now. Once in the hospital, and then again this morning. I think he was worried I answered him in a daze of pain meds.”
Lincoln smiled. “I cannot believe it. I mean, I can. I’ve always thought he declared himself too much of a bachelor to truly desire to be one. And the way he is with all the kids…he was meant to be a father, anyone with eyes can see that.”
Goodness, the image of Dirk holding our baby made my tummy flip. I settled my hand over it.
“He will make a wonderful father,” Kaylee agreed as Timberlynn nodded.
“So, have you talked about dates?” Lincoln asked.
I sighed. “Well, considering our mothers don’t even know I’m pregnant, we haven’t gotten that far. Do you think we’re moving too soon? I feel like we might be.”
“No!” the three of them all said at once, causing me to laugh as I held up my hands in mock defense.
“Well, okay. Don’t all voice your thoughts at once!”
Timberlynn took my hand and squeezed it. “You love him, right?”
I felt my cheeks burn as I grinned like a mad woman. “More than anything.”
She smiled. “And he loves you, and you’re having a baby. It makes sense.”
“You don’t have to be married to have a baby, though,” Lincoln interjected. “You could simply be in the moment with one another. Don’t put any more pressure on things if you don’t have to. You’ll know when the time is right to marry.”
“Shut up, Lincoln,” Kaylee stated. “I want to plan this wedding.”
I chewed on my lip as I met Lincoln’s gaze. She was right. Just because Dirk asked me to marry him, it didn’t mean we had to run off and get married right away.
“Lincoln’s right. We have so much to talk about. Like, will Dirk move in with me? How will it be when he goes back out on tour? I am not carting a baby around from city to city, no way. But I still want to support him in every way possible. How much of the baby growing up will he miss, and will he be okay with that?”
I frowned, not really wanting to think about any of that. At least Dirk would be there through the pregnancy and when the baby was born.
With a sigh, I said, “We could plan on getting married after I have the baby. Maybe during one of his breaks.”
Timberlynn pouted as Kaylee sighed.
“Do you think he’ll change his mind about wanting to marry?” I asked Kaylee. If anyone knew Dirk the best, it was Kaylee and Brock. Even as close as we used to be, I hadn’t really known this adult Dirk for very long.
“What? No. God, no,” Kaylee said. “Anyone can see that boy has done a complete turnaround. He’s not going to change his mind.”
I felt my mouth twitch with a smile. “Well, like I said, we still have things to talk about, especially what life will be like when he goes back to bull riding.”
Lincoln looked away for a moment. Almost as if she didn’t want me to see her expression, but I caught something.
“Lincoln?” I asked. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“No,” she replied way too quickly.
“Liar!” Kaylee said. “Spill it!”
“Yeah, you’re totally keeping something back,” Timberlynn agreed. “You cannot lie to save your life. Your eye does this weird little twitch.”
“That’s not true!” Lincoln stated. “I can lie…when I need to.”
“Okay,” Kaylee said as she stood and placed Rose in the bassinet. “Do you know something you’re not telling us?”
Lincoln’s eyes bounced around to all of us before she let her gaze fall to the floor as she replied, “Nope.”
“She is totally lying,” Kaylee said, her arms folded across her chest.
Lincoln sighed. “Fine. I can’t lie. But I also can’t say anything. It’s not for me to tell Merit.”
My heart felt like it seized in my chest, and Lincoln noticed.
Reaching for my hand, she gave it a squeeze as she added, “It’s nothing bad, I swear to you. But, I’m not the person to tell you.”
Kaylee turned to Timberlynn. “So, when can we expect you to be next in line?” And with that, the subject was changed.
“Next in line?” she asked with a confused expression.
Kaylee laughed. “There’s clearly something in the water the men are drinking up here.”
Timberlynn stared at her, slightly amused and baffled. “What do you mean?”
With a dramatic eye roll and sigh, Kaylee said, “When are you going to get knocked up, Timberlynn?”
All eyes went to Timberlynn. I was positive we all expected