Baby Love Lite

by ANDREA SMITH

  “What time's his arraignment, Dad?”

  “It’s at 10:00 a.m. in the superior court in Baton Rouge. I’m going to arrange for a charter flight for you and Trey. Edie's here to care for Preston if you want to stay over, darling.”

  “Thanks, Dad. Call me later when you've made the arrangements. Trey isn't home, but I'll contact him on his cell now to see if he plans on accompanying me tomorrow.”

  I wasn’t sure what Trey’s schedule was since he was back to work. I was okay with going by myself. My dad would be there with me. I got off the phone and immediately called Trey to let him know what my father had told me. He said he and Tristan were on their way back and he'd see me in a few. I filled Gina in when I located her in Preston’s room changing her diaper. She'd awakened while I was on the phone with my father.

  “Do you want me to stay with Preston tomorrow, Ty?”

  “That'd be great, Gina. I don’t think Trey and I'll stay over since Dad is chartering a flight for us.”

  “I'd love the opportunity of being with my god-daughter all day,” she replied pulling her pink sweat pants up.

  I took Preston to our room and climbed on top of our bed. I picked up the remote and turned the flat screen on finding a music station.

  Trey came into our room about twenty minutes later. His cheeks were rosy pink from being out in the cold. He looked so handsome.

  “Hey, baby,” he said coming over to sit on the bed.

  Preston disengaged herself from me hearing his voice. She crawled over to him saying ‘da-da.’ He picked her up and kissed her cheeks and then leaned over giving me a kiss on the lips. Ever since I'd rescinded my objection to Trey’s decision to help Nigel and Tess, we'd been closer than ever.

  I'd totally stopped using my diaphragm unbeknownst to Trey. I knew he'd have no objection to that, but I feared he'd see it as me trying to compete to get pregnant before Tess. Maybe that was close to the truth. I'd read in a magazine once that having sex too often could lower a man’s sperm count. I'd been wearing Trey’s ass out in bed and that hadn't gone unnoticed by him.

  “Baby,” he'd said late one night after I'd awoken him for another round, “Why the ‘fuckathon every night?”

  “Are you complaining, Trey?”

  “I’m not complaining. I’m just curious.”

  “Can’t I be horny for my husband without him being suspicious of my motives?” I had asked feigning injury.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” he'd said, pulling me on top of him. “I love that you love me like that.”

  Tristan on the other hand had evidently been privy to the same information as I'd found in that magazine. He'd taken a hiatus from fucking Gina on a daily basis. She'd complained to me about it.

  “Is Trey acting like that with you?” she asked.

  “Well, he's commented about having sex too often,” I'd replied.

  That's totally not a lie . . .

  “You see there, Ty? To those two this has probably become a fucking competition to see whose sperm can get to that egg first!”

  “You know how guys are,” I'd sighed, shaking my head and then changing the subject.

  “Did you hear me?” Trey was asking, bringing me back to the present.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” I replied. “I guess I was day dreaming. What did you say?”

  “I said that I wish I could go with you to Baton Rouge tomorrow, but Tristan reminded me on the way home that he and I have - that appointment.”

  Oh yes - THAT appointment!

  The one at the fertility clinic in Atlanta that was handling their end of it.

  “Of course, I totally forgot about that. It’s okay. I’m going down and back in one day. I’m just waiting for Dad to call back with the details.”

  “You know, I'd be with you baby, if it wasn’t for that.”

  “I know, Trey. It’s fine.”

  He was watching me now. Trying to figure out whether I was sincere or not. Preston had been crawling around on the bedroom floor. She'd found something on the rug and evidently had put it into her mouth. We both heard her choke and gag at the same time.

  Trey was over to her in a split second. He snatched her up into his arms. I started freaking out as I saw that she couldn’t catch her breath. I started screaming for Trey to get whatever it was out of her mouth. How stupid was that? It had obviously gone down her throat if she was choking on it. I couldn’t think straight. My baby was turning blue.

  Trey remained calm. He settled Preston on his lap tilting her forward. He placed his closed fist with his thumb closest to her stomach against her bellybutton and drew it in against her firmly; he placed the heel of his other hand behind her and gave her five quick strikes to the middle of her back.

  She coughed. Whatever she'd swallowed popped out of her mouth. She started coughing and rasping. Her breathing started back coming in fast, gulping breaths. She finally had the strength to cry. I grabbed her from Trey, holding her close to my chest and talking to her. Tears were flowing down my cheeks.

  Gina and Tristan had come into our room hearing the commotion. “What the hell happened?” Gina asked with alarm.

  Trey’s calmness had now been replaced by the fear that had sunk in that we'd almost lost our daughter. He raked his hands threw his hair; his eyes teared up. Preston was calmed. I walked over to Gina and Tristan with the baby.

  “Preston found something on the floor and put it into her mouth. She choked on it. Trey saved her life,” I sputtered.

  “Oh, Thank God!” Gina said.

  “Why don’t we take Preston out and get her something in her sippy cup?” Tristan suggested.

  “Thanks, Tristan,” I said, handing the baby over to him.

  They left with her and I went to see about Trey. “Are you okay, honey?” I asked, dropping down in front of him where he still sat on the bed. He'd clasped his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes. He looked down at me finally with his eyes still watering. He pulled me up and onto his lap where he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

  “I was so fucking scared, Tylar,” he said.

  “I know, Trey. I was scared too; but you kept it together! You saved her. How did you know what to do?”

  He shook his head back and forth getting a hint of a smile. “That’s just it, baby,” he said, “I've no clue as to how I knew what to do. It was if something else just took over my mind and I knew what I needed to do.”

  “Like maybe her guardian angel?” I asked.

  “Yeah, exactly,” he replied, “and I bet her name is Marley.”

  Trey and I searched the floor and found the object of Preston’s incident. It was a penny that must've fallen from one of our pockets at some point in time. The year of minting was 1990.

  My father called later in the afternoon with my flight details. He'd arranged for a charter to from a private airfield in Atlanta at 6:30 a.m. the following morning. He would be at the Baton Rouge airport to pick me up. He'd booked my return flight on the charter for that afternoon.

  I filled him in on the scare that we had earlier in the day with Preston. I included the part where we'd felt some sort of divine intervention.

  “I've no doubt that Marley looks after you all,” he replied. “She was an angel in life and remains an angel in heaven.”

  Preston had been the center of everyone’s attention after her ordeal that day. I bathed her after she'd eaten her dinner and got her ready for bed. I rocked her while she nursed that evening. I thanked God for her being okay. I tucked her into her crib giving her kisses on her cheeks and forehead.

  Gina and Tristan were cleaning up the kitchen and Trey was in the living room when I went back out after putting Preston to bed. Trey was on the couch with his iPad. I went over and sat next to him. I fully intended to schedule a fuckfest with him later. He smiled as I cuddled up to him on the couch.

  “Is Preston asleep?” he asked.

  “Yep, she’s all tucked in for the night. I'm going to grab a shower and get ready for bed since I
have that early flight in the morning.”

  “Okay, baby,” he said, “I won’t be far behind you.”

  “Good,” I said to him, kissing his ear softly, lightly tracing it with my tongue. “Don’t keep me waiting too long, okay?”

  Just then Gina barreled out of the kitchen, through the living room and down the hallway. I heard the door to their room slam.

  Damn! She better not wake the baby!

  Tristan came out of the kitchen wearing a sheepish look as Trey and I both watched him hoping to find out what the hell was going on.

  “Is everything okay, bro?” Trey asked him.

  “Yeah. Gina’s just been a bit put out because of my lack of attention to her lately, if you know what I mean.”

  I knew what he meant but it was clear Trey didn’t have a clue. Tristan could tell as much.

  “After tomorrow it won’t be an issue,” Tristan said with a shrug. “Everything will be back to normal between us.”

  “What in the hell are you talking about, Tristan?” Trey blurted out.

  Uh oh.

  Tristan acted halfway embarrassed to explain it to Trey while I was sitting there. “You know. We have that appointment tomorrow and once that's over with Gina and I can resume our . . . sexual relations.”

  “Wait a minute. Do you mean you've been abstaining from sex for this?” Trey was mortified I could tell; I acted mortified as well, looking at Tristan as if I needed him to clue me in too.

  “Not exactly total abstinence, but yeah, I’ve had to cut back on the frequency to keep my swimmers in top notch shape.”

  “Your swimmers?”

  “Oh, for Chrissake Trey, didn’t you ever take biology? Frequent sex - ejaculation if you want me to be technical about it, lowers the sperm count.”

  “Really?” I asked, feigning surprise.

  I've a feeling I'm not going to get lucky tonight.

  I looked over at Trey and saw immediately he wasn't fooled. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or not. “Well, listen; I’ve got to get my shower. See you when I get back, Tristan.”

  “Good night, Tylar,” he called after me. “Have a safe trip.”

  CHAPTER 54

  I'd showered and gotten into my pajamas. I crawled beneath the covers of our bed fairly certain that Trey, if not angry, was at the very least not pleased with me. The sooner this day was behind me the better. I fell asleep quickly not anxious to find out if Trey was pissed or merely not pleased. I had a big day tomorrow; so did Trey, for that matter.

  Trey made sure when he came to bed later I was made aware of it. He switched the overhead bedroom light on first of all; then spent an inordinate amount of time digging around in his closet for clean sweats. He showered with the bathroom door open; and made sure that he let the toilet lid slam down before flushing the toilet.

  Once he climbed into bed he pulled me over against his warm, still damp body.

  “Are you awake, Tylar?” he whispered loudly.

  “Of course not, Trey,” I said.

  “I just wanted to let you know I can drive you to the airfield tomorrow for your flight.”

  “Okay, thanks honey,” I replied rolling over to face him. “Are you mad at me?” I asked him watching his face which seemed impassive.

  “Mad isn't the word,” he said. “I guess I’m just wondering why you pretended to be alright with this when clearly you’re not.”

  “I'm okay with it, Trey, I swear that I am. I guess I was just trying to give Tristan a little bit of an edge on account of his age and all.”

  “Yeah, right,” he said, kissing my face gently.

  “You know that I love you and only you, Tylar.”

  “I know that, Trey.”

  “So, you also know that if this fertilization process is successful, which isn't 100% guaranteed, that child will be nothing more than a niece or nephew to me or to Tristan, right?”

  “Yes, I know,” I replied.

  “I just wanted to make sure that you and I are on the same page with that.”

  “We are,” I replied, kissing him back.

  His hands moved to my silk pajama top; he unbuttoned it and pulled me up so that he could remove it. His hands caressed my breasts and nipples. He lowered his head to them; his tongue traced around my nipples in a circular motion. He moved southward, pulling my panties down and allowing his tongue to explore the soft folds of my womanhood. His hands gently pushed my legs apart; his fingers worked their magic inside of me.

  I pushed against Trey wanting him on his back. He complied. I knelt between his legs, spreading them with my hands as I took his erect manhood into my mouth. I went from head to root, taking all of him into my mouth; my tongue swirled and around and around the length of him.

  He moaned with pleasure; his hips gyrated against my mouth. His hands reached down cupping my face between them. He wanted me on top. I complied. I climbed on top of him. He guided his shaft into me gently. He placed his other hand on the small of my back lowering me down onto him.

  “Mmmm,” I moaned feeling his fullness within me.

  “You like that, baby?” he asked, his lips finding mine.

  “You know that I do, Trey,” I whispered against his lips.

  “You know that it’s yours, baby,” he said, “Yours and only yours.”

  He rocked me up and down; both of his hands now braced on my hips to allow him to rotate me in a back and forth motion as his thrusting increased.

  “Baby, you feel so good,” he moaned, “No one has ever made me come like you do. No one ever could,” he said, his lips crushing mine as his thrusting increased steadily.

  “I love you, Tylar; I never want to lose you.”

  “You never will Trey; you're mine.”

  Our orgasms came crashing down around us then; it was all about us and only us at that moment. It was about the love that we had for one another. We both cried out as we came at the same time. We laid there for several minutes totally spent from our lovemaking. Trey kissed my lips; telling me how sweet I was and how much he loved me.

  Afterwards, Trey wrapped his arms around me and pulled me up against his warm, naked body. From down the hallway I heard Gina yell, ‘That’s not fair!’

  Trey chuckled pulling me close and we fell asleep.

  The following morning, Trey walked me in to the terminal at the small private airport. The pilot was already there waiting for me in the lounge. Trey hugged and kissed me telling me that he would be back to pick me up later that afternoon.

  “I’ll be thinking about you,” he called after me as I started to walk out the glass door that led to the tarmac.

  “You better be,” I called back, waving to him.

  My father was there waiting for me at the municipal airfield in Baton Rouge where we landed. It wasn't far from downtown Baton Rouge. He explained Matthew’s arraignment would be held in the 19th Judicial Court that was downtown. He said the proceeding itself wouldn't take long. He was interested in seeing Matthew again. My father made no secret of his contempt for the man. I was curious to see as to whether he looked familiar to me after all of these years.

  The courthouse was similar to the one where my father sat the bench. He led me to the courtroom where the arraignment was to be held. We still had another forty-five minutes or so before the proceedings began. I needed a comfort break. I told my father I was going to find a restroom and would be back in a few.

  Once out in the hallway, I saw signs for the restrooms. I was thankful the hallways in this courthouse didn't wind around like a maze like the other one had.

  When I located the Ladies restroom, I noticed one of the stalls was already occupied. I took the empty one next to it. As I sat down to pee, I noticed the feet and ankles of whoever occupied the next stall. There was something very familiar about those . . . ankles. Then it came to me. Those were the same thick ankles that I recalled Ms. Deeny as having. I tried to hurry my stream, but it did no good. The thick-ankled occupant in the next stall had finished up, flush
ed and left the restroom without washing her hands.

  Eewwww!

  I finished up, making sure that I washed my hands properly. That had been so weird. I was sure that there were other people with thick ankles like that in the greater Baton Rouge area.

  When I returned to the courtroom I saw my father talking to a man sitting at one of the front tables that was in a suit. I took a seat and my father returned several moments later.

  “I just talked to the D.A.,” he said to me. “Apparently, Matthew's been uncooperative with his attorney. He won’t talk to him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, I’ve seen it done before many times. The accused is trying to appear as if he or she's not competent to stand trial for reasons of mental illness.”

  “Do you think his attorney is coaching him to do that?”

  “Not unless he's asking to be disbarred,” he replied. “Anyway the attorney retained for him is from a respectable firm. I'd doubt very much if he'd contrive such behavior as a defense.”

  This should be interesting, I thought as the courtroom started filling up. It was nearly 10:00 a.m. Trey and Tristan’s appointment was in another half hour. I pushed that from my mind.

  The bailiff came out and called the court to order. Everyone stood up as the Honorable Judge Lance Pelletier took the bench. He instructed everyone to be seated.

  The first case called was Matthew Renaud’s. A door on the left side of the court room opened and two deputies escorted a hand-cuffed and shackled man into the room. He was in typical prison garb.

  I studied him carefully. I recognized him as the same man that had been at our home in Radcliff, Kentucky, all those years ago. It was the man from my first memory when I was on my swing set; the one that had yelled at Maggie referring to me as the ‘golden goose’ or some such name.

  He was taken to the table where his defense attorney had risen, holding the chair next to him out so that Matthew could be seated. Matthew’s head turned looking around the courtroom. For some reason I hunkered down in my seat not wanting him to recognize me. I realized I was being paranoid. I'd been five-years-old the last time he saw me.