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his
hand with mine. I can hear his phone vibrating in his pocket, yet
he doesn’t reach for it once. He finds a soap opera that Dominique
likes and trash talks about the couples like a pro.
    “That Margo, she’s bad news. I really hope
Hugh and Felicity get together, they would be perfect.” He seems to
know when to disagree with her to draw her out and when to go easy
and agree with her. I fall in love with him all over again watching
his draw out this terrified girl and make her laugh when she’s
about to give birth to her stepfather’s baby. Not that the dad is
an issue. The police had him sign away his rights in exchange for a
lesser charge and restraining order. We know that they don’t mean
anything, but the paperwork to legally change her name is already
in the works. With Dominique across the country, she will be safe.
It helped that this was the man’s second offense, so if he violates
the order he goes away for a long time and he knows it.
     
    It takes seven more hours before the nurses
declare it’s time to push. I feel as worn out as Danny looks.
Dominique looks . . . checked out. As her body worked to get her
baby out, her mind seemed to drift off into another place. The TV
wasn’t working as a distraction anymore, so that got turned off.
The only sound in the room was the sound of the baby’s heartbeat
and occasional scratch on vinyl sound of the baby moving against
the monitor.
    “Are you ready to push now, Dominique? Do you
feel pressure?” The nurse asks. She nods and tries to sit up.
“Wait, wait. Let’s get the bed ready. Mom, Dad, are you holding the
legs?”
    Danny stands up and tries to walk out of the
room. “Oh, no. I’m just going to wait out here in the hall.”
    “No, Danny. You can stand up here by my head.
I don’t want you to leave,” Dominique says, her face scrunching in
pain.
    “Okay,” he says slowly. He’s been very
careful to keep his distance and never touch her besides the
handshake that first day.
    He stands almost behind the head of her bed,
and I take a leg, my hands wet with nervous sweat. I feel like I
may pass out. Dominique’s face is a mask of concentration as she
pushes. And pushes. It’s a lengthy battle, but they are saying the
baby is huge and may have to be taken by c-section. I know by the
look on Dominique’s face that she’s not going to let that happen.
That would set her back from going to college in a couple of
weeks.
    Danny steadies me with a hand on my back, as
I encourage her to breathe, to push, anything I can think of. I
have no idea if my words are helping, if she can even hear me. Her
face drips with sweat, as she shakes with the strain of her
body.
    When the baby comes out, it’s with a cry that
splits my heart open, along with my eyes. I start bawling like it’s
my child that’s been born. The most beautiful cry from a mad little
person has me shaking with so much emotion I collapse against
Danny. That’s what I want, is my first thought. My eyes wont tear
themselves away from the infant, but I feel Danny’s hands on my
shoulders squeezing tight like he’s emotional too.
    The nurses try to put the baby on Dominique’s
stomach, but she pushes him away. My heart stops as the blood
drains from my face. I stop breathing. What is she doing?
    “That’s the mom and the dad. Give the baby to
them.”
    My world takes a few seconds to come back
online. Finally I respond. “Oh, Dominique. No. This is your
baby.”
    She rolls her head on the pillow, exhausted.
“When I look at that baby, it doesn’t mean the same thing to me
that it does to you. You’re the best parents a kid could ask for,
trust me on that.” Her eyes shine with tears, and she swallows.
“Please love my baby, because I can’t.”
    With my mouth open and tears running down my
face, I turn to Danny to see him blinking back tears too. He looks
at me with hope in his eyes and I nod. Danny nods back and we turn
to the nurse with both of our arms outstretched. Everyone