Then, of course, there was the fact that Brian had met Carol here in town, and they had gone out on a few dates. That had helped to put Ellie’s mind at ease even more. Brian was being careful though as he didn’t want to fall in love with someone, knowing what his situation was, but Carol was a sweetheart, and she loved Alex, Luke, and Grace.
“Gunner, how are you today?” Brian asked as he held Alex in his arms while she hugged him around his neck.
“I’m doing good. Did you talk to my dad about that horse?” I asked.
He nodded his head and laughed. “I sure did. Looks like I’m going to be taking some roping lessons from your old man. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted this ranch to be run by family and only family.”
I let out a laugh. My father and Brian had really hit it off, and they had become good friends over the last few months.
I thought back to the other night in the barn up by Grams and Gramps’s house. Just me, my father, Gramps, Drake, Brian, Jeff, Josh, and Greg had all been sitting there—drinking while talking about cows and horses and the women who made up our world. It had been like a dream come true. Even Jeff had seemed to be so happy and content. It had been months since we’d had any drama, and I was planning on keeping it that way.
“Gunner?”
I glanced over toward Ellie, who was standing next to the garden gate with her hand on her stomach. I slowly walked up to her, and leaning down, I gently kissed her on the lips.
“You look so beautiful, do you know that?” I asked with a wink.
She smiled and then grimaced.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Then, I saw Grams walking up to Brian and Alex. She put her hand on Brian’s arm and said something to him that caused him to look up at Ellie in a panicked way.
I slowly turned and looked at my breathtakingly gorgeous wife. “Ells?”
She smiled. “My water just broke.”
I shouted out, “Yes! Finally!”
I took her arm and looked back at Grams and Brian. “Do we all know what to do?” I asked.
Brian let out a laugh. “My god, Gunner. Just get her suitcase and take her to the hospital. Emma and I clearly know our roles.”
“Daddy?” Alex called out.
I stopped and turned back to look at her. She was staring at me with those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
Damn. She is going to break a lot of hearts.
“Hey, Little Bear, Mommy is going to have your little brother, Colt. Bandpa is going to get Grammy, okay?”
When she nodded, her little pigtails moved back and forth, and my heart swelled up with so much love.
I looked at Brian, and before I could even say it, he said, “I’ll call your parents right after I call Sharon.”
Grams laughed as she walked by me. She had her cell phone in her hand and was texting Gramps. “I’m going to warn Garrett not to share the story of the last time Ellie went into labor.” She threw her head back and laughed.
Ellie giggled and peeked up at me. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “You gave them the cell phones and showed them how to text.”
After I helped Ellie into my truck, I turned and gave Alex a kiss good-bye. “I love you. Be a good girl for Grammy and Bandpa, okay, pumpkin?”
She nodded her head and reached out for me. She grabbed around my neck so tightly that I almost found it hard to breathe for a second. The hold this little girl had on my heart sometimes scared the shit out of me.
She pulled back and said, “Ice cream?”
I laughed and looked at Brian. “Good luck!”
When I ran around the front of the truck, I looked over and could tell Ellie was having a contraction. I jumped in and looked at her. “Deep breaths in and—”