by Marla Monroe
* * * *
The next time Kate woke up, it was dark, and she couldn’t see much of anything in the dim moonlight. She looked over, and sure enough, Marcus was in the chair. That meant that it was Bruce in front of her. She was cold. She rolled farther over onto her stomach and wrapped her arm around Bruce’s chest and her leg around his leg.
“What’s wrong?” Bruce immediately asked.
“Bruce? What’s wrong?” Marcus’s voice whispered through the dark.
“She’s awake. Hold on.” Bruce rolled over on his back. “What is it, baby?”
“I’m cold.”
“I’ll cover her up on the back better.”
“Please get in bed with me, Marcus. I want you with me.”
“I’ll get up, Marcus, and you can get in with her.”
“No!” she cried out. “I want you both with me. I’m so cold. I need you.”
She couldn’t help the tears in her voice. Her back ached, and her head hurt. She was scared and knew it wouldn’t be long before her men wouldn’t want to look at her in the light of day. Right now, it was dark and she could pretend they wanted her.
“I’m scared I’ll hurt you, baby.” Marcus knelt by the bed and ran a hand over her hair.
“Please, Marcus. You don’t have to touch me. Just be in the bed with me. I need you there.”
“Bruce?” Marcus asked.
“Get in the bed, man. She’s not going to calm down until you do.”
He rolled over so that he was on his back and she could climb on top of him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and laid her good cheek against his chest. She felt it when Marcus climbed into the bed behind her. The dip of the mattress gave him away. She waited for him to touch her, but he didn’t.
“Marcus?”
“Yeah, baby. I’m right behind you.”
“Touch me somewhere. I’m so cold.”
“Ah, honey.” He moved behind her again.
She waited and finally felt his warmth close to her back. He began stroking her hair with one hand. She cried in earnest now. She would lose them for sure if she looked as bad as she feared she did. She could remember the tearing of her back with the wolves’ claws and the bite on her cheek. She didn’t remember the one on her neck, but it was minor compared to the rest.
“Easy, baby. If you’re going to cry like that we’re going to move. I’m scared we’re hurting you.” Bruce’s voice rumbled in her ear pressed as it was to his chest.
“I love you, Bruce. You, too, Marcus. Please don’t hate me.”
“God, baby. We don’t hate you.”
“I can’t imagine looking like this for the rest of my life.”
“Kate! You listen to me,” Bruce began. “Tomorrow, we’ll show you what you look like. You don’t look bad. You’re still the same Kate from before the attack. Nothing has changed.”
She didn’t say anything more. She just soaked up their warmth and wished things could have been different. She remembered how it felt to be between them when they made love and how much she wanted that again. Her belly hurt. She felt sick at her stomach.
She lay still waiting on it to pass, but after a few seconds she knew she was going to be sick.
“Sick, bathroom,” she managed to get out as she tried to climb over Bruce.
He was instantly up and helping her get to the bathroom. She cried from the pain to her back but soon forgot it as she heaved over the toilet. She didn’t have anything really in her stomach to throw up. How long had she been unconscious?
“Easy, baby. God, baby, I know it has to hurt.” Bruce was right there with her. Marcus stood at the sink wetting a cloth for her.
He handed it to Bruce, who laid it across her forehead then gently wiped her face.
“What is today?” she asked.
“Um, it’s Thursday, Kate. Why?”
“I’ve been asleep for three days?” she asked.
“Off and on. You’ve been awake several times.”
She thought about it and realized she was probably pregnant. She hadn’t had her period in nearly six weeks now. She hadn’t worried about it since she wasn’t always regular, but after getting sick…
“What is it, Kate?” Bruce demanded.
“I–I need to get up.” She pushed to her feet to stand up. It pulled at the stitches in her back, but she didn’t care. She needed to stand up.
Bruce and Marcus both helped her stand. She leaned over the counter to take some of the pressure off the stitches. Marcus had lit a lamp for them in the bathroom. She pulled off the bandage from her face and felt the tears well up in her eyes again. She swallowed them down. She couldn’t afford to cry anymore. Then her eyes went to her neck and she nearly passed out. The wolves had almost gotten her throat. She was lucky to be alive.
Ten minutes ago, that wouldn’t have mattered to her. She had been so afraid that her men wouldn’t be attracted her that it was all she could think about. But now she had someone else to think about. She might not look very good anymore, but she would not give up with a child on the way. She needed to lay back down now. She was exhausted.
“Going to lie down again.” She turned to head toward the door.
Marcus grabbed her upper arm on one side, and Bruce took the other one. They slowly shuffled toward the bed again. She needed to tell them, but decided to wait until she could get up and move around. She didn’t want to be stuck in the bed when she told them in case they didn’t take it well.
She really had no idea how they felt about children. Surely they realized it was inevitable unless she was unable to have kids or both of them weren’t able. She swallowed, trying to keep from getting sick again. Once she made it back to bed, she crawled in and sank to the mattress in bliss. It felt so good to lie down again.
Bruce climbed in on one side of her and Marcus on the other. They each touched her hair and anywhere they could that wouldn’t hurt her. She lay there thinking about having a baby and what that meant to her. She would be busier than ever, and keeping the baby safe would be the most important thing. Maybe they could put a fence around the yard. She continued thinking long after the men fell asleep again.
When the sun rose, she was once again lying across Bruce’s chest with Marcus plastered to her back. It didn’t hurt. In fact it felt good to feel him tight against her. She knew the moment he woke up. He stilled and cursed.
“It’s okay, Marcus. You’re not hurting me. It feels good to have the pressure there.”
“I’m scared to move, baby. I’m scared I’ll pull on one of the stitches and hurt you.”
“I’ll be fine. Go ahead and move. I’m going to have to get up soon anyway and go to the bathroom.”
Her cheek was itching and her neck hurt some. She must have had it in a cramped position for a while. She waited for Marcus to get up his nerve to move. She knew it would hurt, so she prepared herself so she wouldn’t upset him by crying out. When he finally moved, it wasn’t as bad as she had feared. She managed to grunt and lean over Bruce a little more.
“You okay, baby?” Bruce’s voice reached her ear. He was whispering.
“I’m fine.
“Baby, did I hurt you?” Marcus was kneeling in front of her now.
“Guys, I’m fine. I need to get up and go to the bathroom though.”
“Let me move out from under you, and you can just throw your legs off the edge of the bed and we’ll help you sit up.” Bruce waited for her to move off of him.
She managed to roll to her side and waited as he scooted out from under her. Then she let them move her legs to the edge of the bed and she used the palms of her hands to pull up herself up. They weren’t cut up like the backs of her hands and lower arms were. Once up, she breathed awhile to wait out the dizziness then she stood up and let them help her to the bathroom.
Afterwards, she insisted on a wearing one of their superlarge T-shirts and a pair of panties. She wanted to go downstairs and sit on the couch.
“You’ll get tired and need to
lie back down soon, baby. The trip up the stairs will wear you out.” Bruce helped her step into her underwear.
“I’ll be fine. I need to get downstairs.”
“Why do you need to be downstairs?” Marcus asked.
“Because you need to see about the animals and I want to be close so you don’t have to climb the stairs so much to see me.” She started walking toward the door to the hall and the stairs.
“Wait, baby. Let me help you.” Marcus took her upper arm and walked with her. Bruce followed behind them.
It took a good two minutes to make it down the stairs because she had to stop and rest several times. The stitches pulled when she put her foot down to the next step. She hadn’t counted on that.
“Damn, that nearly wore me out,” Marcus said.
“It did wear me out.” She smiled despite how it felt to her cheek. “I’m going to need blankets and a pillow, guys.”
“I’ll get them,” Marcus said and hurried back up the stairs.
“I’ll get you something warm to drink. Do you want some whiskey tea or whiskey cider?” he asked.
“Just some cider. No whiskey, I don’t need it right now.” She had no plans to drink any more of it, either. It wasn’t safe for the baby.
“I’ll fix you some scrambled eggs, too. You need to eat something.”
“Thanks, Bruce.”
Marcus came barreling down the stairs with two blankets and two pillows. “The pillows came off the other beds so you don’t have to worry about them going back upstairs. We’ve got plenty of blankets.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. When you got hurt, Joel, Jonathan, and Leigh came over. They heard the gunshots and came to see if we needed help.”
“Oh my God! Did they see me like this?” Kate was appalled.
“The guys didn’t. Leigh did and helped us get you comfortable. She’s been sending one of the guys over almost every day to find out how you are.”
“They are good people, Marcus,” she said.
Bruce walked in with a plate of scrambled eggs and her cup of cider. “Who’s good people?”
“Joel’s family,” Marcus said.
“They helped me clean up the mess out back when they came over. You’re right. They are good folks.” He sat the plate of eggs on her lap.
She was leaning forward to keep her back off the back of the couch. She would lie down once she finished eating. She needed to eat, though. She took a bite and had to smile when she realized it wasn’t her cooking. Bruce had done the best he could. She managed to eat almost all the slightly overcooked eggs. Once she finished she sat the plate on the coffee table and finished drinking the cider. Then she stretched out on her side with her head on one pillow and her arm over the other one.
“You okay now?” Bruce looked worried.
“I’m fine. You two go do whatever you need to do. I’m going to take a nap now.”
She was slowly becoming used to the idea of being pregnant, but she needed more time to think about it. She needed to be prepared for whatever the men did or said––or didn’t say.
Chapter Eighteen
“Marcus. I think Kate is pregnant.” Bruce finally spit it out after beating around the bush for twenty minutes while they rounded up the cattle.
“What?” Marcus nearly lost his balance on the horse. “Are you sure?”
“She’s late. I sort of keep up with that so we don’t push her when she’s not feeling well.”
“And she was sick early this morning,” Marcus added. “Ah, hell.”
“What do you think about it?” Bruce asked his brother.
“I’m—I’m not sure. I mean, we knew it would happen, but now, when she’s hurt and when we have this wolf problem?”
“Well, before we go back in that house, we better have things settled in our heads. She’s going to tell us soon, and if we’re iffy on it, she’s going to be upset. She doesn’t need to be upset and pregnant and hurt, Marcus.”
“Well how do you feel about it?”
“I’m like you. It’s not the best time, but then when is the best time? We’re not the only ones dealing with this now. Brandon’s family and Brice’s family are in the same boat.” Bruce sighed and shot off to rein in one of the cows that had started off in the wrong direction, again. “I swear, that is going to be the first cow we’re going to kill when we start selling meat.”
Marcus snickered but quickly sobered up when Bruce frowned at him.
“Look, we just have to accept it and present a solid front that we’re okay with it.” Marcus sighed.
“I can do that. I’m just not sure we can pull it off. She’s going to know we’re hiding how we feel if we act like we’re perfectly happy about it.”
“I’m actually a little excited, Bruce. I’m just worried.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I can remember wanting children with Irene, but it never happened. Then she was gone. I wasn’t letting myself think about Kate like that because I didn’t want to fall for her, so I don’t know how I feel right now.”
“What are we going to do when it’s time for her to have the baby?” Marcus’s face grew pale, and Bruce had to chuckle.
“We deliver it. That’s what we do.”
“Maybe we could get one of the other women to come over and help her,” Marcus suggested.
“She’s going to expect us to help her, Marcus. You better get that into your head now.” Bruce turned the cows closer to the fence line and began driving them toward the house. They kept them close to the house at night so if they heard anything, they could come out with their rifles.
Marcus pointed toward the house. “Look. It’s Joel. I bet Jonathan and Leigh are at the house wanting inside. Kate can’t get up and let them in.”
“I’ll let them in. You finish out here,” Bruce said.
Marcus nodded and moved up to run the herd closer while Bruce took off toward the house. He met Joel halfway there.
“Let me borrow your horse, and I’ll help Marcus finish up the cows while the women visit.”
“Thanks, Joel. I appreciate that.” He climbed off the horse and handed the reigns over to the other man.
He hurried to the back door and was halfway across the kitchen when he heard Jonathan and Leigh laughing. How had they gotten in?
“Hey, Bruce. Let Leigh check Kate out real quick. She got up and let us in. We didn’t realize she was downstairs and would come to the door. I’m worried about her.” He ushered Bruce back into the kitchen and closed the door.
“She’s fine. I wouldn’t have dragged you off if I was really worried.”
“They want to girl talk.” Bruce finished for him.
“Yeah, that’s what I figure.”
“How about some coffee?” He got up and put the water on to boil in the pot.
“How is she really doing?” Jonathan asked.
“She’s doing really well. She’s depressed some about the scarring, though.”
“I understand Heather went through that, but the baby took her mind off of it.”
“Well, we seem to be in the same boat. Don’t say anything, because she hasn’t told us, but we’re pretty sure she’s pregnant.”
“Congratulations!” Jonathan shook Bruce’s hand until he thought it would fall off.
“Thanks, I’m not sure how this is going to work out, with everything happening right now. Between her being hurt and the wolves, I’m really worried.”
“Well, we’ve gotten everyone involved with the idea of a communal garden. We can grow more like this than separately and keep the women safer.”
“We’re also talking about running one herd of cattle. One group works them for a week at a time and we rotate them around so that everyone takes a turn and no one person is overworked when we have families to take care of.”
“Sounds like an interesting plan. It might work.” Bruce was willing to entertain anything that would help keep his family safe. Now more than ever.
“Um, guys? Can we have some cider?” Le
igh walked into the kitchen with a smile. “She’s fine, Bruce. She didn’t pull any stitches or anything.”
“Good. I never dreamed she would try to get up and answer the door. She’s just that stubborn.” Bruce poured up some cider and set it on the stove to warm. “I’ll bring it to you when it’s warm.”
“Thanks.” She closed the door behind her and returned to the living room.
“So what are you going to do when she tells you?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know yet. We don’t want her to think we’re mad or upset really, but if we act happy and excited, she’s going to know something’s up.”
“Tell her the truth. Tell her you wish things were better to raise a child, but you’re happy if she is. That’s the bottom line, isn’t it?”
“I guess you’re right.” He turned to the stove. “Looks like the coffee and the cider are both ready.”
* * * *
The men saw Joel and his family out while Kate rested on the couch. She was exhausted from sitting up so much, but she had refused to lie down while the guys were in the room. She was very thankful for the blankets that covered her from neck to toe.
“Baby, how about we fix you something to eat and then we help you upstairs to bed. You’re so exhausted, you’re pale.” Marcus kissed her cheek and then her forehead.
“That sounds like a good idea to me,” she agreed.
Bruce disappeared into the kitchen for the next thirty minutes then emerged with a bowl of soup and some cheese. She sighed. She loved the cheese they made with the milk. It would give her the protein she needed for the baby. She grinned and ate the cheese, then worked on the soup. By the time she had finished the bowl, it was shaking in her hands.
Marcus took it from her and set it on the coffee table. She smiled at him.
“Let’s get you upstairs,” he said.
Bruce stood up, and between the two of them, they managed to help her up and up the first few steps. She rested every couple of steps. It frustrated her to have to stop so often. She was afraid the men would be impatient with her. Once she was on the bed, Kate sighed and closed her eyes.
“We’re going to go downstairs and eat and clean up, Kate. Do you need anything before we go?” Bruce asked.