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  “Cadde, honey, please don’t wake him. He’ll want to nurse and we have to talk.”

  He kissed the top of his son’s head and stood, bracing himself. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He knew something was by the note in her voice and he was avoiding it every way he could. They were happy. If anything was wrong with Jessie, it would be another blow that would bring him to his knees.

  She reached for his hand and led him to his chair. “Just stay calm. It’s not bad.”

  “What is it?”

  “Are you calm?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “What!” He took a step backward and fell into his chair. “No. We have a baby. See.” He pointed to Jacob. “There he is. And Rosa said you couldn’t get pregnant while nursing.”

  Jessie sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, we’ve proved that old wives’ tale wrong.” She rested her face in his neck and he melted like chocolate on a warm day. “Please don’t be upset. I’m looking at it as a blessing for everything we’ve been through.”

  He kissed her cheek. “I’m just worried about your health. That’s three pregnancies too close together.”

  “The doctor says I’m fine. The baby is fine and Jacob is growing by leaps and bounds.”

  “Oh, Jessie.” He smoothed back her hair and looked into her gorgeous eyes. “You have to stop hitting me with things out of left field. It’s making me crazy.”

  “It keeps us on our toes.” She snuggled into him.

  “Oh, no.”

  “What?”

  “We’ll have to get a bigger stroller, another car seat and a larger car. And we were going to visit your aunts this summer. Now we’ll have to postpone.”

  She drew back. “Cadde, pregnant women can fly.”

  “But…”

  “No buts. We’re going. I want them to meet you so they can see I have a wonderful husband and that we got through all the bad stuff.”

  “We could go earlier,” he suggested.

  “I don’t think so. It’s February and Shay’s baby shower is in late March at our house and the baby is due in early June. We can’t miss that.”

  “No, we can’t.” Chance and Shay were expecting their first child and they’d planned its arrival for when Shay wasn’t teaching. It must be nice to plan those important events. He and Jessie seemed to roll the dice on birth control, but he was happy. Like Jessie had said, it was another blessing.

  She lifted an eyebrow. “You okay now?”

  “As long as you’re in my arms. That’s…”

  A loud wail interrupted them and Jessie immediately went to their son. “The doctor said I have to put him on a bottle real soon.”

  “He’s not going to like that.”

  Before she could reach Jacob, the door swung open and Kid stood there.

  “Did I hear a baby cry?”

  “He’s hungry.” Cadde explained the baby’s wails. “Jessie’s going to nurse him.”

  As usual, Kid paid him no attention and unstrapped Jacob, lifting him out. The baby stopped crying, happily flailing his fists at Kid.

  Jiggling him in the air, Kid cooed, “Hey, partner, you like breasts?” Slobber fell on Kid’s shirt, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  “Put him down,” Cadde said.

  “Uncle Kid has a calendar in his office that has nice breasts. I’ll show you.”

  “Do not show Jacob naked women. Hand him over to Jessie.”

  Kid walked out the door with the baby in his arms.

  Cadde sighed. “That’s the man who didn’t like kids. Go figure.”

  Jessie slid onto his lap again. “Go figure.” She ran her finger down his nose. “People change.”

  “Mmm.”

  “There are baby wipes in your truck and milk stains on the carpet. Not to mention mustard on the steering wheel. Go figure.”

  He smiled. “I love you.”

  “I’ll love you forever,” she whispered, and that sounded about right to him.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1466-8

  THE TEXAN’S BRIDE

  Copyright © 2011 by Linda Warren

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