* * *

I can't believe how long it took us to get pregnant given how hard we tried. Thank God Uncle Randy decided he didn't want to wait till the baby came.

Devon's decision to stay in California almost soured the whole deal, even though we got married just like everyone wanted.

It took a lot of work to convince Randal to sign over the stock to Devon, but once he did, it made Devon the controlling partner.

We couldn't touch Randy's retirement, but the rest of the Foundation got a major overhaul. All new salary structures from the top down. The lowest paid employees make a decent wage now and the highest paid officers are paid competitively, not extravagantly.

Moving the headquarters to California would have been more expensive than either of us thought was worth taking from the budget. So the Foundation remains headquartered back east while Devon telecommutes.

At least my new in-laws turned out not to be anywhere near as obnoxious as my first impression led me to expect. Which is not to say I want them to move out here just to be closer when the baby gets here.

I like Devon's parents well enough when they're 2000 miles away, I'm not sure that's likely to be the case if they're close enough to babysit.

"Ready Babydoll?" Devon's breath tickles my ear and his deep voice tickles places much lower down as he comes up behind me and kisses my neck before catching me by the waist and spinning me around to face him.

Dropping down on his knee he runs his hands over my belly and asks "are you ready, baby?" before kissing me there too.

Everyone promises that the nausea is supposed to stop any day now and by this time next month I'm supposed to be so horny I'll tie Devon to the bed. Not that he'd mind.

Devon grabs our bags as I adjust my Seabands-- they really do help with the nausea. At least the puking didn't last more than the first few weeks. I know a lot of women who have been pretty jealous of that. I haven't told them that I never stopped being horny for Devon. If my second trimester makes that worse, we're going to need someone to bring us food.

Just starting my 4th month, plenty of time to travel still. Which is a good thing for Kyle.

"Did you get everything?" I ask my husband as I follow him out to the car.

"Everything but you two," Devon grins as he opens the passenger door for me.

The brooding man I met on our first date is gone-- well, he's still pretty brash about taking what's his and I'm not complaining about that. I don't think I've seen him unhappy since I agreed to marry him, and since I got pregnant he won't stop smiling.

Everything he does is for me and the baby.

"Are we still picking up Jaime?" I ask.

That was the plan, last I heard. I don't want to fly while I'm still getting motion sick so easily so we're driving to Santa Fe for the last round of interviews.

We could have finished them up online, but we all agreed that we wanted to meet Ashton in person before we fly him out here to put him and Kyle through "first date hell" as Jaime likes to call it.

"Yup, picking Jaims up at your old place and then hopping on the freeway. Shouldn't take more than 2 days unless you're not feeling up for the long hours in the car."

Jaime and her new boyfriend bought my house from me after Devon and I moved into something with a few more bedrooms. He needs a dedicated office and we wanted at least 2 more rooms to fill with kids.

Once everyone gets settled in, Devon points us toward New Mexico.

"Did anyone actually tell Kyle where we're going?" Jaime asks after we're on our way.

Devon and I both laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jaime leans forward between the front seats.

"Devon sent Kyle to Honduras," I tell her.

"What? Why?"

"So he'll get out of my hair and stop telling me how to tell if a guy is hot," Devon tells her.

Jaime falls back in her seat laughing, "Really? So you sent him to Honduras?"

I turn and grin at her, "He has no cell connection and no internet."

"No wonder I haven't been hearing from him so much, I thought he was just ignoring me."

Kyle went to work for the Foundation when Devon found out he was fluent in 3 languages. He's been a huge asset with our foreign jobs. Even though he loves to drive Devon crazy, Kyle makes an excellent foreign ambassador.

Which is why we chipped in to help him pay for his own match from Raven Swann.

Devon squeezes my knee from the driver's seat.

I'm so glad I gave him one more chance. It turned out to be the smartest choice I've ever made.