TENACITY

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Royals Private Hospital7:16 pm

Trey was in Lexi's room with Melissa, Jason, and Billy when his phone went off with an incoming call. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to find it was his mom calling. "Hey," he greeted upon answering, rising out of the seat he'd been occupying for hours and stretching. "Have you arrived?"

"At the hospital, no," she replied. "We just left the airport."

"I see."

There was a pause before his mom spoke up again. "How is Alexandra? Did she get through it fine?"

Trey sighed. "Sort of. She's good enough but asleep at the moment. Her doctor can only declare how she really is after a few days of monitoring."

"Okay, that's good enough for now, I suppose," she replied solemnly, then asked, "and my grand babies?"

"They're in the NICU."

"You both deserve a break after all this," she said.

Trey laughed a little. "I'm not sure if you mean a break as in a break from our problems or a vacation away from all this. But either is welcomed." His mom chuckled. He yawned then, looking away when Jason smiled wryly because he didn't want to admit how tired he really was.

"Aw," his mom cooed, and Trey scrunched his face. But she wasn't done. "Tony, my poor baby is tired." He heard his stepfather's deep laugh.

"Mom—" he groaned but got cut off when she continued speaking to her husband, paying Trey no attention.

"I remember when he was a baby and would stretch so languidly every time I took him out of the blanket I'd swaddled him in for the night," she continued, her voice thick with emotion. "Then he'd give me the most adorable, dimpled smile full of gums while rubbing his eyes."

Trey pinched the bridge of his nose, grateful his friends couldn't hear any of this. He was a ruthless businessman now, and he wondered why his mum was bent on reminding him he used to be a baby too. "I'm still on the phone, mom," he said.

"I know you are," she answered, "and a part of me wishes you had stayed a baby, but then you wouldn't have met this wonderful woman you made your wife."

"True," he agreed with a smile to himself. "So, I'll see you two soon?"

"Of course." He heard their hushed voices as they spoke to each other and waited patiently till his mom spoke again. "Tony wants me to ask if you'd like us to get you anything?"

"Hold on for a second." He muted the phone and asked Jason if Sierra would be coming. His answer was yes. Trey stepped out of the hospital room and unmuted. "Mom?"

"Yes honey?"

"Would it bother you to get us food?" he asked quietly.

"Of course not," came her reply.

"But there's a lot of us here," Trey told her. "My assistant would be coming over after with documents that need my attention, and so would Sierra. There's five of us here. Which means you'll have to buy for nine—you two included."

"It's not a problem Trey. You worry too much. Just text us your orders within the next ten minutes?"

"Alright. And I'll add my card number; you use it to pay for everything," he said, fishing out his wallet. His mom hummed absently. "I'm serious, mom. Don't you dare use your own money," he warned.

"We'll see about that," she murmured vaguely.

Trey huffed in exasperation, then remembered one more thing. "There's one more thing."