wait until I lived with Dom and could show him every day what it was like to have a true friend who supported him every day. Suddenly all the nerves about surprising him faded. This would be as good for him as it was for me.

Rafael pulled into one of the small but upscale cafes that were just outside of the actual airport, and a common meet up place for those who were traveling. We were there first, of course, despite her telling us that she was already there, so we both got out of the car to grab a drink.

“No coffee, I’m guessing,” Rafael said as he walked up to the counter.

“Nope. Just a nice green tea and a glass of water.” At first, I had tried to cover myself for such small things, but I had long since learned that Rafael seemed to take pride in being able to provide for me, from the littlest things to the biggest.

“Why don’t you go find a seat, I’ll wait in line for us.”

I nodded and headed over to a nice window booth, so I could hopefully see Dom going in and he could also sit comfortably while we explained all the changes that were about to happen to his life. Once more the nerves started to set in, but only just slightly.

The line was certainly impressive, and Rafael was only just reaching the cashier when I saw a car whip in at insane speeds, park crookedly in a spot, and then a woman dressed form head to toe in lavish designer clothes to step out.

I would have known it was Rafael’s ex even if she wore a full-on mask, which honestly would have been an improvement over having to see that snide expression across her face all the time. But I tucked those thoughts away and slapped a kind smile onto my face when she came into the door.

She spotted Rafael almost instantly, crossing her arms and huffing that he dared to make her wait, but Dom didn’t seem to mind. His head swiveled this way and that and it didn’t take him long to see me giving him a small wave from my booth.

“McKenna!” He called happily, running over to me. I slid out of the booth and caught him with open arms, swinging him this way and that. I hadn’t been put on a weight lifting limit yet, so I wanted to take advantage while I could.

“Hey there, little buddy. How are you!”

“Great now that you’re here! Are we gonna-”

“What is she doing here?”

I looked up from the young man to see Rafael’s ex had come over as well, although she kept her distance as if I might somehow dirty her with my very presence. I noticed that she didn’t address me as an adult to and adult but spoke about me as if I wasn’t there. Geeze, was this high school all over again?

It certainly seemed like it.

Thankfully Rafael came to the rescue, with two drinks in either of his large hands. I was impressed, but didn’t have time to say so before the conversation continued. “Ah, you’ve met Miss McKenna before,” he said, setting the drinks down before circling around to stand beside me. “When you dropped Dom off at my office.”

“Yeah!” Dominic echoed. “Remember? She’s my friend that I keep talking to you about! The one that has been watching movies and playing games with me.”

“I thought that was just another one of your make-believe friends.” Her eyes shuttled over me before stopping suddenly at my middle. “You have to be kidding me!” She spat, making me jump at her sudden vehemence. “You got her pregnant, didn’t you!” My mouth dropped open, but her face only grew redder. “Oh God, Rafael, you never learn, do you?!”

“This is not the time or the place for this discussion,” Rafael hissed, stepping in front of me. “And who I date is none of your concern.”

“But it is my concern who you’re exposing our son to! How do we know this stranger has his best interest at heart!”

“Mom!” Dom said, also moving to stand in front of me. While I didn’t need the two men to protect me from miss prissy pants, it was certainly nice to know that they cared. “She’s not a stranger! We’re friends! I told you that!”

But she just completely ignored him and looked to Rafael. “You think that you can do anything because you’re so used to being in power, but you are sorely mistaken. This will not be the end of this.”

“If you want to whip yourself into a tizzy over my personal life, that’s your business. But the rest of us would like to sit down and enjoy our drinks, if that’s alright with you?”

She seemed shocked by Rafael’s calm rebuttal, and I had to admit I was a little surprised myself. The first time I had met this woman, she was able to whip him up into an argument with just the drop of a hat, but now, it seemed like her hold over Rafael had slipped considerably. Was it prideful of me to think that it was partially because of me?

“Fine.” She huffed and stormed off, practically stomping to her car -if it was physically possible to actually stomp in stilettos. We waited until she pulled away before sliding back into the booth and passing out the drinks.

The water and iced green tea went to me while a hot chocolate and an expresso were for Rafael. We took our time, but Dom was too smart to fool for long.

“What’s going on?” He asked, setting his hot chocolate down and licking the whip cream from his nose.

“What do you mean?” Rafael asked, regarding his little man with that same loving expression that he seemed to always have when it came to his child.

“Mama said that McKenna is pregnant. That means she has a baby in her, right?”

“That’s right,” Rafael said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. “You have a little brother or sister growing inside of Miss McKenna right now.”

His eyes went wide and his mouth opened while he stared at us for several seconds. “I’m gonna get a sibling!”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Alright! Can we name him Luke? Or, uh, Xavier? Or, oh, I know, Foggy!”

“Foggy?” Rafael questioned.

“It’s a character from a comic,” I murmured. “And we’ll have to figure out what to name them when we know what they are, okay Dom?”

“Okay! This is awesome though! It’s like having a side kick!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Rafael was right. I really should have trusted him about how our little man would react. He was such a positive soul. “And since I will be having your sibling, we thought it would be best if I moved in with you. In fact, we’re about to go to my place so we can grab all of my things and start living together.

His already hanging jaw practically hit the floor. “Really!?”

“Really,” I said with a small laugh. “You’re gonna be stuck with me for quite a while, if you’d like that is.”

“How. Freaking. Awesome!” He was practically vibrating in his seat now, his face flushed with his excitement. “We’re gonna play all of my games, and then we’re gonna watch all of my movies, and then your movies until we pass out!”

“It sounds like a plan, my man.” I said, laughing. “So how about we finish up our drinks and get going?”

“Okies dokies!” He chugged his hot cocoa like nobody’s business while I sipped at what was left of my tea. He finished a bit before me and busied himself with throwing our empty cups away while I drained the rest of mine.

Rafael looked pleased and punch, standing to offer me a hand. “Shall we?” He asked with a smile.

“Let’s,” I said, allowing him to lead me out to his car, Dom holding on to his other hand. I was surprised that he wasn’t insisting on being in the middle, but it seemed the little guy knew there was a time and a place for anything, even when he was excited off his rocker.

We all piled into the car, making sure to buckle up, and then Rafael was off. The movers were waiting for us when we arrived, and I was a bit embarrassed until they revealed that they hadn’t been there for long.

From there it was pretty much just walking around my place, telling them what I wanted boxed up and what labels I wanted on it. It took less than an hour for them to finish everything, and I didn’t know if that was because they were incredibly efficient or if I just had that little stuff.

To their credit, none of them said anything or made any snide comment, which I definitely appreciated. The next thing I knew, they were getting Rafael’s address and then heading off.

That feeling was rising in my stomach again, the bubbling nervousness combined with the overwhelming happiness that rushed through me. This was happening, it was really happening!

I let out a little hiccup that was somewhere between a laugh and a nervous gasp. Rafael turned to me, his keys in hand.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, raising his brow.

I loved that he could always tell when something was up with me, and that he actually cared. “I just… I guessed that I just realized that everything is coming together. We’re really going to live together. And we’re really going to have a baby. It’s all just hitting me.”

“It’s okay,” Dom said, wrapping his arms around my hips, which was about as high as it could reach. “Change is scary, but we can do it because we’ll all be together! Whenever you feel worried, we can just play a game, or you can show me your really old figures!”

That startled a laugh out of me and I bent down to hug the little man as well. “Thanks, friend. I needed that.”

Rafael joined in and it was such an affirming, cute moment that I wanted it to last forever. Of course, I should have known better than that, because Rafael’s phone was going off.

“Awww, just let it go,” I whined, cursing modern technology.

“Let me just see who it is.” He pulled away from us and checked his phone only to frown. Uh-oh, I knew that look and it was not a good one. “It’s my lawyer.”

“You lawyer?” I asked. “What could he want?”

He shrugged and answered, taking a few steps away. I tried not to listen, but I couldn’t help but strain to see what I could catch.

I didn’t get much, however, but I could tell that when he hung up he was holding back a bit of anger.

“Goddammit!” He cried, throwing his phone to the ground where I heard it shatter. Dom and I both ran to him and my heart was suddenly in my throat.

“What is it?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

“My ex has filed a complain with the judge that handles our custody. She’s saying that I’m bringing strange women around Dom and endangering their well being with my reckless choices.”

“Are you serious?” I countered. “Se did that since she left the café? She’s on a freakin’ plane!”

He let out a long stream of swears and I instinctively covered Dom’s ears. As much as I knew Rafael would do anything for his son, his ex just had a real knack for bringing out the worst in him.

“This is just like her! She’s such a manipulative, evil, bitch of a woman! I just… I…” He let out another cry and kicked a garbage can. “Every time we go to family court, I know I risk losing everything. You know how rare it is for a father to get a good custody deal with his child? I’m lucky and eventually that luck is going to run out.”

After so much time spent comforting me, I knew what I had to do. I gripped Rafael’s hands and turned him to face me. His face was nearly red, and I could see tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. It hurt to see him like this, and I was sure that it hurt him a whole lot more than me to actually feel what he was feeling.

“Rafael, we’re in this together. It doesn’t matter what she says, or what she tries, we will make sure we all get through this.”

Dom shuffled up as well, looking a bit like he had done something wrong. “Daddy, I think I’m ready to tell the judge that I know who I want to live with. And that’s you. I like Mommy alright, but she’s just too busy for me. I…I don’t feel wanted when I’m with her. Not like I feel when I’m with the two of you.”

“See?” I said, taking his head in mind. “For better or for worse, whether it be abusive exes, or neglectful exes, or this pregnancy or even puberty, we’re all going to be here for each other. You’re never going to have to be alone again, and neither will I.”

“Or me!” Dom added.

“Yes, or you.” I said with a laugh.

Rafael let out a huge breath and crushed us both tightly to him. “I will always be grateful for the day I met you. I don’t think I could get through this without you.”

“And you won’t have to.” Pressing my lips to his, I knew without a doubt that we were stuck together forever. Through hell or high water, neither of us were going to have to go it alone again.

It was a pretty great feeling to have.