Helena
As Dominick ushered me into his apartment, I felt like I was entering another world. Everywhere I looked, something reminded me of the man I knew—masculine, dependable, and simple. Like the man himself, Dominick's home had an emotional maturity that felt rich while also avoiding being pretentious.
A beautiful wooden table, angled so that all its chairs faced a large bay window. Outside there was a gorgeous view of the city, seen from a height that made everything look small. In the corner sat a large and comfortable looking couch, itself facing a huge and expensive looking television set. Lining the floor was a lush, thick carpet that added warmth and personality, transforming the space from minimalist and modern into simple and rustic.
I smiled, feeling a bit like a kid in a candy store to be so surrounded by Dominick's presence. His apartment was clean, but when I looked for them I found clear signs that Dominick lived here. My eyes drank in the entire scene, reveling in the special intimacy of seeing unfiltered evidence of Dominick's home life. On the side table next to the couch sat a large coffee mug, sitting next to a still-open MacBook. Across the room was a large recliner, with its own side table sporting an iPad that sat upright on its stand, along with a paper notebook that seemed to be filled with assorted writings and scribblings.
"Make yourself at home, I'll go fix us something to drink. Or eat, if you're hungry?"
"I'm always hungry," I said, still feeling a bit nervous as I patted the growing bump on my belly.
"Doesn't surprise me, it seems like it's all going to him anyway. I can't believe I didn't notice before," Dominick said.
"It's not so obvious if you don't know to look for it. You probably just thought I was gaining weight," I said awkwardly, wanting to apologize again but knowing it wouldn't change much.
"Not like that. I mean, you still look amazing. But you also look very tired, and uh—your stomach isn't the only thing getting bigger. Not quite," he said, his eyes drifting up from my belly but not quite far enough to reach my face.
I blushed.
"I'll go get us something to eat," Dominick said, running to the kitchen while I sat myself down on the couch. Dominick returned a moment later, carrying in one hand a plate stuffed full of cherry tomatoes and carrots, while the other hand had a big bowl of hummus.
"Thanks," I said I looked up at him, surprised that he'd remembered hummus was one of my favorite foods. In a flash he was gone again, returning a moment later with two glasses of sparkling water.
"Any time," Dominick said with a smile, sitting down next to me on the couch. "But yeah, you do look tired. At the risk of repeating myself, you do need to get more rest."
"I have the whole summer to take it easy," I said with a shrug. "It's a nice perk of being a professor."
Dominick nodded in agreement. "I can't believe I made you help me do all that work in the yard."
"You didn't make me. I wanted to help," I said quietly, remembering the early days when I'd been so in denial about my feelings that I'd been thrilled to find an excuse to spend time with Dominick, even if that time involved hard physical labor. It had been hard, but it had been worth it, especially after Dominick had said he was doing it for his family.
I shivered, hoping that we could find our way back. A small silence followed, one that I filled by taking a bite of the food. It tasted wonderful—the creamy hummus complimenting the crisp, crunchy carrots.
Dominick followed my lead, eating a couple slices of carrot himself. Neither of us spoke right away, but we spent the next half-hour casually chatting off and on while I fought to keep the awkwardness at bay, and tried not to make any repeats of my mistake in the elevator.
It was harder than it sounded.
"You know," Dominick said after a long talk about nothing. "My mother and grandmother have been bugging me a lot lately, asking about you."
"You told them about me?" I asked, surprised.
"Not a single word."
"Then how…" I began, trailing off when Dominick shrugged in response.
"They know something is going on, anyway. They assume it's a woman, though I think the full truth is a little more complex than they might be expecting. I think they want to meet you," Dominick said after a pause, and I saw the pain and regret in his eyes as he spoke.
"I could do that," I offered, unsure of how else to respond.
"Now's probably not the best time for it, but we should at some point. They'd never forgive me if I didn't tell them—" Dominick began, then cut himself off mid sentence with a look of panic in his eyes.
I didn't need to ask why, guilt stabbing in my chest as my brain auto-completed Dominick's sentence for him.
They'd never forgive me if I didn't tell them you were pregnant.
"I should probably get going," I said awkwardly, silently wishing that I could get going by finding a hole I could crawl into and die. I stood up as quickly as I could, wanting to run away from here and never look back.
My head was spinning.
And not just from embarrassment, either.
Hadn't a doctor just told me less than an hour ago to not stand up too quickly? Way to go, Helena.
Dominick reacted in no time, his hand grabbing my wrist and allowing me to steady myself on his strong arm.
"Thanks," I said awkwardly, sitting back down until the world stopped wobbling.
"Thanks?" he asked.
"For saving me again," I said, noticing the confusion on Dominick's face. "I made myself dizzy."
"Oh," Dominick said. "I uh—I just really didn't want you to leave. I'm sorry, Helena. I didn't mean it like that, I was just talking and it came out all wrong. What can I do to make it up to you?"
I almost wanted to laugh. What could Dominick do to make it up to me? I didn't even know where to begin with that question.
"It's okay. You have a right to be angry. And there's no way you would've made that face if you were being passive-aggressive," I said finally, the room still shifting all around me as I sat motionless on the couch. "And I don't think I could make a dramatic exit now even if I wanted, jumping to my feet like that really took a lot out of me."
"You can lie down here if you want," Dominick offered.
I nodded agreement, turning myself sideways to rest for a few minutes. It was a long couch, and I scooted myself towards the edge enough that only my feet and ankles were dangling off the edge, while my head was propped up against the armrest.
"This is nice," I said contentedly, closing my eyes for a moment.
"Let me help," Dominick said, and before I knew what he was doing he'd taken my ankles and placed them on his lap, allowing me to lie completely flat on the couch, even going so far as to remove my shoes for me. I was still wearing the same impractical platform sandals I'd been wearing since going shopping that morning, and my feet were more than a little relieved to finally be out of them.
I might've whimpered a little.
Or, you know, moaned.
Slightly.
It didn't help matters that Dominick had started to rub my feet.
"You really don't have to do that," I said, enjoying the relaxing sensation. "And I'll kill you if you stop."
Dominick laughed.
"But seriously, it's okay, you really don't have to," I said.
"You seem to be enjoying it."
"It feels divine. If we never have sex again, at least this—," I commented, then winced. "Uh…never mind. There is no good way to end that sentence. Can we just pretend like it never even started?"
Of course I'd forgiven Dominick for putting his foot in his mouth earlier, my own feet practically lived in mine. Luckily for me, he returned the favor with a soft chuckle and a nod. "Anything you like. After all, it's still your birthday for a little while still," he said gently.
"Thanks," I said, enjoying the feeling of Dominick's warm and strong fingers. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and all the spots where I was hurting the most.
Dominick might've been a star hockey player, but I was quickly beginning to think the man had missed his true calling of being a professional masseur.
"That feels—really nice," I said, melting further into his couch. "But you really don't have to keep going. Just—just another minute or two, and I'll be fine," I said.
A couple of seconds later, I was fast asleep.