I inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out. The cool spring air felt good in my chest. Heather popped out of the tent with a huge smile on her face. Her hand rested on her swollen stomach. My heart felt as if it would burst I was so damn happy.
“You’ve got a big smile on your face.”
Reaching for her hands, I drew her in closer to me. “That’s because I’m happy. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before, Heather.”
With a light chuckle, she shook her head. “I didn’t realize you liked camping so much.”
I placed my hand on the side of her face as she gently leaned into it. Her eyes sparkled while she searched my face. “It’s being with you. You make me happy, princess.” My other hand rested on her stomach. “Baby one and baby two make me happy too.”
She rolled her eyes and let out a light-hearted sigh. “You can’t keep calling them that, Josh.”
Slipping my hand behind her neck, I kissed her gently. It would be easy to get lost in the kiss had it not been for someone honking their damn horn.
“Jeff and Ari are here,” Heather softly spoke against my lips.
“I hear.”
“Let the party begin!” Jeff shouted as I glanced over my shoulder at him hanging out of his truck.
Heather chuckled. “I’m going to finish getting things set up. You should go help Jeff so Ari doesn’t try to.
“Do I get a kiss before I leave?”
“Of course, even though you’re only going to be a few feet away.”
Reaching on her toes, Heather gave me a quick peck on the lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too, princess. Don’t lift anything, okay?”
Her smile made her blue eyes sparkle. “I promise I won’t.”
Jeff was already pulling everything out of the back of his truck when I walked over to their site. Gunner and Ellie’s site was in the middle of the other two sites. We were situated at the end of the road, so it was perfect.
He stopped and reached for my hand to shake it. “Dude. These campsites are perfect.”
“You do realize you picked them out right, Jeff?”
With a wide grin, he nodded. “Hell yeah I do. They’re wide enough apart for privacy and close to the river.”
“Hey, Josh!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Ari walking up with a huge smile on her face.
“Hey, pretty momma. You look great, Ari.”
Her face blushed, which was rare for Ari. “Thanks! I feel amazing. Starving though. Jeff wouldn’t stop because he wanted to beat Gunner here.”
I chuckled while I spread the tent out. “Well, y’all did. Last I heard Gunner and Ellie were running late. Alex was fussy then a couple cows got out in the road and they had to get them.”
“Damn, that sucks. Which fence was down?” Jeff asked while we both assembled the tent.
With a shrug, I responded, “Not sure. He didn’t say. The only thing he said was he was rushing to get out the door and on the road.”
“Did y’all know they had miniature golf?” Heather asked while walking up.
“Oh, my gosh! I swear in just a day you’ve gotten bigger, Heather!” Ari gasped.
It wasn’t lost on me, and I’m sure not on Ari either, that Heather flashed her a go-to-hell look. Ari was a little bit further along than Heather, but Heather was showing a lot more than Ari was.
“Two babies, Ari. I’ve got two baking in there.”
Ari’s smile faded some before returning. “You look beautiful, Heather. Your skin is glowing.”
With a wink, Heather replied, “Nice save.”
It didn’t take us long to get Ari and Jeff’s campsite up and ready. Jeff bitched the entire time he carried both of Ari’s suitcases over to the tent.
“You never know what I’m going to need. They have nightly dances here at the park. I need to look good.”
Jeff popped out of the tent. “For who?”
With a come hither look, Ari responded, “Why you of course.”
Rolling his eyes, Jeff pulled out his phone. “Where in the hell are Gunner and Ellie?”
Not two seconds later, Gunner pulled into their campsite.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It’s about damn time! I need steak!” Ari cried out.
The four of us made our way over to Gunner’s truck. The second he stepped out, Ari asked about food while Gus rushed out of the truck and started smelling everything in sight.
“Did you bring fruit?”
With a nod of his head, Gunner grinned. “I certainly did.”
“Kiwi?” Ari asked with a lifted brow.
“Yes, I got your damn kiwi, Ari.”
She did a little jump and joined Heather and Ellie as Gus circled them looking for a treat. With a quick pat on the head, Gus sank to the ground at Ellie’s feet.
“Had a loose cow, huh?” Jeff asked.
With a frustrated groan, Gunner wiped his forehead then put his baseball cap on and shook his head. “Loose cow, fussy baby that Ellie didn’t want to leave, a wreck that blocked the road for forty minutes, and a flat tire two miles from the park’s fucking entrance. And to think I didn’t even want to come camping.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t be that way. You know you want to spend some time with Ellie and let loose.”
Gunner grunted, which was his way of saying he really did want to go camping.
“Let’s hope that was the only hiccup because honestly, I don’t think I can handle anything else. Ellie has been a basket case since we left and this was her idea! To top it off, she begged to bring Gus.”
With a chuckle, Jeff shook his head and slapped the shit out of Gunner on the back. “Damn, luck is not on your side tonight.”
“No, it’s not,” Gunner huffed as he headed to the back of his truck.
“I’ll get the grill going at our campsite. We’ve got the table set up and everything’s ready to go. Ari and Heather keep talking about steaks, so I say we grill that tonight.”
“Sounds good,” Gunner mumbled.
I shook my head and smiled. As much as Gunner was acting like he was pissed about this camping trip, he wanted to come like the rest of us did. Calling out to a retreating Jeff, I said, “I’ll help Gunner get the food and then help set up.”
Before I headed over to help Gunner, Ari and Heather called me over to read something.
Walking over to them, Ari shoved a map in my direction. “What does that say?”
I glanced down at it. “Trails map?”
“No, right there,” Ellie said pointing to the top of the map.
“Geocache?”
“Yes! Ari and Heather won’t do it!”
Ari placed her hands on her hips. “Keep reading.”
I cleared my throat as I looked between the three of them. Glancing back at the map, I read, “Discover what geocaching is all about. Ages 10 and up.”
“There. It’s for kids, Ellie!” Ari argued.
Stomping her foot, Ellie cried out, “It’s not! It looks like fun! We can pick up a list of real geocaches hidden in the park. Come on, y’all! We can call it practice for when we do it with the kids.”
“I’m in,” Heather said with a smile. Ari twisted around and glared at Heather.
“Um, Josh? Can you help me over here?” Gunner asked as he looked around the back of his truck.
I glanced back at Gunner. “Shit, yeah sorry.” Jogging over, I stopped at the back of his truck. Something wasn’t right because Gunner looked sick. His face was white as a ghost and he was trying to drag in deep breaths.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Scrubbing both hands down his face, he moaned. “I fucked up so bad. So … so … bad.”
Laughing, I said, “It can’t be that bad.”
His hands dropped to the side of his face. “Oh, it’s bad, dude. I forgot the coolers of food.”
My smile instantly dropped. “I’m sorry. I thought you said you forgot the food.”
Nodding, he replied in a barely there whisper. “I did. That’s what I said. We don’t have any food.”
“Gunner, no. How in the hell do you forget the one thing you were supposed to bring!”
“Shut up! You’re going to cause a panic among the hungry pregnant women and then we’re all done for!”
I quickly glanced over to the girls. They were still arguing about the damn geocache bullshit. Looking at Gunner, I said, “Do you have any idea what Ari and Heather are going to do to you when they find out you have no food! No kiwi or steak.”
Gunner swallowed hard. “Oh shit. Ari’s going to cut my balls off.”
“I’m pretty sure she’ll do more than that.”
Covering his junk with his hands, Gunner groaned. “Shit! They’re walking this way! What do we do?”
“We?” I said with a laugh. “Oh, hell no. You’re on your own with this one.”
Narrowing his eyes, he shot me a dirty look. “You bastard. You’re gonna leave me out to hang? Alone?”
The girls stopped in front of us. Each surveying the scene before their eyes.
Ari lifted her brow as she wore an inquisitive look.
“She knows,” I whispered.
Gunner hit my arm. “No, she can’t.”
“Josh and I need to run to the … um … to the store.”
My head jerked to look at him. “What?”
“What for? We have enough food for a week,” Ellie replied.
Ellie’s phone beeped and she lifted it. “It’s a text from your mom. Tell Drew he forgot to bring the two—”
Her eyes swung over to Gunner. She wore a horrified expression. “Gunner. You didn’t.”
Hitting him on the back, I laughed. “Oh, yes he did. Let the fun begin.”