Baby Love Lite

by ANDREA SMITH

  When it was time to depart for the airport, I hugged my father tightly. I'd grown close to him these past several days. I knew that we'd continue to bond as parent and child. He promised he'd let me know the status of the investigation as it unfolded.

  He shook Trey’s hand before we left and mentioned that he'd recused himself from the decision relating to the oral argument Trey had given a few weeks prior in Baton Rouge. He explained it would've been a conflict of interest for him to opine on the matter.

  “Shit,” Trey said later on the way to the airport, “here I thought it would be a slam-dunk with your father on that panel. Now, I have to sweat it out while waiting for the others to decide.”

  I was glad to be going home. It'd been nice spending time with my father and getting to know him but I missed my routine at home. The holidays were fast approaching and I needed to prepare for our baby’s first Christmas. After that, I needed to prepare for our move into our new home. I leaned my head against Trey on the airplane. Preston was asleep cuddled in his lap. “I love you, Trey.”

  “I love you too, baby.”

  “Trey?”

  “Yes, Tylar?”

  “Truthfully, what did you feel if anything, yesterday when you saw my mother in that casket?”

  He looked down into my eyes as I was nestled against him. He looked a bit distraught. “I was overwhelmed with a feeling of despair,” he replied thoughtfully.

  “Why despair?” I asked.

  “Because part of me was totally in despair at the thought of how tragic her situation was; it saddened me to think of someone close to you having had to suffer through that. The other part of me despaired at the knowledge it was exactly that same tragedy that'd allowed your life to intertwine with mine. I couldn’t imagine my life without you. It really tore me up.”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “I guess I believe in destiny. I mean, I think that you and I were destined to be together. I don’t want to think that the tragedy with my mother was the only way we would've found each other.”

  “I like the way you think, Mrs. Sinclair.”

  CHAPTER 47

  As the Christmas holidays approached, Trey and I'd decided to stay in Atlanta. We hadn’t heard anything definitive since we'd left Baton Rouge the week before. My dad had stayed in touch but he'd know more the following week when the Grand Jury convened. The toxicology report on my mother’s autopsy was due the first part of January. Dad had invited us to Baton Rouge for Christmas but I told him we felt like we needed to stay in Atlanta for Preston’s first Christmas and he'd understood.

  Gina and Tristan had been working night and day preparing the club for its official grand opening on Christmas Eve as "Tristan’s Shady Lady Saloon and Restaurant." The contractor had made most of the minor changes; the health inspectors had approved the kitchen for food preparation; an area had been walled in as the restaurant and the wine cellar was completed.

  Tristan had discussed with Trey taking over his lease on the apartment when we moved. The tenant's association approved the lease transfer so both Tristan and Gina would be staying on after we moved.

  Trey and I'd decorated the apartment for Christmas. We'd bought a live tree and spent the whole Saturday before Christmas decorating it. Preston wouldn’t leave it alone; we had to watch her constantly as she crawled over to it and tried to snatch an ornament here or there. Gina had given her one of her gifts early. It was her “Ho-Ho-Ho” plush Santa Claus.

  “Jesus Christ,” Trey complained after he'd heard the “Ho-Ho-Ho” several hundred times as Preston played with it. “I just got rid of that damn ghost. Leave it to Gina to provide another irritating toy for the holidays!”

  “Ah-ha! I knew you did something with that ghost! Where is it?”

  Trey had grinned sheepishly then finally admitted he'd put it in one of the Goodwill boxes that I'd filled when cleaning out the closets.

  “Shame on you,” I admonished him gently. “She loved that ghost.”

  “She never knew it was gone," he replied laughing.

  “Well, I warn you, Trey Michael, you won’t be pulling that shit with Santa Claus.”

  We'd sent our Christmas presents on to Bristol, planning on going there right after Christmas to ring the New Year with Trey's family. Even Tristan and Gina were planning on going. Tristan had hired an assistant manager for the club in an effort to free up some of Gina’s time. It was evident that they were totally in love.

  Gina and I'd spent some BFF time together after my return from Baton Rouge. I'd told her everything. “I can’t imagine how that must've felt for you,” she'd consoled.

  “It was almost like looking at me, Gina. It was bizarre. It was like me but at the same time, it was someone I didn’t remember.”

  “I just have to tell you that I really think your dad is awesome.”

  I'd shared with her my feelings of anger and resentment for not finding my mother and declaring his everlasting love for her before his marriage. Gina told me I was too much of a romantic and not enough of a realist.

  “Speaking of which,” I stated, taking the opportunity of segueing into the subject. “It appears to me that you and Tristan both have been bitten by the love bug.”

  “Girlfriend, we're taking it just one day at a time. We still fight like crazy but hey, the making up is fucking fantastic.”

  “So, any talk of you two getting engaged or anything?”

  “Seriously, Tylar? I'm just freshly divorced; Tristan is just freshly off of a broken engagement. We're simply enjoying each other. It’s not that serious, I keep telling you.”

  “Whatever,” I commented shaking my head.

  Jean was coming over Christmas Eve to stay with Preston while Trey and I attended the grand opening of Tristan and Gina’s club.

  I'd just enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath while Preston napped. Trey was finishing up some work in his study where the baby slept.

  “Whatcha doing, Trey?”

  “Hey, sweetie,” he said turning to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m almost done for the night. How about meeting me in our bed in about thirty?”

  “What can I say, Mr. Sinclair? You're so fucking romantic,” I teased. I went back to our room and climbed into bed enjoying the feel of the freshly changed sheets. I switched the flat screen on and before I knew it I'd dozed off. I was awakened some time later when Trey crawled into bed next to me, drawing me into his warm embrace.

  We'd just started getting down to it when our play was interrupted by loud voices coming from the guest room. Tristan and Gina had come home. They were arguing about something. Trey stopped what he was doing to me at the moment which had been feeling really great as their voices got louder. We both sat up straining to hear what was taking place. I was hoping they didn’t wake the baby in the room next to theirs.

  “I’m sorry, Tristan,” Gina shouted, “It just seemed to me as if you spent an inordinate amount of time training Amy. It’s obvious to me she's totally crushing on you and you enjoy it!"

  “What the fuck are you talking about, Gina? I didn’t spend any more time training her in the restaurant than the male waiters. What the hell's really going on? Are you premenstrual or something?”

  “Oh, yeah, a typical guy thing to say when a female calls them out on something. Don’t cloud the issue, Tristan!”

  “Gina,” Tristan pleaded, “I swear to you on all that's precious to me, that I don’t feel a damn thing for Amy. I’m all about you, babe. Can’t you see that?”

  “Oh, Tristan,” Gina whined, “Why in the world do you put up with my shit?”

  “You know why, baby. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Tristan,” she wailed.

  “Jesus Christ,” Trey grumbled, “I fucking knew she'd somehow wheedle her way into the family!”

  “I think it's very romantic.”

  “You would,” he griped.

  I crawled onto his lap and started kissing him very passionately. We were just to the point where things wer
e progressing nicely when we heard the banging of the headboard against the wall in the guest room.

  “Holy shit,” Trey snarled.

  “I guess we’re going to need to move that bed to the fucking center of the room the way that those two go at it!”

  “Trey,” I pleaded, “Put those two out of your mind. It’s just you and me right now. I want you to make love to me.”

  “You’re right, baby,” he said softly, pressing me down against the mattress and kissing me passionately. His hands roamed over me in all of the right places. My body responded to his touch, like always. His lips traveled downward to my sex. His expert ministrations with his tongue brought me to my foreplay orgasm.

  “My turn, baby,” he moaned laying back.

  Just as I took his erection into my grasp, we both heard Preston crying from her room. “Jesus Christ; want to guess what woke her up?” Trey snapped, leaping from our bed and pulling his pj bottoms up. He opened our door and went down the hallway coming back with Preston in his arms. He handed her to me and I turned my nightstand light on.

  She'd soiled her diaper so I asked Trey to bring me a fresh one and some baby wipes. I got her cleaned up and changed pulling her pajama bottoms back up. She smiled at me showing me her eye teeth.

  “Hey, pretty girl,” I cooed to her, “two more days until Santa visits here bringing Preston all kinds of presents because she's been a good girl this year.”

  She put her fist up to her mouth giggling. “What does Preston want Santa to bring to her?” She rolled onto her stomach and crawled closer to me repeating “num-num” over and over again. She'd gotten a view of my still bare breasts.

  “I think Mommy can accommodate that,” I replied laughing. I settled back on my side with my head propped up on my arm. She crawled over and snuggled up beside me and gently began nursing. Trey came out of the bathroom just then spotting her cuddled up against me.

  “Well, it looks like everyone is getting theirs tonight but me,” he complained, throwing his hands up in the air.

  “Don’t pout, honey,” I chided him. “Santa doesn’t like that.”

  "Ho ho ho," he replied, getting into bed with us.

  CHAPTER 48

  Preston was up at dawn on Christmas morning. Of course, she'd some help because Gina and Tristan were making enough noise to wake the dead in their bedroom.

  “Jesus Christ,” Trey moaned, rubbing his eyes. “Don’t they ever give it a rest?”

  I got up to check on Preston and found her sitting up in her crib playing with her Santa Claus. She smiled and scrambled to her feet upon seeing me come into the room. “Merry Christmas, baby girl,” I crooned to her lifting her to me. I grabbed a clean diaper and her baby wipes and took her back to our room. Trey was still in bed sitting up. He reached to take her from me.

  “Da-da-da-da,” she squealed smiling at him.

  “I think she has a Christmas package for you, Trey,” I said laughing as I headed to the bathroom.

  “That’s all right,” I heard him croon to her from the bedroom. “Daddy will change his baby girl.”

  I was sitting on the toilet; I waited counting down to the inevitable gag that always occurred after he unfastened her soiled diaper to take it off. There it was.

  “Christ, Tylar, stop pureeing the green beans, please!”

  It was always my fault her baby poop made him gag…..LOL!

  I finished up in the bathroom just as Trey was fastening her clean diaper on her. I put my robe on as I headed back out into the bedroom. He was taking the offensive diaper to the lined and covered trash can we kept in his office now that she slept there.

  “At what age do you normally start potty-training?” he asked as he headed out to the hallway.

  “It differs. It helps if they’re walking though.”

  “Smart ass,” he mumbled as he headed down the hallway.

  I scooped her up into my arms. “Do you want to see what Santa brought Preston last night when she was sleeping?” She started talking her usual baby gibberish. She seemed to know something was up.

  “Yes, let’s go see what Santa brought for Preston.”

  Gina and Tristan were coming out of their room just as I passed by.

  “Merry Christmas!” Gina said taking Preston from me.

  Trey had put the coffee on so we plunked the baby down in front of the tree and let her have at her Christmas gifts while we sipped our morning coffee. Gina patiently showed her how to rip the paper off of the packages. Preston seemed to be more interested in playing with the wrapping paper and bows than the actual toy inside.

  Santa had bought her baby dolls, wind-up toys, puzzles and more Atlanta Falcons garb than she could possibly wear in a season. Tristan had bought her a beautiful ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ commemorative ornament for the tree along with a gorgeous handmade quilt for her bed. It was done in the colors of her new room. Gina must've told him.

  Jean’s gift was a hat and matching mittens that she'd knitted herself. Trey’s parents had sent a beautiful winter coat, along with a faux fur muff. Nigel and Tess had sent her a collection of Sesame Street storybooks.

  “Well, it's official,” Gina announced as she started picking up all of the tossed wrapping paper strewn about the living room floor. “She made out like a bandit this year.”

  “I suspect just one of many,” Tristan replied with a smile. “Come on, Giner,” he said mocking Ian’s accent, “Let’s you and I make breakfast.”

  She smiled up at him as he held his hand helping her up. We'd decided the adults would exchange gifts after Preston went down for her afternoon nap. Gina and Tristan fixed breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen. Trey and I started getting our Christmas ham ready for the oven.

  Christmas dinner was so much easier to prepare than Thanksgiving dinner, I decided. We spent a pleasant afternoon with family watching Christmas specials on television. Once Preston went down for her nap, the four of us opened our Christmas gifts.

  Trey loved his new clothes and all of the Falcons paraphernalia I'd bought for him. He'd bought me a beautiful gold watch, a pair of diamond stud earrings and several sweaters that I loved. Gina had bought me some sexy lingerie which Trey, in fact appreciated. I'd bought her an iPad that I knew she wanted but wouldn't buy for herself.

  Tristan had bought me a beautiful Burberry coat; he'd bought Gina one exactly like it. She was quick to point out his faux paux.

  “Tristan, you realize one of us is going to have to take their coat back and exchange it don’t you?”

  He looked over at her with a puzzled expression. “Why? You both said you loved them.”

  “Because, babe, we can’t both wear the exact same coats. We're best friends not lesbian lovers, for Chrissake.”

  Trey had looked over at him shaking his head.

  “Oh, yeah right, Trey. Like you knew that,” Tristan said.

  “Uh, yeah Tristan.”

  They both started wrestling around like a couple of kids.

  “Tristan, open your gift from Trey and me,” I said trying to get them to settle down before they woke the baby.

  Tristan opened the envelope taking out the tickets we'd bought for a 5-day all inclusive Caribbean cruise for two. “Wow, thanks you guys,” he said grinning. “Now, if you just would've given me someone to take.”

  Gina immediately swatted at him playfully. They were making out in a matter of seconds. I saw Trey roll his eyes in feigned disgust. I think that Gina was finally growing on him.

  It'd been his idea to buy them the cruise tickets. When I pointed out to him that he finally seemed to be softening towards her, he responded the gift was as much for us as for them. With them gone for five days we would be spared their nightly ‘fuckfest.’

  We ate our Christmas dinner. Trey’s parents called and were looking forward to us being there for New Year’s Eve. Tristan had apparently told them that he was bringing Gina. Susan was thrilled that he'd dumped Libby. She said that Nigel and Tess were coming in for a few days
as well. They would be getting to Bristol the day before we arrived. She said they had some exciting news.

  Trey had taken the phone from me before we hung up wanting to talk to his mom one last time. He went into the kitchen away from the rest of us. I started clearing the table. As I carried the dirty plates to the kitchen he was telling her good-bye.

  “What was that about?” I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

  Trey gave me his crooked grin and looked a bit sheepish. “I asked Mom to put Nigel and Tess in the room next to ours and put Tristan and Gina in the other wing.”

  “Trey,” I said, trying to stifle a grin, “You are too much.”

  It was back to work as usual the day after Christmas for everyone but me. I'd gotten up with Trey to start the packing for our move in two weeks. Everything was pretty much finished and our move date was set for January 7th.

  My father had called me on the 27th to tell me the grand jury had met and would re-convene once the forensic testing had been concluded on my mother’s autopsy. He said he was using his connections to expedite the testing as much as he could.

  The results of Maggie’s autopsy had been released, but it apparently showed an “inconclusive” toxicology report. That was disappointing.

  Her cause of death had simply been listed as “natural causes” with a notation as to being related to an untreated bacterial infection that had caused her to go ‘septic.’

  Matthew was being held without bond on his current charges. He'd apparently hired a fairly competent attorney from Jackson. Trey and I'd identified the clothing that was collected at Matthew’s home.

  We figured Maggie had probably been sleeping there with Preston for however long they'd stayed there. They'd found some strands of Preston’s baby hair on the inside of the white turtleneck and it was DNA matched.

  The phone records Daniel had provided Trey showed that Maggie had been in touch with Matthew while living in Indiana with Daniel; and that she'd also been in touch with Charlie in Bristol.