Three weeks later Cady was parked outside the prison. She and Jacob hadn't seen each other for a month but there had been a couple of phone calls so he knew that Walt and Henry had taken the news better than expected.

Jacob was escorted out the side door, not completely free but parole was a small price to pay to be out in the world. He walked over to where Cady leaned against her SUV, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She put her arms around him and returned it.

He stood back and opened her jacket. "Let me look at you."

"I'm enormous; my loosest clothes are tight. This is a seventeen-week baby bump. Good thing it's cooler so I can hide it with layers."

Jacob spread his hands over her abdomen. "Still feeling well?"

"Really well. Second trimester is the honeymoon period of pregnancy so you're lucky to get some of that before hell arrives in the third trimester. I waited to have an ultrasound. We'll see our baby the day after tomorrow."

His hands moved up to cup her breasts, thumbs pressing slow circles over her nipples. Cady moaned.

"Should I not do this?" Jacob whispered.

"I love it, but maybe not here. My sex drive is in overdrive and I'm about to jump you."

Jacob drove. His license hadn't expired and he wanted to get behind the wheel again. Cady reminded him to set cruise control. On Wyoming's long empty stretches, it was easy to creep above eighty and parolees who don't want to be sent back inside have to be the most law-abiding citizens.

They stopped for lunch, the first meal they had shared for more than a year. Life would be filled with firsts – all the things that Jacob had missed and all the things they hadn't done together yet.

Jacob stopped the car a quarter mile from his house and got out. "Drive on up; I'll see you soon. I want to walk the rest of the way."

He noticed every detail as he approached. The beautiful bones of the house covered with cedar shingle siding supported the tipi-shaped vaulted roof and chimney of the main lodge. Glass window walls and doors looked out on a terrace bounded by low stone walls. The manicured perfection of the lawn close to the house gave way to wild prairie beyond. Cady had gone inside, leaving him privacy to enjoy this homecoming. He circled the house, looking forward to swimming in the clear, calm blue of the pool. He walked out back toward his meditation garden. Rocks would be tumbled out of position and the ground overgrown by weeds. It would need to be completely redone before he could use it again. He stopped dead as it came into view. It was perfect. He knew immediately that this wasn't the work of landscapers. He turned around. Cady was coming toward him.

He went to meet her, taking her in his arms. "Thank you. You did this yourself, didn't you?"

Cady nodded. "I wanted to try and make up for the terrible thing I did to you here."

"You already have. I'm standing here now because you got me out."

They walked slowly back to the house. Jacob wandered through the rooms, Cady by his side.

When they reached the master bath he said, "I'm going to shower. I need to wash off the stink of prison."

"I didn't notice anything."

"Does that mean you want to jump me first?"

"We can shower together after."

Cady was surprised when she pulled down Jacob's underwear. "You're not cut."

"Is that a problem?"

Cady shook her head. "I already know I love how you feel inside me but I didn't see much in the conference room." She looked curious and interested.

"I love how you feel, too. Can we do that now and save the examination for later?"

They took their time. Entwined, their skin reflected their ancestry. Jacob was bronze; Cady the pale cream of a natural redhead. They finally made it to the shower which led to the next round. It was time for supper when they finished. Jacob cooked, something else he had missed doing.

"What are your plans the next few days?" Cady asked.

"Check in with the sheriff tomorrow morning. A sweat on the rez tomorrow night. Ultrasound Wednesday morning."

"Vic invited us for dinner Wednesday night."

"The moment of reckoning is at hand."

"She thought the timing would be good because we'll have a picture of the baby. An ice breaker." Cady paused. "What about meeting people?"

"Might as well get it over with. Lunch at the Red Pony tomorrow?"

"Will that give you enough time to fast before the sweat?"

"Seven hours is plenty. Only four is required."

"Then I'll meet you at the Red Pony at noon." Cady hesitated. "You haven't said much about your time inside. And you don't have to. I just wondered if there was any … violation."

"What kind of bitch do you think I am that I couldn't defend myself in prison?"

Cady looked him over leisurely, eyes lingering on his strong arms and chest. "What was I thinking?"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know but why the sudden interest?"

"I have a welcome home thing but it's kind of inappropriate. Maybe I should skip it."

"Well, now you can't. Show me."

"First I want to make it clear that I don't condone prison rape and I don't mean to make light of it."

"Cady, I hope we'll be together the rest of our lives, or my life actually. But it will seem a lot longer if you go into lawyer mode. Let's agree that no disclaimers are needed between us."

Cady leaned over and kissed him. "Okay." She brought up a file on her tablet. "This is an old clip of the comedian Rich Hall on Conan in his alter ego as Otis Lee Crenshaw, a Tennessee ex-con." She hit play and sat back.

"All right folks, I guess prison rape has always gotten kind of a bad name. I ain't proud of nothin' that happened to me in there but I always said if I was gonna write a song about it I'd make it romantic. I was missin' my baby when I wrote this. It's called 'He Almost Looks Like You'."

[A/N: Search for 'Otis Lee Crenshaw Conan' and it should be the first youtube video listed.]

Jacob's shoulders were shaking with laughter when it ended. Cady was relieved. "Not too offensive, then?"

"You have to have the right audience but it's funny as hell."

They played it again and danced to it, almost falling down laughing when Jacob dipped Cady and crooned, "He almost looks like you."

Playfulness was new to them. Their interaction before prison was friendly except for one notable occasion but now the relaxed intimacy of a deeper understanding bound them.

It was Jacob's first night at home and their first night together. They couldn't sleep yet so they talked.

"Will your purification be like my sweat ceremony?" Cady asked.

"All sweats are similar but there are different purposes. Mine will be the Cheyenne version of washing off the stink of prison. I'll be welcomed back to the tribe but not to the Council."

"Ever?"

"Eventually there may be a way I can contribute again. The Council and I will know when the time comes."

"You sound okay with that."

"I am. They've done fine without me and truthfully I'm relieved not to be in that role any longer."

"You took the responsibility seriously. You were so angry about so much. You had the right but it wasn't good for you to be that intense all the time. I'm glad you're calmer now."

"You had a lot to do with that, Cady."

"What about being in prison?"

"Prison gave me time to think. Then you came to see me at exactly the right time to get laid and calm down."

Cady punched his arm. "So that's all I did for you?"

"The man I am now is about twenty-five percent due to prison and the rest is due to you. That includes getting laid and being a father."

Jacob rolled toward her and Cady instinctively shifted her leg to make room. He lifted it and pulled it around him as if they had done it dozens of times. As he settled between her legs Cady said, "Again?"

"Maybe. We'll see."

A little later Jacob murmured, "I overestimated my ability but I'll make sure you finish."

"I don't mind."

"I do. That's what a tongue is for."

The next morning Jacob went to the Sheriff's Department. Vic beckoned him to her office, stood up and offered a hand. "Welcome back, Jacob."

They shook. "Thank you, Sheriff."

"Call me Vic. How's Cady?"

"Perfect."

"Good answer. And I think you mean it."

"I do."

The paperwork was completed quickly.

"We'll see you and Cady tomorrow night."

"How is Walt?"

"Evolving."

Jacob laughed out loud.

He got to the Red Pony before twelve. Henry was usually at the casino but he had come in to see Cady and Jacob. A few people greeted Jacob; others stared. When Cady walked in all conversation stopped. She looked beautiful. The glow of pregnancy made her luminous. She was wearing a very pretty maternity dress that showcased the baby bump she had been hiding. She walked over, kissed Jacob on the mouth and sat down.

"Sparkling water, Henry. You can see why I've given up drinking."

Jacob had never loved her more.

By the time they finished lunch everyone in the Red Pony knew that she was midway through pregnancy, that Jacob was the father, and that the baby was conceived in prison. By the end of the day most of Durant would know. That night at the sweat Jacob told the tribal elders. Everyone on the rez would know by morning. In a few days it would be old news.

It was late when Jacob returned from the purification ritual but Cady had waited up. "I think we should talk about who we slept with before each other."

"That sounds like a very bad idea."

"You don't think it would help to know who we've been involved with around Durant? Just to be prepared."

"No."

"Okay, the truth is I want to know who you've been with."

"Why? You're not jealous, are you?"

"No, I'd just like to know who I beat out."

"That's messed up and yet I'm flattered."

"So you'll tell? I'll go first."

Jacob sighed. "All right."

"There were two when I was away at college …"

"Hold it. You said Durant. I didn't agree to go back to the beginning of time. I've got twenty-five more years than you."

"So you were a man-whore?"

"I came of age in the seventies. It was a permissive time."

"If you can't remember how many, round to the nearest dozen."

"That was uncalled for."

"Withdrawn."

They laughed.

"Proceed with your list," Jacob sounded resigned to the ordeal.

"I waited until college because I didn't want my first time to be with someone local. I was eighteen. How old were you?

"Sixteen."

"That's about average. Okay, there were two guys in college and one in law school. You know I dated Branch."

"I do."

"Then there was a brief thing with Zach Heflin."

"Unbelievable. How about Vic and Ferguson? Have you slept with every deputy in Absaroka County?"

"Do you really want to go there? You're sixth on my list. What am I on yours?"

"Seventeen. Maybe eighteen."

"Not as many as I expected. How many from around here?"

"Three. One died, one moved away and the other is married."

"I don't want to know after all," Cady said hastily.

"Good, because I prefer not to give her name. It was a one-time thing. We don't move in the same circles. We haven't seen each other since and it's unlikely that we will."

"Thanks for doing this." Cady kissed Jacob. "I didn't ask how the sweat went."

"After this talk I need another purification."