I grinned and stepped back from him. “Yes, I want to get a dishwasher first.”
“Okay,” he agreed easily. “But the washer and dryer are next.”
I pushed past him and headed up the stairs. “Let's go wake the others!”
***
We went to the home improvement store, but as we shopped, a twinge grew in my stomach.
We picked out a shiny new refrigerator that might or might not fit in the space where the old one was located, but Lincoln assured me he could fix that issue.
As we went on, the twinge kept coming back and worse each time. My thoughts were consumed with worry that something was wrong and not on what we were buying.
Tyler was the first to notice that something was off. His eyebrows drew downward and he caught my hand, stopping the two of us as Kayden and Lincoln kept looking for a dishwasher.
“You okay?”
I shrugged, folding my arms over my middle. “I'm just a little... I don't know. Crampy? I'm not sure why, though.”
Tyler's eyes widened, and he drew me into a hug. His masculine scent gave me comfort while he rubbed my back. “That's not a good thing, honey.”
I clutched his shoulders, sinking into his strength. “I know. Let's get through shopping and see how I am.”
He gave me a squeeze and drew away, his midnight gaze deep with concern. “Stay here. I'm going to get you one of those riding granny carts–” He stopped me with a raised brow and hand when I would have interrupted him. “–and you will use it.” His mouth was pressed into a thin line that told me there was no wiggle room for compromise.
I relented. He was right. I should sit down. “Okay.”
He gave a nod, kissed my forehead, and said he'd be right back.
Kayden came out of the maze of appliances, looking for us. “Hey, what’s going on?”
I was honest and told him I wasn't feeling well. Tyler would have told him anyway.
Kayden's gaze grew sharp with worry, and he gently drew me to him. Not in a hug, but just close. “What kind of feeling? Like you're going to throw up?”
I shook my head. “No. Different. Not necessarily hurting, just uncomfortable.”
Kayden's hold on my elbows tightened as his concern increased. “Maybe we should take you home.”
Patting his side from where I held him, I gave him what I thought was a reassuring smile. “Tyler went to get me a granny cart. I think I'll be good with that.”
He chuckled and gave a nod. “Okay. If Tyler’s not going crazy about this, I won't either.”
A moment later Tyler showed up riding the awful cart. Kayden, being Kayden, whipped out his phone and snapped a shot of Tyler before he could say no.
I had to laugh as I peeked over Kayden’s arm to see the result. Tyler was glaring at him in the photo. It was perfect.
“Hey, you go sit down on his lap and I'll take a quick pic,” Kayden suggested, readying his phone for the shot.
Tyler, who had already got up, rolled his eyes and sat back down, beckoning me to him. “Fine, only one.”
Amused and no longer feeling sick, I sat on Tyler’s lap, looping my arms around his neck as he laid a palm on my stomach. I kissed him while Kayden took the photo.
“Aww, I want one with her like that,” Lincoln stated as he came around the corner, sounding disappointed.
I got up off of Tyler, telling Lincoln next time, and let Tyler move. When he was up, I sat back down and peered at the controls.
Lincoln tilted his head, looking at me then at the cart. He gestured to it with one hand as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why does it feel like I'm missing something?”
Kayden gave him a playful punch to the arm. “Because you are.” Then he walked away.
I drove the cart past Tyler, who was explaining to Lincoln why I was riding a granny mobile, and followed Kayden back to the aisle with the dishwashers.
He pointed out a few until I settled on a simple black one.
“It would be easier to keep clean and black can have a certain charm in the kitchen.”
Kayden gave me a goofy grin. “What you mean is that it will hide little handprints from our kids.”
I rolled my eyes and scooted past him. “If that's how you want to look at it.”
I moved to the stoves. We had a gas one, so I searched until I found one. The turn knobs were on the front, just below the stove. I didn't like that. This time my thoughts did go to our future kids. It was dangerous having them so low and in reach of curious hands. What could we do?
“What has you thinking so hard?” Tyler asked, sliding up to my side. His hands were in his jeans pockets, and he was looking from me to the black and stainless steel and back again. “Is this the one you want?”
Being honest, I said, “The knobs are too low. What if McGuire Jr reached up and turned it on when he got older? How would we prevent that?”
Tyler's eyes grew wide, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. “I'm not–”
Lincoln stepped in between us and reached for a knob on the display stove. “Like this,” he stated, sliding off the dial knob until there was only a metal spoke left. He tossed the knob to his older brother and winked at me. “No kid of mine is going to start fires.”
Kayden, coming in at the end of that conversation, fired back, “Not unless it's camp fires. We gotta teach them that.”
I soft smile played on my lips as I enjoyed listening to the three of them talk about our future kids.
“So, are we good with this one?” Lincoln directed the question to me with a raised brow.
I nodded. “Now that I know that trick, I like it.”
“Good,” Kayden spoke, patting my head. “Now turn your cart toward the washer and dryers like a good girl, and we'll be done in no time.”
A blush stole up my cheeks as I moved my cart forward. The sound of Lincoln growling from behind me was followed by a smack.
“Ow, what was that for?” Kayden whined.
I kept going and left it up to Lincoln to explain—if he even would.
After we looked at the washer and dryers and picked a set that would be perfect in our space, I moved over to the showroom where mock kitchen areas were set up to display their cabinets.
I got up off my cart and walked around a display island, lusting after the smooth granite countertops and trendy cabinets.
The slight ache settled back in my stomach. My hand gripped my stomach and I moved to sit back down.
This time I was worried.
My husbands strode over to me. Tyler was there first, his easy smile dropping when he saw me bent over in pain.
“Guys? I think I need to go get checked out. I'm not feeling so great.”
Tyler lifted me from the cart and started to carry me out of the store. “I'm taking her to the emergency room,” he called back to his brothers. “Finish up and have Mom pick you guys up.”
He leaned in a kissed my forehead. “Don't worry, you'll be okay.” He lifted his head and tightened his grip on me. “You'll be okay.”
Chapter Fourteen
I was in the hospital emergency room bed resting when Kayden and Lincoln showed up.
With wild eyes, Lincoln’s gaze went to my IV line then back to my face. “Are we okay? Is everything okay?”
Kayden frowned. “No monitor on your stomach? Are you staying? We called the family.”
Tyler groaned while sinking down into the single chair in the room, and I grinned. “I'm being released in the next hour. Everything’s fine.”
They looked from Tyler to me. Finally Kayden sat on the end of the thin bed and said, “Explain ‘fine.’”
“I'm fine and our baby is fine.” I beamed at them. “I'm eight weeks along, and the pain I was experiencing was my uterus and stomach muscles stretching to accommodate our little bundle. Apparently, it's pretty typical for first timers.”
Kayden wore a dopey grin. “Eight weeks, huh?”
Lincoln smacked him upside the head while Tyler rolled hi
s eyes. “Don't go there.”
Kayden batted his hand away. “I'm just saying... October was a good month.” He flashed a megawatt grin my way. “Lots of action, if I'm not mistaken.”
Tyler chuckled. “It doesn't matter. This kid gets my name on his birth certificate. Lincoln gets the next one, and you”—he smirked—“will get the third child. If we're brave enough to have more, it will go back around.”
I spoke up before either of them could argue. “I think that's a great idea.”
Kayden shrugged. “It doesn't matter to me. Either way, I'll have fun making them.”
Lincoln shoved him. “Way to be romantic.”
I giggled and took Kayden's hand in mine. “It’s a great perspective to have.” I winked at him and he looked dazed. “I love my time with each of you.”
Kayden swung his head toward Tyler. “What did you do to our wife? She's in a hospital bed and talking about sex!”
My eyes went wide as another giggled escaped. I squeezed his hand. “Shhh!”
“Yeah,” Tyler chuckled. “Want the whole world to know what we're talking about?”
Feet shuffled outside the curtain screen as it drew back.
Lincoln moved out of the way. “Too late.”
***
The hospital kept me for two hours longer than needed, then sent me home with prescriptions to fill.
Tyler kept to his phone, answering calls while Lincoln drove the Jeep home. I sat in the back, wanting some space from smothering husbands, and Kayden took the truck to pick up my medication.
As we pulled up to our house, a furniture truck was pulling away along with another box truck. And that wasn't all. There were cars lining the driveway. “What in the world?”
Neither Tyler nor Lincoln seemed surprised. “Everyone wanted to do something to help,” Tyler said softly. He turned around in his seat to peer at me. “We told Sarah and our mom. Then word got out to your uncle and granny. Granny made all this happen.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “What did she do?”
Lincoln climbed out into the freezing cold and opened my door. With tenderness, he trailed one of his fingers down my cheek and under my chin, tipping it up. His eyes were light with happiness. “We didn't want you to stress anymore. She didn't either. So she made things happen. You should have told us she bought you furniture.” He dropped his finger and scooped me up.
Tyler headed up to the front door to open it for us while I tried to explain.
“See, here’s the thing. Perry and I showed up at the Granny Manto’s shop, looking for the lamp, and she wanted us to go with her somewhere. She took my purse, Lincoln. What was I supposed to do?”
Tyler chuckled. “Ask for it back?”
I buried my nose into Lincoln’s shoulder. “There isn’t any reasoning with that woman. She does as she pleases and ended up buying us furniture.” Granny Manto was notorious for her eccentric behavior.
“We're going to owe her,” Lincoln mumbled while walking up the porch steps.
I kissed his cheek and sighed. “I know. She said it was a gift, but we know how her gifts are...”
Tyler grumbled, opening up the door. Her generous gifts came with a cost or two.
Sometimes even a lifetime of favors, just like my Monday shop working day and my biweekly visits to her house.
Lincoln carried me inside our home to a sweet-smelling scent and a warmth that had been missing before. Lincoln stepped into our family room, still cradling me in his arms. The furniture had been replaced with what I had picked out with Granny.
White wooden blinds covered the windows that Granny Manto had complained about, and in the center of the room was a country style rug with an old, weathered coffee table in the center of it. The new sectional we’d picked out held Brady and my father-in-law. My new console, which was more like a buffet table, held the tv they were watching football on. The two of them waved to us as we passed by on our way to the kitchen.
Sarah and Granny Manto were cooking on two griddles while Deb was stirring something in a crockpot. Our appliances hadn’t shown up yet since we just picked them out hours ago, but the dining space held the round mahogany table with the six chairs I’d selected. The table had slats in the center, so I could make it bigger if need be.
In the center of the table was a beautiful, pink rose flower arrangement. Tyler went over and plucked out the card.
He chuckled and ripped the card up.
“Hey. What did you do that for?”
He walked over to me and kissed my head. “Believe me, that card was more for us than it was for you.”
Not understanding this, I prompted Lincoln to put me down.
He tightened his grip on me. “No. I want to hold you a little longer.”
“Your arms are going to give out.” His mother mused as she found us. “Go sit down with her if that’s what you want to do.” She waved us out of the kitchen, and I caught a glimpse of the back room.
There were curtains on the windows. “Wait! I want to go look in there.”
Lincoln paused in the hallway and tucked his head into my hair. “Okay.” He breathed in before he headed that way.
“Did you just sniff me?”
“Maybe.” His voice was light with laughter, as if he knew I was going to ask that question.
I left it alone as went entered our back living space. There weren’t curtains in the front of the house, just blinds, but in the back room that looked out over our property she had someone install soft, cream curtains on each window. It was smart of her. Blinds would have ruined the view with their slats. Curtains could be spread open, leaving the outside view unobstructed.
Lincoln finally set me down on my feet and let me touch the fabric.
My nose burned and I knew the waterworks would soon follow.
What Granny Manto did for me, what they all did... it surprised me. Turning around, I looked past my husbands and the archway to see if I could spot that old woman.
“Where is she?”
Tyler came over and brushed back a lock of my hair. “She went home. Told Sarah that her bones can’t take much of the cold.”
“She outdid herself this time,” Lincoln mused before rounding Tyler and scooping me back up.
“Now can I sit down with you?”
I giggled. “Yes.”
He went back into the living room where the men were, and that is when I realized Bates and Sonia weren’t here. I asked Brady about them.
“At home. Sarah and I sprung for a babysitter so we could come over here.”
Lincoln sat into the recliner, taking me with him, my feet draping over the side.
“Hey, can you grab her a blanket?” he asked Tyler. “It’s still chilly.”
I snuggled into his chest, happy.
Even though today was eventful and scary, I looked forward to tomorrow and every day after that. Kayden was right this morning; we would get through the crazy days. Just one day at a time. Beard trimmings, toilet seat mishaps, and misunderstandings. They were a part of marriage, part of life. Together we could weather the storm of life and stay firmly planted. It just took a little give and take.
I was counting my pennies on it.
The end... for now.
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Honeymoon Blues (Faith Series Book 6) Page 9
