Page 10 of Daddy's Little Fighter
“I know I shouldn’t have come in here, but Ineededto. I saw you the day everything changed, and I was scared and worried for you. I wanted to see you again to see how you were holding up, but your Daddy said you weren’t seeing anyone,” Dominic explained. “I thought it would only be for the first couple of months since it was traumatic, but then three years went by.”
Frankie remembered Daddy asking her several times if she wanted to see Dominic and talk to him, but each time she said no.
“I see you as a little sister, and I got all protective and worried for you,” Dominic softly said. “I know I’m explaining a lot, but I need you to know that. There are a lot of people here who care for you and want to see you again. They know you have Essential Tremors, but they don’t care. They don’t care. Your Essential Tremors doesn’t change who you are as a person.”
“Yo-you do-don’t see me as so-someone who is ge-getting el-electrocuted?” Frankie forced herself to get out.
Dominic’s eyebrows pulled together as he stared at her. “No. No one does. It never crossed our minds.”
Frankie didn’t know whether she should believe him or not. He could just be saying that to ease her concerns, appease her so that she would go out and then tell everyone to laugh and point at her.
No.
She wasn’t going to fall for it.
Dominic sighed. “I know it’s going to take a lot more reassuring you that no one is going to judge you. We are all willing to do that and want to do it if it means we get to see you. We all care about you and consider you family.”
“You don’t know me that well,” she whispered.
“You may have only worked at the club for a couple of months, but you had everyone wrapped around your finger. We all love you and think of you as part of our family,” Dominic replied. “You mean a lot to everyone here. Maybe sometime soon you could come again and just hang around us. I know Trent would love to have you in the kitchen. Have you help out and try the things he makes. He hasn’t been able to fill that role. But I don’t think he wants to.”
Was he trying to make her feel even more guilty? He was doing an amazing job at it if he was. Frankie didn’t realize how much other people had missed having her around.
Maybe...maybe she could come by the club with Daddy a couple of times a month to see them. If Dominic was telling the truth, they didn’t care if her hands or body shook. But could she actually do it?
“Just think about it. I know there are several Littles who would also love to meet you.” Dominic smiled. “We don’t expect it tomorrow, but maybe sometime soon you could come back to the club. Think about it?”
She nodded, but Frankie didn’t know whether she would actually think about it or not. She hadn’t thought she wouldcome out of the house and see anyone for the rest of her life. She was in shock right now.
“How have you been doing?” Dominic asked.
Frankie opened and closed her mouth several times. “Fine.”
Dominic sighed and gave her a sad smile. “Maybe we can make it better than fine soon. I’ve been kind of talking to someone.”
Her eyes went wide as she stared at him.
“She comes to the club with the other Littles. She doesn’t think we should get together since her brother is my best friend, but I think otherwise.” He chuckled. “I’ve had my eyes on her for years, and one day she decided to come to the club, shocking me. To say I had a conversation with her was an understatement. I dragged her to a room. Don’t give me that look. I shouldn’t have, but I did, and after that, we’ve kind of been talking to each other.”
“How’s your mother?” she asked.
His face dropped, and Frankie knew. “She died two years ago.”
Tears pooled in Frankie’s eyes, and without thinking, she reached out with her hand and squeezed his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her throat closing up with all the emotions.
He gave her a small smile back. “It’s okay. I saw it coming, but it didn’t make it any less hard. But she is in a better place now. She didn’t want a funeral, so I respected her wishes.”
That must have been hard.
“But let’s change the subject. What have you been doing recently?” he asked.
“Coloring and playing with Lita,” she mumbled.
That was what her life was now. Staying in the house, coloring, and playing with Lita. Sometimes she would bake, but she didn’t have that passion anymore, not after what happened.
“Frankie!” Daddy yelled as he rushed into his office. “What’s wrong? You weren’t answering my texts.”
She stared at Daddy with wide eyes. She hadn’t even felt her phone go off right next to her as she talked with Dominic.
