Happy in the Border Lands Read online

“I’m a little tired. I’ll probably take a nap. I can’t believe I’m so tired when I had a nap this morning.”

  “That’s the pregnancy. Follow your body’s natural rhythms. When it says nap, take a nap. Go on. I’ll check on you in a little bit, hon.”

  Lucille settled on the couch and turned on her side to get comfortable. It didn’t take long before she was sound asleep.

  * * * *

  Jeff smiled down at his woman. She was sound asleep with her hand curled under her chin like a child. She was so cute and so sexy at the same time. He decided not to rouse her by sitting and putting her feet in his lap. Instead, he sat on one of the recliners and put his feet up. He was exhausted himself. It was no wonder she’d had the scare with the baby. Standing on her feet and lifting those heavy pans of vegetables was hard work. He was feeling the efforts of it himself.

  She murmured in her sleep then settled again. He wondered what she was dreaming about and listened closer, but she didn’t say anything else. Jeff looked out the window and realized it was almost night. Ty should be returning before long. He prayed his brother was close and hadn’t run into any trouble.

  He found himself drifting in and out of sleep, so when the back door opened, he was out of his chair and charging for the kitchen in seconds, disoriented and unsure of what he was doing when he realized it was just Ty.

  “Hey, Jeff. What’s wrong?” Ty asked, dropping the arm full of books he’d held onto the table.

  “Nothing. I was dozing when you walked in. Thought something was coming in on us. Everything go okay?” Jeff asked.

  “Went fine. Didn’t see a soul. Found plenty of books. Got more on the horse. Hold on.” Ty walked back outside then came back in with another armful of books. He set them on the table as well. “I’m going to go take care of the horse, and then I’ll be inside. Please tell me there’s something to eat. I’m starved.”

  “I started some deer meat. I’ll finish it while you’re out there. Lucille is asleep. She’ll be hungry when she wakes up as well,” Jeff said.

  Ty nodded and walked back outside, shutting the door behind him. Jeff drew in a deep breath to steady his still racing heart. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep like that. Anyone could have come in on them like that. Yes, the door had been locked, and Ty had had to use his key, but still.

  Jeff pulled the meat back out of the fridge and put it in the oven to warm. Then he put the beans back on the stove top and heated them up as well. He poured up some corn batter and heated it on top of the stove to make griddle cakes while the deer meat finished cooking. By the time Ty returned and had washed up, the meal was ready.

  “Why don’t you wake Lucille up and bring her in here. I’ll have it on the table, and we can eat,” Jeff told his brother.

  “Sounds good.”

  Jeff dipped up the beans and set a bowl of steaming vegetables on the table along with the plate of meat and the plate full of griddle cakes. Then he placed glasses of iced tea at each plate. By the time he’d finished with the silverware, Ty had returned with an excited Lucille in tow.

  “Ty said he found lots of books for us to read through. Isn’t that great?” Lucille asked.

  “It is,” Jeff said. “We can start reading through them tonight. First though, you’ve got to eat dinner.”

  “I’m starved. Everything smells great,” she said.

  “That’s good news,” Ty said.

  “Just don’t ask what she ate for lunch,” Jeff teased.

  “Uh-oh. I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”

  “Nope,” Jeff said.

  “You guys are crazy,” Lucille said.

  They ate dinner talking about Ty’s trip and the condition of the library and how vines and a tree were growing right in the library itself and how surreal it had been to find vines the size of his wrist winding around the reference desk and over the computers.

  “I can’t even imagine. Maybe once the baby is here and things have settled down, we could all make a trip there so I can find some books to read. Plus, we’ll need some children books to teach the baby to read when he gets old enough,” she said.

  Jeff moaned. “God, I hadn’t thought about that. We’ve got to teach the child how to read and write and count and do math and all that sort of stuff. There’s so much we really haven’t thought about. We really need to make some lists.”

  “Good thing I brought back lots of paper and pencils from the library. They had paper still in boxes so I grabbed a package of it and all the pencils I could find,” Ty said.

  “Glad you were thinking straight for a change,” Jeff said.

  “Hey. I always think straight,” he protested.

  “That’s arguable,” Jeff said, narrowing his eyes at him.

  “Guys. No fighting over dinner,” Lucille said.

  Jeff sighed. “I wonder if your sister has had her baby yet. As soon as we’ve read through a few books and the tomatoes are down to only a few at a time, we’ll make a trip to see her and the guys. Probably in another week. How about that?”

  “Yes. I can’t wait. I want to see her and ask her questions.”

  “Hopefully the books will answer most of your questions so you don’t have to ask her anything and you can just visit,” Jeff said.

  Jeff wanted her to feel comfortable about having the baby. He didn’t want her to be scared any longer. Hopefully the books would help with that. He prayed they would anyway.

  Chapter Twelve

  “How much longer?” she asked again.

  “Another twenty minutes. Stop asking or I’m going to put a sock in your mouth,” Ty said with a wide grin.

  “You’ve been asking us every five minutes for the last hour. We’re almost there, hon,” Jeff said.

  Lucille was riding one of the horses, and the two men were walking on either side of her, making sure the horse didn’t get startled by something and buck her off. They’d decided it would be safer for her to ride than to walk the two hours it would take to get to her sister’s place.

  She was so excited. They were finally going to see her sister. She’d been counting the days for a week, and it had finally gotten to be the day. Every day that went by without her bleeding had been another day to celebrate that she was still pregnant. The books had been a great help. They’d learned more about what to expect while she was carrying the baby and when to expect it. They’d also learned more about what they would need in order to take care of a baby once it was born.

  Lucille was going list crazy. She’d made a list for every single thing. A list for the actual birth, a list for the baby’s first six months. One for its first year and one for each year after that. She’d also made one for furniture, one for food, and one for each month of her pregnancy. The men were rolling their eyes at her lists and trying not to get on her bad side when she caught them.

  The second she saw the clearing and the house she squealed with excitement. The horse reared its head back, but Ty had a firm hand on his halter.

  “Lucille, angel. Don’t do that. You’re scaring the horse.”

  “We’re here though. Let me down. I want to see my sister,” she said.

  “When we get up to the house, hon,” Jeff said.

  Jessup walked out on the back porch of the cabin and waved at them.

  “Hey, guys. It’s good to see you,” Jessup said.

  “Same here. Our woman is in desperate need to see her sister,” Jeff said.

  “Her sister has a baby girl to show off,” Jessup said. “Evers is in there with her right now. Holly will be over the moon when she sees that Lucille is here.”

  “A baby girl? Really?” Lucille started trying to slide off the horse. Jeff barely caught her before she made it to the ground herself.

  “Honey. Be careful. I told you to let one of us help you down. You’re too short to reach the ground on your own.” Jeff shook his head as he released her. She all but ran across the yard to the porch.

  “Remember to be quiet. The baby is sleeping,”
Jessup warned her.

  “I will. I can’t wait to see her.” Lucille eased open the door and walked into the kitchen. The room was empty.

  She walked into the living room to find it empty as well. She carefully walked up the stairs to find her sister sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at a darling little baby asleep in a handmade cradle next to the bed.

  Holly looked up, and her face brightened even more if that were possible.

  “Lucille! You’re here. I’m so excited. Look what I did.” She indicated the baby.

  “I see. I bet the men had a little something to do with it. She’s beautiful,” Lucille said.

  “She’s three days old. She’s so tiny. I’m scared to leave her alone at all. Evers is in the bathroom taking a shower. He’s going to watch her while I get something to eat.” Holly gently brushed a lock of the baby’s hair with her finger. “I can’t believe I had her. I still can’t believe it.”

  “Hey, Lucille. Sorry, didn’t know you were here.” Evers walked into the bedroom in nothing but a towel. He grabbed some clothes and retreated to the bathroom again. “I’ll be right out to watch the baby, Holly.”

  “What did you name her?” Lucille asked.

  “Candice. Candy for short.”

  “She’s going to be pretty, just like her mother,” Lucille said as Evers walked into the room.

  “Okay, ladies. I’ve got Candy. You can go get something to eat, Holly, and catch up.” Evers patted Holly on the bottom then sat down across from the cradle.

  “Thanks, Evers. I am hungry.”

  Lucille wrapped Holly in her arms and squeezed before walking with her back to the kitchen.

  The guys were in the kitchen talking as Jessup put together a meal for Holly. They grew quiet as they walked into the room.

  “There’s plenty here if you’re hungry, Lucille,” Jessup said.

  “Thanks. I could eat.”

  “Told you,” Ty said.

  Lucille stuck her tongue out at the man then sat next to her sister as Jessup placed the food on the table in front of them.

  “We’re going into the living room if you need anything,” Jessup said. “Just call out.”

  Lucille watched as he dropped a kiss on Holly’s lips before he led her men into the other room. She could see the love between her sister and her men. They obviously adored her, and she was head over heels in love with them.

  “You’re happy, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Very happy. They treat me like a goddess,” Holly said.

  “I’m glad. You deserve it. You looked after us for so long. You deserve to be happy,” Lucille said.

  “What about you? Are you happy?” Holly asked.

  “Very. Ty and Jeff are amazing. They do everything possible to take care of me. They made me ride the horse here so I wouldn’t have to walk the entire way,” she said.

  “I’m so glad it worked out between the three of you. Plus, you’re so close to me we can see each other occasionally,” Holly said.

  They ate in silence for a little while, and then Lucille finally burst out with her news.

  “I’m pregnant. At least I hope I still am.”

  “What? That’s great! Wait, you hope you still are? What do you mean?” Holly asked.

  Lucille recounted the entire last few weeks of her life and ended with how they’d been reading up on babies and pregnancy and she thought she was still pregnant because she was still having morning sickness and she hadn’t had any more bleeding.

  “I’m sure you still are. I had some spotting throughout my pregnancy. Not bleeding so much, but I spotted a lot. Kept me nervous my entire nine months,” Holly admitted.

  “I’m going to be a nervous wreck if that happens to me,” Lucille said.

  “It probably won’t. Don’t worry so much. I wish we’d had those baby books to refer to. The guys never even thought about getting books,” Holly said.

  “I’ve been making lists of things we need and what to worry about once the baby gets older.”

  “Like what?” Holly asked.

  “Like teaching them to read and write and count.”

  “I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.”

  “I know, right? We’ll have to teach them because there’s no school. Mom and Dad taught us after everything went to hell. You had more education than we did, but I can remember going. I don’t know if Amanda even remembers it. She was so young. Did she even go to school?” Lucille asked.

  “Kindergarten? First grade maybe? I can’t remember,” Holly admitted.

  “When things settle down after I have the baby, we’re going to go to the library again and get children’s books to teach with. I’ll get enough for both of us,” she promised.

  “Maybe we should put the children together to teach them. Have a couple of days a week where they are together to learn. I wish we weren’t so far apart,” Holly said.

  “We’ve got time to think about it. Maybe we can come up with something by then. We could ride the horses over and back. I don’t know. Something. There’s time,” Lucille said.

  “I can’t believe you’re pregnant. Our babies will grow up together,” Holly said, clapping her hands together.

  “I know.”

  They talked for hours before Ty and Jeff returned with Evers, who was holding baby Candice in his arms.

  “She woke up and wanted her mommy,” Evers said.

  Holly held out her arms. “She’s probably hungry. I need to feed her.”

  “Can I hold her before we leave?” Lucille asked.

  “Of course. She’s fussy but don’t take it personally. She’s just hungry,” Holly said.

  Lucille took baby Candice and marveled at how light but solid she was in her arms. The tiny baby quieted as she looked up at her with wide eyes then started sniffing again and soon was crying for real. Lucille smiled and returned her to her mother.

  “We better go and let you feed her. I love you, Holly. I’ll see you again soon,” she said.

  She let Jeff and Ty lead her toward the door. She was so excited for her sister. The baby was adorable, and it was obvious that the guys were all in with helping in any way they could. She prayed that she had a healthy baby as well. Would it be a boy or a girl?

  All the way home she talked about the baby and what all she and her sister had talked about. The men just grunted and agreed whenever she required an answer. She was sure they didn’t have a clue what she was saying. They were only half listening. She wondered what they’d talked about while she and her sister had been together.

  “Is everything okay, guys?” she finally asked.

  “Everything’s fine. Why are you asking?” Jeff asked.

  “Because you’re so quiet.”

  “Honey. We couldn’t get a word in edgewise if we wanted to,” Ty said.

  “Smartass. I’m serious. You’re both so quiet. Something’s wrong.”

  “Just have a lot to think about, honey. The guys were telling us about how hard it was on Holly during labor and how they hadn’t known what to do to help her,” Jeff said.

  “We have the books. They tell us what to expect and how you can help me. We’re better prepared,” she reminded him.

  “I know, but reading about it in a book is far different from the real thing,” Ty said.

  “It will be okay,” Lucille assured them without feeling quite as sure herself.

  In fact, looking down at that tiny little baby in her arms had awakened a lot more worry inside of her than she’d already had before. What if she couldn’t take care of such a tiny little baby? What if she did something wrong?

  * * * *

  Lucille spent the next weeks and months preparing for the baby and trying to remain calm as she watched her belly slowly bloom out into a small melon. Her breasts grew heavier, as did her ass. She hated that her body was getting so big. She knew it was good for the baby, but it was bad for her figure.

  “Stop looking at your ass and frowning like that,” Ty
said. “I love that ass. It’s even better now that you’ve got some meat on it.”

  “You mean since it got fat,” she said, staring at him with her lip poked out.

  He grinned and shook his head. “Not going there. You’re not fat. You’re growing our baby. He’s getting nice and healthy with every inch and pound you gain. Stop obsessing over your body.”

  “What about after the baby comes? What if I can’t lose all the weight?” she asked.

  “We’ll still love you. You’re you, no matter what, angel. You’ll still be my angel. Stop worrying so much. It’s not good for the baby. Ready to go downstairs now?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I hope the sun shines today. I’m so sick of all the snow and clouds. I feel like I’m going to go crazy if I can’t get outside soon,” she said.

  “No going outside even if the sun does shine. Not taking the chance that you slip and fall. Not worth the chance, angel,” Ty said. “Let’s get downstairs and get something to eat.”

  “Food. I’m always hungry now. It’s no wonder I’m getting as big as a house,” she mumbled as she headed for the stairs.

  “Hold up, babe. Remember, I go first.”

  “I don’t know why. If I slip and fall, I’ll take you with me.”

  “Yeah, but I’d be a soft cushion for you to fall on,” Ty said with a laugh.

  “Funny, ha ha.”

  “What are you two fussing about now?” Jeff asked as they walked into the kitchen.

  “Nothing,” Ty said. “She’s fussing about her ass, and I’m telling her how much I love that ass.”

  Jeff rolled his eyes. “Don’t encourage him, honey. He really, really loves your ass. Talks about it all the time.”

  “But it’s perfect. So round and squeezable. Perfect for popping when I’m balls deep in her perfect pussy,” Ty said.

  “See what I mean?” Jeff said.

  Lucille couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. They always got her out of her bad moods. That was another thing. Her moods were all over the place with her hormones. She sighed and sniffed. Something smelled delicious.

  “I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast?” she asked.