by Sarah Banks
“Yes they are,” she agreed. She was quiet for a moment before continuing, “So what you’re saying is that you’re up for an even bigger challenge?”
David had no idea what she was talking about, but he took the opportunity to nibble her neck as the children’s backs were turned. “I’m always up for a challenge.” He could feel her smile against his brow.
“Really? Well, how about adding a third to the mix?”
“A third what?” He asked distractedly, working his way up to her ear. He felt her shiver in his arms and he glanced up at the sun. Only halfway down the sky, there were still too many hours until bedtime.
“Child,” she answered softly.
He froze. “Child?”
She nodded against him.
He gently tipped her face back to his. She wore a shy smile.
“You’re expecting?”
She nodded.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment before giving her a hard kiss.
She pulled back. “So you’re happy?”
“I’ve never been happier,” he assured her. “And I’m most definitely up for the challenge, as long as you’re by my side.”
She turned in his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down to hers.
He eventually broke their kiss but only long enough to say, “I love you Kate,” against her lips.
“I love you too David.”
He kissed her again and continued on kissing her until he heard Lee say with exaggeration, “Not again!”
They pulled apart, their eyes meeting and they both burst out laughing.
David pulled her to her feet. “Should we tell them?” He asked, nodding over his shoulder.
“Not yet, but soon.”
David collected the basket of fish and poles and tied them to the pony Lee insisted bringing anytime they left the house, even if it only was a ten-minute walk to the fishing hole. “Time to go home troop. Aunt Susan’s expecting us soon.”
It wasn’t Sunday but they often spent time at her house and vice versa, no matter the day of the week. They hadn’t been able to convince Aunt Susan to leave her house in town and move in with them yet. She insisted newlyweds should have their privacy which didn’t make any sense at all since David only got Kate to himself after the children went to bed or when Aunt Susan took them overnight here and there. He knew that she liked living in town and was reluctant to leave the house that she shared with her husband. Maybe news of the baby would finally be enough to convince her.
“What about Aunt Susan?”
Kate looked up at him from the blanket she had just folded. “She already knows. She knew before I did,” Kate told him with a laugh.
Olive ran over to them and asked, “Can I stay overnight at Aunt Susan’s tonight?”
“Me too!” Lee added.
“Let’s get a move on and you can ask her yourself,” David replied. “Your pony awaits, my lady.” He swung Olive up and settled her onto his shoulders. She squealed in surprise and immediately reached forward to try to grab onto anything she could, which happened to be his ears.
“Hey, did you wash your fish hands?”
She giggled. “I didn’t touch it,” she insisted.
“Are you sure?” He pulled her hands from his ears to his nose, snuffling them noisily, causing her to laugh loudly and try to wriggle away. He replaced her hands on his ears. “They smell okay. Let’s go.”
David watched proudly as Lee guided his real pony to a nearby rock and mounted easily on his own. The boy was a natural.
He took the picnic basket from Kate and crooked his arm. She took it with a smile and then he walked his family home.
They went to Aunt Susan’s for supper. Afterwards while his wife and aunt were doing the dishes while talking and laughing and Lee was trying to teach Olive how to play poker, David ducked out onto the porch. Not to smoke, but to think. The past year changed his life so much. Things hadn’t exactly turned out as he planned. They were better.
He hoped that Kate would soon join him. He loved every minute he could get her alone. As it turned out, when the door finally opened it was his aunt who joined him on the porch. “I hear you’re going to be a Papa.”
“Think I’ll be a good one?”
“You already are David. You’re absolutely wonderful with Lee and Olive.”
David felt his throat tighten. “Thank you. I had good examples.”
His aunt’s eyes glistened and she squeezed his hand affectionately before going back inside.
Not long after the door opened again but it wasn’t Kate this time either. Lee sauntered out onto the porch and leaned against the railing. “Olive is even worse at poker than Kate,” he grumbled.
David chuckled. Olive was barely four years old. “Give her a few more years.”
Lee nodded. He was silent for a long while, picking at a chip of loose white paint on the railing.
“Something on your mind Lee?”
Lee nodded again but didn’t look up.
“Well, out with it. If you have a problem, the sooner you tell me, the sooner we can solve it.”
Lee glanced up at him and quickly looked away. “I was just wondering if it was okay…well, if it was okay if I called you Pa?”
Whatever David was expecting, it hadn’t been that. He couldn’t immediately reply for the lump in his throat. He forced himself to swallow and said gruffly, “I’d like that.”
Lee looked up at him again, this time his face breaking out into a big grin. “You would?”
“I would,” David said sincerely. He knew Lee wasn’t much into displays of affection, but he pulled the boy into his arms for a quick hug anyway.
After a moment Lee pushed away and looked up at him. “And Kate, do you think she’d mind if I called her Ma? Olive already calls her Mama. I thought I might too.”
“I suspect she’d like that very much. But be prepared, the first time or two it might make her bust out in tears. Just remember they’re happy tears. And we’re likely to see more of that in the coming months, given her condition.”
“What condition?”
“Uh…”
“What condition?” Lee repeated, his head cocked.
Well, he’d gone and stepped in it this time. Kate wanted to wait to tell the children and David had lasted less than four hours. Well, there was nothing for it now. He’d have to tell Lee just to wipe that worried look off his face and humbly apologize to Kate later. “She’s expecting a baby. Late next Spring.”
“She is?”
David nodded.
“Is it going to be a boy?”
David laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I hope it’s a boy.”
David laughed again and ruffled the boy’s hair. “You’re happy though, right? Ready to be a big brother again? You have more experience with babies than I do. I’ll need your help.”
Lee nodded. “I can help.”
“Good kid.”
The door to the house opened a third time and this time it was Kate. She stepped out onto the darkened porch with a smile. “Am I interrupting anything?”
David and Lee exchanged glances and smiles before David answered, “Nope.”
“Nope,” Lee repeated. He rushed into Kate’s arms and gave her a tight hug around her middle before disappearing back into the house.
Kate laughed. “What was that all about? I usually have to hug him.”
David wouldn’t tell her about Lee’s request to call her Ma. She’d learn that soon enough but he might as well confess that he had spilled the beans about the baby.
He picked at the same chip in the paint Lee had been. “I, uh, sort of told him that you were expecting a baby.”
Kate put her hands on her hips. “David! You didn’t even last a day!”
“I didn’t mean to, it just slipped out. He seems happy enough about it. Although he’s requesting a baby brother.”
Kate tipped her head back and laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “God, I love you Kate. Have I told you that yet today?”
“A time or two,” she confirmed, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed his bristly chin and then brushed her lips across his once, then twice. “But I’ll never get tired of hearing it.” And then she kissed him.
The End
Also by Sarah Banks
Brides of Sweet Creek
Mail Order Anna
Mail Order Becca
Mail Order Charlotte
Mail Order Matrimony
His Surprise Bride
Almost a Bride
