“Okay, I’ll remind the boys about the…ah…sex stuff, and my arm is fine,” she assured him and turned her head, really looking at him. “You don’t miss much, do you?”
Duane chuckled as he repacked his bag, the top of his bald head shiny in the bedroom light. “Not where my family is concerned, and since my boys brought you home, you’re part of it. Let me know what you want to do for a doctor after you’ve thought it out. You can talk to the boys. They know all the doctors in town and might have an opinion.”
Poppy nodded and knew she should get up, it was barely seven o’clock. She was supposed to use the intercom to call Cody but it was all the way across the room and her bed was warm and sucking her in. Her babies were fine, her arm was fine, and for the first time in three days she didn’t feel the imminent threat of having to vomit. She really should use the intercom, she told herself again, but fell asleep instead.
Chapter 9
“Is she okay?” Mary asked Duane. “Baby okay?”
Each of the boys swore, a habit Mary long stopped wasting breath to correct. Not often anyway. Like so many things, her responses were more automatic than conscious when it came to her sons and their dirty mouths.
“Oh, come on, boys. I was born at night, but not last night.” Waving her dish towel when they started to deny and groan, she couldn’t stop her chuckle. “When do I get to be a grandma? It would be an excellent Christmas gift.”
“You know I can’t say,” Duane said, and kissed her pouting lips. “But the daddy sure can.”
“Oh, and who’s that?” Mary asked, her eyebrows raised high toward her sons.
“Me.”
“Fuck you. It’s me,” Trevor replied. He elbowed Michael the way he had since they were little.
“You’re both wrong. It’s me, Mom,” Cody said, and all three brothers looked at each other and grinned.
“Just like your dads.” Unable to contain her excitement, she hugged each of them. “She’s very pretty and nice, but I wouldn’t have expected less. So? Due date?”
“April,” Trevor answered, albeit hesitantly.
“Don’t make a big deal yet, Mom,” Cody added.
“I’ve been waiting for grandbabies since Michael turned twenty-one, I can fuss all I want.”
“Poppy’s worried about miscarrying,” Michael explained, and she hated seeing him look so uncomfortable and sad. “She lost a baby earlier this year, and it was really hard on her physically. She shouldn’t have gotten pregnant again so soon.”
“The poor thing.” She shook her finger at her rarely irresponsible sons. “I know we taught you to be more careful. But everything will be fine. We’ll make sure she gets lots of rest and good food and gentle walks. Thomas, honey, you can reduce the heat in the hot tubs so she can soak when she’s sore. And we’ll have to shop, in a few months of course. Trevor, maybe you could talk to your friends in LA and find out what’s the best brands these days for maternity and baby clothes.
“Duane, don’t forget to tell the boys to be extra careful with her. There are parts of a pregnant woman’s body that need extra consideration and parts to be left alone completely. She’ll tell you, I’m sure.” Her excitement swelled and she didn’t care about the looks the men around her gave. “Oh, I’ll have to look online for new yarn. I’ll have to get started now if I’m going to have time to get a few blankets knitted. I saw the cutest pattern the other day, I should go find it.”
“Calm down, woman.” Thomas laughed, lifting her in a big hug. “The girl just got here, for Pete’s sake. Let her get used to the new situation and all of us before you go too wild. They’ve still got a lot of getting to know one another to do, right, boys?”
“Yep,” Cody said and had the decency to look away with a light blush, her youngest the most modest of the bunch.
“Yep, probably won’t see us for days.” Far from shy, even in front of his mother, Trevor grinned. The brat had the nerve to wink.
“You are awful, Trevor Paul.” She swatted her middle son because he needed it and like he’d mentioned earlier, he was probably too big for her to spank. “Make sure Poppy knows she can come to me about anything. Lord knows, I could have used a feminine sounding board when I found myself the target of two brothers and their cousin. Oh, and make sure you cook her meals in the next few days. I swear, in early days we’d go for weeks without anyone cooking, and she needs protein. You all need to eat.”
Six men groaned, and Mary felt her cheeks burn when she realized exactly the way her words were taken. “I mean food, you horrible creatures! You’re beasts, all of you. I’m going to look for that pattern, take a bath, and leave you to your dirty minds.”
Thomas, Duane, and Paul all perked up at the announcement, the trio of looks sent her way sending the boys packing. She loved her sons, she really did. They were the lights of her life and only kept adding to her joy as years went by, but there were things a mother couldn’t teach her sons. They were tackling a lot in a short time and asking a lot of Poppy. Though it was hard to take an observer’s standpoint, Mary knew they had to do it on their own.
Well, mostly on their own, a little help never hurt, she thought as she led her men to her bedroom.
Chapter 10
Never a fan of technology, Poppy frowned at her cellphone. It hadn’t rung more than four times in the two weeks she’d been at the ranch, so she let the battery die. The boys were busy working, Mary and the dads the same, and since she’d been feeling pretty crummy earlier, she hadn’t accompanied any of them.
So far she’d managed to stay busy during the times she wasn’t sick or sleeping. There was a real element of learning happening whenever she accompanied one of her men, and every time she felt like she’d put in a full day of work. She felt like she was finally getting the kind of education she desired.
The first week was spent mostly with Michael during the days. He did most of his research at his home office but also kept a space in town. During the rides to town, nature provided its own lessons in change, but Poppy found her curiosity knew no bounds, something Michael put to good use at his office.
Morris didn’t employ a full-time detective so when a case arose that needed more expertise, they hired Michael. He refused to join the force despite their offers. Spending three weeks in intensive care after a drugged-out teenager shot him in the chest made the “serve and protect” dream he’d always entertained lose its luster.
The scars on his chest weren’t bad, but when he’d described the incident to her over doughnuts one quiet afternoon, she realized how close she’d come to losing him before she’d even known he was alive. It was a scary possibility that wasn’t lost on him, and he no longer put himself in situations guaranteed to be dangerous.
Like Cody, he enjoyed his job and did well. He liked being his own boss, and as far as she was concerned happiness mattered more than paychecks as long as the bills were paid. Watching him work was interesting, but it got better when he pulled her on his lap and showed her what he did. She helped sort his files after a short tutorial, even helped him with a few basic background checks.
Nothing compared to it, and she found she loved doing the searches and putting together puzzles he set before her. He thought it suited her too, and was checking into some private investigator classes he thought she might like.
Cleaning his business office also helped pass the time when he was busy on phone calls. It was nothing gross, just a little messy and dusty, a lot like the way she saw Michael. He didn’t notice the wrinkles like Cody did but couldn’t completely ignore them as Trevor seemed to do with no problem.
After a few days with Michael she moved on to help Cody and Paul with the ranch. Over a dozen men worked for them, especially in their busy season, and she’d met everyone. They were curious but polite and happy to help Cody show her around. The calves were over six months old so they weren’t as cute as she pictured baby cows, but she’d enjoyed feeding them their grain and scratching their ears.
Cody
promised her baby calves and lambs in the spring, though Paul shook his head as his youngest ordered half a dozen bred ewes from one of the smaller farms in the area. He’d confessed to doing the same for Mary years ago when she’d been new to ranching. Sheep in small numbers weren’t so bad, he told her, and women and kids had soft spots for the little furballs. She suspected the big man did too.
Trevor’s work was entirely different from his brothers. He split his time between LA and Morris, promising the LA time was being cut to bare essentials since she was in their lives. The first time she stepped into his home office, she’d stepped right back out. Trevor forbade her from cleaning or moving anything in the giant cesspit, claiming he would clean after the game was released. It was part of his creative process, continuity he called it.
She figured that meant the dirty napkins, clothes, soda bottles, and Lord only knew what else, had been accumulating for seven months while he’d been programming. The fact wild animals hadn’t started bedding down in the filth amazed her. She played a few of his games when she’d joined him for the day, but she couldn’t stand his office so her tutorial into the world of gaming was cut short.
Waking up to nausea she couldn’t fight outside the bathroom, she felt better by mid-morning and was biding her time until Michael returned. They were going for dinner and a movie in Missoula when he finished with a robbery meeting at the police station, but until then she didn’t have much to do.
To occupy herself, she texted her sisters to let them know she wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving. Home. San Antonio didn’t feel like home anymore, but she’d learned things could change from amazing to horrible at the drop of a hat, so she wasn’t burning any bridges.
Her phone powered up in the kitchen, her kitchen, as she thought of the space, similar to Mary’s, only in blue tones instead of brick red. Poppy loved the fully equipped room and enjoyed cooking, most often with Cody, who was actually a very good baker. Trevor and Michael weren’t useless in the kitchen, but other than doing some chopping, she knew they preferred to eat.
A new text and voicemail waited when her phone powered on, both from her father. Her previously content stomach began turning. In the past weeks, she’d been able to put him and his reaction to her new situation out of her mind. The time away left her more in love with each brother and in return she felt loved, really loved and accepted for the first time in her life.
She didn’t bring her family up often and usually dodged questions about them, because she didn’t want any taint on her trip. Nothing seemed to last in her life, especially good things, so she was squeezing every drop of pleasure from her experiences with the Parabys in case something occurred to rip it all away.
“Poppy, Steven and his wife will be joining us for Thanksgiving. The menu is turkey and roast beef. They prefer sweet potatoes as a side, along with the usual ones you make. I’ll expect you the night before. Sadie will air your room for you.” As abruptly as the message started, it stopped.
He hung up. Nothing in regard to their last meeting, no question of her health after the miscarriage. He didn’t even know about the shooting, because she refused to call any of her family and none of them had called since Steven’s defection. Her father had been as curt as usual, definitely no affectionate terms. Paul, Thomas, and Duane always called her sweet names, held her chair out, and did the things gentlemen who cared seemed to do naturally. The thought never crossed her father’s mind to treat her with that kind of consideration.
Thomas noticed her struggling in the snow after filling the bird feeders one day and hurried out to help. Deciding the snow was too deep and she was too tired, he’d carried her back in the house despite her protest. Then the older man laughed off her thanks and made the best hot chocolate she’d ever had because he was worried she was cold.
Her father had steered her toward a career she hated out of preference. His mother had been a nurse, and in his mind it was the only respectable career for a woman. There’d never been a question what Poppy’s career would be, and he’d never asked what she wanted. She would be shocked if it had even crossed his mind to ask.
The Parabys didn’t assume to know her mind or know what was best for her. They asked, and then they listened. Her men, their parents, everyone in the house listened and she did it back. It was an experience she’d never had in her family. They didn’t listen, because they didn’t care.
Her father wanted…no, expected her to cook and host dinner for her former fiancé and the woman he left her for. Not to mention the baby. The text repeated the call and didn’t request a reply. Her fingers shook as possible responses filled her mind. She set the phone down twice before finally controlling her anger enough to type.
After texting her father, making no apology for not planning to attend his event, she turned off her phone and searched out Trevor. Her father’s reply was sure to be unpleasant and she wasn’t ready to face it, especially not alone. She needed comfort, someone to talk to, and Trevor, the only one home, fit the bill perfectly.
At the top of the stairs, even with the door shut, she could still hear the sounds of games from the landing. He preferred not to be bothered when he worked. His working temper was a running family joke, but she felt so upset she was ready to face a few growls if it meant he would listen.
She knew her father would disown her for defying him, and she needed to feel like she still belonged. She was so close to believing she’d found the family she’d always longed for.
“Trevor?”
He didn’t acknowledge her until she was right beside where he was stretched on the couch, laptop in front of him, keying furiously. “Fucking robots,” he swore, tapping harder. “What, Poppy?”
“Um, do you have a minute?” she asked, talking to the side of his head.
“Do you have food?”
“No.”
“Wanna fuck?”
“What? Um, I guess if you want.” The churning in her stomach increased with every reply.
“No, you don’t, you smell like you puked,” he said absently, and continued to play his game.
Humiliated, she stepped away and picked through the filth as fast as she could. Two weeks. The beginning of the end already started. First, Trevor obviously didn’t want her. Next, Michael would start seeing her flaws and unlovable traits she couldn’t cover forever. Cody would probably be last. He’d tough it out, pretend he didn’t mind her quirks and failings, but eventually they would ask her to leave and she’d be worse off than when she started.
Worse because the sweet taste of family and love would stay with her long after she was alone. Another failure in a line of many she was forced to claim. Sick to death of setting herself up for heartbreak, she swore at her stupidity. She knew better, damn it.
She deserved more from the people in her life than rudeness and orders. The woman she fought to become didn’t have to settle for scraps and false promises. She was better than that. Refusing to let herself be lulled into another bad relationship, one that could leave her destroyed, she decided to leave while she could. Staying where she wasn’t wanted was the old Poppy’s way of life, not hers.
She strode away on a mission. It was better to move on now while she had time to make a new life before the babies arrived. Taking the stairs quickly, she grabbed her purse off the banister post. At the landing she cried out. There was no stopping the cramp when it hit, and she doubled over in pain against it. Tears burned her eyes.
She should have known. Bad things always happened in threes. Her father would disown her, Trevor didn’t want her, and now she was going to lose her babies. Two magical weeks, beautiful weeks of reprieve, but they were over. She managed to get into her coat and to the garage. Trevor’s truck was an automatic with the keys in the ignition, so she took it for the time being. He could have it back, but she had to escape.
The weather stayed dry lately so the driveway and road were clear, the sun brightly reflecting off the tidy snowbanks. She’d practiced the drive in Michael
’s truck before and despite having to be careful on the turns, it wasn’t a bad trip to town. Half a mile down the driveway, before the hairpins started, another cramp hit.
Icy gravel grabbed the SUV’s tires and veered it into the ditch when she lost control. Her slow pace made a dent in the heavily packed snowbank as well as the car. The impact made her body jerk hard, and she cried out in pain. Too many things were happening. Panting helped stop the irrational screaming, but the cramps and tears were making it hard to think. Still stunned from the impact, she heard another truck approach not long after the airbag started to deflate.
“Trevor, you dumbass. How did you manage to wreck on a day like— Poppy?” She was too numb to respond as Cody gently began detangling her from the airbag and seatbelt. “Baby, are you all right?”
“Gotta’ leave.” The powder on her face stunk and made her skin itch. “Cramps just started. Hurts.”
“Dad, call Duane.” His quick pace increased at her words, jarring her though she knew he was trying to be careful. “Why were you alone? Trevor should still be home. Why wasn’t he driving? He should have driven.”
“Wasn’t offering food or a fuck,” she said, head spinning. The shock helped filter her thoughts enough to answer his questions. “I was going home when the cramps started.”
“Home? Poppy, your home is with us. Trevor’s an ass, and I’ll beat him up after Dad looks you over. I promise,” Cody swore, making dust fly around them when he patted her hair. “I love you, so much. Promise me you’ll stay, you’ll give us more time to convince you this is where you belong.”
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