Dog Days of Summer (27 page)

Joci opened her eyes and smiled at Emily.
“I’m sorry you felt you had to come over. I just think I have the flu.”

“
How long have you felt badly, Joci?” Emily asked solicitously.

Joci shrugged a little.
“Off and on, a couple of weeks. Today was the worst.”

Emily looked at Jeremiah with her brows raised. He shook his head. She had never said anything to him. Wh
ile they had been at the rally in Milwaukee, she had been tired a lot and didn’t eat, but that could have been the bullshit with LuAnn.

“
Baby, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?”

“
I didn’t want to worry you. Just when I thought I should go to the doctor, I started feeling better, so I didn’t go. Today is the worst. Before this, I’ve just been really tired and a little warm.”

Emily walked over and touched Joci
’s forehead. “You’re not very warm now. Are you starting to feel better?”

Joci nodded and took a deep breath.
“A little. Still a little queasy.”

Emily looked at Joci and then at Jeremiah.

“Joci, could you be pregnant?”

Joci
’s eyes flew open and she looked at Emily. She shook her head no slowly.

“
Are you sure, honey?”

“
My doctor just switched my birth control about five weeks ago because my periods were irregular again. They did a pregnancy test then.”

Emily cocked her head to the side and watched Joci
’s eyes. She smiled softly at Joci, “Get get some rest, dear.” Emily kissed Joci’s forehead and walked out to the kitchen. She had made all of her daughters-in-law ginger tea when they were pregnant. It helped their tummies feel better. She would make Joci some ginger tea and see how that worked. A lot of women had night sickness instead of morning sickness. That could be Joci.

She started boiling the water and mixing up her tea when Jeremiah walked out to the kitchen. He sat at the counter and watched his mom. He didn
’t say anything.

Emily turned and looked at him. She smiled as she mixed her tea. When she had a moment, she looked at Jeremiah and sighed.

“Any other symptoms?”

Jeremiah nodded.
“She told me a couple of weeks ago that her nipples were tender. She’s been tired and taking naps, which isn’t like her at all. She’s been very emotional. I thought she was just working too hard.”

Emily smiled again.

“You think she’s pregnant, don’t you, Mom?”

“
Well, I’m not a doctor, but I do think it’s a possibility. She needs to go to the doctor and make sure one way or the other. If she isn’t pregnant, there’s something going on for her to be so tired and now sick. Usually, the flu only lasts a day or two at most.”

Jeremiah looked at his mom. They stared at each other for a few moments and then a broad smile spread across his face.

“I want her to be pregnant, Mom. I want it bad. Since I first met her, I just knew she was the one for me. Since our first actual date, I could picture her big with my child.”

Emily smiled at him,
“Don’t get too excited until we know for sure.”

Jeremiah nodded. She was right, of course. But, he couldn
’t help himself. He wanted to have babies with Joci. He really did.

Emily finished making her tea and took it back to the bedroom. Joci was still sitting up with her head leaned back into the pillow behind her. Her eyes were closed. Emily walked around the bed and set the tea on the bedside table. Emily touched Joci
’s forehead again, she was cooler now. Joci opened her eyes and smiled at Emily.

“
I brought you some ginger tea. It’ll help calm your tummy. Will you try it?”

Joci nodded and Emily handed her the tea. Emily sat on the edge of the bed and Joci moved over to make room for her. She sipped the tea and smiled.
“This is good.”

Emily smiled.
“You need to go to the doctor, Joci. If you’re pregnant, you’ll need to take proper care of yourself and the baby. If you’re not pregnant, there might be something else wrong with you. Jeremiah worries about you like crazy. We all do.”

Joci smiled.
“I don’t want to worry anyone. I’m on birth control because I haven’t had a regular period in a few years. It’s common in my family.”

Emily patted Joci
’s hand. They sat quietly for a few moments. Then Emily said, “Jeremiah won’t leave you, Joci. He loves you. He has never loved anyone other than the boys and us. He told me right away that he felt so strongly about wanting to make a family with you.”

Tears trailed down Joic
’s cheeks. Was she pregnant? She didn’t know. When she was pregnant with Gunnar, she had morning sickness like normal women do. She hadn’t run a fever. Nothing like this. The thought of having a baby with Jeremiah made her giddy. She would love to have his baby. But, she wanted to be married first. Plus, she was 44 years old. When this baby was 20, she would be 64. It wouldn’t be fair to a baby to make it have old parents. But they would be good parents. Jeremiah loved his boys; he had raised them without Barbara. Joci loved Gunnar; she raised him on her own.

Her doctor thought she had developed an immunity to her previous birth control and that it was time for a change. Joci thought they ran a pregnancy test on her when she went in. Joci wiped at the tears on her cheeks.

“Are you feeling better, Joci?”

Joci blinked and looked at Emily.
“Yes, actually, my stomach feels much better. Thank you.”

Jeremiah had been standing out in the hall listening. He knew it was wrong, but he had to know if she was pregnant and hiding it from him. They had a rough time of it lately. He was relieved as hell that she wasn
’t hiding it from him. She really didn’t know if she was pregnant or not. They were going to find out together. Monday morning. Maybe he would go and buy those home pregnancy tests so they could know sooner. When Joci was feeling better, they would talk about it.

Jeremiah walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed with his mom and Joci.

“Hey, feeling better?”

Joci smiled.
“I am. Your mom’s tea is a miracle cure.”

Emily smiled again and looked over at Jeremiah and winked. Yes, she was going to be a grandma again. She had thought those days were over. But, perhaps God shined down on their family in the most profound way possible. He brought love to Jeremiah, and a baby, too. Life was full of surprises.

“I’d better get going. You need to get some sleep. Goodnight, honey. Call if you need anything.”

Emily got up and walked around the bed and Jeremiah got up to walk her out to her car. When she got in her car, he leaned down and kissed her temple.

“Thanks, Mom. I appreciate you coming over to help. I was scared shitless. I didn’t know what to do.”

Emily smiled at him.
“You may have a few months to get it right if she’s pregnant. I left more tea in the fridge. If her tummy starts acting up again, just warm some up for her. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jeremiah closed her door and walked back into the house. He felt happier than the day Joci agreed to marry him. He turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room and softly walked to the bedroom. Joci was sound asleep, hugging his pillow. Jeremiah put his hand on his chest. If his heart got any bigger, there wouldn
’t be any more room in there. Jeremiah undressed and climbed into bed quietly. He slid over to Joci and pulled her into his arms. He laid his hand on her belly and closed his eyes.

Joci woke feeling pretty good. She had slept through the night, without waking up. She felt rested and had no fever. She looked over, and Jeremiah wasn’t in bed with her. She looked at the clock—it was nine o’clock. Holy crap, she had slept late. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom before walking out to find Jeremiah. As she was walking down the hall she heard voices. Emily and Thomas were there. They were all sitting around the table talking. Good thing Joci had thrown some clothes on—that could have been embarrassing.

“
Good morning,” Emily said.

“
Good morning,” Joci said.

Jeremiah jumped up and hugged Joci. He cradled her head against his chest. She could hear his strong heart beating against her ear. He was gentle with her, but firm. After a few moments, Jeremiah pulled back and cradled her head in his strong hands. He looked into her eyes.

“Are you feeling better?”

“
Yes, actually, I feel pretty good this morning. It feels like my fever is gone.”

Joci smiled at Jeremiah. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

“Sit down, baby. Do you want coffee or more tea?”

Joci smiled.
“The coffee smells pretty good.”

Joci looked at Thomas.
“Good morning.”

“
Morning, Joci. Glad you’re feeling better.”

Joci smiled and took a seat at the table.

“What brings you guys here this morning?”

Emily patted Joci
’s hand. “We were on our way home from church and wanted to see how you were doing.”

They sat and visited for a little while
, then Jeremiah’s parents decided it was time to head home. Jeremiah and Joci walked them out to their car, stood in the driveway, and waved as they backed out. As they walked back into the house, Jeremiah grabbed Joci and hugged her hard, lifting her feet off the floor. Joci wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

“
I’m sorry I ruined your night last night, Jeremiah.”

He walked with Joci in his arms into the living room. He reclined on the sofa with Joci lying on top of him. He didn
’t want to let her go; he just wanted to hold her forever and keep her close and safe.

“
I told you, everything I needed to do, I did last night. You didn’t ruin anything. And, I didn’t properly thank you for the video. You did a fabulous job putting that together, Joci. It blew me away. Can I get a copy of the last picture? I want it for my office and my computer and my phone.”

Joci giggled.
“Of course you can. They’re your pictures. I have the video and the pictures on a zip drive for you to load on your computer. Let me know what else you need.”

Then Joci took a deep breath,
“I have to tell you I cropped a few of them to make them look nicer. And, I cropped you out of one because LuAnn was looking at you like she wanted to eat you.”

Jeremiah tightened his hold on her. He took a deep, shaky breath.

“You have nothing to worry about with her, honey. I saw her follow you to the bathroom. What did she say to you?”

“
Just more of the same. You’ll get sick of me. I’m plain compared to her, won’t be able to keep you happy for long.  The usual.”

Jeremiah took a deep breath and let it out slow. Fucking LuAnn.
“It’s not true. None of it.”

“
I know.” Joci sighed.

They lay quietly for some time. It was so comfortable lying together, just soft music in the background.

“Do you think you might be pregnant, Joci?”

Joci took a deep breath.

“Joci. We need to talk about this. Do you think you might be pregnant?”

Joci started to pull away, but Jeremiah held her close.

“I don’t know, Jeremiah. I’ve never missed a day of my birth control pills. This is so different than when I was pregnant with Gunnar. I had morning sickness until about the end of my third month. I was tired but not so emotional. My periods have been different, which is why I went back to the doctor about four weeks ago. She just thought I had been on the same pills for too long and that sometimes that happens. She switched my prescription. I thought she did a pregnancy test. I’ll call tomorrow and find out.”

Jeremiah tightened his hold on her. He wanted this so bad. Mostly, he didn
’t want her to be sick with anything horrible. He needed this woman to be safe, healthy, happy, and his.

“
If you’re pregnant, I don’t want to wait until the end of September to get married. I want to do it right away. I don’t want to risk anything happening.”

“
Jeremiah, let’s wait until we know for sure.”

“
I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife. Dammit, I don’t want to wait. And, if you’re carrying my child, I want it legal that you’re both mine. And, I don’t want you to have too many stresses while you’re expecting. It should be a happy time for you to grow a happy, healthy baby. I love you so much, Joci, I can’t even process all the emotions. I have to marry you, because if I don’t, my life will be empty and meaningless.”

Joci wiped her eyes. That was so sweet. Just then, her tummy growled. Joci giggled a little.

“Let’s go and get you two something to eat.” Jeremiah said.

“
Jeremiah. Don’t get too emotionally attached until we know for sure. I would hate for you to be let down.”

“
Too late. I already feel it. Mom does, too. That’s why they stopped by this morning. You know the ginger tea she made you last night was the same tea she made all of other her daughters-in-law when they were pregnant. It’s helped them all with their morning, or evening, sickness. It has to be, Joci. All of your symptoms lead right to you carrying my child.”

That did it. Joci started crying in earnest. She sat up, grabbed for a tissue, and blew her nose. She wiped her eyes again. Shit. She wanted this and then again, she was scared.

“At my age, having a baby will be difficult. Losing the weight afterwards will be impossible. Jeremiah, you don’t understand the toll this will take on me and us. We’re at a point in our lives where our kids are self-sufficient. We can come and go as we want when we want. With a baby, we’ll be starting all over again.”

“
Yes. We’ll start over together. We have my sisters-in-law, my mom, Jackie, all of the nieces and nephews, and three strong, loving boys. Plenty of babysitters and help.”

Jeremiah pressed his lips to hers,
“You worry too much, Joci. I’ll love you no matter what. The little things, a few pounds, being tired—those are all meaningless in the whole scheme of things. What matters is that we’re together. I’ve never been happier. I’ve also never been surer of anything in my life. If you need me to gain a few pounds to make you feel better, you got it.”

Joci burst out laughing.

Their boys stopped by the house in the afternoon to see how Joci was feeling. Jeremiah and Joci both agreed to keep their secret until they knew for sure.

“
How’s the house coming along for you guys?” Joci asked.

“
It’s great, really great, Joci. I love living there. Not sure if I’ll ever be unpacked, but I’m good for now. So glad I decided to move in,” Ryder stated, smiling.

On Monday morning, Joci called her doctor. The nurse took the information and said one of them would call Joci back. She tried to work, but her mind kept tossing things around overtime. She called Jackie and talked to her about her symptoms and her thoughts and her fears.

Jackie laughed at her. “Joci, it’s different this time. You’re in a great relationship and you’re getting married. It isn’t like last time. Try and enjoy this time for you two. You didn’t get to last time. If Jeremiah wants to get married right away, we’ll all pull together and get everything done for you. To be honest, I’m pretty excited to be an aunt again. What does Gunnar think about having a little brother or sister?”

“
I haven’t said anything to him yet. I don’t want to until I know for sure. He called this morning to tell me my bike is ready, and it was hard not to say anything. I’m waiting for Doctor Wan to call back. I’m on pins and needles waiting.”

They finished their conversation, and Joci tried getting a few things done around the house. Jeremiah called three times to see if Dr. Wan had called back. He was nervous and excited. Joci really hoped he wouldn
’t be disappointed.