Jessie was out in Hollywood designing costumes for movies. Stan had taken over the antique store. Denney retired and moved to south Florida after Nicole chose to stay and run the family. Danny and Aaron were joined in a civil ceremony. They still lived in Hattiesburg, but visited every time they could. Sheryl managed to find the perfect mate, and was now working for the New Orleans paper. She fell in love with the nurse who helped deliver Jackson. They were about to celebrate their four-month anniversary. Nicole wanted to throw them a party. Apparently it was a record for Sheryl.
Jackson Daniel Kendrick Hebert was about to celebrate his five-month anniversary. A year ago, Laurel would not have believed she could love a child so much. She watched as he struggled to keep his eyes open. They were the same shape and color as Nicole’s. What hair he has was a light brown. They could not tell if he was going to be blonde like Danny or somewhere between blonde and dark brown. Regardless, she held a future heart breaker in her arms. She would not trade it for anything in the world. However, Nicole had been correct. She did have a test in her morning class.
Carefully, she laid him back down in the crib. He sighed as she let go, but did not wake. As silently as she could, she crept back to her room. Nicole was awake and waiting for her. The dogs were too. They stared at her from their places on the floor. They were no longer allowed on the bed. They took up too much room even though it was a king sized mattress.
"He asleep?"
"Yep. He just had a baby nightmare or something." Laurel answered around a yawn.
"Are you that tired?" Nicole laughed.
"Why? What do you have in mind?" She asked as she crawled back beneath the covers.
"Well, we seem to be alone. I thought maybe you might want to take advantage of that."
"Ah. You want early, early morning sex?" Laurel laughed. Everyone seemed to think it was all right to drop by in the evenings to see the baby. Nicole’s Aunt Louise was still staying at the house. She had not left after the christening. They moved her upstairs into Phil’s old room, since they occupied the master bedroom.
"Well, everyone else is asleep." Nicole’s tone was suggestive. "And we haven’t really had a chance to do anything since Jack was born."
"Good point. How can we scare Louise away?"
"By being very, very loud."
"Ok, but if you wake Jack, you get to deal with him." Laurel promised. "So, you want loud huh?"
"Mmmm." Nicole sighed as Laurel began kissing her throat. "Oh yeah."
"I think you’re going to have to get louder, sweetheart. They can’t hear that."
"Just keep doing that, and it’ll be loud."
"You know what?" Laurel asked as she pulled her lover to a sitting position.
"What?" Nicole asked. Together, they removed her nightgown.
"I love you."
"I love you too." Soon all words were lost. Only the frequency of moans and low murmurs changed from soft to ear splitting.
"I don’t believe it." Laurel picked up the baby monitor. "It didn’t wake him."
"He’s a smart kid." Nicole stated proudly.
"He takes after his mommy. Think that was enough to scare off Louise?"
"It should be. If not, we’ll keep trying."
"Ok. Now I really do need sleep. Good night, sweetheart."
"Goodnight, hon." Nicole said around a yawn. "Shit."
"Your turn." Laurel snickered into her pillow.
"Sadist." The photographer mumbled as she fumbled for her robe.
"But you love me anyway." She managed to say.
"That I do. Always will. Night, hon." Nicole leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Love you. Night." She barely heard Nicole leave the room. She was snoring before long. She dreamt of her life, school and jazz. For the moment, life was perfect. It was all she would ask for.
All That Jazz Page 45