Baby Love Lite (36 page)

“
Yes, a couple of times when
you were very young.”

The man from my first memory with the swing
set!

“
How did my mother
die?”

“
Poisoning; it was
poisoning," Maggie whispered weakly before slipping into
unconsciousness.

Trey received a call Sunday evening from
Sandy Meyers. She'd been keeping in touch with us daily letting us
know Maggie’s condition. There'd been no change since Friday
afternoon when we'd been there with her. She was still in a coma
but holding her own. The doctor said part of the coma had been
induced because of the heavy duty pain-killers she was being
given.

Right after Trey got off of the phone with
Sandy, Tristan called him. He let Trey know that he would be in
Atlanta the following day, staying for the week to get the
transition of ownership taken care of with Gina. I'd kept my BFF
promise to Gina and not mentioned anything to Trey about Tristan
coming in or where he was staying. My ears perked up when I heard
Trey ask him if he was staying here with us.

“
You aren’t serious,
Tristan. What the fuck?”

I couldn’t hear Tristan’s response but pretty
much figured it out with Trey’s next line.

“
Yeah, right, platonic my
ass! What’s your deal, bro?”

There was silence while Trey listened to
Tristan explain his deal. “I realize that, Tristan. I just hope
that you're a bit more cautious before jumping into another
relationship so quickly.”

Another pause.

“
Whatever you say, Tristan.
It’s one thing to be in business with Gina; just take my advice and
don’t hop into bed with her.”

WTF? That's my best friend you're talking
about!

“
Okay, okay. I'll butt out.
See you in a couple of days then. Don’t forget to come up for air.”
Trey was chuckling now so it appeared as if the brothers were still
on good terms.

He came out to the kitchen where I'd just
finished unloading the dishwasher. He looked all disheveled from
the afternoon he'd spent on the couch drinking beer and watching
football.

“
Did you know that Tristan
will be in town tomorrow for the week?”

“
I overheard you talking to
him about it just now.”

“
Guess where he’s
staying?”

“
Well, from what I overheard
it sounded like Gina’s?”

“
Oh, come on, Tylar. You
already knew about this, didn’t you?” He was giving me an
accusatory look.

“
So, what if I did? It’s not
my place to tell you everything that concerns my best friend or
your brother, is it?”

“
I certainly hope you aren’t
playing matchmaker with those two,” he warned, furrowing his
eyebrows at me.

“
Trey, this isn’t seventh
grade. Tristan and Gina are both adults who can navigate their way
into a business relationship or a love relationship or a sexual
relationship without any outside assistance or
interference
.”

“
You're mighty sassy with me
tonight aren’t you, girl?” he said with a smile closing in on me.
He tugged on my ponytail gently, pulling me back against him. His
arms circled around me as he lowered his face to kiss the top of my
head softly, rocking me back and forth within his arms.

“
Is your period over yet,
baby?” he asked.

“
Sorry, no,” I answered
trying to wriggle out of his strong grip.

“
Can I interest you in a
high protein drink then?” he asked, not loosening his hold on me
whatsoever.

“
We’ll see,” I replied. “You
may have a better chance of that if you get out of those sweats
you’ve been in all weekend and shower, though.”

He chuckled, burrowing his face down into my
hair and kissing the back of my neck. He gave me goose bumps. Just
then the sound of glass shattering on the wooden floor in the
living room followed by Preston’s loud wailing interrupted our
play.

“
Shit,” Trey said racing out
of the kitchen and into the living room with me on his
heels.

Preston had evidently crawled over to the
tall, glass vase that was placed on the hall table and tried to
pull herself up, causing the vase to slide off and hit the floor
shattering.

Trey scooped her up immediately checking for
cuts. Her little face was puckered up crying tears; she buried her
face into Trey’s chest her thumb finding its way into her mouth. “I
think it just scared her,” he said visibly relieved.

“
Trey, what the hell?” I
fumed. “Why did you take her out of her playpen?”

“
Tylar she wanted out. I was
on the couch so I put her on the rug with some toys while I watched
the game. She was fine crawling around and playing right there with
me. I guess when I took the phone call I got distracted. I didn’t
think about it when I went into the kitchen to talk to
you.”

He was stroking her hair and kissing her
head. “I think you need to baby proof the apartment now that she's
a toddler.”

“
Right,” I said, rolling my
eyes at him. “What exactly do you think baby-proofing involves,
Trey? Sticking some shields on electrical sockets and taking
everything breakable out of the rooms?”

“
Well, yeah,” he
replied.

“
The shields on electrical
sockets, yes,” I replied, “but you still need to be in the same
room with the baby. You teach them not to touch certain things that
could break or hurt them by telling them ‘no’ firmly and
consistently. Do you think you can manage that, Trey?”

“
I don’t know, Tylar,” he
replied in a faux snotty tone, “I seem to have a problem with
saying ‘no’ to you firmly and consistently, it would
appear.”

“
Hah, since when?” I scoffed
giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Preston looked up from Trey’s shoulder and
smiled at me. “Ma-ma-ma-ma,” she whimpered, twisting away from Trey
and reaching for me.

“
Did you hear that? She
wants her mommy,” I crooned taking her from Trey. “Come on, sweet
baby girl,” I said holding her close to me. “Let’s go see if your
diaper needs changing after that scare you just had.” I took her to
the nursery and sure enough she'd soiled her diaper.

“
Stinky girl,” I said making
a face as I unfastened the tabs on her diaper and lifted her legs
up to remove it.

She was grinning at me with her thumb in her
mouth and jabbering in baby language. I cleaned her up with baby
wipes and put a clean diaper on her. I went ahead and dressed her
for bed since she got her bath in the morning. “There - all done
Preston. Do you want Mommy to read you a story?”

She smiled at me again, saying,
“num-num-num.” I wasn’t sure what that meant so I pulled a book
from the shelf and sat her on my lap in the rocker opening it up to
start reading. She squirmed about knocking the book out of my hands
and repeated the ‘num-num’ jargon a few more times definitely
starting to fuss now.

Num-num? Nurse? Nipple?

I unbuttoned my top and unclasped the front
hook on my bra freeing my breasts. That was it. That was ‘num-num.’
She immediately leaned into me, latching onto my nipple and started
nursing curled up against me.

Trey came into the nursery a while later; I
shared with him her latest word. I'd noticed that he'd showered,
shaved and had a clean pair of pajama bottoms on. His hair was
still damp from his shower.

“
I swept up all of the glass
from the entry hall,” he said. “I'll keep a better eye on her in
the future.”

“
Good,” I replied, looking
down at my precious girl nestled so contentedly against me. Part of
me wished that she could stay this age forever. I recalled though,
how I'd thought the same thing with almost every stage she'd went
through thus far.

I thought about the things that Maggie had
told us the other day. In particular, I thought about how she told
me that my mother had loved me and never liked being apart from me.
It reminded me of the way that I felt about Preston. Perhaps I had
more of my mother in me than simply my physical appearance. I
decided that I was very proud of that possibility. I needed to find
out more about the last thing that Maggie had said before falling
into her unconscious sleep. I needed to understand what she meant
about my mother being poisoned. Had it been an accident or had it
been deliberate?

Trey was watching me with the baby.

“
You know, Tylar, you're
never sexier in my eyes than when I watch you nurse our baby. I
can’t explain it but it's definitely a turn-on.”

I smiled up at him knowing that he was
sincere - horny or not. “Are you going to bed?” I asked.

“
I’ll be watching the late
game in our room. Will you be long?”I looked down at Preston and
her eyes were closed; her long lashes resting against her soft
skin. She continued to suck gently, the pauses between them growing
longer each time.

“
It’ll be just a few more
minutes, Trey. She’s almost finished here.”

“
Okay baby,” he said,
leaning over and kissing her head. His lips brushed across mine
warmly and sensually.

“
I’ll be waiting for you.
Come and get your ‘num-num’ baby.”

Trey and I were roused out of our sleep a
little after 5:00 a.m. on Monday morning by the landline extension
in our room ringing. Trey was closest, so he grabbed the phone. I
felt him sit up quickly after the person on the other end had
identified themselves to him.

“
I see,” he said, switching
the bedside lamp on. He wanted me awake. “She’ll be there in thirty
minutes. Let Maggie know. Thanks, Sandy.”

I pulled myself up into a sitting
position.

“
Tylar, you need to get to
the hospital. Maggie has rallied somewhat from the coma and she's
asked for you. It’s only temporary, her death is imminent, so if
there's more you need to know or anything you need to say to her,
this is your last chance.”

I threw the bed covers off and went to my
closet. I shrugged a pair of jeans on and pulled a sweater on over
my head. I grabbed my socks and boots and sat down on the bed to
put them on. Trey hadn’t moved.

“
Aren’t you going to get
ready?” I asked him.

“
Sweetie, I have to stay
here with Preston.”

“
Can’t we get her up and
take her with us?”

“
By the time we rouse her,
change her, dress her and all of the other things she needs done in
the morning, it may be too late. You can do this on your
own.”

I nodded as I zipped the last boot up. I
grabbed my phone and purse and was out the door and on the road in
no more than ten minutes after Trey had told me the situation. I
ran through the hallway at St. Matthews taking the elevator up to
the ICU. As soon as I got off the elevator, Sandy was there to
greet me.

“
Your mother is weak, but
coherent. She wants to see you about some unfinished business. She
won’t last much longer, Mrs. Sinclair.”

“
I understand, Sandy. Thanks
for calling.”

I made a hasty entrance into the ICU and to
Maggie’s room. She looked much worse than she had on Friday. She
had oxygen going in through tubes in her nose. Her skin had a
mottled look to it almost purplish. I went to her bedside where she
appeared to be dozing.

“
Maggie, I’m here. It’s
Tylar.”

Her eyes flickered open and she turned her
head slightly so that I was in her line of vision. “Tylar?” she
asked weakly.

“
Yes, I’m here Aunt Maggie.
Did you have something that you wanted me to know?”

“
Promise me something,
please,” she whispered. “Promise me that you'll have the hospital
perform an autopsy after I die.”

What a bizarre death bed request - especially
from someone like Maggie who hated the thought of not looking her
best.

“
Why?” I asked, confused and
questioning her lucidity.

I took my iPhone out and hit the button to
record her deathbed wishes. My instincts had kicked in and told me
to do so.

“
Tylar, I don’t have time to
explain everything, just do it. Tell them not to look for man-made
toxins but for bayou poisons. This infection isn't what they think
it is. Don’t have me cremated. I want to be buried next to my baby
in Indiana. There’s the rest of your money in my purse that they
checked in over at the jail. It'll pay for my burial arrangements.
Don’t let them know you're not my daughter, Tylar. You have to be
my official next of kin. Your husband will confirm that if you ask
him.”

Her voice was getting raspy and she took a
break breathing in her oxygen.

“
What about my mother? What
about Marla?”

“
He poisoned her, too,” she
whispered weakly.

“
Who - who poisoned
her?”

“
Matthew did. He poisoned
her and now he's poisoned me. Your mama is buried at the cemetery
south of Jackson, Mississippi where our parents are buried. The
Renaud family crypt is there.”

She was rasping again and stopped to breathe
in more oxygen. “You have them get you her death record. There
wasn’t no autopsy done on her. There should've been to prove what
Matthew had done to her. Miss Trinity LaFleur must have evidence or
something. I know she prepared Marla for burial. Your mama was
buried with your caul. You find Miss Trinity you hear? I promised
Marla I'd give Trinity those jewelry boxes your daddy gave her
after she died. She said it was the only way that I'd be safe. I
wanted to keep that jewelry for myself, so I never did what I
promised Marla. Miss Trinity is a midwife living in Concordia
Parish. She delivered you, Tylar. She can fill you in. Anyone in
Vidalia will know her.”