Page 52 of Reclaimed Dreams

Chapter16

35 years ago

Jo opened her eyes and slid her hand across the cool sheets on the other side of the bed. She rolled and starfish stretched. It was Saturday morning, and Dom had left at five a.m. for his double shift. She missed him when these double shifts cropped up on the weekends, but she had to admire his work ethic. He and his brother had set a goal, and they were chasing it hard. It wouldn’t be long before these overtime checks allowed them to get Valenti Brothers off the ground.

She sat up and her head spun. She grinned and waited for it to pass. If her calendar and the little plastic stick she’d hidden in her underwear drawer weren’t mistaken, they’d be checking another long-term goal off their list in about seven months. She had an appointment with her gynecologist next week to confirm it.

Rubbing a hand over her still flat belly, she imagined Dom’s face when she told him he was going to be a daddy. He was going to freak!

They had taken a few years to just enjoy being married and to get her teaching career established. She didn’t want to be juggling kids and work before they were really solid, and with him trying to save money for the business, the time just hadn’t been right. But after her cousin Elizabeth’s wedding, they’d been a little careless with the condoms and now they were going to start their family sooner than they’d planned.

She was imagining a sweet little face with her eyes and Dom’s chin when a sharp cramp pinched low in her belly. Wincing, she gingerly got herself out of bed and into the bathroom, trying to keep her stomach from revolting against her vertical position as it had the past few mornings. That queasiness had prompted her to buy the test at the pharmacy in the first place.

Her heart climbed up into her throat as she sat down heavily on the toilet and found bloody splotches in her underwear. No. No no no no no no….

Hanging on to a thread of hope, she called her doctor and a cab.

Dom scrubbed a hand through his sweat-soaked dirty hair and tossed his hard hat on the couch as he stepped out of his cement-crusted work boots. He’d busted his ass on the double shift at the construction site, and all he wanted was a shower, dinner, and a beer.

He and his brother Tony had taken on as many extra shifts as they could manage between them. They were so close to their savings goal for opening their own construction firm. In another few years, Valenti Brothers would be a reality.

Lost in his daydreams for the future, he made it all the way into the kitchen of their one-bedroom apartment before it hit him.

No dinner on the stove. No lights on in the living room. No Jojo.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something was wrong.

“Jo?” He called her name into the quiet apartment. “Babe, are you here?”

There weren’t many places she could be. As he searched their home, panic gripped his throat and refused to let him breathe. Were his parents okay? Were hers? Had there been an accident? Where would she have gone in such a hurry and not told him?

He shuffled through the papers on the kitchen table, looking for a note, but all he saw was a pile of utility and doctor bills. Dropping them, he strode back toward their bedroom, still calling for her.

“Josephine! Where are you?”

A quiet whimper drew him into the bathroom.

Jo sat naked from the waist down in the empty tub, with her head resting on her curled-up knees, crying silently. Her jeans were in a pile next to the toilet.

“Jo! What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Jo raised her teary eyes and stared at the tile wall. The vacant sadness there terrified him. He reached a hand toward her shoulder and she flinched.

“I lost it,” Jo whispered before tears crumpled her face.

Dom’s head was spinning. What could she have lost that they couldn’t replace? What would cause this level of grief?

“Lost what?” He glanced into the tub and blanched. “Babe, I think we should get you to the hospital.”

“I’ve already been there. I was going to surprise you with the news after my appointment next week, but I started spotting this morning. So I went to the emergency room, and they…. They couldn’t find a heartbeat…”

In thirty seconds, Dom found out he’d been a father and was no longer. His heart broke a little in his chest and his throat clenched around his words. What? How? When? The questions could wait.

Stripping off his filthy jeans and sweat-stained T-shirt, he climbed into the tub behind Jo and pulled her back into his arms. He couldn’t carry a child for her, but he’d do his best to carry her burdens while she fought through this. She looked so fragile, and the helplessness he felt made him want to punch his fist through some drywall. Fear battled anger for control in his mind. It took all of his strength and focus to sit still and just hold her. If he lost that battle, he’d be scooping her up in his arms and taking her back to that goddamn doctor and demanding he fix it.

Thankfully his rational mind was winning. Just barely. “So what do we do?”

“There’s nothing to do. They said it should pass in a few days.”

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