Baby Love(117)

Trey took my hand and studied me for a moment.

"Don't you want to see her?" he asked me gently.

I looked at him aghast. It had not occurred to me that her casket would be opened until she got to the county coroner's office for the forensic autopsy. I figured at that point the metal box would be removed and given to me or to my father.

"Are you serious? They are not going to open her casket here are they? I don't want to see my mother's decomposed remains."

I was horrified that Trey had asked such a question.

"Tylar I don't think it is going to be as bad as all of that. Yes they will open the casket here to make sure it contains a body first of all; and to establish the identity as being her."

I turned from him thoroughly appalled at the idea of looking at my mother's corpse.

"Tylar, no one is going to force you to look at her but I just thought if you wanted to it might help you put some closure on things."

By this time the deputy and cemetery people had exited the mausoleum. The deputy was carrying a dark metal box that had a handle on it.

"They have to book that in as evidence sweetie."

My father was still inside with her. I didn't budge. Trey remained next to me not saying anything further. It was several minutes later that my father emerged. He came over to where Trey and I were standing. His eyes were red. He had been crying. It distressed me to see him like that.

"Tylar," he said to me softly, "Would you like to say good-bye to your mother? She looks beautiful."

I stood up. My legs were wobbly. Everything had a surreal feeling to it. Trey was beside me, taking my arm. My father stayed outside as we made our way back inside the mausoleum. I saw the opened lid of the casket. It was the type that had two lids. Only the top one had been opened. Her casket was on a dolly of some sort so that it could be wheeled outside to the waiting hearse.

Trey held my hand as we walked to the side of it. The first thing that I saw was her hair. It was just like mine. It was cut in long layers that framed her face.

As I looked at her I was amazed at how much I resembled her. It looked like me laying there asleep. She had been buried in a red sweater dress. Her hands were clasped together resting on her stomach. I looked at the satin pillow where her head rested. I saw the caul that Trinity had spoken of.

It looked like a thin nylon veil that had been draped

on the pillow next to her.

Someone had placed a ragged teddy bear in the casket next to her. It might have been mine. I felt the tears stream down my face. I had no memory of her at all.

She had carried me; given birth to me; fed and nurtured me yet I had no memory of any of that. I had been cheated out of a mother; she had been cheated out of a life. Trey squeezed my hand gently. My sobs escaped as I looked at this beautiful creature that I had never known.

"Mommy," I sobbed, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.

"We will make this right. I promise you that."

I leaned over and brushed a kiss against her hair.

Trey enfolded me in his arms and led me outside once again.

My father was waiting in the limo for us. The deputy sheriff and the cemetery personnel wheeled the now closed casket out to the waiting hearse. She would be taken to Jackson for the forensic autopsy. Her body would then be placed back into her final resting place here. My father said that he would be back to ensure everything went as planned.

"When will we know about the contents of the metal box?" I asked.

"Once it has all been reviewed by the D.A's office anything that is not pertinent to her death will be released. Anything deemed pertinent as evidence will remain in custody with the authorities until such time as the case is resolved in criminal court."

"How long could all of that take?"

"Tylar don't worry; I will use any means possible to avoid dragging this out. I have scheduled a meeting with the D.A. day after tomorrow."

I leaned against Trey in the car.

"I want to go home Trey."

"We will go home baby. How about tomorrow?"

Trey booked our flight when we got back to my father's estate. We had a late afternoon flight out of Baton Rouge.

My father spent the evening playing with Preston while Trey and I relaxed in front of the massive fireplace.

The following morning Dad took us on a tour of the grounds. He had several thoroughbred horses stabled in his barn.

"Do you ride?" he asked me.

"A little," I replied smiling.

He had one of the hired hands saddle up two horses Trey had stayed behind with Preston. My father and I rode the trail that went the full perimeter of the estate.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. I could tell that my father had a passion for horses. He was an excellent English rider as well. Perhaps something else that I had inherited from him I thought.

When it was time to depart for the airport I hugged my father tightly. I had grown close to him these past several days. I knew that we would continue to bond as parent and child. He promised he would let me know the status of the investigation as it unfolded.

He shook Trey's hand before we left and mentioned that he had recused himself from the decision relating to the oral argument Trey had given a few weeks prior in Baton Rouge. He explained it would have been a conflict of interest for him to opine on the matter.

"Shit," Trey said later on the way to the airport. "Here I thought it would be a slam-dunk with your father on that panel. Now I have to sweat it out while waiting for the others to decide."