Matt savored the high-priced bourbon. He tasted honeycomb, toffee, and vanilla as he sipped from the snifter. He observed the satisfied look of his drinking partner. "How are things around town?" he asked. He'd been at home for a little over two weeks and hadn't broken the habit of pinning his badge to his shirt every morning.

"Well, not too much excitement," Doc answered. He propped his feet onto the leather ottoman and sank into the coziness of the Chesterfield chair as the warming blend of sweetness and spice lingered on his tongue. "Had a fist fight over in the Long Branch. Wasn't very much. Alan Poppet's kid ran away from home again. He didn't get far at all," he informed with a check of his pocket watch and casually drank from his snifter. He remembered an event he'd left out, snapping his fingers. "Marvin Armbruster predicted the end of the world for the 35th time."

The off-duty lawman chuckled. "Sounds like it's been a busy week," he said, glancing at his wife as she entered the parlor. His spouse was engrossed in the pages of a letter Doc had delivered to her. "Did you have any patients?" he asked, planting his hand on Kitty's belly and rubbing softly as she sat next to him with her eyes still glued to the paper.

"Yeah, I had a fella come into my office with a bullet in his leg. I took that out. Said he got shot in a hunting accident," Doc expounded, swiping his hand over his mouth to hide his grin at the show of affection.

"Oh!" Kitty cried and let go of the stationery paper in her hand. She sucked in a breath and put a hand on her middle.

Matt traded an alarmed look with the physician and sat up straight, putting his hand on his wife's shoulder. He knew she'd been having pains, but they had been irregular and mild. She'd been calling them practice pains. "Kitty, is it time?" he asked. He thought it was a week or two early, but he knew babies came when they wanted to.

"No, no," she answered and shook her head, interlacing her fingers with his. "I didn't mean to worry you two."

Doc relaxed as he assessed the redhead with his physician's eyes. He put his attention on the fallen missive. "What did you read in that letter, Kitty?" Doc inquired and took the last drink of bourbon. He craved another drink, but he decided against it.

"Who's it from?" Matt asked and picked up the page. His eyes scanned over the cursive writing that he didn't recognize.

"Céline," Kitty told him.

"Oh, the Creole woman," Doc said, recalling a story or two that Kitty had shared with him about the Louisianian.

"My father remarried," she divulged. She observed her spouse's jaw tighten and ripple at the mention of her father.

"Good for him," Matt rejoined bitterly and knocked back the remainder of bourbon in crystal glass. He didn't care for Wayne Russell when he met him years ago. He hated the man after he tried to rob his wife of her money and her free will. He ignored the chastising look on Kitty's face.

"A girl younger than me," she disclosed to her two favorite men that had never failed her. She interlaced her fingers with Matt's and sighed deeply. "They had a baby, a boy."

"You got a stepmother and a brother, Kitty," Doc said in an effort to brighten the mood of the room.

"No, Doc. I don't. The baby was born on the first day of the New Year and died so did the girl. She died a day later," Kitty solemnly revealed.

Matt's expression softened at the disclosure and hooked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. "I'm sorry, honey," he whispered and kissed her lavender scented hair. Her father was simply another man to her, but Matt knew her heart. Her benevolence would allow her to feel sorrow for the leech, and Wayne didn't deserve any of it.

Doc viewed her sink into the comfort of her husband and scratched his chin. "Does he know he'll be a grandfather?"

Kitty shook her head. "No," she answered. "He doesn't know I'm married. He doesn't know a thing about me except for what he learned last time he came."

"That wasn't much at all," Doc replied.

"He's never going to know," Matt growled. "He's a damn fool."

"Matt," she murmured, running her hand across his chest and tilting her head to look up at him. "I'd like a bath if it's not too much trouble," she entreated and hoped giving him a task would quell his rising anger.

"Of course not." He pressed his lips to her forehead and excused himself.

Kitty heard his footfalls on the staircase and slid over into his deserted spot on the sofa. "Doc, she was younger than me and died. Why?"

Doc heaved a sigh and pulled himself out of the armchair. He strolled to the liquor cart and refilled the drinking glass. He took a drawn-out sip to gather his thoughts. "Kitty, it could have been sepsis. I can't give you an exact cause of death because I wasn't there."

"Could it happen to me?"

"I won't let it happen," he promised and walked to the couch, sitting down beside her.

"Doc, you can't—"

"Yes, I can, Kitty," he cut her off and lowered his voice, speaking firmly to get his point across. "Pueperal sepsis is an infection. It's introduced by a woman's birth attendants. I won't introduce it, and," he paused and eyed her. "You want Matt with you. Don't you?"

"I do."

"I won't let overgrown husband of yours introduce it either. You'll celebrate your birthday next week and bring a child into the world. I can't tell you the order of events, but I can tell you that I'll do everything in my power to ensure that you are around to raise that child with Matt and maybe have one or two more with him," he concluded with a resolute nod of his salt and pepper head.


She drew the lambswool wrap around her shoulders and sipped her coffee, watching white tail deer run through the yard as the sun peeked over the trees. Kitty smirked over the rim of her cup as she listened to her husband struggle with the high-spirited gundog. "Fág é!" she directed and heard the loud thud of the boot landing on the flooring.

"Dammit," Matt muttered and picked up his boot, tugging it on. He stalked over to his wife and glared at the Irish setter. Matt filled the mug and dropped onto the window bench. "Golly," he murmured as his eyes landed on a stag.

"Still takin' Charlie?" Kitty asked and replenished her cup.

Matt nodded his head. "I won't hear the end of it if I don't," he replied with a chuckle and looked out the window. He'd never known a girl that wanted to go on a hunt. "Looks like we won't have to go far."

Kitty dipped her head in agreement and leaned forward, taking the badge from his shirt. "You won't need that," she told him.

"Habit," he grumbled and stood to his feet, putting the empty mug down and kissing her head. "See you later, Kitty."

She tumbled the token of justice in her fingers and bit into her lip. She thought of all the sacrifices she'd willingly made over the years and glanced at her husband's back. "Matt, if I die, I want you to take the badge off for good and take care of our baby," she blurted out as he opened the bedroom door.

He stopped in his tracks and couldn't believe she was starting such a conversation. Slowly, he turned around in the doorway and stared at her. His mind raced as he determined the source of her unexpected request. Matt thought of the letter she'd received days ago.

"Take the badge off for good and take care of our baby," the redhead reiterated.

He incredulously fixed his eyes on her. "No, we're not doing this," he warned.

"We are," she disputed.

"We're not."

"Find another wife or just a woman to be with. You'll need someone. Matt, promise me that you'll —" she flinched at the slam of the door.

"So help me, Kathleen," he rumbled and strode to her, standing over her and hooking his thumbs into his belt. "You're not dyin' in childbirth," he said resolutely.

"Matt, it could happen," she softly argued. Kitty looked up at him as she smoothed her thumb over the badge. "Matt, please. Promise me. You have my blessing to find someone else."

He knelt down and took the shield out of her hand. "Kathleen, listen to me," he ordered and tossed the metal onto the cushion. "I'll take the badge off and take care of our child, but I won't find another woman. I'm not going to love anybody else for the rest of my life but you. Understand?"

Kitty blinked away the tears pooling in her eyes and bowed her head, putting her hands on his cheeks and kissing him deeply until he pulled away from her. "I love you," she whispered and pressed her forehead to his.

"I love you," he returned.


Kitty felt his body pressing into hers from behind and his arms snaking under and over her. "Matt," she moaned sleepily and turned her head slightly, inclining into the sensation of his calloused fingers caressing her cheek.

"Happy Birthday," he whispered and tenderly brushed his lips against hers. He propped himself up on an elbow.

"Thank you," she returned and arduously rolled onto her side to face him. She leaned in and softly kissed him before putting her head back on the pillow.

"We can do whatever you want to do today. Celia's made a silver cake. Charlie's chompin' at the bit to give you your gift. Doc's liable to come by."

Kitty buried her face into the pillow. She didn't feel like celebrating her birthday. She was exhausted at the thought.

Matt grazed his hand up and down her side. "Kathleen, we can stay right here until you feel up to it," he told her. He hoped a sudden burst of energy would hit her later on like it had in the last few days. She'd ordered him to move furniture. She had rearranged and folded baby clothes so many times that he'd lost track.

She looked at him and slowly nodded her head. "All right, Matt. Help me to the water closet, please."

He hopped out of bed and held out his hands to her, pulling her to her feet and steadying her when she fell into his chest. He slipped an arm around her waist and walked with her. He stood outside the door until she finished.

"Cowboy, can you do me a favor?" she asked as she sluggishly waddled out of the water closet.

"What, sweetheart?"

"Reach in there and pull her out."

He chuckled at her request. "Honey, I'd do anything for you, but I can't do that."

"I think you could if you tried. Matt, she's so low," she whined and smoothed her hands down the sides of her heavy belly. "I think if I walked too much she'd fall right out," she remarked.

His eyes widened, and he gently gripped his wife's upper arm. "Let's get you back to bed."

She noticed the terrified look on his handsome face as he ushered her to the safety of their four-poster bed. "Matt, she's not going to fall outta me. Just feels like it," Kitty clarified as she settled under the covers.

"I heard you, Kathleen," he said and sat down. He leaned over and pulled a small walnut box from under the bed, presenting it to her.

She opened the lid and saw two bottles of her favored brand of fragrance from Paris. "Oh, Matt," she cooed and looked over the ornate glass bottles. Kitty knew from the details of the bottle one was a warm floral of orchid, amber, and musk and the other was a blend of sandalwood and violet.

He smiled at her and rubbed her thigh. "How about cake and coffee for breakfast?"

"Sounds good," she responded and watched him leave the bedroom as she felt tightness in her abdomen. Kitty gingerly shifted and let the cramp pass. She bit into her lip and caressed her belly. "You're comin' sooner than later," she quietly supposed. "Between you and me, I don't know how to feel about that," Kitty confessed. Part of her was ready to be done and hold her baby in her arms, but the other part of her wanted to keep soaking up the incredible though uncomfortable experience of carrying a life inside of her.