Chapter 14 - The Scan
Dominic hated hospitals more now than when he'd thought he was dying.
Before Valentina, Isabella and Matteo returned, bad news affected only him.
Now every scan belonged to four hearts.
Falcone entered holding the results.
Isabella squeezed Dominic's hand.
Valentina sat between Matteo and Rosa.
Marco remained by the window.
Rico looked around.
"This is excessive."
Dominic said, "They're impossible to remove."
Falcone sat.
"The trial continues to work."
Nobody breathed.
"The primary masses have reduced dramatically."
Dominic stared.
"How dramatically?"
"Enough that we're discussing long-term treatment instead of weeks."
Valentina jumped.
"So he's not dying?"
Falcone smiled.
"Eventually. He's still human."
Rosa frowned.
"Doctor."
Rico corrected himself.
"Not from this anytime soon, if the response continues."
Valentina threw herself at Dominic.
Matteo joined.
Isabella wrapped her arms around all of them.
Dominic closed his eyes.
For the first time since his diagnosis, he allowed himself to believe he might see next Christmas.
Then next summer.
Maybe Valentina's eighth birthday.
Matteo's tenth.
Perhaps Isabella would remember more.
Perhaps Dominic would grow old enough to become annoying.
He looked at Falcone.
"How long?"
Rico shook his head.
"Stop asking that question."
Dominic smiled.
For decades he had measured life in power, money and territory.
Now his greatest ambition was time.
The guardianship issue remained.
Gabriel continued developing a relationship with Valentina.
He found stable employment with one of the construction unions—without Dominic's interference, as Gabriel repeatedly emphasized.
He moved into a small apartment with a second bedroom.
Valentina enjoyed seeing him.
But returning permanently frightened her.
One afternoon she asked Dominic, "If Gabriel is my real dad, are you fake?"
Dominic nearly choked on coffee.
"No."
"What kind are you?"
"Complicated."
"That's not a kind."
Isabella smiled.
"He's your chosen dad."
Valentina thought.
"Can Gabriel be birth dad?"
"Yes."
"And Dominic chosen dad?"
Dominic nodded.
"What are you?" Valentina asked Isabella.
Isabella considered.
"Would bonus mom work?"
Valentina smiled.
"Okay."
No courtroom could have created a better arrangement.
Gabriel surprised Dominic by supporting permanent shared guardianship.
"She already lost one mother," Gabriel said. "I'm not making her lose another family just because I appeared late."
Dominic shook his hand.
"I misjudged you."
"Very badly."
"I dislike admitting that."
"I noticed."
Months passed.
Caldwell pleaded not guilty.
Victor accepted a deal.
Aleandro received a lengthy sentence but continued cooperating.
Dominic's legitimate businesses survived after restructuring.
He sold companies connected to old criminal activities and directed proceeds into restitution programs.
Some former associates called him weak.
Dominic no longer cared.
One night he visited Aleandro again.
His brother looked calmer.
"I heard your scan was good."
"Yes."
"Happy for you."
Dominic nodded.
Aleandro hesitated.
"Isabella?"
"Recovering."
"Matteo?"
"Home."
"And the girl?"
Dominic smiled.
"Running the entire house."
Aleandro laughed softly.
"Sounds dangerous."
Silence followed.
Aleandro looked at his hands.
"Will Matteo ever know what I did?"
"Eventually."
"Will you tell him?"
"When he's old enough."
"What will you say?"
"The truth."
Aleandro flinched.
Dominic continued.
"I won't teach my son to hate you."
Aleandro looked up.
"Why not?"
"Because that's not a gift."
Tears appeared in Aleandro's eyes.
"Do you forgive me?"
Dominic was silent for a long time.
"No."
Aleandro nodded.
"But maybe someday I won't need to hate you either."
It was not forgiveness.
But it was more hope than either man expected.
The first snowfall arrived two weeks later.
Valentina ran outside barefoot before Rosa caught her.
"SHOES!"
Dominic laughed from the doorway.
Valentina returned wearing boots.
Matteo attacked her with a snowball.
She retaliated.
Isabella joined.
Soon the garden became chaos.
Dominic remained on the steps.
Isabella looked toward him.
"Come on."
"I'm medically fragile."
Rico had never said that.
Matteo threw a snowball directly at his father's chest.
Dominic stared.
His son froze.
"Run."
Matteo screamed and fled.
Dominic chased him.
For twenty minutes the Moretti estate sounded like a place where people lived.
That night Valentina sat beside the fireplace.
"Tomorrow is the seventh day."
Dominic frowned.
"Seventh day of what?"
"The week."
He understood.
She had been counting differently.
Not seven calendar days since meeting him—the original week had passed months earlier.
She meant seven days until the final adoption hearing.
Dominic sat beside her.
"Scared?"
"A little."
"Me too."
"What if the judge says no?"
Dominic took her hand.
"Then we keep loving you while lawyers become very annoying."
She smiled.
"Will you still be my dad?"
"Yes."
"Even without paper?"
"Paper doesn't decide that."
Valentina looked into the fire.
"My mama would've liked you."
Dominic's throat tightened.
"I hope so."
"She would've yelled at you."
"Then definitely."
The next morning the family entered court.
The judge reviewed months of reports.
Dominic's criminal history.
His medical prognosis.
Gabriel's position.
Rosa's certification.
Isabella's return.
Valentina's wishes.
Finally the judge looked at the little girl.
"What do you want, Valentina?"
She stood.
Dominic held his breath.
Valentina looked at Gabriel.
Then Isabella.
Matteo.
Rosa.
Finally Dominic.
"I don't want to lose anybody."
The judge smiled.
"Then perhaps we shouldn't make you."
And with one signature, the seven-day promise became something much larger.
But Dominic still had one unfinished journey.
Two graves waited beneath trees outside New York.
Graves carrying the names Isabella and Matteo Moretti.
May you like
And before the family could truly begin again, Dominic needed to face the people they had mistakenly buried.
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