“Darling! We were planning on coming on the weekend! You couldn't wait a few more days?”
“Tell that to your grandson,” Amy told her with a smile, propping the tablet onto the pillows in front of her and positioning her son so that her mother could see him properly. It was three days since she'd given birth and she was just recovering from the exhaustion. “Suffice it to say that I have a lot more love and respect for you now that I know firsthand what childbearing is all about.” She looked up as her husband came into the room. “Lance is treating me like an invalid and refuses to let me get out of bed.”
“You need the rest.” He leaned forward and kissed her and then his son, careful to stay away from them because he was dusty. He had been roping steer all afternoon and was dirty and smelly, but he had taken a break to come and peek in at his family. “Hi Amelia.”
“Hi darling, aren’t you the proud daddy.”
“I am,” he told her with a grin. “I instructed Gillian to bring up a tray for you. I know it's time for his afternoon feed and I want you to eat first.”
“See what I have to put up with?” Amy grumbled.
“Be grateful darling, you have a terrific husband.”
“Thank you.”
“Please don’t encourage him,” Amy warned her. “Have you eaten?” she asked as he jammed his hat back onto his head.
“I'm eating with the men. We have a lot of work to finish before the evening is finished. I'm afraid you are on your own for supper.”
“I'm starting to feel neglected,” she told him as she eased the nipple into her son’s mouth.
Lance’s mouth went dry as he stared at it for a moment and forced himself to look into her eyes. “I'll make it up to you. The spring dance is going to be this weekend. Will you be up to it?”
“Even if I have to drag myself downstairs,” she told him with a grin. “Rosemarie's coming by to have dinner with me. She's at the cottage overseeing the construction. We're going to be talking about the wedding.”
“So you'll be occupied.” He kissed her again and stared at his son for a moment before leaving and closing the doors behind him.
“Do you realize how fortunate you are?” her mother murmured.
“I know.” She winced as her son pulled on her nipple a little enthusiastically. “I'm so happy Mom, that I can't put it into words. I've found a man who loves me and spoils me beyond comprehension. Did I tell you that he bought me a car and a horse?”
“I thought that place was filled with horses?”
“He bought one especially for me. I have yet to ride him. I have yet to give him a name either. It’s a thoroughbred and Lance has been breaking him in for me.”
“I'm so happy for you darling. Oh, look at my beautiful grandson!” she said clapping her hands on her cheeks. “I cannot wait to hold him in my arms. Bryce and I are thinking of staying two weeks. Is that okay?”
“You know it is.”
She nodded. “Okay darling, take care of yourself and that beautiful baby and I'll see you on Saturday.”
“Bye Mom,” she said, hanging up the call. “Okay sweetie, it's Mommy and baby time. We have a few minutes before we're invaded—” She looked up at the knock on the door. “Too late,” she whispered as she eased the nipple out of his mouth and put him against her shoulder. “Come in.”
*****
“I was thinking of wearing ice blue. I got married with the white dress and the long veil and all that fanciness and looked how it turned out.” Rosemarie went to peek at the baby before coming back to sit on the side of the bed. “A Romano’s original, classy and tasteful and something in blue for you.” She handed her friend the catalogue to browse through. “It’s going to be a morning wedding so that we have the rest of the day to go on our day outing. Lance is lending us his helicopter and we're taking it for a spin and then landing at some isolated place and having a picnic.” Her dark brown eyes brightened. “Darling, you should see the cottage! You aren't going to recognize it. The rooms have been extended and they added two more bathrooms and the kitchen is redone.” She gripped Amy’s hand. “We're both going to be named Billings and living close to each other. Our children are going to play together and have sleep overs! Did you ever think we would end up like that?”
“Nope!” Amy said with a soft laugh as she glanced at the cot where her sleeping son was. Lance had bought a mobile cot so that he could sleep in the room during the day. There were several servants at the ranch who fought over the chance to see to him, but Amy made sure she spent some time with him. She'd been ‘allowed’ out of bed by her husband finally and had made her way downstairs and had sat by the pool this morning. “It’s funny how life turned out for us.”
Rosemarie dashed the tears from her eyes. “I do that every few minutes,” she said ruefully. “I know it's hormones, but I have a feeling that it's more than that.”
“Of course, it is,” Amy said squeezing her hand. “Take it from the woman who was pregnant for nine long months!”
*****
“I'm not staying here cooped up in the damned house for another week,” Sal said stubbornly as he poured scotch into the glass. “I'm as right as rain, the doctor said so himself. There's work to be done out on the ranch and I'm not the kind to sit and twiddle his thumbs while work is going on.”
“You just had a heart attack a week ago.”
“A week and a half.”
“You want to get technical with me right now?” Lance asked, his green eyes glinting dangerously.
“Someone has to.” Sal gulped the scotch and almost choked as it sent fire burning through his throat. “You have a wife and a kid; one would think that you have enough on your plate to be worrying about an old man.”
“You aren't going back out there on a horse to do all that strenuous work after just one week Sal and that’s final.”
“Is that so?” Sal bristled as he came and stood in front of Lance, not caring that the younger man topped him by several feet. They were in the living room after dinner. It was a Sunday afternoon, the first one in June and the weather was mild, not too hot and not too cool either. They'd enjoyed dinner out on the patio before coming in. Rosemarie and Mason had been there as well but had gone to check on the final stages of work being done on the cottage. “You think you can tell me what to do?”
“I happen to own this ranch.”
“So what? You're going to fire me if I don’t do as you say?”
“If that's what it takes then so be it.”
They stood there glaring at each other and didn't notice the person standing inside the doorway until she spoke. “Sal? I think your grandson would like to hear one of your cowboy stories, could you take him up and try and get him to sleep?”
Both men turned to look at her and Sal nodded, striding over to take the baby, his lined face softening as he cradled his head carefully. “Hey there, bud,” he said softly, grinning as the boy stared up at him curiously. “I have just the right story for you.”