Page 121 of Forever Fascinating

“Darling…?” he whispered.

“The amulet is from X-Ray and Emily, because I was telling them how wonderful our trip was - and it’s an amulet of the Egyptian deity of childbirth supposedly. They thought it would be a sweet way to recognize…”

“We’re going to have… a baby?”

Jana heard everyone’s intake of breath around her. Karen put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze, as Jace patted Matthew on the back. She didn’t move, only having eyes for her soulmate as she told him the wondrous news.

“Yes,” she breathed, feeling her eyes burn with tears as she saw him processing everything in his mind. They’d talked about children, talked about his fears, and made the decision to go forward… but neither imagined it would happen so fast!

Matthew stared at her, looked at the box again, and then moved forward away from the hearth, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. She felt his arms trembling, knowing how emotional this was for him, confronting all of his fears head on.

“You are going to be an amazing father,” she breathed tearfully, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “We’ll teach him or her how to laugh, make silly photos, and show our child what true love looks like.”

“Speaking of…” Jace said gruffly, causing the two of them to look at her brother, just as he handed Matthew the box lid. “Maybe we should get a first family photo, so you can tell the team, brother?”

Matthew swallowed, nodded, and held up the box lid, displaying the sonogram while Jace took a picture of them.

“Two more please…” she urged, “Take two more photos, Jace.”

“We are still opening presents tonight, right?” he countered openly, causing her to laugh.

“Yes, dork…”

“Just making sure.”

She turned to Matthew – who smiled tenderly at her, his eyes shining brightly in the firelight.

They turned to Jace, holding up the lid again, and both made silly faces, causing her parents to crack up laughing – just before Jana leaned up and kissed Matthew, as Jace took another photo of them.

That photo of them kissing, showing off the sonogram picture, was both Jana and Matthew’s cell phone lock screens for the next several years.

* * *

Nine years later…

Yonder, Texas

“UNCLE JACE!Tell Claire to leave… me… alone…”

Jana and Karen looked at each other and grimaced. They were on leave, spending time visiting family, before Matthew took his post at his new duty station at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“Claire… leave your cousin alone,” Karen said obligingly as she waved Jace away, rolling her eyes.

“Mama, why does Julian get to do whatever he wants, and I have to…”

“He doesn’t.”

“Yes, he does! He is getting to fly with Daddy and…”

“No, he’s not,” Karen replied evenly, with a certain tone to her voice that made Jana smile as she saw the ‘teacher’ come out in her sister-in-law.

“If you would stop harassing your cousin, listen, and take two minutes to think straight, then you would understand what is happening, young lady,” Karen said to her daughter, who had her arms crossed mulishly.

“Mommmmaaa,” Julian hollered from the field, where he was tossing a baseball with Claire until Jace and Matthew were done with the preflight checks on the planes. They didn’t want them on the busy airstrip any earlier than necessary – and frankly, this was a treat.

“What Julian…” Jana groaned in frustration, looking at Karen again, who was smothering a laugh as Claire stomped over angrily, throwing her mitt onto the ground. The two children fought like cats and dogs, reminding Jana of how she and Jace where when they were little.

“Mama! Why ismydaddy going to fly with Julian? Why can’t he fly with his own father?” Claire ordered with all the tenacity of a grown woman fighting for what she deemed was an injustice to her. “It’s not fair. If he wants to fly, he should either take lessons or fly with Uncle Matthew.”

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