Baby Love Lite (22 page)

“
Thank you, Tess. I’m glad
you're finally happy. Nigel seems so happy too. Are you
uncomfortable being around Caroline?”

“
No, not really,” she
replied. “We finally came to terms with all that happened. I mean,
I’m not proud of what I did, but sometimes it’s like Nigel says,
‘the heart wants what the heart wants’ I guess.”

I could picture Nigel telling her that. He
had a sweetness about him I hadn’t seen when he was with
Caroline.

“
Caroline actually seems
happy too, now, so perhaps everything did work out for the best,”
she said interrupting my thoughts.

“
Why does she hate me?” I
asked, hoping that Tess was privy to the reason.

“
I don’t think that she
hates you at all, Tylar. I think she was simply jealous of the
relationship and love that she saw you and Trey had. I mean it was
so obvious to everyone. She'd always wanted a baby and there you
were all in love and pregnant. She couldn’t be happy for you. She
was in a bad place then. We all were.”

“
Did Nigel not want
children?” I asked.

“
Oh, I think Nigel would've
liked to have had child or two but that’s not in the
cards.”

“
I know,” I replied with
compassion. “I heard about the accident with Derringer.”

“
Oh, it’s not that; I mean
it wasn’t in the cards for Nigel with anyone. He’s been tested and
has an extremely low sperm count.”

“
I’m sorry,” I said quickly.
“Tess, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“
No, it's fine,” she assured
me. “You see I can conceive, but I'd never be able to carry a baby
to term."

I nodded.

"Before we married, Nigel got tested simply
because Caroline had never conceived. We didn’t know how we would
handle birth control. As it turns out, there's no need to use
it.”

“
I’m sorry,” I said
again.

“
But we sure enjoy spoiling
our niece, if that’s okay with you,” she said happily. As if on cue
Clive walked in carrying Preston who saw me and immediately smiled,
reaching for me.

“
I think it’s that time,” I
said, taking leave to go upstairs to our suite.

We had nearly everything finished for the
party. The caterers would be arriving soon to set up. The weather
was mild enough that a band was going to be playing outside. There
was a fire pit set up to take the chill off out on the patio. We'd
helped Susan hang Halloween party lights around the large wooden
deck where tables and chairs had been set up already.

Up in the suite, I stretched out on our bed,
switching on the television while Preston curled up against me and
nursed. She'd nearly dozed off when Trey came into the room having
just returned from the winery with his brothers.

“
You guys did a fantastic
job on the house,” he commented, taking his place on the bed beside
us. Preston’s eyes fluttered open hearing his voice and she smiled
up at him. “Hey there, baby girl,” he cooed smiling down at her. He
put his hands out towards her beckoning for her to come towards
him. “Come over here to Daddy, apple-dumpling,” he
encouraged.

She rolled over onto her stomach and crawled
over to where he was laying. He scooped her up and held her up in
the air above him, bouncing her up and down. She squealed and
laughed.

“
Better watch it,” I warned.
“She just finished eating.” I fastened my nursing bra back up and
got up from the bed to start my bubble bath. I was going to indulge
myself and leave her to Trey’s care for the time being. “So, what
did you think of the winery?” I asked, coming back out to the
bedroom for clean underwear.

“
Baby, you should see it.
You won’t recognize it when you go over there next. He has a whole
new building under construction that's totally automated," he said
sounding very impressed.

"Once he gets it in operation, there will be
very little for him to do except count his money. He’s planning on
expanding his market through a distribution channel that would
cover the east coast at a minimum. I’m thinking about buying some
shares. What do you think?”

“
Honey, I leave that to you,
okay. It’s your money.”

“
It’s
our
money,” he corrected me, lowering
Preston down so that he could sniff her diaper. “Pee-yew!!" he
said, making a face. “I think she wants her mommy to change
her.”

“
The diapers are next to the
bed, Trey. The baby wipes are on the nightstand. She’s on
your
watch while I get my
bath, sweetie.”

I went into the bathroom leaving the door
open as I undressed for my bath. I could hear Trey rustling around
for the baby wipes and diapers. I chuckled when I heard him gag as
he unfastened her dirty diaper.

“
No, no Preston, sweetie.
Lay still for Daddy --”

I relaxed in my bubble bath glad that Trey
was spending some quality time with his daughter. My relaxation was
interrupted when I heard Trey holler from the bedroom at me.

“
Jesus Christ, Tylar; she’s
had a major shit explosion in this diaper!”

“
Don’t blame me,” I called
out from the tub. “You were the one that fed her applesauce last
night at Morelli’s saying that she was ready for
solids.”

I heard him gag a couple of more times before
he finally had her cleaned up and diapered. He must've taken the
toxic diaper out of the room instead of putting it in the trash
can. Several moments later Preston crawled into the bathroom spying
me in the tub. Trey appeared in the doorway just then relieved to
see that she hadn’t wandered down the hall.

“
Man, she scared me,” he
said. “That little shit can crawl fast.”

“
That’s why you're supposed
to be keeping an eye on her, Trey.”

He gave me his dimpled grin, scooping her
back up into his arms and leaving me to my bath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan’s 40th birthday party was in full
swing. The guests had arrived; the band was playing outside.
Tristan and Libby hadn't yet made their entrance. Everyone loved
our Flintstone costumes. Susan and Tess continued to gush over
‘Pebbles.’ Tess and Nigel were dressed as Minnie and Mickey Mouse;
Preston was enthralled with their costumes. Tess was holding the
baby whenever Susan wasn’t.

Caroline and Landon had arrived as ‘Bonnie
& Clyde.’ They were both cordial to everyone. Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews were dressed as Frankenstein and his bride; Denise and Ray
came as Romeo and Juliet; Susan and Clive were dressed as Laurel
and Hardy. There were an assortment of other costumes such as
characters from the Twilight saga movies, Harry Potter and a
neighbor couple came as George and Jane Jetson.

Trey looked great as Fred Flintstone; he kept
bopping me with his wooden club that was made of soft foam,
threatening to drag me back to the cave by my hair. Finally we saw
Tristan and Libby come into the room.

Oh My God!

I saw Minnie Mouse do a double take as she
nudged Mickey beside her. They were dressed as Adam and Eve.
Tristan looked magnificent wearing a loin cloth which covered only
the bare essentials. He was built to carry it off. His dark hair
was longer than Trey’s and Libby had slicked it back to look just
like Adam’s looked in the biblical movie. He had that sexy five
o’clock shadow thing going like Trey. He had a white sash draped
diagonally over his broad shoulder and tied at his narrow hip.

Libby had nothing more than a g-string on
with some fig leaves affixed in a triangle in the front to cover
her pubic area. Her butt cheeks were in full view. Of course, she
had the perfect ass. Her top was the same with fig leaves covering
a bit more than her nipple areas. Her long blond hair cascaded down
to the middle of her back in curly waves. Hair extensions - there
was no way her hair was that long or curly yesterday. Her breasts
were ripe and round - just as one would imagine Eve’s had been in
the Garden of Eden. She'd obviously used a self-tanner all over her
body as it was sun-bronzed. Again, not the pale skin she sported
only the day before. She carried a red apple with a bite out of it
as a prop.

Tristan had a python snake wrapped around his
neck which I was relieved to find out wasn't real. I heard Trey
catch his breath as she turned to model for everyone. There were
many appreciative whistles in the crowd. I jabbed my elbow into
Trey’s rib.

“
Ouch,” he said finally
taking his eyes off of her. “What’s the matter, Wilma?”

“
Cut the shit,
Trey.”

I wanted to laugh thinking about how Trey had
thought my Wilma Flintstone shift was too short and revealed too
much leg. Hah! He certainly seemed to enjoy the view Libby
provided. The band was playing a slow song outside.

“
I think I’ll go ask Tristan
for a birthday dance,” I said, heading away from the group towards
where Tristan and Libby stood front and center. I immediately felt
Trey’s arm hauling me back next to him.

“
What’s the matter,
Fred?”

I looked up at him coquettishly.

“
I’m your dance partner
tonight,” he said, all caveman style. “Come on, woman.”

We went out to the dance area that wasn’t too
crowded yet. The fire pit going just off to the side of it kept the
area fairly well-lit and warm. He took me in his arms and pulled me
against him as we danced to the soft melodic tunes of the song. The
song was called, “Beautiful Tonight.” Just then Tristan and Libby
came on to the dance floor. Holy Shit! How in the hell are they
going to manage dancing without revealing more than they already
did?

It was then that I saw Tristan had on skin
colored long johns under his loin cloth. Libby had no such
protection. I was glad to see that at least Tristan hadn’t
completely lost his mind. I'd been right. Tristan was all about
her. I could see it as he held her closely, rubbing her back. I
tried to watch under semi-closed lids so he wouldn’t know I was
staring. I was sure at one point he whispered ‘I love you’ in her
ear.

I then saw that she had a full few of Trey
and was watching him intently with her eyes wide open. My eyes
locked with hers and she didn’t bother to look away. She was
sending me a message loud and clear.

After the song ended we went back inside.
Tess was holding Preston who was starting to get fussy. It was
probably time for her to go down for the night. I took her from
Tess and told Trey I was taking her upstairs to put her to bed,
relieved to get away from the party. Tess followed me upstairs
taking off her Minnie Mouse head.

“
God, it feels good to get
that thing off,” she said. “I don’t know what Nigel and I were
thinking getting costumes that required pulling a head on over our
own,” she chuckled.

“
Enjoying the party?” I
asked her as we headed into our suite.

“
Probably about as much as
you are,” she replied. “Some costume, huh?”

“
Oh, it’s not just that,” I
said. “Last night, Trey went downstairs to get his Cell phone off
of the kitchen counter and she was there. He said she accidently
brushed her hand against his crotch.”

“
What?” she sat up where
she'd been reclining on the bed.

I laid one of Preston’s blankets on top of
the bed placing her on it. “Will you watch her for a sec while I
gather her stuff for bed?”

“
Sure, no problem,” Tess
said, smiling over at Preston who was sucking her thumb. I returned
to the room and started undressing the baby. She was squirming
around turning her head so that she could continue to watch Tess
who was no longer ‘Minnie Mouse’ to her.

“
Yes. Trey told me that when
he came back up to our room. He was bothered by it I could tell but
then he convinced himself it was an accident.”

I shared with her the rest of it about the
apology and then about what I'd observed on the dance floor while I
got Preston ready for bed.

“
I can see that she craves
male attention. Nigel said that the whole time they were touring
the winery expansion, it was all about her. Did you know that once
Tristan gets his staff hired he's moving to Atlanta to live with
her?”

“
No,” I said aghast. “It
must be way serious.”

“
Hmm - on Tristan’s part
maybe, but certainly not on hers.”

“
Thank you,” I said, picking
the baby up preparing to nurse her one last time before bed.
“That's exactly what I told Trey; Tristan's all about her; she’s
all about something else.”

“
I agree with
you.”

Just then there was a tap on the door.

“
Who is it?” both Tess and I
called out together.

“
It’s Bonnie,” the voice
slurred.
Caroline!

“
Come on in,” Tess invited.
“It’ll be okay,” she said quietly to me.

Caroline came in with a glass of wine in her
hand. “I've one question,” she slurred. “Who in the hell is that
bitch that's all but naked down there shaking her fig leaves at
every guy in the room?”

Tess and I both snickered. Libby’s ears had
to be burning. It was kind of comical to see Caroline appearing to
be just a normal drunk jealous wife. “She’s got Landon out there
dancing now. She’s already been shaking her booty out there with
Nigel and then with Trey,” she said.

“
What!” Tess and I both
shrieked at the same time.