Chapter 3 #2
When he hung up, she lay on her bed and laughed for a good twenty minutes.
If that was all it took to get him out of her hair, then she’d have ten kids just to keep him away.
As she was snuggling down in the covers again, she was delighted that she’d not have to worry about Peter again.
His dad would be a different matter, but at least she and Peter wouldn’t be dating anytime soon. ”
She felt great when she woke from her nap.
Her body was getting into better shape too, and that made resting seem like a good thing for her.
The doctors had told her that when Lizzy slept she should too, but with the extra help around, she could get as much rest as she wanted. Today was no different.
Feeling like she could do something productive, Trin decided it was time to clean out the desk so that she could use it.
She was going to keep Robert’s desk just the way it was because it wasn’t as near and dear to her as Milly’s was.
Just as she was opening up the drawers to get rid of the things in the drawer, she found the ultrasound of Lizzy.
It made her all the more determined to get things cleaned up, and by the time dinner rolled around, she had not just cleaned out the drawers, but she’d been able to set the desk up to reflect her own needs.
Of course she’d cried quite a bit, but the desk was ready.
Now all she had to do was tackle the bedroom, and she’d feel like she was doing something productive.
She supposed she was waiting for them to return and that’s why she’d not done anything.
Feeling pretty good about the work she’d gotten done, she went to the nursery to find that Lizzy was ready for her next bottle and that she was awake.
Taking her from Caroline, the nanny, she decided to change her clothing into something cooler and to talk to her while she fed her.
As usual, Lizzy looked at her like she knew just what she was saying as she told her about her parents.
Deciding not to say that she’d not cared for her daddy, Trin told her of their first date.
And how it hadn’t gone as well as they hoped.
Trin laughed when she told the baby about how it almost didn’t work out for them, and she was ever so glad that it had.
As soon as she drank down her bottle, after burping her, Trin held her in her arms while she spoke of the things that she’d gotten done today.
“Tomorrow I’m going to call someone to come and get their clothing.
I think that will make me move on better.
” She thought of the closet full of dresses that Milly had and wondered what to do with them.
“Your dad’s suits will go to a men’s shelter so that they can be used for interviews.
I’d heard of that going on once and had mentioned it to Milly. ”
She thought about how she was going to be confusing if she continued to call Milly by her first name and Robert as daddy.
She thought that if she called them by their first names it might be less confusing for Lizzy when she was older.
She and Robert hadn’t had sex, but he did donate the sperm that had made Lizzy.
“My sister couldn’t carry a baby. She’d tried several times, and she lost them.
IVF, in vitro fertilization, was the only way that they could have children.
And sadly that didn’t work for her either.
Except for me helping them. And I jumped at the chance to help my big sister.
” She thought of the day that she’d gone in for the first time.
“I got pregnant with you right away. It was great too because the happiness on my sister’s face was worth every time I got sick or hurt during labor and delivery.
Just to have you in my life now seems like something out of a dream. ”
She looked down at Lizzy and saw that she was staring at her again.
She rocked her for a few more minutes, telling her about the celebration they had had when she found out that she was going to have her.
When she finally went to sleep, curling her little fingers around her much larger one, Trin yawned too.
They were going to be all right, and she was happy for that.
~*~
Audon looked at the canvas and was quite pleased with it.
He’d been working on it most of the day and was just now able to step back and see his progress.
As soon as he decided that he was finished for today, his cell rang.
Since he didn’t know the number that came up, he decided to let it go to voicemail.
He just wanted to bask in the moment of getting so much done today.
After cleaning up his brushes and getting things cleared away, he moved the canvas so that it was upright.
Looking at it in this way, he could see that he’d been getting a lot more color on the piece than he’d thought.
Putting it away so that it wouldn’t be touched, Audon looked at his phone and saw that there was a voicemail for him.
Calling the number, he was pleased that it was from his agent and then frowned when he realized that the number wasn’t already in his phone.
“I have a couple of things that I’d like to go over with you.
I figured that I’d have to leave a message as this isn’t my usual number.
I decided this morning that I needed a new phone and decided to get a new number while I was at it.
Probably a stupid idea, but it’s done now, and I can’t get it back.
” He almost sounded defensive. Audon listened to the rest of the voicemail.
“I have an appointment written down for you on Thursday. I think that’s the day that you take off to get business things taken care of.
I’ll be in my office all day. I’m having a shitty day so far today, and it’s nothing on you. I’ll talk to you later.”
Putting his cell phone back on his desk, he realized that he was going to have to call back his agent and tell him that Thursday was all booked up.
Not only did he have a doctor’s appointment with his dentist, but he also had to get his laundry finished, or he’d be naked for the date he had the next night, and that wouldn’t be good.
As he was finishing up with his brushes, his mom came into his studio.
“I’ve been meaning to get over here for a couple of days now. Where is your award?” He showed it to her, and she hugged him several times before she told him that she was proud of him. “My baby boy is making a name for himself.”
“I’ve had a name for myself for a while now. What’s been going on? I thought you’d be here the very next day if not that night.” She told him that she’d been fighting some kind of sinus infection. “That’s not good. Did Kahana give you something for it? I hope so.”
“He did. I’m glad. I was at my wits’ end just dealing with the runny nose that I had. Then the pain in my head wasn’t going away.” She showed him the bottle of pills she’d been taking. “It’s already started to work on me. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to suffer through that again.”
Kahana was his older brother and a doctor.
They all had been going to him since he got out of med school, and it had been working out well for them.
No more sitting in a lobby trying to keep from getting whatever else the clientele had that was in his lobby.
He’d been to see him just yesterday when he’d found a mole on his arm that had been worrying him.
“We’ll take care of that right away. And tell mom and dad what’s going on.
” He told him that he’d already done that with his parents and was going to tell the others tonight.
“I hope so. When I had that mole removed and biopsied, I know that I hurt you guys when I didn’t say anything.
I’ve since learned my lesson about keeping everyone informed about things.
You don’t want to make it so that they’re upset with you when you might need them. ”
He’d gone to the same doctor that Kahana had, and even though it would be several days before he got the results back, it didn’t look like anything to be worried about.
It didn’t make matters any better, but he got to tell his parents what he said.
They were, of course, worried, but they weren’t hurt because he didn’t tell them.
He was nervous and scared but not as much as he might have been if he didn’t have family support around him.
Audon was glad too that his older brother was a doctor.
It made things easier for him in the long run.
By the time Friday rolled around, he’d not only gotten the results back from his tests but also had had a nice dinner with his brothers on Thursday night.
His agent was pissed, but he didn’t care.
Sometimes it was better to just cut someone off rather than have to put up with their idiosyncrasies.
He’d noticed a lot more of those traits coming out on his agent than he had before, and it was getting on his nerves.
Time to move on, he’d told his brothers at dinner, and they agreed with him.
He had said they were just going to get burgers, and he was disappointed that he’d not suggested something more fancy.
Wearing a polo shirt and jeans, he thought that he looked good for the date and knocked on her door.
What he’d not expected was Bruno opening the door for him.
The two of them hugged, and he invited him into the house.