Chapter 30

Over the next few weeks, Ace went with her to every appointment. He made sure she ate the right foods and had just the right amount of exercise. He was also the one to tell her father that they were having a baby. He was thrilled at the thought of being a grandfather, though he did point out that he wished they were married.

After getting off the phone with John, he looked at Rosalee. “Why did you make me tell your father about the baby?”

“Was he upset?”

“He was happy about the baby but went on to say that I ought to marry you, among other things. I think if I had told him at his ranch he might have chopped my head off with his axe.”

She started laughing. “Oh, it wasn’t that bad. Are you ready to take me for my ultrasound?”

He went over and, standing behind her, placed his hands over her belly. “I can’t wait to see our little one.”

“Oh,” she squealed in delight.

“What?” he asked. Removing his hands, he turned her around to face him.

She placed her hands over her stomach. “I felt a little flutter. I think it was the baby, and he or she must like the sound of your voice and your touch.”

He looked at her stomach as he placed his hand over it. “You’re so lucky. I wish I could feel what you’re feeling.”

She reached out to touch his cheek. “It won’t be long before you will be able to feel the baby moving inside me. We better get going, and don’t forget that Eve and Brett are coming over for supper tonight.”

“Oh yeah, and I’m glad he returned safely.” He knew how worried Rosalee and Eve were both worried that he would have gotten injured or worse. But thank God nothing happened to him, and he returned home to marry the love of his life.

He held her hand as they waited to be called into the doctor’s office. “Are you hungry? I have a chocolate bar in my pocket.”

She looked at him, scrunching up her nose. “Why are you carrying a chocolate bar in your pocket?”

“I read in one of the books that pregnant women can get a craving for something sweet at any time, so I wanted to come prepared.”

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. “You and those damn books of yours. You’re already driving me crazy with them. You don’t need a book to tell you what kind of cravings I will have. I will know, and then I can tell you.”

“I know you’re not angry at me, sweetheart. The books say that a woman’s hormones go all crazy when she’s expecting and will lash out without really meaning it.”

“Oh my God, if you keep up with these books, I’m going to hit you over the head with them.”

He chuckled and squeezed her hand a little. “I know you’re not mad. It’s just your hormones. I’ll stop and get you some ice cream on the way home after we leave here.”

She let out a sigh and was about to say something, but just then the nurse came out and called her name.

Ace was allowed to go in while she was examined, and he was waiting anxiously for the ultrasound. He sat next to her when the gel was squeezed over her belly. They both watched the screen, and when the image of the baby showed up, he squeezed her hand lightly.

“Oh my God, look at that, Rosalee, that’s our baby,” he said, smiling at her. Then he could feel the tears filling his eyes. “This is truly a miracle, and to think that we made this tiny little human. The book says that you should be able to start feeling the baby kicking between 16 and 18 weeks.”

The doctor couldn’t help smiling when he looked at her and saw her rolling her eyes. “I see we have a very excited daddy here.”

“Oh, he is that all right.”

Ace ignored the sarcasm in her voice as he started asking the doctor all kinds of questions. His one big concern was her tiny baby bump. “She’s three months pregnant now, so shouldn’t she be showing more than she is?”

“Mr. Thatcher, every woman is different. Some will be larger, and some may stay small until they give birth. You shouldn’t believe everything you read in those books. As long as the mother is eating nutritious meals and getting plenty of rest, it will not affect the baby. I actually had one patient who was nine months pregnant, and she only looked like she was five months along.”

After asking a few more questions and waiting for the picture, they headed home.

“When we get home, I want you to go upstairs and get some rest,” he said when they got in the car and drove off.

“Have you forgotten that we have company coming over for supper?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ll make supper while you nap. All you have to do is tell me what to heat the oven at and how long to keep the roast in for, and the rest I can do on my own.”

She couldn’t even be bothered to argue with him. It was hard enough getting him to let her do things at work, much less worry about dinner. So when they got home, she wrote down the directions to the roast and went upstairs to lay down. She loved him with all of her heart, but at times he was driving her nuts, and she wanted to strangle him with her bare hands. Surprisingly, once her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Later that afternoon, they heard the doorbell and knew that Brett and Eve had arrived. She hurried to the door and opened it. Her eyes watered up when she saw Brett standing there holding a bouquet of red roses. Ace was standing behind her.

Brett took one look at her and smiled. “You are more beautiful than the last time I saw you. How about a big hug for your best buddy?” he said, going over and putting his arms around her. After giving her the biggest hug ever, he stood back to look at her. “I hear you’re having a baby.”

“Yes, I am. I’m three months pregnant,” she said, moving her hand over her belly.

“Pregnancy suits you. You’re absolutely glowing.”

Ace stepped closer and shook his hand, saying hello to Eve. “Let’s go inside and get comfortable, and thanks for the flowers. I love them,” he said jokingly.

Brett took the flowers from Eve and handed them to Rosalee, smiling at Ace. “Sorry bro, you’re not my type and these are for my other special girl,” he said, handing them to Rosalee.

“Thank you, they’re so beautiful. I’ll just go put these in some water so you and Ace can go sit on the patio and enjoy a nice cold beer.”

Eve followed Rosalee into the kitchen. “I smell something burning.”

Rosalee hurried over to the stove and opened the oven door, and smoke billowed out. Using oven mitts, she took out the pan with the roast and set it on top of the stove. By this time, the smoke alarm went off, and the guys came running in to see what had happened.

“What’s going on?” Ace said as he waved a towel over the alarm to get it to turn off.

Rosalee looked at the temperature setting for the oven and turned around to stare at him. “Why in the world would you set the oven to 550? I left instructions to put it on 350.” She was not pleased that dinner was ruined.

Brett stood back with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. “Looks like you’re in trouble, my friend.”

Ace looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders. “I thought it would cook faster if I turned it up. I’m so sorry I ruined dinner, but Brett and I can start the barbecue, and we can make burgers and hot dogs.”

When he gave her those puppy dog eyes, she couldn’t stay mad at him. “You’re just lucky that we have hamburgers.” Then a thought crossed her mind. “Just wait one minute. You didn’t burn the roast on purpose, did you, so that you could use the new barbecue you just bought?”

“No, hun, I promise you I didn’t do it on purpose.”

She still wasn’t convinced, but this way, they could have a barbecue outside and then go for a swim later.

While the ladies were in the pool, and the guys were drinking beer and barbecuing, Brett asked if there was any more news about Rosalee’s uncle.

“Well, he’s in prison and probably will be there until the day he dies. Her father, John, only went to visit him once, and that was only to ask him face to face why he did it. All Frank told him was he couldn’t help himself, and it took all of his willpower not to go any further with Rosalee, seeing that she was his niece.”

Brett shook his head, and his eyes filled with anger. “Didn’t go any further? What he did was bad enough. I’m sorry, but any man or woman that can molest a child should be castrated or even given the death sentence. Well, at least your girl was smart enough to stay away from him when she got old enough to realize what he was doing.”

Ace looked over at her as she swam with Eve. “Yes, she was smart, and she still is to this day. I love her so much, and I thank my lucky stars that I walked into the bar that night and saw her. And now she’s carrying my child.”

“I have to ask you, why don’t you marry the girl?”

“I don’t see why we have to be married. We’re happy the way we are. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against anyone else getting married, and I’m so happy for you and Eve. But being married to that bitch, Clarice, has turned me off to the idea of getting married. That doesn’t mean I don’t love Rosalee more than life itself.”

“Just because you were unfortunate enough to meet Clarice and she tricked you into marrying her doesn’t mean that it won’t work between you and Rosalee. You know she is nothing like your ex. That girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and she is so deeply in love with you that she is willing to live with you without marriage.”

Ace took a drink of his beer as he flipped the burgers. “I told her right from the beginning how I felt about marriage, and she’s all right with it. So enough about me, are you getting nervous?”

“Hell no, man, I can’t wait to make that girl my wife. I have been in love with her for years, and I’m never going to let her go. I’d marry her right here and now if I could.”

After the women were done swimming, they got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around them.

“Are those burgers and hot dogs almost ready because I’m starving?” Rosalee said when she went over to Ace.

“Just a couple more minutes.”

“I’ll go in and get the salads,” she replied but stopped when Brett said he’d go get the stuff, and that she could just relax.

“I could get used to all this pampering,” she said and went and sat down next to Eve. She ran her hand over her belly and smiled. She was glad that Ace had toned down his excitement over the baby. Oh, he was still super excited, but he wasn’t bugging her as much about what she ate and what type of exercise she was doing. At the beginning of work, he was trying to cut down on her duties, but after having an argument with him, he finally loosened up a little.

“So how was your long weekend in Vegas?” Eve asked.

“It was good, and after we took care of business, we were able to enjoy the rest of the time going to a couple of shows and even lost a hundred dollars at the slots.”

“I know you were pretty angry with him when he said that you shouldn’t be traveling on a plane in your condition. So what changed his mind?”

“We had a heated argument about it, and I told him that it was perfectly safe for me to fly. When he refused to believe me, I dragged him to the doctor and had him tell Ace that it was perfectly safe for me and the baby. All the while on the flight, he kept fussing and asking me if I felt okay. I finally had to tell him if he didn’t stop, I would punch him in the face. After that, he was fine, but now I do think that he refuses to travel because he knows I will want to go with him.”

“Rosalee, he loves you so much, and I can’t understand why he won’t marry you. I know he got burnt once, but that was with that witch, and you are nothing like her. Don’t you want to marry him?”

“Of course, I would love to be married to him, but I do understand how he feels. I would rather be with him without that piece of paper saying we are legally married than to live without him.”

Eve let out a sigh. “Well, I, for one, can’t wait to be married.”

“So are you and Brett going to start having babies soon?”

Eve chuckled. “Oh, we definitely plan on having children, but we want to wait a couple of years. I want to get my business going first, and Brett wants to help take his partnership in the construction company further ahead, and then we will start having a family of our own.”

“Hey, ladies, the food is ready, so why don’t we all go sit down at the picnic table and enjoy a nice meal,” Ace said as he carried the plate of burgers and hot dogs over to the table. When Rosalee sat down, he placed his hand over her belly and kissed her on the cheek.