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“Momma? Daddy?” Karen began… only to see both of them look at each other.
“What? Are you pregnant, too?” her father said bluntly.
“Yes – but please don’t say anything. Jace doesn’t know yet. I’m going to tell him when he flies in.”
“Oh, my goodness…” her mother began happily, grabbing John by the head and kissing him on the cheek. “I’m going to be a grammy again – twice over?”
John couldn’t help but laugh as her mother hugged him – then moved around the table, hugging Karen and Emily both, before stopping beside Chase.
“I’mnotpregnant,” Chase announced easily, holding up his glass of water happily, causing John to chuckle with delight as her father rolled his eyes in disbelief. “I don’t suppose I could have a Coke instead, Mom? I’m scared to drink the water here…”
“You two know how babies are made, right?” her father said bluntly, but there was a shimmer to his eyes that betrayed his emotions. Her daddy was an emotional mess, and his gruff attitude was to keep his soft side hidden.
“I know you know,” her father chuckled, pointing at Chase who shrugged, and then ruffled Johnny’s hair where he was sitting beside him.
“Aunt Karen and Aunt Emily are both going to have babies?”
“Yep.”
“And I have an Uncle John now?”
“Yep, squirt… you can call him Uncle John…
“Or X-Ray,” John smiled easily at him. “That’s my call sign in the Air Force - by the way, nice name. I like it.”
“You too, Uncle John!” the boy beamed at him happily, giving an adorable smile that revealed wide, crooked teeth that were too big for his mouth.
“Us men namedJohnhave to stick together, don’t we? Have you ever been frogging?” John asked gently, glancing at Chase and then Emily. Johnny’s wide eyes were the size of saucers as he gazed at John incredulously.
“No…”
“We should do that some time when I’m home. Right before a rain, when it’s getting dark, they are slick critters… but fry up delicious.”
“Ughhh…” Karen muttered, making a face, causing Emily to laugh.
“You eat them?” Johnny whispered excitedly.
“Best eatin’ ever, young’un.”
“Have you ever been deer hunting?” Chase asked openly, glancing at his son.
“No,” John smiled. “I’ve been squirrel hunting, but frogs were so much easier to catch and clean.”
“We should go deer hunting when you come back home later this year or next year,” Chase invited, giving his son a quick hug. “We’ve talked about it when he grows a little bigger, but it can be a man’s weekend getaway.”
“I’d love that,” John smiled at Emily. “We have so much to look forward to.”
“Yes, we do.”
CHAPTER32
X-RAY
John lay there in bed,staring up at the ceiling and listening to Emily breathe as she slept heavily. There was such a sense of peace and tranquility that seeped into his soul just feeling her close, making him realize that maybe he’d been waiting this whole time, his whole life, to meet the right person… and perhaps that was why he was so vehement against getting married or having a family.
He hadn’t met her yet.
When she told him – the first thing he wanted to do was verify he had heard her correctly, because every gut instinct in him fired at once, like a bolt of electricity straight to his brain.
