((Scene contains situations of an adult nature. You have been warned.))
The Brambles was bustling with activity. Though still only occupied for now by three couples, Marin had just received some news that was going to change that state of affairs for the better. And after almost two full weeks of stress-induced nausea and fatigue, not to mention some singularly localised aches, good news was definitely welcome. The diminuitive redhead barrelled down from the porch of the house, waving a letter wildly as she ran through the orchards closest to the house, yelling for Evan with a beaming smile on her face.
Evan was busy at work in the orchards, checking the trees for buds, trimming dead branches, and cleaning up old debris and leaves left from the long winter. He felt content in his life at the Brambles, happy to fill his days with hard work and spend quiet nights wrapped in his wife's embrace. It still seemed so unreal that he had married again, that he had met someone he could love as much as he'd loved his Ellie, and it seemed that each day his love for Marin only grew stronger.
He threw an armful of dead branches onto a pile, with the intention of using them for firewood later, and turned when he heard Marin's voice calling his name. He pushed his hat back from his face, adjusting the brim to shield the sun from his eyes as he watched her hurry toward him.
All flailing arms and flyaway hair, Marin slammed straight into her husband with a loud laugh, out of breath and still beaming as she waved her letter about. "We got it, we got the grant from the Small Business Fund!" she declared excitedly. "We have to do some planning and talk to their people, but I can pay off Rogier and we can hire hands! Isn't that wonderful?"
He caught her in his arms, smiling warmly down at her, both amused and heartened by her exuberance. That exuberance, that love of life, was one of the things that he loved most about her. He seemed to take this in stride, like he took most things. There was a little something different he'd noticed about his young wife lately, though, that she had not yet mentioned, and he wondered if she even knew. "Sooner you pay him off, the better. I don't trust him far as I can throw him. And that ain't too far." The word far came out sounding more like fur, the Texas accent still notable in his voice.
Marin flung her arms around Evan's neck, deliberately making him lean far down so she could kiss him with smiling lips. "Jodie's so excited, she's broken open the cookbook and thrown me out of the kitchen," she admitted laughingly. "And she sent Carla into town to buy ginger tea, because apparently that will help me stop feeling sick all the time, but if the stress is gone, the nausea will be, too, don't you think?" She was so pleased with their acceptance that her basic grammar was suffering badly, but she didn't seem to have noticed.
Gray-green eyes smiled down at her when she kissed him, leaning forward to press his lips against hers. He was sweaty and grungy from work, but it was honesty work, and he was happy for it. "Ginger tea might help," he agreed, locking his fingers at the small of her back, wondering if he should tell her of his suspicions or let her figure it out on her own. He guessed Jodie already knew, but was waiting for Marin to realize it herself. He couldn't help but tease her, feeling as though he knew something she didn't. "Might take another month or so before you start feelin' better."
"What?" Confused by this knowing tease, she leaned back to look up at him with bemusement painting her blue eyes, her fingers automatically curling into the folds of his vest as they always did. "Another month' You really think it's going to take that long to get the money to pay that scoundrel off?" It seemed as though Marin was perhaps the only person at the Brambles who wasn't aware of her own condition, but apparently this was a lot of fun for everyone else who lived there.
Oh, this was too much fun, even for someone as normally serious as Evan. He'd tell her....eventually, but not before having some fun with her first. "Well, I reckon you don't really need a husband no more since you got your loan now." He tried very hard to hide the smirk on his face, but couldn't quite manage it. "'Less you can think of some other use for me around here."
The distress that flared in her eyes at the thought of him leaving, even if it was only a tease, was genuine enough to leave her a little green around the gills. She was right about stress making her nausea flare up, but he'd guessed the ultimate cause. "Oh, you ..." She couldn't think of an insult, resorting to just slapping him mildly in the midriff with a soft hand. "You know I need you around. Anyway, don't you want to stay and make beautiful babies with me?"
He chuckled when she smacked him, hitting solid muscle, lean and muscled from years of hard work. "Oh, I reckon I could manage to stick around a while longer," he teased. "How many you reckon you want?" He lifted a hand from her waist to gently push a stray curling tendril of red away from her face with a gloved hand.
"How many you think'll fit in the house?" she countered in a passable impression of his accent, blue eyes twinkling teasingly herself as she leaned into him. For all her fastidiousness about regular washing and shaving and generally not smelling awful, there were times when she genuinely didn't notice the evidence of Evan's hard work, just like now.
He caught the way she was trying to mimic his accent and he tried to hide an amused smirk. "Six," he replied, straight-faced. "Three girls, three boys. 'Course, I already got one, but that don't count. And I reckon you're already starting on the first one." He drew both arms back around her in case she passed out when she realized what he was hinting at.
"Six?" Marin started to laugh, before what he hadn't quite said sank in. She sobered quite suddenly, fingers gripping his vest as she stared up at him with wide eyes. "What?" she said in astonishment. "You really think ....what?" She paused, focusing her gaze on the pulse in his throat as she counted under her breath the weeks that had passed by, and then ...."I'm late!"
"You ain't had your monthly since I got here," he pointed out helpfully. Yes, he was that observant. He'd been married once before, after all, and knew what signs to watch for, but he wasn't going to make a list. She'd figure it out for herself soon enough. He smiled softly down at her, gray-green eyes warm with affection. "'Spect I'll just have to stick around a little longer, now that we're starting a family together."
"You really think I'm ....You think ...?" She couldn't quite say it. Despite the pale cast of her face, there was a rich smile rising on her lips, lighting up the deep blue of her eyes as she lifted her gaze to meet his once again. "We're going to have a baby' So soon?"
The Brambles was bustling with activity. Though still only occupied for now by three couples, Marin had just received some news that was going to change that state of affairs for the better. And after almost two full weeks of stress-induced nausea and fatigue, not to mention some singularly localised aches, good news was definitely welcome. The diminuitive redhead barrelled down from the porch of the house, waving a letter wildly as she ran through the orchards closest to the house, yelling for Evan with a beaming smile on her face.
Evan was busy at work in the orchards, checking the trees for buds, trimming dead branches, and cleaning up old debris and leaves left from the long winter. He felt content in his life at the Brambles, happy to fill his days with hard work and spend quiet nights wrapped in his wife's embrace. It still seemed so unreal that he had married again, that he had met someone he could love as much as he'd loved his Ellie, and it seemed that each day his love for Marin only grew stronger.
He threw an armful of dead branches onto a pile, with the intention of using them for firewood later, and turned when he heard Marin's voice calling his name. He pushed his hat back from his face, adjusting the brim to shield the sun from his eyes as he watched her hurry toward him.
All flailing arms and flyaway hair, Marin slammed straight into her husband with a loud laugh, out of breath and still beaming as she waved her letter about. "We got it, we got the grant from the Small Business Fund!" she declared excitedly. "We have to do some planning and talk to their people, but I can pay off Rogier and we can hire hands! Isn't that wonderful?"
He caught her in his arms, smiling warmly down at her, both amused and heartened by her exuberance. That exuberance, that love of life, was one of the things that he loved most about her. He seemed to take this in stride, like he took most things. There was a little something different he'd noticed about his young wife lately, though, that she had not yet mentioned, and he wondered if she even knew. "Sooner you pay him off, the better. I don't trust him far as I can throw him. And that ain't too far." The word far came out sounding more like fur, the Texas accent still notable in his voice.
Marin flung her arms around Evan's neck, deliberately making him lean far down so she could kiss him with smiling lips. "Jodie's so excited, she's broken open the cookbook and thrown me out of the kitchen," she admitted laughingly. "And she sent Carla into town to buy ginger tea, because apparently that will help me stop feeling sick all the time, but if the stress is gone, the nausea will be, too, don't you think?" She was so pleased with their acceptance that her basic grammar was suffering badly, but she didn't seem to have noticed.
Gray-green eyes smiled down at her when she kissed him, leaning forward to press his lips against hers. He was sweaty and grungy from work, but it was honesty work, and he was happy for it. "Ginger tea might help," he agreed, locking his fingers at the small of her back, wondering if he should tell her of his suspicions or let her figure it out on her own. He guessed Jodie already knew, but was waiting for Marin to realize it herself. He couldn't help but tease her, feeling as though he knew something she didn't. "Might take another month or so before you start feelin' better."
"What?" Confused by this knowing tease, she leaned back to look up at him with bemusement painting her blue eyes, her fingers automatically curling into the folds of his vest as they always did. "Another month' You really think it's going to take that long to get the money to pay that scoundrel off?" It seemed as though Marin was perhaps the only person at the Brambles who wasn't aware of her own condition, but apparently this was a lot of fun for everyone else who lived there.
Oh, this was too much fun, even for someone as normally serious as Evan. He'd tell her....eventually, but not before having some fun with her first. "Well, I reckon you don't really need a husband no more since you got your loan now." He tried very hard to hide the smirk on his face, but couldn't quite manage it. "'Less you can think of some other use for me around here."
The distress that flared in her eyes at the thought of him leaving, even if it was only a tease, was genuine enough to leave her a little green around the gills. She was right about stress making her nausea flare up, but he'd guessed the ultimate cause. "Oh, you ..." She couldn't think of an insult, resorting to just slapping him mildly in the midriff with a soft hand. "You know I need you around. Anyway, don't you want to stay and make beautiful babies with me?"
He chuckled when she smacked him, hitting solid muscle, lean and muscled from years of hard work. "Oh, I reckon I could manage to stick around a while longer," he teased. "How many you reckon you want?" He lifted a hand from her waist to gently push a stray curling tendril of red away from her face with a gloved hand.
"How many you think'll fit in the house?" she countered in a passable impression of his accent, blue eyes twinkling teasingly herself as she leaned into him. For all her fastidiousness about regular washing and shaving and generally not smelling awful, there were times when she genuinely didn't notice the evidence of Evan's hard work, just like now.
He caught the way she was trying to mimic his accent and he tried to hide an amused smirk. "Six," he replied, straight-faced. "Three girls, three boys. 'Course, I already got one, but that don't count. And I reckon you're already starting on the first one." He drew both arms back around her in case she passed out when she realized what he was hinting at.
"Six?" Marin started to laugh, before what he hadn't quite said sank in. She sobered quite suddenly, fingers gripping his vest as she stared up at him with wide eyes. "What?" she said in astonishment. "You really think ....what?" She paused, focusing her gaze on the pulse in his throat as she counted under her breath the weeks that had passed by, and then ...."I'm late!"
"You ain't had your monthly since I got here," he pointed out helpfully. Yes, he was that observant. He'd been married once before, after all, and knew what signs to watch for, but he wasn't going to make a list. She'd figure it out for herself soon enough. He smiled softly down at her, gray-green eyes warm with affection. "'Spect I'll just have to stick around a little longer, now that we're starting a family together."
"You really think I'm ....You think ...?" She couldn't quite say it. Despite the pale cast of her face, there was a rich smile rising on her lips, lighting up the deep blue of her eyes as she lifted her gaze to meet his once again. "We're going to have a baby' So soon?"