“I’m fine Mark, maybe a little less spinning though,” she said with a smile. He smiled back at her sheepishly.

“I can’t wait to tell my family,” he said excitedly. “Not only do I get one son but soon another child. Thank you so much for all you’ve brought into my life.”

“You’re the one we should be thanking. You’ve given us so much, most importantly of all, making us a real family.”

“Let’s compromise and agree we’re all great together,” he said.

They finished having their dinner together, then sat by the fire watching a comedy. The evening ended on a perfect note, with laughter and snuggling on the couch.

The next morning Emily was making the hands lunch when Joseph walked into the kitchen, startling her.

“Good morning, young lady. I hear congratulations are in order,” he said to her with a smile from ear to ear.

“Thank you, Joseph. Yes, you’ll have a new grandchild in about eight months,” she said with a radiant smile lighting her face.

“I will officially have a new grandson in a couple of days, since Mark submitted papers to officially adopt that beautiful boy of yours. Then I will also get the added bonus of another grandchild in eight months,” he corrected her.

Emily smiled with joy at the pure acceptance of her child into the Anderson clan. She knew if ever anything were to happen to her he’d still be a part of their family and they’d always take care of him. That was the greatest gift any mother could receive.

“I was stopping by today anyway to let Mark know I’d found him the perfect cook and maintenance man, when he gave me the great news,” Joseph said.

“Who is this person?” Emily asked with suspicion. After all, Joseph had been the one to find her and she really didn’t want a young woman to be there all day.

“It’s actually a married couple. They’ve worked for the company for many years but want something different now. I told them about Mark needing another cook and they asked if he could use a maintenance man as well. With a place this big, two more people would be a blessing, especially with Mark’s growing family,” Joseph said.

Emily knew it sounded a bit selfish but she really didn’t want to share the house with two more people. She loved having Edward there but he always gave them privacy and most of the time you didn’t even know he was around. It would be much harder to get any privacy with her husband if two more people moved in.

“Mark has a little cottage right around the corner. They could live there and you wouldn’t have to share your newlywed space,” Joseph said with a wink.

Emily turned scarlet, as she looked up at him. She was a little worried the man was a mind reader, among other things.

“I didn’t know that was there.”

“It was built years ago for a married couple, who worked here, but it has been empty for some time. We’ll have to bring a crew in to fix it up, but they could start in about a week if you like them,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be up to me.”

“Of course it’s up to you, Emily. You’re the lady of the manor now. Mark already knows them, they’re coming over for you to interview.”

“Oh,” she responded.

The couple arrived about an hour later and Emily fell instantly in love with them. They were in their early fifties and full of life. Mary had as much passion for cooking as Emily did and she knew they’d work well together. She also knew if she wasn’t feeling good Mary would be perfectly capable on her own.

Scott was her husband and although he was quiet, his face lit up when Trevor came into the room. He explained the two of them hadn’t been successful in having children and so they both took great joy in spoiling everyone else’s kids.

“I would love it if you both worked here,” Emily said to them sincerely after visiting for a couple hours.

“I think we’re going to work wonderfully together,” Mary said to her, then gave her a hug. Emily agreed with her. It was going to be nice to have someone helping in the kitchen, especially when her stomach got in the way, eventually.

Mark came in and invited Scott to come over to the cottage with him. The two men were going to figure out exactly what the place needed and get the right people out there immediately. Emily was actually excited for the week to go by and the sweet couple to move in.

“Seriously, I’m so incredibly happy you’re working here,” Emily said to Mary. They’d moved in the previous week and Emily didn’t understand how they’d ever survived without them. Emily had been fighting morning sickness for a week straight and Mary had whipped her up some magic drink, completely curing her.

Emily was currently sitting at the table, with her feet up and the magic drink in her hands. Mary had insisted she rest until she was a hundred percent and had made the whole lunch on her own. The men were enjoying her cooking as much as Emily’s. They made sure to give the women equal praise, which was smart of them.

The incredible aroma of lunch cooking brought the men trampling into the kitchen, where they sat down at the table, bringing in non-stop laughter, talking and mud.

Emily loved every minute of the busy ranch life. She felt completely at home and each hand had a special place in her heart. Mark walked through the door with his usual tag along, her son, right behind him.

“Mom we’re going to rope cows today,” Trevor said excitedly.

“That sounds fun.”

“Yeah and then we’re gonna cas…cas… what are we gonna do again, Dad?” Trevor tried to get out.

“We’re going to castrate them,” Mark said with a smile. All the men groaned slightly.

“Oh,” Emily said and felt herself blushing.

“It’s just all part of ranch life,” Mark said with a shrug.

“Isn’t he too young to do that?” Emily asked with concern.

“He’s a big guy,” Mark said and patted Trevor on the head. Emily didn’t have the heart to say no to anything her boys wanted.

“This stew sure is great,” one of the guys said in between huge bites.

“Well, you have Mary to thank. She did all the cooking today,” Emily said fondly.

“Thank you Mary,” all the boys chorused together.

“You’re very welcome.”

The guys inhaled their food and then headed out the doors as quickly as they’d come in. “I’m getting quite attached to those boys,” Mary said as they all left.

“I know how you feel,” Emily agreed with her. The two women cleaned up the dishes and started prep work for dinner.

Their days continued in much the same way. Mark stayed closer to the house and let his hands get more things done, as he worked with Trevor every available moment. Emily spent her time in the kitchen and would sneak out with her boys any chance she got.

Over the next couple of months her stomach started to round slightly, not enough to show much but just enough to prove there was a baby growing. Mark would lay there for hours in the evenings, rubbing her stomach and talking to their growing baby.

He was an incredible father. Trevor loved him so much and he’d already gotten the nursery ready for the baby. She was content to spend her days cooking and visiting with Mary and her nights in her husband’s arms. She was finally allowing herself to accept her life was great and nothing was going to ruin it.

Chapter Eleven

“Do you really have to go?” Emily whined as Mark was packing his overnight bag. He’d gotten called to Montana for some urgent business. She normally would’ve gone with him but Trevor had a field trip the next day and she’d already agreed to chaperone it.

“Believe me, I don’t want to leave,” he said to her, as he paused in his packing, to pull her close to him and kiss her softly.

Mark slowly undressed his beautiful wife and loved her gently, not wanting to leave for even one night. They hadn’t spent a night apart since their wedding day. He was going to miss her more than he could imagine.

They got dressed and she walked with him downstairs. He kissed her one more time before heading out the door. He turned back to see a tear falling down her cheek and almost said to hell with it and walked back in. He hated to see her hurting.

“I’ll be fine, I’m just going to miss you,” she reassured him, when he paused as if undecided in what he should do.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asked her while he stood by the car, unsure of whether to open the door or not.

“I’m going to be fine. This is just pregnancy hormones acting up,” she reassured him.

“I’ll be back before you even realize I was gone.”

She stood watching until the car was out of sight. Walking into the house, she was engulfed with loneliness. The hands were all out on the North pasture, several miles away. Edward was at his families for a few days and Mary and Scott were doing some shopping. She wasn’t normally all alone in the huge ranch house and she decided she really didn’t like the feeling of it.

She decided to walk down to the far barn where new kittens had been born a couple weeks back. She knew the sight of them would definitely cheer her up until Trevor returned home from school.

Emily walked down the path to the now familiar barn. She went inside, which felt a bit eerie since no one was anywhere around. She laid there petting the kittens, feeling sorry for herself.

She heard a noise behind her but before she was able to turn around and see what it was, she felt a shooting pain in her head and all went black.

Mark reached the airport when his cell phone rang. He picked it up, thinking it would be Emily calling for one last goodbye.

“Hey Mark, you can cancel the trip, we got the issue solved,” the voice said.

“Are you sure?” Mark asked but he was already turning his car around to head towards home.

“Yeah we got it all fixed up. You can stay there, where I know you really want to be,” the man said with a chuckle in his voice.

“You got that right. I would much rather be with my family,” Mark said with a relieved sigh.

“What’s going on over there, you’re all falling head over heels?”

“We’ve just discovered it’s much nicer to have a beautiful woman at our side every night than to be out trying to find a new girl every weekend,” Mark said sincerely.

“I think I will go ahead and hold onto my bachelorhood,” his friend said and then hung up the phone.

Mark pulled up in front of the house and called out to Emily. He didn’t get an answer so he headed up the stairs. He smiled as he pictured her laying there in their bed. She did tend to take a few naps now and then with the pregnancy wearing her out.

He quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Emily wasn’t there either. He was still unconcerned. He searched through the house and then the pool and still couldn’t find her. He knew she had to be around because her car was sitting in the garage.

The property was far too quiet. He glanced around, then thought of the barn. She was most likely down there playing with the kittens again. He jogged down there and was relieved to see the open doors.