Choosing My Life - Bear And Rachel

The restart

Bear
I woke up to snuffling. I opened my eyes to see the damn pig sniffing the fence,  but not touching it.   A familiar weight was on my arm.  Her red hair spread across the dirt in front of us.  I drew in a deep breath to smell her and smoke. 

I looked over at the house.  The only thing standing was the wood stove.  It was charred but still there.  My fire bug stirred and turned her face into me like she always does.  I waited for her to open her eyes. This was one of the best times of the day for me.  I loved watching her wake up. 

Her eyes flittered open,  and gazed at me.  They were still filled with trust and wonder.
"Good morning Sweet pea," I whispered. She smiled seductively.
"Good morning my Teddy bear." She whispered.
"What are we going to do for breakfast, I think you burnt the house down last night." I asked.
She giggled and glanced over her shoulder.
"I did,  didn't I." She pushed herself up to get a better view of the coals. 
"Its all gone." She murmured in satisfaction. "All except the stove."
I propped myself on my elbow.
"Is that good?" I asked.
She smiled.
"Yes,  it's where you first cooked for me.  You boiled water so I could drink.  You made that rabbit stew and fed me. It's the one thing I wanted to keep but didn't know how."

I chuckled and brushed a lock of her hair around her ear.
"What's next?" I asked her.
She hummed.
"Well I would like our baby to grow up here.  Can we rebuild?"
I looked up at her.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"I've missed the pig,  and the trees... and the quiet peace. This was my home for a long time."

I sat up and put my arms around her. "And now you've gotten rid of the bad things that were on here." I confirmed.
She nodded.
"Ok,  I'll talk to Midwife and get some ideas." I agreed.
"Thankyou," she murmured, "you've got nine months to do it in."

I smiled,  as she lent her head back on my chest.  And then her words filtered through.
"Rachel?"
She tilted her head back and looked at me
"Why do I have nine months?"
She smiled, and moved my hand to her belly.

Rachel

I watched Bears eyes and mouth open in surprise. His hand gripped my belly,  and he seemed to be in shock.
"Bear?"
"Just a minute, Sweet pea." His eyes stared off into the distance as I waited.  Then his grip eased and he started rubbing my belly gently.
"Are you saying you're pregnant?"
"Yes, Bear.  I'm pregnant."
His breath caught.
"Really?" His smile lit up his face through the hair.  I nodded
"Really."
"I'm going to be a Daddy?"
I wiggled around so I was on my knees in front of him.
"You're going to be the best Daddy ever." I promised him, before kissing him. 

He surged to his feet, lifting me at the same time and swinging me around.
"We're going to have a baby!!" He laughed.

Midwife

I looked up when I heard a bike rattling up our driveway. Rosey cheered as she recognised Bear.  I squinted.  He seemed a little worse for wear, but his grin was spread wide across his face.  I could see Rachel's face peeking out over his shoulder.  I waved and caught my little girl so she didn't run into his way. 

Bluey, our border collie sat up from where he was lying. He barked once and then ran to greet them and race them down the road. 

I straightened up as Bear dodged the dog,  and continued down the road towards me. I nodded a greeting as they pulled up. Bear helped Rachel off the bike before pulling it into it's stand. I frowned at the scratches on the tank.
"What happened there?" I asked letting Rosey down to run to Rachel,  who lifted her up in greeting.
Bear gave an embarrassed grin.
"I, er, I dropped it."
"You what?"
Bear had never dropped a bike in his life! He shrugged.
"Long story." He glanced over at Rachel who was getting dragged to the sand pit by Rosey.
"Did you hear about the fire last night?" Bear continued.
I frowned,
"No? Anyone hurt?"
Bear smiled and shook his head.
"Rachel lost the house and barn on her farm. Completely burnt to the ground other than the wood stove I cooked for her on."
"Oh shit," I started,  then stopped and looked at him. He smelt like smoke,  and he had dirt on him. Rachel had some leaves and sticks tangled in her hair. And both of them looked like they'd been given a gift instead of a tragedy.
"What's going on?"
"I need help to build a house to replace the one that was there.  There were no services to the place so it'll be like a new home build.  I was hoping you'd be able to give me some names of builders I can work with." Bear asked.
I crossed my arms in thought.
"Yeah,  yeah I can. But, how come you and Rach are happy about this?"
Bear beamed.
"One,"  he said,"it's cleared all the memory of her Pa from the place for Rach.  She even threw his grave marker in the fire. So there's nothing left to commemorate his life. She called it cleansing the evil off the place."

I thought about that, and nodded. That'd work. There's a few people whose memory would be best forgotten in life.
"Rachel encouraged the fire?" I asked
"We told Blaze to let it burn."
I was impressed.
"And he did?" I asked
"Yep." Bears face looked like Eric's while he was telling me something really exciting.
"So what's the next part. What else is making this a happy moment?" I asked.
His grin got bigger.
"We've got nine months to do it in before Rach brings home our baby."