Shadows and Dreams (Dream Series Book 2)

by Braxton Hicks

  “I know, Dad, and if one of Trey’s brothers needed him for a blood transfusion or to donate a kidney, I wouldn’t have an issue with that. This just feels different.”

  “It’s probably because you're looking at it as a very intimate thing. Traditionally babies are conceived in a sexually intimate relationship. Modern science has evolved, providing other options. Trey's not offering himself sexually to his sister-in-law; it's more akin to him donating blood.”

  “With the obvious exception that a human being will be created as a result of this particular donation. What if it’s a boy?”

  “What if it is?” he asked.

  “Well, it'd kill me if I wasn’t able to give Trey a son, or at the very least, his first son.”

  “Tylar,” he said, “you and Trey plan to have more children, right?’

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, we're going to start trying soon.”

  “Excellent,” he replied. “Whether your sister-in-law gives birth to a boy or a girl; whether that child carries Trey or Tristan’s specific DNA, it won't matter. The child will be the product of Nigel and Tess. You'll give Trey his second child, be it a boy or a girl. It’s that simple.”

  When my father explained it to me in those terms, it didn’t seem nearly as complicated or as threatening as I had initially felt. I didn’t understand a brother-sister bond. I had to trust he was right.

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said, smiling into the phone.

  “I love you, Tylar,” he said simply.

  “I love you too, Dad.”

  Chapter 53

  The five of us returned to Atlanta after another fucked-up holiday at the Sinclair’s. I'd told Gina she just needed to get used to it. I had.

  Gina and I had talked at length once we were back at the apartment. Trey and Tristan had gone out to the new house. Tristan had agreed to get Derringer and the other two horses Trey had selected transported to our new home. They were going to the feed store in DeKalb County to get the supplies ordered and delivered for the horses.

  We were in the laundry room, folding clean clothes and sorting them into piles. “So, Gina, tell me, how do you really feel about Tristan’s going along with Nigel’s request for his ‘DNA’ for lack of a better term?”

  “Truthfully, Ty, I guess I don’t feel nearly as emotional as you feel about it. Probably because Tristan wasn't engaged to Tess at one time, or maybe because, in some way, it makes me feel less guilty about not telling Tristan there's a miniscule chance the baby I’m carrying could be Ian’s.”

  I looked at Gina and apparently she read the expression I thought I'd hidden.

  “Okay, I can tell you're disappointed in my decision, Tylar, but it's my decision to make.”

  “I didn’t say a word, Gina.”

  “You didn’t have to, girlfriend. You think I can’t read your silence? I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but my decision is final.”

  “You don’t owe me an apology,” I replied, folding Trey’s tee shirt. “It's your decision to make and, as your friend, I support whatever you choose to do.”

  I turned to look at her and saw that she was surprised by my attitude. She'd expected me to press her to change her mind about it. That wasn’t how I felt about it anymore.

  “What's gotten into you these days?” she asked.

  “I've just had time to think about the things my father and I discussed on New Year’s morning. I guess I've learned everything isn’t always black and white; there are shades of grey,” I replied.

  “Yeah,” she giggled, “at least fifty of them."

  I rolled my eyes at her as we continued with our folding.

  “What about you, Ty? How are you dealing with Trey’s decision to donate to the cause?”

  “I guess I've put it in perspective; I mean, I could make it a major issue between us; throw out an ultimatum and likely get my way. All that would accomplish is putting distance between us that doesn’t exist now. I don’t want that for us. I love Trey too much to allow my selfishness to get into the way of that. Plus, I'd like to think if the tables were turned, a relative of mine would come to my aid.”

  “I think that’s a very healthy attitude,” Gina replied, thoughtfully.

  Our landline rang, so I went and grabbed the phone in the kitchen before the one in Trey’s office woke Preston. It was my father.

  “Tylar,” he said, his voice had an urgency to it not familiar to me.

  “What is it, Dad?”

  “You and Trey need to get to Baton Rouge tomorrow. Matthew Renaud is to be arraigned in the morning and the grand jury has recommended two counts of premeditated murder and one count of attempted murder. If convicted on just one of the murder one charges, it's enough for the jury to recommend the death penalty.”

  “Did the results come back from my mother’s autopsy?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “I'm not privy to the details, but apparently it was enough to convince the grand jury.”

  “I’m glad,” I said, “I want him to burn in hell.”

  “That’s why I thought you might like to be present when he's formally charged.”

  “I'll be there, Dad. I’m curious about the ‘attempted murder’ charge you mentioned. Did Matthew try to murder someone else?”

  “Yes, though I think that charge was brought about as an offshoot of one of the murder one charges.”

  “I don’t understand,” I replied. “Who was the victim on that charge?”

  “That would've been you, Tylar. The tainted breast milk resulting from the poisoning of your mother, I presume. Had she not switched you to formula when she did, there was the possibility it could have proven fatal to you. That’s how the grand jury sees it, at any rate.”

  “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 will stay over since Dad is chartering a flight for us.”

  “I'd love the opportunity to be 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 upon 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 said late one night after I'd awoken him for another round, “Why the ‘fuckathon’ every night?”

  “Are you complaining, Trey?”

  “I’m no
t 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 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 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 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 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 through 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 had 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 have no clue 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 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.

  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.

  Guess who's not getting lucky tonight?

  I looked over at Trey and immediately saw that 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 had 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 pleas
ed 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 am 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 sex. His hands gently pushed my legs apart; his fingers worked their magic inside of me.