Nouveau

Chapter 66: Back Home

Tremaine

"L, wake up." The GPS stated their destination was about 5 miles away after merging on the exit. MéMé had called Laive about 10 times as they drove across one of the parish lines of northern Louisiana. "We almost there."

"For real..." Laive groaned over in the passenger seat and stretched awake, "Let me call these people before they start lying on me."

"You been sleeping a lot." Tremaine stated never taking his eyes off the road. Baby girl had damn near slept 10 hours off and on and had a full nights rest before they even got on the plane.

"I know. I don't know why I've been so tired. I feel like I still need to catch up on some more sleep."

"You late too."

Laive

The tone of Tremaine's matter-of-factness jerked her completely awake.

What?!

Calmly pulling out her phone, Laive looked at the last period notation on her calendar.

5 days.

She was 5 days late.

"No I'm not." Laive recited a straight face lie. "Don't do that! Trying to scare the crap outta me."

5 days? What the fuck had she been doing? Laive was always on top of that. L could not have anyone's big head baby right now. Laive's body would probably betray her even more the second time around.

God please.

This is the last damn thing she needed while coming home. Laive pulled the visor mirror above the passenger seat down and examined her skin. While applying a fresh coat of lip gloss, she silently prayed she didn't have a glow or peachy tone to her skin. MéMé would pick up on it instantly and that would lead to a whole other tier of scrutiny.

Tremaine stated it again, "You late."

"I'm not." Laive smacked her lips. "Stop saying that."

"Ok."

"What you smirking for? It's not funny."

"You funny."

"What's funny about me?"

Tremaine walked L through how her periods came like bills around the first of the month. That her PMS cravings were always savory or sweet. L always needed her favorite sour candy or seafood about a week before she came on. That she'd get bloated and emotional a few days before that and she hadn't lifted a finger or pouted to him about getting any of those things since last month.

"You know periods can be delayed due to hormonal changes."

Tremaine made his smart remark as they pulled up to a newly built subdivision, "So delayed would mean you late baby."

Laive relayed the gate code and didn't entertain the conversation any further.

Tremaine

He'd almost forgot about the city that was similar to his own hometown. Outside of discovering Laive, he recalled visiting a few times while touring with Monica and even recording his first feature film here. And after almost 10.5 years, it still looked the same.

The large black brass gate accented with a cream and ivory colored security tower opened leading to a vast array of newly modeled homes.

The homes were a mix of traditional and modern architecture built on spacious property ranging from $400,000 to the upper $800,000's. He knew damn well Laive better had not done what he thought she did as he pulled into the corner lot that had its own dead end street on the front end of the house.

"When you got this?"

"A while ago. It just got finished like last month."

"Why you ain't tell me?"

"I was waiting to get the furniture and I didn't want you to talk me out of it."

L explained that she wanted to get the place for her mom and dad, but decided against it. She'd get them something soon. Laive wanted to make sure she got something for herself to come home to. A hotel wasn't going to do. She was tired of putting herself last when it came to everyone else.

"I'm a water the grass later on. Still have to work on landscaping the flower beds. Might try to get that done while I'm here." L continued.

"Or," Tremaine interjected. "You could sit your ass down somewhere and relax. Catch up on that sleep you been missing for the next few days."

After they unpacked and showered, Laive made the necessary calls to her family letting them know they had safely made it in and would see everyone later. She'd tried her best to prepare Tremaine ahead of time in regards to interacting with her family. They could be blunt and crass at times, but didn't mean any harm. Laive warned that as long as people had tough skin they'd be able to handle being around them.

The couple settled in the luxurious yet cozy living room where Laive had the walls painted in stark white, with amber colored wood beams that adorned high ceilings. Two additional beams were utilized as shelving on both sides of the centered marble fire place. The marble gave a high end contrast to the rooms cozy interior with small modern industrial touches. The marble was composed of cream brick complimenting ivory veining.

With the specified open floor plan, Laive had two cream colored couches separated by a glass coffee table with gold accents. Two modern tufted recliners sat directly on the short side of the coffee table separating the two identical sofas and their adorned decorative pillows of bearing, faux fur, and knitted cashmere. Laive had gotten so comfortable she seemed to be falling asleep as she spoke.

"They don't mean no harm really. They just say whatever is on their mind."

Tremaine wasn't worried. He was sure he could hold his own. "You hungry?"

"No."

"You haven't eaten since we stopped outside of Baton Rouge."

"I'm really not hungry Tremaine."

"What you want to eat? I can order you something. You gotta eat L."

Laive looked at him through fatigued eyes as she laid her head on the arm rest. Baby girl whined that she just wanted to get some sleep. Dressed in a white nylon camisole and red boy shorts that barely covered her rump, Tremaine grinned as Laive tugged at the roots of her curly tresses in frustration.

"You can eat something light baby. I'll get you some soup or a salad."

Laive didn't protest.

Tremaine gently kissed her forehead, "Your favorite from Panera Bread?"

She mumbled mhmm and settled quietly into one of the plush accent pillows.