Watching Marcus get out of the car, Domi could admit he was a good-looking guy. Tall, dark, and handsome with a great smile and broad shoulders, he was a total catch, but he was so vanilla, she’d rocked his world by suggesting doggy style during their night together. Great guy, great dad, but she had absolutely no romantic or sexual desire for him. Maybe one day, Julia would actually believe that.
The woman in question got out of her side of the car, waving at Ana with a smile, but pointedly didn’t look at Domi. Almost as tall as Marcus, curvy—aka, totally stacked—with pale skin and red hair, she looked like a young Christina Hendricks.
Domi was mostly comfortable being short and skinny at this point in her life, but she still struggled to understand how someone who looked like Julia could be insecure over someone who looked like her.
“I’m gonna miss you, Mommy,” Ana said, throwing her arms around Domi’s neck and smacking a kiss against her cheek. Every other week, she said the same thing, and Domi knew it was true, but Ana was also excited to spend time with her Dad and Julia.
“I’ll miss you more,” Domi countered, squeezing her tightly.
Thankfully, Marcus and Julia lived close, so it was easy to split up time between them. Ana went back and forth each week, which meant Domi was only a single mom about half the time. She both dreaded and looked forward to Ana’s weeks away.
The alone time was blissful, the chance to catch up with her friends was wonderful, but she missed her baby girl the whole time she was gone. She was growing up so fast.
“I’ll miss you most!” Ana said, giggling wildly, giving Domi another kiss before jumping off the couch to run and let her father and stepmother in. She was far too big now for Domi to pick up and carry to the door. The thought made Domi’s chest ache a little with nostalgia. Unlike Domi, Marcus was still able to pick up Ana, even if he couldn’t carry her for the distances he used to. She threw her little body at him, squealing with happiness.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, I missed you!”
“I missed you too, baby girl,” he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead as he tucked his arms underneath her.
“I missed you too, Ju-ju!” Ana said, reaching out her hand toward Julia, who laughed and caught the little hand in hers, giving it a kiss.
“And I missed you, Ana-bug.” Julia grinned. “Are you ready to go to the zoo today?”
Ana cheered, wriggling enough Marcus had to put her down so she could jump around in excitement. “I want to see Monkey Island!”
All of them laughed, and Marcus curved his hand over Ana’s brown curls, which were so much like Domi’s. “I think we can make that happen.” He looked up at Domi, still smiling. “Do you want to come with us?”
For the sake of their daughter, the three of them did a lot of things together, including holidays, but the innocent question still made Julia’s lips tighten into a flat line. Her expression softened with relief when Domi shook her head.
“No, thank you. I have things I need to get done today.”
Specifically, things to get herself ready for a night at Marquis. Every weekend Ana spent with Marcus and Julia, Domi spent either at Stronghold or Marquis. Tonight she wasn’t going with Master Mitch, though. She and Rae were having a ladies’ night to see the fire play scene that had been scheduled. Neither of them had ever seen fire play and were both fascinated by the idea.
Ana pouted but ran over to hug her around the waist. “Bye, Mommy.”
“Bye, baby girl. I’ll see you on Wednesday for dinner.” Domi reaching to hug her back. For just a brief moment, she wished her daughter could stay with her all the time... but that wouldn’t be fair to Marcus. She would enjoy some time for herself. At least for the first few days. That was why they had family dinner every Wednesday, then Ana would be back with her next Saturday morning.
“Can you take Ana out to the car, hon?” Marcus asked Julia, surprising the hell out of Domi—surprising her even more when Julia just nodded in agreement. Domi and Marcus watched them walking to the car, Ana already chattering about what she wanted to see at the zoo before Marcus turned back to Domi. There was something in his expression that made her realize that whatever he wanted to say to her, it was big. He kept his voice low, even though it was unlikely Ana would be able to hear them, even if she wasn’t talking.
“Julia is pregnant.”
Domi slapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her squeal of joy and excitement. She didn’t want to draw Ana’s attention when Marcus and Julia were clearly not ready to tell her yet, but it was so hard. Even with the strain between herself and Julia, she felt nothing but joy for the couple. Marcus’ eyes dance with happiness.
“Oh, my goodness!” she whispered before jumping forward to hug him. Even if it made Julia mad, she couldn’t help it. “I am so happy for you two! The IVF?”
Chuckling, Marcus hugged her back, seemingly not at all worried about his wife’s reaction. It wasn’t as if they hugged for more than a moment before stepping away. Marcus shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels and grinning widely.
“Yeah, this round worked. She’s three months along, officially, as of tomorrow. We want to tell Ana this week, but we couldn’t decide if it was better to do it with just us, or if you prefer, we’ll wait until Wednesday.”
This was why her co-parenting relationship with Marcus and Julia worked. As much as Julia might want to cut Domi out of their lives entirely, she knew she couldn’t and, when it came to the big stuff, she didn’t try to. If it might be better for Domi to be there when they told Ana, then Julia wanted Domi there.
Domi blew out a breath, thinking quickly. Ana knew her Dad and Julia wanted a baby and was excited about the idea of a sibling, but enough time had passed from when the idea was first introduced, she might have settled into the idea it wasn’t actually going to happen. Also, it was one thing to think about having a baby brother or sister and another to face the reality after five years of being the main focus of all three of her parents.
“I think... you should do what feels right,” she said slowly. “If a good moment to tell her comes up, I think you should take it. If a good moment doesn’t come up before Wednesday, you can tell her at dinner.”
Nodding, Marcus’ smile seemed a little dimmer… more nervous. “How do you think she’ll take it?”
“I think she’ll be excited, but she’s also going to have a lot of questions,” Domi said frankly. “After the idea sinks in, she might start to get worried or anxious, but I think she’s going to be a great big sister.”
“She definitely is.” Marcus shot a fond look to the car where Julia was buckling Ana in and laughing at something she said. “Julia bought her a book about being a big sister. I have no idea if it’ll help, but she does love books.”
“Yes, she does.” Domi laughed. That was an understatement. Ana had loved books even as a baby, especially when the book came with a stuffed animal of the main character she could hold while the book was read to her. “I bet it’ll help. That sounds like a great idea.” One that had Julia’s mark all over it—in a good way.
Domi still had to sigh internally when Julia straightened up and looked back at them, the frown on her face the expression most often directed at Domi.