Chapter 17

Finn Ackerman stepped into the farmhouse he shared with his wife, Edith, and called, "I'm back." Since they both worked from home—right here on their small one-man ranch—he never said, "I'm home."

When she came in from her she-shed, she said the same thing he'd just called. I'm back.

Finn stepped over the kitchen sink to wash up. He'd shower before the birthday party tonight, but he had to get the muck off his hands to even do that. Over the running water, he heard Edith call, "In the bedroom! Come back here when you get a sec."

"Okay!" He finished rinsing the soap off and grabbed a kitchen towel to dry his hands. Behind him on the island countertop sat a birthday cake and dozens of small, brightly wrapped presents, and he smiled at the pile of them. He'd celebrated his thirty-second birthday with his family a couple of nights ago, on the actual day. Tonight, he and Edith were hosting some of their friends for dinner and games, something they'd never done on their small ranch yet.

It felt like a big milestone for him, and he couldn't wait to see Link and Misty, Alex and Nicki, Dawson and Brandon Rhinehart, and Henry.

Fine, Alex and Henry were technically family, but they were the same age as Finn and Edith, and they didn't work with them. It wasn't a couples' event, and Finn would've invited Mitch Glover too, if the cowboy hadn't moved to Virginia literally a day ago.

He tossed the towel back onto the stove and headed for the master bedroom in the back of the house. "Hey, sweetheart, the horses want you to come out and see their new stalls." He went through the open door, but didn't see Edith getting dressed.

They had a teeny tiny master closet, mostly filled with her clothes, but only one person could stand in it at a time, and they didn't get dressed in there.

"Edith?" He kept going and found her standing in the bathroom. She lowered the mascara wand and looked at him.

Finn knew instantly that she'd been crying. One, she'd already done her makeup for tonight's party. She'd sent him a picture an hour ago. Two, her eyes held a little bit of puffiness around them, which she'd tried to hide with a watery smile.

Oh, and the tears leaking down both sides of her face totally clued him in. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked. She hadn't sounded upset a minute ago when she'd called to him. He immediately took her into his arms, not caring if she smudged black on his shirt. It would wash out.

"Why are you crying? What's going on?"

Her dachshunds, along with Gumbo, sat on the floor with her, seemingly unconcerned.

"I want that mini dachshund," she whispered in a tinny voice.

"Okay," he said. "No problem."

"Silvy has two left, and I just need to call her."

"I'll call her," Finn said. "It's fine. Are you really crying over a third dog?"

"No." She sniffled and pulled back. "Now I have to do my makeup for a third time, and your mama's gonna be here in ten minutes."

"My mama?" Finn peered at her, but Edith seemed to have other places to look. "Why is she coming over? We need to leave to get the food in about thirty minutes. Right?"

Edith nodded and reached for the washcloth she'd obviously already used to clean her face and start again. She ran the water in her bathroom sink and nodded over to his sink while she wetted her washcloth. "Look over there."

Finn looked, but he didn't see anything of note. His razor. A cup he used after he brushed his teeth. And something he didn't recognize. He looked at Edith, but she had her face buried in the washcloth.

He walked around her, moving closer. All at once, he realized what she'd laid there for him to see.

A pregnancy test.

He picked it up, his pulse suddenly hacking through his body the way a lumberjack chopped at a tree trunk. "Is this…?"

The test held two lines, and it was dummy-proof, because it had the results printed right on the stick. Two lines = pregnant.

His brain caught up with his eyes, and he huffed out his breath. "You're pregnant." Shock and delight mixed into a delicious cocktail in his veins, and he turned to face his wife, his best friend, his everything.

"You're pregnant," he said again, his voice louder and more excited.

Edith looked at him, her smile wide but her tears still flowing down her face. "I'm pregnant."

Finn laughed and reached for his wife. He swung her around while she laughed too, and when they both settled back on their feet, he pressed his smile to hers. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

He pulled back, keeping one hand on her back while his other moved to her flat belly. "We're going to have a baby."

"We're going to have a baby," Edith repeated in just as reverent a whisper. She looked up at him, and Finn pulled her into his chest.

"We can do this." He and Edith had decided to try for a baby right away, and they'd only been married for three months. "How far along do you think you are? I want to go to your first doctor's appointment with you."

"Maybe five or six weeks," she said. "And Finny." She stepped back and picked up the washcloth again. "I don't know who to go see here. I'm going to ask your mom about it."

"Oh-ho." Finn shook his head. "You tell my mama about the baby, and she'll be over here doing your chores every morning." He shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Ask JoJo. She just had a baby."

"You don't get it, do you, Shortstop?"

"Obviously I don't." Finn settled his weight onto one foot. "Telling my mama is a bad idea, Edith."

"Telling your mama is how we bond even more," Edith said. "I could totally ask JoJo. I probably still will. But I really think your mom will be so excited and so helpful." She glanced over to him, her raw, makeup-less face so beautiful, so open, and so vulnerable. "My mom isn't here. I'm going to need help after the baby is born, and that's going to come from your mom."

She drew a breath. "I won't tell her tonight if you don't want me to, but I'd like to, and I want to ask her about a good doctor."

"She hasn't had a baby in ages," he said.

"She knows everyone in town." Edith started applying her makeup again, and since she didn't wear a lot, she could definitely get it done before his mama showed up.

Finn turned away from her, his brain whirring now. His beautiful wife was so good, always looking out for others even when she should be celebrated. Lord, he thought, starting a back-and-forth conversation with himself. Does it really matter if my mama knows?

She would like it.

No, she'll love it.

And she always wants to be included, as much as we want to include her.

He sighed and turned back to Edith. "All right. You're right."

She smiled at him. "Wish I had my video rolling for that one."

"I say you're right all the time."

She smiled and kept working on her face.

"Finn," his mama called from the front of the house. "Edith. I'm walking in."

"Go say hello," Edith said. "I'll be out in five minutes, and we'll tell her together."

"All right," he said. "I want to pick out of the two mini dachshunds."

Edith met his eyes in the mirror, clear surprise there. She blinked; it disappeared. "Fine."

Finn grinned at her and kissed the side of her neck. "I can't believe you're going to make me a father." He turned before his own emotions could rear up and choke him, and he jogged through the bedroom saying, "Mama, I'm comin'."

His mother had brought something, of course. "Cupcakes for tonight," she said.

"Edith made a cake, Mama." He stepped into her and hugged her, fighting for control again.

"Then cupcakes for breakfast. You're within a week of your birthday."

As if he couldn't have cupcakes any day of the year, whenever he wanted. He was an adult after all. A hard-working, tax-paying adult who owned his own ranch.

"Thank you," he murmured.

His mama wasn't one to miss things, and she pulled out of his embrace and looked at him with her shrewd eagle-eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Finn ducked his head and side-stepped her. "We have friends coming over in a little bit. We have to go get the food soon."

"I know," his mama said. "I'm not going to ruin your game night."

Finn didn't know what to say that wasn't Edith's pregnant! so he opened the fridge and looked inside. "Want something to drink?" he asked, a prayer starting deep in his soul.

"Kelly," Edith said. "Thank you for stopping by."

Finn turned to watch his wife hug his mother, and Edith's smile stayed stitched in place as her eyes closed. She moved back, immediately reaching for him, and Finn instantly went to her side. They joined hands, and his mama took them both in.

"You guys…you know what? I'm not going to ask."

Edith looked at Finn, and so many conversations were had. Should we really tell her?

Her: I want to tell her.

Him: Then tell her.

Her: I love you.

Him: I love you.

Edith turned to his mom and said, "I wanted to ask you something, but you have to promise me you won't tell a single soul."

Mama looked at Finn, who shrugged one shoulder. "I mean, maybe Daddy. I don't think Mama can keep a secret from Daddy."

"It would be very difficult," Mama said.

"Squire can know," Edith said. "But not a single soul more."

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Mama asked. "Because I'm starting to get really nervous."

Finn let his smile show then, and Edith said, "Kelly." Her voice broke, and Mama's whole face fell. "I'm going to have a baby, and I need—help."

Mama rushed at them, saying, "Oh, oh, oh." She gathered both Finn and Edith into her arms while she laughed. "Of course, my sweet girl. I'll help you. Yes, of course I will." She stepped back and looked at them both with pure joy streaming from her face.

"A baby. How wonderful." She kissed Edith's cheek and then Finn's. "Now, tell me what you need, and I'll get it done." She practically vibrated with enthusiasm, and Finn chuckled as he stepped over to the cupcakes she'd brought.

"I need a good doctor," Edith said with a sniffle. She hadn't cried again, though her voice had gotten tied in knots for a second there. "That's where I want to start."

"Of course, of course." Mama pulled out her phone and paused. "Well, I'll—let me do some discreet…investigating on who's amazing, and I'll let you know."

"Thank you," Edith said.

Mama took Edith over to the couch as she said, "Now, come tell me what you want for the nursery, the name, all of it."

Finn stood there in the kitchen, a delicious chocolate caramel cupcake in his hand, feeling like this wasn't going to end well. "Mama, we have to go get the food for tonight."

"Yes, yes," his mama said. "Five minutes, Finny. I promise I won't ruin your party."

Finn had the distinct feeling he'd be making the drive to town by himself to pick up the food for his own birthday party, but he didn't say anything. He simply wanted Edith to be happy, and it was true that her mom didn't live here. He hadn't realized how untethered she'd felt until she'd told him during the wedding planning, and he'd told her to ask his mom.

Heaven knows she'll love it, he'd said.

And she had. Edith had too, and Finn reminded himself he wanted them to have a strong friendship, as they both seemed to really need it.

Edith also seemed to know exactly what Finn needed, because ten minutes later, she said, "We have to go get the food, Kelly. Thank you so much." She hugged her and they both stood from the couch. Edith met his eyes, and Finn opened the drawer where he kept his keys and wallet.

"Ready, baby?" Edith melted into his side and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"If you are." He grinned at her as his mama left ahead of them, and then he and Edith followed, getting into her SUV to make the drive to town.

He started the car and then looked over to her. "I am so in love with you. I can't wait to witness every change. I will do anything to make sure you're comfortable and taken care of."

"I know, baby." She cradled his face in the palm of her hand. "And I love you for it."

He started to back away from the house, and they settled into their normal positions. Edith started swiping on her phone, and when he reached the end of the dirt road and stopped to turn onto the highway, she held up her device.

"Look at these dachshunds," she said. "And pick one, so I can text Silvy."

Finn took her phone with a hooked eyebrow in her direction. But Edith didn't back down. She'd been talking about getting a third dog since his birthday last year, so he couldn't say he wasn't prepared for it.

"I like that brown spotty one."

"That's called a chocolate dappled," Edith informed him, taking her phone back. "And it's a boy. The other one is a girl."

"She's all beige," he said. "Kinda boring." He grinned at her. "But whatever you want is fine with me."

"That's actually a pretty rare coloring," she said. "It's an Isabella, where the brown has faded out to milky color. I think she's beautiful." She didn't look away from her phone. "So…boy or girl?"

"This is when you get to pick," he said, thinking of their baby. He wasn't sure how he felt about having a boy or a girl first. And he didn't care. He'd love that baby with his whole heart, no matter what.

"I want to name him Oscar," she said. "I think it fits with Otto and Frankie." She looked up from her phone. "Don't you?"

Finn knew better than to have an opinion here, so he just laughed as he made the turn onto the highway. "Sure," he said. "Fits great."

"Then we have to get the boy," she said, her fingers flying across her phone, presumably to text her friend about which dachshund she wanted.

"Happy birthday," he said, because finding out they were having a baby and making his wife happy with a new puppy? That really was the best birthday gift Finn could've gotten.