Authors: Serenity King
you could try to barter me off to that gambling-
addicted, womanizing Felton Hobbs? Even if
Brandon and I hadn’t stayed together, there
was never any way I was going to end up with
Felton. That was something you cooked up in
your own head.”
“Dominique please, how much could you
have loved him? You came running back here
the first chance you got,” Marcus shouted.
“Yeah, I can see the love.”
Dominique recoiled as if her father had
slapped her.
“That’s enough, sir,” Brandon said in a
deadly voice. “The reason why your daughter
‘came running back here,’
as you so delicately
put it was not because she didn’t love me. She
came home to be with you while you healed
from your heart attack. She was so busy
worrying about you that she sacrificed her own
healing process. If I were you, I’d shut up
before I made a complete ass of myself. You
just don’t know what your scheming has done.”
“What do you mean heal? Dominique are
you sick?” Olivia asked rushing to Dominique’s
side. “You said you weren’t sick!”
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Dominique was in her own little world
holding on to Brandon for dear life. The only
thing she could think of was her father’s
betrayal of her love. She’d lost her little girl and
almost lost her husband all because of some
misplaced loyalty.
“She’s not sick, ma’am,” Brandon was
explaining calmly, but there was an edge to his
voice that could have cut glass. “Dominique was
pregnant when your husband had his attack.
She was almost six months along when she
delivered. The baby only lived a little while.”
Dominique heard shocked gasps echo
throughout the room.
“We didn’t say anything because, at the
time” Brandon continued. Neither of us was
sure how our families would feel about an
interracial marriage. We’d planned on making
the
announcement
the
weekend
that
Dominique went into preterm labor. After that,
Dominique asked that we still not say anything
and I agreed. She wanted to get away from the
city and the memories. I understood that. She
didn’t leave because she stopped loving me.”
“Oh, God, my poor baby!” Olivia cried.
“Why didn’t you say something, Dominique?”
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Dominique buried her face further into
Brandon’s chest and sobbed. The dam broke,
the flood gates opened, and Dominique was
powerless against it.
“I’m not ready yet. I can’t do this
Brandon. Get me out of here.” she whispered.
“Okay, baby. Is your car here? I came
with Alisha and Tristan, remember,” Brandon
murmured.
“I’ll give y’all a ride,” Xavier spoke up.
“Tristan, Alisha looks like she’s about to pass
out. You need to get her home. I’ll take
Brandon and Dominique home.
“Thanks, Xavier,” Tristan said. “I’ll call
you later, Brandon.”
“Come on, baby, let’s get you home,”
Brandon said, lifting Dominique as if she
weighed nothing. “Ready when you are Xavier,
and thank you for offering.
“No thanks necessary, brother-in-law,
just make sure you take care of my sister,”
Xavier tossed out.
“Always,” Brandon said. He then turned
with Dominique in his arms towards her
mother. “Mrs. Shaw, I’m sure she’ll be in a
better condition to speak with you tomorrow.
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She’s hurt now, but she’ll be okay. I’ll make
sure of it.”
“Thank you, Brandon. Call me and let me
know how she’s doing once you get her settled,
please,” Olivia wept.
“Of course I will. Don’t worry yourself
sick. It’ll be alright,” Brandon said softly. “You
ready, Xavier?”
“Yep, let’s roll. Dad, I’ll be back. We need
to talk,” Xavier tossed over his shoulder on his
way out the door.
* * *
Brandon sat in Xavier’s SUV with
Dominique cradled on his lap like an
inconsolable child. He’d wrapped the seatbelt
around the both of them. She was shaking like a
leaf. Brandon figured that the reality of what
had happened was just sinking in with
Dominique. In a way, her jackass of a father
had done them a favor. He’d forced them to
face the mistakes they’d made and caused
Dominique to deal with her repressed
emotions. Now she could begin to really heal.
He hoped. She was more broken up than he’d
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originally thought. Maybe Tristan was
right…maybe she did need to seek outside help.
Damn, he wished this trial was over. He
wanted to take her away for a little while.
Maybe he’d take her to the Bahamas or Hawaii?
He’d run the idea by her in the morning.
Brandon held her tight. Dominique’s
place was almost an hour away from her
parents’ home. When Brandon glanced down at
her, Dominique’s sobs had quieted. She was
now making loud hiccup noises. Brandon
combed his fingers through her hair, massaging
her scalp in the process.
“Umm, that feels good,” Dominique
hiccupped.
“Relax, we’re almost home,” Brandon
murmured.
“I’m okay. I don’t know what happened.
It all just came crashing down on me at once. It
was like I finally realized what happened and…I
don’t know,” she sniffed.
“It was long overdue, baby. Long
overdue,” he whispered.
“Brandon, regardless of what my father
said back there, I loved you then, and I love you
now,” Dominique sniveled.
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“Shush, I know you love me, sweetheart.
How about we forget about what others say and
our past mistakes, and move on to a better
future.”
“I’d like that,” Dominique said.
Brandon was so busy comforting
Dominique that he hadn’t noticed Xavier
turning onto Dominique’s block until he pulled
into the driveway.
“Okay, folks, we’re here,” Xavier said
putting the car in park and cutting the engine.
“Scoot over, baby, let me go open the
door and shut the alarm off. You stay here, I’ll
be back to take you inside,” Brandon said,
releasing the seatbelt from around them.
“I can walk, Brandon. I’m okay now.
Really I am,” Dominique protested.
“You sure?” he asked giving her a
skeptical look.
“Yes,” she said opening the passenger
side door, climbing off Brandon’s lap, and
getting out of the SUV. Brandon followed her
out the door, then stepped back as Dominique
leaned forward to address Xavier through the
opened driver’s side window.
“X, are you coming in?” Dominique
asked. Brandon noticed there was a moment’s
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231
hesitation before Xavier got out of the truck,
and closed the small space that separated him
and Dominique.
“Nah, I need to get back to the folks
house. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, sis,” he
muttered pulling Dominique into his arms and
giving her a big hug. “Love you, sis.”
“Love
you
too,
X,”
Dominique
whimpered.
“You could have told me, you know,”
Xavier whispered.
Dominique didn’t say anything, but she
nodded. Yes, she could have told him. Should
have told him. She would never doubt his love
for her again.
“Go inside and let your husband pamper
you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said placing a
quick kiss on her head and getting back into his
SUV. He started it and gave Brandon a slight
nod before he pulled away.
He wasn’t fast enough though. Brandon,
and no doubt Dominique, saw the tears in his
eyes when he released her. She and her brother
shared a special bond. He knew Xavier was
going back to Dominique’s parents’ home to
confront their father. Someone needed to make
the man accountable for his meddling. Brandon
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had the feeling that his brother-in-law was just
the man to do it. Brandon wrapped his arm
around Dominique’s shoulder. “Come on, baby,
let’s go inside.”
“Okay,” she said taking his hand in hers
and lacing her fingers with his.
Once inside, Brandon took her in his
arms and held her tight. He felt her trembling
and knew that she was crying again.
“Shh, sweetheart, it’s all going to work
out,” Brandon whispered against her hair.
“I don’t think so, Brandon,” she
hiccupped.
Brandon tensed. There was something in
the way she’d said the words that made the
hairs on his arms rise. “Why would you say
that, baby?”
Dominique sighed heavily. “Let’s sit
down, and I will explain.”
Uh, oh, Brandon didn’t like the sound of
that. He took a step back, grabbed her by the
hand, and led her to the couch. Once they were
both seated…he spoke again.
“Dominique, what’s going on?” he asked
pleadingly. Not sure that he wanted to know
the answer. She looked worried. No. She looked
scared, and that made him nervous.
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“It’s about why I stayed away for so long,”
she said, her voice wobbly. “There’s something
you need to know.”
Brandon opened his mouth to say
something but she held up her hands to stem
him off.
“No, Brandon let me say this and get it
over with,” she cried her voice full of emotion.
“I wasn’t quite honest with you before about
what the doctor said after I lost the baby. It’s
sort of why I’ve stayed away. The truth is…”
Dominique jumped from the sofa and began to
pace back and forth. “You see I wasn’t satisfied
with what the doctors had told us at the
hospital. So after my sixth-week checkup I had
my private obstetrician do a thorough physical.
I needed to know why I’d lost the baby, and if I
would have a problem conceiving again.”
She remembered the conversation like it
was yesterday.
Dominique was sitting on the
examining table with a hospital gown on and
waiting for her obstetrician and friend Dr.
Sandy Omar to come into the room with her
test results. She remembered feeling scared
and alone, wondering why she hadn’t called
Brandon to be with her. She’d already known
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the answer. She hadn’t wanted see the look of
regret in his eyes if she was given bad news.
Dominique jumped when the door of the
examination room opened, and Dr. Sandy
walked in.
“Hello, Dominique. How are you today?”
she asked with a smile that Dominique noticed
didn’t reach her eyes.
“I’m nervous. What’s wrong Sandy? And
don’t tell me it’s nothing, because your eyes
say different.
Sandy snickered. “Of course, I can’t hide
anything from those hawk-like eyes of yours.
The truth is Dominique you have a lot of small
fibroid cysts that are lining your uterus. I
know you’ve known about this for a while,
because your medical records indicate that
you had a scraping done in your early
twenties…”
“So I can’t have more children,”
Dominique cut in, her eyes wild and scared.
“Let me finish,” Dr. Sandy said, holding
up her hands to ward off any more
interruptions from Dominique. “Now alone
this may not be a problem, but you also have a
tilted uterus which means any pregnancy
would have to be monitored very closely.
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You’re already considered high risk with your
age; now with the fibroids and tilted uterus,
you may or may not be able to carry full-
term.”
“So, in other words, I’ll never be a
mother,” Dominique said quietly.
“I didn’t say that. I am not sure. At this
point I would really like to do another