Choices We Make: The Moretti Brothers Series (20 page)

When he reached the bedroom he heard whimpering.  He rushed into her room to find Victoria clearly in so much pain that she was barely conscious and her lower part of nightgown was soaked with blood.  “What the fuck?”  He ran to her side.  “Vic, Vic.”  She was semi-conscious. He reached for his phone and dialed 911.  “Vic, baby talk to me.” 

“Nick it hurts so much, I don’t want to lose our babies, please Nick.”  She said barely coherent.  “Hang in there, baby, it’s going to be okay.”  He said as he cradled her in his arms as he dialed 911.  On instinct, his next call was to Marco. 

Marco saw his brother’s number show up on his phone and answered it thinking Nick was ready for round two.  “Marco something is wrong with Victoria, there is so much blood and I can’t get her to open her eyes.” He tried to stay calm be was quickly losing control.

“Nick did you call for an ambulance?”

“Yes I called.” Nick said in a panic.

Marco’s heart dropped. “I’m on my way, Nick, keep talking to her.”  Marco ran out of his office telling his secretary to cancel his appointments for the day and he would call her later.    As Marco pulled up in front of the condo the EMT’s were placing Victoria in the ambulance.  Because of the way they needed to work on Victoria there was no room in the ambulance for Dominic. Marco could see he brother was distraught. 

He rushed to Dominic side, “Nick, what happened?” 

“Marc, she looked so pale.  If I hadn’t arrived when I did, I don’t...” he hesitated.  “Where is your car, we need to get to the hospital.”

Marco sped behind the ambulance ignoring lights and signs.  Once at the hospital one by one the entire family arrived.  Jackie and Monica showed up separately, shortly afterwards. 

“Dominic what’s going on, what happened to her?” Jackie said with tears in her eyes. 

“I don’t know Jackie, they just took her back.” 

Jackie turned towards Monica “and where the fuck were you, you were suppose to be with her?”  She said staring directly at Monica.  Kevin tried to console Jackie. 

“She asked me for ice cream and I went to get it,” Monica said as the tears streamed down her face.

“You are such a fucking liar, Si je trouve que vous avez une imprudence lui faire du mal de toute façon, vous allez payer (if I find out that your carelessness hurt her in any way, you will pay).  Jackie was so angry she wasn’t aware that, once again, she was speaking both French and English at the same time.  Kevin pulled Jacqueline to the side, “babe you need to calm down this is helping Victoria right now.” 

“Je n'ai pas confiance en elle Kevin et elle sait pourquoi (I do not trust her Kevin and she knows why).” 

“English baby, you know I’m still working on my French.”

Jackie looked at him and realized he was right; this would not help the situation.  “I’m sorry, I’m just so worried about Vic, why haven’t we heard anything?” 

Marco noticed Monica on the verge of tears again and walked over to her.  “Monica, this wasn’t your fault.”  Monica stared at him in a daze, still holding ice cream in her hand that was now melting.  Marco took the bag from her hand and threw into the trash, then retrieved tissues so that she could clean her hands.  Monica wiped her hands as the tears continued to flow down her face. 

“She is right, I was a horrible friend, but I love Victoria and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.” 

Marco wiped her tears and he put his arms around her to comfort her.  The doctor came out and spoke with Dominic.  “Because of complications, we are prepping her now for an emergency C-section.  You will need to come with me to get you ready.  Dominic walked over to everyone and explained what was happening.  He turned to leave when he halted and turned to his mother.  “Mom if you have any favors to call into heaven, now would be the time to use them.”  He said solemnly.  His mother smiled “I’m praying son, but I know God will watch over Victoria and the babies.”  He followed the nurse to the back towards the operating room.  The nurse instructed Dominic change into scrubs, then was ushered into the delivery room. 

CHAPTER TWENTY-S
IX

Victoria was conscious but not very lucid.  They sat him in a stool by Victoria’s head, she looked at him and he could see the fear in her eyes.  “It’s going to be fine baby.  Today is our babies birthday,” he said as she smiled just before his kissed her on the lips.  There were several people moving around in the delivery room.  They started the procedure and over the next several minutes everything moved in rapid speed.  He heard crying as the doctor said, “baby A is a girl.”  He lifted her up so that they could see her before handing her off to the nurse.  “Here is baby B, another girl,” he said as he again lifted the baby so that they could see her.  Dominic was so overwhelmed his eyes began to fill with unshed tears.  He rubbed Victoria’s hair as he kissed her on the lips again.  “You hear that baby, another girl.”  They heard the Doctor announce baby C “It’s a boy.  The babies look great Mom and Dad. I just need to finish with you Mom, but the hard part is over, so relax Victoria we will be finished in a few minutes.”  Dominic kissed Victoria on the lips softly as a tear fell from his eye. “Thank you for such beautiful gifts.”  She gave him a faint smile as she closed her eyes. 

The babies were taken immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit and Victoria was taken to recovery.  The nurses instructed Dominic that they needed to clean Victoria up and it would take a few minutes.  He walked into the hall, in a total daze.  This entire experience was so surreal.  He just watched his babies being born.  He vision became blurred and it was at that moment that he realized that his face was wet with tears.  He used his arm to wipe his face and walked towards the waiting room.  

Everyone was anxiously waiting to hear something.  Dominic walked out looking disheveled.  “We have three beautiful babies, two girls and a boy.”  His mother and sister ran up to him causing him to stumble back a little and they gave him a group hug. 

“Thank God!” his mother cried. 

“Congratulations big brother.”  Fran said as Maria just gave him a hug so overcome with emotion, she was unable to speak.  Lorenzo put his hands together shaking them in the air as he looked upward, silently thanking God for looking over his grandbabies and Victoria.  Dominic continued. “The babies are in the NIC
unit.  They’re so tiny but strong, and Victoria is still heavily sedated but doing well.  I need to be with Victoria, I’ll send the nurse out when you can see the babies.”  Jackie hugged Kevin tightly as she thanked God for his blessings. Marco consoled Monica, who finally let out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding as a tear ran down her face.  “I would have never forgiven myself if anything happened to Vic or the babies.” She whispered to Marco. 

Two by two they filed into the maternity ward to look at the babies through the glass.  “They are so tiny but they are beautiful” Maria stated.  They all looked in admiration at what Victoria and Dominic had created. 

The entire family was back and forth to the hospital daily, until the babies were released.  Dominic insisted that the babies and Victoria stay at his house at least until Victoria was stronger.  They chose the name for the babies with the grandparents in mind.  Baby A, the oldest by a few minutes was named Isabella Helena Moretti.  Baby B, the second born was named Gabriella Annetta Moretti; and the youngest of the trio, Baby C, was named Dominic Lorenz Moretti.  The entire family had come by daily to check on Victoria and the babies.  Although Marco and Dominic were cordial, their relationship was definitely stranded.  

“Have you talked to him, Victoria?”  Marco asked while they were alone.

“No, he has avoided having a conversation with me.  He comes in, sits with the babies for hours then leaves, barely saying two words to me.  I’ve told him we needed to talk, he says later but leaves before that happens.   Tonight he’s not going to have a choice, we will talk.” 

Dominic knew that Marco was talking to Victoria but he didn’t want to deal with that, he didn’t know how he would react if his worst fear was confirmed, that his brother and Victoria were seeing each other.  Dominic sat in his office looking into the box that contained three charms; one for each baby.  He had been meaning to give them to Victoria since the babies were born. He loved her so much and now it looked like he was going to lose her to his brother.  Marco walked into his office and sat in the seat directly in front of his desk, interrupting his thoughts.  “You know at some point you will have to talk to me?” Dominic looked up but didn’t respond. 

“You are such a stubborn ass.  I’m outa here.”  He got up to leave but turned around.  “Oh, Victoria said she needed your help her with something, I think she was trying to lift furniture.” Marco said, knowing it was a lie, but also knew his brother would be up the stairs fast as lightning so that she would not hurt herself.  Just as he suspected, Dominic flew by him taking the stairs three at a time.  “I’ll let my self out.  Talk to you tomorrow.” He yelled at the fleeing back of Dominic.  He smiled to himself; his brother was definitely in love. 

Dominic stood in the doorway of the bedroom and watched Victoria as she walked slowly to the dresser.  “What are you doing?”  He said in a stern but low tone.

Victoria turned, slightly startled.  “What do you mean, what am I doing?  I’m trying to get something out of the drawer.  Why, am I not allowed to use them?” she said trying to be sarcastic. 

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.  Marco said you were trying to move something.” 

“Now why would I…” she stopped mid sentence realizing that was Marco’s way of getting him up the stairs so they could talk.  “I do need you.  I need you to sit here and talk to me.” 

“I don’t have time for this, I’ll be…” 

“Dominic Moretti if you don’t sit down and hear what I have to say, I will pack up the babies and move back to my condo.” 

“Like hell you will.”  Dominic said looking her directly in her eyes.  She stared back unwilling to back down. 

“We are going to talk Nick, and we are going to do it now.  Please sit.

“Victoria please make it quick I have a lot of work to get done.” He continued to stand. “Please Nick sit with me.” She pleaded in a soft voice that melted his heart.  He sat in the chair next to the bed and tried to brace himself for what he was about to hear. 

She steadied her nerves.  “First, Nick you need to know that you mean the world to me and I would never do anything to hurt you.”  Dominic looked at her and tried to stay calm.  He could tell that she was trying to sugar coat the devastating blow she was about to land.  “And I hope you know that I only want what’s the best for you.” 

“Vic, stop dragging this out and just say what you need to say.” 

She took a deep breath “Remember that deal you were working on right before Christmas?”  He nodded impatiently.  “Well, I felt really bad and wanted to do something to help you.  I asked Marco to me help invest in your company under a fictitious name but he wouldn’t, he said I needed to talk to you, but I knew you would not accept my help, so I hired another attorney.  As it turned out there were some problems with that attorney and Marco help me with some legal issues.  The attorney I hired was more problems than he was worth and it took a few weeks, but Marco helped me out of a big jam.  I couldn’t tell you because I knew you would have been angry.   Marco told me you were able to secure a better deal so my help wasn’t needed.  I hope you’re not angry, I just wanted to help.”

What is she talking about?  What does any of this have to do with her and Marco getting together?”
Then it finally occurred to him that Marco was helping her with a legal issue and they were not seeing each other.  Dominic could no longer hear anything Victoria was saying, he felt like he such a fool, he had accused his brother of something he knew Marco was not capable of, he needed to make this right and it would start with Victoria. 

“Dominic do you hear me?” she asked when he didn’t answer.

He needed be totally truthful with Victoria.  Dominic sat on the bed next to Victoria “Vic, I need to tell you something.”

She turned to face him on the bed. “Vic, remember when you and I first met and I told you about my business.” She nodded. “I wasn’t totally forthcoming with you about the extent of my business and I went with you on vacation not because I needed the money but as a favor to Kevin.  He wanted to make sure you had a good time with someone he trusted because he knew how much you meant to Jackie.” 

“What are you talking about Nick?”  Victoria was totally confused with the direction their conversation was going. 

“What I’m saying is, my company was never in financial trouble, to the contrary we grossed over one million dollars last fiscal year.” 

Victoria continued to stare at Dominic.
What was he talking about?
  She began to rewind everything in her head, the day they met, their time on the island, and the agreement, it had all been based on a lie.  As her sense of reasoning caught up with her memories, she began to shed tears, first out of hurt, then anger.  She stood and walk over to the window, needing to put distance between her and Nick. 
Had this all been a game for him?
“Why Nick?  Why did you go on vacation with me?  Did I look that pathetic to you?”  He was stunned by her comment, how could she think that.  He walked over to her and could see the hurt in her eyes through the tears.  He reached for her and she jerked away.  “Why Nick?  You didn’t need the money, so why; did I satisfy some secret fantasy of yours to sample a piece of chocolate?  Did I fulfill your curiosity?”  She paused, trying to container her anger “But why wouldn’t you agree to fuck me, my stupid ass was even willing to pay you.  I bet you and your friends got a lot of laughs out of that.”  Then she thought about her beautiful babies in the other room.   “I guess you got more than you bargained for?”  She said with venom. 

Dominic was stunned, and then angered by her harsh comments, when he realized that she was referring to his babies.  He closed the gap between them grabbing her by her waist.  She tried to pull away but he would not release her.  He gently grabbed her face so that she was giving him eye contact.   “Regardless of how we came together, I don’t regret my babies.”  She tried to move her face but her pulled it back to face him.  “Do you hear me Vic?  I don’t regret my babies.”  It broke his heart to see her hurting.  “And I never thought our time together was a joke, I felt the connection between of us and I know you did too.” 

“Get out Nick.” She said softly, to weak to fight anymore.

“Vic?”

“Please get out Nick,” she said slightly raising her voice.  Dominic started to protest but he could see he needed time to process what he told her. 

Dominic walked out on the room down the stairs and into his office, slamming the door behind him.  He grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels off the table and filled a glass. He couldn’t understand how the woman he loved could think that she was some kind of sick secret fantasy for him. “That’s because the love is one sided and she doesn’t even know that I love her.” he said out loud as he took another gulp of his drink.  He got up from his desk and laid across the sofa.  His last thoughts were of Victoria right before he fell asleep. 

Victoria sat on the side of the bed after Dominic walked out on her.  “What the fuck just happened?” she whispered.  The tears she didn’t realize she was shedding started to wet her nightgown.  She had planned to confess her love for him, but she couldn’t tell him now, not this way.   She sat on the edge of the bed and thought about the part she paid in the situation, while she accused him of being deceitful; she was also deceitful by trying to go behind his back with that business deal.  But that was because she loved him and wanted him to succeed. 
“But deceit is deceit regardless of the pretense.  This is stupid, we have children together and even if we aren’t together, we still have to raise our babies.  We need to talk.
  She thought with resolve.    After sitting on the side of her bed for several minutes, she carefully walked down the stairs in search of Dominic; she was strong but still needed to take it easy.  She walked into his office, without knocking, ready for whatever their conversation would yield.  She looked over at the sofa and found a sleeping Dominic.  As she stared at him for a few moments, she was reminded how much she loved that man.  She walked over to the sofa, took the bottle of Jack Daniels out of his hand and placed a blanket over him before returning to her room. They would finish their discussion tomorrow.

The next day brought more confusion and doubt for both of them.  While they both agreed that they needed to get along for the sake of the babies, their relationship had become strained.  Over the next week Dominic avoided Victoria, only seeing her when she was with the babies.  Dominic was still angry about the accusations Victoria threw at him and Victoria was still hurt over Dominic’s revelations.  Victoria sat in the rocking chair nursing Gabriella when Dominic walked into the nursery, only focusing his attention on the babies.  He looked in the crib to see his son staring back at him.  His heart swelled every time he saw his babies, he would do any thing to protect them and their mother.  “He still needs to feed.” Victoria said.  Dominic retrieved a bottle from the bottle warmer and tested it before picking up his son and sitting in the seat next to Victoria.

Although their relationship was not at its best, she looked at Dominic with admiration.  He was so gentle with his babies, never once faltering on any of the duties concerning the babies.  While some men would be afraid to hold small babies he never hesitated.  “I purchased a house and I will be moving with the babies in two weeks.”  She said nonchalantly.  Dominic’s jaw tighten as he stared directly at Victoria, she looked at him as she continued to nurse. Her revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. “I can’t believe you would make such a major decision without first consulting me.  This not only affects you, but our babies.” He said through his teeth in a low agitated voice.