I put my hand in his and he grabbed me in a big hug. We started back to the back of the truck. He jumped up and put his arms out to pull me up. He had laid tons of quilts and pillows all over the back of the truck. He had lit candles and placed them up on the roof of the cab of the truck. Those with the moonlight were all the lighting we needed. He sat down and had me sit down beside him. “Your mom packed dinner for us. She really wanted to help me out.” He opened up a box my mom had given him. She had made my favorite meal...fried chicken, potato salad, and her delicious homemade rolls. She had also packed diet coke...my go-to drink.
“Have I told you lately, how much I love your Mom?” Jaxon asked as he was getting out the plates and silverware.
“She is pretty awesome. If it wasn’t for her, this might not have happened. If she hadn’t tricked me into going into town with you that Sunday, we might not have fallen in love.”
He stopped what he was doing and grabbed my hands in his.
“I thank your mom for pushing you that day, but I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from you. The minute I saw you out in the field, I knew I wanted you. It was like they write about in those romance novels...it was like a current zapping through me. I just felt like...well, it was you. You were what I had been waiting for. And, honestly, it scared the hell out of me.”
I couldn’t stop giggling, these pregnancy hormones had my mood all over the place.
“You know how I feel about you laughing at me,” he said, and I broke out into full-blown laughter.
He looked so confused, he had his eyebrow raised at me. “What is so damn funny? I just laid everything out for you and you’re cracking up.”
I tried so hard to stop laughing. I gained enough composure to say, “You just told me you read romance novels.” And then the laughter started again. Was he blushing? It sure looked like he was.
“Where do you think I learn all those amazing things that I do to you? I didn’t hear you complaining about it earlier today.”
Well, that changed everything. My laughter stopped and I caught his gaze. His eyes were smoldering.
I licked my lips. “Maybe we can eat
later
?” He nodded and kissed me. We made love, and it was amazing. I was so glad that he read romance novels.
Chapter 17
Cade
I’m not gonna lie, the past two weeks had been torture. Seeing her with him, knowing she was pregnant with my baby. The baby I had dreamed about for years. The baby inside the woman that I had fallen so damn hard for. It was fucking tearing me up inside. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. He had won. She had always been his. I was just here. I was the distraction she needed to realize how much she loved the asshat.
I had stayed at Harper Farms, but I was spendin’ most of my time out workin’. I had ventured into town a couple of times. Even spent a little time gettin’ to know some lovely ladies at the tavern in town. I had met this chick named Mare, yeah, just like a horse.
Damn she was hot.
Right then and there, she asked me to take her up against the wall in the back of the bar. I couldn’t fuckin’ do it...but damn she was temptin’.
Lor was havin’ the test done tomorrow and they had said we would know in a couple of days. I wanted that baby to be mine more than anything in this world. I had always dreamed about having a family. A sweet little toe-head girl following me around on the ranch. Teaching her everything I knew about horses and workin’ the farm. I wanted that, damn I wanted that. And I wanted it with Lor. I knew that wasn’t happenin’, but a man could dream, right?
Loralei
Tomorrow was the day. It was the day that I would have the test to find out if the baby I was carrying was Jaxon’s. Jaxon and I had been spending all of our time together since the date at the pond.
We were living as a family, mostly. Jaxon wasn’t spending the night, but he was eating dinner with us almost every night.
While Cade was here, we agreed that it would be better if he didn’t work on the farm. So he would come by in the morning and tell the kids good morning before they went to school. Some days we would have lunch together at my house or Jake’s.
I was spending a lot of time trying to avoid Cade. I didn’t want to see him, until I knew if he was the father. We had some awkward run-ins when Jaxon came to visit me in my office, but we had survived.
I was out in the field, checking out the new cattle we had received, when I saw him. Cade was walking right toward me. “Hey, hon. How ya feeling?” He placed his hand on my upper arm.
“I’m feelin’ real good. No morning sickness or anything. I had it so bad with the twins. I was pretty worried about it this time, but so far, so good.”
He looked down at his boots while he was kicking the dirt around. “Uh, can I go with ya for the test tomorrow?”
That really surprised me. “You really don’t need to Cade. Jax...uh, I mean, I won’t be alone.”
He looked up and his eyes met mine. He looked so sad. “I know he’ll
be with ya. I just kinda hoped I could be there too.”
I couldn’t really tell him no, he had every right to be there. “Sure, if you want to be there, I don’t have a problem with it. My appointment is at two o’clock. Do you wanna meet us at the clinic in town?”
He gave me a little sideways smile. “Yeah, hon, that would be great. Thanks.”
Jaxon
This morning I had gotten up and gone to Lor’s to help her see the kids off to school, like I had been doing for the past couple of weeks. I hadn’t spent the night yet, but Lor and I had decided it would be best to not do that for awhile. We needed the kids to be used to me being there for a bit longer.
“Your appointment is at two o’clock, right babe?” I asked Lor as she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch beside me.
“About that, are you sure you wanna go with me? You really don’t have to.”
“How could you ask me that? After the past couple of weeks. I thought we were in this together. I thought you realized how much you mean to me? I will always be here for you and the baby, no matter what.”
“We are in this together, but Cade asked me yesterday if he could go with me.”
“And you don’t want me to go, but you want him to take you? Seriously?” I couldn’t believe she didn’t want me there. It hit me hard. I thought we were in this together. Maybe she was having second thoughts about me and the type of father I could be to the baby. Maybe she wanted Cade.
“No, Jaxon. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Of course, I want you there with me. I just know it will be awkward for both of you to be there. And honestly, it’s just a test. A little needle...not a big deal.”
“I’m going to be there with you. If
he
is there, I won’t have a problem with it. He might though.”
“He knows you’ll be there. He will meet us at the clinic.” She said this as she stood up and started to walk away.
I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto my lap. “Do you have to work today? Or can you stay in with me until it’s time for the appointment?”
She smiled that beautiful smile. “That’s the beauty of being the boss. I don’t have to work if something better comes up.” She shifted around on my lap.
“Something better is definitely coming up, babe.” We spent the rest of the morning making out like teenagers on the couch. It was one of the best mornings of my life.
Loralei
Jaxon and I made it to the clinic a little before two o’clock. Cade was waiting for us in the parking lot. We got out of the jeep and he walked over toward us. He never said a word, just tipped his hat, and gestured for us to walk ahead of him. Needless to say, it was a little awkward walking into the clinic with Jaxon and Cade. I believe it was pretty clear to everyone, why I was there. Most women didn’t bring two guys with them to see their OB/GYN.
The appointment went by without incident. Jaxon and Cade shared a few intense stare downs, but basically it all went pretty well.
The doctor told me we should have the results in about three days. These were going to be the longest three days of my life…
Three days later
My phone was ringing off the wall. I ran to answer it, a little out of breath, “Uh, hello.”
It was the nurse from the clinic. “Ms. Harper, we have the results of your test. We don’t normally do this over the phone. Can you come in and pick them up?”
Really? Did she have to ask? “Of course, I’m on my way.”
The kids were already off to school, so I jumped in the jeep and headed to the clinic. I decided to do this alone. I didn’t need Jaxon or Cade with me. I needed to find this out on my own. It would be difficult, but I needed to tell the father myself.
I was almost sick by the time I got to the clinic. I hadn’t had morning sickness the entire pregnancy, but right then I was so nauseous. I just knew I would puke before I could read the results. I went into the clinic and the nurse handed me a plain white envelope with BABY HARPER typed on the front of it.
I walked out to the jeep holding the envelope. I heard my cell chirping and saw that Jaxon had been calling me. I couldn’t talk to him right now. I had to see what the results said.
I opened the envelope and tried to read the results.
The first two pages were a bunch of graphs and numbers. The grid was titled: “A” and “B”. I read on and realized that Jaxon was “A” and Cade was “B”. Thank God there was a title on the second page that spelled that out. I got to the last page and it said: Paternity Verified, and that was followed by a letter. I finally knew who the father was.
Cade
The past three days had about killed me. I couldn’t eat, sleep, nothin’. Today should be the day that we find out. I just needed to know. I needed to get back to my life either way. I had been neglecting everything and that just wasn’t somethin’ I did.
Since my parents had died, that ranch was my life. Clay and I had been away for too long. If the baby was mine we were goin’ to have to figure somethin’ out. I didn’t know how we were gonna do it, but I wouldn’t be away from my kid.
When I heard the knock on the door, I about jumped outta my hide. I got up and headed for the door. When I opened it, I knew the question had been answered.
Jaxon
I had been trying to call Lor all morning. I couldn’t understand why she was ignoring my calls. I was getting a little worried. Today was the day that we were supposed to get the results of the paternity test and I think we were both a little on edge.
I heard someone pull up outside. I went to the door and saw Lor’s jeep. She got out and started toward me. Her eyes were all red and swollen. She had been crying, a lot. I ran to her. “Babe, what’s wrong? Did you get the results?” She was sobbing. She put her arms around my waist and laid her head on my chest.
The crying was breaking my heart and it told me all I needed to hear. “We knew this was gonna happen, Lor. We knew it wasn’t mine. It’s okay. We are still going to be a family. We will handle of this together. Please stop crying.” I put my hand on her chin and raised her head up to look at me.
She opened her eyes and met mine. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She was killing me. I couldn’t stand to see her hurting. “It’s okay, babe.”
She let out a little giggle, which was really weird because she still had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I had to tell Cade. I had to tell him...that the baby is yours. We’re having a baby, Jaxon!” I was shocked. I couldn’t speak. I stared at her. She put her hand on my cheek. “Did you hear me, baby? We’re having a baby. We made a baby together. Jaxon, are you okay?”
I lost it. I had never been so happy in my life. I picked her up and pulled her into my chest. I swung us around in circles and prayed that this moment wasn’t a dream.
Epilogue
Six Months later....
I loved days like today. Days spent with our family down by the pond. The kids were fishing. My and Declan’s parents were there to help keep the kids in line. Jaxon and I were walking around the pond, holding hands, laughing, and enjoying each other.
It seemed like not too long ago, we didn’t believe we would get to this point - the point where we were in love and about ready to have a baby together.
I never believed that I would find love again. After everything that happened with Cade and Stacy, I didn’t think Jaxon and I would end up together. But it seemed like we were meant to be. Everything kinda brought us together. Destiny…maybe?
It was starting to get dark and my parents offered to take the kids home so Jaxon and I could spend some time together. The crickets were chirping their evening lullaby, and the fireflies were sparkling out across the pond. I couldn’t think of a more romantic setting than this.
Jaxon spread an old blanket out on the bank. He sat down and easily pulled me onto his lap. “I am so fat. But you love me anyway, right?”
Jaxon laughed. “Baby, you aren’t fat. You’re having a baby. Our baby. My baby. That makes you the most beautiful woman in the world. Now, shut up and kiss me.”
I did just that. We sat in each other’s arms for a long time, just enjoying the beautiful evening.
All of a sudden, Jaxon started humming a very familiar Elvis song. I smiled as he started to sing
I Can’t Help Falling In Love.
While he was singing to me about how he couldn’t help falling in love with me, I turned around in his arms. I had to see that sexy mouth while those words were escaping his lips.
He sang about how this was how we were supposed to be. Life had brought us together and no matter what we had done, it couldn’t have been helped. We were made for each other, made to be together, and made to be the parents of this baby.