Once everyone is geared up and ready to go, I excuse myself to take Lucky back to a snoring Emi. She rolls over to kiss me briefly and falls back asleep immediately.
We spread out across the land, and I get settled in my stand, watching and waiting. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long until the trophy of all trophies walks into my line of vision.
My aim is perfect and precise, and he goes down in one shot. Excitement flows through my veins when I get to him and see he’s my best yet. Marcus doesn’t stand a chance today.
I know I’m done for the morning, so I load him up and take him back to camp, taking him straight to the back of the cleaning house.
An hour later, the men start returning, two of them bringing deer. Marcus turns green with envy when he pulls up.
“Lucky son of a bitch.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. It’s all about the skill.” I pound on my chest proudly.
“Don’t get cocky. I have tonight and tomorrow.”
“You beat this, I’ll openly admit you’re the winner of the weekend.”
Thomas joins us, eyeing my buck with jealousy. “This isn’t going to work,” he tells me with a solemn face. “I can’t have a son-in-law that hunts better than me.”
“Don’t pout. I think this may be my year.”
His eyes soften, knowing I’m referring to more than the deer. “She up yet?”
“I’m going to check.” I leave the men to admire and head back to my cabin.
The second I walk in, I know something’s wrong. Lucky is pacing in front of our bedroom door, whining. The sound of retching hits me when I open the door.
“EMI!” I run to the bathroom and find it locked. “Emi! Are you okay?”
“Yes, give me a minute,” she croaks.
I listen and wait until I hear the toilet flush, and she walks out, pale as a sheet and wiping her face with a cloth. She takes one look at me, sniffs loudly, and bolts back in.
“Emi! What’s going on?”
“Don’t get near me. I can’t take the sight or smell of you,” she cries and pukes again. “Please, please, go shower in Marcus’s room. Please.” She begs so painfully, I back away and take off to the hall shower.
When I’m done, I tie a towel around my waist and gather my clothes, dumping them out the back door.
She’s back in bed, her color almost returned when I go back into our room.
“Sorry about that.” She cuddles into my chest and curls her arm around my waist when I crawl into bed.
“What’s going on?”
“He’s very angry at me for eating seafood last night.”
I eye Lucky, who’s watching us from the bottom of the bed. “Lucky’s mad?”
She starts to giggle, shaking her head. “He being your son. I think I’m pregnant.”
Pregnant… pregnant… pregnant… roars in my ears, and I lean back so I can see her face. “Really?”
“I’m pretty sure. The signs are all here. Tired, sore breasts, vomiting.”
“Pregnant? But how? You only got off birth control last week. We haven’t even started trying.”
“Well, obviously, we’re trying… Celibacy has never been our strongest trait.”