Pregnant with the Rancher's Baby: Reclaimed by the Rancher

Sitting back in his desk chair, he stared at the computer screen without seeing it. Although it scared the hell out of him that he might let them down in some way, he knew he loved them and would do everything humanly possible to protect them from any kind of harm—both physical and emotional.

His biggest concern now was telling Jessie about his past and the reason he had never really considered himself husband and father material. He wasn’t proud of it and would rather climb a barbed-wire fence buck naked than to have to tell her about it. But she deserved to know the truth—that the father of her baby was a convicted felon.

Could she accept being with a man who had a criminal record, even if it had been sealed by the courts because he’d been a juvenile when he committed the crimes? He was pretty sure she would understand the reasons he and Sam had resorted to breaking the law. But would she be able to trust and still love him once he laid it all on the line and told her about his childhood and the concern he had always had that he would somehow turn out to be like his worthless father? What would he do if it led her to leave him?

Nate wasn’t sure. He only hoped that once he told her, she would understand and love him anyway.

Eight

When Jessie woke up from her nap, she wasn’t surprised to find herself in bed alone. Nate had probably gone downstairs to his office to work on his computer. She had no idea what the project was, but it seemed that every spare minute he had, he was researching something.

Stretching, she felt a twinge in her right side and decided that she might need to invest in one of the bigger pregnancy pillows. Of course, she wouldn’t need one except for naps. At night, Nate was all the support she needed.

She smiled as she got out of bed and walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. Nate had been amazing the past few weeks. He had been attentive, supportive and erased all doubt that he would be a good father. But what about her?

Her smile faded. She loved him with every fiber of her being and knew without question that she would for the rest of her life. But she wasn’t sure he loved her. She knew he cared deeply for her. No man would have been as tender or as understanding of her insecurities about her pregnant body if he didn’t. But he had never told her he loved her and he’d stopped mentioning that he wanted them to get married. Did that mean he had changed his mind? Could he want the baby, but not her?

She knew she could be reading more into the situation than what was there. Her hormones had been anything but stable lately and she could very well be misinterpreting things. But with no answers there was only one way to find out what was happening in their relationship. As she got dressed, she decided it was time that they sat down and had a talk about what the future held for them.

She rubbed her right side. The nagging twinge had turned to a constant dull ache. The baby was probably pressing against a nerve, she decided as she started downstairs. As active as her daughter had been lately, it felt as if she was practicing to be an Olympic gymnast.

“What do you think of Hope or Faith for the baby’s name?” Nate asked, walking out of his office as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Hope and Faith are very nice names,” she said, wondering why she suddenly felt hot and a bit weak. “Why don’t we start a list of names and then choose the one we both like best?”

“It sounds like we have a plan,” he said, grinning as he walked over to kiss her. Leaning back, he frowned. “Are you feeling all right? You feel pretty warm.”

“I-I’m...not sure,” she said haltingly when the ache in her side turned to actual pain.

“Jessie, what’s wrong?” he demanded, holding her up when her knees started to buckle.

“Nate...something’s...wrong,” she said, holding on to the front of his shirt when another wave of weakness washed over her.

He quickly swept her up into his arms and instead of climbing the stairs, hurried to place her on the couch in the family room. “I’m calling Life Flight,” he said, taking his cell phone from the holder on his belt.

While Nate made the call to the emergency service, Jessie’s nurse’s training kicked in and, assessing her symptoms, she was fairly certain she had a hot appendix. If that was the case, she was going to need surgery. That was a significant risk to the baby and she wanted the best care possible.

“Tell them I’m twenty-one weeks pregnant and showing symptoms of appendicitis,” she instructed, trying to keep her growing panic at bay. “I need to go to the hospital where I work. It’s a Level 1 Trauma Center and they’ll be better able to deal with whatever I need to have done.”