When I saw the truck coming up the driveway, my heart almost leapt out of my chest. I practically fell over myself as I raced down the stairs to meet them as they pulled up. Juan was in the front seat, and beside him were his parents.

“Juan!” I shouted, racing over to his side of the truck as the rest of his pack hopped out of the back. “Oh, God! You’re hurt!”

He was holding a bloody hand over his stomach. “Jamie! Get some bandages!”

“It looks worse than it is,” he smiled as I slid under his arm and helped him towards the house.

“I could use some help, though!” Terry shouted. I turned to see him nursing a wounded shoulder. Jamie burst out of the house with an armful of bandages. She handed a wad to me then raced over to Terry.

“Here, let me help,” I told Juan. He moved his hand away and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was right, it looked a lot worse than it was. There were some cuts there, obviously from somebody’s claw, but at least this time he wouldn’t need stitches and the bleeding had mostly stopped.

“See?” he grinned. “Tougher than you give me credit for.”

“Oh, stop it!” I protested as we made our way up the stairs and into the house. “You know I give you all the credit in the world.”

“Not like Terry who got his ass kicked!” Juan joked as he slumped down on the couch.

“Hey!” Terry grumbled as Jamie led him back to the bathroom. “I’ll remember you said that when I’m all recovered!”

“Yeah, bring it on!” Juan laughed as he lay back. Jamie had left a bowl of water and some antiseptic cream for me on the side table. I dabbed some gauze and began wiping away the flecks of dried blood on his abs.

“Babe,” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“Can you grab me some clothes from the bedroom?” he asked. “Or at least some pants?”

“Oh, suddenly shy, are you?” I joked with him.

“My parents are here,” he reminded me. “I know they’ve seen me naked before, but…”

“Oh, I totally forgot!” I blurted out, pressing the gauze over his cuts. “Hold this! I’ll be right back.”

I raced into the bedroom and grabbed a fresh pair of boxers and a loose pair of shorts. The rest of the pack was still out front talking, including his parents, so I quickly knelt down in front of him and slid both pieces of clothing over his feet.

“God, I feel like a little kid,” Juan groaned.

“What, you don’t like being dressed by someone?” I giggled. “I guess no matter how rich we get; we won’t be hiring a butler.”

“We’d have to sell a lot of zucchini to be that rich!”

He raised his hips off the couch and helped me pull his shorts up over his hips. He winced in pain.

“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling horrible. “This was the second time I was patching him up, and both times it was because of me.”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, running a hand through my hair. “Especially with you to take care of me.”

I dabbed the gauze with fresh water and wiped at his cuts again. The dried blood was pretty much gone. I rubbed some of the gel over the wounds, causing him to wince again, then covered the whole area up with a large bandage.

“All done,” I said proudly. I looked up at him and almost melted when I saw the smile on his face. He grabbed me beneath the arms and lifted me up onto the couch beside him, then slid his hand beneath my chin and brought my lips to his.

We kissed, and I felt all the tension of the day pour out of me. It was like an imbalance had formed while he was gone, and having him back had corrected it. He was filled with strength and I felt it transfer to me like electricity recharging a dead battery.

“Mmm,” I moaned, my lips against his. “Your parents were okay?”

“Thankfully,” he replied. “But the taco stand is going to need some work.”

“Kenneth and I already agreed to help out with that,” I told him. “And I think Jamie too, but she’s always joking that sometimes I don’t know what she’s saying!”

“Yeah, she’ll help,” he assured me, stroking my lower back. “She may talk a lot of shit, but she’s reliable.”

“Well, as long as she doesn’t try to convert you, we’ll be fine!”

Juan burst out laughing, reached down and squeezed my butt. “I am un-convertible.”

“Mmm, that’s what I like to hear,” I teased him, running my hands gently over his crotch area.

“Look at you,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “Even when I’m laid up like this?”

“Nursing you back to health makes me feel…good,” I told him. “And you know what else makes me feel good?”

I leaned back so I could look straight into his eyes.

“What?” he asked.

I bit my lip. I’d been so excited to tell him the news. I’d only just felt it, but it was a feeling so deep in my bones that it was undeniable. I didn’t know how I knew—I just knew. He must have seen the excitement on his face, and nudged me gently in the side.

“What is it!?”

“Baby,” I told him. “I’m pregnant.”