Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Thirty-Nine: What Family Means

"Can we talk logistics for a few minutes, though, all romantic warms fuzzies aside?"

Sean sighed as he carved through his steak. He had taken her back to Lehman's Lodge to celebrate. "Let me guess, Travy?"

She bit her lip. "Yeah, but also, where we're gonna live, and how we're gonna go about handling the compromise of each other's careers?"

He began to frown at her slightly. "What'd you mean?"

"I mean, now that we're gonna have a family, isn't it time to think about maybe, I don't know, early retirement?"

He continued to stare at her in a blank fashion, as if he couldn't comprehend what she was saying.

"Isn't there, you know, a desk job position you could apply for?" She pressed on.

A cold wash of horror assailed him. "You've got to be kidding me!" He sort of choked on a nervous chuckle and quickly reached for his beer.

She could see by the gray cast to his face that now was not the time to push the issue.

"So what is your plan with handling the daycare and three new children?" He asked her, eager to change the subject. There was also a touch of defiance in his tone, however, if she wasn't mistaken. She knew him well, after all, and she knew exactly how he acted when he was feeling defensive.

Having just recently learned that they were actually expecting twins, he was even more overwhelmed now, she could tell.

"Well, assuming we actually do win the case with Travy," Lucy sighed heavily at the reminder of this, "Amanda, Grandma, Martha, and Cassie can hold down the fort for a few months, even Paula and some of the other moms said they were willing to help out."

She paused a moment and let that sank in. That felt really nice. 'The other moms', meaning that she was one now herself. She was finally going to get to share in the magical wonder of motherhood.

"I chose this job specifically because it allows me to keep pursuing my career while I keep my children with me the entire time." She went on.

Sean simply smiled at her, overcome with love and admiration.

Lucy blushed all over again and he took her home soon.

###

Everyone was ecstatic at the news.

The next few weeks were an absolute whirlwind and sometimes Lucy felt like she barely had time to take a breath. But she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Kendra finally got out of the hospital, but she didn't even come to see Travis. Instead, she took off in her crappy old car as fast as she possibly could. No one knew where she might be headed.

The worst part of this was how utterly heartbroken Travis was. A bright silver lining was that this made the adopting case pretty much iron clad. Within a few weeks, they had signed the official adoption papers and were moving into their new home together.

They had managed to find a beautiful, spacious brick house right there in Canyon Creek. Lucy was suddenly up to her ears in wedding plans.

The big question was, to get married before or after the babies?

Lucy had been raised to be a good Christian girl and she knew that her grandparents, particularly, secretly hoped that she would get married before her children were born, much as they had with Cassie and her children.

But Lucy was a modern enough of a woman that she believed that God would love her children whether she married their father or not.

Both she and Sean agreed that it would be adorable to have their children in their wedding photos. And aside from sheer vanity, she really didn't want to have painfully swollen ankles for her wedding.

So it was finally decided, the wedding would take place the following summer.

The twins were due in September, and they would share her birthday week with her. Travis and Sean both happened to share summer birthdays.

In late August, the corn harvesting season started up all across the Midwest, and Sean and Lucy were preparing to move into their new house together.

~ ~ ~

Ahhh and here we are and it's finally hump day as I was babbling about it being back on Monday! LOL I'm nuts! Anyway, have a chapter, people! Enjoy your #WesternsWednesday!

And, as always, thanks for simply taking the time to read! Your votes would also be appreciated! Heehee!

HRH