“Oh,” Josh said, looking down at the cake then back at Jenna. He hadn’t planned on sharing. It was chocolate after all. “Do you want some?”
“No, I’m just giving you a bad time, but pass over the ice cream. It sounds good.”
<><><>
The next evening their house was filled with the people who meant the most to them. Phil and Amelia drove out from the city, Callan and Clay were there with the girls along with Clay’s parents, Jake and his parents, Josh’s dad, and Josh’s Aunt Julie and Uncle Ralph as well as Laken and Tyler Johnson with their two kids, Alex and Brant.
Jenna removed the photo of the babies from the refrigerator because she didn’t want to give the surprise away, especially when Callan and Clay arrived early to help get ready.
Josh manned the grill and Clay helped set up chairs and tables, ran errands for Jenna and Callan and directed guests as they arrived to the backyard under the shade trees. Once everyone arrived, Josh asked Clay to give thanks for the meal. When Clay finished Josh let the group know he and Jenna had an announcement and it was one they wanted to share with them all.
Jenna, blushing deeply, stood beside Josh as he looked around the group and said, “It seems that we are going to be adding two new farmhands to our operation next spring and we wanted you all to know.”
“Two?” Callan asked with a huge smile.
“That’s right, two,” Josh said, beaming proudly. “We just found out yesterday we are expecting twins.”
Amid much back slapping and hugging, everyone was so excited the dinner was nearly forgotten. Josh watched his dad wipe a tear from his eye. At 80, he was still pretty active and spry and Josh was sure the news was something he would be very excited about.
While the men sat around talking about farming after the meal, the women retreated to the kitchen where they made Jenna sit at the table with her feet up and passed around the ultrasound picture.
Callan was nearly in tears as she looked at the babies. Leaning down next to Jenna, she gave her a kiss on her cheek, “I know this isn’t what you had planned, but what a blessing, Jen.”
Jenna patted Callan’s hand where it rested on her shoulder and smiled at her. “I guess sometimes we have to let go of our plans so we can embrace something better - God’s plans. Thanks for supporting Josh. It meant so much to him and I appreciate your help as well while I was coming to my senses.”
“Anytime,” Callan said, looking at the picture again. “These two babies are just the sweetest things ever.”
Outside, Jake was sitting next to Clay, discussing his new job when Emma climbed onto his lap and stared up at him with her baby blue eyes, an inquisitive look on her face.
“What’s up, Sweet Pea?” Jake asked, cuddling the little girl. She was so adorable and with Emma you never knew what would pop out of her mouth.
Leaning her head against Jake’s chest and swinging her feet over his leg, she started talking in her sing-songy voice, “Well, I was just wondering…”
“Wondering what, Sweet Pea?”
“Where do babies come from?”
Jake suddenly tensed as a look of near-panic swept across his face. Nudging Clay with his elbow, he struggled to pull his thoughts together, “Well, er, I… I think your daddy better answer that question.”
Clay, who was enjoying watching Jake and Emma together now felt his neck tense up, his shoulders inch toward his ears and his collar get too tight. She turned her blue eyes toward him with a look of expectancy. She was only 6, how was he supposed to answer that question?
“You know what Sweet Pea? I think the person you should go ask is your mama. She can tell you exactly what you need to know,” Clay said, pointing toward the house.
“Okay,” Emma said, hopping down from Jake’s lap and running in the back door.
“Man, now there’s the way to handle an intense question,” Jake said with a sly grin. “Just pass it off to your wife. Coward.”
“Watch who you call a coward, mister chicken. She asked you first,” Clay replied, feeling his shoulders return to their normal position as he congratulated himself on how well he avoided a sticky question. “Besides, it isn’t cowardly, it’s smart. You might want to take down some notes for future reference. If I had told her something and Callan didn’t like what I said, then I’d get an earful about my response. This way, I keep myself out of trouble and Emma gets to hear exactly what Callan wants her to hear.”
“I still say you’re a coward,” Jake said with an indifferent shrug, softening it with a grin. “A smart coward, but a coward all the same.”
In the kitchen, Emma found Callan and tugged on her hand. “Mama, I asked Jake a question and he told me to ask Daddy then Daddy told me to come ask you. So can I please ask you my question?”
“Sure, Sweet Pea,” Callan said, picking her up and setting her on a barstool. “What is your question?”
“Where do babies come from?”
“Oh, well, they, um…” Callan’s brain went into overdrive searching for just the right answer to the question. The other women in the kitchen listened intently as silence fell over the room and they waited to hear what Callan would say. Jenna could barely keep from laughing at the pained expression on Callan’s face. “Babies, Miss Sweet Pea, come from God. They are a tiny little miracle he sends to mommies and daddies. Your Uncle Josh and Aunt Jenna are extra special because He’s sending them two babies. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Yep. When will they get here? I want to play with them,” Emma said, swiveling the stool back and forth as she gripped the counter with her little fingers.
“They won’t get here for a long time yet, close to Easter time. So first we have school starting again and then Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Valentine’s Day and then the babies will come,” Callan tried to explain using dates Emma would understand and remember.
“How will they get here?”
“Aunt Jenna and Uncle Josh will go into the city one day and when they come home they will bring the babies with them.”
“Why can’t they go get them tomorrow?”
“Because the babies aren’t big enough to come home. You know how Grammy’s puppies have to be big enough they don’t need their mama before anyone can take them? Well, the babies have to be big enough to come home before Aunt Jenna can bring them to stay.”
“Okay,” Emma said, jumping off the stool. “I’m going to go play outside now.”
“That’s fine,” Callan said, sinking down on the barstool as Emma raced out the door. “Whew, that was a workout.”
Bobbi came over and gave her a hug. “You did a splendid job of answering her questions, Callan. Well done.”
“Thanks Mom,” Callan said, a spark of irritation flaming in her emerald green eyes. “Just wait until I get a hold of Clay. That son of yours is going to get an earful later. The big coward.”
<><><>
Before anyone left, they made sure all the food was put away, the dishes were done, the tables and chairs put back in storage and everything set to rights so Jenna wouldn’t have to do anything. Another round of congratulations was shared as their guests seemed to depart all at once.
Waving a final good bye from the front porch, Josh put his arm around Jenna and walked her back inside the house where the coolness was welcoming in the August heat.
“Well, Babe, that was a nice evening, if I do say so myself,” Josh said, as they walked slowly down the hall toward the family room.
“It was nice, wasn’t it?” Jenna asked, as she sat down on the couch and put her feet up on the ottoman. They both were bare-footed and Josh pulled out the tails of his shirt while Jenna plucked the pony-tail holder out of her hair. “Did you hear about Emma’s questions?”
Ready to relax and be comfortable, Josh laughed, sitting down beside her. He gently pulled her around so he could massage her neck and shoulders while they talked. “Jake and Clay were both quite proud at how fast they passed the buck along to Callan.”
“Well, I think Clay may regret that once they get home and the girls are in bed,” Jenna laughed, remembering the look on Callan’s face. “I just hope I can come up with great answers like Callan did on the spur of the moment. Everything she said was true, and the answers were simple and easy for Emma to understand.”
“After Callan told Emma where babies came from, she marched back out to Clay and Jake and informed them ‘Mama said God makes babies, why didn’t you tell me that?’ then ran off to play on the tree swing with Brant. It was pretty comical.”
“I can imagine,” Jenna said, closing her eyes and enjoying the massage her husband was delivering. This was as close to anything remotely resembling intimacy they had shared in a while. Jenna kept waiting for Josh to exhibit some interest in her beyond the babies and so far it hadn’t happened. She knew she was starting to show and wondered if the baby bump was causing Josh to lose interest in her as a wife. She hoped he wouldn’t turn into one of those husbands who would spend the next several months viewing her only as a temporary housing unit for his babies.
Josh had missed being close with Jenna. Between her not feeling well, being gone and blaming him for her career aspirations going up in smoke, he hadn’t really been given any opportunity to be amorous, but it wasn’t due to a lack of desire on his part. She sat here tonight looking so enticing. According to the books he was reading, pregnancy could give a woman a glow and Jenna had it to spare. Her skin was radiant with a lovely bloom of pink in each cheek. He couldn’t think when he had seen her more beautiful than she looked to him right at his moment.
As he sat kneading her shoulders and neck, he shifted his leg so he bracketed her body with his and she scooted back against him. Jenna’s proximity along with her warmth and perfume were nearly intoxicating. He couldn’t stop himself from nibbling on her neck and running his lips along the outline of her ear. When she placed her hands on his thighs and started rubbing them through his jeans, he knew he was about to be consumed with his need for her. Every nerve in his body felt like it was standing at attention and the attention was focused solely on Jenna.
Tipping his head back trying to maintain his composure, he happened to look out the window and see a light on at the barn. “Someone is down at the barn, or a light got left on. I better go check,” he said, pulling his leg from behind her and standing up.
“Do you have to go?” she asked, looking up at him with yearning. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No, Babe, I need to go check it out. I would rather be safe than sorry,” he said, retrieving a pair of slippers and putting them on. “I’ll just be a minute.”
When be bent down to kiss her cheek, she pulled him into a kiss hot with desire. Josh returned Jenna’s kiss, aching with hunger for her.
Pulling back, he looked into her face, falling into the molten pools in her eyes. “Jenna, I…”
“Josh, do you find me repulsive? Can you not stand the thought of being with me?” Jenna cut him off and asked in her standard to-the-point fashion.
“What?”
“Since I’m starting to show, I wondered if you are no longer attracted to me. It’s been forever since you’ve shown any interest in … being intimate,” Jenna said, quietly.
Sinking down on the ottoman, Josh took her hands in his. “Babe, you have no idea. I want you so badly I can hardly see straight. You mean you are open to the idea?” When Jenna nodded her head, he let out a sigh. “I thought with all that has gone on you just weren’t interested in…being intimate.” He shot her a wicked grin, “Maybe ever again.”
Jenna laughed. “I’m interested, Josh. I’m definitely interested. But you can’t tease me with massages like that if you don’t intend on doing more.”
Josh leaned over and brushed aside Jenna’s hair. His fingers sent tingling sensations racing through her. Nuzzling her neck again, his breath warm on her ear, he rumbled in his deep baritone, “I intend on doing much, much more if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Jenna whispered, pulling his head around to give him a kiss that ignited the passion flickering between them. When she pulled back, she gave him a flirtatious smile, her eyes smoldering into his. “Have I told you just how entirely sexy that goatee makes you look?”
“Babe,” Josh growled, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her deeply. Releasing the lips he had held captive with his own, he touched his forehead to hers. “I still have to run down to the barn and check that darn light, but I’ll be right back. Will you hold that thought, please?”
“You can count on it,” Jenna said, squeezing his hand as he set her back on the couch and gave her one more hurried kiss.
Josh ran out the back door, jumped on the four-wheeler and raced to the barn. It looked like Audrey and Emma had been showing off the barn cat and her kittens to Alex and Brant and forgot to turn off the main light. Making a pass through the barn to ensure everything was as it should be, he turned off the light, shut the door and hustled back home. Jogging in the back door, he hurried into the family room to find it empty.
“Jenna,” he called, noticing their bedroom door was shut. Walking to the door, he sincerely hoped she hadn’t changed her mind. If she had, he was fairly certain he would be taking one very long, very cold shower. Steeling himself for what he would find, he turned the knob only to be surprised by what greeted him when he pushed open the door.
Jenna had been busy while he was at the barn, lighting several candles and putting on some soft music. She was reclined across the bed wearing that little black number she bought for their anniversary and Josh didn’t know how she could have looked any more alluring. The smile she gave him weakened his knees. So entranced by the sight of her, for a moment he couldn’t move or speak. Just stood in the door staring.
“Babe,” he finally whispered, walking toward the bed as he peeled off his shirt and kicked off his slippers. “You are so beautiful, you take my breath away.”
“Buck,” she said in a low voice, one that made him forget everything but her right now in this moment. When she held a hand out to him, he took it in his and slid next to her on the bed, holding her palm to his heart where she could feel it pounding wildly in his chest. Jenna placed her other hand on his cheek. “I’ve missed you so much, missed being in your arms. You know that is my favorite place to be.”
Josh offered a slow, inviting smile, opening his arms to her. “Then what are you waiting for?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Josh stepped out in the early morning light and was relieved to see it looked like it would be another sunny August day. He had high hopes of completing his wheat harvest today and was anxious to get started. Since it was Saturday, he had been promised extra help and was happy to see Jake pull in the driveway as the sun came up. Waving for him to come in for breakfast, Josh returned back inside, excited about the day ahead.
Owning one combine and one truck, Josh could get the work done over the course of several days as long as the weather held out. To speed things along, Steve and Clay had been generous in letting him borrow not only a combine, but also three trucks to haul the grain into town to the grain elevator where it would be weighed, graded and ready to ship out to wholesalers.
Josh and Steve would each run a combine while Clay, Jake, Pop and Tyler Johnson drove the trucks. Callan was coming with Clay so she could help Jenna get food ready for men who would be starving by the time they took a break for lunch. Audrey and Emma would spend the day with Bobbi.
Jake planned on bringing one of his buddies to drive the fourth truck, but he was called in to work at the last minute, so as a last resort Josh phoned his dad and asked if he would like to drive truck.
“Boy, would I Joshie! What a way to spend a day. Well, I haven’t driven a grain truck in years. You might have to give me a refresher course, but I’ll be there in just a bit,” Big Jim said with his characteristic enthusiasm when Josh called him that morning. True to his word, he was at their door an hour later, raring to go.
Steve thought they could work in the same field, finish it then move to the next one, so they both started cutting on opposite ends of the field, the trucks falling in line behind the mammoth machines to catch the golden kernels as they spewed out. While one truck was filling, the other would drive to the grain elevator in town, unload and return. So far, things were running along pretty smoothly.
Mid-morning Josh’s combine broke down and he was tinkering with it hoping it would be a quick fix, but realized that was wishful thinking. Finally, Big Jim got out of his truck and asked Josh a few questions before he started poking around. He spent forty years as a farm equipment mechanic and was one of the best during his working years. Retired for the last ten years, he knew the equipment had changed a bit, but the fundamentals were the same.
“Well, Joshie, looks to me like you just need to get these two wires working together,” Big Jim said oblivious to the cringe that flew across Josh’s face when he called him Joshie. His dad had called him that for as long as he could remember and he hated it. Absolutely hated it.
“I assumed that much Pop, but I can’t exactly bring a soldering iron out here,” Josh said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. Not only was his dad annoying him, he was losing precious daylight with the breakdown. “Let me see what I can find in the tool box,” Josh said, walking around to the other side of the combine and lifting the lid to the tool box.
Big Jim walked over to his truck and thought for a few minutes before an idea struck him. Pulling out the cigarette lighter, he hustled to the wires, and fused them together. “Hah, knew that would do the trick,” he said, admiring his handiwork. He warmed the lighter up again, just to make sure the wires were good and tight. As he stepped out of the truck with it, he stumbled, dropping the lighter.
“Pop, I think I’m going to have to run to the shop,” Josh said as he walked back around the combine just in time to watch his dad stumble and drop the cigarette lighter in the dry, ripe wheat. It immediately sparked and burst into a flame. So surprised by what had happened, Big Jim just stood there watching the tiny flame grow bigger and bigger.
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