EPILOGUE

Fourteen months later – Cedars Sinai – Los Angeles

“Man, I’ll give twenty more bucks if you just speed the fuck up, okay?”, I exclaim directly into the driver’s ear grabbing the front seats of the cab. He just turns up the volume of the radio and throws me an almost annoyed glance through the rearview mirror.

I rest my back against the back seat with a long, frustrated sigh and I rake my fingers through my hair. I check my watch and sigh again. It’s late and she’s going to be pissed.

My cell phone rings and I jerk, suddenly pulled away from my empty meditations about everything and nothing.

“Hey”.

“Hey, are you there yet?”.

“Tsk… Nope… I’m stuck in a fucking traffic jam”.

“You curse a lot, today…”. She giggles a bit, and I purse my lips together rolling my eyes.

“God, Cass. It’s not that Alex can really hear or understand me”.

“Dante…”.

That warning tone and I know that I’m whipped. Wife and daughter whipped.

“Alright. I’m sorry”.

Cassandra laughs a little.

“It’s okay”.

Her voice sounding muffled. She must be keeping the receiver far from her mouth.

“Alex, say hi to papi”.

Various noises in the background and I find myself smiling my idiotic daddy-grin.

“Papi!”, she yells in the phone. Her voice is like dew on a spring morning. Crystalline and transparent.

“Ciao baby, how are you?”.

“Eeeeh!”.

I chuckle.

“I miss you, Alex”.

“Papiiiii!”.

My grin widens as I stare at the road running by, outside the window.

“Alright. Alexandra, please, give mommy the phone”.

Alex laughs. I don’t know why, she always finds me extremely funny. Whatever I say, she laughs. I like that. She’s a joyful little girl.

“Dan…”.

“Yeah…”, I whisper to my wife, piercing the bridge of my nose through my fingers.

“Just breathe. It’s okay”.

This is one of the many things I love about Cassandra. She’s totally supportive and understanding. She never had a problem with me being the donor for Shane and Carmen. Never. She was just flattered they asked me and extremely proud. Not even for a second she acted like a jealous wife or a judgmental woman. Maybe it’s because she adores Shane and Carmen – well, especially Carmen… she’s her best friend, now – and she never doubts my love or commitment to her and our family. She never took any of my shit and I am so proud of being married to her.