Sweet Talking Lawman (32 page)

Rafe nodded. 
“But everyone will want to see that.  Do you think you can wait until
after we’ve eaten lunch and Macie and Rusty get here?”

“Macie and Rusty are
coming?”  Her voice reflected her excitement.

“After they eat lunch
with their grandmother.  Rusty has a new horse, too, and they’re bringing
her over so you can see her.”  When the pony turned around to snatch a
mouthful of hay from the hay rack, Rafe moved with him, keeping his hold on
Raale, allowing her to stay balanced on the sleek back.

She grinned up at her
father.  “I lub him already, Daddy.  Thank you for finding him.”

“So you don’t mind if
we turn Tex out with the yearlings?” he teased.

“No.  He’ll like
it there, won’t he?”

They talked for a few
more minutes, her sitting astride the pony, Rafe making sure she didn’t slip
off, but then they agreed to go back to the house and tell everyone about her
horse.

“And can Uci help me
pick a name for my bery own horse?  I wants it to be a Lakota name.”

When Rafe lifted her
off the pony’s back, Raale slipped her arms as high as they could reach around
the animal’s neck and hugged him.  “I’ll eat fast and when I gets back
here, I’ll tell you your new name.”

The bay pony nuzzled
her shoulder gently and followed her to the door of the stall.  Once Rafe
closed and secured the gate that kept him in, the compact equine had to stretch
his neck to look over it, but he did, and watched as they left the barn.

So excited she could
hardly contain herself, Raale’s short legs moved so fast that Rafe found
himself walking faster than normal to keep up with her.

The day passed
quickly and when Raale returned to the barn, the name she whispered to her pony
was Cante Tinza, meaning brave heart in English and pronounced chun-tay
t-een-zah in the Lakota language.  “But I’m dis gonna call you Cante
(chun-tay,)” she assured him.  “’Cuz it’s easier to bemember.”

Raale and Rusty rode
their ponies in the training ring and then into an empty field behind the barn,
so everyone could watch them.

Rafe stood beside his
soon-to-be wife, his pride in their daughter and the happiness that everything
was once again peaceful in their lives, filling his heart to almost bursting.

In two weeks, Mesa
would become his wife.  He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled
her close to his side.  “Is it my imagination, or are you in need of a
bigger bra?” he whispered in her ear.

Her cheeks turned
pink as she dropped her eyes down to her chest.  “It’s not that obvious is
it?”

He chuckled. 
“Maybe not to everyone, but I gotta admit, that I sure would like to see how
they fit in my hands, right now.”

Quickly she cut her
eyes around to see if anyone had overheard him and seeing the others were
involved in watching the kids, she grinned up at him.  “Do you think we’d
be missed if we slipped back to the house for an hour or so?”

“Who cares,” he said,
now nuzzling around her ear, knowing how she responded to that.

He looked around and
caught Jory’s attention.  “I need to check in with the office and Mesa
needs to take her medicine.  We’ll be back in a bit.  Will you keep
your eyes on Raale?”

Jory nodded, a
knowing grin spreading his lips.  “You might want to make sure you lock
that door behind you.  It’s hard to keep everyone corralled down here.”

Rafe grinned and nodded. 
“Thanks.”  Then he swept his future wife up into his arms and strode
purposefully toward the house.

Mesa walked to the
edge of the porch and stopped, waiting patiently for Rafe to reach her side
with the umbrella.  It had been raining off and on for two days and
everything was sodden and slick.  He’d made her promise that she would
stay on the porch and not attempt the steps alone.

One hand dropped to
cradle the bottom of her very obvious baby bulge.  It had ceased being a
baby bump months ago.  It was about the same time she’d switched from
walking to waddling and now her mind was filled with joy, knowing the long
months were quickly drawing to an end.

They had left Raale
sleeping and had promised Uci that they’d call when the doctor determined that
birth was eminent, so the two of them would have time to get to the hospital to
welcome Rafter Jessup Storm Horse Junior into the world.

Raale was so excited
about becoming a big sister, they knew she’d drive everyone to distraction if
she had to wait for the birth in a hospital waiting room.  Despite the
fact that families were allowed in the birthing room with the laboring mother,
it wasn’t the place for an almost seven year old child to spend several
hours.  She could sleep until time to get up and get ready for school,
keeping her schedule as close to normal as possible.  If Mesa’s labor
progressed to the point that delivery was close, while Raale was still at
school, Uci would check her out and bring her to the hospital.  Uci had
been getting Raale off to school for over a month now, so the child probably
wouldn’t even know that her mother wasn’t still upstairs asleep.

Rafe walked to the
porch, umbrella in hand, to help his wife down the steps and into the seat of
the truck he’d maneuvered close to the steps.  He looked up and his eyes
met hers, his insides tightening at the sight of her, as they always did.

“Do not look at me
with those bedroom eyes,” she scolded playfully.  “That’s what got us into
this, you know.”

He shook his head
negatively.  “It was that sexy bottom lip of yours that’s to blame. 
You know I’ll never be able to resist the urge to bite it, and that’s always
just the beginning.”

Leaning against him
for support, she smiled.  “I’ll remind little Jessie of that, when he asks
where he came from,” she retorted, rubbing her tummy.  Suddenly the
muscles of her stomach began to tighten and her steps ceased.

“Is it another one?”
Rafe asked.

She nodded, bending
slightly.  “Stronger,” she muttered.

They waited until the
contraction eased and then he helped her into the truck.

It didn’t seem
possible that they’d been married just over two years, he was thinking, as he
slipped behind the steering wheel of the truck.  So many things had
changed.

Amazingly, once Mesa
had married him and moved onto his family’s ranch, Mesa’s mother and her Uncle
Rance had become good friends and she’d pitched in to help with his physical
therapy.  It wasn’t long before the old cowboy was walking and even occasionally
riding around the ranch.   Then, last year they surprised everyone by
getting married.  They now lived in the main house at the Rocking H ranch.

Jory had remained in
the cabin beside the lake and was seriously involved with the owner of the
local vegetable market.  Everyone expected them to announce their
engagement any day.

Rafe’s head deputy,
Levi had married Rafe’s cousin, Trish and his married deputies, John and
Krystal Montgomery were the proud parents of a baby girl.

So many changes in
such a short span of time.

Rafe cut his eyes
toward his wife as he slowed the truck at the entrance to the emergency
room.  “Are we ready for this?” he asked, a trace of uncertainty niggling
at him.

She flashed him a
look of amazement.  “You are too intelligent for that to be a serious
question, so I won’t even dignify it with an answer.”  She gasped and her
eyes focused on his.  “Another one,” she managed.

Rafe hopped out of
the truck.  “I’ll get a wheelchair.”  He practically ran into the
E.R. emerging a few seconds later, his cousin, now Levi’s wife, Trish pushing
the chair, a big smile spreading across her face.

“Is this the big
day?” Trish asked, as Mesa, with Rafe assisting, eased from the truck into the
wheelchair.

“I’m certainly hoping
so.”  Mesa’s face grimaced as another contraction pulled her lower body
muscles, as she settled into a seated position.

Trish lowered one
experienced hand to feel the length of the tightening and smiled encouragingly
at the woman in the chair.  “Yeah,” she said after a few seconds. 
“That’s a good one.”  Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she
looked up at Rafe.  “Are you going to help?”

“Of course, he is,”
Mesa answered for him.

All Rafe managed to
do was nod and Trish saw the fear reflected in his eyes.  She patted his
shoulder.  “Want me to call Levi to come up here and sit with you?”

He managed to shake
his head negatively.  “Let’s just get Mesa inside so her doctor can check
her out.”

A chortle trickled
back as Trish pushed the chair toward the entrance.  “All this is going to
take a while, cousin.  Try to relax, or we’ll have to get a doctor down
here for you, as well.”

“Just wait until it’s
your turn.  Women think they do the hard part.  It’s hell, watching
someone you love go through this,” he groused.

Trish laughed
heartily, and Mesa groaned.  “The next time, you carry the baby and give
birth.  I’ll gladly watch you go through the whole pregnancy and give
birth,” Mesa offered.

“If men had to do
that, we wouldn’t ever have to worry about birth control or over populating the
world,” Trish managed to get out, despite her laughter.

Six hours later, an
exhausted Mesa sat in the bed, quietly holding her newborn son while he
nursed.  Rafe sat next to her, one of his hands gently rubbing the baby’s
head, amazed at the thick, black hair that covered the tiny scalp.

“He’s so little,”
Rafe muttered for maybe the fifteenth time.

Mesa looked at him,
her eyes sparkling with joy.  “You wouldn’t think that if it had been you
trying to push him out into this world.”

He dropped a kiss to
the side of her head.  “It was unbelievable, watching you give
birth.  It’s one of my top two favorite memories.”

“What’s the other top
memory?” she asked.

His face split into a
grin.  “Making him.”  His dark eyes held hers and his head dropped to
allow a long, emotional kiss.  “Thank you, Mesa,” he said when the kiss
ended.  “Thank you for giving me two, beautiful children, thank you for
being my wife, and thank you for being the most attentive lover I could ever
imagine having.”

Their moment of
private bonding with their son ended when a soft knock sounded on the door.

“Come on,” Rafe
called softly, while Mesa lifted the sheet up to cover little Jess’s head and
her breast where he still suckled.

The door opened and
Uci, Raale, Shirley and Rance, Jory and April, his
soon-to-be-announced-intended, Levi, Beth, and Heather entered quietly.

“Where’s Jess?” Raale
asked, her dark eyes darting from the empty, clear plastic bassinet to her parents,
sitting side by side in the bed, her father’s long frame stretched out on top
of the blanket that covered all of her mother, except for her head and
shoulders.

Mesa had disengaged
her son from her nipple and discreetly pulled her gown back over her
breast.  Now she carefully folded the cover back to reveal the tiny ruddy
head to all her guests.

Raale climbed up onto
her father’s lap and leaned over for a closer look, her face changing by the
second, displaying the range of emotions that she was feeling.  “He’s so
little,” she breathed softly.

“Touch his head very
gently,” Rafe encouraged.  “He’s just gone to sleep.”

After a few minutes,
he placed his daughter back on the floor and then eased his own big frame off
the bed, making it possible for other’s to get closer to Mesa and the
baby.  It wasn’t long before the tiny bundle was passed from arm to arm,
being introduced to the whole clan one at a time.  Like a true Storm
Horse, he wasn’t disturbed by the movement or the noise.  He slept deeply
and ignored them all.

After each person,
including Raale, had an opportunity to hold the bundle, Uci took charge and
placed him in the bassinet provided by the hospital and tucked the blanket
tightly around him.

One or two at a time,
the visitors left, only to be replaced by others, as news of the birth drifted
across the town and when a nurse finally ushered the last of them out and
closed the door, Mesa was already asleep.

Rafe stood beside the
bed, looking at the woman who was the center of his universe and the new child
she’d presented to the world.

He knew he couldn’t
see the future, couldn’t know what challenges might lay ahead of them, but for
this moment in time, he felt he was the most fortunate man alive.  His
coffee brown eyes closed, and he offered up a silent prayer of thanks for the
blessings with which he had been gifted.

The End

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