Marriage By Necessity. Marisa Carroll

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      “Hi, Becca Boo.” The little girl held up her arms to be lifted for a hug and a kiss. He found himself wishing that Matty would do the same, but so far the little boy hadn’t initiated any hugs. Patience, he told himself, it had only been a couple of weeks—it took time to earn a kid’s trust, especially a little one who’d had been through the kind of upheaval Matty had.

      “I’m sorry, sis. I lost track of time.” Nate directed his apology to Tessa, who had plunked herself down on the retaining wall that jutted out from the front corner of the barn, puffing slightly, her hand on her distended stomach.

      “No, problem. We’re just heading into Adrian to get some groceries and some more trick-or-treat candy.” Adrian was the nearest large town.

      “The boys found my hiding place,” Joann explained with a shake of her head as Nate set Becca on the low stone wall beside her mother. “I’m going to put this batch in the safe-deposit box at the bank.” Joann was the loan officer at a bank in Hillsdale, in the next county, and Nate had no doubt she’d be at least a vice president there one day.

      “We can take Matty with us, if you’d like,” Tessa offered after a slight hesitation and an exchange of glances with Joann. “I imagine Sarah’s pretty worn-out.”

      Nate knew his sisters were genuinely happy that Sarah had survived the surgery, but he was also fully aware they had reservations, for his sake, not only about the remarriage, but also about Sarah remaining in his home. Tessa, who had been closest to Sarah in the past, would take her cue from him. Joann, like their mother, was not as softhearted, nor as easygoing. She had always liked Sarah, but she had also been more outspoken in her anger when they divorced. She was fiercely loyal to her family and Nate suspected it would take time for her to forgive and forget.

      “That’s okay. You guys have been lifesavers this past couple of weeks. He’ll be fine with me. I’m sure Sarah will be waking up from her nap soon. You’re right, she was exhausted after her therapy session.”

      “How’s she doing?”

      “Great. Nearly all the feeling’s back in her hands and fingers. Her leg’s coming along, too, just a little more slowly.”

      “Good,” Tessa responded with a smile, and Joann nodded her agreement.

      “Want us to bring you back takeout for dinner?”

      “Thanks for offering, but I’ve got baked steak in the oven.”

      “With mashed potatoes and gravy?”

      “Of course.” He grinned as Joann rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed.

      “Lord, I hate these low-carb diets. I’d give up my stock options for mashed potatoes and gravy!”

      “Umm,” Tessa seconded.

      Nate did some quick figuring in his head. “You’re welcome to stay. I think we can make it stretch if I stir up some macaroni and cheese for the kids.”

      Joann sighed again. “Thanks for offering but we promised the kids pizza, and I’m bound and deter mined to stick to this diet. I’ve gained five pounds in the last couple of weeks and I swear I haven’t cheated once. It’s the damned salad bar for me.”

      Nate grinned. “Man, that’s hardship duty, sis.

      Watching those two eating machines, Ty and Jack, chow down on pizza while you’re grazing through the spinach and sprouts.”

      “Hey, that’s hitting below the belt.” Joann made a face and stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “Just for that you can make your four-cheese, sour cream potato casserole with the crushed potato-chip topping for the pumpkin smashing party Saturday.” Joann slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oohh, what made me say that? Now I’ll be dreaming about the darned thing for the next three days.”

      The “Saturday After Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Smashing Party” was one of his sisters’newest “family traditions,” the one they sandwiched between the Labor Day water-ski exhibition, and the chili cookoff that preceded the Ohio State/Michigan game the Saturday before Thanksgiving—when they really ratcheted up the entertaining schedule.

      “You know, Joann,” Tessa said slyly, wrapping her arms around Becca’s shoulders and nuzzling the top of her head, “the last time you obsessed about potatoes you were pregnant with Jack.”

      “I did not.”

      “Yes, you did,” Nate said, surprised that he remembered, babies and pregnancies never having been a high priority for him in the old days. “I was home on leave then.” Just weeks before he met Sarah. “You ate them morning, noon and night. Boiled, fried, mashed, baked and raw. I remember thinking it was the weirdest pregnancy craving I’d ever heard of.”

      “It’s impossible.” Joann’s eyes were big as saucers but she didn’t sound quite as certain as she had before. “Gus and I haven’t even thought about another baby. I mean not seriously.” Her words drifted off into horrified silence. “There was that one night last month when the boys were sleeping over at Mom and Dad’s and the con—” She colored and changed the subject. “No way,” she said, then in a strangled voice, “What’s the date?”

      Tessa laughed and stood up, lifting Becca down off the wall. “It’s the twenty-ninth. How late are you?”

      Joann swallowed hard. “Not much, not really… Oh, hell…”

      “Looks like we need to add an EPT kit to the shopping list.”

      “It’s not funny,” Joann wailed. “I don’t even keep track anymore. What’s Gus going to say?” She blew her bangs back off her forehead. “I’m thirty three years old. I’m too old for another baby. Maybe it’s early menopause?”

      “Don’t be ridiculous,” Tessa scolded. “You’re way too young to be starting menopause. I think you’re pregnant. It’s something I can sense. You know, like calling to like.” She pointed down at her bulging stomach. “And if you are pregnant, you’ll be thrilled as soon as you get used to the idea. You know Gus has always wanted a little girl.”

      Becca had been taking it all in. Standing on tiptoe she reached up and patted Tessa’s stomach. “I want a little girl, too.”

      “Our baby’s a boy,” Tessa explained patiently for what Nate guessed must be the hundredth time, while Joann fumbled through her coat pocket for a tissue.

      “Jack will trade me for it,” she pronounced, nodding so hard her pigtails bounced up and down. “You’ll trade us babies won’t you A’nt Joann.”

      “I’m not having a—” Joann stopped in midsentence. Looking past Nate’s left shoulder she said, “Hello, Sarah.”

      “Hi, Joann. Tessa, hello.” Sarah was making her way carefully toward them. She wasn’t wearing the neck brace anymore, although Nate wished she would when she walked on the uneven ground around the barn, but didn’t say so. Sarah had made it clear enough over the last week that she wasn’t going to play the invalid any longer than necessary.

      “Hi, Sarah.”

      “Hi,” Becca piped up. “Matty’s in the barn.”

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