Page 77 of Eight Seconds to Fly

I nodded. “Remember when I had that really bad stomach flu the other month? Well, apparently the pill doesn’t work particularly well if you are throwing up like a fountain.”

“Holy shit.”

I swallowed hard and looked at him. “Are you happy?”

Beau picked me up and twirled me around until my hair swung out like a halo behind me. “Happy? Beautiful, I am ecstatic. But are you happy? I know how much you love riding.”

For so long, bull riding had been my one true love. My only passion. But now, I had a family who I loved even more intensely, and who loved me just as much. I had the bull riding school and Jack had been slowly easing me and Branch into the family business since we got married. Bull riding would always be a part of my life, if not as a rider, then teaching the next generation and providing the rankest bulls in the continental US.

“I’m really happy, Beau. This seems right.”

He spun me in his arms and kissed me. “Do the guys know?”

I shook my head. “I was waiting for Dylan to get home to tell everyone. Do you think they’ll be okay with it?”

It was a lot of responsibility and we hadn’t really talked about starting a family. Up until now we’d just traveled during the year, competing when we could and then coming back to the ranch in the off season, unless we had a promotional thing to do for VANT enterprises. That's where Dylan had been for the last week, doing an advertising campaign for VANT’s new sports watch range.

I missed him dreadfully when we weren’t together, and that’s what scared me the most. With a baby, would we still be able to all travel together? I didn’t expect the guys to retire with me. Two years after Branch had won the World Championship, Dylan had done the same thing. They were the top of the game, and while I might not be able to compete at Worlds and win? I still took home my fair share of buckles.

“Every single one of us will love this baby. You are going to be the most loved, cherished, and excruciatingly fussed over mother-to-be in all of creation.”

Frankie brought over a group of kids while Branch herded the practice bulls back into the paddock. They were basically so tame that they were more likely to eat with you on their back than buck, but it was enough for the training camp we were running.

Frankie had set up a scholarship fund for Brazilian kids to come and learn in the US over the summer, proudly sponsored by VANT Enterprises of course, and his brother Luiz ran the applications from Brazil. Last year we’d traveled down to see Luiz in person for the first time in years, and it had settled something in my soul. I’d always felt like I’d stolen Frankie from him, but Luiz was genuinely happy. He had a wife who he loved, children and a purpose in life. Luiz is the reason we got the bull riding school up and running before we’d all officially retired. We had kids from all over the US and Canada, as well as Frankie’s scholarship kids, on our waiting lists for years. Everyone wanted to be trained by not one but two world champions. We even had a girl last month, which had made me fuzzy as hell on the inside.

The winter air was chilling quickly as I hustled all the kids into the back of the truck and drove them back to Judy and Jack’s house. They’d been ecstatic by the idea too. Judy loved having kids around again, and Jack said he was getting too old to train bulls. This was a fun retirement business for them as well.

After depositing the kids with Judy, we drove back over to the family ranch house. Packing up my father’s stuff had been one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, but the guys had all helped, as well as Jack and Judy. We still didn’t sleep in there, converting it into an office and using one of the other bedrooms as the master bedroom. We’d extended off the back so everyone had their own space. It had been difficult and took a lot of negotiation, but we’d worked it out. That was the name of the game really. Communication.

Beau had beat us home and Dylan’s truck was in the driveway. “Dylan’s home!”

I raced out of the car and up the steps, pushing through the door. When I saw my handsome husband leaning against the bench, chatting with my other handsome husband, I squealed.

Dylan straightened when he saw me. “Well hey there, Pretty Lady. What’s a nice girl like you doing standing here all alone?”

I sashayed over. “Well the rumor goes that I bite the heads off all guys who approach me, especially if they are looking to go home with me.”

He met me halfway, pulling me into his arms. “What if I said I wanted to go home with you forever?”

I kissed his cheek. “Sorry. I don’t date bull riders.”

They all laughed and Dylan kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in years. He picked me up and walked me to the closest wall so he couldreallykiss me.

I could hear someone pop a beer. “Go easy there, Dylan,” Beau said.

Dylan grunted as he kissed his way down my throat. “Screw off, Beau. I haven’t seen my girl in seven whole days and I intend to eat her alive and then bang her into the wall until she wonders why she even needs you schmucks.”

“Yeah, well you may wanna ease up on the wall banging.”

Dylan pulled back, looking between me and Beau. “Why?”

I lowered my feet to the ground. “I’m pregnant.”

Dylan whooped and picked me up again. “Seriously?” I nodded, and he spun me around in his arms, kissing me again. Guess I didn’t have to wonder if he was happy or not. He dropped me to my feet in front of Frankie, who fell to his knees and kissed my stomach like the baby was more than a collection of bubbles in there. He whispered some kind of prayer in Portuguese and then stood, kissing me hard. “Querida,how?”

Beau slapped him on the back. “Well, when a man loves a woman very much, well in this case four men love a woman very much…”

I laughed and Frankie punched him in the arm. I shrugged. “Kismet? A wonderful result of an unfortunate vomiting episode?”

I turned to Branch, who was looking at me with a frown.

“You’ll have to retire.” I nodded. “Are you okay with that?”

I smiled. “I’m done. I love you guys more than I love bull riding. And this?” I cupped my stomach. “I’d throw all four of you under a bus for it, and I’m pretty sure it still looks like a seamonkey.”

They all laughed because they knew I was joking. Well, mostly joking. “Seriously, I’ve done what I wanted to do. This is our next big adventure. I’m okay with that.”

Branch reached out and kissed me softly. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Nugget. I love you.”

As I repeated it back to him, I still couldn’t believe how lucky I’d gotten. You might only be born with one heart, but damn, it had an infinite amount of love to give and I intended to love them until it thumped its last beat. Eight seconds to fly or fall. But true love lasts a lifetime.

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