Page 75 of A Seed Of Peril

I took short, slow breaths through the pain.

Dominic immediately dialed someone on the car phone as soon as he forced his way back into traffic.

“Get on the phone with Julie and tell the staff to get everything ready… I don’t know. Just fucking do as I say!” He roughly hung up the phone, pressing his foot on the gas and weaving through traffic as fast and as safely as he could.

Some fucking celebration this turned out to be.

Dominic held my hand—justas on edge as I was—while we waited for my ultrasound to begin.

We made it back home in ten minutes, each of those minutes dire.Did I drink enough blood today? Was it labor already? Was Vincenzo in danger?I recently experienced Braxton Hicks contractions, and I momentarily wondered if those were what was going on, but they weren’t this painful.Did I unknowingly do something wrong?Dominic never let go of my hand the entire ride, only when he had to when he exited the Escalade.

Dominic moved a few of my stray hairs from my face, his warm, inviting smile what I needed, but his eyes told me he was scared like I was. He couldn’t quite hide it.

“It’ll be okay,” I mouthed to him, but was I trying to reassure him or myself more?

Our OB-GYN on staff—Amy—finished applying the gel to my belly.

Julie couldn’t make it here on such short notice. She was at Englewood Health tending to one of her patients who needed her more—an eighty-year-old man who would soon be with the Lord. He didn’t want to die alone.

Amy moved the transducer over my belly, redirecting mine and Dominic’s focus to the machine. We waited in anticipation to see our son, to know if he was okay. If I was okay.

“You said you’re not experiencing pain anymore?”

“Yeah,” I answered, nodding.

Deep in her own concentration, the doctor pressed more buttons on the machine, continuing to move the wand around. I searched for signs in her eyes, even in the way she was breathing, for any indication if the results would be good or bad. Nothing. Damnit.

“Well, the good news is I’m not seeing anything alarming. Your baby looks fine, and I’m not finding anything of concern with your uterus. I’m honestly not sure what happened.”

I slowly released my breath as I looked at the ceiling. I was relieved to hear Vincenzo was okay but worried maybe it was something we weren’t seeing. Like she read my mind, Amy said she would have blood work done as soon as this scan was over.

“Labor?” Dominic asked.

“No,” Amy declared with confidence. “It might be stress, or we can check for dehydration. It could even be just because the baby is growing. That’s why I want to run a blood sample.”

Thinking about Braxton Hicks contractions, I asked if that could be the culprit. I remembered reading online, that, while rare, they might be painful for some women. Carrying a hybrid, I sort of expected that my pregnancy, or elements of it, wouldn’t play out as what was printed in all the books.

“That very well could be, too. Actually, now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised if that is exactly what’s going on.”

Amy suddenly turned the monitor toward me and Dominic, Vincenzo’s heartbeats playing strong and fast. Our boy was curled up on the right side, unbothered by everything. I cracked a smile, tears burning my eyes. He was comfortable. He was okay. He wasn’t in distress. I wanted Vincenzo on my chest and in my arms.

As Amy turned the monitor back around to face her, Dominic brought my hand to his mouth, peppering it with kisses. Lost in my own tunnel vision at the sight of our son and listening to him, I forgot Dominic was beside me. I looked over at him.

“He’s okay.” More happy, relieved tears spilled past my temple. “He’s going to be okay.”

“And so are you,Bellissima.” Dominic stood up from the chair he sat on and kissed my forehead, touching the side of my face. He kissed me, holding steady, gazing into my eyes with love and contentment radiating from his eyes.

Amy turned off the machine and put the wand in its holder. She wiped the gel off of my belly, but none of that mattered. All that mattered in this moment was Dominic’s rough palm cradling my cheek and the way his eyes told me the fear that weighed on his heart and mind tonight was gone. The alarm blazing in them on our way here nearly reduced me to tears. Not in the handful of instances where I had been hurt or in danger had I seen panic like tonight.

“I love you, Lilith.”

I placed my palm along the side of his face. “I love you, too.”

“I’m going to go grab what I need to collect some of your blood for the lab, and then, we can go ahead and get that out of the way so you can get some rest. I want to keep you here tonight for observation.”

“Done,” Dominic agreed with Amy, his stare unwavering, challenging me to argue with him on the decision. Our focus was unwavering from each other.

Amy closed the door on her way out of the room.

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