“You love him.” It wasn’t a question. I didn’t need to ask anymore. Trainer was the kind of man whose actions spoke louder than his words.
“And… that makes you sad?”
“No,” I said, slapping his chest playfully. “It makes me happier than I’ve ever been. I wasn’t sure how you felt about taking on the responsibility of a kid.”
“You and your doubts,” he rolled his eyes, but didn’t look like he was really upset. “I’ll tell you how I feel. I feel like he’s mine. Iwanthim to be mine.”
“You do?” Damn it, the tears were back, and there was no stopping them this time.
“Yes, but I know I’ll have to earn that position.”
He was already more of a father to Dominic than Jeff had ever been. In my opinion, he’d more than earned the right to be Dominic’s father, but I loved that Trainer wanted to try to win him over.
“Let’s go get him, then,” I said, “but you know that we’re going to have to go to the park this weekend to test out that bug collecting kit.”
“I’m counting on it,” he said.
We left the apartment hand-in-hand. Life might not be perfect, but things were good. I finally had peace and a new life to spend with my man.
Epilogue: Trainer
“Dominic, get your shoes on,” I heard Eve call out. “I don’t want to be late to go see Mama Tammy.”
“Five more minutes,” Dominic yelled back from his spot beside me.
I hid a smile. Ever since I talked Eve into letting him have the newest fighting game, he’d been hard to pry away from the PlayStation. As a parent, I knew I had to be disapproving, but I secretly liked it because he always wanted me to play with him.
“Dominic,” Eve’s voice called out again. She sounded pissed.
I nudged Dominic lightly in the side with my elbow. “Go get the shoes, bud.”
He paused the game and let out a little sigh. “Why can’t I just stay home and play?”
“Because Mama Tammy is expecting us. We can play more when we’re all home again,” I took the controller from his lax hand. “Now, scoot.”
“Okay, dad.”
That word came out of nowhere, and it froze me. Dominic didn’t seem to notice as he got up from the floor and headed to his room to get his shoes. I was still sitting in the middle of the living room floor, in front of the TV when Eve came out of our room, putting in a pair of earrings as she walked.
“Are you okay?” she asked, stopping beside me. I looked up at her, noting that she looked gorgeous in her emerald green wrap dress. It hugged her curves just right and complimented her flaming red hair.
“Yeah,” I said, the word coming out high-pitched and soft. I cleared my throat and repeated myself, “Yeah.”
“Okay… then what are you doing?”
I stood up, leaving the game console controllers where they lay. “You won’t believe this,” I said lowly, so that Dominic wouldn’t hear. I could hear the excitement in my voice. “Dominic just called me dad.”
Eve’s smile lit up her entire face. “Really?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Out of nowhere. Like it was no big deal.”
“That’s great, baby.”
Eve hugged me tightly.
“Maybe we should postpone this trip,” I said, earning a frown from her.
“Trainer, this isn’t just a trip. It’s our honeymoon, and it’s already long overdue.”
