Monroe, Marla - Love Between the Hired Hands [The Men of Space Station One #4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (24 page)

Phillip kept the baby while Elissa and Lacy filled Gray and Clint’s arms with packages. At some point, Cam joined them and informed them that the trailers were empty and everything had checked out great.

“Why don’t we go and put all the packages in the transports while you ladies finish up?” Phillip suggested.

“Give me Julie.” Lacy took the baby and settled her on her hip.

The men gathered everything up and disappeared from sight.

“Are you okay, Elissa?” Lacy watched her closely.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll probably make myself crazy about this once I get home, but right now, I’m fine.”

“Everything will be fine. I’ll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell the guys.”

Elissa frowned. “Sure.”

“I think Julie is growing and maturing at a faster rate than she is supposed to be. She’s only a little over three months old, and she’s developed like a five-month-old baby. I know you’ve been seeing it, too. I’m keeping a journal about it, but I don’t want the men worried.”

“What does Doc Jeff think about it?”

“He agrees, but he knows I don’t want to tell the men yet. I want to wait until she can talk. Then I’ll talk to them. I don’t want them freaking out.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, the reason I’m telling you this is because I haven’t been bitten or anything, so maybe what’s in your blood is from the food. I think it’s the reason behind Julie doing so well.”

“I think you’re right about the food. It all matured so much faster than it was supposed to. Stands to reason that the baby would do that, too. She’s getting her nourishment from you, and you’re eating the food.” Elissa nodded.

“So don’t worry so much about it. Wait until there is a reason to worry, or you’ll make yourself sick. You can’t afford to do that.”

The men returned and cut short their conversation.

“Are you ladies about ready to head home?” Phillip asked, taking baby Julie from her mother’s arms.

“I’m ready,” Elissa said.

“Count me in, too.” Lacy kissed Julie on the cheek.

“Let’s get loaded up, then.”

Clint and Gray each took one of Elissa’s hands and led her to the transport. Clint helped her climb up then let Gray climb in after her. She guessed he was going to drive this time.

“It won’t take us as long to get home, but it will still be a good ride. Why don’t you try and get some sleep, baby?” Gray patted her thigh after he finished strapping her in. “Phillip said to keep the transport at our place in case we needed it.”

“Good. That’s good.” She sighed. There was no way she would be able to sleep. Her mind was turning in circles.

If the food was causing Julie to mature faster and she had some sort of enzyme in her blood, what was going to happen to her baby? Would the enzyme hurt the baby, or help it? She shivered.

“Are you cold, baby?” Gray asked. “I can get a blanket from the back if you need it.”

“No, I’m fine. Just thinking too much.”

“Honey, you’re going to have to not think about it, or you’ll make yourself sick. That’s not good for you or the baby.” Clint reached over and squeezed her hand.

“It’s hard knowing there’s something in me that doesn’t belong there, and I’m not talking about the child. It belongs.”

“Everything is going to be okay, honey. Clint and I are going to take good care of you and the baby,” Gray said.

“I’m scared something will be wrong with it, Gray.”

“Don’t think like that. Think positive, and as soon as you’re far enough along, maybe Dr. Jeff will do one of those pictures to see the baby.”

“A sonogram. Right.” That helped her to feel better. “He can probably do one the next time we go then.”

“Good, you just relax until then. That will be soon enough to worry.” Gray threaded his arm through her harness and settled it across her shoulders.

“Are you going to have to work tomorrow?” Elissa asked.

“I think Cam and Phillip will let us hold off on turning the ground until the next day. The bad weather probably won’t start for another few days, according to Cam. He seems to be able to predict the weather pretty well.” Gray squeezed her shoulder.

She leaned her head back against his arm. “Good. I want to spend some time together tomorrow.”

“Got anything in particular you want to do?” Clint asked, waggling his eyebrows.

She smiled. Clint was always the one thinking about sex.

“Maybe. Mostly I want to just curl up together. I missed you guys these last few weeks. We’ve all been so busy with the harvest.”

“You worked your ass off, baby. Between Lacy’s and ours, you probably put up a ton of vegetables,” Gray said.

“My back and legs would agree with you.”

“How about a nice, long soak in the tub, then a massage afterwards when we get home?” Clint asked.

“You read my mind,” she said with a sigh.

Chapter Nineteen

The first snow arrived nearly a week later. Elissa dragged the guys outside to build a snowman as soon as there was enough on the ground to play in. They both groused good-naturedly, but helped her build a short snowman so that she could see it from the kitchen window.

“I love looking out at him,” she told the men.

“Just remember, you can’t go out without one of us. With all that gear on to keep you warm, you can’t see or hear as well should one of those damn creatures show up.” Gray was adamant about that.

“I won’t go outside, don’t worry. Besides, it’s not any fun to have a snowball fight alone.” She pouted.

They spent most of their time in the office updating journals and reading books. Elissa kept a separate journal of her pregnancy, making notes like when she was sick and when her leg felt funny. She kept a food diary in it as well to prove that she was trying to eat like she was supposed to. The doctor was right. She didn’t have much of an appetite, and she took naps during the afternoon.

Usually, they would all go upstairs and take a nap together, but sometimes the guys would only lie down long enough for her to relax and go to sleep. They went out of their way to make sure she was comfortable and happy for the two weeks they were snowed in.

Finally, the snow cleared, and Cam assured them they would have a week before the next snow hit. Gray decided to make a trip into town to take Elissa back to the doctor in the middle of the week. According to Cam, the snowstorms tended to get worse and worse as the winter progressed. He wanted to be sure and get her seen in case it was longer the next time.

“Maybe he will do a sonogram and the baby will look normal,” Elissa said.

“You’ve been worrying when you were not supposed to,” Gray accused.

“I can’t help it. I’ve had bad dreams sometimes.”

“You didn’t tell us you were having bad dreams, baby.”

“I didn’t see any reason to upset you two. They were just dreams.”

“Don’t keep anything from us, honey.” Clint frowned at her. “We’re in this together.”

“I know.” She wasn’t sorry that she hadn’t shared the dreams, though. There had been no reason to worry them.

When they arrived in town, Gray parked in front of the doctor’s office. Clint unbuckled Elissa’s harness and helped her down from the transport.

The office door opened, and Scott met them at the door.

“Great to see you guys. We were hoping you might show up this week now that the snow had cleared up. How are you doing?”

“We’re fine.” Elissa let Scott draw her inside one of the exam rooms where he weighed her and took her vital signs. They guys hovered nearby in case she needed them.

“I’ll go get the doc while you change into the gown.” Scott closed the door behind him when he walked out.

Clint helped her change into the gown and climb up on the exam table. She hated wearing the thing. She felt so exposed, but with the guys there, she knew nothing would happen to her.

A few minutes later Jeff knocked, and he and Scott walked in.

“How have you been doing, Elissa?”

“I’m doing pretty good. The morning sickness is almost gone, thank goodness.”

“How is your appetite?” He glanced over her paperwork that Scott had filled out.

“Not good, but I’m keeping a food diary to be sure I’m eating enough.”

“We’re keeping a watch and making sure she eats something at every meal.” Gray spoke up.

“Hmmm.” He read through the notes. “You need to push a little harder. She lost two pounds since we last saw her. It’s not unusual, but it’s not the ideal, either.”

Elissa frowned. How could she have lost weight as much as she was forcing herself to eat? She looked over at Gray. He shrugged as if knowing what she was thinking.

“We’ll work harder on that,” Clint said.

“Okay, let’s draw some blood and do a sonogram to see what your little tyke looks like,” Jeff said.

“Oh boy!” Elissa squealed. “I was hoping you would do one. If I could just see it, I think I would feel better about everything.”

Scott drew her blood while Jeff set the sonogram up. Then the men helped her lie back on the table. Jeff smeared some cool jelly on her lower belly and rubbed around with a thick wand for a few seconds. Then he mumbled some and adjusted the controls.

“Okay. Lean up some, guys, and I’ll show you your baby.”

They guys all leaned forward, and Elissa turned her head so that she could see better. Jeff pointed at a spot on the monitor.

“This is your baby. Looks good so far. I can count two arms, two legs, and two eyes. Can’t tell what sex yet, but then you might not want to know.”

“Everything looks normal?” Elissa asked anxiously.

“Everything looks completely normal. When you come back, we’ll do another one and compare to see how the baby is growing.” He let them watch for a little longer, then cleaned the jelly off of Elissa’s belly and turned everything off. “Okay, you can change back into your clothes while I go check the blood work. I’ll be back once it’s complete.

The guys helped Elissa sit up and change back into her clothes. Everyone grinned and hugged with the good news. She had been so worried. Now that she knew her baby looked normal so far, she thought she would settle down some.

“Did you see him moving his hands?” Gray asked.

“
She
was wiggling all over. I could even see her heart beating,” she told them.

“
He
is going to be a big boy. You wait and see,” Clint told her.

Elissa shook her head. She loved teasing with them. She didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl. All she cared about was that it was normal and healthy.

They waited for nearly twenty minutes before the doc walked back in. He looked worried, and that scared Elissa. The men must have sensed it as well, since they squeezed her hands and crowded in closer to her.

“Okay. Your anemia hasn’t gotten any worse, but it’s not much better, either. You need to eat more meat, Elissa.”

“It makes me nauseous to even smell it cooking,” she complained.

“You’re going to have to hold your nose, then, and make yourself eat it anyway. It’s very important or I wouldn’t harp on it.”