“Mommy?” Emily asks as she toddles into the kitchen.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Do you think I could have some anal beads?”

I look over at my mother, pausing mid-chop of the carrots I’m preparing for dinner. My mother’s mouth drops open with a gasp.

That’s definitely a phrase you don’t expect your three-year-old to say.

“Where did you learn that word, sweetie?” I quickly ask Emily, crouching down beside her.

She’s hugging her favorite stuffed unicorn to her chest, smiling wide, looking way too innocent to be using those words. “Riley. Riley and Maverick talked about anal beads and I like beads.” She shows me her unicorn, Flutterbye, who has several beaded necklaces and jewelry wrapped around her. “Flutterbye could get some new beads.”

Oh, I am going to kill those two.

“We don’t use that word, okay Emily? The real word is adult beads and they’re just for adults.” God, it’s hard to make up shit like this on the spot all the time. One of the most creative aspects about being a parent but I like to think I’m pretty good at it. Way better than Fox, who will bluntly tell the truth every time.

Of course, Emily looks absolutely crestfallen over these special beads that she can’t have. “But don’t worry,” I go on, giving her a squeeze. “These beads are all boring and brown and grey.”

“And they smell horrible,” my mother adds.

I nearly laugh at that, giving her an incredulous look for a moment. My mother never indulges in potty humor, but ever since I had Emily, she’s lightened up a lot.

“Yes, Emily, they smell horrible,” I tell her, unable to keep from smiling. “Hey, how about you go upstairs into your playroom, let’s play fashion show. While I get dinner ready, go and dress up all of your dolls, and when I’m done, I’ll go up and be the judge of the fashion show, okay?”

“Okay,” she says with a big nod and turns around, racing out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the playroom. It used to be Fox’s bedroom but we’ve converted it into a playroom for every time she’s over here at the ranch.

I look at my mom, shaking my head. “I’m going to kill those guys,” I say and then march out of the kitchen and into the living room where Rachel, Riley and Maverick are all gathered on the couch.

“All right, which one of you was it?” I ask them, hands on my hips.

All three look up at me with innocent expressions.

“What are you talking about?” Rachel asks, looking extra innocent thanks to her huge pregnant stomach. She’s due almost any day now and resembles a beach ball with arms and legs more than anything. I get to say that because I’ve been there. And naturally she looks extra beautiful. We’ve all been pretty excited about this.

“Not you,” I tell her and fix my eyes on Riley and Maverick. “You two. Which one of you taught Emily about anal beads?”

Maverick nearly spits out his beer, clamping a hand over his mouth.

Riley bursts out laughing.

Still can’t narrow it down.

“What?” Rachel cries out.

I point my fingers at them. “Emily just came up to me and asked if she could have some. Because she likes beads.”

“What makes you think it was us?” Riley asks as she bats her big blue eyes which aren’t working on me this time.

“Because she told me you were talking about it.”

“Stop,” Rachel says, laughing louder, gripping her belly. “I can’t handle the laughter, I’ll pee myself.” She stops laughing abruptly, eyes wide. “Seriously. That was a close one.”

“Well?” I coax them, tapping my foot.

Riley and Maverick look at each other as if sharing telepathic thoughts, then finally Riley says, “It was me. But I didn’t think she was listening.”

“She says you specifically told her the word.”

She waves at me dismissively. “Oh, kids these days. They’re getting older all the time.”

“And when were you having this conversation around her?” Rachel asks. “As Emily’s godmother, I’m equally as concerned.”

Riley shrugs. “I don’t know. Earlier at some point. Here.”

I shake my head. “You too are crazy. Still. How long have you been together and you’re talking about anal beads?”

“Who is talking about anal beads?” Shane says as he strolls toward us. “I’m guessing these guys.” He jerks his head toward the kinky twosome before looking down at Rachel. “How are you feeling? Did anything happen?”

Rachel rolls her eyes. “No. How was the ride?” she asks him just as Fox walks inside the house, coming over to us.

“Fine, fine,” Shane says quickly.

“Phff,” Fox says, slipping his arm around my waist and kissing the side of my head in greeting. He gives Shane a discerning look. “The whole entire time all he could talk about was getting back here in case Rachel went into labor.”

“I’m not going into labor,” she tells him adamantly. “This damn baby does not want to come out.”

“It’s all about balance,” I tell her. “Emily came early. Daphne will come late.”

“I’m still not sold on the name,” Rachel says.

“Well you better decide soon,” Riley nudges her gently. “I think Riley should have been your first choice.”

“I’m still sweet on Tabitha,” Shane says.

I shake my head at him. “Tabitha? Where did you even get that name from?”

“Right,” he says dryly. “Because Angelina is so much better.”

“What, it is!”

“Yeah. So every time someone thinks of our daughter they’ll think of Angelina with her tattoos and wearing a vial of blood around her neck and kissing her brother.”

“Shane, what decade are you stuck in? Sometimes I think it’s the 1950’s, other times I think it’s the nineties. Plus, they’ll think of Angelina who adopts children and saves the world.”

“I just don’t buy it,” Riley says with a shake of her head, plucking Mav’s beer out of his hand and having a sip. “You don’t go from wild child, because she was fucking wild, to Mother Theresa, just like that. You don’t grow out of that stage and leave it all behind. She’s still got the crazy free spirit in her; the wild child won’t be buried forever.”

While Riley starts a debate over Angelina Jolie with everyone else, Fox pulls me into him for a hug.

I smile against his chest, loving the smell of him when he gets back from riding. Hay and sunshine and happiness.

A lot has changed since Emily was born. Some bad, mostly good.

Fox ended up quitting his job as an active teammate of the North Ridge Hot Shots, which was sad and tough for him but it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to be the wife that would tell him what to do, make him quit a job that brought him a lot of happiness and sense of identity.

But sometimes you have to be that person for more than just the two of you. With all the craziness around Emily being born prematurely and Fox not being there for it, we decided together that it was best he wasn’t in a high-risk job. Being a hot shot is an extremely noble and dangerous job, but there’s a reason why so many of them are young, and even though many do it with families with no problem, I wanted Fox as close to home as possible.

He also agreed to it because his passion for the job was waning. As extremely fit as Fox is, he couldn’t keep up that level forever and the psychological damage of the job was becoming too much. He just wasn’t operating at full capacity anymore and in his heart, he didn’t really want to.

But all was not lost. He now does training which still sees him going around the province and even into the states during the summer, but he’s not fighting the fires. He’s only gone for a week at a time. Sometimes he’ll still go out and help with the big fires, but most of the time he stands back and tells people how to do it.

I still run The Bear Trap though, so some things don’t change. When I became pregnant and had to hire Vanessa to help run the bar, I really thought that maybe this was the way out. That maybe I’d realize the bar was better off in her hands, maybe I could sell it to her, maybe I could just focus on being a mother and eventually focus on being something else, having some other career and calling.

But that didn’t happen. I missed the bar too much. I kept Vanessa on and together we figured out ways to bring more money to the bar without losing the charm.

One of those things involved cheap pub food, so we had a small kitchen installed in the back where one of us could easily heat up some prepared food. Another was to expand the booze menu and include cocktails, much to my grumbles and protests. Ain’t nobody got time for that but apparently people do. Including the locals, like Old Joe when he discovered what a Manhattan tasted like.

Sadly, Old Joe died a few months ago. Lung cancer that he apparently had for a long time. Being a bartender, you hear a lot, but people still keep a lot of painful things to themselves, including when they have a terminal illness. I miss the guy, I have to say. He may have annoyed the hell out of me at times but he was sweet and loyal and the life of the bar. And as per Fox’s suggestion, we named a signature cocktail after the old-timer. It’s pretty much a Manhattan but extra strong.

As for everyone else, they’re doing well. Hank and Vernalee still live here on the ranch, Dick is still alive and kicking though he suffers from narcolepsy now and is prone to falling asleep at the most awkward moments.

Riley and Maverick got engaged last year. I can’t believe it took Maverick two years to actually get the nerve to propose to her. Riley was ready to ask him at one point. Luckily, she held off. Maverick’s easy-going, but I think his pride would have been hurt, and it turns out that there was never any commitment-issues on his end, he was just psyching himself out trying to make it as epic and elaborate as possible.

According to Riley though, he proposed right after they had sex in their shower and he had hidden the ring in the soap. It sounded like a slippery disaster but at least the outcome was good. Both of them are still set on not having kids and I think that suits them just fine. Especially since they spend a lot of time looking after and playing with Emily.

Although, maybe now I oughta start supervising them.

Then there’s Rachel and Shane. While Riley was waiting forever to become Maverick’s fiancée, Rachel and Shane were waiting to become parents. They tried non-stop. They went to doctors and did tests. There wasn’t even really a clear cause for their problems, it just wasn’t happening for them.

Then, finally, one day, it happened.

The two of them have been absolutely overjoyed, as is everyone else. Especially Vernalee, who had been praying for a grandchild, and Emily, who is so excited about a cousin. Fox and I are still a bit unsure about having another kid and giving Emily a sibling, we’re quite happy and satisfied with our unit of three, but with Shane and Rachel’s girl, she’ll have someone like a sister. Plus, I don’t think those two will be satisfied with just one. Shane and Rachel will have their own little herd of cowboys and cowgirls running around here one day, I just know it.

“How was the ride otherwise?” I ask Fox, resting my chin on his hard chest and looking up at him.

“Good,” he says. “We saw a wolf.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. He kept his distance. He was alone. Gorgeous though. I have to say, it’s nice being able to come across wildlife that’s not running away from a burning forest.”

“I bet.”

That’s another thing that’s changed too. Ever since Shane and Fox had it out and actually started talking to each other and especially after Fox started seeing a therapist, the two of them have grown a lot closer. It didn’t happen overnight though. It happened with them taking a horseback ride through the ranch and the mountains for a few hours before our weekly Sunday roasts. Somehow the combination of wilderness and brotherly bonding has really brought them both a lot of peace.

“Where is Emily?” he says, letting go of me.

It’s funny, even though we’ve officially been together for three years, I still feel bereft when he’s away from me. Even standing here, I crave his touch and his affection. His arms are still the safest place in the world for me, a place where I know everything is right.

“She’s upstairs playing.” I pause. “Riley taught her all about anal beads.”

He pales. “She what?”

I grin, pressing my hand into his chest and patting him. “Turns out with all your biggest worries about having a girl, the biggest one should have been Mav and Riley corrupting her.”

He shakes his head. “Our girl is staying as far away from those two as possible. Until she’s at least thirty.”

“I heard that,” Riley pipes up.

“Well I said it kind of loud,” he shoots back.

“Delilah,” my mother calls out, wiping her hands on her apron. “Get back in here and help.”

I give Fox a pathetic pleading look.

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll help.”

We head back into the kitchen and the three of us finish up the roast. Now that Rachel is severely pregnant, we all chip in with the cooking. It can get a little crowded in the kitchen. Especially when Conan is around.

“Hey,” my mother says, shooing him away as he tried to take a carrot. “Del, Fox, what did I say about not letting him loose in this house when we’re trying to cook?”

Conan makes a tittering noise of disgust and then does an impressive leap off the counter and onto Fox’s arm where he scrambles up and sits on his shoulder.

“Well it ain’t your house, Jeanie,” Dick says coming around the corner. “And I love this little bugger, even if he doesn’t love me.”

He leans in to pet Conan but the squirrel literally runs up over Fox’s head and onto the other shoulder. Conan doesn’t like too many people and he’s especially afraid of Dick for some reason. I think because he tries too hard.

Dick grumbles. “One day I’ll win you over. You’re just a rat in a good suit.”

Or maybe it’s because he’s always calling him a rat.

Then Dick heads into the living room, taking a seat beside Rachel on the couch.

I share a warm smile with Fox and we go back to cooking.

Everything is just about ready when suddenly we hear Rachel cry out softly and then Dick say, “Jumping Joseph, Rachel I think your water just broke.”

We all run out of the kitchen just in time to see Dick pass out right on top of Rachel’s belly, completely asleep.

She looks at us with wide-eyes. “The baby is coming. Dick feel asleep!”

It’s hard not to laugh at the sight. We quickly get Dick off of her so he can snooze away in his narcoleptic state, and then help Rachel to her feet.

Her water definitely broke.

Everywhere.

“Oh my god!” Shane exclaims, pretty much yelling, pressing his hands into the side of his head. “It’s finally happening!” He jumps up and down. “It’s finally happening!”

“Get their bags!” I yell and Vernalee comes running toward us with their overnight bags in her hands.

“Got it!” she says, starting to jump in the same way that Shane is, freaking out.

“Who is driving?” Hank asks, not freaking out.

“I will,” Fox says. “I’m the only sober one.”

I glance at my mother and she says, “I’ll watch Emily. And the squirrel. Just go.”

As quickly as we can we rush out to the Jeep, Shane and Rachel in the backseat, me and Fox in the front. I know the others won’t be far behind.

“Are you okay?” I ask her as we roar off.

Rachel nods. “Yes. Yes. Definitely having contractions.” She winces.

“You’re having a baby, we’re having a baby,” Shane says excitedly.

“Shane, really, it’s not a big deal,” Fox says, smirking at him in the rearview mirror. “People have babies all the time.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Shane says but he can’t stop grinning.

“This is so exciting,” I tell them. “I can’t remember Emily’s birth so it’s like I get to live vicariously through you.”

“I know I’m going to wish I was passed out through the whole thing,” Rachel says, starting to hunch over. “This fucking…” she groans loudly. “Fuck.”

“Remember your breathing,” Shane says, holding her hand.

“Taking your breathing and shove it up your ass,” Rachel snaps.

Fox and I look at each other with raised brows. Whoa. That escalated quickly.

And it does.

It goes very quickly.

We get to the hospital and there’s no waiting around with her. The baby is coming and fast so they get Rachel into the delivery room pretty much right away. Within four or five hours, the doctor is coming out to us all in the waiting room and telling us that there’s a healthy baby girl that’s been delivered.

“And the name?” Fox asks him.

“Raven,” Shane says as he appears from around the corner, looking proud as fuck to finally be a father. “Raven Tabitha Angelina Nelson.”

“That’s quite the mouthful,” Maverick mutters under his breath.

Riley elbows him.

Hours later, we’re all allowed in to see her.

Rachel is lying on the hospital bed, looking worn-out and pale but still glowing and gorgeous all the same. In her arms is a pink little newborn with a shock of dark hair, just like hers.

Raven suits her all right.

Fox leans across the bed and hands Shane a cigar. “Welcome to the club, brother. Glad to have you.”

I hoist up Emily into my arms so she can get a better view of the baby.

“That’s your baby cousin,” I tell her. “Her name is Raven.”

Emily smiles gleefully. “Do you think we’ll be best friends?”

Everyone laughs. Some people are still crying. Definitely Vernalee.

“You’ll be the best of friends.”

“Do you think she’ll like my Flutterby and the ponies?”

“I think she’ll like all those things, sweetheart.”

“Do you think she’ll like adult beads?”

Riley snorts. So loud.

Dick asks, “What on God’s green earth are adult beads?”

“I have a feeling you don’t want to know, grandpa,” Fox says.

Dick shakes his head. “Sometimes I wonder about all of you. How did we all even get here? What a crazy clan of loons I have.”

Everyone looks at each other and smiles. A crazy clan of loons? I think that’s about right.

Otherwise known as the Nelsons.