Monroe, Marla - The Ranchers Take a Wife [Men of Space Station One #1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (18 page)

Lacy grinned back. She knew what he was thinking, and she couldn’t wait.

Chapter Fourteen

Several weeks later, Lacy woke to the early morning feeling sick to her stomach. She rolled over and her stomach rebelled. She climbed over Phillip, earning her a
fuck, baby
as she hurried to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she was throwing up. Seconds later, Phillip was by her side with a wet cloth against her forehead and another one on the back of her neck.

“Is she okay, Phillip?” Cam’s voice sounded just behind her.

“Yeah, she’s just sick to her stomach.”

Lacy pulled back from the toilet and flushed it. Then she leaned back against whoever’s legs were there. She didn’t bother opening her eyes.

“She must have a virus. Do we need to dig out the transport and carry her to town?”

“No. She’ll be okay in a little while. Won’t you, baby?” Phillip crouched beside her to wipe her face.

She realized she was leaning back against Cam’s legs. She tried to stand up, but Cam’s hands on her shoulders stopped her.

“Wait, baby. We’ll carry you to bed. Don’t move.” He reached down and picked her up.

“Go slow, Cam, or she might get sick again,” Phillip warned him.

Lacy groaned when he gently laid her back on the bed and covered her up. She curled in on herself and tried to push away the noises around her. She knew what was wrong and was happy, but worried about how Cam would react. She hoped Phillip would tell him. She wasn’t sure she had it in her to tell him right now.

“Get in bed with her, Cam, and keep her warm. Don’t get her to talk or anything. I’m going to go fix her something to settle her stomach,” Phillip said.

She felt the bed dip, and her stomach rolled. Then Cam was behind her, wrapping her in his arms. She felt safe there and dozed off and on until Phillip returned.

“Here you go, Lacy. This will make you feel better.” He held a glass of something that smelled good under her nose.

She tried to sit up, but Cam immediately held her up instead. She sipped the juice-flavored drink knowing it was safe for her. Phillip winked at her. He knew what was wrong with her. He would be ecstatic about the news, but she was afraid Cam would worry more.

When she was finished, Cam lowered her back to the bed and brushed aside her hair to kiss her forehead. It didn’t take whatever Phillip had given her long to work. She was soon feeling fine again and ready to get up. When she tried to pull out of Cam’s embrace, though, he wouldn’t let her.

“You need to rest a little longer before you get up, Lacy. You were just sick.”

“I feel better now. I want to get up.”

“Rest another thirty minutes or so and I’ll let you up then.” He hugged her shoulders and kissed her neck.

“I’m going to go start breakfast.” Phillip left them in the bedroom.

Lacy heard him tromp down the stairs. She felt fine now, but knew it would only upset Cam if she pushed it to get up. Instead, she let the feeling of being pregnant wash over her and invade her mind. She had been so worried that she couldn’t get pregnant. Now she was and she was worried how Cam was going to take it.

She sighed, and he started running his hand over her hair in an attempt to soothe her, she was sure. He kissed her cheek and began whispering how much he loved her and how special she was in her ear. She smiled. It always made her feel good to hear him tell her those things. She knew in her heart that he loved her, but due to their rocky start, she needed to hear them from him more so than Phillip.

“Has it been long enough yet? I’m ready to get up.”

Cam sighed and released her arms so that she could roll over and get up.

“Go slow, Lacy. You don’t want to move too fast in case it makes you nauseous again.”

She followed his suggestion because she really didn’t want to get sick again. That part of being pregnant wasn’t her favorite part. She was sure there would be more parts she didn’t like as time went on.

He walked in front of her down the stairs so if she started to fall he could stop her. He always thought of things like that. He was a worrier, after all. She winced at how he was going to take her new condition.

Phillip had breakfast on the table. He gave her toast and jelly. Cam frowned at him.

“She can’t eat much after being sick or she might get sick again. That’s plenty for now. She can have a snack in a little while.”

As soon as they were finished eating, Lacy went to the living room and curled up on the couch. She pulled out her book and began reading while the men cleaned up.

“Lacy. Do you feel well enough for us to go out this morning?” Phillip asked.

“I’m fine. You’ll be inside soon enough if I need anything.”

“Are you sure, baby?” Cam still wasn’t convinced.

“I promise. You two go do your rounds. I’m going to finish my book.”

She watched them walk out of the living room and heard them as they talked while they suited up to go outside in the blowing snow. She knew Phillip was going to tell Cam while they were outside so his being upset wouldn’t upset her. She almost wished she could hear his reaction, but knew it would probably hurt her feelings, so she was glad Phillip was there to handle it for her.

When she heard the back door slam and felt the cool air circulate in around her, Lacy leaned back against the back of the couch and closed her eyes to take a nap.

* * * *

“What’s wrong with her, Phillip? You don’t seem all that worried.” Cam brushed the snow off the solar panels on his side of the line while Phillip did the same on his side.

“She’s going to be fine, Cam. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“Me? Why would you be worried about me when she’s the one that was puking her guts up in the bathroom earlier?” Cam brushed off the next set of panels and stood up to stare at Phillip.

“Cam, she’s pregnant.”

“She’s what? That’s not possible. I mean, how?” He backed up a step and nearly slid.

“Cam. You know as well as I do that it was going to happen sooner or later. It’s the entire reason we’re here. To populate this planet and prove that it will sustain life so more of Earth’s people can come here.”

“But not Lacy. Hell, we have wild animals out here that could be dangerous. How can we keep her and a baby safe? Oh, God.” Cam turned a circle and kicked at the snow.

“Calm the fuck down, Cam. This is why I didn’t tell you back at the house. You’d upset Lacy for sure. Stop and think about it for a minute. She would be in even more danger on Earth right now if she were pregnant. You know it. On top of that, there are two of us to watch over her where on Earth, there would only be one of us.” Phillip counted off all the reasons she would be okay.

“Something could happen, Phillip. What if she has trouble with the pregnancy? How do we take care of her?” Cam asked.

Phillip put a hand on Cam’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “We love her. That’s all we have to do. Love her.”

“A baby?” Cam seemed to suddenly settle on that one thought.

“Yep, at least one.” Then he cringed. Phillip knew better than to have said that, but Cam didn’t seem to hear that part of it.

“When?”

“Don’t know for sure, but I figure in the next eight months. Can you remember when she had her last period?”

“Uh, no. I wasn’t really paying attention.” Cam winced. “Should I have been?”

“No. As soon as the weather is a bit clearer, we’ll take her into town and let the doctor look at her. I’m sure she needs to be on vitamins.” Phillip stuck out his hand to Cam.

“What?” Cam asked.

“Shake my hand. I’m shaking yours because we’re going to be fathers.”

Cam took his hand and shook it then grinned like a fool.

“We are, aren’t we?”

They finished cleaning off all the solar panels and checked around for tracks. Phillip was thankful that they didn’t find any of the strange animal tracks this time. He’d barely gotten Cam settled down enough to go back and face Lacy.

They stomped off their feet and hurried through the door to keep from letting too much cold air inside. Then they pulled off their outerwear and slipped on their house shoes. Cam immediately went in search of Lacy and found her asleep on the couch with the book in her lap.

He didn’t touch her, but turned around and ran into Phillip.

“Shh, she’s sleeping.” Cam pushed him out of the room.

“She’ll do a lot of that for the next few months. Her body is changing and she needs the extra rest. We’re going to have to help her in the garden this spring, too.” Phillip walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the tea to pour a glass.

“We need help out in the fields as it is. Do you think they are still planning on sending another set of men soon?” Cam asked.

“They said they would send them as soon as the snows were gone as long as we were still doing okay,” Phillip assured him.

“What are you guys doing?”

Lacy walked into the room and hugged each of them before taking the tea out of Phillip’s hands and drinking it. He shook his head and grabbed another glass.

“Sorry, baby. Didn’t mean to wake you up.” Cam wrapped his arms around her then carefully put his hand over her belly.

Phillip hid his grin. Cam was going to be a wonderfully overprotective father. He’d be the one to referee. He was fine with that. As long as everyone was happy, he was happy.

“Phillip told you,” Lacy said with a worried expression on her face.

“Yeah. I have to say, it freaked me out, but I’m excited, too.”

“I want you to be happy about it, Cam. I don’t want it to make things harder for you.”

“I am happy. As far as anything being harder for me? I make everything hard, baby. You know that. We’ll do just fine.”

Phillip smiled and wrapped his arms around Lacy where Cam didn’t have his. They stood that way for a few seconds before Lacy squirmed out from between them and walked slowly to the window.

“What is it, baby?” Cam asked, turning to look in her direction.

“What is that?” She pointed at something near the garage that housed the transports.

“Fuck! Phillip, go get the camera. I think that is our mystery animal.” Cam hurried to climb into his outerwear.

“You’re not going out there with that thing!” Lacy grabbed him from behind.

“We both are, Lacy. We’ll be careful. We need the pictures of this thing. No one has ever seen him before.

“Please, Cam, Phillip. Don’t go out there.”

Cam extracted her hands from around him and gently kissed her. “We’ll be fine, Lacy. Just watch through the window. We won’t get close at all.”

She watched them finish getting ready and then slip out the back door. She ran for the window and watched them slowly walk toward the garage where the thing was standing. It looked to be about four feet high on four legs with fur covering much of its body. It sensed the men coming evidently and turned to face them. She slapped her hand over her mouth as it took a step toward them.

Phillip aimed the camera at the thing and it tilted its head first one way then the other. It looked a lot like a praying mantis with fur. When they took another step toward it, the animal stood up on two legs and roared much like a lion. It stepped toward them with its front legs reaching toward them.