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Trey pulled out my chair for me, waiting as I took a seat before taking his. Very properly raised, I thought. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair took their seats as the servant filled water glasses and poured coffee.
“Please,” Susan said, once the coffee had been poured, “You two help yourselves to some breakfast.”
I touched Trey’s arm as he stood, asking that he get me some scrambled eggs and a muffin. He nodded. Although I was very hungry, I wasn’t sure now just how much I'd be able to eat. My nerves were jittery. I couldn’t imagine what they needed to discuss with us. We weren’t high school kids who got into trouble.
Once everyone’s plates were full, we commenced eating in uncomfortable silence. I talked to Susan a bit about the horse auction they had attended. They had purchased two more warm bloods. To my relief, Clive finally got to the point.
“Tylar,” he said in his lovely British accent, “Susan and I want you to know that we’re here to support you in any way possible and acceptable to you. We’ve not been blessed with a grandchild as of yet,” he said, glancing toward Trey briefly. “We want you to consider staying with us so that we can provide you with anything you may need financially or emotionally during this time. We understand that Charlie Roberts’s trial is scheduled for January, and that you may need to be here in Bristol during that time, should they not meet a plea agreement.”
Why did I not know that?
“We’d be happy for you to stay with us and we will make sure that you're taken care of.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair,” I spoke frankly, because it appeared that Trey had left me out on the ledge here, “I so appreciate your hospitality and generosity. I want you both to know one thing. I love your son; I love Trey. Trey loves me.”
I looked over and he was gaping at me, never expecting that I'd speak so candidly to his parents.
Doesn’the know how I roll yet?
“We’re both so happy about this baby, about blessing you both with your first grandchild.”
I reached over, taking Trey’s hand in mine. He was shocked, I could tell. I smiled inside; it wasn’t often that I could cause that.
“Trey proposed to me last night. I asked Trey to be patient with me.” I looked over at Susan, knowing that another woman might understand what I was about to say. “Since I was a little girl, I dreamed about my wedding day. I wanted a prince to sweep me off of my feet and a wedding that was about just him and me. I’ve met my prince, your son. All I want now is for our wedding to be about our love. I understand if this doesn’t sit well with you—”
Susan suddenly jumped up, sweeping me into an embrace. “Oh sweet girl,” she said, “You're everything I could have dreamed of for my son. You're perfect for him. I see the love between you both.” Tears filled her eyes. I was glad I wasn’t the only emotional one these days. I hugged her back, tears springing to my eyes now. Clive cleared his throat, uncomfortable with all of the female emotions.
“Tylar,” Clive said, “we want and support whatever Trey and you desire. That’s all we want you to know. We consider you family. We hope you’ll come to feel the same way about us.”
What wonderful parents, I thought. I felt a fleeting pain that I'd never known that kind of unconditional love. Trey’s arm was around me now, pulling me toward him, kissing my cheeks, once again wiping my tears away.
Susan was ecstatic that we'd somehow dealt with the elephant in the room. I was too. Suddenly I was famished, digging in to my breakfast, and feeling that everything would be okay.
“Tylar, what is your due date?” she asked excitedly.
“May 5th,” I replied, “Kentucky Derby month.”
“Oh that's so thrilling,” she exclaimed, all bubbly and excited. “Do you know if the baby is a boy or a girl, not that we have a preference. We're just tickled to death for a grandbaby!”
“Not yet,” I replied. “My doctor will do an ultrasound at my next appointment, which is at the end of next week. I’m not sure if I want to know or not. I kind of like the idea of being surprised.”
Trey looked at me seriously, “Why didn’t I know about the ultrasound, Tylar?” Uh-oh, I should have mentioned it to him before now.
“I’m sorry, babe,” I said softly, patting his cheek gently with my hand, making sure I sounded contrite in his parents presence, “can you come to the appointment with me next week in Radcliff?”
“Certainly,” he smiled, sipping his coffee, “in fact, I’ve rearranged my schedule to spend time with you in Radcliff until Christmas if necessary.”
What? Really?
I was speechless. I loved that Trey would do this for me but I was a bit disappointed that I had to hear it from him just now. Why hadn’t he told me earlier? I'd have been so thrilled. I then realized that Trey had the power to call his own shots at the firm. He was a senior partner after all.
“Well, then I'm tickled pink,” Susan gushed. “Clive and I feel so much better knowing that you two have worked out so many of the details! Tell me Tylar,” she asked, “now I know that it’s early and all, but have you and Trey discussed names for the baby?”
“Well,” I said softly, lowering my head a bit, looking at Trey in my peripheral vision as he was preparing to take another sip of his coffee, “I haven’t mentioned it to Trey just yet but I was thinking if it’s a boy, ‘Jack’, and if it’s a girl, I like ‘Danielle.’” I could see Trey choking on his last sip of the hot coffee. I pretended not to notice. “What do you think, babe?” I asked, turning to him.
He glanced at me while pulling his cloth napkin from his lap and wiping his mouth. He gave me one of his “your-ass-is-mine” looks, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
“We’ll talk about names later,” he replied authoritatively.
