Baby Love Lite (12 page)

“
Baby, you look awesome,” he
said, closing the distance between us. I smiled up at him as he
closed in on me, grazing my thigh with his fingertips, pulling me
up against him firmly. I blushed, thinking about what had
transpired the previous night. Trey and I'd been making love every
night for the past several; last night had been especially
delicious.

He lowered his head to mine, his lips kissing
mine warmly and seductively. He moaned reflecting my sentiments
exactly. I yearned for him to be inside of me once again,
remembering how hot it had been the previous night. I'd worried
that Susan might have heard our lovemaking being that we were a bit
louder than usual.

“
I love you, baby,” he said
softly. “How about helping me with my tie?”

“
Certainly, Mr. Sinclair,” I
answered in a coquettish manner, reaching out to start tying his
tie. Trey smiled down at me, thoroughly happy that I was returning
to the workforce, if only for a few weeks. I finished his tie,
brushing some lint off of his suit jacket, totally mesmerized at
his awesome build and great looks.

“
You look great, honey,” I
breathed, raising my face back up to meet his warm lips one more
time before we headed out of our suite. I could hear Susan in the
kitchen and the smell of freshly brewed coffee greeted us as we
entered the living room.

Preston was in her mesh baby playpen already
dressed in her pink bib overalls with a white cotton turtleneck
underneath. Susan had pulled the baby’s hair up into a thin wispy
ponytail on top of her head.

She looked like a non-cartoon version of
Pebbles Flintstone with that cute little sprout of hair. She was
sitting up chewing on a rubber rattle when she saw us. She was
teething and had taken to chewing on everything it seemed. Preston
squealed in delight at seeing Trey and I enter the room. He went
over to the playpen where she was now holding her little arms up so
that he'd lift her up. He didn’t hesitate in doing so, holding her
close and kissing her forehead.

“
Hey, Chubbers,” he greeted
her with a smile showing his dimple. She quickly returned the favor
presenting her dimple to him. She was still clutching her rubber
rattle and offered it to her daddy.

“
I don’t want that,” he
teased. “It’s got Preston-slobber all over it. Yucky!” She giggled
with delight as he continued talking to her as we entered the
kitchen. Susan had made coffee and poured juice for both of us. She
was at the stove scrambling up some eggs with cheese the way Trey
liked them.

“
Good morning,” she greeted
us smiling. “Now, the both of you look so handsome. Tylar, that
suit was such a good choice, honey. I’m glad you selected that one
instead of the grey one. I just think the grey one hid too much of
your youthful build.”

Trey chuckled gazing at my legs
appreciatively and the outline of my butt beneath the black skirt.
It was Chanel but I appeased myself with the fact that it was a
basic black suit with classic lines that could be worn for a few
years.

“
Thank you, Susan. I’m glad
you talked me into this one, as well. Has Preston had a bottle
yet?”

“
She was up with the
chickens this morning. Grandma fed her around 6:30. She has plenty
of bottles left for the day if you’re worried,” she said. Susan
placed Trey’s breakfast plate in front of him. I reached over,
taking the baby from him so that he could eat.

“
I’m going to nurse her for
just a few minutes, Susan, why don’t you go ahead and sit down and
eat with Trey?”

“
Okay, honey,” she said.
“I’ll keep your plate warm.”

I took Preston into the living room,
unbuttoning my jacket and pulling the silk camisole down to allow
her access. She dropped the rubber rattle to the floor and latched
onto my nipple before I'd even sat down on the couch. I positioned
her comfortably in the crook of my arm so I could watch her while
she nursed. She locked her blue eyes on my face and watched me
intently as she nursed. I traced a finger along her soft cheek
getting a smile from her.

“
Mommy's going to miss you
today, sweet girl,” I said softly to her. “Grandma will take very
good care of you, okay? Daddy and Mommy will be home later and
we'll all play together before bedtime. Just like last night, okay
sweet baby? Mommy loves you more than anything,
Preston.”

She grinned up at me then returned to her
gentle sucking. I loved her so much. She'd be five months old in
less than a week. Susan had been with us for nearly six weeks. That
must've been difficult for both her and Clive. I'd hate to be apart
from Trey that long.

A lot of changes had taken place in the past
six weeks. I'd put further counseling sessions on hold with Karla
since I was starting back to work. All in all, Karla was pleased
with our sessions and the marked improvement in my emotional
health.

Trey joined us a few minutes later, reaching
down to take the baby so that I could eat breakfast. She released
my nipple reluctantly. I kissed her cheek and buttoned myself back
up. Trey distracted her from fussing about the interruption by
getting some of her other toys from the playpen and having her
reach for them while she sat on his lap.

Susan was cleaning up their breakfast dishes
and updated me on two candidates that were coming by for an
interview today. We'd seen three candidates the previous week from
the agency that for one reason or another hadn't panned out. The
agency was sending more candidates this week and we were hopeful
they'd have more applicable skill sets.

The first candidate was scheduled for 10:30
a.m. and the second one was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. this afternoon.
We'd decided that since I was returning to work this week, Susan
would do the initial interview screening at two a day for a total
of eight candidates. She'd then narrow it down to three candidates
for Trey and I to interview on Saturday. She was leaving Sunday to
return to Bristol.

“
Do you want me to call you
on your lunch hour to let you know about the first interview this
morning, Tylar?”

“
That'd be great,
Susan.”

“
The first interview is with
a young girl named Julie who came recommended by the family in the
apartment on the second floor. I met her when I was getting the
mail.”

“
Yes, I remember you saying
that,” I replied. “Who's the second applicant?"

“
That’s the retired nurse.
Let’s see, I have her resume here on the counter somewhere. Her
name is Sheila Bradley. Listen to this - she worked more than
twenty years as a nurse in obstetrics for North Bay hospital. She's
retired and misses working around babies that sounds
promising.”

I recalled reading through the resumes and
seeing the one for Sheila Bradley. It'd struck me odd why she
would've retired if she now missed working around babies enough to
want a job as a babysitter. Nurses could always go back on the
circuit, I'd have thought.

“
Anyway, I have the list of
questions that you and Trey put together along with some of my
own,” Susan continued. “We'll make this a very thorough process, I
guarantee you.”

“
I’m still going to miss
you, Mom,” I replied, looking up at her.

Her eyes teared up a bit as she came over and
put her hands on my shoulders patting them. “I know, sweet girl,
I'll miss you, too. It won’t be for long though. We expect you,
Trey and the baby for Thanksgiving. Clive will be totally mended by
then.”

Thanksgiving was only eight weeks away. It
was hard to believe all that had happened since last Thanksgiving.
I was only working for the next six weeks, so I'd have a couple of
weeks as a breather before we started preparations for the
holidays. It'd be Preston’s first Christmas. Trey and I were
excited about that. I knew Trey was worried about his dad. We'd
assured Susan that we'd fly to Bristol if she needed us there. She
was adamant that everything would be fine.

My first work day back at the firm was spent
getting updated on everything that Leah had going over in Mr.
Harmon’s area. We reviewed the current caseload, statuses, court
calendar, deposition schedule and meeting notices. By lunch time,
it seemed as if I hadn’t been gone for any length of time at
all.

I was eating lunch in the break room when my
Cell phone vibrated. It was Susan. She told me that everything had
gone quite well with Julie’s interview. She'd taken detailed notes
of Julie’s answers to the questions. Susan said she'd also made
sure to observe the interaction between Julie and the baby. She'd
been impressed with Julie and definitely felt like she'd make a
finalist for this position.

We talked for a little bit longer. I asked
how Preston was doing and Susan said she was napping now but due to
wake up soon. Susan wanted to make sure she was awake when Nurse
Bradley got there for her interview this afternoon. I told her Trey
and I'd try and make it home by five-thirty.

The afternoon sped by as Leah and I continued
to put together an activity calendar covering important dates on
Harmon’s cases to ensure nothing slipped through the cracks. I was
entering the data into the database calendar which would also tie
into whatever filings needed to be filed by statutory guidelines. I
came across a Motion for Oral Argument that was coded as
‘MDL-JPML’. It was scheduled in a few weeks at the 5th Circuit
Court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“
What does this mean, Leah?”
I asked, showing her the printout.

“
MDL,” she said, looking
over my shoulder. “That’s multidistrict litigation. That’s actually
one of Harmon’s and Sinclair’s class action cases under mass torts.
You remember that case that was going on when you had the
baby?”

I nodded remembering Gina going on about it
on the phone with Ian while I was in labor at the hospital. Who
could forget the bizarre questions of fact on that one?

“
Well, it was only at the
preliminary hearing stage back then. Apparently the case is complex
and has morphed into a mass tort situation involving plaintiffs in
different federal court districts. So the firm filed a Motion to
centralize the case under one federal court to expedite the
process. Harmon or Sinclair will give an oral argument in Baton
Rouge on that date in front of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict
Litigation to see if they'll rule to grant the motion.”

I nodded as if I understood everything she'd
explained but I really didn’t. I'd ask Trey more about it later.
Leah was continuing to explain in more detail about the JPML and
the federal judges that comprised the panel when I stopped entering
the data into my computer. I was struck by the name of one of the
panel members on the JPML - it was listed as Judge Preston James
Tylar. I scanned his Curriculum Vitiate.

He was a federal judge appointed by the
President to the 5th Circuit Court back in 1990, the same year I'd
been born. I wasn’t sure of the significance of that, but in
conjunction with the similarity of our names, it'd given me pause
for a moment. Preston James Tylar. Tylar Jamie Preston. Weird.

“
Are you okay, Tylar?” Leah
was watching me from her desk, a look of concern on her
face.

“
Oh, yeah – sorry, Leah,” I
said smiling over at her. “It’s nothing. I just got a little caught
up with one of the judge’s names."

Thankfully, my Cell phone beeped indicating I
had a text message so I didn’t have to explain anything further to
Leah. It was Trey.

How's your day going? I
haven’t had the pleasure of even seeing you in passing! Tell Leah
you need a break - meet me in Conference Room 3E


I flushed and smiled.
He could be so wicked…

“
Leah, “I said, “I have to
run to the restroom and then over to Central Filing for a few
minutes."

“
Okay; I've got you
covered."

I gathered up a few file folders to make it
look like I was about firm business and headed through the maze
over to the other side of the building to the east conference room.
It was located in a rarely used area of the building and this
particular conference room was only used when there was an
over-booking issue with the others.

I got to the doorway without being seen and
slipped into the conference room. It was dark. Shit, he was
probably just kidding. How stupid did I look? I turned to go back
out into the deserted hallway when I felt his hands on me, pulling
me back against him. His warm breath was on my neck as he
whispered.

“
Where do you think you're
going?”

He moved in front of me quietly closing the
door to the conference room and locking it. He flicked on the track
lighting, taking the folders I'd brought with me, tossing them onto
the conference room table. He turned back to me pulling me against
him as he lowered his head and his lips found mine. We kissed as if
we hadn’t seen each other in weeks instead of just a few hours. His
hands slid up under my skirt and his fingers moved my panties aside
as they expertly plied the folds of my sex. I knew that I was wet
already.

“
What’s this?” he asked
inserting a finger inside of me, gently probing. “Is my baby wet
for me already?”

“
Is that bad?” I asked, my
tongue playfully tracing his lips. I could feel his hardness
against me. Before I knew what was happening, Trey had lifted me up
and set me on top of the conference room table, spreading my legs
apart so that he was braced inside of them.