Baby Love (Baby #2)(114)

Trinity said it hadn't been more than a month since they had moved to Baton Rouge when my mother had shown up at her apartment in Vidalia. She had taken a bus from Baton Rouge. Trinity had been concerned because my mother had not brought me with her. She had questioned my mother about it.

My mother had told her that she had been really sick; that she had to stop breast-feeding me because it had been making me sick. I had started vomiting after nursing. She had put me on formula and left me with Maggie while she came to Trinity for help.

Trinity said that my mother had looked deathly ill. She had put some various herbs and roots together in a mixture instructing my mother to mix it with boiled water and drink the concoction several times a day. She said it would flush her system of whatever virus or infection she had going. My mother had given Trinity the envelope asking her to keep it in case Maggie ever came to her. She wouldn't tell Trinity anything further.

It was barely a week later that my mother had again shown up at Trinity's. This time she had me with her.

Trinity said she looked worse than before. She was having trouble breathing and complained of hallucinations.

She asked Trinity if we could stay with her. She had told Trinity that she suspected someone was trying to kill her. Trinity said that my mother's behavior had been very erratic. She had rambled incoherently at times; but handed Trinity a locked metal box and made her promise that if anything happened to her she would place the box inside her casket hidden underneath the blanket where no one would see it. Trinity promised her she would.

My mother had also given Trinity the caul that she had preserved. She asked her to make sure that it was placed in the casket as well. She said that my mother had said she wanted something of me with her for eternity.

Trinity told my mother she was taking her to a doctor she knew in nearby town the following morning. My mother had told her it was too late. She just wanted to go to sleep.

During the middle of the night Matthew had come to Vidalia and was beating on the door of Trinity's apartment. He claimed that my mother had been using drugs and that he was there to take her back to Baton Rouge for treatment. Trinity had told him that she felt my mother was ill and needed to go to a hospital first for a full assessment. She told Matthew she had planned to take my mother to her doctor that morning. Matthew had told her to keep out of it; it was family business and she was not family.

He had then pushed past Trinity. He went to the bedroom where my mother and I were sleeping. My mother was dead. I was still cradled within her cold arms.

Trinity had made it a point to travel to Mississippi prior to my mother's burial. She arrived at the funeral parlor early that morning asking to see my mother. There was no visitation or funeral scheduled; only a graveside service. She had quizzed the mortician at great length about the embalming.

She explained she was my mother's best friend and insisted they open the casket for her to view my mother.

When they finally opened the casket she said that they had done a magnificent job with her. The mortician had commented to Trinity that he had cried while preparing her for entombment. He said that something was not right. He told her maybe someday someone would want answers. He assured her that my mother's body was well preserved. He then left her alone to say goodbye to her dearest friend.

Trinity had then carried out her promise to my mother. She placed the caul on her pillow and the metal box down underneath the satin coverlet at her feet.

My mother had been entombed in the family crypt at a cemetery in Braxton, Mississippi.

The silence of our ride back to Baton Rouge was broken when my father spoke for the first time since we had gotten into the limo.

"I can order an exhumation Tylar. It is what needs to be done. You do realize that don't you?"

"Will it be done for the purpose of opening the metal box?" I asked.

"Not entirely," he answered.

I looked over at him as he continued.

"The metal box might very well contain evidence that will help convict Matthew but we also need forensic evidence. That type of evidence can only be gathered by having a forensic autopsy conducted."

"Can they do that after all of this time?" I asked, astonished somewhat at the thought of it.

"Yes. Modern embalming methods and advances in forensic technology can help prove the exact cause of her death even after all of this time. I want your approval though. You are her next of kin."

"You have it Dad," I replied, though I knew that in his judicial capacity he could have ordered it without my consent.

By the time we reached my father's estate Trey had arrived. I saw coming down the stairway as we came into the entrance hall. I flew into his arms. Dad carried a sleepy Preston up from the limo. I took her from him and headed upstairs to our suite. Trey stayed downstairs talking with my father presumably about what we had learned on our trip to Vidalia.

I changed Preston's diaper and stretched out on the bed with her so that she could nurse comfortably. Trey joined me in the suite several minutes later. He sat down on the bed next to us.

"You've had quite a day it seems," he remarked.

I nodded not trusting myself to speak for fear I would burst into tears at any moment.

"You know sweetie, it is okay to feel emotional about this. You learned some very disturbing things today. That is why I am here with you now. You don't have to go through this alone."

"I know Trey," I sobbed. "I just don't want to think about what my mother endured because of me."