by ANDREA SMITH
Matthew was looking around the courtroom again. His eyes went past me this time focusing to the back of the courtroom. He turned back around burying his head into his cuffed hands. The lawyers were still talking quietly to the judge. The courtroom had become very quiet.
Suddenly the quiet of the courtroom was interpreted by a man's voice singing. I realized that the singing was coming from Matthew. He was singing that old lullaby very slowly and loudly.
'Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird; and if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring. . ."
The defense lawyer hurried over to Matthew's side prompting him to be quiet. He paid no attention to his attorney and continued to sing the lyrics even louder.
"If that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's going to buy you a looking glass. . . If that looking glass gets broke, Mama's going to buy--"
The judge rapped his gavel and shouted for the deputies to remove Matthew from the court room immediately.
Matthew stopped singing as the deputies literally raised him up from his chair. He struggled against them; he whipped his head around as they were carrying him toward the door. His eyes found what they had been searching for.
"Mama," he yelled, "Mama, am I still the sweetest baby in town?"
I turned quickly to see who the hell he was talking to; his mother had been my grandmother. She was dead. I looked through the crowd as the short, dark-haired woman watched them take Matthew out. Tears were streaming down the face of Karen Deeny. She turned and fled the courtroom.
I heard my father beside me.
"What the hell?"
I was in shock. What the hell was going on?
My father took me by the arm and led me out of the court house.
"I don't understand what that was all about," I said to him once we were outside.
"I am in the dark as well," he replied, clearly as perplexed as me.
"What happens now, Dad?"
"Obviously I need to get some answers for both of us. As far as the preliminary hearing I would suspect it will be scheduled after the psych evaluation the judge will likely order for Matthew."
"Do you think he was faking it?" I asked.
"Yes, but my opinion doesn't matter. It is the opinion of the psychologists and psychiatrists that will carry the weight in court. The prosecution will have one assigned to him as will the defense; that in and of itself will be a complicated mess."
I could tell that my father was distraught with the turn of events that had transpired at the courthouse. I knew he wondered now just how much his dead wife had been involved in the tangled web of lies and deceit. I questioned my own ancestors as to why Matthew had been passed off as my grandmother's illegitimate child adopted by my grandfather after they married. If anyone could find the truth I knew that my father could and would no matter what it revealed.
We had lunch together and then he drove me to the private airport to catch my charter back to Atlanta. He pulled me to him giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"I will talk to you very soon," he promised.
"Please give Preston a kiss from her grandpa?"
"I will Dad. I love you."
"I love you too Tylar. Take care."
Trey was waiting for me when I reached the terminal in Atlanta. I was never so happy to see his face in my life. What a bizarre day. I flew into his arms.
"I've been trying to call you," he said.
"Is anything the matter?" I asked fearfully.
"No sweetie; I was just wondering how things went."
"I'm sorry Trey; I had my Blackberry on vibrate while I was in court and I forgot to turn it back on to sound."
I filled Trey in on everything that had happened in court with Matthew. He was as shocked as I had been when I told him about Matthew calling Karen Deeny his mother.
"I bet your father was reeling," he commented opening the car door for me.
"That's an understatement," I replied.
"I think he is questioning his wife's involvement in all of this."
Trey got into the driver's seat and turned to me.
"I'm glad you're home baby."
I looked at his sweet face and leaned over to kiss him.
"How was your day? Did everything come out okay?"
He gave me his dimpled grin.
"You are a spoiled brat aren't you?" he asked laughing.
"Everything went as planned Tylar," he said as we pulled out onto the highway.
We talked about our impending move as we headed back to the apartment. I was so looking forward to moving to the country and into our own home.
Trey pulled his car into his space in the parking garage and shut the engine off. He turned to me.
"Why didn't you tell me that Gina is pregnant?" he asked looking at me carefully.
(Holy shit.)
"Trey - I'm sorry, but Gina made me promise. She is my best friend. I had to respect her wishes on this."
"I'm your husband Tylar. I didn't think that we had secrets."
"We don't have secrets that affect each other Trey. This wasn't about you or me. This was about Gina and Tristan. It wasn't my place to tell you if Gina didn't want anyone else to know. How did you find out?"
"Tristan told me of course. He is very proud of the fact."
"He should be," I replied.
"Look Trey, I know that you don't care for Gina but she is like a sister to me, okay?"
"I get that baby," he said, taking my hand and kissing the back of it.
"To be honest, I'm kind of happy that Preston will have a cousin close by."
"Yeah? So am I," I said.
When we got inside the apartment Gina was playing with Preston in the living room. As soon as Preston saw me she came crawling over to me saying 'num-num'.
"She's been 'num-numming' me all day Ty," Gina laughed.
"How did it go?"
"I'll let Trey fill you in on the drama," I said, scooping Preston up to take her into our room.
"Preston and I need our 'girl time' at the moment."
I stopped in and got a clean diaper and the baby wipes just in case. Gina didn't check her diaper as often as I did. Preston had her thumb in her mouth her little arm wrapped around my neck. I loved the feel and smell of her. I had missed her for the day I was gone.
I put her on our bed and unsnapped her over-alls. I removed her wet diaper and cleaned her up with a baby wipe, fastening a clean diaper on her. She was jabbering away watching me.
"I have something for you Preston," I said when I finished snapping her back up.
I picked her up and gave her a kiss on each cheek.
"That is from your grandpa," I said.
"Pappaw" she said.
"Yes that's right, Papaw."
I pulled my sweater off and unsnapped my bra freeing both of my breasts for her. I was producing milk out of both of them once again. I had found out that sometimes not alternating nursing between both breasts could cause a temporary cessation in the one not used as much. Preston and I had rectified that situation.
She crawled over to me and latched on to a breast, curling up alongside of me. Trey came into the room and pulled the quilt that was folded at the end of the bed up around us. He climbed in next to me, wrapping an arm around me as he switched ESPN on the flat screen.
He nuzzled the back of my neck with his warm lips. I got goose bumps and shivered.
"Are you cold baby?" he asked softly, pulling me closer to him.
"I am just fine," I sighed. "I'm happy to be home with my family."
"Where's Tristan?"
"He went to the club today after our appointment. Since Gina was here taking care of Preston he is working until close at the restaurant. I tell you what Tylar, I have never seen Tristan so happy or in love. Who would have thought that he and Gina would be a couple?"
"Oh I don't know," I replied, "I kind of thought they might make a perfect couple. I think he totally gets her."
"He is talking marriage though; apparently she wants to wait. That sounds kind of familiar."
I smiled at his comment. Deep down I wondered if the real reason Gina was reluctant to marry Tristan right now was because of the slim chance of Ian being the father of her baby.
I knew Gina. She might pretend that her decision not to say anything to Tristan was an easy decision but I was betting it didn't sit well with her. I hoped that she changed her mind. I knew that Tristan would understand once she explained. He loved her.
I fell asleep inside of Trey's arms with Preston gently suckling at my breast. When I awoke it was after 7:00 p.m. Preston and Trey were both gone.
I got up and went to the bathroom turning the shower on to warm up the water. I got clean underwear and my long silk nightgown out of my closet.
I showered and got dressed in my nightgown, pulling my robe on over it. I blew my hair dry and applied some make-up. I wanted to have a romantic evening with my husband.
When I went out to the living room I could hear Trey in the kitchen with Preston. I peeked around the corner and saw that had been feeding her some pureed carrots. She kept putting her fingers in the dish and then sucking the carrots off of her fingers.
"Preston, come on sweetie. Please use the spoon for Daddy?"
It was so cute. Trey was trying to teach her how to use her spoon. He held it to her and she clutched it in her little hand.
"That's right baby, now dip it into your bowl like Daddy showed you and get some of these yummy carrots on the spoon okay?"
"Da-da," she squealed, grinning at him.
"Yes sweetie, use your spoon for Daddy."
Preston dipped her spoon into the bowl of pureed carrots.
"Good girl," Trey crooned to her encouragingly.
"That's Daddy's good girl. Now bring the spoon up to your mouth sweetie."
Trey was imitating to her what to do with the spoon with his hand as if he had a spoon in it. She was watching him in awe with her big blue eyes.
"See like this Preston."
She raised her spoon from the bowl and had managed to get some of the pureed carrots on it. She held it up trying to get Trey to eat it.
"No honey," he said patiently, "Put spoon in Preston's mouth."
Trey was back to imitating what he wanted her to do. I could tell she was getting bored with this game. She squirmed in her chair and dropped the spoon onto her tray where it bounced and hit Trey's shirt splattering the carrots.
(Uh oh.)
"That's okay sweetie," he said to her, leaning down and picking up the spoon.
By this time Preston had spied me watching from around the corner of the kitchen. She started getting excited and squirming to get out of her high chair. She knocked the little bowl of carrots off of the high chair as Trey was bent down cleaning up the floor. It hit his shoulder and splattered all over him and the floor.
(Oops! Holy shit!)
I backed out of the room quickly making my way through the living room and back to the hall.
"Shit," I heard Trey say.
Preston starting whining saying, "Mamma" over and over again.
I came into the kitchen as if caught by surprise.
"What happened in here?" I asked innocently.
"Oh just a little training session that went wrong," Trey laughed.
"I need to change my shirt Tylar. Can you take over?"
"Sure sweetie," I replied smiling.
I wiped up the mess on the floor and then got a clean wash cloth and cleaned up Preston's face and fingers. I got a graham cracker for her and got her out of the high chair. I took her into the living room and got her settled in her play suite with some toys.
I went back into the kitchen and cleaned up her chair and loaded the dishwasher. I noticed that something was in the oven.
Trey came back in with a clean tee shirt on.
"Hey baby," he said pulling me to him and kissing me passionately.
"I wanted to surprise you and have the baby fed and in bed. I've got our dinner in the oven."
"Well I can see that Trey. I can't tell what it is though."
"Actually Gina made it before she left to go to the club. She told me how long to let it cook. It is some kind of a casserole that has chicken, broccoli and white cream sauce with various cheeses in it was all she told me. I made our salads though and they are in the fridge."
"Oh Trey. That is so romantic of you."
"I wanted our night to be special. We move day after tomorrow so this will probably be our last meal here alone before we move."
"Yeah speaking of which - why did Gina go down to the club?"
"Oh I don't know. I think she missed Tristan. Apparently Ian called her this afternoon while you were sleeping and she was making the casserole. They argued on the phone and she told him to go to hell. I heard that much of it. She put the casserole in the oven and told me when to take it out. She said she wanted to go and talk to Tristan. I figured she missed him. Anyway we have this evening to ourselves."
(Holy shit - what was up with Ian and her arguing? This can't be good.)
"How about if I go ahead and bathe Preston?" I said to him. "I'll get her ready for bed and then we can have our dinner."
"Okay babe, I'll get the table set and pour some wine for us."
I went out to get Preston. She had managed to eat her graham cracker wearing a lot of it on her face. I bathed her and put her into her pajamas. I put her to bed with some of her toys. She was fairly good about entertaining herself before falling asleep.
As promised Trey had set the table and poured us each a glass of wine. He had a fire going in the fireplace and we sat out in the living room enjoying our alone time.
I leaned in to him as the fire crackled warmly. He took my wine glass from me and set it on the coffee table along with his. He pulled me over to him, unfastening the belt on my robe and pulling my robe down my shoulders. He noticed my sexy silk nightgown with the plunging neckline that I had worn. His beautiful sapphire eyes locked with mine and I saw the warmth and passion in them.
"I want you now Tylar. I want you right here and now. Is your diaphragm in?"
I shook my head 'no'.
"I haven't been wearing it lately," I confessed looking up at him to see his expression.
He smiled warmly.
"I'm glad baby," he breathed drawing him to me and kissing me hungrily.
He shed his clothing right then and there. He pulled the straps down on my silk nightgown kissing my shoulders as my breasts sprang free.
He pushed me back onto the couch; his fingers captured a breast, massaging it gently. He lowered his head and his lips found my nipple; he suckled it gently his tongue swirling around my nipple.
"Mmmm," he said, "You taste so good baby."
He went to my other breast doing the same. My sex was dripping wet. I was feeling saucy by this time.
"I have other nectar for you to enjoy, Trey," I purred.
He was between my legs, placing one on each of his shoulders as he lowered his face to my sex. His lips and tongue made love to me there. He tasted my nectar; he moaned with me in mutual pleasure.
"You taste so sweet baby," he breathed against me down there.
His tongue continued to swirl around my clitoris. His fingers explored inside of me, pressing gently against my swelled sweet spot.
My breathing was coming faster and I moaned in anticipation of having him inside of me.
"What baby? Tell Trey what you want?"
"I want you to make love to me Trey. I want you to give me another baby."
"Your wish is my command Tylar."
He rose up off of the couch and pulled me with him. He positioned himself onto a sitting position on the couch and placed me on his lap, straddling him. I stroked his erection with my hand. He raised me up and positioned me over his manhood.
"Are you wet enough baby?" he asked.
"Umm hum," I answered.
He straightened his legs out so
he was actually in a half-sitting, half-reclined position with his legs spread out in front of him. He gently lowered me down upon his erection. I heard him catch his breath as he fully penetrated me. I squeezed my legs together tightening him inside of me.
"Careful baby," he cautioned, "I don't want to come too quickly. I want us both to enjoy this."
I relaxed my legs a bit.
"That's my girl," he said softly, clasping the back of my head with his hand and lowering it to his face.
His tongue thoroughly probed my mouth; our tongues playfully danced and explored each other. I felt butterflies each and every place he touched me. His hands massaged my breasts tenderly. His hips gently started a slow and rhythmic thrusting. I could feel my uterus squeezing him gently.
His hands lifted my ass up and down as I swiveled my hips in a circular motion feeling the head of his penis hitting my special place.
"Ahh God baby, what are you doing to me?"
"I am loving you, Trey," I answered him; "I am loving you with every inch of my body."
We both quickened at the same time; his thrusting increased in rhythm, my uterus contracted tighter in response. We felt our orgasms mounting toward sweet release. Trey stopped his thrusting; I felt his penis throbbing its impending release. My uterus contracted squeezing his manhood tighter."
"Oh God," he rasped as he emptied his love inside of me.
I whimpered in pleasure as my orgasm pulsated around his. I felt my liquid release join his. I collapsed on top of him my breathing fast and shallow. I so loved him in every way possible that a woman can love a man. He wrapped his arms around me protectively; his breathing was ragged and shallow. We were both spent.
"I love you so much Tylar."
"I love you Trey with all of my heart."
I knew that Trey and I had made a baby that evening. Somewhere my guardian angel had been watching over me protectively. She wanted me to know that with Trey it was truly all about me.
We ate our dinner over candlelight at our dining room table. We were affectionate all through the evening. As I climbed into bed that night thoroughly exhausted and satiated I knew that life on earth didn't get much better than this. I had so much to be thankful for. I had my Trey and Preston; I had found my father who I adored and who adored me; I had my best friend Gina; I had Trey's wonderful family that I loved dearly. God had blessed me in so many ways.