Chapter 8 - EMMA’S BIRTHDAY
Emma’s tenth birthday began with a rule.
“No men in suits.”
Dominic stared at her over breakfast.
“What?”
“No men in suits at my party.”
“Why?”
“They stand around and look scary.”
Dominic looked toward Marco.
Marco was wearing a suit.
Emma pointed.
“See?”
Marco looked offended.
“I look friendly.”
Emma stared at him.
“You look like you know where bodies are.”
Dominic nearly choked on his coffee.
Maria turned away so Emma would not see her laughing.
Marco looked at Dominic.
“Boss.”
“Don’t involve me.”
Emma continued.
“And no giant ballroom.”
Dominic nodded.
“Fine.”
“No orchestra.”
“I wasn’t hiring an orchestra.”
“You did when I turned seven.”
“That was your grandmother.”
“It was weird.”
“Noted.”
“No gold cake.”
“I remember.”
“And I want Tony’s pizza.”
Dominic stared.
“You have a chef.”
“I like Tony.”
Maria raised a hand.
“I also like Tony.”
Dominic sighed.
“Apparently democracy has arrived.”
Emma smiled.
Her birthday party happened in the garden.
Twenty-two children from school.
Ava and Ethan came.
Their father brought them.
Camille did not.
She sent no gift.
Dominic respected that.
It meant she had listened.
Maria sat at the table instead of serving.
That had taken an argument.
“I’m working.”
“No,” Dominic said.
“I’m paying you.”
“You’re paying me too much.”
“Sit down.”
Maria narrowed her eyes.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Emma interrupted.
“Maria.”
Maria looked at her.
“Sit.”
Maria sat.
Dominic smiled.
“Effective.”
The party was chaotic.
Children ran through gardens men once used for serious private meetings.
Someone spilled orange soda on a chair that cost more than Dominic’s first car.
Dominic did not care.
At one point, a boy kicked a soccer ball through a flowerpot.
Marco instinctively moved toward him.
Dominic grabbed his sleeve.
“He’s ten.”
“He broke the pot.”
“I can see.”
“What do I do?”
Dominic stared.
“You have four children.”
“They know better.”
Emma came running.
“I did it!”
Dominic looked at her.
“You just lied.”
She grinned.
“Protecting my guest.”
“Your mother would be proud and furious.”
Emma smiled wider.
Then she ran away.
At four, the cake came out.
Chocolate.
Strawberries.
No gold.
The entire backyard sang.
Dominic watched Emma close her eyes before blowing out the candles.
Isabella should have been there.
That thought still came.
It probably always would.
But this time grief did not feel like a locked room.
It was simply another person at the table.
After cake, Emma opened presents.
Books.
Art supplies.
A dinosaur fossil kit.
A ridiculous stuffed shark from Vincent.
Emma hugged it.
Dominic stared at him.
“You bought that?”
Vincent shrugged.
“She likes it.”
“It is six feet long.”
“I wanted something memorable.”
“You have no children.”
“Correct.”
“Obvious.”
Then Emma reached the last gift.
No name.
Plain white box.
Dominic’s expression changed immediately.
Marco stepped closer.
Emma noticed.
“Scary suit.”
Marco stopped.
Dominic inspected the box.
It had arrived through the front gate.
No return information.
“Daddy?”
“Give me a second.”
He opened it himself.
Inside was Isabella’s old radio.
The broken one from the garden room.
Dominic froze.
A note rested beside it.
Not a threat.
Three words.
It still works.
Dominic looked toward Maria.
She smiled.
“Peter fixed it.”
Dominic’s throat tightened.
Emma touched the radio.
“Mom’s?”
“Yes.”
“Can we play it?”
Dominic almost said not outside.
Then stopped.
Isabella would have laughed at that.
“Sure.”
Maria plugged it into an extension cord.
The speaker crackled.
Then old jazz filled the garden.
Emma made a face.
“This is terrible.”
Dominic laughed.
“Your mother loved it.”
“She had bad taste.”
“Also true.”
For several minutes, Dominic stood listening to the same music he once avoided because every note reminded him of what he lost.
Now Emma was dancing badly beside Ava.
Vincent had somehow acquired a party hat.
Marco was holding the broken flowerpot.
Maria was laughing.
Dominic realized grief had not left the house.
It simply no longer owned every room.
At six, the children went home.
Emma sat on the back steps with Dominic.
“Best birthday?”
She thought.
“Top three.”
Dominic looked offended.
“Top three?”
“My fifth had a pony.”
“That was one pony for ten minutes.”
“Still a pony.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
She leaned against him.
“Anthony’s gone?”
Dominic’s expression changed slightly.
“Yes.”
Kane had been charged on several unrelated criminal matters tied to his dealings with Vieri’s people.
The rest was moving through lawyers, prosecutors and rooms Emma would never need to understand.
“Is he coming back?”
“No.”
Emma nodded.
“Is Camille?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you hate her?”
Dominic thought.
“No.”
Emma looked surprised.
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
“Same thing?”
“No.”
She accepted that.
Then:
“Can I see her someday?”
Dominic looked at his daughter.
“You want to?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.”
Emma picked at a loose thread on her jeans.
“I miss Ava.”
“You can see Ava.”
“And Camille used to braid my hair.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
People were complicated.
Children knew that before adults did.
Camille had been cruel.
She had also read Emma stories.
Taken her shopping.
Stayed beside her through a fever once when Dominic was out of town.
One truth did not cancel another.
“You don’t have to decide today.”
Emma looked up.
“That’s what Maria says.”
“Maria steals my best lines.”
They sat quietly.
Then Emma said:
“I need a new rule.”
Dominic sighed.
“Another?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“When you go away, you have to call before I go to bed.”
“Every night?”
“Every night.”
“What if there’s a time difference?”
“Figure it out.”
Dominic stared.
“You’re demanding.”
“You said I should bother you.”
He laughed.
“I did.”
“So?”
Dominic held out his hand.
“Deal.”
Emma shook it.
Then pulled him into a hug.
That night, Dominic put Emma to bed in her own room.
The balcony doors were closed.
Her mother’s picture stood beside the lamp.
The six-foot shark occupied nearly half the floor.
Dominic looked at it.
“I hate Vincent.”
Emma giggled.
He turned off the main light.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I sleep anywhere?”
Dominic looked at her.
The question took him back to the laundry room.
Folded towels.
One sock.
His sweatshirt.
He walked back to the bed.
“You can sleep anywhere in this house you want.”
Emma watched him.
“But?”
“But no child in this house ever sleeps on the floor because they think they don’t deserve a room.”
She smiled.
“Okay.”
“And if anyone tells you differently?”
“I call you.”
“Immediately.”
“Even if you’re important?”
Dominic sighed.
“We discussed this.”
Emma grinned.
Then she became serious.
“You came home.”
Dominic’s smile faded.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
That sentence would stay with him longer than any threat Kane ever made.
He kissed her forehead.
“I’m going to spend a long time fixing that.”
Emma yawned.
“Okay.”
Children could be merciful that way.
They did not always need a grand speech.
May you like
Sometimes they just needed you to show up tomorrow too.
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