Chapter 51
When the doorbell rang, Tyler practically jumped out of her skin. Kevin looked at her and said, "Baby, calm down. It’s just Christine."
Irritably, Tyler said, "I know."
Kevin went to get the door and it was Christine as they had expected. Kevin greeted her with a hug. "Working kind of late, aren’t you?"
"I went in late and I wanted to get started on your case," said
Christine. Looking at Tyler, she asked, "What’s wrong with you?"
"Worrywart is afraid you have bad news," said Kevin as he took Tyler
in his arms.
Tyler tried to hit him but he was holding her tight.
Christine laughed at how Kevin was picking on her and had taken her in his arms to keep her from retaliating. "You can stop worrying, Tyler. I just want to talk strategy."
With that all-knowing smirk, Kevin said, "See, I told you it wasn’t
anything to worry about."
Tyler laughed, "You were right.... AGAIN. You know, I’m really beginning
to hate that. Chris, can I get you a drink?"
"Tea would be nice."
Kevin kissed Tyler on the neck and said, "I’ll get it, baby."
While Kevin went to get the tea, Tyler and Christine went to sit down. They talked about the wedding and when Kevin returned, he handed Chris her drink and sat with Tyler on the couch.
Chris looked at the couple and smile. "You two look so happy."
Tyler leaned against Kevin as she said, "We are. Now, what do you have in mind?"
"First of all, we’re dropping the restraining order against Joey."
"What the hell for?" asked Kevin angrily. "The last time he came near her, Tyler almost lost the baby."
"I know but you two are getting ready to get married and there’s your honeymoon and the rest of the tour. There’s no chance of you running into him before the baby is born without the two of you being together."
Tyler said softly, "We were together that night when it happened,
Chris."
Kevin thought about it and Christine had a point. He looked at Tyler and could
tell she was having trouble with it. It had taken them forever to convince her
to enforce the restraining order in the first place and now Chris wanted her to
drop it.
Christine took their silence as her cue to continue. "The next thing, you HAVE to tell Joey about every doctor’s appointment and give him the chance to go with you. When you go into labor, you HAVE to call him so that he can come too."
"In other words, include him, like I had originally intended," said Tyler snidely and looking at Kevin.
Kevin put up his hands in self-defense, "I was only trying to protect you. Howie and the others felt the same way."
"I take it the guys convinced you otherwise?"
Lovingly, Tyler said, "They were trying to protect me. It did cause a disagreement early on though because they got Pops to talk to me too."
"Chris, what are you trying to do? Can’t you use the fact that Joey raped her?"
"I’m going to use everything I’ve got...Joey raping her, slapping her, attempting to rape her again, the incident at Tabu, and everything that Lou did to keep Tyler with Joey. But I also want to put you and Tyler in the best possible light. Despite all the bad things that Joey and Lou did to Tyler, you BOTH have still allowed him to be a part of it all. Kevin, you have to be there for it all too to show your support."
"No problem there. Do you really think it’s going to take all this? I don’t like the idea of Joey being around so much."
"Yes and no. I want to be prepared though. This is my take on the whole thing. I think your petition for adoption is going to go through but I also think Joey is going to fight it. There’s going to be a custody hearing and Joey may be denied all rights based on his actions from the very beginning. Or, he may be granted partial custody. It all depends on him and what he does to change the previous things he’s done."
"But you don’t think I’ll lose custody?"
"NO! I can’t see that happening."
"He won’t know about Kevin wanting to adopt the baby until after the
baby is born?"
"Not unless you tell him," said Christine. "There’s also the
possibility that Joey will file for custody too. Either way, a judge is GOING to
hear the case."
Kevin asked, "Is there anything else, Chris?"
"Not now. I’ll be in touch if I need to talk to you."
Chris handed her glass to Kevin as they stood and Tyler said, "Thanks, Christine."
"No problem. When are you leaving for Kentucky?"
"The eleventh. We promised to do Career Day for a little girl I met,"
said Tyler. "Then we’re headed to Kentucky."
With his arms around Tyler’s shoulders, Kevin said, "It can’t get here soon enough for me."
The phone rang about that time so Kevin said good-bye to Christine before going to answer it. Tyler waked with her to the door and looked back to make sure that Kevin was busy with the phone and not listening to her.
"Did you find out anything?"
"The only person Kevin is talking to about the honeymoon is Jeff and
Jeff won’t say a word."
"Damn! Kevin won’t even give me a hint."
"What difference does it make? You know wherever he’s taking you, Kevin’s going to make sure it’s romantic. That man adores you, Tyler, and he meant it when he said he’d give you the world. That deal for Tadpole Incorporated, he had your name on it from the very beginning."
This shocked Tyler to a certain degree but then she also knew Kevin. He had told her how long he’d been in love with her. She said, "The feeling is mutual."
Kevin called to her, "Ty, Sonja wants to talk to you."
"I’m coming, ‘Boo’. Chris, thanks again. When will we see you?"
"I’ll probably see you at the shower. Take care."
Tyler went to take the call after saying good-bye to Chris and she and Sonja talked for a while.
Kevin had settled back down on the couch to watch television so when Tyler finished on the phone, he said, "Come here, baby."
Tyler went to him and set the phone on the base as she went by the table. Kevin pulled her to him so that she was sitting between his legs and leaning against his chest. He reached around her and put his hands on Tyler’s stomach after lifting her shirt out of the way.
Tyler loved the way Kevin was rubbing her stomach and she closed her eyes to relax.
"What did Sonja have to say?"
"She was just telling me that everything was set for the wedding and the
rehearsal. Your mom and Brian’s mom are going to have a shower for me on the
twelfth."
"Isn’t Pollyanna having one for you too?"
"Yeah, Kryss, Lex, and Fiona are helping her. It’s this weekend. They’re also planning to take me to see some male strippers after the rehearsal."
Kevin kissed her neck and said, "You know, the guys are planning a bachelor party for me that night too at the house?"
"Yeah, I know," said Tyler with a note of reluctance in her voice.
Kevin laughed softly, "Don’t worry, baby. Nothing’s going to happen."
Putting her hands on Kevin’s, Tyler said, "I trust you, ‘Boo’. It’s AJ that bothers me."
Kevin laughed too and said, "He’s not going to do anything, baby."
The two grew silent again as they watched television. Kevin eventually looked at his watch and asked, "Isn’t your appointment tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Don’t you think you’d better call Joey?"
Sighing deeply, Tyler said, "Yes."
"I’ll do it if you want me to."
"No, you just continue to hold me."
Kevin handed her the phone as he said, "I don’t plan to go anywhere, baby."
