Holy fuck.
I pushed myself up slightly. I was currently face down, sleeping like I was dead.
I turned over, and Dominic was sleeping on his side with one hand conveniently on my ass.
I turned so I was actually sitting upright, and I looked at my phone.
Holy shit, it's 12 pm. Last time I checked, it was like 2 pm, holy fuck.
I looked around, trying to remind my eyes that we are alive, as I slipped out of bed.
I watched as Dominic shot up as he looked at me with wide eyes, "Where are you going?" He asked, his voice deep and raspy.
"Bathroom," I mumbled, walking over slowly toward it.
I heard his feet hit the ground as an arm went behind my neck and one behind my legs as I was lifted up. I rolled my eyes at him and wrapped my arms around his neck, "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Going to the bathroom with you."
"Why?" I asked as he turned on the bathroom light with one hand and then put me down so I was standing upright.
His expression changed from sleepy to happy, "bonding?"
I gave him a weird look, "You are acting really weird."
He smiled at me, "Is loving you weird?"
"No. But you coming into the bathroom with me is," I muttered, turning around and peeing while this man stared holes into my back.
I am really happy that he is safe and not in a body bag, but having him watch me pee is a little weird.
I flushed the toilet, and then I washed my hands.
Then we basically switched places, except I wasn't looking at him like a creep.
That convention was just an unnecessary worry that he really didn't need to go to, but God, I'm so happy he is back. Just knowing that he is here and I have someone who will protect me wholeheartedly means so much. Oh my god.
I felt a hard hand on my ass, and I turned around. "Did you wash your hands?"
He nodded slowly, "Did you not just hear the sink?"
"Sorry, I was so zoned out," I said as I slowly hobbled back into the bedroom.
"What were you thinking about?"
I got back into bed, and he did the same, "just thinking about the convention and how I am glad you got back safe."
"I will always be safe," he said with a charming smile.
I pointed at him, "You better be, or I'm gonna find someone else!" I said, half-jokingly.
"You better not."
"Don't die then!" I barked at him.
"I won't, no mafia boss is going to get me," he said with a smile, and I really wanted to trust him and pretend that was true, but truthfully, I don't know.
I mean…let me not think about that. Let me not worry; Dominic is here and safe; I don't need to overthink.
He kissed the side of my face, "Don't worry, baby, I'm here," he mumbled in between kisses.
I leaned my head to the side so he could kiss more, "I know, I know."
God, he was getting me hard again, "hey, hey," I said, pushing him lightly.
"What?" he asked, pulling back slightly and giving me these stupid puppy eyes.
"Ugh, nothing," I said, leaning again so he could kiss my neck more. "I don't know why you have had an obsession with my neck for the past couple of days."
"I just like the reaction you give, and it's really fun to kiss," he said as he nipped my ear.
I quickly slapped his leg, "Be careful!" he gritted through his teeth.
"You," I pointed at him, "get away from my ear."
"Come on, you get some cute when I am near your ear, it just makes me want to fuck…" I heard a knock on the door, and Dominic quickly pulled back as the door was roughly opened.
I smiled, "Hi Isabella, what's up?" I asked, straightening up and pushing her dad so he was on his side of the bed and not all up on me.
She squinted her eyes at both of us and then ran full speed and jumped onto the bed, "Hey, you are going to break the fucking headboard doing that!" Dominic yelled.
I flicked him in the arm, "Watch how you talk to her."
Isabella quickly pushed her dad aside and crawled up next to me. "Ryder, Dad's being mean to me."
"I am not being mean! I just don't want you to get hurt," Dominic said with these wide eyes as he continued to raise his voice.
I rubbed her back slowly, "How was your sleepover?"
"It was good, I had so much fun," Isabella beamed.
"That's good," I said with a smile.
"Yeah. We watched movies, and one of my friends prank-called her crush. Then she has a trampoline," Isabella said, turning her attention to her non-amused dad, "Dad, we need to get a trampoline. Anyway," she turned back to me, "we went outside to go on it, and it was really cold but so much fun, and then we went back inside and fell asleep."
Just seeing her happy makes me so happy, "I'm so glad you had fun. If your friends ever want to have a sleepover here, let me know. I feel like we can really transform the living room."
"Really?" she asked with a smile.
"You would have to ask your dad first," I said, taking my hand off her back to pinch him. "I'm sure he would say yes, right, Daddy?"
He rolled his eyes, "I would need to see whose coming first."
"Dad, they are just my friends, and this wouldn't be for a while."
"I don't care, I don't want random fucking people in my house, and also I don't appreciate you going behind my back and going to a sleepover. You know I don't like you going to other people's houses."
"Dad, it was an all-girls sleepover, even her dad was out of town. I had the bodyguard drive me there, and then she stayed, and she also picked me up, and it was all fine," Isabella said.
I gulped.
I feel bad that I am the start of their argument.
"I don't know what you don't fucking understand, I don't want you at other people's houses, period, like what?" he said, as his voice got louder.
"Dominic, she was safe, and everything is okay," I said softly. And he rolled his eyes at me. I should hit him,
"You ALSO went behind my back, which I also don't fucking like."
God, now I'm pissed off too. "Well then, you talk to me about it. Don't yell and cuss at Isabella. I'm an adult, you talk to me about it," I said, repeating the last part.
"I'm not yelling," he yelled.
"You are, and yelling doesn't get your point across. I understand you are frustrated and angry, and I'm sorry. I just wanted her to have fun. I understand the safety thing and took extra precautions because I knew you would be worried. But you can't keep her here for the rest of her life," I said.
I turned my attention to Isabella, "Why don't you go get whatever you want for lunch, and I will make it for you?"
She nodded awkwardly, and I leaned closer to her, "I'm gonna kick your daddies' ass." She gave me a half-smile, then got out of bed and quickly headed for the door.
"Isabella!" Dominic's voice rang through the room as she turned around slowly, "Don't roll your eyes at me, I'm talking to you."
"That's all you've been doing!" she yelled.
"Do not yell at me! And also don't walk away when we are in the middle of a fucking conversation," he said, standing up out of bed.
I got out of bed as well and slowly walked over to Isabella, "Isabella, go pick out whatever you want, and your dad and I will come down when he's cooled off, okay? This isn't your fault, I will take responsibility for this," I said softly, buying her enough time to leave and shut the door behind her.
I turned to Dominic, who was fucking fuming. He pointed at me, "You are pissing me off."
I rolled my eyes and attempted to walk back to my side of the bed, but I felt a rough arm grab me and yank me over, "You're hurting me," I said sternly, and he let me go.
"I am trying to raise my daughter and make sure that she is safe, and I don't appreciate you going behind my fucking back," Dominic said, his tone quieter but still loud.
"And you know what she doesn't appreciate, getting screamed and cussed at by someone who is supposed to be more mature than her, someone she looks up to. You can still get your point across without all of that fucking yelling and cussing. I mean, I can yell and cuss at you all I want, because you want to know something, Dominic, how old am I?"
He didn't say anything, "answer the question."
"21."
"21, and how old is your daughter?"
"12," he mumbled.
"Fucking 12, so you need to watch your God damn tone when you talk to her, do you understand? I know you want to keep her safe because you love her. But keeping her from her friends stuck in this stupid house is only going to backfire later. As soon as she gets older, she is going to start sneaking out and doing more stuff behind your back. And it might not be bad now, but trust me, it's going to get so much worse. Strict parents create sneaky fucking kids," I explained, "and loosening the reins doesn't make you a bad parent in any way. You can still show you care by just telling her no, I don't want you to say 'oh it's for her safety,' but instead you can be like, 'hey, do your friends wanna come over here instead?' Giving her an alternative solution, talking to her like she's a human, do you understand?"
He nodded at me, "Yes," he mumbled.
"And you are not a bad father in any way. Just yelling at her is a way to get your kid to never talk to you again," I said, "and as someone who would rather live with a mafia boss than my dad, and as someone who hadn't seen their parents in 12 years, you and I both know that."
He sighed as he rubbed his eyebrow slowly, "fuck, I need to apologize to her."
"Yes, you do. Have you cooled off?"
He nodded.
"So if I say something right now, you won't get angry?"
He rolled his neck in a circle, "Maybe I need a bit longer."
"And that's okay," I said, and I turned around and went to go get shorts to put on.
I rubbed the inner corner of my arm, reached for some shorts that were barely longer than my boxers, and put them on.
I turned around and, "HOLY FUCK!" Dominic was standing directly behind me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was doing really well, and I'm sorry."
"It's okay, next time when you feel yourself getting mad and you're around someone who's not me, say it's Isabella again. I need you to think about what you are saying and how it can hurt people, okay?"
"God, I feel like a child."
"You were just never taught to work through your emotions, and that's okay. You are doing really well, and I appreciate how in the last few days you have been expressing yourself, so keep doing that."
He nodded. "Okay, I will," he said, then pulled me into a hug and started kissing my neck.
"That tickles," I said, laughing.
"Good," he muttered as his hands squeezed my ass.
I pushed him, "Go put on pants and let's go downstairs."
After Dominic took like 3 minutes to find some pajama pants, we walked downstairs to see Isabella, Leo, and Matteo standing in the kitchen.
I looked at the ingredients that were spread out on the kitchen counter. "Homemade pasta is crazy," I said, and they all jumped.
Isabella shot her dad a look as she walked over to me. Then she followed me as I started by making the dough, "Go talk to him."
"I don't want to."
"Things aren't gonna get cleared up if you don't."
"Did you smack him?" she muttered.
"I did, now go," I said.
Then I started getting some water and boiling it on the stove. And then I turned around to witness this.
"Sugar, I'm sorry. And I actually mean that. I didn't mean to talk to you like that, nor did I want to cuss at you. I was just angry in the moment because I am worried about your safety. I know you are growing up now, and I only have so long, but I want you to be safe. If your friends want to have a sleepover here, like Ryder said, we could set them up in the living room. I will give you my phone, and you guys can get whatever you want. You can also buy whatever movies and use the pool if your friends want to, whatever, but I trust you, I just want you to be safe, and I want our communication to be open, so I am sorry," he said, and I watched as Isabella quickly went to hug him.
Then he picked her up like she weighed nothing, "I'm sorry I went behind your back, I just knew you would say no. So I asked Ryder, and we came up with a whole safety plan."
"You did?" Dominic asked me,
"Yeah, I know you want her to be safe, and so do I," I said, smiling at them.
Dominic kissed her forehead, "I love you, sugar."
"Love you too, Dad. Now let go, this is getting weird."
"How is a dad holding his daughter weird?" Dominic asked, putting her down.
"Kissing my forehead is what made it weird."
Dominic squinted at her and kissed her forehead again as she swatted him away. "I'm not 5, dude."
"Don't call me dude."
"Bruh."
Dominic looked at me, and I just smiled at him.
God, this whole thing was like a true fairy tale, even with its ups and downs. It feels so surreal, and I love it, every last minute of it. And it's great. Great to just live this life and be happy with all of these people. It's just a great big bow ending for our love story, really.
I played with the ring on my finger. I love it here. Love it here so much I can't explain it, but it really feels like home.