Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Tommy was busy working. Ferrano Enterprises was keeping him busy. The business was still evolving but in a good way. He had gone to Vegas twice. Without me. Fete was nearly ready to re-open. Maybe someday I’d go back, but not any time soon.
I was also seeing a counselor every second week. I’d seen her about five times and she was fantastic and helping me. Tommy had yet to start seeing a new one but I’d gotten a referral from my counselor and he told me he’d call. He said he needed to fire his existing counselor first. In person. And the look on his face? If he was planning some sort of revenge against Oliver, I didn’t wanna know about it. Tommy’s mantra was that if someone fucked him over, he never forgot. I hoped he’d forget. Even if Oliver was a lying Fed, he’d helped us.
Anyway, I was due to have the baby in a few weeks. The baby’s room was ready. We didn’t find out the gender (I wanted a surprise) and did the bedroom in primary colors. I had a gorgeous white sleigh crib with matching rocking chair, dresser, and changing table.
I’d had a baby shower already and we were ready with all sorts of white, green, and yellow unisex clothing. I had a going-home outfit for a boy and a going-home outfit for a girl. My hospital bag was by the door. My husband loved to work out with boxing, and I was pretty sure that this little one was going to be a little kickboxer with the way I was getting beaten up from the inside.
“Tia?” Tommy woke me. It was 6:00 in the morning, a week before my due date.
“Hm?”
“Wake up, baby girl. Gotta talk to you.”
I sat up.
He held me close to his chest.
“I just got a call from the lawyer assigned to your father. He’s… baby, he’s dead.”
“He’s what?”
“Greg O’Connor was found dead in his cell. His lawyer just called.”
I jumped up to standing.
“You removed his protection and –” I started to accuse.
“I didn’t. I never did.”
“You didn’t?” Tears streamed down my face. My heart was aching.
“I had nothing to do with this, baby girl. I swear. I don’t know how it happened. We still had those protective measures in place.”
Dad.
All I could think was,
I’m an orphan at twenty years old.
Our baby will have zero grandparents.
Zero.
“They’re saying it looks like a suicide.”
They cremated him. I never saw him dead. I was glad I hadn’t seen it at least; I didn’t think I could take seeing him on a slab.
We had a service at a cemetery for my dad. Dare, Angel, Lisa, Tessa, Luc, Eddy, Bianca and Nino plus her Mom and her aunt. Ruby, her brother Connor, Beth, Mia, Rose and Cal, Rose’s parents, they all came. Even Susie, my former social worker came. They all tried to be there for me. I left a voicemail for my Aunt Carol with the details after calling three times and her not answering, not returning my calls. I hated to leave it on her voicemail but she wasn’t answering.
She didn’t come.
I was almost nine months pregnant at my dad’s grave. And it hit me hard. But Tommy was holding me up, taking care of me. He was amazing.
A week later, I was in bed, watching TV in the dark. During the day. The curtains were closed.
“You gonna get outta bed?” Tommy asked, moving the box of Sugar Crisp to the nightstand and then opening the curtains.
“Worried I’m gonna commit suicide? Evidently, it’s what the O’Connors do.”
“Not fuckin’ funny. And you’re no longer an O’Connor. You’re a Ferrano. You’ve been in bed for days. Let’s go do something. Time to live, baby girl.”
I shrugged. “I’m not suicidal, Tommy. Don’t worry. If I were, it’d make me a murderer, too.” I put my hand to my belly. I’d never, ever harm our baby.
“Get dressed. Let’s go for a drive.”
“Where?”
“The mall, the park, I don’t know. Out of this house.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
He walked into the adjoining bathroom and I heard water turn on.
“Now, wife. Outta bed.” He lifted me up and carried me into the bathroom. He was running me a bath.
“You’re pretty strong, carrying a woman the size of two houses,” I grumbled.
“Good thing I work out,” he teased.
“Out then.”
“I’ll take one, too. Then we go out.”
“Out of here. You can’t see me naked. I’m gross.”
“You aren’t gross. I’ll wash your hair.”
“You saying my hair is dirty?”
He shook his head and laughed. “No. I’m not. You like when I wash your hair, baby girl.”
He was right. I really did.
“You haven’t seen me naked in a few weeks. My belly button is inside out. I have a brown line down my stomach. My butt looks like a tub of cottage cheese. Out. I’ve gained forty-four pounds.”
“Athena Ferrano, you, my baby growing in you? You are the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on. I’m scared shitless of being a father but gotta say, I’m lovin’ seeing you like this. You’re beautiful, even if you gained two hundred pounds, you’re beautiful to me.”