Page 16 of Rancher's Healing

We were a month shy of our first anniversary and while we’d settled into married life easily, being together twenty-four-seven had its benefits and challenges.

Working together was our challenge, and there were days I really didn’t like my boss, but I’d learned to leave it at the office. Usually after we’d broken the no fraternization policy during our lunch break or after we closed.

“Tayla, could you please book Mrs. Johnson in for suture removal in seven days?” Jake came out of his office with Mrs. Johnson holding onto his arm, and she was grinning up at him.

“Should I be jealous?” I asked, arching my brow, looking from him to the older woman.

“If I was younger, I would say yes.” She said before giggling. Typing on my computer, I booked her in like Jake had asked.

“Here’s your card for the next appointment, and I will give you a call the day before to remind you.” I smiled at her, and she took the card I’d set on the desk. The bell above the door rang as she left, and for the first time, the waiting room was empty.

The office had been steady for the last few weeks. It seemed like everyone needed Jake at the same time, all trying to be seen before the end of the year rush. “I’m just going to wrap up her appointment, and we can head home.” He kissed my head as he walked back to his office.

Taking a deep breath, it was now or never. Well, not never. He’d figure it out, eventually. Standing, I locked the front door and grabbed the paper off the printer. “Babe, I got this paperwork sent over to me this afternoon.” I walked into his office and handed it to him before taking a seat across from him.

Silence hung in the air, and all I could hear was the humming of the air conditioning, the buzz of the florescent lights, and my heart pounding. His face grew into a frown, and I watched his eyes scan the test results.

“Sunshine, I haven’t seen anyone who is pregnant this week.” He looked up at me, and I tried to keep my expression normal.

“Think it was sent to the wrong clinic?” I asked, crossing my legs.

“That’s possible, but…” He finally saw the name at the top of the paper. “Tayla, these are your results. On a test I didn’t know about or run.” He let the paper slip out of his hands.

“You are correct, doctor.” I smiled. He’d taught me how to help with simple things and dipping pregnancy tests was one of them. The “report” was just a word document I’d made to look like the results from the lab. But in all reality, it was the three pregnancy tests I’d taken out of the supply closet this morning that all came back glaringly positive that assured me of my suspicions.

“Tayla, you’re pregnant?” He asked, leaning back in his chair.

“We are, yes.” I barely got the words out, and he was out of his chair as if someone had stuck him with a needle. He pulled me up from where I was sitting.

“Oh my god, sunshine. This is amazing.” He moved his hands to my face, and I kissed him as if my entire world was right here in this office.

Pulling away, I watched him go from husband to doctor in the blink of an eye. “We should do an exam to confirm, and I’m going to need to…” I pressed my finger to his mouth.

“Jake, you’re the dad, not the doctor. I will make an appointment with Doctor Lorenzo, and he will take care of everything. And if for some strange reason, I ignore my contractions, and you have to deliver our baby at home or part way to the hospital, so be it.” I shrugged and grinned at him. “I hear Nora’s not bad either. She could assist you.”

“You won’t be ignoring contractions. If you want me to deliver our baby, then all you have to do is say the word, and I will do the catching at the hospital with a full obstetrics team present. I have it on good authority Nora has quit delivering babies. I think Fallon’s accidental home birth traumatized her. And I love you more than you will ever know.” He leaned down and kissed me again.

“Are you done? I think we can beat the bus home,” I smiled up at my husband.

“Go to the truck while I turn the lights off.” He turned me toward the door, and I walked to grab my jacket. The mornings were cold now, but that wasn’t surprising for October, but the late afternoons were usually too hot to need it. Fall in Montana meant nothing was the same hour to hour.

We drove home in silence, hands pressed together, fingers intertwined, and I knew Jake’s mind was going a million miles an hour. “We shouldn’t tell the girls just yet. I don’t like hiding it, but we don’t want the entire county knowing yet,” Jake said as he turned onto the lane.

“I don’t like hiding it either, but I agree. When they can know, they can tell the world.” I grinned at him. We walked into the house hand in hand.

“Go sit. I’ll figure out what we’re going to have for supper.” Another kiss, and he pulled his tie off and let it hang around his neck. Sleeves up to his elbows, he undid the top buttons on his dress shirt.

“We should have left work sooner, because damn you’re looking hot, doctor Jake.” I bit the corner of my mouth and eye fucked him as I let my gaze trail down his body.

“The girls are going to your mom’s for a cousin’s sleepover for the weekend. I’m taking them there tonight after dinner, so when I get back you better be naked and in my bed.” He ran his hands over my breasts and let them settle on my abdomen. “God, I can’t wait to watch you growing our child.”

Brakes squealed outside the window, and as much as I liked Jake’s hands all over me, we did try to keep the PDA to a minimum around the girls. “No, I said I wanted to get off the bus first,” Libby yelled at Skyla.

“I was ahead of you, so I got out first. Get over it,” Skyla yelled back.

The door slammed, and Jake and I called out at the same time, “Hey, quit slamming the door.” The girls’ arguing stopped, and they rushed into the living room.

“Homework, and then we eat. You’re off to Grandma Julie’s for the weekend,” Jake said, winking at me.

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