Chapter 36
Sam murmured in her sleep as she rolled into the hard body. Her hand stroked the abdomen and she froze. She struggled towards wakefulness, flailing her arms and legs in response. This was not the body she knew that she was lying next to.
All of Sam's memories of that awful time when she thought she had betrayed the man she loved rose inside of her. She was whimpering as she struggled awake.
"No!" she screamed out a second before her eyes opened. She felt the arm around her, but it wasn't his arm. She knew Jake's arms.
"It's okay, Pinky," her eyes opened to see Quinn's.
"What?" Sam yelped in confusion. "Where's Jake?"
"He's prolly with his wife," Quinn told her. "You and I are married."
She looked away from Quinn, missing the laughter in his dark brown eyes as she looked around the room she was in, trying to get her bearings.
"I'm not married to Jake?" Sam was definitely whimpering.
"No and you're carrying my child," Quinn said with a smile. "A very active child too I might add."
Sam backed away from him, panic on her face. Her marrying Jake had been all a dream?
Quinn saw the panic in her eyes and reached for her.
"Sammy, I'm just playin'," he assured her.
"What?" Sam yelped again.
"I'm sorry, don't panic," Quinn said, his voice soft and low.
"Where am I?" Sam asked, her eyes flying to his.
"You're at Adam's," Quinn informed her. "We drove up to get you this morning."
"We, who?" Sam shook her head, trying to follow all of this.
"Me, Bryan and Jake," Quinn rubbed her shoulder as he held her. "I shouldn't have teased you like that, though Junior was still very active as you slept next to me."
"Why are you next to me in this bed?" Sam wanted to know.
"Your babysitter had to do something else and I was appointed," Quinn grinned at her.
"Jake?" Sam wondered.
"Of course," Quinn told her. "Pinky, are you all right?"
Sam nodded. Her hand touched her rounded belly.
"He's moving a lot now, huh?" Quinn asked.
"He just started the other day," Sam said. "I haven't told Jake yet."
"I won't tell him," Quinn promised.
"Tell him what?" Jake came into the bedroom and giving Quinn a look. He raised an eyebrow seeing his brother reclining in the bed with his wife.
"Jake!" Sam's face lit up and Jake was surprised at how happy she seemed to be to see him.
"Tell you that she's leaving you for me," Quinn teased, easing himself away from his sister-in-law. "She likes what's in my hammock better than yours."
Sam rolled her eyes.
"I don't need to wear a hammock," Jake told his brother with a sarcastic grin.
Quinn snorted. "Me either, but they paid me to do it."
Jake's mouth twitched. Sam snorted. Quinn winked at Sam and left the room.
"You're okay?" Jake took Quinn's place next to her.
Sam sighed and rolled into his body, her arm coming around his waist. Now this was the body she knew and loved.
"Yeah," Sam murmured.
"What?" Jake asked, rubbing her arm as he held her to him.
"I, uh, panicked," Sam's voice was barely a whisper.
"When?" Jake wondered. His one hand continued to rub her arm. The other rubbed her belly.
"When I, uh, started to wake up and, uh," Sam began. "It, uh, reminded me of, uh, before."
"At college," Jake said.
Sam nodded, nuzzling into his chest.
"I'm sorry, Brat," Jake murmured. "Quinn volunteered to stay with you for a few minutes. I didn't think you'd wake up and panic."
"I'm not sure I'll ever not panic," Sam said. "Then he teased me that I was really married to him."
"Well gosh, that would cause anyone to panic," Jake chuckled and Sam couldn't help the smile.
"Well I do love Quinn, I mean who couldn't, but I love you more," Sam looked up at him and Jake couldn't resist giving her a kiss.
"How's Parker treating you?" he asked.
"Fine," Sam smiled wider. "He's moving."
"Yeah?" Jake smiled down at her, his hand flat against her belly.
"Here," Sam moved his hand to the spot where their baby was kicking against her side.
She could tell the moment that Jake felt it, his face took on such a look of wonder that it brought tears to her eyes. She loved this man an awful lot.
"Wow," Jake murmured. His eyes met hers and they exchanged much.
Sam could see the love he had for her in his dark brown eyes. Jake saw the love in her lighter brown eyes reflected back at him.
"I listened to that song," Jake told her as he kept his hand on her belly, feeling his son within.
"'You are the cause to keep my head up high, I will survive. You gotta know I'll stay beside you, right till the day I die'," Sam recited.
She saw the emotion in his beautiful eyes.
"I adore you, sweetheart," Jake whispered.
"I adore you, Jake Ely," Sam whispered back to him.
"Good, let's go home," Jake told her.
"Home," Sam echoed, loving the sound of it knowing she'd spend the rest of her life with this man at Three Ponies.