Be My Baby Lite

by ANDREA SMITH

  I looked over at Trey and saw the look of pure amusement on his face. He made a ‘humping’ gesture with his hips.

  “Here’s your Daddy, honey,” she said. “Happy New Year to you, Trey and that beautiful Preston.”

  “Yeah, you too,” I replied still in shock.

  “Tylar?”

  “Uh, yeah. Hi, Dad. Trey and I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year.”

  “Well, Happy New Year, Daughter,” he replied cheerily.

  My dad's buzzed! My dad - the Judge is BUZZED!

  “Dad - is there something you need to tell me?”

  “I don’t think so, Tylar. Listen - please tell Trey I wished him a Happy New Year and kiss Preston for me?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll do it, Dad. I love you.”

  “I love you too, darling.”

  I ended the call and looked over at Trey in disbelief.

  “What?” he asked smiling.

  “Aren’t you the least bit surprised that your cousin, Brenda and my dad are - well, you know?”

  “Boinking each other?” he asked, laughing.

  “Trey stop, that’s my dad. He wears a judicial robe for crying out loud!”

  “Sweetie,” he said, pulling me close to him and kissing me softly, “that doesn’t mean he checks his gnads at the door.”

  ”I know,” I said with a shrug. “It’s just difficult for me to think about him like that with someone other than my mom.”

  “I think Marla would approve,” he replied, snuggling his face into my hair.

  “You do, huh? You act as if you know her.”

  “We spent some time together,” he replied. “I know how she rolls.”

  “Oh Trey,” I said with a sigh, turning to face him, “I love you so much. I'm so thankful to you for having the strength to pull through for me and Preston.”

  “I love you, too, baby, and I love Preston. But don’t thank me,” he said.

  I looked up at him quizzically.

  “Thank the One with the Answers.”

  Epilogue

  DeKalb County, GA Several Years Later

  It’s a warm, sunny day in early October. There's a light breeze that makes sitting outside extremely enjoyable. I'm on the porch, gently rocking back and forth as I wait for Trey to come down the path from the main road. He's vigilant about being home at four o’clock at least a couple of days a week so that he can be at the bus stop when Preston's dropped off after school.

  The baby nuzzles against me, rooting for my breast now that he's awakened. I guide my nipple to his lips and he clamps down, sucking hungrily at my breast. I run my fingers through his brown locks.

  He's so sweet, this baby boy of mine. He's five weeks old tomorrow. Trey Michael Sinclair II.

  Trey had protested about having the baby named after him; he said he wasn’t a big fan of all that, but I'd put my foot down (for once) and had gotten my way (for once).

  I hear the school bus’s horn honk as is the ritual whenever it makes a stop to pick up or drop off. I know that Preston will be eager to jump off the bottom step of the bus and show Trey all of her kindergarten work completed today.

  She loves school. Her teacher says she's very intelligent and precocious. Trey always makes a big fuss with every paper she shows him.

  I see them coming down the driveway now. Preston's skipping alongside Trey; Avery's perched up on her daddy's shoulders as always, chattering away in two-year-old baby language.

  Avery was born on Trey’s birthday two years ago this past August. She's the picture of me as Trey puts it. Gina claims her personality's totally mine too.

  Trey named her which I had no issue with because I like the name he selected: Avery Nicole Sinclair. I did, however, have some reservations as to how he selected it.

  The ‘Nicole’ portion of it was fine; that was my mother’s middle name. However, when I asked Trey about where he got ‘Avery,’ he'd rambled on about some famous geneticist named Oswald Avery who he'd met on the ‘other side.’

  Apparently, this geneticist bent Trey’s ear about the research team he'd led back in 1944, discovering that DNA carries the cell’s genetic material and it can be altered through transformation. Trey said the guy was a bit out of sorts about not winning the Nobel Prize for this discovery; he felt it'd been a very political snub by the system back then.

  What the?

  I told Trey the name was fine. I frankly didn’t want to hear any more of his, ‘Tales from the Other Side.’ I would've thought the memories of those dreams would've dissipated by now. I always forget my dreams after a few days; well except for the ones that weren’t really dreams.

  Wow!

  It finally hits me. After all of this time why in the hell didn’t I see this for what it was? Oh. My. God.

  Trey's up on the porch now. He swings Avery down from his shoulders. She immediately runs to my lap.

  “Daddy, can I go see Derringer?” Preston asks sweetly.

  “Aren’t you going to say ‘hello’ to your mommy first?”

  “Hi Mommy,” she says with a dimpled smile.

  “How was school today, Preston?” I ask.

  “It was good. Can I go Mommy?”

  “Trey, are you going with her?”

  “Yes, dear,” he says giving me his crooked smile.

  “Why don’t you take Trey with you? I want to spend some time with Avery.”

  “Sure thing, sweetie,” he says, taking the baby from my arms and wrapping his receiving blanket around him.

  “C’mon Preston, let’s go feed Derringer some carrots."

  Off they go around to the back of the house.

  Avery's looking up at me shyly. Her amber-colored eyes are reminiscent of mine and my father’s. She smiles sporting a dimple like Trey’s.

  Trey claims she's the carbon copy of Marley; I'll take his word for it. All I know is that Avery's ours; she's separate from Marley. Two different souls, both of them loved.

  “Hey, baby girl,” I say, picking her up and putting her in my lap. “I bet you don’t like this ‘middle child’ stuff do you?”

  “Num-num?” she asks, shyly looking up at me.

  “Avery Nicole,” I say to her, “You're two years old. Don’t you think you’re too big for num-num?”

  “Unh unh, Mommy.”

  I know Trey won’t approve. He didn’t like the fact I was still breast-feeding her while I was pregnant with Trey, Jr. I can’t resist her though. She has an older sister who's done everything first. Now she has a baby brother who's the only son and the youngest to boot. How fair is that?

  “C’mon baby girl, but don’t tell Daddy,” I whisper to her as I pull her closer to me.

  I undo my nursing bra again. She's petite for two years of age; she curls up against me latching onto my breast and gently nurses, watching me with her beautiful tawny brown eyes. I run my fingers through her light brown hair.

  “You're exquisite you know?”

  She drops my nipple, smiling up at me presenting her dimple. She clamps back onto my breast and nurses gently from me as I continue to rock her.

  She has a sweetness about her that's familiar, but yet not. I know that makes no sense, but it's the only way to describe it. I suppose my father says it best when he refers to Avery as being an ‘old soul.’ He says the same thing about my mother.

  I look down at her and see that her lovely tawny, brown eyes are still watching me. I take her tiny little hand into mine and raise it to my lips, kissing her fingers.

  “I love you Avery Nicole.”

  After dinner Trey and I relax in the family room. Jean's upstairs getting Trey bathed and ready for bed. The girls are playing in their room.

  “So, Judge Sinclair, what’s on the docket for tomorrow?”

  He pulls me onto his lap, gently kissing my lips as he whispers to me.

  “I’ve cleared my docket for the whole day tomorrow, Mrs. Sinclair. It's just you and me all day.”

  “Is that right? What about Avery and Trey?”


  “It’s all worked out baby. Gina's coming out with Reese to stay here with them while Tristan's in Bristol completing the sale of his winery. We have all day alone; just you and me.”

  My butterflies surge at the thought. Trey and I've been blessed.

  “I’m looking forward to it, Judge,” I tease, lacing my arms around his neck and pulling him close. We kiss playfully. My phone chimes interrupting our play.

  “It’s Dad,” I say, picking up the phone.

  “Hi Dad,” I greet him happily. “We wondered when we'd be hearing from you.”

  “Tylar, darling,” he says, “I’m sorry; I really meant to call you last week. Brenda and I diverted our trip a bit and have been relaxing on the beach.”

  “The beach?”

  “Ahh, yes.”

  “Dad - I thought you were honeymooning in London?”

  “Yes, we were. We wanted some sun though so we took an additional week to travel to Nice.”

  “Nice, huh? Sounds Nice.”

  I hear my father chuckle from the other end.

  “We’ll be back in the states next week. We're planning a trip to see you then. Will that work?”

  “Of course, Dad; we want very much to see you and Brenda soon. Can you stay longer this time?”

  “We have a full week at your disposal, my darling daughter.”

  “I can hardly wait, Dad. Send Brenda our love?”

  “I'll do it. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Dad.”

  Trey and I resume our pre-telephone call position when we hear the pitter-patter of little feet. We both look up. Preston's standing there looking totally irritated while her younger sister stands behind her with a shy (but guilty) look on her face.

  “What is it, Preston?” Trey asks in his ‘judgelike’ tone. She pulls a piece of drawing paper from behind her back and presents it to Trey.

  “Daddy, look what Avery did to the picture I'm supposed to turn in to my teacher. She scribbled all over it.”

  “Let me see,” he says, leaning forward as she hands him the evidence. Trey peruses the vandalized picture in his official capacity. He cocks an eyebrow looking over at his younger daughter.

  “Avery? Did you scribble on Preston’s homework?” he asks her.

  She smiles shyly, nodding her head up and down at her daddy. I can tell Trey's totally smitten with her.

  “Did you know that it was Preston’s homework?”

  She shakes her head solemnly back and forth.

  “She didn’t mean to do it, Preston, honey,” he says, turning his attention back to Preston.

  “But Daddy, I can’t turn it in like this.”

  “I know that, baby,” he says with a smile. “But I want you to think about something, okay?”

  He pulls Preston over to us and sets her up on his lap.

  “You know that your homework papers are important, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, then. You also know that Avery doesn’t know that, don’t you?”

  “I guess.”

  “So, because you're the oldest and know these things, don’t you think it might be wise to make sure you put important things like homework back in your backpack so that Avery - and pretty soon, Trey, can’t get hold of them? Does that make sense?”

  “I guess so, Daddy.”

  “Okay then. Why don’t you go back up to your desk and re-do this for school?”

  “Okay, Daddy.”

  He gives her a kiss on her cheek as she releases a disappointed sigh. Preston's plainly ‘not pleased’ with the outcome, but she doesn’t argue.

  “Come on, Avery,” she says with a louder sigh, “you can color on this while I re-do my picture.”

  She takes Avery’s hand and leads her back upstairs. Avery turns around halfway up the staircase and presents Trey with her dimpled smile. He smiles back at her. It's official; he adores her.

  “Very good, Judge,” I say. “You certainly have a way with your girls.”

  “I do, don’t I?” he agrees, beaming.

  “No doubt about it. I’m waiting to see how well you do with them when the boys come sniffing around in eleven or twelve years.”

  “Christ Tylar - I don’t even want to think about that. You can certainly kill the mood.”

  “Really, Trey?”

  “No,” he says laughing, pinning me down on the couch. “I’m always in the mood for you.”

  “I love you, Trey.”

  “I love you, Tylar.”

  BONUS EPILOGUE

  12 - 1/2 Years Later . . .

  "Trey? What are you doing?" I asked, watching him pacing back and forth in the entry way of our home, periodically glancing out of the beveled glass windows on either side of the door.

  "I'm waiting for Preston to get the hell out of Jaxon's car and get her butt in here," he snapped, not bothering to hide his irritation.

  "It's only 11:47," I replied, shaking my head. "She's not missed her curfew."

  "I can tell time, Tylar, and curfew means her butt's in the house, not parked out front in her boyfriend's sports car doing God knows what!"

  "Oh for crying out loud, Trey! Don't you think you're over-reacting just a bit? She's seventeen and hasn't given us any real problems with staying out past curfew now has she?"

  "You're right and I want to make sure she keeps it that way. She and that boy see entirely too much of one another. I hope to hell she puts him out of her mind once she starts college. She's too damn young to be so serious about a guy."

  I rolled my eyes, keeping silent. My God he's so protective.

  Just then Avery came bouncing down from upstairs. "What are you guys looking at?" she asked, coming into the foyer to see what was up. "Oh God, you aren't spying on Preston and Jaxon again, are you Daddy? That's way lame, you know?"

  Trey turned his attention to his middle child, looking at her attire and mentally not approving. Avery was a free-spirit. She had her own style and I saw nothing wrong with it. She was petite at age 15, having a darling figure that got quite a bit of attention with the boys in her sophomore class. She had a double-pierced bellybutton and her half-top was showing it off at the moment.

  "I'm just trying to figure out why they aren't getting out of his car and coming inside," Trey replied, turning his attention back to the window.

  "Geez, Daddy; maybe because they want to make out without having you breathing down their backs the way you do when they're in the house."

  "Avery," I said, using my warning tone. Trey certainly didn't need a visual of that at the moment.

  "Mom its' true," she replied, looking over at me with her beautiful amber-colored eyes. Still innocent, yet in no way naïve. Not like I'd been at age 20 when I'd met her father. Avery simply put it out there.

  "Daddy I hope you learn to chill before I start dating. I don't see why I have to wait until I'm 16 anyway. Everyone else in my class is allowed to date except for me. I'm surprised Trent's not moved on to someone else that's allowed out once in a while. Romancing by phone or at school between classes doesn't get it," she complained.

  "Because that's our rule," Trey replied, "Besides you need to continue to focus on your dressage. You've got some pretty tough competitions coming up soon."

  Avery went over to him and looked up into his eyes. "Have I ever let you down, Daddy?"

  He immediately melted, giving her a smile, and tugging playfully at her ponytail.

  "You've always made me proud, Avery; so has Preston up until she went all boy-crazy this past year."

  "Oh Daddy," Avery giggled, "She's in love with Jaxon. They've been going together for a year now. She's almost 18 so you either trust her judgment or you don't by now. You and Mom have done your part; the rest is up to her. Hovering over her like this isn't going to change the outcome; in fact, it might really tick her off. You don't want her going all rebellious on you guys, do you?"

  Trey put his hands on his hips, gazing down at his daughter, a smile playing on his lips.
>
  "You remind me of someone, Avery," he said softly to her. "Someone I met awhile back, before you were born."

  "Really? Who?"

  "Your Grandma Marley," he replied, pulling her closer for a hug. "Come on, let's go see what's on television and give Preston some privacy," he said, putting his arm around the both of us as we left the foyer. "But, if she's not inside the house in seven minutes, you're going out to tap on the car window this time, Tylar," he said, giving me a nudge.