Tig awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee and an empty space beside him in bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and rolled out of the California King he and Venus shared, smiling, and thinking about the night before.
While not one of their wilder sessions, the tender, almost chaste love they made was no less satisfying.
When they finished, they lay facing each other, Venus' head nestled in the crook of Tig's arm, he lightly tracing patterns on hers with his free hand.
"Mmmmm, Alex, that feels so nice." Venus murmured sleepily.
Tig leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"I am happy to oblige."
"You know what, baby?"
"What's that?"
" When I was little, my Memaw would tell me, ' baby, everything is going to turn out all right for you in the end. I promise you that.' I never really believed it, but I'm starting to think she was right" Venus said, wistfully.
"She must've been pretty important to you if you wanted to name this baby after her, huh?"
Venus propped her head in her hand, and smiled.
"Oh, Alex, I loved her so much. She was something else. Memaw knew her way around the kitchen, and a shotgun. She loved whiskey and country music. Most of all, she loved me."
"She sounds like my kind of woman." Tig chuckled.
"Before Alice and I moved out to California, she'd just up and leave me with Memaw Violet for weeks at a time. She was more of a mother to me than Alice ever was.
I always felt like she knew what was going on inside me. "
"I remember the last time I ever stayed with Memaw. It was summer time. The day before Miss Alice dropped me off, she marched me to the Barber Shop, and told them, ' Give him a summer haircut. No son of mine is going to be walking around looking like a little girl' ." Venus said, absent mindedly playing with a lock of her curled hair.
"I cried and I cried all the way to Memaw's house.
I hated it. Memaw knew it.
She told me, " Honey, don't worry, it'll grow back. All those pretty curls, they'll grow back"
"I spent the next few months with her, and was just so happy. "
One night, we sat down to eat dinner and who should pull up after 2 months of being out of sight, but my mama.
Miss Alice told me to get my things, and that we were leaving. That she had a husband who'd be a new daddy for me. Memaw begged her not to take me, but Alice wouldn't hear any of it. We left Memaw's house and just kept driving. We drove all the way from Georgia out here. I never saw her again." Venus swallowed hard, stifling a sob.
"Oh, my baby." Tig sighed, reaching around to pull her close to him. They remained like that until the morning.
After throwing on a T-shirt over his boxers, and making a pit stop to the bathroom, he walked into the kitchen where he found Venus, standing over the stove, her hair in hot rollers, in her satin robe, Gertie was eagerly waiting to catch any stray bits from what she was cooking.
"Whatcha making, beautiful?" Tig said, grabbing her from behind and greeting her with a kiss.
"Eggs, bacon and lists" she replied, kissing him, and motioning to the table.
"Can I fix you a plate, sugar?"
"That'd be great, baby. What kind of lists?"
"Well, I figured we've got a lot of things we need to do in anticipation of our new arrivals, and I couldn't sleep, so I just started writing."
Tig took a look at the pages filled with Venus' flowery script. She hadn't left off a thing, from beds to clothes, diapers to toys.
"Well, looks like you've got your bases covered. If you like, I can get Chucky to help you order some of the stuff. Two fingers, and he still types faster than I do."
" I think that would be a big help." Venus brought a plate laden with food, over to Tig, and sat down at the table.
"Aren't you going to eat anything. Baby?"
Venus shook her head, " Not now. We've got a lot to do today, and you know me, I can't leave the house without putting on my face. I'll grab something later."
"More for me, then" Tig said, digging in.
"We have to be at the hospital at 10, and then CPS is coming here this afternoon. Did you let Filip know you'd be indisposed today?"
"Yeah, baby, I told Chibby today was going to be kind of crazy"
"Darlin, this is tame compared to half the shit you and Filip do" Venus laughed, and headed off to get ready.
A few minutes before 10, they strode once again through the hospital doors, Tig in his usual work shirt, jeans and boots, Venus in a skirt and purple blouse. Ms. Thompson greeted them at the front desk.
"Good Morning Miss Van Dam! ! Hope you slept well. Are we ready to head to the nursery?"
"Yes, we sure are." Tig said, his hand on the small of Venus' back.
"Sugar, lead the way" Venus said, smiling.
As they walked down the winding corridors of the hospital, Ms. Thompson started to give them the run down of what they'd find in the NICU.
" When we get there, you'll have to wash, and likely gown up.
"You're going to see a lot of wires, tubes and leads on the baby. Don't freak out, she's doing really well. This is all just precautionary treatment for her."
Tig's blue eyes widened.
"So, I'm guessing we'll only be looking in on her?" Venus inquired.
"Oh no! Nothing of the sort. Babies need to be held. It's what helps them bond to you, and grow. You'll be able to hold her. Another thing you should be aware of, is that talking to her will also aid in bonding. We've also been talking to Amelia, explaining to her that you and Mr. Trager will be coming to see her when she's up to it. I think you'll be able to visit with her tomorrow. I think she'll be really excited to meet the two of you."
They turned a corner, and found themselves in front of the NICU.
Their first stop was the nurses station.
"Mr. Trager, Ms. Van Dam.." Ms. Thompson started her introductions to the charge nurse.
"Honey, please, call me Venus"
" Venus and.."
"Alex", Tig said, sheepishly.
"Venus and Alex, I'd like you to meet Helen. She's been taking care of Violet"
Venus' eyes met those of the jolly looking nurse on the other side of the desk.
"Well, Hello! We're excited for you to be here. Before we head to the nursery, I need you to put on these ID bracelets. This way, when you come back we'll know who belongs to you" she said .
They did as she asked. Tig struggled with the bracelet and his leather wrist cuff, but managed to make it fit.
After washing their hands, Helen took them to an isolette, whose resident, had a hat fitted snugly on her head with a big bow in front.
She motioned to what looked like two reclining chairs, and had them sit down.
"Who would like to go first?" she asked
"Baby, why don't you?" Tig said.
Venus nodded her head and took a deep breath.
Helen lifted the baby out of the isolette, and arranged her in Venus' arms.
Venus looked down at the tiny bundle in her arms, all pink and sleepy.
"Well hello, Miss Violet, it's nice to meet you." She cooed.
At that moment, the baby yawned, scrunching up her face.
"My goodness, what a big yawn for such a little girl!" Venus giggled.
" You are so pretty. Isn't she just gorgeous, Alexander?" she said, stroking the baby's cheek.
"She is, baby, she is" Tig said, struck by how serene and beautiful Venus looked holding the baby.
"I know I'm new at this, but I promise, we will take good care of you. "
Venus felt the tears coming to her eyes, and called out to the Nurse, who was busily writing in a chart.
"Excuse me, would you happen to have a tissue?"
"Everything ok?" Helen asked, walking over and dabbing Venus' eyes so as not to disturb the sleeping baby.
"Yes darlin', these are happy tears."
" You look like a pro, holding her. She's a very lucky little girl. Can I get you anything else?"
"Not right now." Venus smiled at the nurse, and thanked her.
"Well then, let me give you some time to yourselves. Use the call button if you need anything."
"Thank you.", Tig and Venus said at the same time.
"You ok, Baby?" Tig asked, after the nurse left their area.
"Just fine. " Venus sighed. "We've just met" she said, looking down , "and I think I'm in love already."
Tig smiled. " Kinda like when I first met you."
The rest of the day was spent back at their house, touring Mr. Verde around the place, showing him that they had enough space, and that it was safe.
He commented that he was impressed with their home, and that it was just that, a home.
Venus beamed when she heard that. Even before this unexpected turn in the road, she worked hard to make the space she shared with Tig more than just some furniture and four walls. She took pride in the job she did fixing up the place. She looked forward to decorating the rooms for the girls. " A little pink would do this place good, "she thought to herself
Chucky showed up to take notes, and help get things organized . He and Venus were deep in conversation about the perfect crib and car seat. Tig just shook his head and laughed.
He went outside to smoke a cigarette, Venus didn't allow it in the house, and just as he took his first drag, he felt his phone start to buzz in his pocket.
He looked quickly at the number, and saw that Nero was calling him back.
"Hey Brother"
" What can I do for you, Mano? I got your message. Everything ok?" Nero answered.
"Yeah, just fine. Don't know if you heard, but Venus and I now seem to find ourselves in the family way"
He heard Nero laughing on the other end of the line.
"What the hell, man? Is this the Immaculate Conception?"
"Nah, bro. A girl from Diosa, after your time there, offed herself, and made it clear she wanted Venus to take care of her kids. We met the baby today. Looks like we'll be seeing the older one tomorrow or the next day."
"Whoah. That's some heavy shit. How's my girl doing with all this?"
"You know her, she's strong. Smiling through it all."
"Well, I can come up there if you need me,"
"I think we're going to be ok, but I did want to ask you something. Once the dust settles, and we get into some sort of routine, I wanna do something I've been putting off for a while, and I wanted to ask your permission. You're the closest thing to family Venus has, and I only thought it right… "
" Uhh yeah, bro. Of course. You know, when shit first started popping off between the two of you, I worried. She's been through a lot of shit in her life, and I thought if you ever hurt her, I'd have to hurt you. She loves you, man. I'm glad that you feel the same way. I've gotta go, bro, but I'll check in soon. See how everything's going. Bring the family down to Norco when everything calms down, ok?"
"Ok, great. I've gotta go. Say hey to Wendy and the kids for me. Talk to you later, Abuelo" Tig laughed as he hung up the phone. He finished his cigarette and headed back inside.