AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Right now it's late on Sunday night where I live so I thought that since it's close enough to Monday, I'd go ahead and post the next chapter of this story. Happy 2016 to all!
Princess Bunny - You're right; you can never go wrong with chocolate!
FirstFandomFangirl - Don't walk away cackling evilly - you can stay and cackle evilly all you want! XP
MMM - It's interesting that you mention the subject of Cole and Brooke becoming parents. Stay tuned for Chapter 16...
lovesgod12 - Hope your area wasn't affected by the recent tornadoes!
In this chapter, the focus now shifts ahead a few months to the season of spring and to the cowboy who wears a blue kerchief. The rumblings of war have begun...
Chapter 8 - Thursday in Early May
Nya Walker sat on the porch swing of her cottage on a lovely spring afternoon shortly before suppertime. Though she felt slightly nauseous, she was happily waiting for her husband Jay to arrive home so she could share some wonderful news she had learned when she traveled into Ninjago Town today.
Seated on the porch deck next to her was her seven-month-old canine companion named Flash, a black Australian Shepherd male dog with a white chest and feet and a copper nose. Flash was idly panting as he happily waited for Jay to arrive home.
While Nya waited, she looked around at the front yard of the cozy cottage and smiled. She thought about the day Jay had proposed marriage to her. He had been more nervous than a cat in a roomful of rockers as they had eaten their picnic supper on the bank of the Ninjago River, on that sandy area where it bent to the west. She could not figure out what was wrong with him.
She never would have guessed he was about to ask her to marry him. Only a few nights before that, as she had dressed up for that memorable supper party at the main house of Garmadon Ranch, she had complained to her friend Sam that she was so frustrated about Jay's slowness in popping the question. Heck, at that point, he had kissed Nya only once. After the supper party, Jay did do some sparking at the water pump - Nya smiled at the memory - but still, she never expected him to produce a ring just a few days later as they watched the sunset by the side of the river.
Just one week later after Jay proposed, Nya became his wife in the double wedding ceremony in which their friends Sam and Kai got hitched as well. When Jay wants to, he can move like lightning, she thought. And now they had been married for over eight months.
Nya's thoughts were interrupted by the galloping of a horse's hooves. Jay was arriving home. She stood up and walked down the two steps of the porch to welcome him. Flash jumped up and ran off the porch to welcome his master home with barks.
"Howdy, Flash, I'm glad to see you, too!" Jay grinned as he dismounted Wisp, his bay gelding. He still had to bring the horse to the stable and settle it for the night, but he wanted to greet his wife first.
He gave Flash a pat on the head and turned toward his woman.
"Well, howdy, my little cherry blossom," he said, sliding his arms around Nya's waist. "It's nice to see your pretty face waiting for me when I get home."
"You're such a sweet talker, Jay!" Nya chuckled. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I like it!" she murmured as her lips touched his for a moment.
"Come sit on the swing for a few minutes!" she urged him.
As she took his hand and led him to the porch, he asked her, "So how was your trip into town today? Was there any of that Purple talk?"
"Yes," Nya replied, rolling her eyes. "Sure, the Purples are entitled to their opinion, but if the newspaper would stop constantly printing what they say, and if people would stop talking about them, then they wouldn't feel so powerful. As it is, they're now threatening violence. The Purples in Snake Territory say they're going to cross over the border into Ninjago and take over Jamanakai Village in the name of that scalawag who claims to be the great-great-grandson of the last king."
She sighed as she sat down on the porch swing. "Maybe I'm just extra sensitive, 'cause you know Jamanakai Village isn't all that far from Ignacia." Ignacia was Nya's home town.
"I wouldn't worry. I'd say the Purples are just blowing smoke," Jay replied as he settled next to Nya on the swing and put his arm around her. "And it can get pretty dull around here, so when the Ninjago Town Chronicle editor doesn't have anything more interesting to report, he has to find something to print to fill up the space." Jay had to admit, however, that he himself was not totally convinced of what he was saying. He mainly wanted to allay Nya's fears.
As they began to swing, Flash sprawled out on the porch deck next to them and went to sleep.
"So what else happened in town today?" Jay asked.
"I talked to Doc Julien today. He said he had an interesting discussion with the mayor. It seems the mayor, who's also the chairman of the Ninjago Town civic committee, received a huge donation for a new hospital from an anonymous donor, on the condition that Doc would be asked to be the hospital administrator."
"How huge is a huge donation?"
"About $200,000."
Jay gave a low whistle. "Whoa! Not many folks around here have that much money to spare. The ranch owners would, I suppose, and maybe also Misako Garmadon - wait, I mean Misako Julien - after she sold Garmadon Ranch years ago to Mr. Wu. Maybe she wanted to help Doc realize a dream of his. Otherwise, I'd reckon it would be Sam, if Morro hadn't stolen her money last year."
"I'd reckon that, too. Poor Sam. Her money is all tied up in the court system." Nya frowned at the memory of the injustice her friend endured last summer.
"So did Doc say he'd accept the administrator position?" Jay asked.
Nya shook her head. "He wants to think about it a little more."
"How did you happen to run into Doc Julien anyway? Seems like he's always out and about around these parts, tending to some sickness or injury."
"Well," Nya began slowly, "He keeps office hours on Thursday mornings, so I stopped by his office today, 'cause I haven't been feeling too well lately..."
"Oh, Nya, I didn't know that! Why didn't you tell me?" Jay chided her while he squeezed her shoulders.
"But I found out why I haven't felt well," Nya replied.
Gazing into his soft blue eyes, she said, "Because we're going to have a baby!"
Jay's jaw dropped. "Wh-wha-what?"
Nya grinned. "In late November or early December."
With his free arm, Jay grabbed Nya's hand, his blue eyes wide as saucers. "We're actually gonna have our own little shaver?"
Nya nodded, still grinning.
Excited at the news, Jay hollered "Yee haw!" and threw his cowboy hat into the front yard. Flash jumped up and barked energetically at the commotion.
"You're gonna be a mama, and I'm gonna be a DADDY!" the cowboy exclaimed, hugging his wife.
He looked down at the noisy canine. "And Flash, you're gonna be a...wait, not a daddy...uh, not a brother...uh, well, I guess you'll be a dog!"
Then he looked over at his gelding standing in the front yard.
"Did you hear that, Wisp? We're having a baby, and you're gonna be a horse!"
Nya laughed at her husband's giddiness at the news.
"So when do you want to tell everyone the news?" Jay asked.
Nya thought. "Well, it's not peak blueberry season just yet, but there might be enough ripe ones on the bushes to make a pie or two. Maybe we could invite everyone over for pie and coffee on Saturday after supper and tell them then?"
"Sounds pretty ambitious," Jay frowned. "Sure you're feeling well enough to do all that picking and baking?"
His wife nodded and smiled. "I'm sure!"
But she stopped smiling when she smelled the aroma of a slightly burnt supper coming out of the house.
"Sakes alive! I forgot about our supper!" she exclaimed.
"I'll get it!" Jay hollered, jumping up from the porch swing and running into the house ahead of her. "I'll take care of supper! You take care of the little shaver!"
