Monroe, Marla - Love Between the Hired Hands [The Men of Space Station One #4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“Thanks, Elissa. Call your husbands and let them know what is going on. We’re on our way.” Phillip’s radio sputtered as Cam cursed in the background.

Elissa smiled. The poor man was going to have a heart attack before they got there. She pulled out her radio and called Gray to let him know what was going on. He told her to sit tight there until the men arrived and then to head straight home afterward.

She promised. Then she hurried back upstairs to sit with Lacy while they waited for her husbands to get there.

“How are you doing?” she asked when she made it back upstairs.

“About the same. Still hurting.” She groaned and pushed up off the bed to walk again.

“The guys are on their way here. It shouldn’t be long. Do you want me to pack some clothes for you?”

“Oh, hell. I have a bag packed in the closet. You might want to grab it so they don’t forget it. It has stuff for all of us in it. I knew they wouldn’t remember to get everything, so I packed it a few weeks ago.”

“Good thinking. Did you put baby clothes in it?”

“Yeah. I packed several outfits.” Lacy groaned and rubbed at her back as she waddled back and forth across the floor.

“Do you want me to rub your back some more?”

“Thanks, but I think I’m beyond that now. I think you’re right, and it’s labor. I’m beginning to hurt some across my stomach.”

“Maybe you need to lie back down and take some pressure off your, um, lower part until the men get here.”

“Maybe you’re right.” She made her way back to the bed and sat down. “I can’t believe this is actually happening. I’ve been so excited for so long that a few weeks ago, I finally lost the excitement.”

“You’ll get it back once you hold that baby in your arms.” Elissa could tell that Lacy was getting tired fast.

“Try and nap some. I’m right here if you need me.”

“Just need to close my eyes for a few minutes. I’m so tired.”

Elissa was worried about the other woman. She had already worn herself out and still had the birthing of the baby to go. After what seemed like hours, she heard the sound of feet climbing the stairs. She got up from the chair and stood between the bed and the door in case it wasn’t Cam or Phillip.

Cam came rushing in the room with Phillip right behind him.

“Where is she? Is she okay?”

“Shhh, she’s finally sleeping some, but I’m worried. She needs to go to town and the doctor. I think she’s been in labor all this time.”

“We’ll get her there,” Phillip said. “I have the buggy pulled up at the back door.”

Cam ran his hand over Lacy’s hair and looked down at her with such love that Elissa felt almost embarrassed to be there.

“Oh, don’t forget the suitcase. I’ll bring it down if you can get Lacy.”

“We’ve got her. Be careful carrying that down, and don’t fall,” Phillip said.

Elissa carried the bag down the stairs using two hands. It was heavy, but she managed without losing her balance. She sat it by the back door and opened the door as soon as they came out with Lacy. They grabbed the suitcase and threw it in the back.

“Do you have any blankets in there?” she asked. “You might have to have them if her water breaks while you’re on your way.”

“We’ve got blankets and a pillow, so we’re good.”

Cam was whispering to Lacy as Phillip climbed in the driver’s seat.

“Go on back in the house until we’re clear. Then you need to head home before it gets dark.” Phillip closed the transport door.

Elissa retreated to the kitchen and closed the door until they were well on their way out of the yard. Then she headed back across the field toward home. The walk seemed to take two times longer than it had that morning because she was super aware of every noise she heard. She thought she saw movement in every weed that blew in the wind.

After what felt like forever, she finally stepped into their yard. Elissa unlocked the door and walked into the kitchen glad to be home again. She prayed that Lacy would be fine and they would make it to town and the doctor before she had the baby.

She decided to call the men and let them know she was back home so they wouldn’t worry about her. She got Clint this time.

“I’m home safe and sound,” she told him.

“Great. Thanks for calling and letting us know.”

“Be careful out there,” she told him.

“We’ll see you around six.”

She clicked the off button and checked the time. It was a little after five. She needed to work on dinner. She worried about Lacy the entire time she was preparing it. She wondered if they would contact them by radio on how she was doing or if they would even reach that far.

She had just checked the meatloaf when the men walked in the house and removed their boots. She hurried over to them, needing a hug.

“What was that for?” Clint asked with a smile. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“I just needed a hug. I’m worried about Lacy. She wasn’t doing well when they left.”

“Damn, I hope everything will be okay,” Clint said.

“Will the radios reach that far so we can check on her?” Elissa asked.

“No, they don’t go that far, baby.” Gray rubbed his hand up and down her back.

“Did you have any trouble getting home?” Clint asked.

“No. It seemed like it took longer to walk home than it did to walk over there, though.”

“You were probably nervous,” Gray told her.

“How long does it usually take for gardens to sprout?” Elissa asked.

“Huh?” Clint frowned. “Why?”

“Their garden is already nearly two inches tall and they just planted it last week.”

“Are you sure?” Gray asked.

“Yeah. Lacy told me about it the other day. I watered it today before I went in to check on Lacy. All of it is up.”

“That is odd,” Clint said. “I was thinking that the grains were up sooner than I would have thought, but we didn’t plant it. I wasn’t sure I heard Cam right about when they sowed the seeds.”

“Maybe there’s something in this funky red earth that speeds up the germination process,” Gray suggested.

“I’m going to check ours tomorrow and see what it looks like. If it comes up before next week, I’m going to know there’s something in the soil.” Elissa wondered if whatever it was would hurt them.

Of course, it was too late now. They’d already been eating the food there for nearly a week now. She remembered the meatloaf and hurried over to the stove to check on it.

“You guys better go shower and change. Dinner will be on the table in a few minutes.

“Unless I have you on the table now,” Gray said, backing her up against the cabinet.

He leaned in and kissed her. Then settled down for a long, slow one where he stroked her tongue with his. When he finished, she sighed. He kissed so damn well.

“You’re distracting me. Go on, Gray.” She made a shooing gesture, and both men headed for the stairs in the other room.

As she set the table and pulled out the food, Elissa kept thinking about Lacy and worrying that something was wrong. She wished there was some way to know. Instead, they would have to wait until one of the men came back with the news. She prayed it would be good news.

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Elissa finished her chores in the house and headed outside to check the garden. The men had long ago left for the fields. She made sure she had her radio in her pocket before she walked outside.

What she found when she got to the garden was that several of her seeds had already broken the ground. Small green stems with one or two leaves could be seen on many of the rows. She couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be right. Nothing grew that fast on Earth. She checked the dryness of the soil and decided she needed to water it.

She spent the next two hours rotating hoses around the garden until every row had water standing in the middle. Then she rolled up the hoses and replaced them before looking out over the garden one last time. She couldn’t wait to tell the men about it. She would write it up in her journal. Maybe she needed to take pictures once the man returned. There should be enough light to get good pictures of the tiny new sprouts.

When the men returned that night, she told them about the new sprouts, and they all walked out to the garden to take pictures and examine the plants after dinner.

“We decided that the grain has come up sooner than it should have, too. We checked the records on when they planted it and it’s a week ahead of schedule.” Gray told her.

“Do you think there’s anything that could hurt us in the plants when we harvest them?”

“I don’t know, Elissa. We’ve been eating nothing but homegrown stuff since we got here. Everything either came from Cam, Phillip, and Lacy’s house, or was a natural plant on the planet.” Gray followed Clint as they returned to the house.

“You’ve written about it in your journal, haven’t you?” Clint asked her.

“Yeah. That was why I was hoping you’d take pictures. I wanted to date them and put them in the journal, then take more later to put with them.”

“Good idea. You can document the plants’ progress.” Gray watched as Clint uploaded the camera’s memory card into the digital printer.

They watched as the pictures rolled out of the printer. They were perfect and showed the height of the plant with a ruler next to it. She was glad they had remembered to get one when they went outside.

“The ruler was a good idea,” Clint said.

“I wonder what else we could measure with the ruler?” Elissa asked, lowering it toward Clint’s crotch.

“You little witch!” Clint grabbed the ruler and popped her ass with it. “You need a spanking for that.”

Elissa laughed and ran for the door. The men were right behind her as she ran up the stairs. She made it to the bedroom but couldn’t close the door fast enough. Gray had his foot in the door blocking it from closing. She screeched and turned for the bathroom.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Clint said with a laugh. “I’m going to spank that perfect ass of yours.”

“Not going to happen.” Elissa tried to trick Clint into heading for the bathroom while she ran for the door to the hall again, but he caught her anyway.

He pulled her over his lap and rubbed her ass through the jeans. Then he laid two swipes on her ass.

“Yow!” Elissa said. She tried to put her hand over her ass, but Clint moved it and spanked her again.

“Stop, Clint. I’ll be good. I promise.” She was laughing so hard she could hardly speak.

“When I’m finished with you, you will.” He popped her twice more, then rubbed her ass.

“Gray! Make him stop. I promised to be good.” She appealed to the other man in hopes he would take her side.

Gray laughed and shook his head. “You started it, Elissa.”

Clint stood her upright and began to undress her. She pouted at him.

“Keep it up and I’ll spank you again, missy.”

Elissa dutifully raised her arms when Clint pulled her shirt over her head. Then she stepped out of her jeans when he started pulling them down. Gray took care of her bra and panties. Now she was totally nude, and they were still dressed. She turned to Gray and grabbed the hem of his shirt to push it up his chest and over his head. Since he was taller than she was, he had to help the last little bit.