I shook my head and laughed at her. When she started to get mad, I pulled her into my arms. "Darlin' they are just playin'. They have no idea what the outfit is for. Just let them play."

She leaned into my chest and gritted her teeth when she talked. "I don't want Ty seeing my underwear."

Unfortunately, Ty heard her. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. I have no interest in your underwear, Sweet Cheeks."

She walked out of the room throwing her hands in the air. "Whatever!"

I leaned down to Noah. "Next time just ask Mommy first. There are some things that are too expensive to be puttin' on the dog."

"Yes, sir."

We left the kids in the playroom and went back downstairs. The women were sitting at the kitchen table. Miranda was slicing the pumpkin rolls and I could feel my mouth watering. "I get the first slice," I blurted out.

"Says who?" Savanna tested.

"Since you are carrying my child, I guess you can have the first slice." I leaned over and wrapped my arms around my seated wife. "And also because I love you."

She reached her hands up and touched mine. "Good answer, and I love you too."

Conner never showed up to play cards with us. In fact he never even stopped by to say h.e.l.lo to Miranda, Ty, or even Bella. Obviously, I hadn't noticed the extremity of the situation.

We all had a great night, even though Miranda never came clean about their growing surprise. I understood them wanting to wait, since they had just found out earlier in the day. There was no rush, but I knew Savanna would be thrilled. It meant so much to have our kids be close. The way that Noah and Bella played together was crazy. I knew they would always be close.

We called it a night around midnight. The kids had conked out in Noah's room and we insisted that Bella just stay the night. After they had taken an hour long bubble bath, the kids had put on their pajamas and settled down to a Disney movie. Within fifteen minutes they were both sound asleep. Of course, it took Ty and I a good twenty minutes to clean up the bathroom floor. Even with three feet of bubbles, we knew they couldn't get baths together much longer.

We called Aunt Karen and told her not to worry about taking the kids for the night.

I started thinking about when I was a kid. I clearly remember a time when Ty and Miranda got a bath together. They were probably two or three years old and his parents and my parents went out while Aunt Karen babysat. Ty and Miranda probably had no idea about it.

Once they headed to the main house, I climbed up the steps and slid into bed with my wife. She was reading one of those what to expect books. She looked so cute with her little belly under the covers. Her little book was resting on her stomach. I laid my head across it, pushing the book out of the way. My fingers slowly removed her blankets and shirt, revealing her bare skin. I pressed my lips on her stomach. "Daddy loves you, little one."

Every night I would talk to my baby, even if Savanna had already fallen asleep. I loved to feel the little one moving around and kicking at me. Noah still got excited when the baby would kick while he was around. He would start laughing and carrying on. I knew he was going to be a good big brother because he was already a great son. Even though I missed out on a lot of his life, I knew we had so much to look forward to. Savanna had given me the family I wanted us to have. She made life worth living and could never know the extent of my love for her.

Chapter 20.

Savanna We woke up to two little kids crying. Apparently they woke up and started jumping on Noah's train bed. From the force of both of them jumping at the same time, one of the bedrails came loose and it sent them tumbling on top of each other. Noah had a big knot on his forehead and Bella was holding her elbow. In only a pair of boxer shorts, Colt carried the kids to the kitchen and gave them both bags of ice for their injuries.

He came back up to bed stating that they were settled down and watching cartoons. I heard him turning on the shower and looked over at the clock. It was only seven in the morning and breakfast at Colt's mother's house wasn't until nine.

Through the crack in the bathroom door, I could see my husband taking off his boxers and walking in to the shower. He closed the door behind him, but I could still see him through the gla.s.s. The water ran down his face and he leaned forward against the shower wall. His perfectly sculpted body looked so hot soaking wet. I just stood there staring at him for the longest time.

I don't know whether he sensed me, or it was just a natural reaction to look out, but he turned and caught my eyes with his. A half smile came across his face as he bit down on his lip. He never moved. "You goin' to just stand there or come in here and join me Darlin'?"

Feeling a bit s.e.xy for being caught watching him, I pulled my shirt over my head as I approached the bathroom. While still walking toward him, I shimmied out of my panties. He turned around and opened the shower door, with his arms open to greet me. Just to be safe, I reached back and locked the bathroom door. I'd rather them knock for a second than walk in and see us naked.

Colt's wet arms pulled me into his chest. His scruffy face tickled as his lips brushed against mine. Wet fingers traced over my big belly. I turned my body around and rested my back against his chest. Colt took both hands and held onto my baby b.u.mp while his tongue played with my neck and my ear.

He nibbled on my shoulder and I moved my head to the side, so he could have nothing in his way. "I love you."

The vibration of his voice sent chills between my legs. I turned my body around and nestled my head under his chin. My hands played with the water on his chest. I grabbed his body wash and starting washing his chest, taking my time with each nipple. I pushed him against the shower wall as far as he could go. He traced his fingers over my a.s.s cheeks before squeezing them in his big hands. A small cry escaped from my mouth.

"I want you," I whispered.

Colt walked forward, causing me to walk backwards until I hit the shower wall behind me, with his hands still on my a.s.s. He kissed my lips before sinking down to kiss the skin between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He kissed my belly before reaching his final destination. His hot tongue wasted no time stroking against my wet s.e.x. I closed my eyes, since I couldn't see past the baby b.u.mp, and tried to focus on what his tongue was doing. My hands naturally brushed through his dark hair, grabbing a bunch and not letting go. I used my hold on his hair to direct his face. As I did it, I heard a deep groan coming from between my legs. The vibration of Colt's voice added to the electric sensations moving through my body. My legs began to feel weak, but Colt steadied me, by spreading my legs open further and holding me on my inner thighs. He pushed all of the shampoo forcefully off of the small bench seat and brought one of my legs up to sit on it, before burying himself between my legs again. I reached up and grabbed the top of the frame to the shower door, holding on while my body began to convulse with pleasure. Colt's mouth lingered as his tongue played with my exhausted nub. Small shrills. .h.i.t me every time he did it.

When he finally stood back up, my hands instantly found his hard c.o.c.k. He stood in front of me, positioning it between my legs, while he stood there kissing me. My slippery hand began stroking it. I lathered my other hand up and used it to stroke faster. This time it was Colt falling back against the shower wall. I pressed one hand against his chest holding him still while the other worked to stimulate his rock hard c.o.c.k. He could barely manage words to speak. "Not like....not like this Savanna. I want you Darlin', please." More low moans escaped from Colt's mouth as he closed his eyes and enjoyed how my hand was making him feel. He pulled my face up to his. "I want you so bad."

I took one look at Colt's eyes and my stroking slowed. His utter s.e.xiness was something I found impossible to resist. The water fell down his head, while he cupped my face with his hands. Perfect lips pressed against mine, followed by a very skilled tongue. As if it were in slow motion, I felt my body lifting up and being pressed against the shower wall. I reached my arms around Colt's neck and felt it slide inside of me with ease. Our lips were still touching as low moans came out of both of us.

Our skin slapped together as he thrusted himself in and out of me. He continued to kiss me as he removed his entire p.e.n.i.s, to only force it deep inside again, each time leaving me wanting it more. Just the size of his girth, rubbing against my inner skin forced a rush of bliss with each thrust. I played with his hair as he began to speed up the pace, no longer teasing me with pulling it out.

I could tell he was about to finish. He held on to me tighter, pushing me against the wall harder and harder, until he pinned me still, holding me tight, while his lips stilled against mine.

My feet were slowly set back down to the shower floor, while Colt leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. I had no idea how long we were in the shower, but the water was starting to get cold.

Colt leaned over and kissed me before grabbing me a towel and wrapping it around my body. I loved watching him walk around naked. His a.s.s was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l.

As we entered our bedroom we could hear voices coming from downstairs. I instantly felt horrible for leaving the kids unsupervised for however long we had. Colt dressed quickly while I followed suit. By the time we made it downstairs, we were standing face to face with Ty and Miranda, who were laughing their b.u.t.ts off.

"Care to explain what you two were doing up there?" Miranda was still laughing when she said it.

My face was turning a bright red shade. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, while the two of you were," he stuck up his fingers to quote, "'cleaning the bedroom', our children decided they wanted to have gla.s.ses."

I had no idea what Ty was saying or why they were laughing. The kid's backs were facing us, and they seemed to be behaving. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

Noah heard my voice and turned around. In black magic marker he had two giant racc.o.o.n circles on each eye, with a line connecting in the center. If that wasn't funny enough, Bella turned around and had a matching pair of magic marker gla.s.ses. "Aren't they cool, Mom?"

Colt just stood there scratching his head. Miranda buried her laughter in Ty's chest, while he stood there waiting for me to respond. "Noah, where did you get the marker?" He was over four, obviously he knew where we kept them, but I had to ask.

"In Daddy's office. We were just playin'." Noah explained.

It took Miranda and I two kind of soaps to remove the permanent marker from our children's faces. Due to the fact that we got so occupied with the kids, Ty never brought up mine and Colt's shower s.e.xcapade. With the combination of Noah and my pregnancy, Colt and I didn't have a lot of s.e.x time. When it became available we took advantage.

My husband had patience, I had to give it to him, but everyone had their breaking point. Pleasing him and keeping him happy was something that I considered important. Was it really wrong to shut the door for some alone time? Noah knew where to find us and how to get our attention. He was famous for beating on the door, then asking why we locked it in the first place. There were a couple times I swore Colt was just going to sit him down and explain how we were making babies, so he would stop asking.

At any rate, we got the kids cleaned up and all headed to the main house for breakfast. The three older women were there at the table, drinking coffee. A buffet style set up was on the island, just like every breakfast at Colt's mother's house. Everyone greeted each other and started catering to the kids. Colt's mom had bought them a little kid table and they felt all cool about having it for themselves. Us adults made our plates and settled down at the table.

When the kids finished they went into the family room to watch television, while the adults stayed around and talked. Conner came walking in the door about a half hour later. He had some brunette around his arm and a pair of sungla.s.ses on his face, even though it wasn't even sunny. In fact, it had been raining on and off for a couple of days. We all stopped talking and watched as he and his flavor of the week made a plate. They took their food out to the pool yard without saying a single word to any of us. I don't know why, but I looked over toward Ty and Miranda. He was clenching his jaw and looking outside. Even though I was looking right at him, when his fists pounded on the table, I still jumped. Out of reflex I grabbed my belly while I watched Ty get up and start walking toward the pool yard door. Colt slid his chair out and followed behind him.

Miranda stood up and took off after the guys. I looked at the three older ladies, my mother in law, Aunt Karen, and Lucy, and wondered what in the world was happening.

Colt's mother grabbed my hand. "Everything will be okay. Just let the guys handle it."

"What do you mean? What don't I know?"

Conner's poor mother put her hands into her face and started shaking her head. "I can't believe I let things get this bad. What am I going to do? He is going to end up hurting himself or someone else."

"Let's just hope that Colt and Tyler can help him." Lucy added.

I tried to listen in, but could hear nothing. They weren't really giving me any hints on what the heck was happening, so I walked outside to where Miranda was standing.

Conner and the mystery girl were sitting at a table eating their breakfast, while Ty and Colt stood over them.

I whispered to Miranda. "Are you going to explain?"

"Conner is out of control. He is partyin' too much, drinkin' himself belligerent. We don't know how to get him to stop. He won't even a.s.sociate with us anymore. Colt is workin' so hard to make this cattle deal work, and Ty and I can't be responsible for him if he moves in with us. His parents aren't goin' to be okay with him comin' in drunk every night. He probably doesn't even know this girl's name. It's pathetic!"

"I guess I haven't had very much time to notice. I'm really sorry. Between Noah and this pregnancy, I've been so preoccupied." I explained.

"Exactly, I don't want to be dealing with his drama with morning sickness. It's bad enough." Miranda stopped talking immediately. She looked at me and smiled. "We just found out yesterday before we came. I just wanted to wait until I was further along to tell everyone. Please don't be mad. I wanted to tell you last night, especially after Ty told me he slipped and told Colt. I honestly thought he would have told you this morning."

I looked over at my husband and shook my head. "He is going to get it for keeping such exciting news from me." I pulled her into a hug. "Our kids are going to be so close again. This is awesome, Miranda. I bet Ty is just out of his mind excited. I know he was counting down the days to start trying."

"Oh my gosh, Van, you have no idea. He ran around the house jumping up and down for at least an hour. The car ride here was unbearable. Keeping it from Bella was even harder. His knee was shaking so bad in the car, it felt like we had a d.a.m.n flat tire. Every second we have been alone, he is touching my stomach. My G.o.d he cannot keep a secret, it is ridiculous."

We both started laughing. Our celebration conversation was cut short when we saw a paper plate being thrown toward Ty's face. The mystery girl backed up away from the table. As Ty wiped the food off of the front of his body, Colt and Conner stood face to face, screaming at one another.

They kept pushing each other, finally Ty getting in on it, making it even worse, obviously.

"I am tellin' you to back the f.u.c.k off, Colt. It ain't none of your d.a.m.n business," Conner yelled.

Colt pushed him back and got him sitting in the chair. "It is my business when you are supposed to be workin'. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you? What are you on, man?"

He stood up and pushed Colt to the side. "Get out of my face, Colt. Mind your business and stay out of mine. Don't you have a wife and a kid to tend to? It don't matter what I am doin', cause it ain't none of your concern." He took his hands and motioned for Colt to move out of the way.

Ty walked in front of Colt and shoved Conner to the ground. "This s.h.i.t will not happen when you come to stay with us. I will not have my daughter and my pregnant wife seeing you this way. Get your f.u.c.king a.s.s up, take that little b.i.t.c.h home and clean yourself up Conner, or this whole deal between us is done!"

Obviously, Conner hadn't heard the pregnant part. He shoved Ty hard, making him lose his balance. He went a.s.s first into the pool. Conner started walking away and I watched as Miranda went flying toward him. He stopped when he reached her. "Move, Randa."

She didn't say a single word, but instead, slapped him right across the face. He quickly grabbed her by the wrist and began to shove her out of the way, forcefully. Colt was coming from one direction as Ty leaped out of the pool and clothes-lined Conner to the ground. Wet fists pounded Conner in the face. "If you ever lay a f.u.c.king hand on my wife again, I will kill you. She is pregnant you piece of s.h.i.t."

Colt pulled Ty off of Conner and he just laid there looking at his sister. "Randa, I wouldn't have hurt you, I swear it."

She held her hand out for Ty and they walked into the house without saying another thing to him. I turned to Colt, who was running his hand through his hair trying to figure out what the heck had just happened.

Conner started getting up, but ended up just sitting up looking at both of us.

"Get your s.h.i.t together Conner. If you ever come into my mother's house and disrespect her again, you will have to answer to me. Dammit boy, grow up. I don't know what you're doin', but you better stop. You ain't got s.h.i.t without this family, Cuz."

Colt grabbed me by the waist and walked me back into the house. I still had no idea what was going on with Conner, but obviously I was the only one who didn't know. I guess there were more things Colt hadn't told me.

The three women had gotten up from the table and were helping Lucy clean up. I started to walk over to offer a hand, but Colt grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into the small powder room. The s.p.a.ce was confined and I had no idea what was going on. "Are you okay?"

"I want you and Miranda to take the kids to our house." Colt stared at me like I was supposed to read his mind.

"Care to fill me in on what the h.e.l.l is going on? We were just having breakfast and then you're outside fighting. What is wrong with Conner? What aren't you telling me Colt?"

"Sugar, I'm not really sure. It's definitely alcohol, but I reckon' it has to be somethin' else too. I don't want you involved in this."

"Conner has been fine, Colt. I don't understand?"

He ran his hands over his face. "He has been actin' funny for months, but the alcohol abuse has become an issue. He doesn't have a father and neither do I. You know I feel obligated to look out for him. Can you just please take the kids and Miranda and just go to the house. Ty and I will stay here and try to talk some sense into him. There is obviously something else goin' on that we don't know about."

I put the toilet seat down and sat, giving us a bit more breathing room. "If he is abusing drugs or alcohol, how could we not have noticed? I mean, I know he likes to drink and go out, but I never thought Conner would get himself involved in something so dangerous."

I was feeling like my breakfast was coming back up. Colt was very protective of Conner, so I knew if something was really going on, it was not going to be easy for him to deal with. With Miranda in good hands and living out of state, Colt had been able to relax more and worry about his younger cousins less. Now I wondered if he was somehow blaming himself for not noticing this before it got this bad. "Colt, this isn't your fault. No matter what is going on with Conner, it isn't because of something you did, or didn't do. You have to know that." I grabbed his hands and looked right at him.

He leaned down and kissed me on the head. "Darlin', Krista's dad was a big time drug abuser. I don't know how many times I had to hear her talkin' about him spendin' all of their money and not takin' care of himself. There were times where he wouldn't even wake up for days. I don't want this from Conner. I won't let him ruin his life."

There was no use arguing with Colt about his family. He wasn't going to give up until he knew Conner was going to be alright. I stood up and kissed my worried husband. "I love you baby. I will see you when you get home. Don't forget that you promised the kids they could ride today."

A half smile was displayed on one of his cheeks. "I won't forget, Darlin." He lifted my chin up. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Miranda and I grabbed the kids and headed to the house. Neither one of us talked about her brother. I could tell she was anxious about her brother, but she focused on the kids and nothing else.

Chapter 21.

Colt The last thing I wanted to do was some kind of intervention on my cousin.

Ty and Miranda hadn't come here to visit to deal with something like that, but we couldn't let it go any longer. Ty and I had been working hard to try and expand the family cattle business. Conner was the biggest part of the operation. Without him, our plans would have to be put off until we could afford to find someone with all of the knowledge that I had trained Conner with.

I knew Ty was frustrated, but I wasn't sure of the extent until I started paying attention to Conner's actions. His stunt at breakfast was the last straw for me. He blatantly had brought a complete stranger into our home and didn't even have the decency to introduce her, or thank my mother.

By the time that Ty and I walked the girls out, Conner had already taken the girl and gone back to his house. We hopped on the golf cart and rode toward my Aunt Karen's place.

Conner's truck was in the driveway, as well as a car I didn't recognize. Ty and I looked at each other before walking right into the house. I led the way through the kitchen, until I reached the living room.

Conner was being straddled by the girl. Thankfully, they were both wearing clothes. I would have liked to say that was the worst part of us barging in on them, but I was wrong. A tiny bag of white powder was laying on the table, along with a rolled up dollar bill and a half snorted line of c.o.ke.

They obviously hadn't noticed us walking in, or the door shutting behind us, because they were steady making out. My cousin's hand was slipped down into the front of the girls jeans. She sat up and began rocking back and forth. I looked to Ty to roll my eyes, but he was just staring at the drugs on the table. I nudged him with my arm, grabbing his attention.

At the same time, we each headed over and grabbed the couple by the arms, separating them. Ty was closest to the girl. He pulled her by the arm, shoving her into the kitchen, while I held on to Conner.