She nodded “You can say that again. All our candy is gone.”
“That’s okay,” Jeremy said. “We have mine.”
“You could open a store, sport.”
Jeremy laughed. “No, I couldn’t. You’re funny.”
“Remember the rule. You can eat one piece of candy now, and then you have to go to bed.”
“Umm, I think I’ll have a cinnamon gummy bear.” He took off the wrapper and popped the jelly candy in his mouth.
“Okay. Now it’s time to get this show on the road.”
Claire loved it. Both she and Vic were dying to be alone. He was trying to hurry things along. “You’ll need a quick bath first, honey. Don’t forget to brush your teeth. I’ll come in when you say your prayers.”
“Do I have to go to bed right now?”
“Yes,” they said at the same time. “It’s late.”
“Do you think Comet and Daken would like a Tootsie Roll?”
“I don’t think so,” Claire murmured. “Go on.”
“Oh, heck.”
While the boys were gone, Claire found a basket to put all the candy in and threw the pillow case in the washing machine. She could hardly wait until Jeremy was down for the night. After locking up and turning off the lights, she hurried to the bedroom and got dressed in a nightgown. She pulled on her navy toweling robe, the one with the pockets.
Pretty soon Jeremy called out that he was ready to say his prayers. The three of them knelt at the side of the bed while he blessed everything and everyone, drawing things out to the nth degree. She peeked once at Vic and discovered he was watching her with a huge smile on his face. She had to admit this was a little bit of heaven.
“Amen.”
In Claire’s mind she could hear Vic saying a much louder amen. She struggled to hold the laughter inside.
Once Jeremy was under the covers, she and Vic gave him a kiss and said good-night. When they left the room, Vic reached for her in the hall and gave her a hungry kiss. “Good news. I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. We can sleep in.”
When they reached their bedroom, he untied her robe and threw it over the chair so he could feel her body. “Have you decided if you’re going to take that part-time job at the lab in Austin? That offer has been out there for a few days. I’ll support you in anything you want.”
“I know that. You’re wonderful, but I’m thinking I want to stay home for a while longer. Jeremy needs me.”
“You’re not just saying that because you think it will make me happy? Because honestly, Claire, I want you to be happy.”
She put her hands on his chest and looked up at him. “I’ve never been so happy in my life. Tonight, watching Jeremy in his cute Halloween costume, made me realize that this time is precious while he’s still growing. I don’t want to miss any of it.”
“If you’re sure.” His black eyes had a sheen that told her how thrilled he was by her decision. He started rubbing her arms as a prelude to making love.
“Oh, I am. In fact I’ve been so sure, I emailed them this afternoon that I was declining their offer. That’s because of something else that happened today.”
He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, why don’t you feel in the right pocket of my robe.”
His brows met together before he picked it up and felt inside. He pulled out the home pregnancy test and stared at it. Vic was in shock, just as she was. His head reared. “This says positive!”
“Yes. I took the test this afternoon because I realized I’d missed my second period.”
He dropped it on the chair and clasped her upper arms. “We’re pregnant!”
“Yes, darling. Next year at this time we’ll have to dress up our little warrior girl or boy in a genuine Lipan Apache costume. Can you believe it?”