Happy in the Border Lands

by Marla Monroe

  “Fuck. Why didn’t we think about what all she was doing and realize she didn’t need to be doing all that heavy lifting and standing on her feet?” Ty asked, kicking the table leg.

  “Calm down, Ty. Don’t get worked up about it. She doesn’t need us to fall apart. We know better now. Let’s eat up so we can take her a plate and settle in for the night. You’ve got a long ride tomorrow.” Jeff carried his plate over to the table and sat down to eat.

  Ty still felt partially responsible and didn’t know how to let it go. He would find every pregnancy book he could and bring them all back. They’d have a library of books to read up on the subject.

  “Before I forget,” Jeff said. “Look for a couple of woodworking books that might have cradles or baby furniture in them. We’re going to have to make something for the baby to sleep in.”

  “Hadn’t thought of that. I was thinking I may need to carry the cart to hook up behind the horse. If I checked one of the stores for baby supplies, I could carry them back with me,” he said.

  “Most everything is going to be gone or dry rotted. I wouldn’t waste time on that,” Jeff said.

  “I suppose you’re right. It’s been too many years,” Ty agreed. “I’ll stick with the books. Hopefully they’ll be okay.”

  Once they’d finished their meal, Ty carried a plate up to Lucille. She was sound asleep, but he knew she needed to eat. He set the plate on the bedside table and woke her up.

  “Hey, sleepyhead, wake up for me. I have dinner for you, angel.”

  She slowly opened her eyes, still slightly red from crying. He smiled down at her.

  “I’m really not hungry, Ty,” she said.

  “You have to eat for the baby. He needs all the nourishment you can give him.”

  “What if there isn’t a baby anymore?” she asked in a quiet voice that broke at the end.

  “Jeff says there probably is. There wasn’t enough blood for you to have lost him. Now sit up and eat.”

  Ty helped her sit up then set the plate in her lap and watched her as she forked up roast and potatoes. She seemed to avoid the carrots. He grinned when she finally ate them last.

  “What are you smiling about?” Lucille asked when she finished and handed him the plate.

  “Nothing. Here, drink your tea. I’ll carry your plate downstairs, and we’ll be back up to go to bed. I’m going to town tomorrow, so I need to get up early in the morning to get an early start.” Ty took the plate and stood.

  “You’ll be careful, won’t you?” she asked.

  “Of course. I’ll be back before nightfall if I don’t get slowed down looking for the books,” Ty said.

  “I’ll worry about you,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about me. Let Jeff take good care of you. You can critique his cooking skills while he puts up the last of the vegetables.” Ty grinned. Better Jeff than him. He could do it, but he wasn’t nearly as good as Jeff was.

  Lucille narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re happy he’s the one staying home and canning?”

  “Because it’s the truth. I suck at putting up vegetables. I can do it, but I make big messes, and they aren’t as good as they are when Jeff does them. Last time I did them he swore he’d never let me do them again.”

  Lucille laughed, and the sound thrilled him. He was glad that he was able to make her smile. She’d had a scare that day and deserved to be able to smile. They’d all had a scare. He kissed her on the forehead and took the glass of tea and carried it and the plate toward the stairs. He found Jeff cleaning the kitchen up when he brought back the empty plate and glass.

  “How is she doing?” Jeff asked.

  “She’s okay. She’s still worried that she lost the baby. I sure hope you’re right and she didn’t. She’ll be devastated if she has,” Ty said.

  “I know. Only time will tell. If she doesn’t bleed anymore and a month goes by, we’ll be pretty sure she’s still pregnant. That’s about the only way we’ll know for sure. That and if she continues to have morning sickness,” Jeff said.

  “I hate seeing her so upset,” Ty said.

  “Me, too. She’ll settle once time has passed. You be careful going to town tomorrow. Watch your back. It’s dangerous out there.”

  “I will.”

  “Let’s go to bed. We’ve both got a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Jeff said.

  Ty agreed. He was antsy to get to town to find those books. The more they knew what to expect with the pregnancy, the better off they would be. He hoped and prayed that there were still some books in the library and that they were in decent enough shape to be read. If not, they were going to have to wing it, and that scared the devil out of him.

  * * * *

  Lucille woke to the sight of the sun streaming through the windows and stretched. She looked over and realized that neither man was in the bed with her. She panicked at first then remembered that Ty had left at the crack of dawn to head to town and that Jeff would be getting an early start on doing her job of putting up the vegetables. She needed to get down there to help him.

  She moved to get out of bed and realized that she was stiff. She’d been in bed longer than usual with her early evening and now late morning. She washed her face and was relieved to find out as she dressed that she wasn’t bleeding any longer. She made her way carefully down the stairs to the den and then to the kitchen. Jeff looked up and smiled at her from where he stood at the stove stirring a big pot of beans.

  “Hey, sleepyhead. How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

  “Good. Stiff but good. Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked.

  “You need to rest. You’ve been going ninety to nothing for months now. Did you good to get some extra rest. Sit down while I finish this. What do you want for breakfast?” he asked.

  “Ugh. Don’t talk about breakfast right now. Just smelling the beans is turning my stomach,” she said.

  “That’s a good sign there, Lucille.”

  Lucille paused and thought about it. It was. She wouldn’t still have the morning sickness if she weren’t still pregnant. She smiled.

  “Never would have thought I’d be glad to be sick at my stomach before,” she said.

  “Since you’ve been sick in the middle of the day as well, I don’t get the morning sickness nomenclature,” Jeff said.

  “Neither do I, but I think because for most people it is in the morning more than any other time.”

  Lucille sat at the table talking with Jeff while he finished up the beans then ate some toasted corn bread and scrambled eggs while he started on the tomatoes. She helped finish up peeling them. He refused to let her stand and stir them.

  “You’re staying off your feet. In fact, in a few minutes, you’re going to go lie on the couch with your feet up and take a nap,” he said.

  “I don’t need a nap,” Lucille said.

  “Doesn’t matter if you think you do or not. You’re going to take one. Your body needs the rest. You’ve been going hard at it for the last few months, and it needs to slow down now while you’re making that little baby inside of you.” Jeff dropped a hand over her belly and rubbed.

  “I’m going to go crazy if I have to stay on the couch for nine months, Jeff. I can’t do that.”

  “We’ll see what the books have to say. Maybe once you get past the early part of your pregnancy you can do a little more. Just not all you’ve been doing. We should have realized you were pushing yourself too hard, and all that heavy lifting was dangerous. We just weren’t thinking,” Jeff said.

  “Neither was I. I never dreamed it would be bad for the baby. I’m just as much to blame as you guys are,” Lucille said.

  “Regardless, we all know now that you have to take it easy. Now go get on the couch and put your feet up. I’ll come in there in a little bit and see how you’re doing.” He bent down and kissed her. He didn’t just brush his lips across hers. He branded her mouth with his, searing it with the heat of his need and his love for he
r so that she had little doubt as to how much he cared for her.

  “Go on, woman. I’ll be in there in a few minutes.”

  Lucille smiled and stood. She walked out of the kitchen but looked over her shoulder before she entered the den to see him stirring the tomatoes on the stove. He was so damn good looking and still looked masculine despite the apron he was wearing and the fact that he was cooking. She loved him. Really and truly loved him. Just like she really and truly loved Ty. How had she gotten so lucky as to have found two such perfect men?

  When she settled on the couch, she lay there wondering what she was going to do if they insisted she spend most of her pregnancy in bed or on the couch. She’d go stark raving mad. Already, after only a few minutes, she was looking around the room wishing for something to do. She wasn’t sleepy since she’d slept in that morning.

  “What’s wrong?” Jeff asked from the doorway.

  “I’m bored. I don’t have anything to do just sitting here.”

  “Take a nap.”

  “I’m not sleepy.”

  “Take one anyway.”

  “I can’t force myself to sleep, Jeff.”

  “I’ll be in to entertain you in a few minutes. Try to relax for a little while longer, hon,” he said.

  Lucille wondered what he meant by entertain her. She felt her face heat at the possibilities. She hoped her overactive imagination was right and he wanted to fool around some. She was all in with that.

  Twenty minutes later Jeff returned and lifted her up so that she lay with her head and shoulders in his lap. It wasn’t quite what she’d been thinking of, but it was still doable if he wanted to play with her breasts. Instead, he twirled her hair around his finger.

  “Go to sleep, hon. I’m right here. You need the rest.”

  What? Go to sleep? I want sex. I was expecting a little playing around, not this.

  “I told you I’m not sleepy, Jeff. I haven’t done anything to make me sleepy,” she said.

  “What do you want to do?” Jeff asked with a frown.

  “We could play around,” she said.

  “What?”

  “You know. Foreplay. Just a little.”

  “We’re not having sex, Lucille.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Not until we’re sure the baby is safe.” Jeff shook his head.

  “I didn’t say sex. I said playing around,” she huffed out.

  “What did you have in mind?” Jeff asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “Well, you could play with my breasts,” she said.

  “Like this?” he asked, dropping his hand to lightly run over her nipple until it stood up hard beneath her T-shirt.

  She hummed out a breath.

  “Do you like it when I play with your tits, honey?” he asked as he circled the nipple through her top.

  “Yes,” she hissed out.

  Jeff slid his hand up her body beneath her T-shirt until he had it riding up to her neck. Now both breasts showed. They’d broken her of the habit of wearing the bindings for her breasts during the summer. He pinched her nipples until both were standing up aching and hard as rocks. He wet his fingers and circled the little nubs then blew on them. She moaned at the contrast of warmth of his breath against the coolness of her nipples.

  “You like it when I pull on them, don’t you?” he asked as he pulled both nipples with his fingers.

  Lucille moaned and arched her back. It felt so good to have him play with her like this. He squeezed both breasts then lowered his head and took one of them into his mouth to suck and nibble at her nipple. She groaned when he pulled on it then bit down on her breast until she was sure she’d have a mark. She loved breast play and especially loved it when Jeff marked her.

  “God, I could play with your tits all day long, hon. You’re so responsive. Your breasts are like hard little melons that are ripe and ready to be picked,” Jeff said.

  He continued to play with her breasts but moved a hand down her abdomen to play with her clit through her shorts. She wasn’t expecting that and gasped as he pressed at the little nub through the material and continued to play with her breasts. Then he slid his hand between her shorts and her skin until he was able to put his bare hand against her bare pussy.

  “Jeff?” she asked.

  “Easy, honey. I’m just going to tease this sweet little clit. Not going to finger fuck you no matter how much I want to. Not going to risk our babe,” he said.

  Jeff tapped her clit then ran his finger all around the little nub spreading her juices all around it. Lucille found that she couldn’t remain still and lifted her buttocks off the couch to chase his finger as he moved it around. He continued to play with her breasts as he paid attention to her clit as well. The dual sensations were driving her wild with need.

  “Jeff.”

  “I’ve got you, honey. Let go for me. Let me have your climax,” he said.

  “I need…” she began.

  “What do you need?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I need something.”

  He gave her what she needed. He pinched her nipple and her clit at the same time, and Lucille came apart in his arms. She screamed and bucked over him until he had to cradle her against him to be sure she didn’t fall off the couch.

  When she finally settled down, he kissed her and smiled. “Now do you think you can take a nap, honey?”

  “Hmmm?” Her eyes were already closed.

  “I thought so.” He lifted her off his lap and settled her on the couch.

  Lucille cuddled into the softness of the couch and drifted on the euphoria of the orgasm and dozed off and on for the next few hours. When she woke up several hours later, it was to find that she was starving. She stood and stretched then walked into the kitchen to find it empty. She briefly wondered if Jeff was outside somewhere but then vetoed that idea. He wouldn’t have left her alone in the house. She thought about checking upstairs but decided not to risk the stairs by herself and settled at the kitchen table to wait and see where he came from.

  Twenty or so minutes later, he returned to the kitchen having obviously come from upstairs.

  “What are you doing up?” he asked.

  “Woke up and was hungry. I was waiting on you to see if I could talk you into making me something to eat.”

  “Of course, I will. What would you like?” he asked.

  “Are there any tomatoes left?”

  “You seriously want a tomato sandwich?” he asked.

  “Are there any cucumbers left?” she asked.

  “Yes a few,” he said.

  “I want a tomato and cucumber sandwich,” she said.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Nope. That’s what I want.”

  “Just don’t eat it in front of me,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Wimp. It’s just tomatoes and cucumbers. Nothing weird,” she said.

  “Your definition of weird and mine aren’t the same, hon. Trust me on this,” Jeff said.

  “How much longer until Ty gets back?” she asked.

  “He’s just gotten there, Lucille. He still has to look around and start back. It’s only around noon now.”

  “I’m worried about him,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about him. He’s fine. He’s going to the library. Who would want to bother him for going to the library?” Jeff said with a chuckle.

  “No one I guess.” Lucille still worried.

  “Here you go. Two cucmato sandwiches,” he said.

  “Cucmato?” she asked.

  “Yeah, short for cucumber and tomato sandwiches.”

  “You’re crazy,” she said, laughing.

  “Eat up. I’ve got to run outside and pick the tomatoes. I want you to go with me. You’ve been off your feet all morning so you should be okay for a little while outside while I do that. You need to put on pants and a long-sleeve shirt so you don’t get scratched up with the vines and stuff in the garden though.

  “I get to go outside with you? Awesome!
I can’t wait.” Lucille quickly ate her sandwiches then drank her tea.

  She started to jump up and run upstairs, but Jeff grabbed her arm. “Easy, wildcat. Remember you have a baby on board. I’ll walk with you upstairs. You have to go slow.”

  Lucille felt heat burn her cheeks that she’d forgotten that quickly. Once she got big, she couldn’t forget so easily.

  If I get big. I still might have lost the baby.

  She prayed she hadn’t. She really wanted the baby even if she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with a baby, having never been around one before. The guys were excited, and she wanted them happy.

  She walked slowly upstairs with Jeff behind her in case she misstepped and started to fall. Then she changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Once she was dressed, they walked outside to the garden with Jeff carrying the bucket. She stayed close to him as he picked the ripe tomatoes and the occasional cucumber and put them in the bucket. Once they were finished, the bucket was once again full.

  “The tomato plants look like they’re going to keep producing until it snows,” she said as they walked toward the house.

  “Yep. They’re the most tenacious plants in the world. Well, them and the cucumbers. Still, the tomatoes have them beat. Always takes the first hard freeze to kill them,” he said.

  “When will that be?” she asked.

  “We’ve probably got another month before that happens. Usually happens here in mid-October. Then we start getting the heavy snow from then on out,” he said.

  “Really not that much different than where I lived with the Johnsons. They may be several hours away, but the seasons are the same. I guess I thought they wouldn’t be since we’re farther north.”

  “Sometimes a few hours can make a big difference. We do get a little colder than you did there. Just those couple of hours can make a difference,” Jeff said.

  “Are you going to put those up tonight or wait until tomorrow?” she asked.

  “I’ll wait until tomorrow. I’m going to wash them, though, and get them ready. You need to go lie down and put your feet up since you’ve been on them for over an hour now,” he said.