Baby Love Lite (50 page)

“
Well, fucking pardon me
that I wasn’t prepared! After all, Ian and I'd been trying to get
pregnant so I wasn't exactly stocked up on them. Besides, I figured
he was shooting blanks and he very well might be.”

“
I know that Gina, but come
on. He was fucking someone you named ‘the skank’. Certainly you
must've been worried about sexually transmitted diseases, if
nothing else.”

“
Don’t go there with me,
Tylar. Were you worried about STD’s when Trey fucked you in the
horse barn with no protection?”

“
That's different,” I
hissed.

“
How's that different? At
that point you were certain he'd fucked Charlotte!”

I looked away from her. Of course, she was
right. “Okay, Gina, let’s get past all of that. So, you and Ian
used no birth control. Then you had sex with Tristan. How many days
after that were you sexual with Tristan?”

“
I don’t know; maybe four or
five days later.”

“
Didn’t you tell me that you
two used condoms?”

“
Of course we did. I am
responsible!”

“
Well, there you go. The
baby has to be Ian’s then.”

“
Well, that’s where there
could be an issue.”

I breathed a heavy sigh. She just needed to
spill it. These questions were starting to bear a resemblance to
pulling teeth.

“
Please, Gina, just give it
to me straight.”

“
I've told you before how
limber I am, right?” she asked.

I nodded.

“
Well, picture that and then
add to it the fact that Tristan's practically a fucking
contortionist. We did it every which way we could; over, under,
sideways and down.”

“
I get the picture, Gina,” I
replied, waving my hand for her to get to the freaking
point.

“
I’m just saying that there
was a time or two that the condom - well, let’s just say he had to
dig it out of me afterwards.”

“
You mean it came off?” I
asked horrified.

“
Yes, Ty,” she replied,
rolling her eyes, “it came off.”

“
How many times is a ‘time
or two’?” I asked.

“
I dunno. Maybe
five?”

“
Oh for God
sakes!”

“
Don’t yell at me,” she
sobbed emotionally. “I can take everyone else being pissed at me
except for you.”

Gina was in full-fledged bawling by this
time. I leaned over and hugged her tightly. “I’m here for you; tell
me how I can help?”

“
For now this has to be our
BFF secret. I need to get through this whole holiday thing with
Tristan’s family, please? You can't say anything to Trey,
promise?”

“
Of course, I promise! We’ll
figure something out.”

I tucked her into bed with her ginger ale and
told her to holler if she needed anything. I had Preston to attend
to, who by this time, was fussing for her breakfast. A little while
later I went in to check on Gina. She was sleeping peacefully. I
felt for her dilemma. I hoped like hell that baby was
Tristan’s.

My phone chimed and I saw it was Trey.

“
Hey you,” I said answering
the phone.

“
Right back at you, baby,”
he said. “How's your day going?”

“
Well, Gina's home with the
stomach flu so I’ve been checking on her. Preston's playing here in
front of me in the living room, so all is good.”

“
Well, make sure to keep
Preston away from Gina. I don’t want her catching what Gina
has.”

“
Trust me, Trey, neither do
I.”

“
I just wanted to let you
know that I made our plane reservations for tomorrow. Tristan and
Gina are driving up after they close the club tomorrow
night.”

“
Okay, sweetie,” I replied,
“will you be late?”

“
No, I should be home by
six. What’s for dinner?”

“
Ham croquets,” I answered
smiling.

“
Tylar, can we please get a
smaller ham next year?”

“
I love you,
Trey.”

“
I love you,
Tylar.”

CHAPTER 50

Our arrival at Trey’s parent’s home was met
with hugs and kisses; they were ecstatic to see Preston again. Both
Clive and Susan commented on how big she was getting.

“
I’m sure it won’t be long
before Preston's gifted with a little baby brother or sister,”
Susan commented giving me a wink. I looked over at Trey’s amused
expression. I'd just gotten off my period the day before. I
couldn’t very well blurt out that she might be blessed with a first
cousin much sooner. I hated keeping that from Trey, but a BFF
promise given allowed no exceptions. I asked where Nigel and Tess
were.

“
Oh, they drove over to see
Tristan’s winery now that it's in full production,” Susan answered.
“Tristan hasn’t been spending much time there but it does pretty
much run itself with the staff he’s hired. I expect the nightclub's
been keeping him busy in Atlanta.”

“
That and Gina,” Trey piped
up.

Susan gave a little smile. “I remember Gina.
That’s Becky’s niece, correct?”

“
Yes,” I replied, “She's
recently divorced and it seems she and Tristan are perfect for each
other.”

“
Well, I'm so happy,” she
beamed. “Thank God that awful Libby's out of the picture. What was
Tristan thinking?”

“
He was thinking with his
dumb-stick, Mom." Trey replied smiling.

“
Such a way with words, Trey
Michael," his mother admonished.

Just then Preston crawled over to Susan and
lifted her arms up to be picked up. Susan scooped her up into her
lap. Preston nuzzled against her chanting, “num-num.”

Susan looked over at us puzzled. “She wants
something called ‘num-num’?"

“
That means she wants a
sliced up banana, Mom,” Trey said with a wink. “It’s about her
lunch time anyway.”

“
Well, of course,
sweetheart. Nana will get you a sliced banana.”

She took Preston to the kitchen for the
banana. I hoped that it would appease her.

“
Trey, you’re insufferable
today; what the hell's gotten in to you?”

He gave me a wicked smile. I knew that look.
“Hey, Mom,” he called out to Susan in the kitchen, “Can you watch
Preston while Tylar and I take a nap?”

Oh my God, I'm going to kill him!

“
Well, of course, darling,”
she replied. “Nana wants to spend some quality time with her
granddaughter.”

Trey gave me his impish grin taking my hand
and pulling me behind him up the staircase.

“
Trey,” I implored once we'd
reached our suite, “Don’t you think that may've been a bit
obvious
?”

“
She’s fine with it,” he
replied, his hands raising my sweater up over my head. “You heard
her, baby; she thinks Preston needs a brother or sister. Besides,
it’s been like four days.”

Trey and I spent a delicious hour on our
“nap.” Afterwards, we both showered and changed. I was reapplying
my make-up when he came in to blow dry his hair.

“
Seriously, Tylar,” he said,
“I'd like to consider starting to expand our family, I mean, if you
think it's the right time.”

“
I thought we agreed to
start trying this summer.”

“
I know; it's just that I
don’t want our next child to be that far behind Preston. I remember
what it felt like with Nigel and Tristan being so close in age and
then years later, I came along. They both thought of me as a royal
pain in the ass.”

“
I think they still do,” I
said smiling at his reflection in the mirror.

Trey grabbed me from behind lifting me up in
his arms and twirling me around. “You've one smart mouth on you
don’t you, wife?” he said in faux admonishment.

“
Okay, okay,” I said
giggling. “I'll agree to not use birth control after we move into
our home, how's that?"

“
Sounds good to me, baby,”
he replied, capturing my lips in a lingering kiss.

“
I love you,
Tylar.”

“
I love you,
Trey.”

I finally got a chance to catch up with Tess
at dinner. She seemed radiant for some reason. It was obvious that
her marriage to Nigel agreed with her. I filled her in on what had
happened with my father and that we were still trying to get some
proof on what had happened with my mother.

“
Tylar,” she said her eyes
wide, “you've such strength and tenacity. I truly hope in my heart
all of this leads to justice for you. That was such a tragedy to
lose your mother to circumstances such as you described. I'm so
glad that out of all of the tragedy you were blessed with finding
your father.”

“
I know,” I replied, “it
felt really strange at first but now he's just my dad, you
know?”

She leaned over and hugged me. “I want only
the best for you.”

Trey and I bathed Preston and got her in her
pajamas. Susan had moved the crib into their suite and asked if
Preston could bunk in their room for the night. Trey had no issue
with it, naturally. I fed Preston on our bed while Trey visited
downstairs with his family. Once she'd fallen asleep, I carried her
down to Susan and Clive's suite and tucked her into her crib. I
fell asleep shortly afterward, not even waking when Trey came to
bed.

Tristan and Gina arrived just after ten
o’clock the next morning. I could tell something was up the minute
they came into the foyer.

Gina greeted Susan and Clive warmly, and then
gave me her eye signal that said she needed to see me alone. I
nodded, looking over to where Trey was sitting in the living room
engaged in a conversation with Nigel. Tess was over on the other
couch playing with Preston. It was clear to make my exit. When I
got to our suite, Gina was already there stretched out across our
bed on her stomach. She looked miserable.

“
Gina, what is it? What’s
wrong?”

“
Tristan knows I’m
pregnant,” she replied with obvious irritation.

“
Hey, I didn't say a word. I
swear.” I sat down next to her on the bed.

“
Yeah, I know you didn’t.
It's totally my own damn fault.” She clasped her hands behind her
head, ruffling her spiky blond hair.

“
What the hell
happened?”

“
Stupid me, I tossed that
EPT stick into the trash can in our bathroom. I forgot what a total
neat freak Tristan is. He saw it while emptying our bathroom and
bedroom trash cans in the bag for the dumpster before we
left."

“
What'd he say?”

“
Oh, he's ecstatic! He
wanted to know when I'd planned on telling him the good
news.”

“
What did you
say?”

“
I told him he'd ruined my
New Year’s surprise and acted all injured about it.”

“
So, you're
not
going to tell Tristan
there's a possibility the baby's not his?”

Gina propped her hands up under chin and
looked over at me. “Would that make me a horrible person? I mean,
come on, it isn’t as if the baby's going to be born with a British
accent or anything. Besides, the chances are only slim that Ian
might be the father.”

“
Oh, Gina, I don’t know. I
think you owe it to Tristan to be honest about what
happened."

"I mean, it’s not like you
slept with Ian
after
you had already started a relationship with Tristan, right? I
really think he'll understand.”

“
You're probably right, but
the thing is he's now going to wonder why I waited to tell him
something this significant. It makes me look not only slutty, but
sleazy, too.”

She started crying and I understood that she
was struggling with this decision.

“
Do you want me to talk to
him, Gina?”

“
Oh, God no! He can’t know
that you know.”

“
Why? He knows we're
BFFs.”

“
Tristan's funny about some
things. He's all pumped about making the announcement to the
family.”

“
Is he going to do that this
holiday?” I asked.

“
I asked him to wait until
after I saw my OB. I'm so emotional; I don’t know what I'd do if
Tristan walked out on me. I really love him, Ty.”

“
Gina, just relax and not
stress out about it right now, okay?" Secretly, I so wanted just
once for a Sinclair family holiday to not be fucked-up over some
unexpected drama!

“
Okay,” she sniffed; “I'll
wait until we get back to Atlanta.”

“
Good! Just put this out of
your mind and enjoy being with Tristan and his family for the next
couple of days.”

“
I'd like to go over and
visit Aunt Becky; I do want to share this with her.”

“
I think that might be a
good thing,” I stated.

I knew her Aunt Becky would help her gain
some perspective on this and console her in a motherly way. That
was what Gina needed at the moment.

After lunch, I bundled Preston up and took
her out to the horse barn to visit Derringer. I'd brought some cut
carrots with me. I held her on my hip and showed her how Derringer
would eat the carrots from my hand. He chomped them noisily and
then would nuzzle my closed hand when he wanted more.