A/N: I own nothing.

A/N: A/U.

River texted just before dark that she and Dale would have to stay overnight in Colorado Springs and wouldn't be home until late the next evening.

Rooster made sure he was home and sober when she arrived. He was cooking dinner when she came in.

"Hey, Baby," he said, hugging her.

"Hey," she replied. "Where is everyone?"

"At Maggie's," he answered.

"You didn't go?"

"Are you kidding me?"

River just looked at him.

"I was waiting for you," He replied. "I thought you might want to talk."

"I don't," she replied.

"I'm sorry. I screwed up," he said. "I know that."

"Okay," she replied.

"Stop, River. Just tell me what you want to say," Rooster replied.

"You can't keep going out and get drunk every night, Jamie. I need you to be able to function. This ranch needs you to be able to function," she said.

"I got drunk once," he said, defensively.

"No, you passed out once," she snapped back. "You've gotten drunk every night since Colt has been back. I was trying to be understanding that you haven't seen your brother in a long time, but it's been a month. You know I've never been against drinking but every night is ridiculous and I need it to stop."

"You're right," Rooster admitted. "I hadn't realized that it had gotten that bad. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," she sighed with relief.

"Come here, Baby," he said, crossing the room and taking her in his arms. "I'll try not to get drunk every night."

"My mom is killing herself," River said.

"Yeah," he replied, rubbing her arms. "She's been doing it for a while."

"She cussed us for the entire ride for putting her in 'that' place. It was that or jail." River relaxed in his arms. "She made Granddaddy cry. He doesn't know I saw him, but I did. She said some awful stuff to him." She wrapped her arms around Rooster's waist. "Is it wrong to hate one of your parents?"

Rooster sighed. His parents drive him crazy, especially Beau but he didn't hate them. Of course, being an overcritical asshole didn't compare to the crap Anna Lee had put River through. "You don't hate her, Baby."

"No. After watching Granddaddy cry over the horrible shit she said to him last night, I'm pretty sure that I hate her," River confessed.

"Come on, Baby. Sit down and eat, then you can get a shower, and I'll give you a massage," he kissed her neck.

She looked up at him. "Well, one part of that sounds good," she said, kissing him. She slid her hands between them and started working on the buttons on his shirt, getting them undone and pulling it free from his jeans.

"Whoa," he said, pushing her away gently. "Darling, not that I have any objections to where this is headed, if I don't turn off the stove, we'll burn the house down. And that will significantly reduce the amount shit I can give Colt about burning down Mom's Airstream."

"Yeah, I do like making fun of him for that," she laughed. She kissed him again. "I'm going to go upstairs and start that shower. Come join me when you're done down here.

It was opening day. It had also been two and half months since River and Rooster's talk about babies and one month since their talk about his drinking. In that time, he'd cut way back. He still went to Maggie's more often, but he only had one or two drinks a night instead of getting completely wasted every night.

River always went hunting with Dale on opening day. It had been a tradition since she was old enough to go. Rooster was hurt that Beau wanted to go hunting with and River had offered to go with him, but he'd turned her down, saying that he knew how much she liked the trip with Dale. All in all, River had been happy when Maggie had convinced Rooster to take her hunting. But all she could think about this morning was everyone leaving.

Everyone had gotten up early to get supplies together and eat breakfast. River had gotten through those two things well, but now Colt and Rooster were arguing over a stupid hat and she was just about to physically push them out the door when they finally left.

She rushed upstairs and grabbed the three boxes she had hidden in her lingerie drawer. She was two weeks late and she knew it was a long shot but she couldn't help but think what if they had managed to get pregnant that fast. Okay, maybe it wasn't so much 'think' as it was obsessed with it. She had even picked up the tests a week before when she had been in Grand Rapids for a business meeting. She took them quickly, then laid them all out on the edge of the bathtub. She subconsciously held her breath as all three showed positive. Slowly she started to smile, despite the tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. She was actually pregnant. Before she could think about it too much, she heard Dale coming up the driveway. She gathered everything up and stashed it back in their bedroom before running downstairs to meet him.

Beau and Maggie were sitting on the porch when Dale dropped River off.

"Hey, River-darling," Beau said as she sat down to pull her boots and hunting clothes off before going in the house. "Want some whiskey? It's the good stuff I don't give the boys."

She laughed. "Thanks, but I just want a hot shower right now."

"How did y'all do?" he asked.

"Not bad. Hit our limit," She replied. "You?"

"Didn't murder our sons," he replied.

"Of course we left at noon," Maggie piped up.

River laughed again. She was about to go inside when they heard Colt and Rooster arguing loudly. Beau made a crack about leaving them alone with firearms.

"Jamie, I hate that hat," River spoke up. "I'm glad Colt lost it and I'm sick and tired of hearing about it."

"Come on, Baby. That hat was awesome," Rooster said.

"That hat was disgusting and don't get me started on it's 'history'," she shot back.

"Love you, Babe," he said, sheepishly before getting into another argument about who was getting the first shower.

"I am getting the first shower," she declared to both of them.

"Alright," Rooster laughed. "Sucks to be you, Colt," he said, following her into the house.

After their shower, she was standing in front of their dresser, slipping into a pair of leggings and one of his old football t-shirts. It was so old and thin, the material was as soft as velvet. Rooster was laying on their bed in just a pair of sweatpants, playing on his phone. She watched him in the mirror for a moment before pulling the pregnancy tests out of their hiding spot.

"Jamie?"

"Yeah, Babe?" He looked up from his phone.

She took a deep breath then held the tests up. "I'm pregnant."

He dropped his phone, staring at her, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "I knew this was going to be an awesome day," he said, standing up and lifting her up in his arms to kissing her.

Please R and R.