entire pregnancy, but right then I was so nauseous. I just knew I would puke before I could read the results. I went into the clinic and the nurse handed me a plain white envelope with BABY HARPER typed on the front of it.
I walked out to the jeep holding the envelope. I heard my cell chirping and saw that Jaxon had been calling me. I couldn’t talk to him right now. I had to see what the results said.
I opened the envelope and tried to read the results.
The first two pages were a bunch of graphs and numbers. The grid was titled: “A” and “B”. I read on and realized that Jaxon was “A” and Cade was “B”. Thank God there was a title on the second page that spelled that out. I got to the last page and it said: Paternity Verified, and that was followed by a letter. I finally knew who the father was.
Cade
The past three days had about killed me. I couldn’t eat, sleep, nothin’. Today should be the day that we find out. I just needed to know. I needed to get back to my life either way. I had been neglecting everything and that just wasn’t somethin’ I did.
Since my parents had died, that ranch was my life. Clay and I had been away for too long. If the baby was mine we were goin’ to have to figure somethin’ out. I didn’t know how we were gonna do it, but I wouldn’t be away from my kid.
When I heard the knock on the door, I about jumped outta my hide. I got up and headed for the door. When I opened it, I knew the question had been answered.
Jaxon
I had been trying to call Lor all morning. I couldn’t understand why she was ignoring my calls. I was getting a little worried. Today was the day that we were supposed to get the results of the paternity test and I think we were both a little on edge.
I heard someone pull up outside. I went to the door and saw Lor’s jeep. She got out and started toward me. Her eyes were all red and swollen. She had been crying, a lot. I ran to her. “Babe, what’s wrong? Did you get the results?” She was sobbing. She put her arms around my waist and laid her head on my chest.
The crying was breaking my heart and it told me all I needed to hear. “We knew this was gonna happen, Lor. We knew it wasn’t mine. It’s okay. We are still going to be a family. We will handle of this together. Please stop crying.” I put my hand on her chin and raised her head up to look at me.
She opened her eyes and met mine. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She was killing me. I couldn’t stand to see her hurting. “It’s okay, babe.”
She let out a little giggle, which was really weird because she still had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I had to tell Cade. I had to tell him...that the baby is yours. We’re having a baby, Jaxon!” I was shocked. I couldn’t speak. I stared at her. She put her hand on my cheek. “Did you hear me, baby? We’re having a baby. We made a baby together. Jaxon, are you okay?”
I lost it. I had never been so happy in my life. I picked her up and pulled her into my chest. I swung us around in circles and prayed that this moment wasn’t a dream.
Epilogue
Six Months later....
I loved days like today. Days spent with our family down by the pond. The kids were fishing. My and Declan’s parents were there to help keep the kids in line. Jaxon and I were walking around the pond, holding hands, laughing, and enjoying each other.
It seemed like not too long ago, we didn’t believe we would get to this point - the point where we were in love and about ready to have a baby together.
I never believed that I would find love again. After everything that happened with Cade and Stacy, I didn’t think Jaxon and I would end up together. But it seemed like we were meant to be. Everything kinda brought us together. Destiny…maybe?
It was starting to get dark and my parents offered to take the kids home so Jaxon and I could spend some time together. The crickets were chirping their evening lullaby, and the fireflies were sparkling out across