Dinner last night was amazing, and Ines didn’t even get sick after scarfing down her Chicken Alfredo. Then, we came back, and Jade loaded her up with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies while we all played poker. It was good, no, it was the best family night I’ve had as an adult.

I could have never done any of that shit with Danielle, spent an evening playing cards, laughing, and just hanging out. She would have made it miserable, but Ines is so different, she fits in seamlessly.

“I thought you were happy the last time you came to see me. When you’d just met her,” my father murmurs, walking into the kitchen.

Ines is exhausted, I know because I made her that way. After dinner, and then cards, I took her upstairs and made love to her, nice and slow. With a belly full of food and cookies, she passed out after we both came, hard. Now, it’s the next morning, Thanksgiving Day. Jade has already been up, and I can smell the turkey cooking, but it’s just me and my dad drinking coffee.

“Do I seem happier?” I ask on a chuckle.

My dad lifts his chin. “You seem settled, happy and settled, son. I see myself in you when I met Jade, and finally settled after years of feeling uneasy after your mom left.”

I nod, understanding his words, because I felt uneasy in my own marriage for years. “I’m happy, Dad.”

“You have something else you’d like to tell us?” he asks.

I turn to face him, watching as Jade slides up beside him and wraps her arms around his waist. She gives me a smile and a wink, her eyes dancing, and filling with wetness.

I clear my throat. “I was going to tell you at dinner tonight. Although, it seems as if you already know so I don’t know what verbalizing it is going to accomplish,” I grin.

“Hearing it will make it so much more real,” Jade smiles.

I lift my chin, my eyes flicking between Jade and my dad, then they settle on my dad. I want to see his reaction. He’s never verbalized wanting a grandchild, but I know that he must. “Ines is pregnant,” I quietly announce.

“And how are you both feeling about that?” Jade asks, her voice just as quiet as mine a moment ago.

I inhale a deep breath. “She’s young, it wasn’t planned, but I can’t deny that we’re both extremely excited. I never thought I would have children, not even with her, I just assumed that I’d missed my moment,” I admit.

My father lifts his hand and wraps it around my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. He doesn’t say anything but his eyes, they say it all. He understands me, he was once where I am.

Although he’d had me, I know that he had resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t have any more children. He had also resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t have any grandchildren unless Carter gave him some.

Our lives are changed, different, and it seems both my father and I have traveled much of the same path, and that the later season of our lives, will be the most fulfilling.

“I think that she’s young, but she isn’t immature. She isn’t some inconsiderate child, she is confident, and she loves you, Thomas. So much,” Jade smiles. “I never thought you would have what Gregory and I have. I’m thrilled that you do, and that we’ll have grandchildren to spoil.” She winks.

I open my mouth to reply, though I’m not sure what I’m going to say. Luckily, Carter waltzes in and I’m off the hook.

We love each other, but I’m still worried, still concerned that Ines is too young to have a baby. I’ve never had a reservation about marrying her, but I never anticipated bringing a child into the world, especially so soon.

“Everything will work out,” my father nods a few minutes later. I watch as he exits the kitchen, Jade at his heels.

“I’m asking Sharee to marry me after dinner tonight,” Carter announces once our parents have left.

I blink in surprise, turning my head to face him. “Well, I’m glad that I didn’t wait to make my own announcement then,” I chuckle.

“You mean about Ines being knocked up?” I open my mouth to ask him how he knows. “Sharee figured it out. Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know,” he offers with a grin and a shrug.

I nod. “Yeah, we’re having a baby. Mom and Dad know already, so the night is yours,” I chuckle.

“Happy for you, brother,” Carter says.

We stay silent, looking out the kitchen window at nothing in particular. We’re both embarking on the unknown, Carter on marriage, and me on both marriage and fatherhood. I don’t consider myself an expert on marriage, my first one failed and was a fucking train wreck for years beforehand. I’m a novice, and this life with Ines will be all trial and error, but I can’t fucking wait.

Jade gives me a huge hug. This trip was too short, I’ve decided. Next year I want to stay for at least ten days, if not more. I absolutely loved both Gregory and Jade. They both have already made flight arrangements for our small courthouse wedding, along with Carter and Sharee. They were more than I ever thought possible, more supportive, friendlier, and I can’t wait for the future with them as my in-laws.

The flight home is thankfully uneventful, and I’m glad for it because I’m exhausted. I wasn’t kidding when I told Thomas that this baby was pumpkin obsessed. I ate my weight in pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, bread, and topped it off with pie. It’s ridiculous, and I know that I had to have gained at least fifteen pounds over the past few days—but I don’t even care. It was worth every bite.

“Next week we close on both houses,” Thomas murmurs as we drive toward home.

It doesn’t feel like my home, it never has, but the new place does and I can’t wait to move in. I have been scouring Pinterest for days for nursery ideas. I am so excited to create something calming and beautiful for our new addition.

“I’d like to go furniture shopping next weekend,” he states, and it pulls me out of my Pinterest plans.

“Furniture shopping?” I ask, tipping my head to the side.

Thomas chuckles, and I wonder what he’s so damn happy about. “I sold the house furnished. We’re only taking our clothes and personal items with us, angel eyes.”

I blink at his words. Surely, surely, that cannot be right. There’s no way that he can not have a paycheck right now, buy a new house, pay off Danielle’s agreed upon divorce settlement amount, pay for clothes and things for me, a new baby, and buy furniture.

“How much money do you have, Thomas?” I ask in a whisper. It’s something we’ve never discussed, but right now I feel like it’s pretty damn important.

Thomas pulls into the driveway of the house, into the garage and shuts it behind us, then switches the car off. “My father has given me money over the years. When he’s had bonds come up, he gifts me some cash from it to save on taxes. I invest it well, and I’ve invested my retirement and any extra money in my salary as well. I don’t have millions, but I do okay, Ines.

“My new job will make more than my professor salary. We are not struggling, we won’t ever struggle if you don’t want to work. If you want to stay home and raise our babies out on our twenty acres, then you can do that and I’ll keep food on the table, a roof over our heads, and provide whatever we need or want.”

He’s said the words before, he’s said all of this before, but somehow it didn’t quite resonate with me. Not like it is right now, as if it’s hitting me like a freight train. This man is my protector in more ways than one. He’s stability, love, and hope all wrapped into one package.

“I just, you don’t have to sell your stuff, Thomas. What made you do that? I ask.

Thomas gives me a smile, his lips tipping and his eyes crinkling at the sides. “You don’t want to sleep in the master bedroom, Ines. It’s obvious that you’re uncomfortable with the fact that Danielle spent time in the home. This move is about a fresh start, with that I mean that everything will be brand new for us, and to us.”

My eyes well with tears and I give him a nod. I love it, I love how he’s clearly thought about me, and my feelings in all of this. I also feel extremely overwhelmed that I now have to pick out furniture for an entire house.

“Let’s get upstairs, get some sleep. This week is going to be busy,” he says, leaning over to press his lips against my own.

I accept his chaste kiss, only slipping my tongue out to taste him for a second before I back away. Then I open the car door and hurry inside. I hear Thomas chuckling behind me, and before I take even one step on the staircase, he has me picked up in his arms and he’s carrying me upstairs.

We had sex every night at his parents’, but we were both careful to keep quiet. I can tell that he needs to be loud, that he needs to let loose, and I can’t wait.

* * *

My eyes flutter open and I look around, a little sad that Thomas isn’t here. We’ve been in our log cabin for two weeks now. Most of our furniture has been delivered, and I was glad when Thomas suggested we enlist the help of an interior designer. I was slightly overwhelmed, and she has really been a godsend.

Today I’m supposed to meet her at HomeGoods to look for decor to make the house into a home. Then, we’re going to do lunch before heading to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and get kitchenware.

My phone beeps with an alert and I reach across to the nightstand to look at it. It’s a text from Thomas. He’s at his new office today, getting all of his paperwork turned in, getting his computer login information, and security badges and cards. He starts in just a few weeks and I have to admit that I’m going to be sad that he won’t be around all day, every day anymore.

I smile at his words. Nettie is awesome, and I will have fun with her today because we’ll be shopping and the original feeling of being overwhelmed has disappeared. She gets me, she gets my style and she’s been invaluable. I can’t deny that I’m more excited about seeing Thomas tonight though. I already miss him.

I respond, trying not to sound completely desperate and clingy, even if that’s how I feel on the inside.

I quickly shower and get dressed, keeping my eye on the clock as I do. I’m supposed to meet Nettie in just twenty minutes, and I know that it will take me about twenty just to drive into town. I send her a quick text as I hurry outside and toward my car, letting her know that I’m running a tad late.

I wrap my hand around the handle of my car door and I freeze. Something isn’t right. I can feel it. Glancing around, I look to see if there’s anything out of the ordinary. The barn doors are closed, and there’s nothing that I can see that’s out of place, but something feels wrong.

Shaking my head, I decide to try and push that feeling away, tamp it down. I’m just feeling a little off because Thomas isn’t here. That’s what it is—I decide before pulling my door open and sliding inside. My engine starts, and I put my seatbelt on before I shift it into drive and head down our long tree-lined drive.

I’m only about ten minutes late when I pull into the HomeGoods parking lot. I see Nettie’s bright red hair, instantly, and pull into the spot next to hers. I apologize for my tardiness, but she just waves it off.

“Girl, you’re pregnant and you live away from civilization. I was just catching up on my emails anyway,” she states with a wink.

We begin shopping, going aisle by aisle as we discuss pictures, mirrors, and cool metal pieces to hang on the walls, but that feeling that something isn’t right, it lingers throughout our entire trip. I find myself glancing over my shoulder, feeling as though I’m being followed and watched. It’s an odd sensation and one that I’ve never felt before. Nettie doesn’t comment on my strange behavior, and I’m glad for it. I feel a little stupid, and a whole lot paranoid.

“When do you find out the sex?” Nettie asks.

We’re walking toward the baby aisle and she turns down the row so that I can ogle all of the adorable bedding. “Not until the end of January, beginning of February. It feels like a lifetime,” I grumble.

Nettie chuckles and picks up a really sweet set of light blue and pink paisley print sheet set. “I’ve decorated plenty of girl nurseries, I have to say I’m kind of hoping it’s a boy,” she grins, setting the sheets down. “A boy’s room, in a real log cabin? It’s like a decorator’s dream come true.”

She begins telling me about her vision as we walk toward the checkout with our two carts full of décor for the new house. I’m so excited to see all of it come to life, and by the time she’s finished telling me about how she would decorate a boy’s nursery for me, I’m hoping that that is exactly what we have.

Lunch is pretty uneventful, as is Bed, Bath & Beyond, except I continue to have that feeling. It’s growing stronger, and it’s making me actually feel nauseous. I keep telling myself that I’m crazy, and maybe just tired from shopping all day. Perhaps I just need a nap.

When Nettie and I finally split up, it’s well after four in the afternoon, closing in on five.

“I’ll bring everything over tomorrow and I’ll stage it all,” she calls out as she walks toward her car. I agree and give her a wave as I slide inside the driver’s seat of my own.

Glancing down at my gas gauge, I cringe. There is no way that I’ll make it home on the eighth of a tank I have. With a heavy sigh, I drive toward the nearest gas pump and reluctantly fill up my tank.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, and I frantically look around me for anything out of the ordinary. That’s when a man stumbles toward me. I grip the handle of the nozzle and press my legs together as my heart starts to race.

“Your front headlight is smashed, darlin’. You need to get that fixed, it’s only getting darker earlier, and the weather will be complete shit here shortly,” he announces, then turns and walks away.

“Thank you,” I call out, and he lifts his hand.

I watch him walk away and I notice that he’s not stumbling, but instead, limping. I feel badly for being scared of him, for judging him and assuming he was some horrible person out to hurt me. Then, I frown.

How on earth did my headlight get damaged?

I hardly ever drive my car anymore, we tend to take Thomas’ everywhere. He’s informed me that he wants to sell mine for a four by four, SUV, that will be safer for me and the baby. He hates it when I drive it, he thinks my car has too many miles on it, and that it’s on death’s door, or at least the junkyard’s door. He isn’t wrong.

My little sedan was passed down from my mom to each of my siblings before it made its way down to me. All of us kids drove the hell out of this thing, and I’m no exception. It’s probably about to die at any given second.

When the handle pops alerting me to the fact that the gas has finished filling my tank, I quickly replace it in its holster before I close my gas tank up with the twisty, cap, and hurry toward the driver’s side. I inhale a deep breath, calming my shaky hands. I laugh at myself, at my paranoia. I was so worried all day long, so stressed out, that I was scared out of my mind when a stranger just offered up friendly advice. I need to go home, and freaking relax.

I pull out of the gas station’s parking lot, turning right, and begin toward home. I drive out of town, cursing when the sun goes down. I flip my headlights on and am painfully aware that my one headlight works like crap out here in the middle of nowhere. I can hardly see the road, so I turn off my radio, and grip my steering wheel, hoping to make it home soon.

It’s supposed to snow tonight, and I’ve never driven in the snow. I have no plans to have my first lesson alone on this empty road. I start to think about, how Thomas and I can spend the day being snowed in tomorrow. We can curl up in a big warm blanket, drink hot chocolate, and eat pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Jade was nice enough to send me home with her recipe, and I’ve been making a new batch every few days. I’m sure my doctor will scold me when he sees my weight, but I can’t keep the little devil cookies out of my mouth.

I hear it before I feel it. The sound of screaming tires, of metal crunching, and then everything goes completely black.