1.29

“So, what do you think?”
Kaylee gripped the barre and carefully balancing herself on one leg raised the other in the air. At the same time she lifted her arm up and curled it over her head.
“What are you doing?” Ty asked in puzzlement. She had been humming the Nutcracker Suite in low tones as she had done her little routine.
Kaylee could feel a blush working it’s way up her cheeks as she brought her leg and arm back down. “Nothing,” she mumbled.
Shaking his head Ty tapped the barre. “I was reading in the baby book that you should avoid strenuous activities. I saw you eyeing my weight bench the other day so I knew I had to do something before I caught you trying to lift weights.”
“I wouldn’t have lifted that much,” Kaylee said in her own defense.
Ty eyed her. “Yeah right. I know you babe. First you’d start small and then you’d figure, ‘Hey, this isn’t hurting anything. Maybe I could just add five more.’ And then-”
“Okay, okay! I get your point,” she said with a laugh. What he said was true. She would have tried to push herself. She fondly remembered their days in the college gym as they each tried to one up each other. Shaking her head she took a step toward Ty and gently traced a whirl on his tattoo.
“You know…I can think of another exercise that would benefit the both of us…” She let her voice trail off as she watched him through her eyelashes. She inwardly laughed when his pupils dilated but she lost all thought when he swept her up into his arms and kissed the breath right out of her. Then, without breaking the kiss, he carried her into the bedroom.



A bit later, Ty said he wanted to make sure she got her exercise in for the day, they sat down to eat. Kaylee looked down at her grilled cheese sandwich and felt as if she were going to vomit. She picked at the edge of the sandwich and felt her stomach roll.
“Are you going to eat it or play with it?” Ty asked as he pulled his plate closer to him.
“I don’t want it.”
“What? You were the one who suggested grilled cheese sandwiches. If you didn’t want it why did you-” He heaved a sigh. “Okay, did you want something else to eat?”
“Tuna?” she said hopefully.
He blinked at her. “Kaylee, you’re allergic to tuna,” he said slowly.
“But it sounds good right? I mean, don’t you want a tuna sandwich? I could live vicariously through you.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face he shook his head. “We don’t keep tuna in the house. The books said that you’d start carving weird stuff but there is no way I’m going to let you eat tuna. You’ll puff up like a blowfish and-”
“I get it, I get it,” she snapped. “But I don’t want grilled cheese.” She poked at the sandwich with her index finger then perked up. “What about peanut butter? I could go for some peanut butter.”
“You’re driving me crazy! You don’t like peanut butter. You even refused to kiss me one time after I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How about-”
The doorbell rang interrupting whatever he was about to say. Kaylee sprung up, almost as if she was afraid he was going to force her to eat the sandwich and headed for the door.
“I’ll get it.”

Buster lifted his head as she walked by and she stopped briefly to pat him on the head. He licked her hand before laying back down with a contented sigh. She was so glad that they had gotten him from the pound. Maybe they should get him a lady friend. She thought about that as she neared the door. She’d have to put it to Ty. Although, their house was going to be full sometime soon. Hopefully, she thought wistfully as she massaged her stomach and thought of her Nana. It had been two weeks and, although they talked, they carefully skirted the issue of her moving her. Kaylee didn’t want her to feel forced.

She stopped at the door and had to bit back a laugh as she saw Fran and Damon on the porch…making out like a pair of horny teenagers. She shook her head. She couldn’t even say anything. She and Ty had been doing a lot more than that a few hours ago. Grinning, she rapped on the glass with a knuckle and watched as Fran pushed Damon away and straightened her shirt. Kaylee didn’t even want to know why she was straightening her shirt. Pulling open the door she grinned when Fran winked at her.


“What? We weren’t doing anything!” Damon said when Kaylee made a face at him over Fran’s shoulder.
“If that’s what you call not doing anything than I’d hate to see you two doing something!” Kaylee said as Fran pulled her into a hug.
“Hey baby girl! We missed you!”
“We missed you too Fran. How was your trip?”
“Fabulous! You should see some of the clothes I have. Things that haven’t even hit the States yet.”
Damon patted Fran on the butt as he walked by. “Things that she’s never going to wear but she wanted nonetheless. Things that she sales and donates the money to homeless shelters. Do you see why I love her Kaylee? Where’s my kiss at little girl?”
Kaylee burrowed against him as he pulled her close. He pulled back to look down at her face. “What’s this? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
He studied her face for a moment before lightly pinching her chin and going into the house.
“Ty told us about your grandmother last time we talked to him. You were at work. She still hasn’t come to stay with you guys?”
Kaylee shook her head sadly.
“Hey, do you want me to go talk to her?”
Kaylee laughed and gave Fran a quick hug. “No, but thank you for offering.”

Fran took a step back. “Would you look at you? You sure you’re not carrying twins in there?”
“Oh god! Don’t say that!” Kaylee said in horror. “Can you imagine three little kids running around?”
“Yes, yes I can.”
“Of course you can! You only had to deal with one!”
Fran gently rubbed her stomach and grinned when she felt a kick. “Well, somebody’s alive and kicking in there. And look at your little popper. You’re almost done huh?”
“I can’t even SEE my bellybutton anymore. Ty has to make sure I put the same pair of shoes on. Otherwise I just put on whatever my feet come in contact with.”
“How is my son dealing with becoming a father?”
“He’s a rock. I don’t know what I would do without him.”
“Well, for one, you wouldn’t be knocked up.”
“Yes, there is that.”
They laughed as they walked into the house.

Ty eyed Kaylee’s sandwich as his dad walked into the kitchen and picked up Gabe from his chair. He smiled when Gabe put his small hands on either side of his dad’s face and gave him a wet kiss on then nose. Gabe shrieked in laughter when his dad crossed his eyes to stare at him.
“Pop-pop!”
“Yep! Pop-pop is back! Now I get to sneak you sweets again!”
“Yay! Sweets! Gumdrops!”
“His speech is getting better,” his dad said as he adjusted Gabe on his hip.
Ty nodded. “Yeah, Kaylee and I have been working with him. Pretty soon he’ll have to take tests to enter kindergarten and Kaylee’s worried that he’ll fail them. Although I’ve told her a hundred times a five year old can’t FAIL a test!” Deciding that he was still hungry, after all Kaylee had wore him out, he grabbed her plate and began to eat her sandwich.
“How was your trip?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
His dad shrugged. “It was alright. Italy hasn’t changed since the last time we’ve been.”
“You sound like such a snob,” Ty said with a laugh.
“Hey, if you have it, you have it. We have it. Remind me to give you the new key to the villa. Your mother wanted all the locks changed.”
“Why?”
Damon shifted then cleared his throat when the front door opened. “We’ll talk later,” he said in low undertones before walking out of the kitchen.

His mom walked in, pressed a kiss to his forehead then grabbed Gabe’s discarded bowl of fruit.
“Ma! Would you put that down? You don’t have to come in here and clean. I was going to get it when I got up with my plate.”
“Plates,” she said nodding to where he had stacked the plates. “And besides, after a month of being waited on hand and food it will do me good to do a bit of manual labor.”
Ty let out a bark of laughter she when bypassed the sink and dropped the bowl in the dishwasher.
Fran gently kicked the door closed and turning dusted off her hands. “See? Manual labor. Now get up and give me a hug.”
Ty got up and taking his plates with him, dropped them in the sink, before embracing his mom. She gently patted his back. “How have you been?”
“Good. A few more games and then the season is over and then Kaylee will be ready to have the baby. Then I’ll be a dad. A dad, mom. Can you imagine?”
“Yes, that’s always been one of my dreams.”
“Oh god! I have to go to the bathroom again!”
Looking into the living room they saw Kaylee get up from the couch, with a little help from Damon, before waddling toward the bathroom.
“Let’s sit down. Your father and I want to talk to you for a minute.”

“Italy was fun. It was good to get away from the States but…that’s not the only reason why we went.”
Ty looked from her to his dad and back again. “What do you mean?”
“Well, an…associate of your father’s had some news that he wanted to give to us. And since he resides in Italy we thought we’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“By associates I take it you mean one of dad’s less legit contacts?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” his dad grumbled.
“Boys,” his mom said sharply then cleared her throat. “Look Ty. Who do you think was supplying us with information about Hunter? We would have never have known some of those things without your father’s contacts.”
“I thought you said that you had left that side of business dad.” Ty rubbed his forehead.
“I have. That doesn’t mean that I don’t keep in contact with some people. That would be cutting off my nose to spite my face.”
Years ago, when Damon had first started out, he had fallen in with a…rough crowd. He hadn’t known it at the time and by the time he had realized it he was in too deep and making too much money to leave. It wasn’t until he met Frances, and she had told him in no uncertain terms she wouldn’t date a gangster, did he go legit. He had taken the friends that he had made with him, or at least the ones that had wanted to go legit, the others he had stopped talking to, except for one or two that had saved his life during an incident that he didn’t talk about.
“What’s this have to do with me?”
“Hunter’s went underground.”
“So, that’s a good thing right?”
“It’s never a good thing when someone of Hunter’s ilk goes underground. They pop up when you least expect it. They’re harder to keep an eye on.”

“I think we should tell Kaylee about your father’s past.”
“What? Are you insane? She doesn’t need to know anything about it. The past doesn’t have anything to do with her.”
“I think it does. Hunter didn’t take Janet with him. And we all know that Janet is prone to pop up when we least expect her."
“So, we keep an eye on her. No big deal. I won’t have Kaylee upset right now. She’s nearing her third trimester and it’s a critical stage. She needs to have a calm environment. No, she doesn’t need to know anything about Hunter or dad’s past. Besides, Hunter contacts her from time to time. Just because he’s gone underground doesn’t mean that he won’t bother us.”
“We’ll stand by your decision son,” Damon said as he played peek-a-boo with Gabe, “But the moment Hunter contacts Kaylee let us know. I’d be more worried if he doesn’t contact her. I think, in his own way, Hunter likes her. And-”

“Oh my GOD! I just peed! Why do I have to go again?!”
Fran got up from the couch and walked over to were Kaylee was glaring up at the ceiling as if it held her answers.
“I mean, seriously! Is this kid on my bladder or what? It doesn’t make sense!”
“The book says-”
“Tyrese!”
Ty closed his mouth when both Kaylee and his mom yelled his name. He looked over at his dad to see him smirking.
“Why don’t you go lay down Kaylee? You and Ty are going to that dinner tonight aren’t you?”
“What dinner?” Kaylee asked as she massaged her back.
“I didn’t mention it mom, because it’s not Kaylee’s thing.”
“What thing?” Kaylee demanded.
“It’s this dinner that the NFL is giving to the top players in the league. Ty is among the people being honored.”
Ty got up and walked into the kitchen. He could feel Kaylee’s eyes burning into his back.
“No, he didn’t mention it.”

Ty rubbed the back of his neck as her silky tones reached him. Oh man, she was so pissed.
“Ty, how could you not mention something this important?”
He shrugged and stared at the dirty dishes in the sink. Absently he started the water and squirted in some dish soap.
“It’s really not that important. It’s just an award. If I’m not there they’ll give it to me the next time they see me.”
His mom sucked her teeth. “That boy was never about the awards! It can be so annoying. Anyways, Kaylee I brought this amazing dress for you to wear tonight. Come on, let’s go into the room. Damon, bring me the green suitcase from the trunk will you? I can do your make up too. Oh, this is going to be fun!”
Ty could feel Kaylee’s eyes on him. He breathed a silent sigh of relief when the bedroom door closed behind them.

“Kaylee, how are you feeling?” Fran asked as they sat down on the small couch in the bedroom.
“Other than being bloated I feel fine. Why?”
“You know this family will do anything to protect you right? Whatever we have to do we’ll do it. You don’t ever have to be afraid to tell us anything.”

"Fran…what are you talking about? What’s going on?”
Fran shook her head. “Nothing. I just wanted to reassure you that you are part of this family Kaylee. And the Jamerson’s protect their own.”
“Ooookay! You’re scaring me.”
“I don’t want to scare you. I just want you to know that if anything, or anyone, is bothering you, you don’t have to keep it to yourself.”
“I know.”
“Good. So, how was your visit with your grandmother?”

“It was fine. I learned a lot of things about my father and I learned a few things about myself. It was a real…” Her voice trailed off when Fran turned away and seemed to stare off into space. Kaylee gnawed on her lip. Something was up. Something was bothering Fran and for whatever reason she didn’t want her to know about it. She opened her mouth to ask Fran if something was wrong but Fran suddenly shook her head and turned back to her.
“I’m sorry. I just remembered something that I have to tell Damon. You were saying?”

A few hours later Ty stood in the middle of the living room and waited impatiently for Kaylee to appear. She and his mother had been holed up in there for hours now. He didn’t think that Kaylee needed any work so what was his mother doing? He didn’t realize that he had spoken aloud until his father answered him.
“She’s doing what your mother always does when she gets anxious. She takes her mind off of it by doing something else. Kaylee just happened to be there. Besides, you’re going to enjoy the results. Trust me.”

Ty straightened when the door opened and his mother appeared. “Gentlemen,” she said as she opened her arms. “A drum roll please.“ She paused and both Damon and Ty started a drum roll. Gabe laughed and tried to imitate the sound with his mouth. His dad’s suit was going to be soaked, Ty thought absently.
“Allow me to present you Mrs. Kaylee Jameson.” She then began to hum the theme to Miss America.
“Oh my god!” Kaylee’s mortified voice came from the bedroom.


Shaking her head Kaylee came out of the bedroom. “You even have Buster involved in this?” she asked.
“Hey, he came over on his own,” Damon said.
Kaylee darted a look at Ty to see him smiling gently at her.

Tugging on the bodice Kaylee took a hesitant step forward. Fran had gotten her some heeled sandals to go with the dress and while they weren't high they weren’t what she was used to. Ty met her half way.

Bending, he placed his hand at the small of her back and placed a lingering kiss on her neck.
“Every time I see you it’s like the first time all over again,” he whispered.
Kaylee’s mouth trembled as her eyes filled with tears. “My makeup!”
Laughing, Ty grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house. Fran followed after them and the clatter of nails let her know Buster wasn’t far behind. Ty had just opened the door to the jeep when a car beeped behind them.

Kaylee turned to see a taxi come to a stop in front of the house and her heart picked up pace as she saw a figure in the backseat lean forward.

>Kiki got out of the taxi then turning grabbed her suitcase and set it down beside her on the sidewalk as she looked around.

Kaylee raced forward and her Nana’s eyes brightened when they saw her.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” She studied Kaylee’s outfit.
“Well, I’m not in Kansas anymore am I?” she said with a laugh.
Kaylee stepped forward to embrace her.

“No Nana…you’re home.”