Baby Love (55 page)

              "Are you alright sweetie?"

              I glared at him then finally lip synced for him to look past me.  He finally got the message.

              "Hey Ian," Trey greeted him, "Merry Christmas."

              I could not believe that Trey was being friendly to that cheating scumbag.

              "Trey - great seeing you mate," he responded cheerfully. 

              "Good evening Tylar."

              "Hello Ian," I said very coldly not bothering to look his way.

              Gina returned at that point with his drink and placed it before him.              I turned my attention to Trey again leaning in to whisper to him.

              "How in the hell can you be nice to that cheating bastard?"

              "That is between them," Trey whispered back.

"I prefer to stay neutral."

              I tuned Trey out and tuned Gina and Ian back in.

              "What say you and me get together and talk later or maybe tomorrow," Ian was saying.

              "I don't think so Ian."

              "Ahh come on love.  I was wrong.  I am pleading temporary insanity for what I've done.  I still love you Giner, it's always been you."

             
(Holy shit!  This was going to get good.)

             
"The thing is - I don't love you anymore Ian.  I love someone else."

              "What the fuck?  You say you have moved on already?  Our divorce was just final a couple of weeks ago for Chrissake!"

              Their voices were getting a bit louder and out of my peripheral vision I saw Tristan look over from the other side of the bar where he was waiting on customers.

              "Why is that so fucking hard for you to believe Ian?  You were the one that moved on before we had even filed for divorce."

              "I can't accept that Giner.  That's just a rebound relationship you've dived into for the moment.  It won't last.  You will be back eventually."

              Gina shrugged as if she was totally unaffected by his words.

              "You can think whatever you want Ian but I won't be back.  I'm happier now than I have ever been."

              Ian was pissed immediately.

              He rose up over the bar and grabbed her arm pulling her toward him.

              "I won't let you go," he hissed. 

"You're trying to hurt me back, I get that.  I know that you still care about me."

              Ian's mistake was touching Gina.  Tristan was instantly at her side; his green eyes were flashing daggers at Ian.

              "Get your hands off of her now," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

              "Yeah?  What's it to you mate?"

              "She's mine," Tristan said plainly not taking his eyes off of Ian.

              Ian released his grip on Gina's arm.  She immediately retreated closer to Tristan who pulled her against him. Ian was looking back and forth between them.

              "You
are
mine, right?" Tristan asked Gina softly, staring down at her.

              She nodded and smiled up at him.  The love between them was obvious.  Ian had to be a total idiot if he didn't see it.

              Tristan lowered his face to Gina's; she laced her arms around his neck as they kissed playfully and passionately.

              I looked over at Ian and saw the pain in his eyes.  He pulled a twenty dollar bill from his wallet and tossed it on the bar as he made a hasty exit.

              Trey and I left shortly thereafter.

              When we returned home Trey and I gave Jean her Christmas bonus.  It was a check for $2500.  She teared up telling us how much she appreciated our generosity.

She said she had left a present for Preston under the tree.

              As Jean was getting her coat on she mentioned that a courier had dropped off a package earlier in the evening and that she had signed for it.  She had placed it over in the corner.  I looked at the return address.  It was from my father.

              While Trey drove Jean home I showered and got into my silk pajamas.  I tiptoed into Preston's room to check on her.  She was sleeping soundly in her Christmas elf pajamas.  She had her 'Ho-Ho' Santa clutched in her arms.

              When Trey got back we took all of the wrapped presents from our closets and put them under the tree.  I saw the box that had arrived from my father.

              "Go ahead and open it Tylar," Trey said, chuckling.  "You know you are dying to see what's in the box."

              I hoped my dad had not gone all extravagant on us for Christmas.  I had sent him a framed family portrait of the three of us we had commissioned shortly after Thanksgiving. 

              I got a knife from the kitchen to cut through the packing tape and opened the cardboard box.  Inside there were three wrapped presents; one for each of us.  On mine, there was an envelope attached with my name handwritten on it.

              Trey had put the fireplace on and had poured us each a glass of wine.  He had changed into his pajama bottoms and tee-shirt.  We were sitting on the floor in front of our beautiful Christmas tree.

              "Aren't you going to open it?"

              "You open yours first Trey."

              Trey's box was slim and fairly flat.

              "I bet it's a tie," he said tearing the paper off of the box and lifting the lid. 

              He lifted out a folded pack of papers.  He began skimming through them.

              "Holy shit - this is great.  The panel decided in my favor on my Motion to Consolidate."

              "Let me see," I said, leaning over to look.

              My father had put a handwritten note to Trey on it that read:

              "Though I recused myself from the decision process, I did expedite the panel to reach a decision.  Merry Christmas counselor!"

              "Well congratulations, Trey," I said.

              I opened the envelope that was attached to the wrapped box.  It was a note from my father.

             "My darling Tylar.  I am pleased to give you a gift from your mother.  Please find enclosed those items that the D.A. released from the metal box as not being designated as evidence.  I hope this makes your Christmas very special."

             I unwrapped the box and took a thick manila envelope out of the box.  The envelope contained pictures of me as a baby.  She had marked each one with the date and my age at the time.  There were several of me and her together. 

              In one of the pictures I was on her lap with my arms around her protectively.  I looked to be about 5 or 6 months old at the time. 

              She had enclosed her senior picture from high school. My God, she looked like Jennifer Aniston's twin!  My baby bracelet from the hospital was in there along with a letter addressed to me.

              Trey had scooted over beside me; he had an arm around me.  The envelope had been opened then taped back shut.

              "Sweetie, the detectives had to open that to see if there was anything that could be used as evidence."

              I nodded feeling extremely emotional.

              "Do you want me to leave you alone to read it by yourself?"

              "No Trey - please would you read it to me?"

              "Sure baby," he said taking it from me.

              I listened as his smooth and silky voice read the words that my mother had written just for me.             

              "My precious daughter, Tylar.  If you are reading this letter now it is because I am not with you to be able to tell you these things myself.  First of all please know that I love you more than life itself.  You are the most precious gift from God that I could ever have hoped to receive.  I loved you from the very first moment I felt you flutter inside of me.  On the day that you were born I held you to my breast and you knew exactly what a baby was supposed to do.  You taught me how to be a mother.  You taught me what it was to love someone unconditionally."

              Trey looked up at me as I wiped a stray tear from my cheek.  He continued.

              "My hope for you is that your father is raising you or perhaps he has already raised you to maturity and is presenting this letter to you as an adult.  If you are reading this having not been raised by your father then please know that he was and hopefully still is a good man.  His name is Preston James Tylar.  I named you after him.  He needs to know that he has such a beautiful baby girl.  You may wonder why your daddy and I weren't together.  That is my fault Tylar.  I didn't tell him about you." 

              "Our relationship was a complicated one; but know that I loved him and that he loved me.  He was the only man that I ever made love with. We made you together on one very special and magical night.  You can find him in Baton Rouge.  He is a very important judge."

              Trey looked up to check on me.  I nodded for him to continue.

              "My wish for you Tylar is that you grow up to be a strong, self-reliant woman.  I hope that you find the love of your life someday.  I hope that you are blessed with children.  I wish that I could have been a stronger and more self-reliant person than I was.  If I had been, I would have been here to raise you.  Always remember my darling daughter that sometimes it is better to take the path less traveled. Know that if there is a heaven and if by chance I get there I will always watch out for you!  You are mommy's precious angel."

              Trey folded the letter and put it back into the envelope.

              "Oh Trey," I wept climbing into his lap.

              "How could I have ever been angry with her?"

              He held me close as I sobbed into his shoulder.

              "Sweetie - I don't think your mom intended for that letter to make you feel badly.  I think she wanted it to comfort you."

              I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

              "It does comfort me," I replied sniffling. 

              "So much of what she said in that letter reminds me of exactly how I feel about Preston.  I guess I have a point of reference now on just how much she did love me."

              "Yes and you need to remember that at the time, your mother was four years younger than you are right now.  I think that's why her wish for you was to be strong and self-reliant.  Those are things that I think come with age; she just wasn't there yet."

              "Trey I need to call Dad."

              I phoned my father and read the letter to him. I could tell that he was choked up.  He said that he hadn't read it because he felt as if he would be invading the privacy between my mother and me.  He thanked me for sharing it with him.  He mentioned that there had been a letter addressed to him as well which the authorities would not release.  He was not even permitted to know the contents of it until such time as formal charges were brought against Matthew and the case went to discovery. 

              I wasn't sure what all of that meant but I'm sure that Trey would explain it in more detail.  My father thanked me for the portrait and said that it was hanging up in his study.  He said we would talk soon.

              Trey and I finished our wine in front of the Christmas tree.  We went to bed anxious for Santa to arrive.

CHAPTER 49

              Preston was up at dawn on Christmas morning.  Of course she had some help because Gina and Tristan had awakened early and 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.