Baby Love (Baby Series)

by ANDREA SMITH

  Preston was in her playpen looking adorable in her red bib overalls and her red and white striped long sleeved polo shirt. I had put her hair into two tiny pigtails with little red bows. Her other bottom front middle tooth was breaking through. She was chewing anything rubbery like crazy. Right now she was slobbering on her rubber ducky bathtub toy that she had refused to part with after I had taken her out of her bath this morning. It was squeaking like crazy as she ravaged it with her emerging teeth.

  Finally I heard commotion at the front door. Trey was first in with Gina tagging closely behind. They appeared to be arguing.

  (Go figure!)

  "All I'm saying counselor is that you might have wanted to pick a better time and a more compassionate method of dropping that little bomb on Tristan other than forwarding that video, which by the way he clearly knew I had produced."

  "Gina I am not justifying my actions to you. He needed to know and now he does. Why are you upset?"

  "Jesus Christ Trey, why the hell do you think? Your brother and I may yet end up as business partners. The night before we meet with the club's accountant you drop that video bombshell on him? The same video that I was responsible for recording. Talk about wanting to kill the messenger!"

  "He needed to know. You must agree with that or you wouldn't have concocted that little 'entrapment' scheme of yours to get Libby on video admitting that she's a fucking freak!"

  "Whoa, okay you two," I interrupted. "First of all, keep it down. You're upsetting Preston."

  They both glanced over at Preston in her playpen chewing away on her rubber ducky as if she was oblivious to the whole thing. She must only get upset when Trey and I raise our voices with each other I decided.

  "Okay," I continued, "Then you are upsetting me. What is going on? Is Tristan backing out of the deal?"

  "Well no, he didn't say that," Gina replied. "He just showed up thirty minutes late at the accountants looking all bleary-eyed and unkempt. He snarled at me about my prowess at shadiness and referred to me as "the Shady Lady,' how coincidental is that?"

  (Oh shit!)

  "Oh Gina, I'm sorry, I told him you were considering changing the name of the club to 'The Shady Lady."

  "That's certainly fitting," Trey chimed in. "I'm going in to pack. This conversation is over."

  Trey departed the room mumbling something inaudible.

  "You see? You see how he treats me Tylar? Why am I the bad guy in all of this?"

  "Sit down Gina," I replied. "Let's talk."

  She sat down crossing her legs and arms. Her body language definitely told me that she was not going to be receptive.

  "First of all I don't think that you are the 'bad guy' in this and neither does Trey. In fact, when I told him that you had lied to Libby about having that closed circuit camera system at the club in order to get her to admit what she had done he said that you were pretty clever. Tristan did need to know what Libby was about. Now what happened this morning? Was Tristan actually angry with you?"

  "Well I wouldn't say angry is the word, I mean it was really hard to tell because he was bleary-eyed like he hadn't slept and a bit disheveled. I can tell you this though Ty, he still looked hot."

  She giggled then caught herself and went back to her wounded victim routine.

  "Well he didn't yell at you or anything did he?"

  "Oh no, nothing like that. It was just that when Rob was going over the figures with him it seemed like he was preoccupied and miserable."

  "But Gina, certainly you of all people can understand that even more so because you actually had a long term relationship and then marriage to Ian. Seeing that video of Libby admitting that she wanted Trey had to be a shock for him. How was everything left about the club?"

  "Well Tristan got copies of the financial information. He is flying back to Bristol tonight. He said that he would review everything and that he would be in touch with me early next week."

  "Well then see? Once he comes to terms with the fact that this thing with Libby was nothing more than him acting out a mid-life crisis - at least that's what Trey thinks it was - he will shake it off. Trey said that Tristan has the Midas touch when it comes to managing businesses."

  "He looks like he probably has the Midas touch with a lot of things."

  Gina was giggling like a school girl. I suspected she was crushing a bit on Tristan.

  "Hey," I said, "That still doesn't explain why you were so late in getting here."

  She fidgeted a bit then said something about she had to go back to the condo to pack her stuff for her stay at our place with Preston. That was strange. Apparently it was none of my business. Perhaps Tristan had kept her longer than she cared to admit.

  "Maybe if he has to come back next to week to finalize the papers he can stay here and have Thanksgiving dinner with Trey and me."

  "You're not going to Bristol?" she asked.

  "No Trey's parents alternate each year between their house and the Andrews. This year it's the Andrews turn and Trey and I decided not to make the trip. Are you going to Becky's for Thanksgiving this year?"

  "I can't go this year on account of the club. That's a very busy three day weekend for us so I will be sticking around here."

  "Well good. We will expect you here for Thanksgiving then."

  Trey emerged packed and ready. I filled Gina in on the last minute instructions concerning the baby. She had picked Preston up out of the playpen and was holding her. I kissed my baby on the cheek and Trey did the same. I told Gina I would call her later.

  Trey and I relaxed on the plane in first class. I hadn't been away with Trey since our honeymoon when I was so stressed about leaving the baby. Today I had no such trepidations. I was excited about going to this oral argument or whatever it was called. I needed Trey to clarify it for me.

  "Trey I know you've tried to explain this whole process to me but start with the basics if you will and explain why this Motion has to be heard by a panel of judges from different districts. I mean I understand that your clients reside in different districts but why so many judges on a panel need to decide? Why do you only get a few minutes to state your case?"

  Trey loved explaining the law to me; it was his life his passion. I got that. I loved hearing him talk about it because it was complicated and subjective and passionate - just like Trey.

  "Okay baby well first of all I think you've already realized that multidistrict legislation or MDL as it is commonly referred to is a special federal procedure to speed the process of handling complex cases having multiple litigants from different jurisdictions."

  I nodded wanting him to get to the part that I didn't already know.

  "So in this particular case we have a product liability issue with mass torts and multiple plaintiffs from different states. Some of those states though neighboring fall under different federal court jurisdiction. The purpose is to get the federal judges on this panel - which represents different federal court appellate jurisdictions to agree that it is first of all the right thing to do and secondly to specify which federal jurisdiction should hear and rule on all of the pre-trial motions."

  "Does this sort of thing happen a lot?" I asked.

  "I wouldn't say that our firm runs into it that often but it's not all that rare either. The MDL statute came to be enacted in 1968. It was a belated response to a major price-fixing scandal that occurred at General Electric in 1961. As a result of GE's activities in 1961, the federal courts were flooded with criminal and related civil litigation. The statute was put into place to consolidate pre-trial proceedings and discovery under one court for efficiency and timeliness."

  "My husband seems to be an expert on this particular legal topic," I said with pride in my voice.

  Trey smiled at my compliment.

  "Thanks baby. Actually I did my senior thesis on that particular case with GE involving pricing fixing and anti-trust violations for my entrance into law school. It was titled, 'Edison's Evil Empire: Conspiracy and Collusion.' I got an "A" on it," he
grinned.

  Trey continued to educate me on the procedures that take place during this hearing with time limits and the random calling of dockets. I think once again in his own way he wanted to prepare me in case I couldn't get close enough to Judge Tylar to see if he was related. I was hoping for some recognition on my part, though with all of the lies that Maggie had told over the years even I couldn't see how that would be possible.

  Once we were on the ground in Baton Rouge an airport limo took us to our hotel which was located within walking distance of the federal court where we would be in the morning.

  Trey was busy on his Blackberry and laptop so I called Gina to let her know that we had arrived and asked how the baby was doing.

  "Everything is good Ty. No worries here. Preston sure does like those green beans you made for her. I spooned in the whole jar and she still acted like she wanted more."

  (Really? The whole jar?)

  "Gina you probably should have only given her half of that jar with a half of jar of the fruit that I left in the fridge."

  "I did give her a half jar of that fruit stuff. I think she would have eaten it all but I got tired of cleaning it off of myself when she kept hurling it at me with her fingers. It was quite a food fight we had going. I think I got most of it off the walls in the kitchen."

  (Holy shit!)

  "Where is she now?"

  "She is playing in her playpen. I'm about ready to give her a bath and put her in her jammies. Do you want to say good-night to her?"

  "Yeah, put the phone up to her ear I want to see if she recognizes my voice."

  I heard Gina talking to her as she took the phone away from her ear and put it near Preston's.

  "Go ahead Ty - the phone is next to her ear."

  "Hi Preston! How is mommy's baby doing, huh?"

  I could hear Gina's voice in the background.

  "You should see her Ty; she is grinning ear to ear and slobbering on my damn phone to boot."

  "Mommy loves Preston. You be a good girl for Aunt Gina okay?"

  I gave her loud kisses over the phone. Gina got back on.

  "That was so cute how she recognized your voice Ty. She was so cute smiling at the phone like that."

  It did my heart good to hear that. I missed my sweet baby. She was doing fine with Gina it seemed.

  "Hey Ty, we've got to cut this call short, Tristan is calling in. Have fun; don't worry. Bye."

  (Tristan was calling in? Why the hell would Tristan be calling her already?)

  "That's weird," I mumbled aloud.

  "What's weird baby?" Trey asked looking up from his laptop. "Did your phone drop the call?"

  "No - Gina was in a rush to take Tristan's call that was waiting apparently."

  Trey glanced at his watch.

  "He's probably just now at the airport. Maybe he's had an opportunity to look over the financials and wants to back out of the deal," he chuckled.

  "I have a feeling that's not the case," I replied, stretching out across the king-sized bed.

  I propped my head on my elbow, watching my gorgeous husband tapping the keys on his laptop.

  "Whatcha doing Trey?" I asked coquettishly.

  He looked over at me and smiled.

  "Just give me a few minutes baby to finish typing up these notes and then we will go get something to eat," he said.

  "Do you have any preferences?"

  "I was actually in the mood for some protein," I replied giving him a smile.

  Trey looked up quickly from his laptop, a sly grin spreading across his face. He stopped typing and stood up to stretch. He unbuckled his belt and kicked his shoes off as he closed the distance between the desk and the bed.

  "What the hell - I can finish those notes later," he grinned joining me on the bed.

  CHAPTER 27

  Trey set our alarm for 6 a.m. so that we could get to the courthouse in plenty of time. I had finally nagged him into getting there early so that we could have seats in the courtroom as close to the judges' bench as possible.

  He explained to me that during the wait most attorneys take care of other legal business through use of their Blackberry or laptop remotely; they do not enjoy the leisure of simply sitting in the courtroom to observe other case motions until their docket is called. This remote activity is done out in the corridor as the judges frown on the distraction from beeping phones or hushed conversations within the courtroom. He also explained that entering and exiting the courtroom repeatedly is frowned upon as well.

  I told Trey that once he got me seated he was free to go out in the corridor until his docket was called. I wanted to watch the proceedings. This was something new for me. Aside from that I wanted to observe this Judge Tylar. I had pulled a picture up of him when I did an internet search of his name. There was no obvious resemblance to me but the picture didn't divulge a lot of detail. I guessed his age to be late forties; he seemed handsome enough I guessed for an older guy.

  I had dressed conservatively in a black turtleneck sweater dress. I had pulled my hair back into a ponytail. As I finished getting ready in the bathroom I removed the two blue velvet boxes from my carry-on bag. I put the pearl drop earring in my ears, and fastened the single tear-drop pearl necklace around my neck.

  Trey came into the bathroom asking me to tie his tie.

  "What did you do all those years before I was in the picture?" I teased him.

  "I had girlfriends," he replied snickering.

  I smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

  "There," I said, straightening his tie and smoothing it out.

  "You look very handsome counselor. What judge could possibly refute your argument?"

  He leaned down and kissed my lips several times. "What's with the earrings and necklace?" he murmured softly against my lips.

  "Is it too much?" I inquired looking up at him.

  "You're too much baby," he replied kissing me again.

  "I know you think this whole thing with the names is weird and meaningless Trey; but at the very least we get to spend some quality time together and I am looking forward to seeing you in action."

  "Baby you see me in action on an almost nightly basis."

  "I meant in the court room counselor."

  _________________________________

  Trey and I ate breakfast at the hotel. We decided to walk the few blocks from the hotel to the Russell B. Long Federal Building on Florida Street. It was a sunny and pleasant November day. I was excited about this excursion.

  Once at the courthouse, Trey went to the clerk's office to sign in and confirm which court room was assigned for these oral arguments. Trey said it was on the third floor. We took the white ornate railed staircase instead of the elevator to the third floor. There were already plenty of attorneys milling around in the hallway their cell phones up to their ears. I was surprised by the number of female attorneys that were present. I guess I had still considered it to be a male-dominated profession but that trend seemed to be changing.

  We found the double doors to the court room and went inside. There was still ample sitting room available. I told Trey I wanted to sit as close as possible to the bench.

  The seating reminded me of church pews. We took a seat in the best available which was second row front.

  I hadn't worn a coat because the weather was so pleasant. Trey took his suit jacket off and left it folded on the seat next to me.

  "I'm going out in the hall with my laptop Tylar. I'll be back before court convenes," he whispered.

  "Why are we whispering like we're in church?" I asked him.

  "Courtroom protocol," was his response.

  Trey returned about thirty minutes later and took his seat next to me. The courtroom had filled up significantly; I was glad that I had persuaded Trey to get here early. It appeared many of the attorneys did have the leisure time to observe other case proceedings. Perhaps it helped with their nerves. I couldn't imagine it was easy getting up and arguing something in front of a panel of judges. Trey h
ad said there was a twenty minute limit and that equal portions of that time had to be divided up between all parties.

  "Did you put your Blackberry on vibrate?" he whispered to me.

  "Yes. Did you?"

  He rolled his eyes at me smiling. He put his suit jacket back on right as the bailiff came out and told everyone to rise.

  The seven federal judges garbed in their long, black robes filed out of a side door near the front and took their seats at the bench. Each judge had a nameplate in front of their seat. I quickly saw Judge Tylar. His seat was the third from the left. I nudged Trey and nodded toward Judge Tylar as he took his place by his chair. Once all of the judges were at their assigned seats the judge that was the chairman told everyone to be seated.

  I saw the light that Trey had told me about. It was exactly like a traffic signal having a green, yellow and red light.

  Trey had explained that when the yellow light illuminated it meant there was thirty seconds left on the clock and the attorney speaking needed to wrap it up.

  We spent the next two and a half hours listening to various oral arguments on cases involving anti-trust issues, conspiracy to commit treason; there was one Title VII class action case that involved a third-party administrator over employee health insurance for several major U.S. companies whose plaintiffs spanned seventeen states.

  Occasionally one or two of the judges on the panel would ask questions of the attorney presenting. So far Judge Tylar had remained quiet. He seemed bored with the whole thing. I supposed like anything else the excitement faded after awhile and one case morphed into the next. The oral argument taking place right now was some boring one about a monopoly involving aluminum recycling equipment.

  Trey's docket number illuminated on the schedule board that was located on each wall of the courtroom. He would be next after this long-winded attorney speaking now was finished. I could tell this lawyer was going to ride out his full twenty minutes. He had yet to pause to take a breath. I watched as several minutes later the traffic light finally went to yellow.