Part 27 (1/2)
She nodded against his neck.
”I have the list we made,” he said, pulling a sc.r.a.p of paper from his pocket. ”Shall we make our purchases?”
”I want something special for Diana's baby. And there's something else I want,” she told him. ”A gift I want to give my mother, and I think I remember where to find it.”
”Okay. Let's shop and then have a nice lunch at the hotel.”
Luke drove the wagon, laden with packages and supplies, home through swirling flakes of snow. A pristine white layer covered the ground around their house, the cottonwoods blanketed in the sound-absorbing fluff, the aspens still bright yellow in contrast. ”Isn't it beautiful?” Annie asked, in awe.
The sound of the horses' hooves and the creak of the wagon seemed loud in the peaceful winter air. The horses blew great gusts of white through their nostrils as they trudged into the yard. ”Can you get the fire going while I put up the horses and fork down some hay?”
”Of course. Help me down and I'll carry packages.”
She prepared a light supper since they'd eaten a big meal in town. Luke brought harnesses in to repair while they enjoyed the warmth of the fire. In the weeks that followed, Annie used her evenings to work on gifts for Christmas, and had completed something for nearly every member of the family, amazing Luke with her speed and skill.
Something had begun to bother her, and it wasn't until she made a trip into town and called on Glenda while the girls were in school that the puzzle came into place in her mind.
That evening Luke sat at the table with a cup of coffee and the ledger books that held his records of the stock while Annie finished the dishes and started a pot of beans soaking for the next day.
Stomach fluttering, she studied Luke bent over the pages in concentration. She loved watching him, loved spending their evenings together, and appreciated that they didn't have to keep a constant flow of conversation going to be comfortable with each other's company. Annie practiced the words in her mind.
”Luke?” she began.
”Hmm?”
”I have something to tell you.”
”Okay.”
”You might want to look at me when I say it.”
He raised his head and set the pencil down, turning his full attention on her. ”Okay.”
She brushed her hands over her skirt nervously. ”I know we haven't been married very long, barely two months, and we enjoy our time alone together...”
He raised a brow in curiosity.
”I hope you're going to be happy about this...”
”We won't know until you tell me.”
”Yes. Well.” She cleared her throat. Thinking better of her position at the side of the table, she stepped closer, right up in front of him.
”Annie, this is very mysterious,” he said with a grin. ”What is this secret?”
”It's not a secret, really. It's something I only learned today.”
”In town? What is it?”
She took a deep breath. ”I'm going to have a baby.”
Chapter Fifteen.
There, she'd said it. Her ears hummed with the rush of nerves, waiting for his reaction.
He stared at her, his blue eyes wide and unblinking.
”I haven't had a monthly since we were married, and I talked to Glenda today, and she asked me a few questions. I went to Dr. Martin's office and he confirmed that there's a baby inside me. Isn't that amazing?”
He laid down his pencil.
”Are you happy?” she asked, hopefully.
”My G.o.d, Annie,” he said, rising from the chair. He placed his hands on her upper arms and stared into her eyes. A smile broke across his handsome features and he hugged her against him. ”Of course, I'm happy!”
He spun her around in a circle, then held her close to his heart. Annie clung to him and allowed her pleasure to flow through her mind and fill her already bursting heart.
Luke pushed her away far enough to gently kiss her lips. ”I'm very happy, Annie. I love you. What more could a man ask for?”
”I wonder-do you think I'll be able to take care of him the way he'll need to be taken care of? The doctor didn't seem to think I would have any problems physically. He said I'm healthy and everything's normal. But I suppose I could see a doctor in Fort Parker.”
”I have no doubt that you're healthy and normal,” Luke a.s.sured her firmly. ”But if you want to see another doctor, I want you to do whatever you're comfortable with. You'll be able to take care of a baby. Why wouldn't you? What have I told you a hundred times?”
”I know, I know, but this is...well it's a little scary.”
He hugged her again. ”There's nothing to be afraid of. We're together, you and I. It has never mattered to us what people said or thought or that they doubted. We found each other and we've made a marriage and a life together. This is part of that. A very wonderful part of that. Don't let doubts spoil it.”
”Oh, Luke, sometimes I don't know how I could be any happier or how my life could be any better, but it just keeps getting more and more full.”
”I know,” he said, his voice low and husky with emotion. ”I know, Annie.” He touched her face with tenderness, gazing into her eyes as if she were the most precious thing on earth. He had so much love to give, and he was incredibly generous with himself. He would be a wonderful father. How had she been so fortunate?
Still, she had so many doubts. ”I've been remembering all the times I wasn't allowed to hold Will when he was a baby, as though they didn't trust me with him.”
”If I've learned anything about your father and brother,” Luke said, ”it's that you are their main concern. If they didn't allow you to hold him it was because they worried for your sake, not the baby's. Just like they don't trust me to care for you properly. It's you they care about. Even if their thinkin' has been wrong in the past, they're coming around.”
”I've never even held a baby!”
”You'll know how to hold our baby when he gets here. Annie, I'm so proud of you-of both of us.” He chuckled. ”But you. You are the perfect wife and you'll be a perfect mother.”
”I hope so,” she said on a sigh. ”Are we going to tell my family?”
”About the baby?” He blinked. ”Would you let them think you're bakin' too many apple pies? They'll notice eventually.”
She laughed. ”I'm silly, aren't I?”
”You're silly, but I love you just the way you are.”