“Have you talked to your family yet?” I asked him.
“I just got off the phone with Tristan. Dad's doing fine; everyone's ecstatic that we got the baby back safe and sound. They want us to visit soon."
"Did you ever get the details on how everything played out today at the bus station?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Well?”
“Tylar, can I fill you in tomorrow? Right now, I'm exhausted and I just want to fall asleep in our family bed.”
I wasn’t sure if Trey was trying to be facetious by referring to the ‘family bed’ after he'd given me so much shit about it previously, but I couldn’t suppress my smile.
“Good-night, Trey. I love you.”
“Good-night, Tylar. I love you.”
Chapter 15
We'd been home several days. Preston finally seemed to be back to normal. Her yeast infection had cleared up and the bruises on her bottom were fading to a greenish-yellow. She was once again smiling for us and playing contentedly with her toys.
Trey had gone back to the firm, having had to move several key court dates out. He had no expectation for me to return. I'd scheduled an appointment with Karla Hunter for later in the week. I wanted to make sure that I continued to maintain a healthy emotional perspective after the horrific incident with Preston’s abduction and the revelation that Daniel had provided me.
Gina was on her way over this afternoon for a visit and I needed to fill her in on the details of what had transpired in West Virginia. I was dressing Preston at the moment. She was enjoying her thumb, as she squirmed around on the bed. I'd dressed her in lavender colored corduroy bibs with a pink and blue polka-dot turtleneck. I was struggling to get her shoes on as she continued to curl her foot under every time I tried to fit it on.
“You're being bad for Mommy,” I teased, smiling down at her. I grabbed her socked foot and tickled the bottom of it. She started giggling for me. I finally managed to get both shoes on her feet and lifted her up from the bed.
“Let’s go wait on Aunt Gina, okay?” I picked up several of her favorite toys and got her settled in her playpen out in the living room. The doorman buzzed, announcing Gina was on her way up. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks. Gina came bustling into the apartment with shopping bags.
“Gina, what have you done?” I asked suspiciously.
“I've shopped for my god-daughter, that’s all.”
“Gina, you know you're not supposed to be buying her stuff. You bring her something every time you come over. You're spoiling her.”
“So, what if I am, girlfriend? She’s my god-daughter to spoil, and by the way, when is the baptism going to take place?”
“I know, Gina. Trey and I need to decide on a church.”
“You mean a religion, don’t you, girlfriend?”
“I suppose. What do you recommend?”
“Hey, Ty, religion is a very personal choice. I don’t preach it. I happen to be Catholic so when, and if, I'm ever blessed with a little one, that's my religion of choice. Now, where's my baby girl?”
Gina lifted Preston out of her playpen gushing over how big she'd gotten since she last saw her and how pretty she was. She got a dimpled smile from her, as usual. She'd bought her some wind-up toys that were guaranteed to drive adults crazy, and a stuffed ghost for Halloween that screeched a loud “Boo!” when pressed in the middle. Preston squealed with delight when she learned how to make it screech ‘Boo.’
“So, Ty,” she said, sitting down on the couch with Preston on her lap, “Fill me in.”
I relayed to Gina everything that Trey had conveyed to me. Maggie had shown up at the bus station as scheduled. She wasn't carrying the baby when she located Daniel. She was dressed like a guy complete with bib overalls and her hair tucked up in a ball cap. She had a heavy Carhart jacket on that pretty much hid her build from the casual glance. She had a backpack strapped on as well.
“Where the hell was the baby?” Gina asked.
“Apparently she'd convinced a male passenger on the bus she was escaping with her baby from an abusive relationship. She begged him to hold onto the baby until she assessed the situation in the terminal. Once she saw Daniel was there alone, she gave a signal to the guy that everything was okay. He brought Preston over and the Feds closed in."
“Oh, my God,” Gina said. “What the hell was that bitch thinking?”
“You know, Gina, I’m not really sure. I truly think that losing that baby somehow triggered more craziness out of her. I don’t think it was about money. For some reason, she wanted to punish me and, at the same time, she wanted to make up for losing the baby that she was having with Daniel.”
“What happens now?”
“Well, she's fighting extradition from West Virginia back to Georgia, so her arraignment is delayed until that process is worked out in the courts. Trey says she's looking at some major time in prison. Additional charges will be filed against her for felony child abuse, endangerment, and several other misdemeanors.”
“Tell me the truth Ty, how does all of this really make you feel?”
“I guess I feel like I may never know the truth about my mother or father. She has those answers, but being the selfish sociopath that she is, she will continue to keep the truth from me. That’s what really sucks.”
“Did anything happen to Daniel?”
“No, well except he got the reward money that the family had put up. I thought he may have been involved, but as it turns out, Daniel was just another one of her victims. I guess that two hundred grand will put him through college and, hopefully, he can put his past with her behind him.”
Gina and I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. Her divorce proceedings were dragging a bit on account of the Sanctuary and their condo. Gina wanted to keep the business and give up her share of the condo. The problem was that it wouldn't be an even split. Gina would have to buy out a portion of Ian’s interest in the club if she wanted to keep it in her name only.
After she left, I fed Preston and then put her down for a nap. Susan called and we chatted on the phone for nearly an hour. She was planning a 40th birthday party for Tristan the following weekend. She wanted Trey, Preston and I to make the trip up. I told her it sounded like a plan and promised to call her later after Trey got home.
I had dinner in the oven and was changing Preston’s diaper on the living room couch when Trey came through the door. “How are my girls?” he asked, coming up behind me and nuzzling the back of my neck.
“We’ve had a great day together,” I replied, smiling at my baby as I snapped her overalls back up. Preston was watching Trey and started squirming, holding her arms up so that he would pick her up. He leaned down, scooping her up in his arms, kissing her cheeks. He'd been teaching her how to ‘patty-cake’ and she loved it.
At dinner, I mentioned Tristan’s party to Trey.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “We can fly out Friday afternoon and come back on Monday. We’ll make a long weekend out of it.”
I phoned Susan later and told her we would be there. She said that Nigel and Tess were coming, and that Landon and Caroline would be there as well. I hoped that wasn't a deal-breaker for Trey.
I got off the phone, deciding it was best to let him know now before we made our plane reservations. He was reclining on the living room couch with his iPad perched upright, checking his e-mails. Preston was entertaining herself nearby in her playpen.
“I just talked to your mom and told her we planned on being there next Friday. She’s really happy,” I said.
“Great baby, come sit down next to me,” he smiled, patting the couch beside him.
“Well, there's one other thing,” I started.
He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish.
“Nigel and Tess are coming; so are Landon and Caroline,” I finished.
“Are you shitting me?” he said sitting upright, dropping his iPad. “What's Mom thinking?”
“It'll probably be alright
, honey,” I soothed him.
“Are you really okay with still going?” he asked.
“Hey, I am if you are. I’m sure we'll be entertained,” I laughed.
He gave me his signature smile, pulling me over onto his lap. He tilted my chin upward and his lips found mine, kissing them softly and sensually. I laced my arms around his neck and returned his kiss, pressing myself closer to him; fisting my hands in his thick hair. His hands gently rubbed my back and we continued kissing and loving one another. Our kiss was interrupted by a screeching succession of “Boo’s!”
Trey pulled away, startled by the loud ghost sounds coming from the corner. “What the hell?” he asked.
I started giggling, watching Preston as she continued to press the spot on the stuffed ghost making it go “Boo!”
“Oh, that’s a toy that Gina brought over today for the baby,” I replied.
“That figures,” Trey replied, rolling his eyes. He went over to the playpen and tried to get Preston interested in something else. She was having none of it. She held on to her plush ghost and took it to bed with her that night. Trey and I could hear the sound of ‘Boo’ every so often coming from the nursery. We could hear her giggles, too. We wouldn’t be getting that toy away from her anytime soon.
Chapter 16
Karla was scribbling her notes, as usual, during my session with her. So far, I'd done all the talking; relaying all that had happened from the time Maggie had taken Preston to the present. I took a drink of water when I paused, giving her time to catch up.
“Tylar, I need to ask you how you and Trey interacted during the period when Preston was gone.”
“Well, I mean, we were both emotionally drained, but we were there for each other. He was angry when I took off for Indiana on my own, but other than that we were strong for each other.”
“Good,” she replied. “Since the baby has been home, how are things between you and Trey?”
Why the questions about Trey and me?
“They’ve been fine. We're very happy.”
“What about your return to work?”
“That isn’t going to happen.”
“Why not?” she pressed.
“Because there's no one to watch the baby and Trey realizes now that it wasn't a good idea. I mean seriously, look what happened."
“So, you believe that you going back to work directly caused Preston to be abducted?”
“I’m saying that it certainly gave my wacko mother, aunt—whatever the hell she is to me, the opportunity to snatch my baby, yes.”
“Who's watching Preston right now?”
“My best friend, Gina.”
“Have you considered searching for a babysitter in the future in case you choose to do something outside of the home?”
“Karla, I’m not sure why you're asking these questions. I know that Maggie is locked up and that she can’t get access to the baby or me any longer, and that we're safe.”
“Tell me how safe feels, Tylar.”
I thought about it for a moment.
“For me, it feels as though I don’t have to worry about when or where Maggie might pop up in my life, or even what she has planned for me next."
“Why do you think Maggie wants to hurt you?”
“Because she hates me, I mean, isn’t it obvious?”
“What would've caused her to hate you?”
I was getting impatient with her questions. Where the hell was any of this going? “I don’t know. Maybe she resented having to raise me; maybe I cramped her style. There are numerous possibilities, I suppose. Perhaps she'd been jealous of my mother. She certainly seemed to be jealous of me as I got older.”
“Do you still worry that you might be like her, now that it’s likely she's not your birth mother?”
“Actually the truth is that I stopped worrying I'd be a whore like her after I had sex for the first time. It was with Trey and I loved him. I knew that I could never want any other man. I knew that love was the important component in intimacy—not physical sex. Trey and I were intimate long before we ever had sex.”
“And what about other characteristics Maggie had that you felt you might have inherited?”
“Well, I worried that I could be abusive like she was. The dreams were a reflection of that.”
Karla jotted down some notes, and then looked up at me.
“What do you feel guilty about, Tylar?”
What?
“What makes you think that I feel guilty about anything?”
I could feel myself getting defensive. She was scratching the surface for something, but it felt like she was picking at an emotional scab.
She studied me carefully. “What did you feel when you saw Preston’s bruised bottom?”
“I felt angry. I felt ashamed,” I snapped.
“Who were you angry with, Tylar—who?”
“Trey,” I hissed, tears spilling out, running down my cheeks. “He made me go to work. He made me leave my baby when it wasn't safe. My dreams were a warning, and I shared most of them with him, but he didn’t want to hear about them anymore. They pissed him off.”
I was sobbing now; she'd managed to wrench my guts out with her questions.
But she wasn't finished yet. “Tell me about the shame you felt.”
I bowed my head down, looking at my hands.
“I felt shame that any blood relative of mine could have left bruises on an innocent baby girl’s bottom,” I said, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.
Karla handed me a tissue from the box that sat on top of her desk. I took it from her, wiping my cheeks. “Now, tell me what you feel guilty about.”
My throat was closing up. I couldn’t breathe in her office. Why was she badgering me like this? I'd never hurt my baby! I could never be the person that Maggie had been! She was still waiting for me to answer her question.
“Because,” I finally sobbed loudly, “maybe if I'd been a better person; stronger and braver back then, Maggie would've never had the opportunity to touch my baby!”
“Back when, Tylar?”
“Back when she used to beat me!” I screamed. “I should've told someone! My teachers knew and they wanted to help. They asked me over and over again how I got my bruises. I lied to cover up the truth. I lied to all of them just to protect that fucking monster!”
Karla was on her feet and by my side in an instant. She hunkered down next to my chair, taking my hands into hers. I was forced to look at her; I saw the compassion. She'd suspected there was more to my story all along. She wanted to help.
“Tylar,” she spoke softly to me, “you were a child. You loved that person that you thought was ‘Mom.’ You loved her unconditionally; the same way that Preston now loves you."
I sniffled, shaking my head in agreement.
"You didn’t deserve to be mistreated. You can’t blame yourself for not turning Maggie in to the authorities all those years ago for what happened to Preston recently. You were a frightened child believing in some way that you needed to protect your mother, even though she didn’t protect you.”
I nodded again, wiping my eyes with the tissue. Karla handed me a fresh one as she settled back at her desk. I blew my nose and tried to get my composure once again.
“I know it was painful for you to come to grips with this today, Tylar. You’ve repressed this stuff for a long time, but you have to believe me when I tell you that it’s healthy that you came to terms with this, finally. Let’s meet again in two weeks. Between now and then, I want you to make an effort to enjoy being around the baby and enjoy having time away from her as well. Can you try that?”
I agreed, gathering my coat and purse anxious to get the hell out of there. I was on the phone with Trey’s mother when he got home that evening. Preston was napping. Trey grabbed a beer from the fridge. He leaned down and gave me a kiss, heading to his office. Tristan’s party was going to have a Halloween theme since it was so close to the real thing. Susan said that everyone was to dress as a t
elevision or movie character. Trey and I would have to figure out what kind of costumes we would wear. I liked the idea. I headed down to Trey’s office. He was on his cell phone with some work business. He smiled as I came in, so I curled up in his lap.
I started nuzzling his neck and then lightly brushed kisses on him. I could tell by the conversation that I'd totally distracted him. I lowered my hand to his lap, fondling his erection from outside of his trousers. I felt it grow and harden beneath my touch. Trey was trying to wrap up his phone conversation now. I'd started tracing my tongue around his ear, breathing warmly into it. He was squirming at this point.
Just then I heard the ghost’s “Boo!” from Preston’s room. My baby was up. I launched myself out of Trey’s lap just as he wrapped up his call, and headed to her room. She was sitting up in her crib, clutching her plush ghost to her. She smiled when she saw me, dropping it and holding her arms up for me to pick her up.
Trey was beside me in a moment. “I see that my daughter has perfect timing,” he grumbled, slapping my behind affectionately.
“Rain check, baby?” I asked coquettishly, holding Preston close to me.
“Absolutely,” he replied, kissing the top of her head.
I changed her diaper then took her into our room to nurse for a while. We needed our girl time. I got comfortable on my side and lifted my shirt as Preston nestled against me and nursed.
Trey came in about thirty minutes later just as Preston was finishing up. “Any left for me?” he asked seductively, stretching out across the bed.
“I’m afraid I’m on empty, sweetie,” I said, fastening up my nursing bra and lowering my shirt. “Would you play with the baby while I make dinner? It’s just going to be sandwiches tonight, since I was out this afternoon.”
“Sure, baby,” he said, taking Preston into his arms as he got off of the bed. “That’s right—you had a session with Dr. Hunter today. How did that go?”
I wasn't ready to go into it with Trey just yet. I was still too emotionally raw.
“Oh, it was fine,” I lied, heading toward the kitchen.
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