Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Back to the Yellowstone

She wore the lavender dress again, and a lacy white shawl to cover her bare shoulders. She enjoyed the look that Travis gave her, right now she needed to know he still thought her beautiful.

"I have something for you," he said, handing her a red satin-covered box. She opened it up and saw a string of cultured pearls that must have been expensive.

She picked them up, dangling them from her fingers. "Oh, they're beautiful," she said as he lifted her hair to fasten it around her neck. "I love them."

"I couldn't decide what to give you, I wanted something special to celebrate our first child. And once she comes, there won't be much celebrating or going out, we're going to be too tired." He smiled as he held out his hand and she took it, squeezing his fingers.

Her lips curled up in a smile, "Does that mean," she asked, "That you're going to help with late-night feedings and diaper changes?"

"If you nurse, I won't be much use for midnight feedings." He gave her a wicked look.

"Oh, you think? I'll pump my breast milk put it in bottles and keep it in the fridge. All you'll have to do is heat the bottle." So there, her look told him.

He took her to the finest steak house in Fort Worth, but she barely touched her food. She'd look down at her steak, sigh, then take a drink of ice water. She nibbled at her salad and took an occasional bit of bread, but other than that showed no interest in eating.

He pointed to her steak, "Coralee, you aren't eating. You need to eat. You need it and the baby needs it. Come on, what's bothering you, tell me."

She set her fork down, "I'm sorry, Travis, I am but I just don't have an appetite. All this is too much. I'm going to spend, what, a month, six weeks without you? We haven't been separated since we got married. If I wasn't going to stay at the Yellowstone, I don't know what I'd do. I can't imagine being left alone on our ranch. Being pregnant has changed so much in my life, and not for the better. I want my old life back."

"I want to ride again," she went on, "I want to have the occasional drink if I feel like it. I'm carrying around a weight that gives me a constant backache and I can't even take anything to help it. It's hard to sleep, and the baby makes me so uncomfortable. No one tells you how much being pregnant changes your life, and not for the better. I feel like I've been pregnant forever." Tears were starting to form in her eyes, stop it, she told herself, crying isn't going to help.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I've been watching you go through this. You are not a complainer, Coralee, but I can see how frustrated you are." He took a deep breath, "Is this about having to leave you behind?"

She looked at him and nodded, "Maybe, I try not to think about it, and I understand why, but it hurts."

"We've been fortunate, we've been able to spend most of our time together," he told her, "I hate having to leave you, but this way I've got to make a living. I know you're more emotional right now, your hormones must feel out of control due to the changes your body is going through."

He felt helpless, but she felt the same and he knew it. Some women seemed to breeze through pregnancies, but this pregnancy had been hard on her. He didn't have the right to expect her to just deal with it, how would it be if it were happening to him?

He laid a gentle hand on hers. "I can't change what's happening, all I can do is encourage you to eat and take care of yourself. I can't promise to call you every day, but I'll call as often as I can. It's only a few more months, and then the baby will be here, and your body and mind can start to heal." He cut a piece of his steak and held it to her lips, "Would you please eat?"