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These Taylor woman aged well. It was just one more thing that made Selena perfect.
The blonde woman now held Selena's face between her palms, and studied her, her eyes brimming with a happiness that was unmistakable. Travis was happy for his wife, but he felt a far off feeling of loneliness, of not belonging, until both women turned to him at the same time and smiled.
Selena's grandmother dropped one hand from Selena's face, and held out her arm toward Travis.
Travis stepped closer and picked up her hand. "Mrs. Taylor. It's nice to meet you."
His voice was deep and polite.
She pulled him into the embrace and at the same time said in her soft Texas drawl,
"I don't want to hear Mrs. Taylor from you again, sweetie, I'm your grandmother, too. "
Travis bent to hug the two small women, and he felt peace settle over him.
Travis and Selena spent the weekend with their grandmother, and they both enjoyed every minute of it.
And that's the way it was.
She belonged to them both, because they were married, and they both belonged to her. She may have shown a certain gentleness toward Selena because she was young and female, but she didn't differentiate between them in any other way.
She treated them both like long lost family. Close relatives. Grandchildren. She was curious about every aspect of their lives, and during the long weekend, they got to know each other. She was curious about Travis and his youth, just as she was about Selena. She praised Selena for escaping from Mexico and learning English so quickly. She praised Travis for escaping from his horrible father and succeeding in life.
She praised both of them for finding each other and sharing a deep, abiding love.
When she referred to them in plural, it was you babies, and in singular as baby or sweetie.
She never offered Selena a home as he had feared. The closest she came was when she showed them to the room they would share and said, This bedroom is for the two of you. Ya'll come use it whenever you want, you don't ever need an invitation.
It was the beginning of a relationship that would last the rest of the older woman's life. They made plans for Grandmother to come and see them, and
Travis had been the one to instigate the idea. It had come somewhere toward the end of the second day when she had told them in a chipper little voice, I'm not going to bother you babies all the time, but I think after waiting this long, I should get a five minute phone call a week, how does that sound, sweeties?
By the end of the weekend, for the first time in his life, Travis felt like he actually had a grandmother. He had never had the experience of an older woman who had maternal feelings for him.
He liked it.
He liked a lot of things since Selena came into his life.
Now if he could somehow keep from screwing it up.
****
They stopped at a drugstore while they were in the large town. Selena asked him in a soft little voice if she could buy some makeup and things, and he immediately told her yes, she could buy whatever she wanted. Her nerves were a little queasy wondering if he would notice her purchases. Travis wasn't a bit stingy with his money, so she knew if she could just make it fast and unobtrusive, he might never notice. She planned the things she would buy to use as camouflage before they went into the store. Besides, she really did want some makeup.
Selena started browsing and shopping. Travis got bored immediately and told her he would be by the magazine rack when she was ready to pay.
She walked out of the store fifteen minutes later with mascara, fingernail polish, lipstick, sunscreen, eyeliner, two pairs of socks, shampoo and conditioner, tampons and pads, and a pregnancy test.
He never blinked an eye.
The next day after Travis finished his breakfast and left the house, she ran to the bathroom, opened the test box and read the instructions. They were printed in English, Spanish, and French, and had perfectly understandable diagrams.
Ten minutes after that, Selena knew for sure she was pregnant. A thrill went through her. Pregnant! She was going to have a baby. Travis's baby. She placed her hand on her stomach and softly patted the precious new life she carried. She needed to go find Travis.
Travis saddled his horse and rode away from the barn wondering how he was going to spend the hours until he could safely go back for lunch. When Selena bought the pregnancy test yesterday, he had almost lost it right then. But for whatever reason, she was trying to hide it from him, and so he choked back the question and had simply handed over his platinum card.
But his mind had been working on it ever since. How the hell had he not noticed she hadn't had another period? Because he was so damn selfish he hadn't wanted to even think about having to stop making love to her? Because the pain she had endured the previous month was so shocking to him that he wanted to put it off for as long as he could? Why the hell had he not even thought of another period? She damn sure didn't need the tampons and pads yet, because he knew for a fact she wasn't bleeding, and hadn't since he had married her.
