Chapter 18 - The Day Dominic Became Ordinary
Dominic Moretti retired at forty-five.
Nobody believed him.
Marco asked three times.
"Retired retired?"
"Yes."
"From everything?"
"Everything."
"You'll last two weeks."
Dominic lasted four days.
Then Isabella found him reorganizing kitchen cabinets.
"Get a hobby."
"I have hobbies."
"Threatening contractors isn't a hobby."
Dominic considered gardening.
He killed three tomato plants.
Valentina suggested cooking.
Rosa banned him after one dinner.
Matteo suggested golf.
Dominic found it infuriating.
Finally he began volunteering at Seven Days House without announcing himself.
He helped children with paperwork.
Drove teenagers to job interviews.
Sat with parents during reunification hearings.
People sometimes recognized him.
Most didn't.
He liked that.
One afternoon a little boy refused to enter the dining room.
Dominic crouched.
"Hungry?"
The boy nodded.
"Then why aren't you eating?"
"Food might run out."
Dominic remembered bread disappearing into Valentina's pocket years earlier.
He sat on the floor.
"I know somebody who used to think that."
"Did it run out?"
"No."
"Never?"
"Not after she found the right people."
The boy looked suspicious.
"Who?"
Dominic smiled.
"My daughter."
At home Valentina was now fourteen.
Confident.
Sharp.
Capable of defeating Dominic in arguments with alarming frequency.
Matteo was sixteen and considering medical school, inspired partly by Falcone.
Isabella joked that one doctor in the family might finally make Dominic follow instructions.
Gabriel remarried.
Valentina served as maid of honor and cried more than anyone.
Rosa claimed she was retiring annually and never did.
Marco developed gray hair and blamed Dominic.
The family remained complicated.
But complication no longer frightened them.
One evening Dominic drove Valentina through the old neighborhood.
She had requested it.
They stopped near the concrete step.
Valentina stared.
"Smaller than I remember."
"Everything is."
She sat.
Dominic stood where he'd stood years earlier.
"You looked ridiculous."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I was wearing a very good suit."
"Exactly."
"You looked terrible."
"I was homeless."
"Fair."
They laughed.
Valentina became quiet.
"Were you really going to keep me only seven days?"
Dominic sat beside her.
"I thought I was."
"That's messed up."
"Extremely."
"What would you have done after?"
"I hadn't thought that far."
She stared at him.
"You owned companies."
"Yet apparently no common sense."
Valentina smiled.
Then asked, "Did you choose me because I reminded you of Matteo?"
Dominic considered carefully.
"No."
"But I reminded you of losing him."
"Yes."
"Would you have stopped if it was another kid?"
Dominic looked down the street.
"I don't know."
Valentina nodded.
"That's okay."
"Is it?"
"Yeah."
She leaned against him.
"You stopped for me."
Dominic put an arm around her.
For several minutes they watched traffic.
Then Valentina said, "I'm applying to summer programs."
"Where?"
"Chicago."
Dominic's arm stiffened.
"That's far."
"It's a two-hour flight."
"Exactly. Practically another continent."
"Dad."
"You could study in New York."
"I want Chicago."
Dominic sighed.
"Your mother is going to support you."
"All three parents already did."
"Traitors."
She laughed.
Dominic realized this was the next kind of fear.
Not losing children.
Letting them leave.
Healthy leaving.
Growing.
Choosing.
Living.
Lucía's words returned.
Surviving is only the doorway.
After that, you must live.
Dominic drove Valentina home and approved the application.
She was accepted.
The morning she left for the summer program, he checked her suitcase six times.
"Dad."
"Passport?"
"Domestic flight."
"Identification?"
"Yes."
"Emergency cash?"
"Yes."
"Phone charger?"
"Yes."
"Backup charger?"
Valentina stared.
Isabella pulled Dominic away.
"Let her go."
At the airport Valentina hugged everyone.
Gabriel.
Isabella.
Matteo.
Rosa.
Marco.
Finally Dominic.
"You okay?" she asked.
"No."
"Good."
He laughed.
"Call me."
"Not every hour."
"Every two."
"No."
"Four."
"Once a day."
"Three times."
"Twice."
"Deal."
They shook hands.
Then Valentina hugged him again.
"Thank you for stopping."
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Thank you for saying yes."
She walked toward security.
Dominic watched until she disappeared.
Years ago he'd believed love meant protecting people from leaving.
Now he understood love sometimes meant standing still while they walked toward their own future.
Isabella squeezed his hand.
"Ready?"
Dominic looked toward the empty checkpoint.
"No."
She smiled.
"Me neither."
They went home anyway.
That night Valentina video-called.
Her dorm was small.
Her roommate seemed friendly.
She looked happy.
Dominic relaxed.
"See?" she said. "I'm alive."
"Low standard."
"Love you."
His expression softened.
"Love you too."
After the call Dominic walked outside.
The summer air was warm.
No security crisis.
No enemies.
No diagnosis.
No deadline.
Nothing dramatic happened.
And Dominic realized ordinary life had become the greatest luxury he'd ever owned.
Tomorrow would bring homework, work, arguments, medical appointments and bills.
Maybe bad news someday.
Definitely grief someday.
That was life.
He no longer demanded guarantees.
He only asked for the chance to be present.
May you like
And somewhere in Chicago, the little girl who once believed she had no one was beginning to discover who she could become when survival was no longer her full-time job.
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