Baby Love Lite

by ANDREA SMITH

  “The reason I don’t want you there is to protect you just in case things are not what they appear to be.”

  “What do you mean by that?"

  “I'm only considering the worst case scenario which is one where this all was a hoax and when we get to the bus station, we find out Daniel fabricated it all in an effort to throw us off of her path. Or what if she does show up in Wheeling, but Preston isn't with her? You heard what he said she told him about not worrying, she'd find him at the bus station and that she'd covered her risk of being identified.”

  “But he said he'd heard Preston crying . . ."

  “I know, baby,” his voice cracked. “But you have to realize that we're dealing with a sociopath here. The most important thing to Maggie is self-preservation.”

  I didn’t want to think about what that meant as far as Preston’s well-being. I refused to give up faith that this would turn out alright; I believed Maggie would be on that bus and I believed Preston would be with her. It was my turn to remind Trey that we were in this together.

  “Trey? Remember our wedding vows? Remember how I promised you that we'd be together during good times and bad? That time's now. I'm going to Wheeling and that's that.”

  Our discussion was interrupted when Tristan knocked on our bedroom door.

  “Good morning, you two,” he greeted still in his sweats with his sleep-tousled hair. “Mom just called to let us know they took Dad into surgery.”

  It had completely slipped my mind. Shit! So much was going down right now it was difficult to remember what day it was.

  “Tristan, would you feel better being in Bristol with your mom?” I questioned softly. “I know Trey and I've not been as supportive as we should've been due to our situation. . .”

  “Hey, no, you guys. You're not to worry. Mom and Dad both know what you're going through. I’m going to fly home to be with Mom. You two need to continue what you’re doing to get Chubbers home.”

  I had to smile knowing that Trey’s nickname for Preston had worn off on Tristan.

  By eleven o’clock that morning, Trey and I were boarding a flight from Atlanta to Wheeling, West Virginia. Trey filled me in during the flight on what exactly would go down. Apparently, FBI agents had picked Daniel up in Indiana and they flew with him to Wheeling. A couple of agents would be posted in the bus terminal, blending in with the usual patrons. Nothing would stand out as odd. Daniel was wired just in case Maggie’s disguise was one that wouldn't be easily detected my seasoned feds.

  Daniel had been instructed to just go along with it and in fact, a Jeep Cherokee Laredo, the same year and color had been obtained and staged in the parking lot in case the agents didn't easily recognize her. If her plan was to slide by Daniel because she still had keys to my old Jeep, than she'd definitely be in for a rude awakening when the key didn’t work. There was an additional agent staked out in the terminal parking lot for just that scenario. Trey and I were to maintain our distance with several local law enforcement officers in their vehicle parked closed by.

  We had several hours once we got to Wheeling because of the bus’s schedule. Maggie had presumed that Daniel would be driving, so the fact that everyone had flown in allowed time for preparation and strategic planning. Trey and I'd rented a car and booked a room at a hotel planning to stay the night once we got Preston back. I'd packed her diapers, clean clothes, favorite toys, blankets.

  Trey and I waited nervously in our hotel room until the agents phoned and it was time to go. Trey asked me once again to stay at the hotel and wait until everything had concluded but there was no way.

  We left together getting into the vehicle with the local police to head towards the bus terminal, parking a block from it. The police were in mobile contact with other law enforcement as well as the feds. Forty-five minutes later, the officers received communication that everything had gone as planned. Maggie was in federal custody. Preston was in the custody of local authorities who were in transit to our stake-out position.

  I screamed in delight, throwing my arms around Trey and crying in joy. I made a solemn prayer of thanks to God for bringing my baby safely back to us. Tears streamed down Trey’s face. Within minutes, my baby girl was back with her daddy and me. The FBI agents followed us back to our hotel to discuss the particulars. I was totally involved with my baby as I held her close to me from the minute she was in my arms until we arrived at our hotel.

  Maggie had dressed her as a boy. She had blue jean bib overalls on with a plaid flannel shirt underneath. She had a miniature black Harley-Davidson Motorcycle jacket on that was clearly too big for her. Her hair was tucked up under a black knit toboggan; she had on a pair of black cowboy boots. Everything looked as if it had been purchased at a yard sale.

  “What did she do to you, baby girl? Did she try to make you look like a boy? My Preston's no boy. She’s our beautiful baby girl.” I cooed to her.

  I took her hat off and was shocked that her hair looked filthy and matted. She looked at me with her piercing blue eyes that looked sad and confused. Her nose was running. She buried her face against me whimpering softly. I wasn’t going to get a smile out of her at the moment that was a certainty. I could only imagine what she'd been through these past several days. I shuddered when I thought about it. I'd make her feel safe and secure again.

  “How about we take a nice bath, Preston?”

  She was in desperate need of one. I took her into the bathroom of our hotel suite and started a bath for her. I laid her down on the bed removing the boy clothes and boots from her. Her diaper was sopping wet and in dire need of changing. She looked thinner.

  I lowered her slowly into the warm water of her bath, desperate to wash Maggie’s stench from her. Preston loved her baths at home, but she fussed and cried loudly as the water touched her private areas. I froze in fear, screaming for Trey who was still in the other room. He was at my side in seconds.

  "What is it?"

  “Something's wrong with her! She screamed when I lowered her into her bath.”

  Even now, Preston was squirming to the point I couldn’t let go of her to see what the problem might be.

  “Here let me take her,” Trey offered, grabbing a towel from the rack. He leaned down as I raised her from the water kicking and crying, wrapping the towel around her and taking her into the bedroom. I followed him with another fresh towel placing it on the bed.

  Trey instructed me to turn on the overhead light so we could check her. Once he removed the towel and lifted her legs up we could see that her perineum area was beet red. She had a rash going, but it wasn't like one I'd ever seen. This was a reddened area with larger welts. He turned her over so that she was now on her belly. We both gasped in horror when we saw the black and blue bruises on her bottom. Tears sprang to my eyes.

  “We need to get her dressed and take her to the nearest ER. She needs to be thoroughly examined by a pediatrician.”

  I nodded, tears flooding my eyes. It was like the dream I'd had where I pummeled her bottom only when I looked in the mirror, I'd seen the face of Maggie. Perhaps my dreams had been a premonition after all.

  Trey returned to the living room to fill the detectives in on what we'd discovered. One of them gave Trey directions to the nearest hospital and said he would meet us there. I carefully dressed Preston in her own clothing, putting her jacket and hat on to keep her warm in the cool October evening.

  The pediatrician that examined Preston was extremely gentle with her. He talked to her as if she could understand everything he was saying, though I think he did it for Trey and my benefit, so we would know what he was checking for and how he needed to check for various injuries.

  Blessedly, she had no other bruises on her body with the exception of her bottom. He checked her arms and legs, hands and feet and there were no injuries or fractures. He checked her neck glands, ears and eyes. Her lungs were clear. Pictures were taken for evidence of her bruised behind.

  The doctor diagnosed her as having a cold; contusions
on the gluteus maximus and a yeast infection in her perineum area.

  Yeast infection!

  “How would she have gotten a yeast infection?” I asked.

  “Both boy and girl babies can and do get yeast infections. There are several causes, but the most likely one in this case is that the baby wasn't thoroughly cleaned up after a bowel movement, or perhaps bathed in a tub that had fecal matter in it. If your daughter has extremely sensitive skin, it could have been something as minor as being given a bubble bath or having perfumed soaps used on her.”

  “Then you don’t think she was sexually molested or anything?” Trey looked at me quickly puzzled by my question. I had to know. I had to put it out there.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair, I've not seen anything that would indicate that during my visual examination of her. If you want me to perform a more in-depth examination focused on sexual penetration, I can do that, however, it'll be more traumatic for the baby."

  Trey and I looked at one another for a moment. I didn’t want to put Preston through any more trauma than what she'd already been through. I hoped that he felt the same way.

  “If you feel that your visual examination didn’t warrant anything further doctor, then I don’t see the need for anything more in depth. Are you okay with that, Trey?”

  I looked up at him and saw a look of relief cross his face. He nodded in agreement with me. The doctor prescribed an anti-fungal cream for her and wrote down some over-the-counter items that would help for bathing and diapering her until this cleared up. He prescribed a decongestant for her congested sinuses.

  Once we got back to our hotel suite, we bathed her together. I applied the prescription ointment on the inflamed skin and it seemed to soothe her immediately. I diapered her and put her in a clean tee shirt and pajamas and then crawled under the covers of the bed with her. She was still fussing a bit but it was her tired, cranky cry. I could feel my breasts let down and I was never so happy about anything in my life. My milk supply had responded to her closeness.

  I pulled my shirt up, cuddling her against me as she continued to fuss and pull away. She seemed apprehensive about nursing; she squirmed away from me as I tried to guide my nipple to her mouth. I continued coaxing her until finally she latched on to my breast. This was extremely strange behavior for her. She watched me with her big blue eyes. Several minutes into it I think that she finally felt safe and secure again. She let my nipple drop from her mouth and broke out into a wide, dimpled grin, gurgling in contentment.

  I leaned over, kissing her head and face, telling her how much Mommy and Daddy loved her. I'd probably never know what the past several days had been like for her, but God willing, if it was bad, she'd soon forget. She continued nursing from me, not taking her eyes off of me. We snuggled down beneath the bed covers and finally fell asleep.

  I was awakened a little bit later when Trey came to bed still damp from his shower. He pulled me close to him wrapping his arm around both of us. Preston was sleeping comfortably against me.

  “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'd 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 average 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 mi
sdemeanors.”

  “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, will continue to hold 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 too. I guess that $200,000 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'd 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.”