Before dinner, Emma suggested they go for a walk. She could use a little fresh air to clear her head, and Gage was gung-ho to try out the baby carrier.

After he familiarized himself with the straps and buckles, he had Josh strapped on his back in no time. Josh was sitting several inches higher than when she took him, and he clearly loved the extra height, babbling away as they strolled through her neighborhood.

Gage chuckled. “It’s like he’s speaking a foreign language.”

“I know. He has all the inflections right, but nothing makes sense.”

“Do you think he’s trying to say something, though?”

“Not according to what I’ve read. He’s mimicking our speech patterns, but he doesn’t have the tools to say words the way we do, or put them together in a sentence. But it’s coming. I can’t wait.” She waved to a neighbor who’d just come home from work. Another neighbor drove by and lightly beeped the horn.

“Friendly place,” Gage said.

“It’s a good neighborhood, especially for children. I haven’t had as much time to socialize since Josh was born, but I’m sure that will change as he gets older and he can play with the other kids.”

“I hadn’t thought about that. We didn’t have close neighbors but I had my brothers and my sister. You had to be old enough to ride a horse before you could go to somebody’s house to play.”

“So different from the way I grew up. I probably chose this neighborhood because it feels familiar.” She cautiously maneuvered through this conversational minefield about choices made, choices yet to be made. The future had become tougher to predict.

“You seemed to enjoy Wild Creek Ranch, though.”

“Oh, I did. I can see the appeal of a place like that. Josh had a blast with the critters.”

“Sounds like it from what my dad said. You can bet he and Kendra will be eager to get him a pony when he’s old enough.”

“And I’m sure he’d love it, although if he’s only there every so often…no point in worrying about it yet, I guess.”

“Right. Speaking of gifts, Dad wanted me to thank you for the list. Big help.”

“It’s going to be a mountain of presents, though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “I don’t know how you can avoid it since Josh is the first baby in the family.”

“I’m touched that they’re all so eager to celebrate. It’ll be fine if he gets too much. I’ll just quietly put some of it away and bring things out one at a time, spaced out over the next few months.”

“So maybe I should hold off on giving him the rest of what I brought.”

“On the contrary. You’re his daddy. Your gifts get top billing.” And she was curious about what he’d chosen. “What did you get?”

“Will he understand what I’m saying if I tell you? I want them to be a surprise.”

She grinned. “He might understand if he was listening, although he still wouldn’t get the whole picture. But he’s not paying any attention to us, so you can tell me.”

“I’ll keep my voice down, just in case. I got him a cowboy hat like the one he wore Sunday.”

“Awesome.”

“And I found a kid-sized football. It’s even green and gold.”

“Perfect. He’ll love it.”

“The other thing is a wooden barn, and you lift up the lid to get out the wooden animals. Lead-free paint and no small pieces. I mostly got it for the horse, but there’s a cow, and a pig and—”

“Chickens?”

“Two, I think.”

“Great idea. All the presents sound excellent.”

“Nothing’s wrapped.”

“That’s actually better. Maybe you could start with the barn tonight and we can all play with it. Then you can bring out the football and the hat tomorrow.”

“Okay. I also got a large bag of bird seed.”

“Ha! Thanks! You must be psychic because I’m running low.”

“I am psychic. I just don’t like to brag about it.”

“Are you really? Then what are we having for dinner?”

He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Hang on, it’s coming to me…homemade soup.”

“You are such a poser. You saw the container I left on the counter to thaw.”

“You’re thawing homemade soup? Wow, what a coincidence.”

“Give it up, Sawyer. I’m onto you.”

“Yeah, but what’s with the soup? You promised not to cook.”

“I’m not cooking. I’m just heating some soup.”

“Semantics.”

“I wasn’t in the mood for take-out and this is quick and easy. You can heat it up if that would make you happy. You can also fix the toasted cheese sandwiches.”

“You must be psychic, too, because toasted cheese is my specialty.”

“I am psychic, and I brag about it constantly.” Teasing each other had been their pattern when they’d been dating. Nice to know they still could.

Josh had a great time eating his toasted cheese sandwich. He got melted cheese globs everywhere, including in his hair.

When Gage offered to clean him up, Emma gladly handed him a wet washcloth. Then she took Josh into the living room to wait while Gage went out to his truck to fetch the toy barn. His eagerness to buy gifts for his son was understandable. And heartwarming.

He came back with the wooden barn under one arm and two more flatter packages under the other. Those were wrapped, though, and he’d said Josh’s weren’t. Evidently she was getting presents, too.

He laid those two on the floor without comment and set the barn in front of Josh, who was currently holding both his bluebird and his owl. Josh gazed at the red barn with the green roof and then peered up at Gage.

“You want to know what the heck this is, don’t you, sport? What kind of tomfoolery is Daddy up to, huh? I’ll show you. This is a barn, and the roof comes off. Ta-da!”

Josh leaned forward, looked inside, and squealed. “Ba-ba!” Dropping both his bluebird and his owl, he reached in and pulled out a chicken. Then he tossed that down and brought out another one. “Ba-ba!”

Emma grinned. “I’m telling you. Chickens.”

Sticking his hand into the barn again, Josh came up with the horse. He stared at it a long time.

“Horse,” Gage said. “It sounds like this.” And he whinnied.

Emma started giggling. “You do that so well.”

“Naturally. When you’re a kid on a ranch, you mimic all the animal sounds.”

“I guess you would.” She glanced at Josh. “Look at his eyes. He thinks you’ve lost your mind.”

He smiled. “He wouldn’t be the first to think that. Hey, buddy, can I borrow your horse for a minute?” He held out his hand.

Josh laid the horse right in it.

“Thank you for sharing. Here’s one thing you can do with this horse. You can make him gallop along the floor, like this.” He demonstrated. “And you can pretend he’s rearing up.” He whinnied again. “Want to try it?”

“Da-da!” Josh took the horse and scooted it along the floor making a funny little noise in his throat. Then he tipped the horse up and squealed.

“Perfect! You’ve got the idea.”

“Oh, my God, I should be videoing this.”

“I am,” Gage murmured. “In my head.”

Aww. He’d been earning points ever since he’d arrived, and the depth of caring in that soft-spoken comment earned him a whole bunch more.

Josh continued to pull animals out of the barn and Gage made the noises for each one. Once they were all out, Josh methodically put each one back in. Then he took them out again, making his version of the noises his daddy had taught him.

Emma smiled at Gage. “I think you have a winner.”

“I was hoping.” He picked up the top package from the two lying next to him. “This is for you.”

She tore the white tissue paper where it was taped together and pulled out a white t-shirt. “Woo-hoo! I’ll bet this is for football!”

Josh twisted around toward her, a chicken in each hand. “Ma-ma!”

“Look, Josh! Mommy has her own shirt for flag football.” She held it against her chest. “Want to go watch Mommy and Daddy play football again?”

He waved the chickens in the air. “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!”

“And go see Granny Ken’s chickens. You bet.”

“Ba-ba.” He returned to his task of emptying the barn and refilling it.

She glanced at Gage. “Thank you. It’s funny, but I don’t have a white t-shirt. I was thinking of buying one.”

“Now you don’t have to.” He picked up the other package, which was the size of a large coffee-table book and about that heavy. It was wrapped in brown paper, the corners neatly folded and taped. “This is just…because.”

She undid the tape and folded back the paper to reveal the back of a framed picture. When she turned it over, she gasped. “It’s Home, Sweet Home.” She looked up and met his gaze. “I love this.”

“I saw how you looked at the original. I got Dad to sign it. Then he insisted on matting and framing it.”

“What a beautiful job he did.” She looked more closely at the print, and sure enough, Quinn’s signature was in the bottom corner. “This is so special. For me and for Josh. His grandfather’s creation. He won’t understand that for a few years, but eventually he will.” She leaned toward him. “Thank you so much.” She gave him a gentle kiss and drew back.

Warmth filled his dark eyes and a smile crinkled the corners. “I’m so glad you like it.”

“Love it,” she corrected. “Love. It. I know just where I want to put it, too.” She scrambled to her feet. “I’ll get a hammer.”

“Josh and I will be right here playing with the animals.”

As she came back from the laundry room with the hammer and the picture hook, clucking noises drifted from the living room. She paused at the end of the hallway.

Gage and Josh each had a chicken, and those birds were clearly having a conversation. Gage did most of the clucking, but Josh was catching on fast. They were bonding.

Gage looked up when she walked into the room. “Need some help?”

“Sure. I want it over my desk so I can see it all the time.”

“It’ll look great there.” He glanced at Josh. “I need to take a break so I can help Mommy hang a picture, buddy. Would you please hold my chicken?”

“Kuk-kuk!”

“Thanks, sport. Good job.” He stood and brought her the picture.

“You’ve increased his vocabulary.”

He grinned. “You never know when being able to cluck like a chicken or moo like a cow will come in handy.”

“Absolutely. Okay, I’d like the picture centered over the desk, and maybe about eighteen inches above it. If you’ll hold it up, I’ll eyeball it.”

He surveyed the space, leaned over the desk and held the picture in place. During dinner, she’d been focused on the meal and Josh, but with Gage posed with his back to her, she was getting a great angle on his firm buns.

He edged sideways so she could see. “How’s that?”

“Up a little. Now over to the left.” The snug fit of those Wranglers was messing with her concentration. “Down a little… A bit more…” What was it about wear-softened denim? It was so—

“Em? Is that good?”

She snapped out of her daze. “Perfect. “If you’ll just tip the bottom out a little, I can put my finger on the spot.” She walked back to the desk.

“Like this?”

“Uh-huh.” His gentle breathing and the warmth of his virile body made her shiver as she moved in closer and reached under the frame.

“When’s his bedtime?” His murmured words slid over her like warm syrup.

“Pretty soon.”

“Can I help tuck him in?”

“Sure.” And after that, she could look forward to spending the rest of the night in his daddy’s strong arms. What a lovely prospect.